3GPP2 Member Handbook

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Table of Contents

Introduction

3GPP2 Overview

Technical Specification/Report Development Process

Website Overview

Meeting Participation Issues

Information Dissemination

Secretariat Support

Introduction

This section describes the scope and objective of this document.

Scope

This document summarizes the operations and processes of 3GPP2. This document is intended as an abbreviated companion to the 3GPP2 web site. Throughout this document, the symbol will direct you to more detailed information on the 3GPP2 web site (www.3gpp2.org).

Objective

  • To provide an overview of 3GPP2 operations and processes. Note: In cases of discrepancy between this document and the 3GPP2 governing documents, the 3GPP2 governing documents shall always take precedence.
  • To provide useful information on the operations and processes of 3GPP2 in a concise manner but in detail.
  • To clarify the understanding for current and new organization participants.

This document is intended as a tool for the 3GPP2 membership and guests and is provided for informational purposes only.

In addition, although this document may be printed to hard copy format, this document is intended to provide its highest level of functionality when it used in its electronic format based on the integration of electronic references throughout this text.

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3GPP2 Overview

This section provides an overview of the 3GPP2 organization.

Organizational Description

The 3GPP2 (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2) is a partnership of standards development organizations (SDOs) whose goal it is to develop and publish global specifications for ANSI/TIA/EIA-41 "Cellular Radiotelecommunication Intersystem Operations" network evolution to 3G, and global specifications for the radio transmission technologies (RTTs) supported by ANSI/TIA/EIA-41.

3GPP2 is not a legal entity. It is a project jointly owned by its Organizational Partners.

About 3GPP2

The 3GPP2 Organizational Partners include, along with their regional areas of interest, the following SDOs:

Organizational Partner

Region

ARIB - Association of Radio Industries and Business

Japan

CCSA - China Communications Standards Association

China

TIA - Telecommunications Industry Association

North America

TTA - Telecommunications Technology Association

Korea

TTC - Telecommunication Technology Committee

Japan

Partners

The inaugural meeting of the 3GPP2 Steering Committee was held in January 1999 in Vancouver, Canada, where the partnership documents and working procedures were officially agreed.

Participating SDOs have the right to submit 3GPP2 technical specifications for approval and publication as standards, or parts of standards, within their home national or regional processes. This partnership project is a new way of working among the existing organizations. It addresses the industry's need to produce globally applicable specifications, without altering the national or regional scope of existing standards organizations.

Organizational Structure

The 3GPP2 organization entities are described below:

Organizational Partners (OPs)

The OPs are the SDOs that fund and support 3GPP2. Partner SDOs jointly own the Technical Specifications and Reports (including copyright) developed by 3GPP2, and they supervise the funding and organizational procedures of 3GPP2.

Partners

Market Representation Partners (MRPs)

The MRPs are organizations that are approved by the 3GPP2 OPs to serve in this capacity based on their ability to offer market advice and bring a consensus perspective of market requirements related to issues associated with the 3GPP2 scope and objectives.

Partners

Individual Members

The 3GPP2 Individual members are legal entities who are registered as members of at least one (1) of the participating SDOs and are committed to contributing technically, or otherwise, to the activities of one (1) or more of the Technical Specification Groups.

Members

Observers

The 3GPP2 OP may grant observer status to any entity that has qualifications and stated intent to become a 3GPP2 partner.

Guests

The 3GPP2 OP may grant guest status to any entity that has qualifications and stated intent to become a 3GPP2 Individual Member.

Steering Committee (SC)

The SC implements administrative control of the specification development activities and the Technical Specification Groups on behalf of the 3GPP2 OPs.

Technical Specification Groups (TSGs)

The TSGs are responsible for the detailed technical development activities of 3GPP2 as indicated below.

TSG

Responsibility

TSG-A

Access Network Interfaces

TSG-C

cdma2000

TSG-S

Service and System Aspects

TSG-X

Core Networks

Committees

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Technical Specification/Report Development Process

This section provides an overview of the process used by 3GPP2 to develop specifications and reports.

All specification development processes are conducted in accordance with the Project's governing documents.

Procedures

Feature and system requirements are developed in TSG-S. These documents are referred to as Stage 1 requirements. In addition, the 3GPP2 System Release Plan and 3GPP2 Workplan are also maintained by TSG-S.

Technical specifications and reports are developed in the TSGs. The specifications are developed in two (2) separate stages as indicated below:

Stage 2 is a high-level overview of the implementation of a feature or service in the 3GPP2 architecture, including message flow diagrams and any other information related to operations across system interfaces (i.e., TSG areas of responsibilities).

Stage 3 is actual text and associated information for the resultant technical specification.

Once a specification or report is considered to be technically stable and complete, the TSG will approve the document as "baseline text". The document is then subjected to a rigorous verification and validation (V&V) process in which the editorial consistency and technical accuracy and completeness is confirmed. Once this V&V process has been completed, the document may then be approved for publication by the TSG.

Once the TSG has approved a document, it is forwarded to the 3GPP2 Secretariat. The 3GPP2 Secretariat will issue notification that the document has been approved by the applicable TSG and simultaneously open a 15-day comment period to allow for input on procedural discrepancies in the TSG development and approval process. If no comments are received in that 15-day period, the document is posted to the 3GPP2 website as an official 3GPP2 publication.

Specifications

The Organizational Partners can then review and process the document according to regional standards approval processes (e.g., ballot).

Once the OP SDO has completed its review of the document, all comments are contributed back to the originating 3GPP2 TSG for review and action. The comments will be addressed and the document will be updated, as necessary, as a "point release" to the original 3GPP2 document number.

The updated document will then be base-lined, subjected to V&V, and approved by the TSG as necessary. The newly approved document is then forwarded to the 3GPP2 Secretariat and to all OP SDOs for normal 3GPP2 document processing as indicated above.

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Website Overview

This section describes the organization, of and information contained in, the 3GPP2 website (http://www.3gpp2.org). The 3GPP2 website contains the following information:

Access to the 3GPP2 website is open and unrestricted to all parties. The only exceptions may be in write access to many of the website directories.

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Meeting Participation Issues

This section provides information related to meeting attendance and participation.

Scheduling

Meetings for the 3GPP2 Organizational Partners and Steering Committee are held quarterly on successive days. Each SC/OP meeting event is hosted by an individual OP in their region of authority.

Individual TSG meetings are usually held 10 times per year.

All TSGs are required to make a concerted effort to collocate all meetings with the other TSGs. The primary exception is TSG-S. TSG-S will collocate with the OP/SC meetings. For the remainder of the year, TSG-S will collocate with the TSGs.

Meeting Calendar

Attendees/Participation

OP Meetings

Attendance and participation at the 3GPP2 OP meeting is made up of the individual OP delegations, e.g., the ARIB delegation.

SC & TSG Meetings

Attendance and participation at all other 3GPP2 committee meetings is open to all 3GPP2 partners, observers, and members. In addition, these meetings also may be open to guests at the discretion of the meeting Chair or Secretariat. However, only 3GPP2 Individual Members count toward quorum and have voting rights at the SC or TSG level.

Meeting Notice & Agenda

Meeting notices for upcoming 3GPP2 Steering Committee meetings will be distributed to the membership via e-mail and posted on the 3GPP2 website in advance of the meeting, in accordance with working procedure requirements, allowing sufficient time for travel arrangements to be made.

Meeting notices for upcoming 3GPP2 TSGs and subgroup meetings will be distributed to the membership and posted on the 3GPP2 website, in accordance with working procedure requirements.

The meeting agenda will also be posted to the 3GPP2 website in advance of the meeting.

Both the meeting notice and meeting agenda will be posted to the 3GPP2 website and appropriate links will be inserted into the 3GPP2 meeting calendar.

Hotel Reservations

The registered hotel(s) associated with any meeting will be identified in the associated 3GPP2 meeting notice. That notice will include hotel contact information, the basic room rate negotiated for 3GPP2 meeting attendees, and the "cut-off" date by which reservations must be made to secure the negotiated rate. 3GPP2 meeting attendees are strongly encouraged to use the 3GPP2 registered hotels in order that 3GPP2 can minimize meeting costs associated with hosting of the meeting.

Travel/Visas

Information related to any travel related requirements (i.e., embarkation/visa requirements, AC power type, expected climate, etc.) will normally be included in the meeting notice. However, additional information may be obtained by contacting the 3GPP2 Secretariat at .

Attendance Recommendations

The following recommendations are noted for meeting attendees: Although a strong attempt is always made to make the meeting notice as complete and accurate as possible, problems and changes do occur. Updated information will be posted to the website and broadcast to the appropriate 3GPP2 email exploder as it becomes available.

A sign-in sheet for individual attendees will be provided at the meeting in either hard copy or electronic format. Make sure that you sign-in during the course of the meeting(s). In addition, it is extremely important that you note the number of nights at the 3GPP2 contracted hotel(s) so that 3GPP2 can earn the credit for your stay towards the 3GPP2 meeting expenses.

Since the great majority of 3GPP2 meetings are facilitated by the electronic distribution of meeting contributions, a laptop PC is critical to maximize your participation in these meetings.

At face-to-face meetings, contributions will be distributed using IEEE 802.11b compliant wireless LAN systems. To maximize your participation at these meetings, it is important that you have a previously installed and configured 802.11b wireless LAN card in your PC. Limited support for configuration of your system may or may not be available at the meeting. (See section on How to Access the LAN).

For attendance at the opening Plenary of the face-to-face TSG meetings, an attendee will usually need to complete their travel to the destination city the day before the meeting start date. However, closing Plenary sessions may end at midday on the last meeting day and usually allow for travel departure that afternoon.

Quorum/Voting/Proxy

Quorum call is normally held at the beginning of the opening session or TSG Plenary session. If you miss the quorum call, you must take responsibility for unobtrusively notifying the meeting Chair or Secretary of your company's attendance. Additions to the quorum list after the conclusion of the meeting are not normally accepted.

Procedures

All letters of authority establishing proxies should be signed, dated, and submitted on company letterhead by the company's voting representative (primary or alternate) in the TSG concerned. The letters can be sent in PDF format to the TSG Chair (and Secretary, where applicable) and are due on the Friday before the meetings are scheduled to start; they can be faxed to the TSG Chair (and Secretary, where applicable) the weekend before the meeting starts at the hotel where the Chair/Secretary will be staying; or they can be delivered in-person by another attending member, in which case they must be submitted before the start of the Plenary.

Please keep in mind the following:

A separate letter is required for each TSG meeting to which proxy is being given, and all letters establishing proxy are valid for only one (1) meeting. The company to which proxy is being given must be a 3GPP2 participating member company. Please refer to http://www.3gpp2.org/Public_html/Misc/memberindex.cfm for a list of participating members. Proxies are not considered "attendance" for maintaining your quorum status. For additional information, refer to the 3GPP2 Working Procedures Document, Article 26a: TSG Proxies.

You may wish to use the following text to create your letter of authority:

I, ____________________ (your name) of ____________________ (your company's name) hereby give proxy rights to ____________________ (authorized proxy representative name) of ____________________ (proxy representative company name) for the TSG-x meeting being held ____________________ (meeting dates).

Submission/Distribution of Contributions

All 3GPP2 SC and TSG meetings make use of electronic contributions, which must be numbered as required by the 3GPP2 Working Procedures Document rules regarding contribution numbering.

Some 3GPP2 groups require that contributions be posted on the 3GPP2 website in advance. Each group will be notified accordingly by the Chair or Secretary. In order to submit a contribution for a meeting, you should first contact the TSG Chair and/or Secretary to receive a contribution number. After you number your contribution (both within the filename and within the document), send your completed contribution to that same Chair/Secretary who will post the contribution to the relevant ftp site.

Meeting Format

3GPP2 TSG face-to-face meetings are usually collocated with the TIA TR-45 subcommittee responsible for the same technical areas (where applicable).

3GPP2 TSG face-to-face meetings are usually one (1) week in duration. They usually start on Monday and end on Friday.

3GPP2 TSG face-to-face meetings normally consist of the following:

  • TSG opening Plenary;
  • TSG Working Group (WG), Sub-Working Group (SWG), and AdHoc meetings. Depending on the size of the TSG and the number of subgroups, these meetings may be sequential to or in parallel with each other.
  • TSG closing Plenary - each WG will usually summarize its activities and the activities of its subgroups for the meeting session.

There may, however, be exceptions to this order of events.

Electronic meetings (i.e., conference calls) of 3GPP2 TSG Plenaries or subgroups may also be held.

Meeting Conduct

The meeting Chair is responsible for the conduct of the meeting according to the rules of the 3GPP2 WPD. In the case where a TSG Secretary has been enrolled, the Secretary may execute some of the responsibilities of the Chair at the direction of the Chair (i.e., meeting summary, quorum call, attendee sign-in lists, etc.).

Attendance at 3GPP2 by guests (i.e., individuals who do not represent 3GPP2 partners, members, or official observers) will be allowed at the discretion of the meeting Chair. Meeting quorum is only required at SC and TSG meetings. Quorum is not required at TSG subgroup meetings.

How to Access the LAN

3GPP2 participants rely on the use of a Local Area Network (LAN) at meetings for the electronic distribution of documents. Both wired and wireless LANs are supported at the meetings. Detailed information on how to access the LAN has been provided by Jeffrey West, 3GPP2's Network Manager, and is available on the 3GPP2 website.

Meeting LAN Information

LAN Security

3GPP2 local area networks, like all other LANs, are vulnerable to virus attacks, hacking, and other means of intrusion. This vulnerability can be reduced significantly if each user takes precautions to protect his/her PC and its contents.

The LAN has the following steps in place to reduce vulnerabilities:

  • Antivirus software
  • Non-routable TCP/IP addresses

Personal PCs should follow these guidelines to reduce the risk of security breaches:

  • Disable Microsoft file and printer sharing (unbind file sharing).
  • Antivirus software with most current updates.
  • Use directory and file level security, with a strong password, on your hard drive for sensitive files.
  • Optional personal firewall software (use a big name like McAfee or Norton).

Also, the best practice is to retrieve what you need off the network and log off. If your PC is not on the network, then it cannot be compromised. Simply stopping your network card will suffice.

Conference Calls

TSG Plenaries and subgroup meetings may be held electronically, via conference calls.

Meeting notices for TSG Plenaries will be broadcast on the applicable 3GPP2 e-mail exploder at least 21 days of the meeting.

Meeting announcements for TSG subgroups will be broadcast on the applicable 3GPP2 e-mail exploder at least seven (7) days in advance of the meeting.

Quorum is required for TSG Plenary conference calls. Quorum is not required for TSG subgroup meetings. Meeting attendees should always ensure their presence is noted.

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Information Dissemination

3GPP2 uses three (3) primary methods to disseminate information:

  1. Meeting Contributions. These contributions will normally be posted to the 3GPP2 website after the completion of the meeting. Those contributions that are available prior to a meeting will be posted in advance. Their availability will be announced on the appropriate email reflector.
  2. Website postings.
  3. Email exploder broadcasts. Please note that use of the 3GPP2 e-mail exploders is restricted to 3GPP2 partners, members, and observers unless special approval is granted by the TSG Chair to non-member entities whose support is required by the TSG. In general, access to technical information which is not immediately apparent via examination of the 3GPP2 document catalog and meeting contribution archives is intended to be secured by direct participation in the applicable TSGs. Minimal support for adhoc queries may be available through the 3GPP2 Secretariat at the discretion of the members of the TSGs whose expertise is required to answer the query.

Participants are requested to advise the 3GPP2 Secretariat directly (secretariat@3gpp2.org) for subscription to any of the 3GPP2 email exploders available.

Email Reflector Information

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Secretariat Support

This section describes the services and support provided by, and available from, the 3GPP2 Secretariat. Services include:

  • TSG and TSG subgroup meeting planning and logistics, including facility negotiation and administration. In addition, the Secretariat may support the OP that hosts the OP and SC meeting.
  • 3GPP2 website and email reflector management.
  • 3GPP2 publication management and coordination, including this 3GPP2 Handbook, plus coordination of technical writing contractors on behalf of the TSGs.
  • 3GPP2 LAN administration. A 3GPP2 network administrator will provide on-site support at all OP, SC, and TSG "super meetings" (i.e., meetings where all TSGs are collocated).
  • Preparation of meeting summaries for the 3GPP2 OP and SC meetings.

The 3GPP2 Secretariat can be contacted at .


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