Chapter One
GSM/EDGE Standards
Evolution (up to Rel'4)
Markus Hakaste, Eero Nikula and Shkumbin Hamiti
The standardisation work of GSM-based systems has its roots in the 1980s, when a
standardisation body 'Groupe Special Mobile' (GSM) was created within the Conference
Europeenne des Postes et Telecommunications (CEPT), whose task was to develop a
unique digital radio communication system for Europe, at 900 MHz.
Since the early days of GSM development, the system has experienced extensive
modifications in several steps to fulfil the increasing demand from the operators and
cellular users. The main part of the basic GSM system development during the last
decade until spring 2000 has been conducted in European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI) Special Mobile Group (SMG) and its technical sub-committees, as well
as in T1P1, which had the responsibility of the PCS1900 MHz specifications in the
United States.
Currently, the further evolution of the GSM-based systems is handled under the 3rd
Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which is a joint ef ... read full excerpt from GSM, GPRS and EDGE Performance: Evolution Towards 3G/UMTS, 2nd Edition ebook
