Understanding the 3GPP standards.

We have been hearing QUITE A lot on 3GPP releases and phases. But, what on earth do they mean ? I found a very good article on wireless devnet which explains in brief what is the significance of each 3GPP release :-

The 3GPP release phases:

Release 1997: GPRS is added to existing GSM systems and adds packet data (Release 1998 is another upgrade to GPRS but not as significant a step). Commercial networks on a broad scale during 2001.

Release 1999 (Release 3): The first step towards the GSM/GPRS and WCDMA convergence. WCDMA (UMTS) is added, with high-speed packet and circuit switched data.

Release 4 : (The years format have been skipped): The Release 4 (3 GPP Rel.4), includes the migration of the Release 99 circuit-switched domain core network and services to an IP transport.Adding more IP multimedia functionality. Standardization finalized March 2001.

Release 5: The Release 5 (3GPP Rel.5) which, takes a radical approach to the introduction of conversational and interactive multimedia services on to an end to end IP transport provided by an enhanced general packet radio service in the packet switched domain

Note :- Release 6 is still in progress, but features that will be added include IMS phase 2, Digital Rights Management and improved quality of service handling. Additional GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network specifications are available in GSM/EDGE Releases 4 and 5.

However , the bible for this information is the horse's mouth itself !!!
Visit the 3GPP Specifications - Release contents and functionality webpage for more in-depth information on each release and its main improvements.