, where every interface is dardization activities for 3G in ETSI, 3 where other specified in detail. multiple access proposals were also introduced by the industry, including the Wideband CDMA concept from 4. Testing and verification, where the interface specifi- the ARIB standardization in Japan. The ETSI proposals cations are proven to work with real-life equipment. were merged into five concept groups, which also meant These phases are overlapping and iterative. As an exam- that the Wideband CDMA proposals from both Europe ple, requirements can be added, changed, or dropped and Japan were merged. during the later phases if the technical solutions call for it. Likewise, the technical solution in the detailed spec- ifications can change due to problems found in the testing 4.1.1.4 3G standardization starts and verification phase. Standardization starts with the requirements phase, The outcome of the ETSI process in early 1998 was the where the standards body decides what should be selection of Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) as the tech- achieved with the standard. This phase is usually rela- nology for UMTS in the paired spectrum (FDD) and TD- tively short. CDMA (Time Division CDMA) for the unpaired spec- In the architecture phase, the standards body decides trum (TDD). There was also a decision to harmonize the about the architecture, i.e. the principles of how to meet parameters between the FDD and the TDD components. the requirements. The architecture phase includes de- The standardization of WCDMA went on in parallel in cisions about reference points and interfaces to be stan- ETSI and ARIB until the end of 1998 when the Third dardized. This phase is usually quite long and may change Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was formed by the requirements. standards-developing organizations from all regions of After the architecture phase, the detailed specification the world. This solved the problem of trying to maintain phase starts. It is in this phase that the details for each of parallel development of aligned speci