ps DL: 84 Mbps UL: 23 Mbps 3GPP Rel 8 Dec-2009 DL: 28 Mbps UL: 11.5 Mbps HSPA+ 3GPP Rel 7 Dec-2008 DL: 14.4 Mbps UL: 5.72 Mbps HSUPA 3GPP Rel 6 Dec-2007 DL: 14.4 Mbps UL: 384 kbps HSDPA 3GPP Rel 5 Mar-2005 DL: 473.6 kbps UL: 384 kbps 3GPP Rel-4 Jun-2002 TD-SCDMA DL: 2 Mbps UL: 2 Mbps DL: 2 Mbps WCDMA UL: 2 Mbps 3GPP Rel- Mar-2001 Mar-2000 Figure 3.1 3GPP releases. Note:DL=Downlink;UL Uplink 3GPP Evolved Packet System (EPS) R99: First WCDMA enabler with voice and data support and was functionally frozen in March 2000. Rel-4: First 3GPP release that supports EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) and TD- SCDMA (Time Division - Synchronous CDMA) and was functionally frozen in March 2001. Rel-5: First 3GPP release that supports HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), IP transport in radio access network and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and was functionally frozen in June 2002. Rel-6: Release 6 is the first 3GPP release that supports HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) and was functionally frozen in March 2005. Rel-7: HSPA+ radio technology was first defined in Release 7 and its activities were frozen as of December 2007. Rel-8: First 3GPP release that supports EPS and was functionally frozen in December 2008. Rel-9 and Rel-10: These releases are still in operation and have not been frozen. 3.2.1 Key Aspects of Rel-99 W-CDMA [1] was the first step towards 3G for GSM-based 2G/2.5G systems. The major difference between W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS systems was in terms of multiple access technique. W-CDMA utilized CDMA while GSM/GPRS and even EDGE applied the principles of FDMA and TDMA. The key highlights of W-CDMA and R-99 are as follows [2]: New Radio: CDMA based UTRAN was introduced as an evolution to GSM. CDMA, the new access technique, supports both FDD and TDD modes of duplex. An advanced BSC termed as RNC (Radio Network Controller) was also part of R-99. The radio channels in W-CDMA are 5 MHz wide as compared to the 200 kHz channels of GSM/GPRS. The chip rate¹ is 3.84 Mcps (mega chips per second) and frame l