Wireless Field Guide
Cheat sheet

3GPP specification map

Which 3GPP series covers what, the NR and LTE specifications an engineer opens most, how version numbers map to releases, and how to find a given version in the 3GPP and ETSI archives.

Last verified 15 Nov 2026· 3GPP Release 19 specifications (TS 38.211 V19.5.0, TS 38.300 V19.4.0, TS 36.300 V19.2.0)

This sheet is for anyone who has to find the right 3GPP document quickly: a physical-layer engineer chasing a table, a protocol developer reading a trace, or a tester checking a requirement. It says which series covers what and which specification to open for common questions. It does not replace the specifications. Always read the clause itself, in the version your equipment implements.

The series

3GPP numbers each specification as series.number. The series says what kind of subject it covers. The table paraphrases the specifications by series page on 3gpp.org, which also lists the GSM-only series.

Series Subject
21 Requirements
22 Service aspects (stage 1)
23 Technical realisation (stage 2)
24 Signalling protocols between UE and core network (stage 3)
25 Radio aspects
26 Codecs
27 Terminal interfaces, device management, AT commands
28 Core network signalling (stage 3), and operations, maintenance and charging
29 Signalling protocols within the fixed network (stage 3)
30 Programme management
31 SIM, USIM and IC cards
32 Operations, administration, maintenance and charging
33 Security
34 UE and SIM test specifications
35 Security algorithms (may be subject to export licensing)
36 LTE radio (E-UTRA, LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro)
37 Aspects of more than one radio access technology
38 Radio technology beyond LTE: 5G NR and NG-RAN

Stage 1 describes the service, stage 2 the architecture and procedures, stage 3 the bit-exact protocol. A TS is a technical specification (normative). A TR is a technical report (studies, models, background).

NR: which document for which question

Titles follow the reference lists of TS 38.300 and other Release 19 specifications.

Question Specification
How does NR fit together? Start here TS 38.300, NR and NG-RAN overall description, stage 2
RAN architecture, gNB-CU and gNB-DU split TS 38.401, NG-RAN architecture description
Physical layer overview TS 38.201, physical layer general description
Numerology, frame structure, modulation, reference signals TS 38.211, physical channels and modulation
LDPC and polar coding, rate matching, DCI and UCI formats TS 38.212, multiplexing and channel coding
Synchronisation, initial access, PDCCH monitoring, power control TS 38.213, physical layer procedures for control
PDSCH and PUSCH procedures, MCS and CQI tables, CSI TS 38.214, physical layer procedures for data
Physical layer measurements (RSRP, RSRQ, SINR) TS 38.215, physical layer measurements
MAC: HARQ, scheduling requests, random access TS 38.321, MAC protocol specification
RLC TS 38.322, RLC protocol specification
PDCP TS 38.323, PDCP specification
SDAP (QoS flow mapping, shared with LTE) TS 37.324, SDAP specification
RRC messages and information elements TS 38.331, RRC protocol specification
Idle and inactive mode, cell selection TS 38.304
UE capabilities TS 38.306, UE radio access capabilities
Radio resource management requirements TS 38.133
UE RF: FR1, FR2, and interworking TS 38.101-1, TS 38.101-2, TS 38.101-3
Base station RF requirements TS 38.104, BS radio transmission and reception
Base station conformance tests TS 38.141-1 (conducted), TS 38.141-2 (radiated)
UE conformance (RF) TS 38.521-1 and the rest of the 38.521 family
NG interface to the core (NGAP) TS 38.413
Xn between base stations (XnAP) TS 38.423
F1 between CU and DU (F1AP) TS 38.473
Positioning (stage 2) TS 38.305
Channel models, 0.5 to 100 GHz TR 38.901
5G core architecture and procedures TS 23.501 and TS 23.502
5G NAS (UE to core) TS 24.501
5G security TS 33.501
Dual connectivity with LTE and NR TS 37.340
Terms and abbreviations TR 21.905, vocabulary for 3GPP specifications

LTE equivalents

NR LTE (E-UTRA) Subject
TS 38.300 TS 36.300 Overall description, stage 2
TS 38.211 TS 36.211 Physical channels and modulation
TS 38.212 TS 36.212 Multiplexing and channel coding
TS 38.213 and 38.214 TS 36.213 Physical layer procedures
TS 38.321 TS 36.321 MAC
TS 38.322 TS 36.322 RLC
TS 38.323 TS 36.323 PDCP
TS 38.331 TS 36.331 RRC
TS 38.101-1 TS 36.101 UE radio transmission and reception
TS 38.104 TS 36.104 Base station radio transmission and reception

LTE splits physical layer procedures into one document. NR splits control (38.213) from data (38.214).

Versions and releases

A version has three fields, such as V19.5.0. According to 3gpp.org, the first field is the release, the second rises with each batch of approved change requests, and the third rises for editorial changes. The releases page gave these dates at the time of writing:

Release Status on 3gpp.org Functional freeze
17 Frozen 18 March 2022
18 Frozen March 2024
19 Open September 2025
20 Open March 2027 (projected)

A device or network that “supports Release 17” does not implement every Release 17 feature. Features are optional, and operators turn them on selectively. When you quote a behaviour, quote the specification, the version and the clause.

Where to get a specific version

  • 3GPP archive: one folder per specification, one zip per version. The version is encoded in the file name with one character per field, 0 to 9 then a = 10, b = 11 and so on, so V19.5.0 of TS 38.211 is 38211-j50.zip.
  • ETSI republishes each 3GPP specification as a free PDF with a 1 in front of the number, so TS 38.211 is ETSI TS 138 211. The ETSI cover page states both numbers and the release.
  • The 3GPP portal page for each specification lists every version with its date. The links on our reference pages use the form https://www.3gpp.org/dynareport/38211.htm.
import string

DIGITS = string.digits + string.ascii_lowercase   # 0-9 then a=10, b=11, ... j=19, k=20

def archive_zip(spec: str, version: str) -> str:
    """'38.211', '19.5.0' -> '38211-j50.zip' (3GPP archive naming)."""
    fields = [int(x) for x in version.split(".")]
    if any(f >= len(DIGITS) for f in fields):
        raise ValueError("field too large for one character")
    code = "".join(DIGITS[f] for f in fields)
    return f"{spec.replace('.', '')}-{code}.zip"

def archive_folder(spec: str) -> str:
    series = spec.split(".")[0]
    return f"https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/{series}_series/{spec}/"

def etsi_number(spec: str, kind: str = "TS") -> str:
    """'38.101-1' -> 'ETSI TS 138 101-1'. ETSI republishes 3GPP specs with a leading 1."""
    series, rest = spec.split(".")
    return f"ETSI {kind} 1{series} {rest}"

def release_of(version: str) -> int:
    return int(version.split(".")[0])

for spec, ver, kind in [("38.211", "19.5.0", "TS"), ("38.101-1", "19.7.0", "TS"),
                        ("38.901", "19.5.0", "TR"), ("36.211", "19.3.0", "TS"), ("38.211", "18.10.0", "TS")]:
    print(f"{kind} {spec} V{ver} (Release {release_of(ver)}): {archive_zip(spec, ver)}, "
          f"{etsi_number(spec, kind)}, {archive_folder(spec)}")

Expected output:

TS 38.211 V19.5.0 (Release 19): 38211-j50.zip, ETSI TS 138 211, https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/38_series/38.211/
TS 38.101-1 V19.7.0 (Release 19): 38101-1-j70.zip, ETSI TS 138 101-1, https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/38_series/38.101-1/
TR 38.901 V19.5.0 (Release 19): 38901-j50.zip, ETSI TR 138 901, https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/38_series/38.901/
TS 36.211 V19.3.0 (Release 19): 36211-j30.zip, ETSI TS 136 211, https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/36_series/36.211/
TS 38.211 V18.10.0 (Release 18): 38211-ia0.zip, ETSI TS 138 211, https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/38_series/38.211/

We checked the file names against the archive folders for TS 38.211 and TS 38.101-1 on 15 November 2026.

Reading tips

  • Start from the stage 2 overview (38.300 or 36.300), then follow its references. It names the right stage 3 document for each function.
  • Abbreviations are defined in TR 21.905 and again in clause 3 of most specifications.
  • ASN.1 for RRC, NGAP, XnAP and F1AP is embedded in the specification text. Wireshark keeps ASN.1 sources for NR RRC, LTE RRC, NGAP, XnAP, F1AP and E2AP in its tree and builds its dissectors from them (see the software matrix).
  • Change request lists at the end of each specification show when a feature arrived and in which release.