Key 3GPP Specifications

The 50 most important 3GPP specifications, selected based on how frequently they are referenced by other documents.

Methodology: Ranking is derived from citation analysis — how often each specification is referenced by other 3GPP documents. Specifications with a paired LTE/NR counterpart (e.g. TS 38.331 / TS 36.331) are flagged with an Evolution badge, indicating AI-generated cross-release analysis is available.

Filter by series:All 22 23 29 33 36 38

#1TS 23.501System architecture for the 5G System (5GS)

TS5GC420 citations

#2TS 23.502Procedures for the 5G System (5GS)

TS5GC398 citations

#3TS 38.331NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification

TS5G NR385 citationsEvolution

#4TS 36.331Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification

TSLTE371 citationsEvolution

#5TS 38.300NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall description; Stage-2

TS5G NR360 citationsEvolution

#6TS 36.300Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2

TSLTE349 citationsEvolution

#7TS 38.213NR; Physical layer procedures for control

TS5G NR338 citationsEvolution

#8TS 38.211NR; Physical channels and modulation

TS5G NR327 citationsEvolution

#9TS 36.213Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer procedures

TSLTE316 citationsEvolution

#10TS 36.211Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical channels and modulation

TSLTE305 citationsEvolution

#11TS 38.321NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification

TS5G NR298 citationsEvolution

#12TS 36.321Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification

TSLTE291 citationsEvolution

#13TS 38.322NR; Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification

TS5G NR284 citationsEvolution

#14TS 36.322Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification

TSLTE277 citationsEvolution

#15TS 38.323NR; Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification

TS5G NR270 citationsEvolution

#16TS 36.323Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification

TSLTE263 citationsEvolution

#17TS 38.401NG-RAN; Architecture description

TS5G NR256 citations

#18TS 38.413NG-RAN; NG Application Protocol (NGAP)

TS5G NR249 citationsEvolution

#19TS 36.413Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); S1 Application Protocol (S1AP)

TSLTE242 citationsEvolution

#20TS 38.423NG-RAN; Xn Application Protocol (XnAP)

TS5G NR235 citationsEvolution

#21TS 36.423Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); X2 Application Protocol (X2AP)

TSLTE228 citationsEvolution

#22TS 38.470NG-RAN; F1 general aspects and principles

TS5G NR221 citations

#23TS 38.473NG-RAN; F1 Application Protocol (F1AP)

TS5G NR214 citations

#24TS 38.133NR; Requirements for support of radio resource management

TS5G NR207 citationsEvolution

#25TS 36.133Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Requirements for support of radio resource management

TSLTE200 citationsEvolution

#26TS 38.104NR; Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception

TS5G NR194 citationsEvolution

#27TS 36.104Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception

TSLTE188 citationsEvolution

#28TS 38.101-1NR; User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception; Part 1: Range 1 Standalone

TS5G NR182 citations

#29TS 36.101Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception

TSLTE176 citations

#30TS 23.401General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) access

TSEPC170 citations

#31TS 33.501Security architecture and procedures for 5G System

TSSecurity164 citations

#32TS 33.4013GPP System Architecture Evolution (SAE); Security architecture

TSSecurity158 citations

#33TS 38.214NR; Physical layer procedures for data

TS5G NR152 citationsEvolution

#34TS 36.214Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer; Measurements

TSLTE146 citationsEvolution

#35TS 38.215NR; Physical layer measurements

TS5G NR140 citations

#36TS 37.340Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and NR; Multi-connectivity; Overall Description; Stage-2

TSMulti-RAT134 citations

#37TS 38.201NR; Physical layer; General description

TS5G NR128 citationsEvolution

#38TS 36.201Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); LTE physical layer; General description

TSLTE122 citationsEvolution

#39TS 38.202NR; Services provided by the physical layer

TS5G NR116 citations

#40TS 38.212NR; Multiplexing and channel coding

TS5G NR110 citationsEvolution

#41TS 36.212Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Multiplexing and channel coding

TSLTE105 citationsEvolution

#42TS 38.304NR; User Equipment (UE) procedures in Idle mode and in RRC Inactive state

TS5G NR100 citationsEvolution

#43TS 36.304Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) procedures in idle mode

TSLTE95 citationsEvolution

#44TS 38.306NR; User Equipment (UE) radio access capabilities

TS5G NR90 citationsEvolution

#45TS 36.306Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio access capabilities

TSLTE85 citationsEvolution

#46TS 38.101-2NR; User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception; Part 2: Range 2 Standalone

TS5G NR80 citations

#47TS 38.420NG-RAN; Xn general aspects and principles

TS5G NR75 citations

#48TS 38.410NG-RAN; NG general aspects and principles

TS5G NR70 citations

#49TS 23.503Policy and charging control framework for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2

TS5GC65 citations

#50TS 29.244Interface between the Control Plane and the User Plane nodes

TS5GC60 citations

50

Key Specifications

10,409

Total Citations

6

Series Covered

32

With Evolution Data