Worldwide Standardizations of Femtocell

This chapter addresses global 3G/4G femtocell standardization activities in 3GPP, 3GPP2 and the WiMAX Forum®1, as well as related activity in the Broadband Forum (BBF) and Femto Forum. Common challenges introduced by femtocell technology are identified, as well as the reasons for pursuing standardized solutions and why the various standards bodies diverged in their approaches. A brief overview of each group is given (e.g., the Technical Specification Groups and/or Working Groups in which femtocell-related discussions take place). This is followed by a detailed review of the femtocell architecture devised for each radio access technology, including the network elements, interfaces, and protocols that were created or revised to support femtocells, and a summary of the femtocell-related documents published by each group. Finally, brief descriptions of the supporting role played by both the BBF and Femto Forum are given.