Methodology & Data Sources

Where the data comes from

3GPP Explorer is built from the publicly available 3GPP specification documents (Technical Specifications, “TS”, and Technical Reports, “TR”) published on the official 3GPP file server. For each specification we track its number, document type, latest version and release. Glossary terms are extracted directly from the “Definitions” and “Abbreviations” sections of these documents, and from the structured document catalog. The release shown next to each defining specification reflects the latest release in which that document is present in our catalog.

How AI is used

Large language models help summarise and explain technical material — generating plain-language descriptions, short definitions, and categorisation for glossary terms and specifications. AI is used as an assistive layer on top of the source documents, not as a source of facts in its own right: specification numbers, titles, document types, releases and change records come from the 3GPP documents and catalog, not from the model. AI-generated explanatory text is intended to aid understanding and may occasionally simplify or paraphrase; the authoritative wording always lives in the referenced 3GPP specification.

Review & quality control

Generated content is checked against the source documents through automated validation (required fields, link integrity, schema consistency) and periodic manual review of high-traffic terms and specifications. “Detected Changes” on glossary terms are extracted from the Change history tables of 3GPP specifications and carry the originating Change Request (CR) and document references so they can be traced back to the source.

Update cadence

The specification catalog and glossary are refreshed as new 3GPP documents are published and processed. Because content is served through a CDN, a published change may take some time to become visible to every visitor.

Unofficial status & corrections

3GPP Explorer is an independent, unofficial resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or maintained by 3GPP, ETSI, or any standards organisation. “3GPP” and related terms are used descriptively to refer to the standards they name. For normative, authoritative text always consult the official 3GPP specification documents. If you spot an error, the fastest path to a fix is to compare against the linked source specification and report the discrepancy.