RE: Question about phraseology in Docs for Cellular

["Jonathan West" <jwest -at- mvps -dot- org>]

I used to work on the team which wrote the GSM and 3G specifications.

You can download the complete set of all the 3GPP standards if you want,
using anonymous FTP from ftp.3gpp.org. Navigate tot the Specs folder, and
then wo whichever version you want to download. (They are updated every 3
months, and all the old versions remain available.)

The current version of document listing the common terms and abbreviations
is here
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/2007-03/Rel-7/21_series/21905-730.zip


> I would like to know, is the word "handover" ever abbreviated to HO,

Yes, this abbreviation is used in the standards and is specified in the
terms and abbreviations.

>
> May the term User Equipment be abbreviated to UE?

Yes.

>
> (the documentation I received uses HO and UE, and handover written
> hand-over or Hand Over etc. I would like to use the terms correctly)

Use "handover" for the overall process, use HANDOVER for the specific
message sent by the network to a mobile to initiate the process. (All layer
3 messages are capitalised in this way.)


Jan Cohen mentioned using "handoff" rather than "handover". It may be that
this term is used on the old analog systems, but I would avoid using it for
GSM/3G digital cellular, as the term "handover" is specified in the GSM
specifications, and users familiar with the system will know precisely what
you mean when you use that word.

If you are writing for a technical audience familiar with GSM systems, I
would recommend wherever possible using the terms and abbreviations defined
in the standards themselves. That reduces as far as possible the scope for
misunderstanding.


Regards
Jonathan West

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