What Does Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Mean?
Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) is a standard for 3G mobile communications services devised by the 3rd Generation Partnershop Project (3GPP). UTRA access is based on direct-spread wideband code, which involves division multiple access and hybrid time-division access methods designed for 3G frequency efficiency, mobility and quality of service requirements.
UTRA identifies the radio modes of access for universal mobile telecommunications system networks. UTRA’s access network is called universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN).
Techopedia Explains Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
UTRA is one of the most commonly used 3G mobile communications technologies. This term includes the system architecture (3GPP TS 25.301) and its physical layer (3GPP TS 25.201), along with all the other aspects of the radio technology definition (25.-series).
UTRA will remain competitive for several years for both downlink and uplink with the enhancements provided by high-speed packet access. The industry that has developed 3GPP technologies has launched a long-term evolution (LTE) project within 3GPP, which is focused on enhancing the UTRA standard and optimization of the UTRA architecture.
