UE ( User Equipment ) - UMTS

UE is the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) term. IS UMTS user equipment ( UE ) is any device used directly by an end user to communicate. It can be a hand-held telephone, a card in a laptop computer, or other device. It connects to the base station ("Node-B", or 3G Base Transceiver Station) as specified in the 25-series of specifications.
It roughly corresponds to the mobile station in GSM systems.

UE handles the following tasks towards the core network:

• Mobility management
• Call control
• Session management
• Identity management

The corresponding protocols are transmitted transparently via a Node-B(UMTS BTS), that is, Node-B does not change, use or understand the information. These protocols are also referred to as Non-access stratum protocols.