UMTS / WCDMA basics tutorial & Overview

- a tutorial, or overview of the basics of UMTS, Universal Mobile

Telecommunications System, using WCDMA technology run under the auspices
of 3GPP.

3GPP UMTS, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System is the third generation (3G)
successor to the second generation GSM based cellular technologies which also include GPRS,
and EDGE. Although UMTS uses a totally different air interface, the core network elements
have been migrating towards the UMTS requirements with the introduction of GPRS and EDGE.
In this way the transition from GSM to the 3G UMTS architecture did not require such a large
instantaneous investment.

UMTS uses Wideband CDMA (WCDMA or W-CDMA) to carry the radio transmissions, and
often the system is referred to by the name WCDMA. It is also gaining a third name. Some are
calling it 3GSM because it is a 3G migration for GSM.

3GPP UMTS Specifications and Management

In order to create and manage a system as complicated as UMTS or WCDMA it is necessary to

develop and maintain a large number of documents and specifications. For UMTS or WCDMA,
these are now managed by a group known as 3GPP - the Third Generation Partnership
Programme. This is a global co-operation between six organisational partners - ARIB, CCSA,
ETSI, ATIS, TTA and TTC.

The scope of 3GPP was to produce globally applicable Technical Specifications and Technical
Reports for a 3rd Generation Mobile Telecommunications System. This would be based upon the
GSM core networks and the radio access technologies that they support (i.e., Universal
Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division
Duplex (TDD) modes).

Since it was originally formed, 3GPP has also taken over responsibility for the GSM standards as
well as looking at future developments including LTE (Long Term Evolution) and the 4G
technology known as LTE Advanced.

UMTS Capabilities

UMTS uses Wideband CDMA - WCDMA - as the radio transmission standard. It employs a 5
MHz channel bandwidth. Using this bandwidth it has the capacity to carry over 100
simultaneous voice calls, or it is able to carry data at speeds up to 2 Mbps in its original format.
However with the later enhancements of HSDPA and HSUPA (described in other articles
accessible from the cellular telecommunications menu page ) included in later releases of the
standard the data transmission speeds have been increased to 14.4 Mbps.

Many of the ideas that were incorporated into GSM have been carried over and enhanced for
UMTS. Elements such as the SIM have been transformed into a far more powerful USIM
(Universal SIM). In addition to this, the network has been designed so that the enhancements
employed for GPRS and EDGE can be used for UMTS. In this way the investment required is
kept to a minimum.

A new introduction for UMTS is that there are specifications that allow both Frequency Division
Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) modes. The first modes to be employed are
FDD modes where the uplink and downlink are on different frequencies. The spacing between
them is 190 MHz for Band 1 networks being currently used and rolled out.

However the TDD mode where the uplink and downlink are split in time with the base stations
and then the mobiles transmitting alternately on the same frequency is particularly suited to a
variety of applications. Obviously where spectrum is limited and paired bands suitably spaced
are not available. It also performs well where small cells are to be used. As a guard time is
required between transmit and receive, this will be smaller when transit times are smaller as a
result of the shorter distances being covered. A further advantage arises from the fact that it is
found that far more data is carried in the downlink as a result of internet surfing, video
downloads and the like. This means that it is often better to allocate more capacity to the
downlink. Where paired spectrum is used this is not possible. However when a TDD system is
used it is possible to alter the balance between downlink and uplink transmissions to
accommodate this imbalance and thereby improve the efficiency. In this way TDD systems can
be highly efficient when used in picocells for carrying Internet data. The TDD systems have not
been widely deployed, but this may occur more in the future. In view of its character, it is often
referred to as TD-CDMA (Time Division CDMA).

UMTS WCDMA specification summary

the UMTS WCDMA system offered a significant improvement in capability over the previous
2G services.

Parameter Specification

2048 kbps low range

Data rate 384 kbps urban and
outdoor

RF channel bandwidth 5 MHz

Multiple access CDMA

 Parameter Specification

scheme

Duplex schemes FDD and also TDD

UMTS 3G History
- summary of the history of how IMT-2000 was developed and lead to 3G UMTS
and CDMA2000 and overview of 3GPP releases.

With GSM being developed and deployed, the eyes of the development community started to
look at the next cellular developments which would provide greater more functionality and
greater levels of efficiency. The UMTS 3G history shows how these basic ideas turned into
reality and changed the way in which mobile telecommunications was used.

The UMTS 3G history shows that despite many set backs, UMTS was able to become
established as the major 3G technology providing new standards in cellular telecommunications
performance, functionality, and convenience. The 3G history shows that UMTS became the
dominant 3G technology, setting the foundations for a single worldwide 4G standard in future
years.

3G beginnings and IMT-2000

The International Mobile Telecommunications-2000, IMT-2000 standard is actually a family of

standards for third generation (3G) wireless communications. It defines the broad outlines and
requirements for standards that can be called 3G standards. It was set in place by the
International Telecommunications Union (Radio Communications section), ITU-R.

In the 1980s work started on looking at, what was termed in the ITU-R the "Future Public Land
Mobile Telecommunications System". However with the deployment on GSM and other 2G
technologies the impetus for the development of the next generation system was not present.

It was not until the early 1990s that progress was seen. A working group was set up and also the
1992 World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC'92) allocated 230 MHz of spectrum
between 1885 and 2025 and 2110 and 2200 MHz.

A number of organizations recognized the need for a global standard for the next generation of
mobile telecommunications services. ETSI in Europe moving towards what they termed their
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, UMTS and in Japan the forerunner of the
Association of Radio Industries and Businesses, ARIB undertaking a study. To enable a single
standard to be adopted the ITU-R requested each regional Standards Development Organisation
(SDO) to submit proposals for a Radio Transmission Technology.
As a result, between 1996 and 1998 companies and regional SDOs worked towards their
proposal submissions.

A total of 17 different proposals were submitted. Of these eleven were for terrestrial systems and
the remain six were for satellite systems. The evaluation of the proposals was completed during
1998 but during early 1999 it was necessary to gain some form of consensus. Once this was
complete, by the end of 1999 the specification for the radio Transmission Technology was
released by the end of 1999.

Although many proposals were submitted there were several that were considerably more
important than others. These included:

 UMTS / WCDMA:   The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System using wideband CDMA
was the successor to the highly successful GSM system that was initially deployed around
Europe, but was spreading rapidly worldwide.
 CDMA2000:   This scheme was the successor to the cdmaOne system defined under Interim
Standard IS-95 which was the first system to be deployed using CDMA technology.
 TDS-CDMA:   This was a scheme developed in China that adopted many elements of the GSM /
UMTS technology but was optimised for Time Division Duplex.

NB: The GSM evolution, EDGE also complied to the IMT-2000 definition for a 3G standard,
although it was more commonly referred to as a 2.75G standard.

Of the main IMT-2000 systems, history has shown that UMTS has became the most widely
deployed of the 3G systems. It offered global roaming as well as being designed to enable more
applications than many of its competitors. Also as it followed on from GSM, it had a very wide
base on which to build.

3GPP and 3GPP2 history

In 1998 the various SDOs interested in UMTS banded together to form the 3rd Generation
Partnership Programme, 3GPP by signing the 3rd Generation Partnership Project Agreement.
Historically, the scope of 3GPP was to produce technical specifications and reports for a 3G
system based on evolved GSM core networks, and the resulting radio access technology, i.e. both
FDD and TDD versions of UMTS.

The work on the UMTS standard progressed rapidly and the first release, known as Release 99
took place in 1999. Further releases have appeared periodically since then to incorporate
additional changes and additions to the standards including High Speed Packet Downlink Access
- HSDPA, High Speed Packet Uplink Access - HSUPA and Long Term Evolution - LTE.

The success of 3GPP subsequently lead to the organisation taking on the maintenance and
development the GSM, GPRS and EDGE technical specifications and reports. Ore recently it has
undertaken the development of the 3G LTE and LTE Advanced technical specifications and
reports.

A similar organisation, known as the 3rd Generation Partnership Programme 2, 3GPP2, was set
up to develop and manage the standards and reports for the CDMA2000 cellular
telecommunications system.

3GPP release dates and contents

The first release for the 3GPP standard took place in 1999. Since then a number of further
releases have taken place, each introducing changes to correct problems, but more importantly
adding further functionality. These 3GPP releases are summarised below:

3GPP Release
Summary
Release date

3GPP
Release 1999 First release of the UMTS standard
99

3GPP This release added features including an all-IP core network. It was
2001
Release 4 originally referred to as Release 2000

3GPP This 3GPP release introduced the IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS and
2002
Release 5 High Speed Packet Downlink Access, HSDPA

This release of the standard integrated the operation of UMTS with

3GPP wireless LAN networks and added enhancements to IMS (including Push
2004
Release 6 to talk over Cellular), Generic Access Network, GAN, and it added High
Speed Packet Uplink Access, HSUPA.

This Release of the 3GPP standard detailed improvements to QoS for

applications such as VoIP. The release also detailed upgrades for High
3GPP
2007 Speed Packet Access Evolution, HSPA+, as well as changes for EDGE
Release 7
Evolution and it also provided interfaces to enable operation with Near
Field Communication, NFC technology.

3GPP Release 8 provided the details for the LTE System Architecture
3GPP
2008 Evolution, SAE, an all-IP network architecture providing the capacity
Release 8
and low latency required for LTE and future evolutions.

3GPP End 2009 This added further enhancements to the SAE as well as allowing for
 3GPP Release
Summary
Release date

Release 9 WiMax and LTE/UMTS interoperability.

3GPP
Estimated This release of the 3GPP standard detailed the 4G LTE Advanced
Release
2010 technology.
10

Note: Pre-Release 98 releases refer to pre 3G, i.e. GSM, GPRS, EDGE standards.

3G spectrum auctions

One of the main disasters that took place within the telecommunications industry was the sale of
spectrum for the 3G licences within Europe. With operators moving towards the development
and ultimate deployment of the forthcoming 3G services cellular telecommunications operators
within Europe 3G spectrum auctions were set up at the beginning of 2000. Although a similar 3G
spectrum auction had been abandoned previously in the USA because it was felt the costs were
too high for the operators to bear, nevertheless Europe still went ahead. However the European
governments, in particular the UK and Germany looked at the sale as an opportunity for levying
a windfall tax.

The 3G spectrum auction was offered on a sealed bid basis. Knowing that in order to continue
their operations, the cellular operators would need to secure a licence for the 3G spectrum, this
forced the prices very high bids.

Accordingly the network operators took risks and also incurred high levels of debt. In the UK a
total of British pounds, GBP 22.5 billion was raised and around GBP 30 billion in Germany.
This meant that the operators were saddled with huge debts that would take many years to pay
off even assuming that 3G was a great success.

On top of the crippling debts incurred for the spectrum, network operators also had to invest in
the 3G infrastructure and its deployment. As a result the network operators were very keen to see
3G developments speeded up so that they could start to see a return on their investment and the
interest charges they were paying. However the delays in the development of 3G handsets
proved to be a major hurdle.

Subsequent auctions in other areas of the world met with much lower bids. Network operators
could not afford the amounts they paid for spectrum in Europe. In particular those auctions in
Australia and New Zealand raised much smaller amounts. Other countries used other more
tenable business models. For example in Hong Kong a profit sharing approach was adopted. This
avoided the huge up-front costs of the auctions elsewhere.
UMTS 3G deployments history

With the success of GSM building, and reaching the 1 billion subscriber mark, the first
deployments of UMTS started. One of the holding factors in some of the deployments was the
fact that few handsets were available. Using CDMA technology as well as having many new
features, developers had experienced difficulty in matching the handset requirements and
functionality to the IC technology that was available. Battery consumption was one major
resulting issue. As a result, many operators had to delay their deployments.

Some milestones were achieved to show that progress was being made:

 1998 - September 1998   The first call was completed in DoCoMo's trial network at the Nokia
R&D establishment near Tokyo, Japan.
 1999 - February   Nokia successfully it has tested what was claimed to be the first WCDMA call
through the public switched telephone network in the world at the Nokia test network in
Finland using a WCDMA terminal, WCDMA base station subsystem and Nokia GSM Mobile with
switching centres connected to the PSTN.
 2001 - April   Ericsson and Vodafone UK claimed to have made the world's first WCDMA voice
call over commercial network
 2001 - June   NTT DoCoMo launched a trial 3G service.

With the development milestones showing significant progress, the first deployments started.
These were slow at first, but the momentum soon started to increase:

 2001 - October   NTT DoCoMo launched the first commercial WCDMA 3G mobile network.
 2001 - December   The first commercial European network was opened for business by Telenor,
although no handsets were available immediately.
 2003 - March   On 3rd March 2003, (03-03-03), the UK operator 3 launched the first 3G service
in the UK.

UMTS / WCDMA Network Architecture

- the UMTS / WCDMA network architecture including the User Equipment - UE
-, the Radio Network Subsystem, and the Core Network.

The UMTS network architecture is required to provide a greater level of performance to that of
the original GSM network. However as many networks had migrated through the use of GPRS
and EDGE, they already had the ability to carry data. Accordingly many of the elements required
for the WCDMA / UMTS network architecture were seen as a migration. This considerably
reduced the cost of implementing the UMTS network as many elements were in place or needed
upgrading.
With one of the major aims of UMTS being to be able to carry data, the UMTS network
architecture was designed to enable a considerable improvement in data performance over that
provided for GSM.

UMTS network constituents

The UMTS network architecture can be divided into three main elements:

1. User Equipment (UE):   The User Equipment or UE is the name given to what was previous
termed the mobile, or cellphone. The new name was chosne because the considerably greater
functionality that the UE could have. It could also be anything between a mobile phone used for
talking to a data terminal attached to a computer with no voice capability.
2. Radio Network Subsystem (RNS):   The RNS is the equivalent of the previous Base Station
Subsystem or BSS in GSM. It provides and manages the air interface fort he overall network.
3. Core Network:   The core network provides all the central processing and management for the
system. It is the equivalent of the GSM Network Switching Subsystem or NSS.

The core network is then the overall entity that interfaces to external networks including the
public phone network and other cellular telecommunications networks.

UMTS Network Architecture Overview

User Equipment, UE

The USER Equipment or UE is a major element of the overall UMTS network architecture. It
forms the final interface with the user. In view of the far greater number of applications and
facilities that it can perform, the decision was made to call it a user equipment rather than a
mobile. However it is essentially the handset (in the broadest terminology), although having
access to much higher speed data communications, it can be much more versatile, containing
many more applications. It consists of a variety of different elements including RF circuitry,
processing, antenna, battery, etc.

There are a number of elements within the UE that can be described separately:

 UE RF circuitry:   The RF areas handle all elements of the signal, both for the receiver and for the
transmitter. One of the major challenges for the RF power amplifier was to reduce the power
consumption. The form of modulation used for W-CDMA requires the use of a linear amplifier.
These inherently take more current than non linear amplifiers which can be used for the form of
modulation used on GSM. Accordingly to maintain battery life, measures were introduced into
many of the designs to ensure the optimum efficiency.
 Baseband processing:   The base-band signal processing consists mainly of digital circuitry. This
is considerably more complicated than that used in phones for previous generations. Again this
has been optimised to reduce the current consumption as far as possible.
 Battery:   While current consumption has been minimised as far as possible within the circuitry
of the phone, there has been an increase in current drain on the battery. With users expecting
the same lifetime between charging batteries as experienced on the previous generation
phones, this has necessitated the use of new and improved battery technology. Now Lithium Ion
(Li-ion) batteries are used. These phones to remain small and relatively light while still retaining
or even improving the overall life between charges.
 Universal Subscriber Identity Module, USIM:   The UE also contains a SIM card, although in the
case of UMTS it is termed a USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module). This is a more
advanced version of the SIM card used in GSM and other systems, but embodies the same types
of information. It contains the International Mobile Subscriber Identity number (IMSI) as well as
the Mobile Station International ISDN Number (MSISDN). Other information that the USIM holds
includes the preferred language to enable the correct language information to be displayed,
especially when roaming, and a list of preferred and prohibited Public Land Mobile Networks
(PLMN).

The USIM also contains a short message storage area that allows messages to stay with the user
even when the phone is changed. Similarly "phone book" numbers and call information of the
numbers of incoming and outgoing calls are stored.

The UE can take a variety of forms, although the most common format is still a version of a
"mobile phone" although having many data capabilities. Other broadband dongles are also being
widely used.
UMTS Radio Network Subsystem

This is the section of the UMTS / WCDMA network that interfaces to both the UE and the core
network. The overall radio access network, i.e. collectively all the Radio Network Subsystem is
known as the UTRAN UMTS Radio Access Network.

The Radio Network Subsystem comprises two main components:

 Radio Network Controller, RNC:   This element of the radio network subsystem controls the
Node Bs that are connected to it. The RNC undertakes the radio resource management and
some of the mobility management functions, although not all. It is also the point at which the
data encryption / decryption is performed to protect the user data from eavesdropping.
 Node B:   Node B is the term used within UMTS to denote the base station transceiver. It
contains the transmitter and receiver to communicate with the UEs within the cell.

In order to facilitate effective handover between Node Bs under the control of different RNCs,
the RNC not only communicates with the Core Network, but also with neighbouring RNCs.

UMTS Radio Network Subsystem Architecture

UMTS Core Network

The UMTS core network architecture is a migration of that used for GSM with further elements
overlaid to enable the additional functionality demanded by UMTS.

In view of the different ways in which data may be carried, the UMTS core network may be split
into two different areas:

 Circuit switched elements:   These elements are primarily based on the GSM network entities
and carry data in a circuit switched manner, i.e. a permanent channel for the duration of the
call.
  Packet switched elements:   These network entities are designed to carry packet data. This
enables much higher network usage as the capacity can be shared and data is carried as packets
which are routed according to their destination.

Some network elements, particularly those that are associated with registration are shared by
both domains and operate in the same way that they did with GSM.

UMTS Core Network

Circuit switched elements

The circuit switched elements of the UMTS core network architecture include the following
network entities:

 Mobile switching centre (MSC):   This is essentially the same as that within GSM, and it manages
the circuit switched calls under way.
 Gateway MSC (GMSC):   This is effectively the interface to the external networks.

Packet switched elements

The packet switched elements of the UMTS core network architecture include the following
network entities:

 Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN):   As the name implies, this entity was first developed when
GPRS was introduced, and its use has been carried over into the UMTS network architecture.
The SGSN provides a number of functions within the UMTS network architecture.
o Mobility management   When a UE attaches to the Packet Switched domain of the
UMTS Core Network, the SGSN generates MM information based on the mobile's
current location.
 o Session management:   The SGSN manages the data sessions providing the required
quality of service and also managing what are termed the PDP (Packet data Protocol)
contexts, i.e. the pipes over which the data is sent.
o Interaction with other areas of the network:   The SGSN is able to manage its elements
within the network only by communicating with other areas of the network, e.g. MSC
and other circuit switched areas.
o Billing:   The SGSN is also responsible billing. It achieves this by monitoring the flow of
user data across the GPRS network. CDRs (Call Detail Records) are generated by the
SGSN before being transferred to the charging entities (Charging Gateway Function,
CGF).
 Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN):   Like the SGSN, this entity was also first introduced into
the GPRS network. The Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) is the central element within the
UMTS packet switched network. It handles inter-working between the UMTS packet switched
network and external packet switched networks, and can be considered as a very sophisticated
router. In operation, when the GGSN receives data addressed to a specific user, it checks if the
user is active and then forwards the data to the SGSN serving the particular UE.

Shared elements
The shared elements of the UMTS core network architecture include the following network
entities:

 Home location register (HLR):   This database contains all the administrative information about
each subscriber along with their last known location. In this way, the UMTS network is able to
route calls to the relevant RNC / Node B. When a user switches on their UE, it registers with the
network and from this it is possible to determine which Node B it communicates with so that
incoming calls can be routed appropriately. Even when the UE is not active (but switched on) it
re-registers periodically to ensure that the network (HLR) is aware of its latest position with their
current or last known location on the network.
 Equipment identity register (EIR):   The EIR is the entity that decides whether a given UE
equipment may be allowed onto the network. Each UE equipment has a number known as the
International Mobile Equipment Identity. This number, as mentioned above, is installed in the
equipment and is checked by the network during registration.
 Authentication centre (AuC) :   The AuC is a protected database that contains the secret key also
contained in the user's USIM card.

UMTS / WCDMA radio air interface

- the air interface, frequencies and power control used within UMTS or
Wideband CDMA, WCDMA, cellular telecommunications system

Physical layer within UMTS / WCDMA is totally different to that employed by GSM. It employs
a spread spectrum transmission in the form of CDMA rather than the TDMA transmissions used
for GSM. Additionally it currently uses different frequencies to those allocated for GSM.
UMTS Uplink and Downlink

When looking at the radio air interface and its associated properties, it is necessary to define the
directions in which the transmissions are occurring. Being a full duplex system, i.e. transmitting
simultaneously in both directions, it is necessary to be able to define which direction is which.

 Uplink;   This may also sometimes be known as the reverse link, and it is the link from the User
Equipment (UE) to the Node B or base station.
 Downlink;   This may also sometimes be known as the forward link, and it is the link from the
Node B or base station to the User Equipment (UE).

The terms Uplink and Downlink are the terms that are used with UMTS, and especially within
Europe. The terms forward link and reverse link are more commonly used with the CDMA2000
technologies and also within North America.

Uplink and downlink transmission directions

UMTS frequencies

There are currently six bands that are specified for use for UMTS / WCDMA although operation
on other frequencies is not precluded. However much of the focus for UMTS is currently on
frequency allocations around 2 GHz. At the World Administrative radio Conference in 1992, the
bands 1885 - 2025 and 2110 - 2200 MHz were set aside for use on a world wide basis by
administrations wishing to implement International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-
2000). The aim was that allocating spectrum on a world wide basis would facilitate easy roaming
for UMTS / WCDMA users.

Within these bands the portions have been reserved for different uses:

 1920-1980 and 2110-2170 MHz Frequency Division Duplex (FDD, W-CDMA) Paired uplink and
downlink, channel spacing is 5 MHz and raster is 200 kHz. An Operator needs 3 - 4 channels
(2x15 MHz or 2x20 MHz) to be able to build a high-speed, high-capacity network.
  1900-1920 and 2010-2025 MHz Time Division Duplex (TDD, TD/CDMA) Unpaired, channel
spacing is 5 MHz and raster is 200 kHz. Transmit and receive transmissions are not separated in
frequency.
 1980-2010 and 2170-2200 MHz Satellite uplink and downlink.

UMTS carrier frequencies are designated by a UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel
Number (UARFCN). This can be calculated from:

UARFCN = 5 x (frequency in MHz)

UMTS uses wideband CDMA as the radio transport mechanism. The UMTS channels are spaced
by 5 MHz.

Synchronisation

The level of synchronisation required for the WCDMA system to operate is provided from the
Primary Synchronisation Channel (P-SCH) and the Secondary Synchronisation Channel (S-
SCH). These channels are treated in a different manner to the normal channels and as a result
they are not spread using the OVSFs and PN codes. Instead they are spread using
synchronisation codes. There are two types that are used. The first is called the primary code and
is used on the P-SCH, and the second is named a secondary code and is used on the S-SCH.

The primary code is the same for all cells and is a 256 chip sequence that is transmitted during
the first 256 chips of each time slot. This allows the UE to synchronise with the base station for
the time slot.

Once the UE has gained time slot synchronisation it only knows the start and stop of the time
slot, but it does not know information about the particular time slot, or the frame. This is gained
using the secondary synchronisation codes.

There is a total of sixteen different secondary synchronisation codes. One code is sent at the
beginning of the time slot, i.e. the first 256 chips. It consists of 15 synchronisation codes and
there are 64 different scrambling code groups. When received, the UE is able to determine before
which synchronisation code the overall frame begins. In this way the UE is able to gain complete
synchronisation.

The scrambling codes in the S-SCH also enable the UE to identify which scrambling code is
being used and hence it can identify the base station. The scrambling codes are divided into 64
code groups, each having eight codes. This means that after achieving frame synchronisation, the
UE only has a choice of one in eight codes and it can therefore try to decode the CPICH channel.
Once it has achieved this it is able to read the BCH information and achieve better timing and it
is able to monitor the P-CCPCH.
UMTS power control

As with any CDMA system it is essential that the base station receives all the UEs at
approximately the same power level. If not, the UEs that are further away will be lower in
strength than those closer to the node B and they will not be heard. This effect is often referred to
as the near-far effect. To overcome this the node B instructs those stations closer in, to reduce
their transmitted power, and those further away to increase theirs. In this way all stations will be
received at approximately the same strength.

It is also important for node Bs to control their power levels effectively. As the signals
transmitted by the different node Bs are not orthogonal to one another it is possible that signals
from different ones will interfere. Accordingly their power is also kept to the minimum required
by the UEs being served.

To achieve the power control there are two techniques that are employed: open loop; and closed
loop.

Open loop techniques are used during the initial access before communication between the UE
and node B has been fully established. It simply operates by making a measurement of the
received signal strength and thereby estimating the transmitter power required. As the transmit
and receive frequencies are different, the path losses in either direction will be different and
therefore this method cannot be any more than a good estimate.

Once the UE has accessed the system and is in communication with the node B, closed loop
techniques are used. A measurement of the signal strength is taken in each time slot. As a result
of this a power control bit is sent requesting the power to be stepped up or down. This process is
undertaken on both the up and downlinks. The fact that only one bit is assigned to power control
means that the power will be continually changing. Once it has reached approximately the right
level then it would step up and then down by one level. In practice the position of the mobile
would change, or the path would change as a result of other movements and this would cause the
signal level to move, so the continual change is not a problem.

UMTS CDMA technology

- tutorial, or overview of the basics of CDMA, code division multiple access
scheme used within UMTS, or Wideband CDMA, WCDMA.

The use of CDMA, code division multiple access, in the form of Wideband CDMA, WCDMA
for use with the 3G UMTS telecommunications system marked a distinct change in the type of
technology used for the multiple access scheme for a telecommunications system. However it
offered many advantages for both users and operators and as a result, it has provided many
benefits.

The use of CDMA for UMTS and other cellular formats was made possible by the fact that
semiconductor technology had moved forward sufficiently. At the time the first cellular
technologies were introduced sufficient processing power could be provided to enable the coding
and decoding of CDMA to be accomplished within a mobile handset.

CDMA as a form of multiple access scheme was first used on the cdmaOne system that was first
deployed in the USA in 1995, and has successors that were marketed under the CDMA2000
banner. The use of a CDMA based technology for UMTS represented a further step forward in
the use of CDMA.

CDMA for UMTS

The choice of CDMA for use with the third generation, 3G UMTS telecommunications system
arose from a variety of technical reasons. It offers significant advantages over the schemes used
in the previous 2G systems that were predominantly TDMA based schemes.

The main benefits of the use of CDMA as a multiple access scheme are:

 Improved spectral efficiency:   The use of CDMA as the multiple access technology, combined
with the QPSK modulation format used provides significant improvements in terms of the
spectral efficiency. Figures for the performance improvements gained vary considerably
dependent upon the conditions, but the scheme gives some significant benefits. Some
calculated estimates give figures as high as three or four times that of technologies such as GSM,
although in reality the benefits may be a bit less.
 Adjacent cells may use the same channel frequency:   As a result of the way in which spread
spectrum signals such as CDMA operate.
 Improved handover:   Within CDMA it is possible to do what is termed a "soft handover" where
the UE communicates with two base stations at the same time. This significantly improves
handover reliability.
 Enhanced security:   The use of spread spectrum and the multiple spreading codes for CDMA
significantly reduces the possibility of eavesdropping, although within GSM eavesdropping of
the transmitted signal was not the problem it was for the original analogue systems where
anyone with a scanner radio receiver could listen to telephone conversations.

Note on CDMA:

CDMA, Code Division Multiple Access, is a multiple access scheme used by many 3G cellular
technologies, and other forms of wireless technology. It uses a process called Direct Sequence
Spread Spectrum where spreading codes are used to spread a signal out over a given bandwidth
and then reconstituting the data in the receiver by using the same spreading code. By supplying
different spreading codes to different users, several users are able to utilises the same frequency
without mutual interference.

Click on the link for a CDMA tutorial

UMTS CDMA format

The data to be transmitted is encoded using a spreading code particular to a given user. In this
way only the desired recipient is able to correlate and decode the signal, all other signals
appearing as noise. This allows the physical RF channel to be used by several users
simultaneously.

The data of a CDMA signal is multiplied with a chip or spreading code to increase the bandwidth
of the signal. For WCDMA, each physical channel is spread with a unique and variable
spreading sequence. The overall degree of spreading varies to enable the final signal to fill the
required channel bandwidth. As the input data rate may vary from one application to the next, so
the degree of spreading needs to be varied accordingly.

For the downlink the transmitted symbol rate is 3.84 M symbols per second. As the form of
modulation used is QPSK this enables two bits of information to be transmitted for every
symbol, thereby enabling a maximum data rate of twice the symbol rate or 7.68 Mbps. Therefore
if the actual rate of the data to be transmitted is 15 kbps then a spreading factor of 512 is required
to bring the signal up to the required chip rate for transmission in the required bandwidth. If the
data to be carried has a higher data rate then a lower spreading rate is required to balance this
out. It is worth remembering that altering the chip rate does alter the processing gain of the
overall system and this needs to be accommodated in the signal processing as well. Higher
spreading factors are more easily correlated by the receiver and therefore a lower transmit power
can be used for the same symbol error rate.

The codes required to spread the signal must be orthogonal if they are to enable multiple users
and channels to operate without mutual interference. The codes used in W-CDMA are
Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factor (OVSF) codes, and they must remain synchronous to
operate. As it is not possible to retain exact synchronisation for this, a second set of scrambling
codes is used to ensure that interference does not result. This scrambling code is a pseudo
random number (PN) code. Thus there are two stages of spreading. The first using the OSVF
code and the second using a scrambling PN code. These codes are used to provide different
levels of separation. The OVSF spreading codes are used to identify the user services in the
uplink and user channels in the downlink whereas the PN code is used to identify the individual
node B or UE.

On the uplink there is a choice of millions of different PN codes. These are processed to include
a masked individual code to identify the UE. As a result there are more than sufficient codes to
accommodate the number of different UEs likely to access a network. For the downlink a short
code is used. There are a total of 512 different codes that can be used, one of which will be
assigned to each node B.

UMTS / WCDMA modulation

- tutorial, or overview of the basics of the UMTS, WCDMA modulation formats
or schemes used

The modulation schemes used within the CDMA signal format have been chosen to optimise the
performance of the overall UMTS, WCDMA system. One major driver that influenced the
choice of the UMTS modulation formats was experience gained from 2G systems. By using a
careful choice of modulation scheme it has been possible to overcome the problems experienced
in 2G. However there many other requirements that need to be met in addition to this.

UMTS modulation schemes

There are several considerations that were taken into account when making the choice for the
overall format for the UMTS WCDMA modulation formats. Some of the considerations were:

 It is necessary to ensure that the data is carried efficiently over the available spectrum, and
therefore maximum use is made of the available spectrum, and hence the capacity of the
system is maximised.
 The modulation scheme should be chosen to ensure that the efficiency of the RF power
amplifier in the handset or UE is made as high as possible. By enabling the power amplifier to be
maximised, less battery power is consumed for the same transmitted power. As battery power is
of particular importance to users, this is a key requirement.
 The modulation format should be chosen to avoid the audio interference caused to many
nearby electronics equipment resulting from the pulsed transmission format used on many 2G
systems such as GSM

As the uplink and downlink have different requirements, the exact format for the modulation
format used on either direction is slightly different.

UMTS modulation schemes for both uplink and downlink, although somewhat different are both
based around phase shift keying formats. This provides many advantages over other schemes that
could be used in terms of spectral efficiency and other requirements.

Note on PSK:

Phase shift Keying, PSK is a form of modulation used particularly for data transmissions. If
offers an effective way of transmitting data. By altering the number of different phase states
which can be adopted, the data speeds that can be achieved within a given channel can be
increased, but at the cost of lower resilience to noise an interference.

Click on the link for a PSK tutorial

Downlink modulation

The UMTS modulation format for the downlink is more straightforward than that used in the
uplink. The downlink uses quadrature phase shift keying, QPSK.

The QPSK modulation used in the downlink is used with time-multiplexed control and data
streams. While time multiplexing would be a problem in the uplink, where the transmission in
this format would give rise to interference in local audio systems, this is not relevant for the
downlink where the NodeB is sufficiently remote from any local audio related equipment to
ensure that interference is not a problem.

Uplink modulation

However the uplink uses two separate channels so that the cycling of the transmitter on and off
does not cause interference on the audio lines, a problem that was experienced on GSM. The
dual channels (dual channel phase shift keying) are achieved by applying the coded user data to
the I or In-phase input to the DQPSK modulator, and control data which has been encoded using
a different code to the Q or quadrature input to the modulator.

UMTS / WCDMA channels

- tutorial, or overview of the basics of UMTS / WCDMA logical, physical and
transport channels.

There are many UMTS channells that are used within the UMTS system. The data carried by the
UMTS / WCDMA transmissions is organised into frames, slots and channels. In this way all the
payload data as well as the control and status data can be carried in an efficient manner.

UMTS uses CDMA techniques (as WCDMA) as its multiple access technology, but it
additionally uses time division techniques with a slot and frame structure to provide the full
channel structure.

A channel is divided into 10 ms frames, each of which has fifteen time slots each of 666
microseconds length. On the downlink the time is further subdivided so that the time slots
contain fields that contain either user data or control messages.

On the uplink dual channel modulation is used so that both data and control are transmitted
simultaneously. Here the control elements contain a pilot signal, Transport Format Combination
Identifier (TFCI), FeedBack Information (FBI) and Transmission Power Control (TPC).

The channels carried are categorised into three: logical, transport and physical channels. The
logical channels define the way in which the data will be transferred, the transport channel along
with the logical channel again defines the way in which the data is transferred, the physical
channel carries the payload data and govern the physical characteristics of the signal.

The channels are organised such that the logical channels are related to what is transported,
whereas the physical layer transport channels deal with how, and with what characteristics. The
MAC layer provides data transfer services on logical channels. A set of logical channel types is
defined for different kinds of data transfer services.

Logical Channels:

Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), (downlink). This channel broadcasts information to UEs
relevant to the cell, such as radio channels of neighbouring cells, etc.

Paging Control Channel (PCCH), (downlink). This channel is associated with the PICH and is
used for paging messages and notification information.

Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH), (up and downlinks) This channel is used to carry dedicated
control information in both directions.

Common Control Channel (CCCH), (up and downlinks). This bi-directional channel is used to
transfer control information.

Shared Channel Control Channel (SHCCH), (bi-directional). This channel is bi-directional and
only found in the TDD form of WCDMA / UMTS, where it is used to transport shared channel
control information.

Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH), (up and downlinks). This is a bidirectional channel used to
carry user data or traffic.

Common Traffic Channel (CTCH), (downlink) A unidirectional channel used to transfer

dedicated user information to a group of UEs.

Transport Channels:

Dedicated Transport Channel (DCH), (up and downlink). This is used to transfer data to a
particular UE. Each UE has its own DCH in each direction.

Broadcast Channel (BCH), (downlink). This channel broadcasts information to the UEs in the
cell to enable them to identify the network and the cell.
Forward Access Channel (FACH),(down link). This is channel carries data or information to the
UEs that are registered on the system. There may be more than one FACH per cell as they may
carry packet data.

Paging Channel (PCH) (downlink). This channel carries messages that alert the UE to incoming
calls, SMS messages, data sessions or required maintenance such as re-registration.

Random Access Channel (RACH), (uplink). This channel carries requests for service from UEs
trying to access the system

Uplink Common Packet Channel (CPCH), (uplink). This channel provides additional capability
beyond that of the RACH and for fast power control.

Downlink Shared Channel (DSCH) (downlink).This channel can be shared by several users and
is used for data that is "bursty" in nature such as that obtained from web browsing etc.

Physical Channels:

Primary Common Control Physical Channel (PCCPCH) (downlink). This channel continuously
broadcasts system identification and access control information.

Secondary Common Control Physical Channel (SCCPCH) (downlink) This channel carries the
Forward Access Channel (FACH) providing control information, and the Paging Channel
(PACH) with messages for UEs that are registered on the network.

Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) (uplink). This channel enables the UE to transmit
random access bursts in an attempt to access a network.

Dedicated Physical Data Channel (DPDCH) (up and downlink). This channel is used to transfer
user data.

Dedicated Physical Control Channel (DPCCH) (up and downlink). This channel carries control
information to and from the UE. In both directions the channel carries pilot bits and the
Transport Format Combination Identifier (TFCI). The downlink channel also includes the
Transmit Power Control and FeedBack Information (FBI) bits.

Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) (downlink). This channel shares control
information to UEs within the coverage area of the node B.

Physical Common Packet Channel (PCPCH). This channel is specifically intended to carry
packet data. In operation the UE monitors the system to check if it is busy, and if not it then
transmits a brief access burst. This is retransmitted if no acknowledgement is gained with a slight
increase in power each time. Once the node B acknowledges the request, the data is transmitted
on the channel.
Synchronisation Channel (SCH) The synchronisation channel is used in allowing UEs to
synchronise with the network.

Common Pilot Channel (CPICH) This channel is transmitted by every node B so that the UEs
are able estimate the timing for signal demodulation. Additionally they can be used as a beacon
for the UE to determine the best cell with which to communicate.

Acquisition Indicator Channel (AICH) The AICH is used to inform a UE about the Data Channel
(DCH) it can use to communicate with the node B. This channel assignment occurs as a result of
a successful random access service request from the UE.

Paging Indication Channel (PICH) This channel provides the information to the UE to be able to
operate its sleep mode to conserve its battery when listening on the Paging Channel (PCH). As
the UE needs to know when to monitor the PCH, data is provided on the PICH to assign a UE a
paging repetition ratio to enable it to determine how often it needs to 'wake up' and listen to the
PCH.

CPCH Status Indication Channel (CSICH) This channel, which only appears in the downlink
carries the status of the CPCH and may also be used to carry some intermittent, or "bursty" data.
It works in a similar fashion to PICH.

Collision Detection/Channel Assignment Indication Channel (CD/CA-ICH) This channel,

present in the downlink is used to indicate whether the channel assignment is active or inactive to
the UE.

UMTS TDD / TD WCDMA

- a summary or tutorial about the basics of UMTS TDD, the time division duplex
cellular technology sometimes called TD WCDMA, part of the UMTS 3G system.

UMTS TDD (Universal mobile telecommunications system - time division duplex) is a growing
cellular technology. Although UMTS TDD or TD WCDMA is not as widely deployed as the
more popular UMTS FDD which is being deployed for the 3G mobile phone systems, UMTS
TDD is nevertheless being widely used and providing a viable service for many applications. In
particular it is being used to provide mobile broadband data services, and other applications may
include its use in providing mobile TV applications. In this way, UMTS is a growing cellular
technology which will be far more widely used in the years to come

TDD - time division duplex

A communications system requires that communication is possible in both directions: to and

from the base station to the remote station. There are a number of ways in which this can be
achieved. The most obvious is to transmit on one frequency and receive on another. The
frequency difference between the two transmissions being such that the two signals do not
interfere. This is known as frequency division duplex (FDD) and it is one of the most commonly
used schemes, and it is used by most cellular schemes.

It is also possible to use a single frequency and rather than using different frequency allocations,
use different time allocations. If the transmission times are split into slots, then transmissions in
one direction take place in one time slot, and those in the other direction take place in another. It
is this scheme that is known as time division duplex, TDD, and it is used for UMTS-TDD.

Note on TDD and FDD duplex schemes:

In order for radio communications systems to be able to communicate in both directions it is

necessary to have what is termed a duplex scheme. A duplex scheme provides a way of
organizing the transmitter and receiver so that they can transmit and receive. There are several
methods that can be adopted. For applications including wireless and cellular
telecommunications, where it is required that the transmitter and receiver are able to operate
simultaneously, two schemes are in use. One known as FDD or frequency division duplex uses
two channels, one for transmit and the other for receiver. Another scheme known as TDD, time
division duplex uses one frequency, but allocates different time slots for transmission and
reception.

Click on the link for more information on TDD FDD duplex schemes

When using a TDD system, there are a number of characteristics that are pertinent for TDD
systems. These characteristics need to be accommodated when developing or using TDD
systems.

 Utilisation of unpaired bands:   Typically there is more traffic in the downlink (network to the
mobile) than in the uplink (mobile to network). Accordingly the operator is able to allocate more
time to the downlink transmission than the uplink. This is not possible with the paired spectrum
required for FDD systems where it is not possible to re-allocate the use of the different bands.
As a result of this, it is possible to make very efficient use of the available spectrum.
 Discontinuous transmission:   In any TDD system it is necessary to switch between transit and
receive. This takes a certain amount of time. Not only does it take time for the mobile and the
base station to change between transmit and receive in terms of ramping up or down the
power, along with the settling of any transients. In addition to this the time is required between
transmit and receive to accommodate the transmission time between the mobile and the base
station. As a result a guard band is required.
 Uplink / downlink interference:   As both uplink and downlink share the same channel there can
be interference between the two transmission directions. To overcome this, base stations are
synchronised to ensure that they do not transmit when an adjacent base station is receiving,
otherwise the better siting and possible higher power level will cause interference.
  Equivalent conditions for uplink and downlink:   As both uplink and downlink use the same
channel, they are subject to the same propagation conditions. With FDD systems using different
frequencies for the uplink and downlink there are significant differences. By using the same
frequency fading conditions can be counteracted more effectively.

UMTS TDD / FDD comparison

While UMTS TDD and UMTS FDD are both specified in the same standard and share very
many properties, there are naturally some differences.

Parameter UMTS TDD UMTS FDD

Multiple access method TDMA, CDMA CDMA

Duplex method TDD FDD

Channel spacing 5 MHz[1] 5 MHz

Carrier chip rate 3.84 Mcps 3.84 Mcps

Time slot structure 15 / 14 slots / frame 15 slots / frame

Frame length (ms) 10 10

Multicode, multislot and

Multirate concept Multicode, and OVSF[2]
OVSF[2]

(1) traffic bursts

Burst types (2) random access burst N/A
(3) synchronisation burst

Coherent based on pilot

Detection Coherent based on midamble
symbols

Uplink: open loop 100 Hz or

Dedicated channel power 200 Hz rate Fast closed loop 1500 Hz
control Downlink: closed loop max 800 rate
Hz rate

Spreading factors 1 .. 16 4 .. 512

Notes
[1] for TD-SCDMA the channel spacing is 1.6 MHz
[2] OVSF = Orthogonal variable Spreading Factor
UMTS TDD within 3GPP

All the standards for UMTS 3G systems have been defined under the auspices of 3GPP - the
third generation partnership project. The standards not only define the FDD systems, but also the
TDD system.

In these specifications, it was the original intent of UMTS that the TDD spectrum would be used
to provide high data rates in selected areas forming what could be termed 3G hot zones.

UMTS TDD details

UMTS TDD uses many of the same basic parameters as UMTS FDD. The same 5 MHz channel
bandwidths are used. UMTS TDD also uses direct sequence spread spectrum and different users
and what can be termed "logical channels" are separated using different spreading codes. Only
when the receiver uses the same code in the correlation process, is the data recovered. In W-
CDMA all other logical channels using different spreading codes appear as noise on the channel
and ultimately limit the capacity of the system. In UMTS TDD, a scheme known as multi user
detection (MUD) is employed in the receiver and improves the removal of the interfering codes,
allowing higher data rates and capacity.

In addition to the separation of users by using different logical channels as a result of the
different spreading codes, further separation between users may be provided by allocating
different time slots. There are 15 time slots in UMTS TDD. Of these, three are used for overhead
such as signalling, etc and this leaves twelve time slots for user traffic. In each timeslot there can
be 16 codes. Capacity is allocated to users on demand, using a two dimensional matrix of
timeslots and codes.

In order for UMTS TDD to achieve the best overall performance, the transport format, i.e. the
modulation and forward error correction can be altered for each user. The schemes are chosen by
the network, and will depend on the signal characteristics in both directions. Higher order forms
of modulation enable higher data speeds to be accommodated, but they are less resilient to noise
and interference, and this means that the higher data rate modulation schemes are only used
when signal strengths are high. Additionally the levels of forward error correction can be
changed. When errors are likely, i.e. when signal strengths are low or interference levels are
high, Similarly higher levels of forward error correction are needed under low require additional
data to be sent and this slows the payload transfer rate. Thus it is possible to achieve much higher
data transfer rates when signals are strong and interference levels are low.
Spectrum allocations for UMTS TDD

Standard allocations of radio spectrum have been made for 3G telecommunications systems in
most countries around the globe. In Europe and many other areas spectrum has been allocated for
UMTS FDD between 1920MHz to 1980MHz and 2110MHz to 2170MHz. For UMTS TDD
spectrum is primarily located between 1900MHz and 1920MHz and between 2010MHz and
2025MHz. In addition to this there are some other allocations around 3 GHz.

UMTS TDD performance

UMTS TDD is able to support high peak data rates. Release 5 of the UMTS standard provides
HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access). The scheme allows the use of a higher order
modulation scheme called 16-QAM (16 point quadrature amplitude modulation), which enables
peak rates of 10 Mbps per sector in commercial deployments. The next release increases the
modulation to 64-QAM, and introduces intercell interference cancellation (called Generalized
MUD) and MIMO (multiple in, multiple out). In combination, these increase the peak rate to 31
Mbps per sector.

3G TD-SCDMA Tutorial
- overview or tutorial of the basics of TD-SCDMA, the 3G UMTS TDD system
that has been widely deployed in China.

TD-SCDMA is an additional TDD version of UMTS. Devised in China, the system provides a
number of advantages in several applications. TD-SCDMA has been adopted as a 3G standard
by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and it is part of the 3GPP UMTS system
being defined in the 3GPP standards.

Much of the initial work for the system was undertaken by the China Academy of
Telecommunications Technology (CATT). Apart from the advantages of the basoc TDD
approach, TD-SCDMA is able to support IP services, and it has been designed to incorporate
new technologies such as joint detection, adaptive antennas, and dynamic channel allocation

While similar in many was to UMTS TDD, TD-SCDMA is has a number of differences and
handsets for the two systems would not be compatible unless the capability for both systems was
specifically built in to them.

TD-SCDMA basics

One of the key elements of TD-SCDMA is the fact that it uses a TDD, Time Division Duplex
approach. As seen with UMTS TDD this has advantages in a number of areas, enabling the
balance to be changed between uplink and downlink to accommodate the different levels of data
transfer. It also has advantages in terms of using unpaired spectrum, spectrum efficiency for
certain loads and it does not require expensive diplexers in the handsets to enable simultaneous
transmission on the uplink and downlink, although transmit / receive switching times must be
accommodated and can reduce the efficiency of the system.

Note on TDD and FDD duplex schemes:

In order for radio communications systems to be able to communicate in both directions it is

necessary to have what is termed a duplex scheme. A duplex scheme provides a way of
organizing the transmitter and receiver so that they can transmit and receive. There are several
methods that can be adopted. For applications including wireless and cellular
telecommunications, where it is required that the transmitter and receiver are able to operate
simultaneously, two schemes are in use. One known as FDD or frequency division duplex uses
two channels, one for transmit and the other for receiver. Another scheme known as TDD, time
division duplex uses one frequency, but allocates different time slots for transmission and
reception.

Click on the link for more information on TDD FDD duplex schemes

As a further advantage, TD-SCDMA uses the same RAN as that used for UMTS. In this way it is
possible to run TD-SCDMA alongside UMTS, and thereby simplifying multi-system designs.

Although UMTS (W-CDMA) and cdma2000 are widely recognized as 3G cellular standards,
TD-SCDMA is equally valid. In fact it has been adopted as the low chip rate (LCR) version of
the 3GPP TDD standard.

TD-SDCMA specification overview

The TD-SCDMA standard provides many advantages. As already mentioned it has many
similarities to W-CDMA, although a summary of the basic features and specification is given
below:

Characteristic Figure

Bandwidth 1.6 MHz

Chip rate per carrier 1.28 Mcps

Spectrum spreading mode DS SF=1/2/4/8/16

 Characteristic Figure

Modulation QPSK

Convolutional codes: R=1/2,1/3

Channel coding
Turbo implemented

Interleaving 10/20/40/80 ms

Super frame 720ms,Radio frame

Frame structure 10ms
Subframe 5 ms

Uplink synchronisation 1/2 chip

Number of voice channels per

48
carrier

Spectrum Efficiency 25Erl./MHz

Total transmission rate provided

1.971Mbps
by each carrier

UMTS WCDMA Handover / Handoff

- tutorial, overview of the basics of handover or handoff within UMTS detailing
hard handover, soft handover, softer handover and inter-RAT UMTS GSM
handover.

Handover or handoff is as important for UMTS as any other form of cellular telecommunications
system. As with any other cellular telecommunications system it is essential that UMTS
handover is performed seamlessly so that the user is not aware of any change. Any failures
within the UMTS handover (or UMTS handoff) procedure will lead to dropped calls which will
in turn result in user dissatisfaction and ultimately it may lead to users changing networks,
thereby increasing the churn rate.

It is worth noting that the two terms UMTS handover and UMTS handoff have the same
meaning. UMTS handover tends is the terminology that tends to be used within Europe, whereas
UMTS handoff is more likely to be used within North America.
UMTS handover types

Within UMTS it is possible to define a number of different types of UMTS handover or handoff.
With the advent of generic CDMA technology, new possibilities for effecting more reliable
forms of handover became possible, and as a result one of a variety of different forms of
handover are available depending upon the different circumstances.

For purely inter W-CDMA technology, there are three basic types of handover:

 Hard handover:   This form of handover is essentially the same as that used for 2G networks
where one link is broken and another established.
 Soft handover:   This form of handover is a more gradual and the UE communicates
simultaneously with more than one Node B or base station during the handover process.
 Softer handover:   Not a full form of UMTS handover, but the UE communicates with more than
one sector managed by the same NodeB.
 UMTS GSM inter RAT handover:   This form of handover occurs when mobiles have to change
between Radio Access Technologies.

Each of the different types of handover is used on different occasions dependent upon the
conditions. Further details of each type of UMTS handover are given in the individual sections
below.

UMTS hard handover

The name hard handover indicates that there is a "hard" change during the handover process. For
hard handover the radio links are broken and then re-established. Although hard handover should
appear seamless to the user, there is always the possibility that a short break in the connection
may be noticed by the user.

The basic methodology behind a hard handover is relatively straightforward. There are a number
of basic stages of a hard handover:

1. The network decides a handover is required dependent upon the signal strengths of the existing
link, and the strengths of broadcast channels of adjacent cells.
2. The link between the existing NodeB and the UE is broken.
3. A new link is established between the new NodeB and the UE.

Although this is a simplification of the process, it is basically what happens. The major problem
is that any difficulties in re-establishing the link will cause the handover to fail and the call or
connection to be dropped.

UMTS hard handovers may be used in a number of instances:

 When moving from one cell to an adjacent cell that may be on a different frequency.
  When implementing a mode change, e.g. from FDD to TDD mode, for example.
 When moving from one cell to another where there is no capacity on the existing channel, and a
change to a new frequency is required.

One of the issues facing UMTS hard handovers was also experienced in GSM. When usage
levels are high, the capacity of a particular cell that a UE is trying to enter may be insufficient to
support a new user. To overcome this, it may be necessary to reserve some capacity for new
users. This may be achieved by spreading the loading wherever possible - for example UEs that
can receive a sufficiently strong signal from a neighbouring cell may be transferred out as the
original cell nears its capacity level.

UMTS soft handover

Soft handover is a form of handover that was enabled by the introduction of CDMA. Soft
handover occurs when a UE is in the overlapping coverage area of two cells. Links to the two
base stations can be established simultaneously and in this way the UE can communicate with
two base stations. By having more than one link active during the handover process, this
provides a more reliable and seamless way in which to perform handover.

In view of the fact that soft handover uses several simultaneous links, it means that the adjacent
cells must be operating on the same frequency or channel as UEs do not have multiple
transmitters and receivers that would be necessary if they were on different frequencies.

When the UE and NodeB undertake a soft handover, the UE receives signals from the two
NodeBs and combines them using the RAKE receiver capability available in the signal
processing of the UE.

In the uplink the situation is more complicated as the signal combining cannot be accomplished
in the NodeB as more than one NodeB is involved. Instead, combining is accomplished on a
frame by frame basis. The best frames are selected after each interleaving period. The selection
is accomplished by using the outer loop power control algorithm which measures the signal to
noise ratio (SNR) of the received uplink signals. This information is then used to select the best
quality frame.

Once the soft handover has been completed, the links to the old NodeB are dropped and the UE
continues to communicate with the new NodeB.

As can be imagined, soft handover uses a higher degree of the network resources than a normal
link, or even a hard handover. However this is compensated by the improved reliability and
performance of the handover process. However with around 5 to 10% of handovers falling into
this category, network operators need to account for it.

Note on the RAKE receiver

A RAKE receiver is a form of radio receiver that has been made feasible in many areas by the
use of digital signal processing, DSP. It is often used to overcome the effects of multipath
propagation. It achieves this by using several sub-receivers known as "fingers" which are given a
particular multipath component. Each finger then processes its component and decodes it. The
resultant outputs from the fingers are then combined to provide the maximum contribution from
each path. In this way rake receivers and multipath propagation can be used to improve the
signal to noise performance.

UMTS softer handover

A form of handover referred to as softer handover is really a special form of soft handover. It is a
form of soft handover that occurs when the new radio links that are added are from the same
NodeB. This occurs when several sectors may be served from the same NodeB, thereby
simplifying the combining as it can be achieved within the NodeB and not require linking further
back into the network.

UMTS softer handover is only possible when a UE can hear the signals from two sectors served
by the same NodeB. This may occur as a result of the sectors overlapping, or more commonly as
a result of multipath propagation resulting from reflections from buildings, etc.

In the uplink, the signals received by the NodeB, the signals from the two sectors can be routed
to the same RAKE receiver and then combined to provide an enhanced signal.

In the downlink, it is a little more complicated because the different sectors of the NodeB use
different scrambling codes. To overcome this, different fingers of the RAKE receiver apply the
appropriate de-spreading or de-scrambling codes to the received signals. Once this has been
done, they can be combined as before.

In view of the fact that a single transmitter is used within the UE, only one power control loop is
active. This may not be optimal for all instances but it simplifies the hardware and general
operation.

Inter-RAT / Intersystem UMTS / GSM handover

In many instances it is necessary for the UMTS radio access network to handover to the 2G
GSM network. These handovers are given a variety of names including Inter-RAT handover as
they are handing over between different forms of Radio Access Technology, Intersystem
Handover, and UMTS / GSM Handover. These handovers may be required for one of a variety
of reasons including:

 Limited UMTS coverage

 UMTS network busy whereas spare capacity is available on GSM network
The most common form of intersystem or inter-RAT handover is between UMTS and GSM.
There are two different types of inter-RAT handover:

 UMTS to GSM handover:   There are two further divisions of this category of handover:

o Compressed mode handover:   Using compressed mode handover the UE uses the gaps
in transmission that occur to analyse the reception of local GSM base stations. The UE
uses the neighbour list provided by the UMTS network to monitor and select a suitable
candidate base station. Having selected a suitable base station the handover takes
place, but without any time synchronisation having occurred.
o Blind handover:   This form of handover occurs when the base station hands off the UE
by passing it the details of the new cell to the UE without linking to it and setting the
timing, etc of the mobile for the new cell. In this mode, the network selects what it
believes to be the optimum GSM based station. The UE first locates the broadcast
channel of the new cell, gains timing synchronisation and then carries out non-
synchronised intercell handover.
 Handover from GSM to UMTS :   This form of handover is supported within GSM and a
"neighbour list" was established to enable this occur easily. As the GSM / 2G network is
normally more extensive than the 3G network, this type of handover does not normally occur
when the UE leaves a coverage area and must quickly find a new base station to maintain
contact. The handover from GSM to UMTS occurs to provide an improvement in performance
and can normally take place only when the conditions are right. The neighbour list will inform
the UE when this may happen.

UMTS handover methodology

The decisions about handover are generally handled by the RNC. It continually monitors
information regarding the signals being received by both the UE and NodeB and when a
particular link has fallen below a given level and another better radio channel is available, it
initiates a handover. As part of this monitoring process, the UE measures the Received Signal
Code Power (RSCP) and Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and the information is then
returned to the node B and hence to the RNC on the uplink control channel.