UMTS Release 99
UMTS Release 99
The UMTS radio interface solutions are based on the multiple access principle CDMA. CDMA
stands for Code Division Multiple Access. In UMTS Release 99, CDMA is applied on 5 MHz carrier
frequency bands. This is the reason, why in some areas of the world, UMTS is called Wideband CDMA
(WCDMA).
Two radio interface solutions were specified with UMTS Release 99:
• The FDD-mode combines CDMA with frequency division duplex, i.e. uplink and downlink
transmission are realised on separate 5 MHz frequency carriers
• The TDD-mode combines CDMA with time division duplex, i.e. uplink and downlink are made
available of the same 5 MHz frequency carrier, separated by time.
UE = User Equipment
RAN = Radio Acces Network
CN = Core Network
NMS = Network Management System
The multiple access method used between the User Equipment (UE) and the RAN (Radio
Access Network) is called Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA).
In GSM, we use TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) as the transmission method between the
different network elements. For UMTS, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) has been chosen as the
transmission method in the radio access network. The basic difference between TDM and ATM is that
in TDM, we use timeslots for conveying information between network elements. In ATM, on the other
hand, the data is transmitted in cells (packets) of fixed size across the network. (An ATM cell has 48
octets of payload, 5 octets of headers.)
3G network management layers
The radio resource management (RRM) is completely covered between the RAN and the user
equipment (UE) and it involves managing how the channels are allocated. The core network (CN)
domains control the mobility management (MM), session management (SM) and call control layers.
The functions depend on whether the core network domain is the CS (circuit switched) or PS (packet
switched). The higher-layer functions performed between the UE and CN are often called
communication management (CM). The CM entity covers the topics like call control (CC),
supplementary services (SS) and short message service (SMS).
The 3G network will have the means and readiness for data transfer in all forms. The traffic to
be delivered through 3G can be divided into two categories: Circuit Switched and Packet Switched.
The circuit switched traffic normally has a high real-time requirement (that is, no delay or the delay
occurring must be constant). Normal speech and video phoning are examples of this kind of traffic. The
packet switched traffic normally does not have such exact real-time requirements, and a good example
of this kind of traffic is an Internet connection. Based on this traffic division, the services generating
traffic are either Real-Time (RT) or Non-Real-Time (NRT) services.
NSS (Network Switching (Sub) system), the switching part of the GSM network, contains the
following elements:
• MSC (Mobile Switching Centre) performs the traffic path connections and is responsible for the
majority of the connection management related entities.
• VLR (Visitor Location Register) contains subscription and security information of the active
subscribers located in the radio network part. The nature of the data the VLR contains is not
stable: when the subscribers change their location(s), the VLR data changes respectively.
• HLR (Home Location Register) is the static data storage of the subscription information. The
HLR also contains the subscriber location information, but the accuracy of this information is
on the VLR level.
• AC (Authentication Centre) maintains security information of the subscriptions.
• EIR (Equipment Identity Register) maintains security information related to the mobile
equipment, not to the subscription.
Fraud management is a very essential issue for the operators. For this purpose, the basic GSM
has two registers: AuC and EIR. However, these registers cannot guarantee that the subscribers pay
their bills.
IN (Intelligent Network) is maybe the most common and flexible way to create a service called
Prepaid, where the prepaid customers have their own account (paid in advance) with a call credit
balance. During each call the account balance is regularly checked. When the balance is ‘0’ it is not
possible to establish any calls. Naturally, the subscribers are able to buy more airtime, thus increasing
their account balances.
The Intelligent Network has the following advantages:
• Possibility to differentiate and compete with services.
• Customer segmentation from the operator’s point of view.
• Better utilisation of the service platform: VAS (Value Added Service) components used in IN
services.
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is the way to transfer packet data over the GSM air
interface. This requires HW/SW changes in the existing network elements, and some new elements as
well. The term IP backbone refers to the part of the network handling packet switching and connections
to the Internet and other data networks. The basic packet switched data core consists of two major
elements: SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) and GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node). In
addition to these, the IP backbone contains other routers, firewall servers, and DNS (Domain Name
Server).
Increasing speed with EDGE
Within the existing knowledge and technology, it is possible to further enhance the transferred
bit rates up to the level of 384 kb/s for circuit switched services, and to a level of up to 473 kb/s for
packet switched services. This is achieved by introducing a new modulation scheme (8PSK), combined
with sophisticated coding methods over the air interface. These methods are backward compatible with
the existing GSM methods, and they form a concept called EDGE (Enhanced Data rates in GSM
Environment). Please note that issues like availability of timeslots, and transmission quality, affect the
bit rates that can be obtained.
Duplex transmission
Different broadcasts in the same geographical region could be heard by using different radio
frequencies. That is the idea behind the FDMA; the frequency range is broken down into unique
bandwidths and distributed to the users. FDMA is used in cellular communications. One frequency to
speak on and one to listen on; thus we have duplex communications. That way multiple users can
operate in a particular frequency spectrum.
The same frequency can be used multiple times in the same geographical region. The advantage
to this technology is increased network capacity. The easiest way for FDMA broadcasters to increase
their coverage area is to increase their transmitting power. However, increased power causes
interference problems and increases the distance before a frequency can be reused. SDMA can increase
coverage by adding more cells. Modern cellular uses higher frequencies and lower power. This causes
less interference and reduces the frequency reuse distance.
Although this was a big capacity improvement, it soon ran into its limits. The network planners
made a few modifications to this design to increase capacity. One solution was to reduce the cell size
even further and to add more cells to fill in the newly created uncovered areas. A second alternative
was to add another frequency to the existing cell, so that two calls could be placed from the same cell.
Both of these solutions, however, did not overcome the basic limit of one call per frequency.
The next step in providing greater network capacity was not only to divide frequencies into
different cells, but also to divide this frequency into different slices of time. Originally, the frequency
could only carry one conversation, but with the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology,
multiple users could carry on conversations using the same frequency in the same cell or space.
That is the idea behind TDMA; dividing the frequency into multiple time slices so that multiple
users can access the same frequency at the same time.
The commercially available products associated with this new technology are Digital Advanced
Mobile Phone Service (D-AMPS) and Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM). D-AMPS
was introduced in the late 1980s, and GSM became available in 1990. These two products are not
compatible. D-AMPS is a digital overlay to the existing analogue system AMPS for the purpose of
increasing capacity. GSM is standalone product with a digital format at its core.
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) also uses digital format. In CDMA systems, several
transmissions via the radio interface take place simultaneously on the same frequency bandwidth. The
user data is combined at the transmitter’s side with a code, then transmitted. On air, all transmission get
mixed. At the receiver’s side, the same code is used as in the transmitter’s side. The code helps the
receiver to filter the user information of the transmitter from the incoming mixture of all transmissions
on the same frequency band and same time. This is often represented by layers, as can be seen in the
figure below.
In contrast to classical FDMA and TDMA systems, the same carrier frequency band can be used
in neighbouring cells. Frequency reuse factor in CDMA is one.
In direct sequence CDMA, the transmission takes place continuously. If one user data bit has to
be transmitted from the transmitter (e.g. the mobile phone) to the receiver (e.g. the base station), a
certain amount of energy is required. The amount of energy depends on the distance of the transmitter
from the receiver, the obstacles in the transmission path, etc. The energy can be represented like a
“box” having specific volume. The energy/volume is constant - but the dimensions of the box can be
change.
In UMTS, the frequency band is constant. The other two dimensions, power and duration for the
transmission, are subject to change. A high data rates means many bits in one second, so the duration
for each information bit is short. Consequently, the output power for each bit must be high to keep the
box’s volume at a specific, constant level. If the data rate goes down, less information bits are
transmitted in one second, and therefore the duration of one information bit is longer. If the energy for
the transmission of the information bit has not changed, the volume of the box is the same.
Consequently, less output power is required at the transmitter’s side.
Spread spectrum and the principle of direct sequence CDMA
Different technologies, which improve the spectrum usage, are easy to apply to CDMA. E.g. in
GSM, one physical channel is dedicated to one user for speech transmission. If discontinuous
transmission is applied, several timeslots of the physical channels are not used. These timeslots cannot
be used otherwise. In UMTS, the transmission of several mobile phones takes place on the same
frequency band at the same time. Therefore, each transmission imposes interference to the
transmissions of other mobile phones on the same carrier frequency band. UMTS supports
discontinuous transmission via the radio interface. Consequently, if mobile phones are silent, when
there is nothing to transmit, the interference level is reduced and therefore the radio interface capacity
increased. Another option allowed in
UMTS is the multiplexing of packet switched traffic with circuit switched traffic. If there is no
speech to transmit for a subscriber, the silent times are used for packet switched traffic.
CDMA uses the same frequency in adjacent cells. There is no need for the FDMA/TDMA type
of frequency assignment that can sometimes be difficult. This is the main reason for increased radio
interface efficiency of WCDMA
With advanced receiver technologies, CDMA can improve the reception performance. The
required transmit power of a CDMA mobile phone can be reduced as compared to TDMA systems. In
the FDD mode, where bursty transmission is avoided, the peak power can be kept low. Continuous
transmission also avoids the electromagnetic emission problems caused by pulsed transmission to, for
example, hearing aids and hospital equipment.
The wide bandwidth of WCDMA enables the provision of higher transmission rates.
Additionally, it provides low and high rate services in the same band.
The wide bandwidth of WCDMA makes it possible to resolve more multipath components than
in 2nd generation CDMA, by using a so-called RAKE receiver. This assists in lowering the transmit
power required and lowers interference power at the same time. The result is further improved
spectrum efficiency.
The wideband carrier of the WCDMA system allows more channels/users in one carrier. The
statistical multiplexing effect also increases the frequency usage efficiency. This efficiency drops in
narrowband systems with fast data communications, because the number of the users on one carrier is
limited.
The wideband carrier can enhance the transmission of the control channels. The MS only listens
to the control channels part of the time, thereby increasing the standby time.