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.

3G network principle diagram

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.

GSM network elements

 The GSM radio access network called BSS (Base Station Subsystem) consists of the following
elements:
• BSC (Base Station Controller) is responsible for radio path and radio resource management.
• BTS (Base Transceiver Station) is the network radio terminal forming the air interface that the
MSs (Mobile Stations) use for network access and communication purposes.
• TCSM (Transcoding and Sub-Multiplexer Unit) is the channel coding converter making it
possible to use more effective channel coding within the BSS (transcoding), and thus enables
saving in transmission costs (through sub-multiplexing).

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.

Adding value to GSM networks

 The GSM Technical Specifications define certain interfaces, which make it possible to add
some value to the system. Through these interfaces, the operators connect the Value Added Service
(VAS) platform(s) into use. A typical VAS platform consists of two elements: Short Message Service
Centre (SMSC) and Voice Mail System (VMS).
The Short Message Service (SMS) has proven its potential in commercial use. Originally, the
SMS was not seriously considered as a service at all and thus it was very cheap to use. However (and
partly surprisingly), the subscribers adopted this service and nowadays a remarkable share of the traffic
in the GSM networks is SMS based.
Another issue is the capacity offered. In this phase the capacity of the network is (normally)
drastically increased, and a clear difference between the analogue and digital technology in this respect
becomes evident.

Adding value with GSM phase2+ and IN services

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.

Evolving GSM to packet core

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.

Evolving towards to the universal mobile network - 3G

 This phase introduces new wideband radio access technology, which, in the beginning, roughly
equals the bit rates the EDGE concept is able to provide. The new radio access require new network
elements in the radio network: RNC (Radio Network Controller) and BS (Base Station) The BS is
referred to as Node B in the 3GPP specifications. The new radio access introduced in this phase is,
however, utilising the frequency spectrum more efficiently; the data flow and its bit rate is not
dependent on time slots any more. When the radio access method was planned, the packet type of
traffic was especially considered.

Duplex transmission

There are two common ways to realise duplex transmission:

• Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)

In this case, frequency resources are allocated to the mobile communication system. Some of
the frequency bands are allocated to uplink communication only, while other frequency bands are used
for downlink communication. In other words duplex transmission is enabled by using different
frequency bands, meaning that uplink and downlink are separated by frequency.
• Time Division Duplex (TDD)
In this case, one carrier frequency band is used for uplink and downlink communication. The
transmission is organised in time frames. Within in each time frame, some time resources are used for
uplink transmission, while the remaining ones are used for downlink transmission.

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

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.

Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA)

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.

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

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)

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

There are several spread spectrum system designs:

In direct sequence spread spectrum we spread or code the message we want to send by directly
multiplying it with a large bandwidth user-specific code called the spreading sequence.
Frequency hopping spread spectrum utilises the large system bandwidth by periodically
changing the carrier frequency of the narrowband message according to a user-specific sequence.
Time hopping spread spectrum uses a user-specific sequence to key the transmitter on and off at
equal duration time segments. Unlike GSM, there is no user-specific timeslot.
The direct sequence (DS) spread spectrum method is used in both the 2nd generation CDMA
systems (that is, IS-95) and in the new 3rd generation Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) (UMTS and
cdma2000).
In a spread spectrum system all the users are in the same frequency band. The frequency band is
not divided in time to the users as in GSM. All users may send at the same time at will. The user’s
information is spread over the whole frequency band with a user-specific pseudo-noise (PN) signal, the
spreading code. The transmitted signal occupies a much wider bandwidth than would be necessary to
send the information. The bits in the spreading code are called chips.
In a multiple access environment, we will have at the receiver our spread spectrum signal
summed with the other user signals. Our receiver will decode the original message fine as long as the
noise caused by the other signals present is not too high. This is why we can say that each user is
sharing a pool of power in the system.

Features of WCDMA in UMTS

1. Efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum

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.

2. Limited frequency management

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

3. Low mobile station transmit power

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.

4. Uplink and downlink resource utilisation independent

Different bit rates for uplink and downlink can be allocated to each user. CDMA thus supports
asymmetric communications such as TCP/IP access.

5. Wide variety of data rates

The wide bandwidth of WCDMA enables the provision of higher transmission rates.
Additionally, it provides low and high rate services in the same band.

6. Improvement of multipath resolution

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.

7. Statistical multiplexing advantage

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.

8. Increased standby time from higher rate control channels

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.