Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

Cellular System:
Advantages of Digital
Technology

In the following section, we will discuss the principle of cellular system and the
advantages of it moving towards digital technology.
There are three different generations as far as mobile communication is
concerned as discussed below:
1.

First Generation (1G)

2.

Second Generation (2G)

3.

Third Generation (3G)

First Steps & First Generation (1G)

The first generation, 1G, is the name for the analogue or semi-analogue
(analogue radio path, but digital switching) mobile networks established after the
mid-1980s, such as Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) and Advanced Mobile Phone
System (AMPS). These networks offered basic services for the users, and the
emphasis was on speech and services related matters. 1G network were mainly
national efforts and very often they were specified after the networks were
established. Due to this, the 1G network was incompatible with each other.
Mobile communication was considered some kind of curiosity, and it added value
service on top of the fixed networks in those times.

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2.1

Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

The following figure describes the First Generation Communication System:

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Fig. 1 First Generation Communication System.

The history of mobile communication starts with the transmission of information

via High Frequency (HF) in the late 19th century. Even after HF speech
transmission became possible in the first decade of the 20th century, it needed
further 40 years, before the first mobile networks for private user started
operation.

2.1.1

Simplex / Duplex Transmission

Simplex transmission means to be a communication "one-way street".

Transmission in only one direction (to or from the mobile user) is possible at a
certain time. Simplex transmission is used e.g. for radio and TV transmissions.
Simple mobile communication systems use the so-called Semi-Duplex
Transmission, i.e. at a certain time it is only possible to transmit data in one
direction, but the direction can be changed (used in ancient mobile systems and
walkie-talkies). Duplex transmission is used for simultaneous, bi-directional
information exchange. Modern telecommunication systems are based on duplex
transmission.

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Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

2.1.2

Single Cell Systems

The first mobile networks offering duplex transmission car phone telephone
service to private user started operation in the late 1940's in the USA and in
Europe during the 1950's. These systems have been created as Single Cell
Systems. Single Cell Systems provide service in the service area (cell) of several
Base Stations BSs, but every cell is far remote from others to prevent
interference between different users (resulting in disruption of the connections).
Every single cell was totally independent from the others.
This caused the several problems, for example:
low system capacity
no "Handover" possible
no seamless service areas
no call toward the mobile user without knowledge of his current location
The following problems were also encountered by the first mobile services:
poor service and speech quality
manual switching (operator needed)
heavy, cumbersome, massive, expensive equipment (only for car phone)

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Single Cell Systems have been used until the m1990's, becoming less and less
important with the introduction of the cellular systems at the end of the 1970's.

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Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

Cellular system is illustrated in the following figure:

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Fig. 2 Single Cell System

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Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

2.1.3

Principle of Cellular Systems

According to a cellular principle a large number of Base Stations (BS) that

provide full service coverage, their cell areas overlap each other significantly. To
prevent interference between subscribers using the same frequency, only part of
the available frequency range is used in a cell. The same frequency range is only
permitted to be used in another cell sufficiently distant from this first cell (re-use
distance).
The area in which the entire "set of frequencies" is once used is known as the
cluster. The number of calls that can be made at the same time in a particular
area is no longer determined by the available frequency range but by the size of
the available cells.
Cellular Systems are the prerequisite for:

Cellular Systems were tested in many countries at the end of the 1970's. In 1979,
AMPS started commercial operation in the USA and the Nippon Telegraph &
Telephone Company - Mobile Telephone System (NTT-MTS) in Japan. Both
systems operated in the 800-MHz range. In the beginning of the 1980's, the NMT
system was launched in the 450-MHz range and later in the 900-MHz range in
the Scandinavian countries.
NMT was the first cellular system allowing International Roaming. In 1985 the
Total Access communication System (TACS) was introduced in Great Britain in
the 900-MHz range. Some of the European Countries where NMT and TACS
Systems were introduced in the 450- MHz range are:
Italy: The RTMS system.
Germany: The C450 system
France: The Radiocom2000 system
The introduction of the cellular system principle for mobile communication in the
late 1970's made it possible to increase the number of mobile subscriber from
less than 1 million world-wide to more than 500 million between 1980 and 2000.

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Roaming
Handover
Enhanced network capacity

Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

The following figure explains the principle of cellular system:

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Fig. 3 Principle of cellular systems

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2.1.4

Limitations of the 1G

Cellular 1G systems transfer analog information over the radio or air interface.
Shortly after introduction of the first "analog" mobile communications systems, it
became evident that the exponential growth in subscriber numbers in mobile
communications would quickly saturate the capacity. A further problem entailed
the frequently poor speech quality and service availability of the "analog"
systems.

2.2

Second Generation (2G) Mobile Systems

2.2.1

2G Cellular Systems

Global System for Mobile Communication ( GSM )

In 1990 the GSM Standard was ratified as first 2G standard. Commercial
operation of GSM systems started in late 1991. Originally planned as a European
system, GSM spread all over the world, serving 2/3 of all mobile subscriber in
2001. The GSM radio interface uses FDD for duplex transmission and
FDMA/TDMA for multiple access. GSM systems are existing in the 900, 1800 and
1900 MHz frequency range.
Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System ( D-AMPS)
D-AMPS (also refered as IS-136 or US-TDMA) was conceived in 1991/1992 in
America as an enhancement of the 1G AMPS standard. The D-AMPS radio
interface uses FDD for duplex transmission and FDMA/TDMA for multiple access.
The 800-MHz band (824-849/869-894 MHz) is used in conjunction with AMPS.
D-AMPS was extended in 1995 to the 1900-MHz frequency range. AMPS and
D-AMPS serves some 10% of the world-wide mobile subscriber in 2001.
Japanese Digital Cellular ( JDC) /Personal Digital Cellular (PDC)
PDC, originally titled as JDC is used in Japan only. Commercial operation started
in1993/1994. The PDC radio interface uses FDD for duplex transmission and
FDMA/TDMA for multiple access. PDC is used at the 900-MHz band
(810-826/940-956 MHz) and 1500-MHz band (1429-1441, 1501-1513). In 2001
some 70 million subscriber used PDC in Japan.

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The large numbers of historically evolved, incompatible analog standards in

Europe at the end of the 1980's also represented a barrier in a converging
European market. As early as the beginning of the 1980's it became clear that a
new, uniform cellular system/standard at European level had to be developed.
The first system in the so called second mobile communications generation (2G)
deriving from this initiative was the GSM Standard. The 2G systems differs from
the 1G system in the respect that the 2G systems transmit digital information.

Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

Interim Standard-95 ( IS-95 )

IS-95 CDMA was developed at the beginning of the 1990's on the basis of CDMA
technology. Commercial operation started 1995. The IS-95 radio interface uses
FDD for duplex transmission, which is different to GSM, D-AMPS, and PDC.
CDMA for multiple access frequencies in the 800-MHz and 1900-MHz bands are
used globally and also in the 1700-MHz band in Korea. IS-95 CDMA are used all
over the world, serving some 100 million subscriber in 2001.

2.2.2

Development of the GSM Standard

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In 1978, the Confrence Europene des Postes et Tlecommunication (CEPT)

reserved 2 x 25 MHz in the 900-MHz band for a future European mobile
communications system. A team of experts the Groupe Special Mobile (GSM)
was set up in 1982 to develop this standard. The objective was to create a
binding, international standard for cellular mobile communications systems in
Europe. In 1988, the new-founded European Telecommunication Standard
Institute (ETSI) took over standardization work and finished work on the standard,
which has been re-named to Global System for Mobile communication (GSM).
The standardization of GSM900 and GSM1800 is finished in year 1990 and 1991
respectively. Commercial operation started late 1991. In the following 10 years,
GSM became the quasi-world standard for mobile communication, serving some
2/3 of all mobile subscriber in 2001 (some 550 million).
GSM Adaptations / The GSM family
GSM 900 : 890 - 915 for up link and 935 - 960 MHz for down link. effectively
2 x 25 MHz used world-wide.
E-GSM: Extended GSM. An additional 2 x 10 MHz can be made available in
EGSM on national decision. 880 - 915 MHz / 925 - 960 MHz, 2 x 35 MHz.
GSM1800, formerly Digital Cellular System (DCS1800): 1710 - 1785 MHz
/ 1805 - 1880 MHz, effectively 2 x 25 MHz used world-wide.
GSM1900, formerly Public Cellular System (PCS1900): 1850 - 1910 MHz /
1930 - 1990 MHz, effectively 2 x 60 MHz. Developed especially for the
American market.
GSM Railway (GSM-R): 876 - 880 MHz / 821 - 825 MHz, effectively 2 x 4
MHz. GSM-R is the GSM adaptation for railway systems.
GSM450: 450.4-457.6 MHz / 460.4-467.6 MHz, effectively 2 x 7.2 MHz
GSM480: 478.8-486 MHz / 488.8-496 MHz, effectively 2 x 7.2 MHz. GSM450
& GSM480 have been defined to re-use 1G frequency ranges by GSM.
GSM850: 824-849 MHz / 869-894 MHz, effectively 2 x 25 MHz. GSM850 has
been defined to replace North American 1G AMPS systems by GSM.

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Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

2.2.3

GSM Evolutionary Concept

The GSM Standard was originally intended to include all specifications on its
ratification. However, in 1998 it became clear that not all planned services and
half rate speech could be offered within the specified deadlines. This led to a
crucial decision that GSM was not to be declared as a closed, immutable
standard, and need to be further developed in phases. This evolutionary concept
provides flexibility for modifications and technical innovations and allows GSM to
be adapted to market requirements and the latest technical developments.
GSM Phase 1
The standardization ratified in 1990 for GSM900 and in 1991 for GSM1800 is
referred to as GSM Phase 1. Phase 1 of the implementation of GSM systems
includes all central requirements for the transmission of digital information.
Speech data transmission is of core importance. Data transmission is likewise
defined at rates of 0.3 to 9.6 kbit/s. GSM Phase 1 has only a few Supplementary
Services (SS) such as call forwarding and barring.
Work on GSM Phase 2 was completed in 1995. In this phase, supplementary
services, in particular, with features comparable to ISDN were added to the
standard. Technical improvements were also specified such as half-rate speech.
An important aspect of Phase 2 was the declaration of downward compatibility
i.e., all Phase 2 networks and terminal equipment must retain compatibility with
the Phase 1 networks and terminal equipment.
GSM Phase 2+
Phase 2+ indicates ongoing development. The GSM Standard will not be fully
revised; instead, individual topics can be separately treated. The Standard has
been updated annually since 1996 (Annual Releases '97 '99). The current
topics relate to new supplementary services, services for special user groups,
improved voice codecs, IN applications and high data rate services.
The milestones in GSM evolution are explained in the following figure:

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GSM Phase 2

Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

Fig. 4 Evolution of GSM

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Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

2.2.4

Advantages of the Digital Transmission

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1.

Network Capacity: Compression of digitized speech information can

considerably increase the capacity of mobile communication networks.
Speech compression must be weighed against a reduction in speech quality
however. Compression in speech from 64 kbit/s (digital fixed network
transmission) to 2.4 13 kbit/s is used in the different 2G systems for
transmission over the air interfaces.

2.

Security Aspects: Unlike analog signals, digital information can be very

easily ciphered, preventing unauthorized eavesdropping of user data.

3.

Supplementary Services: Digital data transmission greatly simplifies the

transfer of signaling information thereby allowing the introduction of a wide
range of supplementary services not confined to just pure speech and data
transmission.

4.

Cost Factor : Digital devices are less expensive to produce than analog
devices thanks to better options for the use of large-scale integrated
microelectronic components. Purchasing costs, as well as operating and
maintenance costs, are lower and opened the way for the 2nd generation to
the mass market.

5.

Miniaturization: Microelectronics for digital information transmission allows a

HW reduction that is relatively simple compared to analog HW elements. In
this way, the size and weight of Mobile Stations MS could be reduced very
much from 1G to 2G, allowing turning over from car phone to handhelds. The
weight of handhelds decreased during the 1990's from more than 500g to
less than 100g.

6.

Transmission Quality: During transmission across the air interface the

signals experience considerable fading, distortion and corruption. Digital
signals can be treated easily with redundancy, can be better regenerated and
offer therefore significantly better transmission quality than analog signals.
Analog signals can only be amplified (including all disturbances).

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Mobile communication followed the trend set in fixed networks in the mid-1980's
under the term Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). Following are several
advantages that are correlated with the introduction of 2G digital transmission:

Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

The following figure explains the Advantages of the digital transmission:

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Fig. 5 Advantages of Digital data transmission

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Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

2.3

Third Generation (3G)

The third generation, 3G, is expected to complete the globalisation process of the
mobile communication. Again there are national interests involved. Also some
difficulties can be foreseen. Several 3G solutions were standardised, such as
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), cdma2000, and Universal
Wireless Communication-136 (UWC).

The system to be developed must be fully specified (like GSM). The

specifications generated should be valid world-wide.
The system must bring clear added value when comparing to the GSM in all
aspects. However, in the beginning phase(s) the system must be backward
compatible at least with GSM and ISDN.
Multimedia and all of its components must be supported throughout the
system.
The radio access of the 3G must be generic.

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The 3G system UMTS is mostly be based on GSM technical solutions due to two
reasons. Firstly, the GSM as technology dominates the market, and secondly,
investments made to GSM should be utilised as much as possible. Based on this,
the specification bodies created a vision about how mobile telecommunication will
develop within the next decade. Through this vision, some requirements for
UMTS were short-listed as follows:

Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

2.4

Basic UMTS

2.4.1

The UMTS PLMN (UMTS Phase 1)

The UMTS PLMN as defined in UMTS Rel. 99 consists of the following:

Core Network functional units from GSM Phases 1/2 (MSC, VLR, HLR, AC,
EIR)
GPRS functional units (GGSN & SGSN)
CAMEL functional units: CSE (gsmSSF & gsmSCF)
The radio component, UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN).

2.4.1.1

UMTS-specific extensions / modifications

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The Core Network (CN) needs only minor modifications to introduce UMTS. A
number of protocols need to be extended, for example, to enable transfer of the
new UMTS subscriber profiles. In a similar manner, the corresponding registers
have to be extended in order to save the data. Another modification is the
relocation of the transcoding TC function (for speech compression) in the CN.
The TC function is needed together with an interworking function (IWF) for
protocol conversion between the A and Iu interfaces.
The main differences between GSM (Phase 2+) and UMTS are due to the new
principles of radio transmission (WCDMA instead of FDMA/TDMA). UTRAN, as
the radio transmission component of UMTS, is therefore the main modification.
UTRAN is connected to the Core Network (CN) via the Iu interface.
Circuit-switched data is transferred by UTRAN via the Iu(CS) interface to the
MSC/VLR, while packet-switched data is transferred via Iu(PS) to the SGSN.

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Fig. 6 UMTS Phase 1

2.4.1.2
UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN)
The introduction of the UMTS radio transmission component UTRAN is
connected with the introduction of new network elements and interfaces.
The UTRAN network elements are as follows:
Radio Network Controller (RNC). UTRAN is divided into individual areas
known as Radio Network Systems (RNS). Each RNS, to which a flexibly
definable number of UMTS cells belong, is controlled by a RNC. An RNC is a
central unit for switching data in UTRAN and for formatting the data for
transport over the UMTS radio interface. An RNC is also solely responsible
(independent from the CN) for all radio-based decisions: autonomous Radio
Resource Management (RRM). The functionality of an RNC is comparable
with that of a GSM BSC. However, its functions are designed for greater
autonomy and are adapted for compliance with the new radio interface.
Node B. One or more Node B's are controlled and addressed by an RNC. A
Node B is a physical unit for implementation of the UMTS radio interface. As
a central transmission and reception site, it serves one or more UMTS cells
(an omni cell with 360 service or, for example, 2, 3 or 6 sector cells with
180, 120 and 60 service respectively).

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Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

The UTRAN interfaces are as follows:

Uu interface: The Uu interface provides the UMTS radio interface and
connects Node B with the UMTS user equipment (UE).
Iu interface: The Iu interface connects an RNC with the CN i.e., with the
MSC/VLR and SGSN.
Iub interface: Connects an RNC with the Node B's that it controls.
Iur interface: Connects different RNC's together. It has no equivalent in GSM
and is due to a handover method (known as soft handover) not typical in
GSM.
Uu, Iu, Iub and Iur are open interfaces i.e., specified in the UMTS
Recommendations. They use different transmission methods from GSM.

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Fig. 7 UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN)

2.4.1.3
Overview: The UMTS (Phase 1) PLMN
The UMTS PLMN is based on a GSM PLMN extended during UMTS introduction
by the Phase 2+ features "GPRS" and "CAMEL". The UMTS-specific
modifications to the CN required during the UMTS introductory phase (e.g.,
TC/IWF between Iu and A interfaces) are minor and therefore reduce the costs
and minimize the risks associated with UMTS implementation.

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Overview of UMTS Technology and its Evolution

The introduction of the UTRAN network elements RNC and Node B along with
the UMTS user equipment (UE) and the connecting interfaces (Iu, Iur, Iub and
Uu) are specific to UMTS. These interfaces use different GSM transmission
principles. Uu uses the CDMA method for transmission, the GSM radio interface,
Um, uses FDMA/TDMA. Iu, Iur and Iub are based on ATM transmission, while
their GSM equivalents (where existing) use TDM (Time Division Multiplexing).
The UMTS UE is based on the same principles as the GSM MS's in other
words, separated into ME and UMTS SIM cards (USIM). The UMTS UE, in
particular during the UMTS startup phase, may have dual mode functionality
(UMTS & GSM) or even multimode functionality (UMTS & GSM & MSS or
MC-CDMA,...).

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BSS and UTRAN, both serviced by the same CN, may even possibly co-exist.
This will be of great advantage, particularly in the startup phase of UMTS. UMTS
can be introduced in financially attractive hot spots and gradually expanded.
Nonetheless, with dual mode UE (UMTS & GSM) services can be provided from
the very beginning of UMTS operation throughout the widespread service areas
of GSM.

Fig. 8 UMTS Phase 1 Summary

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