Channel Quality Indication (CQI) Application

in HSDPA Simulation

QUN HOU DEXIU HUANG

Dept. of Optical & Elec. Eng. Dept. of Optical & Elec. Eng.
HUST HUST
WUHAN, HUBEI, CHINA WUHAN, HUBEI, CHINA
viphouqun@163.com

Abstract— CQI is the key indicator for HSDPA downlink
channel quality. UE reports CQI and HARQ-ACK feedback info
to Node-B through uplink channel HS-DPCCH. UE estimates the
CQI value through an iterative algorithm taking the
measurements of HS-PDSCH_SIR and CPICH_Ec/No into
account. Besides this the UE probes with varying parameter
values for TB size, modulation type, a reference power setting for
HS-PDSCH and an possible power adjustment value to obtain a
CQI value. This paper gives the methods how to determine SIR
of PDSCH channel, received HS-PDSCH power, the
Measurement Power Offset etc. This is very important for every
HSDPA sub-frame in HSDPA simulations.
Keywords- CQI; HSDPA simulation; WCDMA
II. HSDPA UE FEEDBACK DATA FRAME STRUCTURE (HS-
DPCCH)
The following figure (Figure 1) illustrates the frame
structure of the HS-DPCCH. The HS-DPCCH carries uplink
feedback signaling related to downlink HS-DSCH
transmission. The HS-DSCH-related feedback signaling
consists of HARQ-ACK (Hybrid-ARQ Acknowledgement)
and CQI. Each sub-frame of length 2 ms (3x2560 chips)
consists of 3 slots, each of length 2560chips. The HARQ-ACK
is carried in the first slot of the HS-DPCCH sub-frame. The
CQI is carried in the second and third slot of every HS-DPCCH
sub-frame.

I. INTRODUCTION (HEADING 1) The HARQ-ACK (ACK/NACK) transmission reflects the

results of the CRC check after the packet decoding and also
HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) is a new possible combining with former retransmission.
feature in 3GPP Release 5(WCDMA).It is based on a downlink
shared channel that allows user net-data rates of up to
10Mbit/s. It is designed to support services that require
2 ms sub-frame
instantaneous high rates in the downlink and lower rates on the
uplink. This feature also decreases the level of data T (slot) 2 x T (slot)
retransmissions, in turn allowing the reduction of delivery time. 2560 chips 5120 chips

Several new physical channels are introduced by HSDPA:

HS-SCCH, HS-PDSCH and HS-DPCCH. HS-SCCH is the 1-bit ACK/NACK HARQ-Ack Channel Quality Indicator 5-bit
Indication CQI Value
“High Speed Shared Control Channel”. HS-PDSCH is the (10bits encoded) (20bits encoded)

“High Speed Physical Downlink Shared Channel”, it is the data

channel. HS-DPCCH is the “Uplink Dedicated Control SF=256
Channel” associated with HS-DSCH transmission.
CQI (Channel Quality Indication) is the key indicator
derived by UE for the radio conditions. Node-B will determine HS-DPCCH HS-DPCCH HS-DPCCH HS-DPCCH HS-DPCCH
g
Sub-frame 0 Sub-frame 1 Sub-frame 2 Sub-frame 3 Sub-frame 4
the TFRC (TB size, modulation type and number of spreading g
codes) based on UE’s CQI.CQI is transmitted to Node-B
through HS-DPCCH uplink channel. Slot
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 1 1 1
0 1 2 3 4 g
How UE estimates the Channel Quality and how UE g
transmits the information to Node-B will be discussed in this Radio Frame:
paper. Meanwhile the CQI application in HSDPA simulations T=10ms/38400chips/SFN=mod 4096

will be introduced in this paper as well.

Figure 1. HSDPA uplink HS-DPCCH frame structure

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 III. HSDPA UPLINK DATA CODING CHAIN TFRC represents ‘Transport Format Resource
HARQ-ACK and CQI data are channel coded and then Combination’. TFRC info includes TB size, Modulation Type
mapped onto the physical channel. Both indicator HARQ-ACK and Number of HS-PDSCH’s.
and CQI are processed in parallel as the flows are not directly UE measures the downlink channel quality. UE may
multiplexed but are transmitted at different times onto HS- measure the downlink SIR of the received HS-PDSCH’s if a
DPCCH. The HARQ-ACK is transmitted onto the first slot HS-DSCH was previously allocated. UE also measures the
followed by CQI which is transmitted onto the subsequent2 received quality (Ec/No) of the CPICH in a 3 slot reference
slots. Figure 2 shows the Uplink HS-DPCCH coding chain period ending one slot before the start of the first slot in which
Two forms of channel coding are used, one for the channel the CQI value is transmitted.
quality information (CQI) and another for HARQ-ACK. UE estimates the CQI value through an iterative process
The HARQ-ACK message (1 bit) to be transmitted is coded taking the measurements of HS-PDSCH_SIR and
to 10 bits. In case of ACK, 10 times repetition of ‘1’ is coded CPICH_Ec/No into account. Besides this the UE probes with
and in case of NACK, 10 times repetition of ‘0’ is coded. varying parameter values for TB size, modulation type, a
reference power setting for HS-PDSCH and an possible power
The CQI is coded using a (20,5) code. The code words of adjustment value to obtain a CQI value. The result considering
the (20,5) code are a linear combination of the 5 basis the used modulation type, transport channel block size etc.
sequences Mi, n with n=1…5.The meaning of (20,5) is that the shall sustain a BLER<=10%.
code codes 5 input bits to 20 code-bits, thus 5 data bits are
channel coded to 20 code-word bits. This is a lot of redundancy Figure 3 illustrates the CQI reporting principle, the up-
and therefore provides for a quite good error protection. down arrows indicate which input parameters are tunable in
order to reach a BLER<=10%. The reference power adjustment
HARQ-ACK ǻ indicates a possible reduction of the HS-PDSCH
1 bit transmission power as the downlink channel quality exceeds
the possible range and physical capability of the UE.
Channel Coding
ACK: 1111111111 10
NACK: 0000000000 bits
CPICH HS-PDSCH’s
Physical Ec/No SIR
Channel
Mapping
TB Size CQI
Channel Coding
Value
(20,5) Code 0--30
Yes
HS-DPCCH Modulation Type
CQI (256,hs) BLER_P
5 bits 20 bits
No. of spreading codes <=10%?

Figure 2. Uplink HS-DPCCH coding chain

P (HS-PDSCH’s)
IV. CQI REPORTING PROCESS
As being depicted previously, UE reports HARQ-ACK and
CQI through uplink HS-DPCCH channel. How UE derives the Reference Power No
CQI value will be mentioned in this chapter. Adjustment 

The estimation of CQI is a difficult task for the UE, a

iterative algorithm might be implemented in UE to derive the Re-adjust parameters and start again
CQI value. The motivation of CQI reporting is to give the
MAC-hs in Node-B an indication about the actual channel
transfer capacity. The MAC-hs in Node-B may take the CQI
Figure 3. CQI report process
value into account for deriving the TFRC for UE’s next HS-
DSCH transmission. By a certain CQI value, MAC-hs in Node- V. CQI TASK
B is informed about:
• TFRC info: The CQI value consists of a recommended
Based on the last HS-DSCH data transfer and the current TFRC provided by the UE to Node-B. When a UE
DL channel quality a new data transfer with transport block reports a particular CQI, it is reporting that, for the
size X, number of HS-PDSCH’s and modulation Z would be current radio conditions, the UE is able to receive data
possible. Hereby it is guaranteed, that the BLER probability is with a transport format corresponding to the reported
less or equal 10%. CQI, and lower CQI’s, at single-transmission BLER
probability no greater than 10%, taking the total
received HS-PDSCH power of

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 P(HSPDSCH)=P(CPICH)+ī+ǻ(in dB) into account. If
S-CPICH is used as reference, the power offset is with
respect to the S-CPICH used by the UE; otherwise the
P-CPICH is the reference.
• Out of Range Signaling: For the current radio
conditions and measurement power offset ī, if the UE
cannot support the minimum CQI (CQI =1) at BLER
probability <=10%, then the UE reports CQI=0, which
indicates an “out of range” condition to the Node-B.
• Power Reduction Factor ǻ: To ensure that no UE
indicates a transport format exceeding its capabilities,
an HS-PDSCH power reduction factor value ǻ (also
known as reference power adjustment) is used to
indicate radio conditions beyond the highest transport
format. The power reduction factor ǻ should be
interpreted such that the UE is able to receive data with
the highest supported transport format assuming
P(HSPDSCH)=P(CPICH)+ī+ǻ.
• Measurement Power Offset ī: The measurement
power offset ī is signaled to the UE using RRC
signaling. It indicates a positive or negative offset of
the HS-PDSCH power compared to the received
CPICH power.
• CQI Reporting Cycle: The frequency of the CQI
reports as well as the sub-frame offset during which
UE transmits CQI is controlled by RRC signaling and
HS-DSCH transmission. Lower frequency cycles are
intended for use for certain (or all) UE’s when they
have low activity and/or relatively static channel and/or
low capability and/or whenever uplink loads on the
Node-B have to be regulated.
VI. CQI APPLICATION
Within the HSDPA simulations, CQI estimation is the main
step for every HSDPA sub-frame.
The Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) can be estimated at
the UE as:
CQI = ¬10 ⋅ lg( SIR HS − PDSCH ) + 4 . 5 ¼ (1)
The SIRHS-PDSCH can be determined as:
Prx, HS − PDSCH ⋅ 16
SIRHS − PDSCH =
α ⋅¨P
§ ·
− Prx, HS − PDSCH ¸ + α SC ⋅ Prx, int racell, + Prx , int ercell + N UE
c
©
rx , int racell ,
int er − SC ¹ int ra − SC
The factor 16 in the above formula reflects the spreading
factor of the HS-PDSCH, Note that for CQI estimation all HS-
PDSCH are considered to be on the same code tree as the
PCPICH,
Since the transmission power for the HS-PDSCH can be
determined as
Ptx ,HS − PDSCH = Ptx, PCPICH ⋅ Γ ⋅ ∆
The received HS-PDSCH power can be estimated as:
Ptx, HS − PDSCH = Ptx, PCPICH ⋅ Γ ⋅ ∆ = RSCPPCPICH ⋅ Γ ⋅ ∆ (4)
The reference power adjustment ǻ is considered to be
0.0dB for the complete CQI determination.
About the determination of the Measurement Power Offset
ī, In general, the measurement power offset ī is signaled by
higher layers to the UE. It must, however, in the simulation be
exactly determined. This can be done by calculating Ptx, HS-
PDSCH and evaluating its difference to Ptx,PCPICH:
Ptx , HS − PDSCH
Γ= (5)
Ptx , PCPICH
Ptx,PCPICH of a cell is a configuration parameter and thus
known. Ptx,HS-PDSCH is, like the HSSCCH transmission power
Ptx,HS-SCCH, part of the total HSDPA transmission power
Ptx,HSDPA.
In order to determine Ptx,HS-PDSCH, Ptx,HSDPA is to be
determined. Ptx,HSDPA depends hereby on the cell's HSDPA
power mode. Furthermore, Ptx,HS-SCCH is needed. Ptx,HS-SCCH will
change every sub-frame due to possibly different scheduled
UEs. Consequently, the measurement power offset ī must also
be determined freshly for every sub-frame.
When the HSDPA power mode PCPICHOffset is applied,
ī can be calculated as:
Ptx , HSDPS − Ptx, HS − SCCH ,last _ frame
Γ=
Ptx , PCPICH
Ptx , HS − SCCH ,last _ frame
(6)
= PCPICHOffset −
Ptx , PCPICH
The value PCPICHOffset is exactly defined as the
IN HSDPA SIMULATION difference between the Ptx,HSDPA and Ptx,PCPICH. It is a
configuration parameter for every cell.
When the HSDPA power mode Residue is applied, ī can
be calculated as:
Ptx , HSDPS − Ptx , HS − SCCH ,last _ frame
Γ= (7)
Ptx , PCPICH
VII. CONCLUTION
(2)
CQI reflects quality of the downlink HSDPA channel HS-
PDSCH, UE reports HARQ-ACK and CQI to Node-B through
uplink channel HS-DPCCH. UE estimates the CQI value
through an iterative process. CQI has 5 tasks as reporting
TFRC info, Measurement Power Offset ī etc. The methods of
HSDPA simulation parameter determination are reported in
this paper. Through the analysis of CQI characteristic, The
simulation method includes the calculation of SIR of PDSCH
channel, received HS-PDSCH power, the Measurement Power
Offset etc. This is very important for every HSDPA sub-frame
(3)
in HSDPA simulations.
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