TAMPERE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Institute of Communications Engineering

TLT-6406 RADIO NETWORK PLANNING

Section 7
Introduction to UMTS
Contents
UMTS overview
Standardisation
Spectrum allocation
Spread spectrum systems
Properties
Advantages
Cellular WCDMA
Power control
Handovers
UMTS network architecture
UMTS radio channel
UMTS radio planning process

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 2

What is UMTS?
Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) is one of
the key members of the 3G telecommunication technologies
designed to offer speech and data services
European choice for the 3G system
Solution for growing mobile capacity needs
System that offers
Interoperability between other telecommunication system
Variable data rates up to 2 Mbit/s (theoretical)
Simultaneous circuit and packet-switched connections
Worldwide roaming?

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 3

Standardisation
Europe US-TDMA US-CDMA

GSM
UWCC CDG
Association
ETSI T1 TIA

2G GSM TDMA cdmaOne

(IS-136)

2.5G GPRS
IS-95

EDGE

3G cdma2000
WCDMA UWC-136 IMT-2000
1x and 3x

3GPP UWCC 3GPP2

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 4

Standardisation bodies
ITU (International Telecommunication Union) started the process
of defining standard for 3G systems IMT-2000
IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications)
Third generation mobile system as defined by ITU
Global recommendation
ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) was
responsible for UMTS standards until 1998 3GPP
3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project)
Joint partnership project of regional standardisation bodies
ARIB, CWTS, ETSI, T1, TTA, and TTC
Produces specification
Radio access network, core network, terminals, services and system aspects
and GERAN

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 5

Spectrum allocation

IMT-2000
TDD IMT-2000 MSS IMT-2000 IMT-2000 MSS
GSM1800 DECT Uplink Uplink TDD Downlink Downlink

Europe
IMT-2000 IMT-2000
PHS Uplink Downlink

Japan
IS-95 IMT-2000 IMT-2000
Downlink Uplink Downlink

Korea
PCS PCS
Uplink Downlink

USA

1800 1900 2000 2100 2200

UMTS-FDD: UL 1920-1980; DL 2110-2170 MHz

UMTS-TDD: UL 1900-1920; DL 2020-2025 MHz

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 6

3G terms
ETSI selected WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access)
for the air interface technology for terrestrial UMTS
UMTS standards provide two different air interfaces
UTRA-FDD mode
UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Frequency Division Duplex
UTRA-TDD mode
UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Time Division Duplex
Separate frequency domains reserved for FDD and TDD
FDD is the scope at this course

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 7

Spread spectrum systems
Spread spectrum communications
Bandwidth of the transmitted signal is considerably larger than
bandwidth of the information signal
Transmission bandwidth does not depends on the information
signal
Direct sequence (UMTS, IS-95, cdma2000)
Frequency hopping (GSM)
Time hopping

Sn Sw Sw Sn
User data Primary Spreading Multipath channel, Despreading Primary
modulation
ε (⋅) noise and interference ε (⋅) = ε −1
(⋅) demodulation

Sn=information signal
Sw=transmitted signal

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 9

Spreading
In DS-CDMA, the spreading is implemented by multiplying the
information signal by spreading code

Bandwidth=User data rate Bandwidth=Chip rate

Chip_rate
Spreading_factor = Spreading
User_data_rate code One spreading code
generator period is called chip

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 10

De-spreading
In the receiver, the despreading operation is carried out by
multiplying the received signal by the same, user specific
spreading code
Soft symbols can be detected after simple integration

Correlator
Bandwidth=Chip rate

INTEGRATOR

Spreading Bandwidth = User data rate

code
generator Code phase

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 11

Example

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 12

Antijamming capability
Interference reduction ratio Processing gain PG =
Bw
Bn
Interference, in
Received signal
before despreading
Transmitted
signal, Sw

Bn
Bw f

Trasmitted signal, Sn
Received signal
after despreading
Interference, iw

f
Transmitted signal, Sn

Received signal
after filtering Interference, iw

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 13

Code division multiple access
Different users separated by different spreading codes
Allows the usage of same frequency domain (resources)
simultaneously frequency reuse factor 1
The properties of the codes define the performance
Crosscorrelation between other users spreading codes with all possible shifts
in the code phases ought to be very small in order to detect the signal
Autocorrelation of each spreading code should be as close to the one of
white noise as possible
Allows multipath diversity (RAKE receiver)
Simplifies channel estimation and synchronisation
Power control has very crucial role in order to prevent blocking!!

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 14

Multipath diversity
Radio channel is time-varying fading channel
Different signal components and delays at different time instants
If the spreading code has low autocorrelation properties, multipath
components delayed by more than one chip duration are
uncorrelated and appear as resolvable paths
In CDMA receiver (called RAKE receiver), these multipath
components are gathered and combined Multipath diversity

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 15

RAKE receiver
Utilises multipath components
Maximal ratio combining
Information about phase and amplitude needed
Consists of bank of correlators
Multipath channel RAKE receiver
c(t − τ 1 )
τ1 a1 a1
FINGER 1
c(t − τ 2 ) ESTIMA-
Modulator τ2 a2 Demodulator a2 TOR

c(t − τ 3 ) A∠φ
τ3 a3 a3 CORRELA-
TOR

Code CodeN (delay1)

generator

FINGER 2

CodeN (delay2)

FINGER N

CodeN (delayN)

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 16

RAKE receiver
RAKE finger delays tuned based on channel impulse response
estimate
Code matched filter
Search finger
Fingers combined with Maximal Ratio Combining method
The optimum method
The performance of RAKE receiver depends on the channel power
delay profile
Maximum path delay difference versus chip time amount of
multipath diversity

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 17

(W)CDMA cellular network
Power control
Since every user is using the same frequency simultaneously in
CDMA, it is essential to keep the transmit powers at the minimum
level to prevent
Blocking of distance users (near far effect in UL)
High other-cell interference problems (in DL)
Mitigates fast fading (of slow moving mobile)
Compensates the changes in propagation conditions
The system performance depends highly on the power control
algorithms!

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 19

Soft handover
Due to the same frequency all over the network, soft handovers are
allowed
A mobile is simultaneously connected to two or more base stations
(soft handover) or to two or more sectors of one base station (softer
handover)
Also a form of diversity (macro diversity)
On the other hand, soft handovers are required, since hard
handovers (as in GSM) would produce extra interference peaks in
the network

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 20

WCDMA parameters in UMTS
DS-CDMA (direct sequence code division multiple access) as air
interface access technology
Carrier spacing 5 MHz with 200 kHz raster
Chip rate 3.84 Mcps
Data rates: 12.2 – 384 kbit/s
Spreading factors: 4 – 512
Multirate and –services
Variable data rates, constant within 10 ms frame
Bandwidth on demand efficient resource usage
multiple services with different variable data rates over one physical channel
10 ms frame with 15 time slots

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 21

WCDMA parameters
Wideband CDMA (not in all environments)
Also, all data (control data, user traffic) is transmitted simultaneously
Raised cosine filter with 0.2 roll-off factor
3 dB bandwidth 4.61 MHz
Nominal channel spacing 5 MHz, minimum 4.4 MHz, 200kHz grid

10
Power / dB

20

30

40
4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10
Frequency / MHz

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 22

Main differences between WCDMA and GSM

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 23

UMTS network architecture
BSS CN

BTS PSTN/ISDN
BSC 3G MSC/VLR 3G GMSC
TC
Um A PSTN PSTN

BTS F
Abis C
PCU D
UE Gb
H
USIM
Gs HLR AuC EIR
IuCS
UTRAN
Gr
Cu
Gf
NodeB RNC Gc

IuPS Gn Gi

ME
NodeB SGSN GGSN Internet/Intranet
Iubis
Uu

Iur

NodeB

NodeB RNC
Iubis

RNC – Radio network controller

Node B ~ base station

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 24

UE, User equipment
USIM (UMTS Subscriber Identity Module) is a smartcard that
contains
Subscriber information
Authentication and encryption keys
Other data, e.g., service profiles
Cu interface is the electrical interface between USIM and ME
ME (Mobile equipment) includes
Terminal adaptation
Mobile termination
Radio termination
Uu is the radio interface

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 25

UTRAN, UMTS terrestrial radio access network
Node B (base station)
Handles the physical layer data and signalling transmission between the UE
and the radio network controller (RNC)
air interface processing (channel coding, interleaving, rate adaptation, spreading etc.)
Iubis interface to RNC
Participates in radio resource management (power control, load control)
RNC (Radio Network Controller)
Takes care of switching and routing the calls to external networks
In charge of the radio resource management (admission, load, congestion,
power, handover control)
Interface to core network (IuPS or IuCS)
Iur interface between RNCs

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 26

CN, Core network
Circuit switched
3G MSC/VLR (Mobile Switching Centre/Visitor Location Register)
3G GMSC (Gateway MSC)
Packet switched
SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node)
GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node)
General
HLR (Home Location Register)
AuC (Authentication Centre)
EIR (Equipment Identity Register)

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 27

Radio channel characteristics
Radio channel
The same radio propagation channel characteristics occur as in
GSM
Angular spread
Multipath propagation
Causes interference in DL due to non-ideal spreading codes
Delay spread and coherence bandwidth
Defines whether the system is narrowband or wideband
Fast fading
Slow fading
Propagation slope

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 29

Narrowband vs. wideband system

Delay spread Coherence UMTS GSM IS-95

[ms] bandwidth
[MHz]

System bandwidth 3.84 0.27 1.25

[MHz]
Macrocellular
Urban 1 0.16 WB NB/WB WB
Suburban 0.5 0.8 WB NB NB/WB
Rural 0.1 1.6 NB/WB NB NB
Hilly 3 0.053 WB WB WB
Microcellular < 0.1 > 1.6 WB NB NB/WB

Indoor 0.01 16 NB NB NB

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 30

UMTS channel impulse response

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 31

UMTS and GSM channel frequency responses

TU3 channel RA3 channel

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 32

UMTS in TU channel
High level multipath diversity achieved

Channel impulse response, TU (typical urban)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2
Correlator gain

Corr 1 Corr 3
Corr 2 Corr 4 Corr 5 Corr 6 Corr 7

Correlator delay

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 33

UMTS in RA channel
Medium/low level multipath diversity achieved

Channel impulse response, RA (rural)

.

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2
Correlator gain

Corr 1
Corr 2
Corr 3
Correlator delay

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 34

UMTS in HT channel
High level multipath diversity achieved

Channel impulse response, HT (Hilly terrain)

.

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Correlator gain

2
1 4
3 5 6 7

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 35

UMTS in microcell channel
Medium/low level multipath diversity

Channel impulse response, microcell

.

0.6

0.4

0.2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2
Correlator gain

Corr 1
Corr 2 Corr 3

Correlator delay

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 36

UMTS in indoor channel
NO multipath diversity

Channel impulse response, indoor

0.2
.

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
Correlator gain

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2

Corr 1

Correlator delay

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 37

UMTS planning process
UMTS planning process
Major planning phases
Dimensioning
Detailed planning
Optimisation
are still valid, but the phases of detailed planning (configuration, topology, code,
and parameter) are changed.

Detailed planning
Dimensioning Optimisation
- Configuration
- Network layout - Verification
- Topology
- Network elements - Parameters
- Code
- Antenna heights - Monitoring
- Parameter

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 39

Dimensioning
Rough estimate about
Network layout and elements
Average antenna heights (in order to define the characteristics of the radio
propagation channel
Hypothetical data used

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 40

Configuration planning
The base station and base station antenna line equipments are defined
As a result, maximum allowable path loss (link budget) defined in both directions
Power budget calculations as main tool
Gains (antenna, amplifiers..)
Losses (cables, filters, combiners..)
Planning margins (slow fading)
New elements in the power budget
Fast fading margin (power control headroom)
Interference margin
Multiple services
Results
Detailed base station configuration
List of antenna line elements
UL and DL path losses for coverage predictions

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 41

Topology planning
Coverage planning could be made separately if network has no
traffic
Mobiles interfere each other more interference margin needed in the
power budget smaller cell ranges
Cell-breathing occurs as a function of load
Thus, coverage and capacity are linked topology planning
The maximum load depends on
The coverage areas
Cell overlapping
Depth of the propagation slope
Base station antenna configuration
Antenna height, direction, beamwidth, tilting

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 42

Topology planning
Due to the dynamic nature of UMTS (WCDMA) network, the network performance has
to be simulated
Coverage predictions used in order to estimate
Coverage overlapping (pilot coverage)
Dominance areas
The performance is estimated using simulations
Maximum traffic and loads
Interference
Analysis of the network
If modifications made, new simulations are required

Simulations Network performance

Coverage predictions analysis
- Traffic distribution
- Pilot coverage -Throughput
- Services
- Coverage thresholds - Handover areas
- Loads (UL and DL)
- Coverage overlapping - Service probabilities
- Interference

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 43

Code and parameter planning
In code planning, scrambling codes are allocated for different cells in downlink
3GPP specifications define altogether 512 primary codes in downlink
Code limitations should not occur
Can be done easily, e.g., with planning tool

In parameter planning, radio interface functionality is optimised

Signalling
Radio resource management
Measurements
Handovers
Power control
All related to idle, connection establishment and connected modes

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 44

Optimisation
In verification phase, call establishments and handovers are tested
Also, coverage and dominance areas must be verified and analysed
due to strong impact on network capacity
Radio interface field measurement tools used

Monitoring contains key performance indicator (KPI) values

related to
Call success rates (failures due to admission control or load)
Drop calls (handovers, lack of coverage, overload
More detailed analysis is based on signalling messages between BS
and MS (e.g., QoS analysing tool at Iub interface)

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 45

Planning environment
Radio network planning must be supported by different SW and
HW tools in different phases
Planning
Planning tool

Measurements
Statistical
Field measurements Protocol analyzer performance indicators

Network plan
Network

NodeB 3G MSC/VLR 3G GMSC PSTN/ISDN

NodeB RNC

SGSN GGSN Internet/Intranet

TLT-6406 Radio network planning 46