Cell search procedure

WCDMA asynchronous system

Goal of search process
Synchronize to the system
Demodulate PCCPCH (Primary Common
Control PHY Channel)
Procedure initiated every time the
phone is turned on
Subdivided into four steps
Acquisition of slot synchronization
Acquisition of frame synchronization
Determination of the PrSC
Resolution of the PCCPCH TTI ambiguity (TTI =
20ms)
If the acquired system is the home
system end of the procedure
If the acquired system in not the home
system procedure may be restarted


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Note 1. To demodulate PCCPCH the UE
Needs to determine proper PrSC and
proper code offset
Note 2. There are 512 codes and 38400
possible offsets size of search space is
~ 20 million possibilities
Note 3. Four step process allows for quick
pruning of the search space

Step 1 TS synchronization
Accomplished through the search for P-SCH (Primary Synchronization
Channel)
P-SCH uses 256 bit long code at the beginning of each time slot
Each TS is 0.67ms (15 TS make 10ms frame)
All cells (Node Bs) in the network use the same P-SCH code

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P-SCH radio frame
UE may receive P-SCH
from multiple cells
It will key on the
strongest one

Step 3: PrSC identification
There are 512 PrSC arranged in 64 groups with 8 codes in each group
S-SCH points to one of 64 groups reducing the search to 8 PrSC candidates
PrSC is 38400 long and it is aligned with the beginning of the radio frame
By convolving single radio frame with 8 possible candidates, the mobile determines
PrSC of the cell


3
PrSC establishes the cell
identity. Once mobile
determines the PrSC it can
decode the information
associated with a given cell
Step 4: Decoding of PCCPCH
Broadcast channel (BCH) is sent over PCCPCH in 20 ms TTI
BCH aligned with beginning of every other frame
Mobile determines the beginning if PCCPCH through simple CRC checks
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Once PCCPCH is decoded, the mobile has acquired the system and it may register
Note: BCH is the only transport channel mapped to PCCPCH