What is link adaptation?

Select the most suitable coding scheme accroding to the current

channel quality.
Objective:
The objective of link adaptation is to achieve maximum
throughput by selecting a suitable coding scheme instantaneously

two algorithms for link adaptation (i.e. choosing the

most suitable coding scheme for transmission) are
discussed. The first one is based on the estimated C/I
(ECI) of the transmission and the second one on block
error rate (BLER).
• The results of the study indicate that algorithms based on
estimated C/I are superior to those based on block error rate.
• Two algorithms have been discussed in this thesis:
• --BLER-based algorithm: the parameter used to estimate the
• channel quality is the Block Error Rate (BLER). The BLER at
• intersections are taken as the thresholds and they are calculated
• as:
• --CIR-based algorithm: the parameter used to estimate the
• channel quality is the Carrier-to-Interference (CIR) instead.
 EGPRS Link Adaptation

• Link adaptation is working on the Air-interface between MS and BTS

and is controlled by the PCU in BSC
• In wireless networks the quality of the connection can change from very good to very
poor in short time
• EGPRS has nine different Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS-1 – MCS-9) in
order to optimize the performance in different radio conditions. All coding schemes
have different amount of robustness and error correction.
– When user bit rate is low, robustness is high (e.g. MCS-1)
– When user bit rate is high, robustness is low (e.g. MCS-9)
• Two modulations are used:
– GMSK (Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying) for MCS-1 – MCS-4
– 8-PSK (8-Phase Shift Keying) for MCS-5 – MCS-9
– Automatic selection of most suitable MCS is called link
adaptation. The selection is based on link quality measurements
Bit error probability (BEP)

• BEP is an enhancement to the channel quality measurements .

It was shown that BEP estimates the channel quality better than RxQual in
varying channel conditions such as frequency hopping and varying mobile
speed.
In the EGPRS communication system, the bit error probability is an
important feature of the transmission performance. Each Radio Link
Control (RLC) block of the EGPRS system is encoded and modulated
according to the nine normal modulation and coding schemes (i.e., MCS-1,
MCS-2, MCS-3, MCS-4, MCS-5, MCS-6, MCS-7, MCS-8, MCS-9). To optimize
the throughput, the EGPRS communication system provides a link
adaptation algorithm to select a proper modulation and coding scheme
based on a channel quality report.