UNIT-4

WIRELESS WIDE AREA NETWORK

WIRELESS WIDE AREA NETWORK

• Wireless WAN is a wide area network in which separate

areas of cells are connected wirelessly to provide service to
large area.

• It uses large number of specific protocols and topologies.

• It uses various mobile telecommunication cellular network

technologies- UMTS/GSM, CDMA 2000, WIMAX, LTE.
 UMTS Network Architecture
• UMTS- European Proposal for IMT-2000 prepared by
ETSI.
• Represents an evolution from the 2G GSM system  3G
than a completely new system.
• Many solution have been proposed for a smooth transition
from GSM to UMTS, saving money by extending the
current system rather than introducing a new one.
• GMM- Global Multimedia Mobility
• GMM provides an architecture to integrate
mobile and fixed terminals, many different
access networks (GSM, BSS, DECT, ISDN,
UMTS, LAN, WAN, CATV, MBS) and several
core transport network (GSM NSS+IN,
ISDN+IN, B-ISDN+TINA, TCP/IP).
• UMTS network architecture has following
three main entities
– UMTS Core Network (CN)
– UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
(UTRAN)
– User Equipment (UE)
UMTS Network Architecture
 CORE NETWORK
• The UMTS network architecture is partly based on
existing 2G Network component and some new 3G
network components.
• It inherits basic functional elements from the GSM
architecture on the Core network (CN) side.
• The CN provides circuit switched functions as well as
packet switched functions
 UTRAN

• UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network

• It consists of Radio Network Subsystems

(RNSs).
• The RNS has two main elements
– Node B
– Radio Network Controllers (RNC)
 User Equipment

• The MS of GSM is referred as user equipment

(UE) in UMTS. It is enabled with an UMTS
SIM.
 UTRAN-Overview

• UTRAN is a collective term for the Node B’s

and RNCs which make up the UMTS radio
access network.
• This communication network commonly
referred to as 3G, can carry many traffic types
from real time Circuit Switched to IP based
Packet Switch.
• UTRAN allows connectivity between UE and
the CN.
• UTRAN consists of Radio Network
Subsystems (RNSs).
• The RNSs has two main elements
– Node B
– Radio Network Controller.
 Radio Network Controller

• RNC is responsible for control of radio

resources in its area.
• One RNC controls multiple nodes B.
• RNC  Base station controller function in
GSM/GPRS network.
• The major difference is that RNCs have more
intelligence built-in than their GSM/GPRS
counterparts.
• For example RNCs can autonomously manage
handover without involving MSCs and SGSNs
(Serving GPRS Support Node).
 Node B
• The node B is responsible for air-interface processing and
some radio resource management functions.
• The node B in UMTS network provides functions
equivalent to the base transceiver station (BTS) in
GSM/GPRS networks.
• UMTS operates at higher frequencies than GSM/GPRS
and therefore the signal coverage is less.
 Features of UMTS Interfaces

1. Uu

2. Iu

3. Iu-CS

4. Iub

5. Iu-PS

6. Iur
 Uu

• Interface between the user equipment and the

network.
• It is the UMTS air interface.
• The equivalent interface in GSM/GPRS
networks is the um interface.
 Iu

• Iu split functionally into two logical interfaces.

• Iu-ps connecting the packet switched domain

to the access network.
• Iu-cs connecting the circuit switched domain
to the access network.
 Iu-CS

• Circuit-switched connection for carrying voice

traffic and signaling between the UTRAN and
the core voice network.
• The main signaling protocol used is Radio
Access Network Application Part (RANAP)
• GSM/GPRS- A interface.
 Iub

• This is the interface used by an RNC to control

multiple node Bs
• The main signaling protocol used in Node B
Application Part (NBAP).
• GSM/GPRS  A-Bis interface
• Iub interface is the main standardized and open.
 Iu-PS

• This is the packet switched connection for

carrying data traffic and signaling between the
UTRAN and core data GPRS network.
• The main signaling protocol used is RANAP.
• GSM/GPRS  Gb interface
 Iur
• Primary purpose- to support inter-MSC mobility.
• When a mobile subscriber moves between areas served by different
RNCs the mobile subscriber’s data is now transferred to the new
RNC via Iur.
• Original RNC  Serving RNC
• New RNC  Drift RNC

• Signaling Protocol- Radio Network Subsystem Application Part

(RNSAP)
 UTRAN Architecture

• Consists of RNSs

• Two main logical elements : Node B and

RNC.
• RNS is responsible for the Radio resources
and transmission/reception in a set of cells.
• A cell is one coverage area served by a
• The RNC is responsible for the use and
allocation of the radio resources of the RNS.
• The node B is responsible for radio
transmission and reception in one or more
cells to/from the user Equipment (UE)
UTRAN Logical Architecture
 Responsibilities of RNC
• Outer loop power control
• Radio resource management
• Radio resource allocation
• Frame synchronization
• Serving RNS relocation
• Iu setup and Iup termination
• Intra UTRAN handover
• RLC function execution
 Responsibilities of Node B
• Inner loop power control
• Outer loop power control
• Radio channel coding/decoding
• Iub termination
• Termination of MAC, RLC and RRC protocol
• Frequency and time syncronization
• RF processing
• Error detection
 Umts core network architecture

• Figure shows the UMTS Core Network (UCN)

in relation to all other entities within the
UMTS network and all of the interfaces to the
associated networks.
• CN entity – provides voice and CS data
services.
• PS entity – provides packet based services.