WHY UMTS?

3G systems provides a global mobility with wide range of services

There are five main UMTS standardization areas: Radio Access Network,
Core Network, Terminals, Services and System Aspects and GERAN.
UMTS is built on top of the existing GSM infrastructure and integrates both
packet and circuit data transmission.
Unlike GSM, UMTS is mainly based on CDMA scheme and now combines
it with TDMA.
UMTS900 system characteristics
Downlink band (MHz) 925-960
Uplink band (MHz) 880-915
Carrier separation(MHz) 5
Channel raster (KHz) 200
UMTS900 Advantages:
Has a better coverage compared to UMTS at 2100 MHz
UMTS900 offers a considerably more cost efficient solution.
GSM and UMTS will be in co-existence and operated in adjacent channels.
Security features
1-Network access security
User identity confidentiality
Entity authentication
Confidentiality
Data integrity
Mobile equipment identification
2-User domain security:
User-to-USIM authentication
USIM-Terminal Link
3-Application security: Secure messaging between the USIM and the network
4-Security visibility and configurability
Core Network
RNS (Radio Network Subsystem)
RNC (Radio Network Controller)
Node B
Interfaces
Uu Interface (between UE and Node B)
Iu Interface (between CN and RNS)
Iur Interface (between one RNS and another RNS)
Iub Interface (between RNC and Node B)
User Equipment (UE): By which the user can access the network.
1.UMTS Subscriber Identity Module (USIM)
2.Mobile Equipment (ME)

3G (UMTS) Architecture
Main blocks:
Mobile Services Switching Center (MSC)
Visitor Location Register (VLR)
Gateway Mobile Switching Center (GMSC)
Home Location Register (HLR)
Gateway GPRS support node GGSN
Serving GPRS support Node SGSN
GPRS Support Node (GSN)
Operation And maintenance center (OMC)
AAA server and Home Agent

Air Interface
The UTRAN air interface uses QPSK or 16QAM. The modulation chip rate
is 3.84 Mcps.
There are two dedicated physical channels; DPCCH (for control
information) and the DPDCH (for user data).
UMTS Channel structure:
Logical channels define what type of data is transferred.
Transport channels define how and with which type of characteristics the
data is transferred by the physical layer.
Physical channels data define the exact physical characteristics of the radio
channel.

Handover in UMTS
Softer Handover (intra Node B/intra RNS)
Soft Handover (inter Node B/intra RNS)
Soft Handover (inter Node B/inter RNS/intra SGSN)
Soft Handover (inter Node B/inter RNS/inter SGSN)
Hard Handover: All the old radio links in the UE are removed before the
new radio links are established.