Chapter 1

Air Interface Concept for GSM & UMTS

Topics

 Radio Access Methods

 Radio Channels
 Handover & Power Control
 Cell Breathing
 Rack receiver
 Multiple Access Techniques

Objective: To allow several users to share the available air interface resources.

Methods:

FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple Access

TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access
SSMA: Spread Spectrum Multiple Access
Frequency Division Multiple Access

Each user has a unique frequency

Divide available frequency spectrum in to channels of same bandwidth
Used in analog systems like AMPS, TACS, NMT

All users can transmit at the same time

Limitation on :

Frequency
Frequency Re use
Number of subscriber per area
User-5
User-4
User-3
User-2
User-1
Time
 Time Division Multiple Access

 Each user has a unique time slots

 Each channel has a unique position with the time slots
 Frequency is allocated to the user for the duration of one time slot.

 Several users share the same frequency i.e. IS-136, GSM

Frequency

FRAME1 FRAME2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time
Time Slot
 Spread Spectrum Multiple Access

 Each transmitter has a unique

spreading code
 Each data channel has a t
e
unique orthogonal code it m

Power
 Many users share the same

P
frequency and time. i.e IS-95,
CDMA2000, WCDMA Code 3
Code 2
Code 1
frequency f
Spread Spectrum Multiple Access
SSMA: Summary
Duplex Transmission

TDD  FDD
 duplex distance


UL

Time t
Time t

DL
UL DL
UL

DL Frame
with
UL n TS

frequency f
Orthogonality and Correlation of Signals
Correlation Values
Modulation
QPSK: Q
BPSK:
(Q)
01 1 11

I -1 1 I
-1 1
-1
00 10

BPSK, QPSK & 8PSK:

Q 010
8PSK : Amplitude is the same
000 011 for every symbol

Bit/symbol
Bit/symbole.g.:
e.g.:
001 111 PSK: ••GMSK:
I Phase GMSK:11 (GSM)
(GSM)
••BPSK:
BPSK:11 (IS-95)
(IS-95)
denominates
symbol ••QPSK:
QPSK:22 (UMTS)
(UMTS)
110 ••8PSK:
101 8PSK:33 (EDGE)
(EDGE)
••16QAM: 4 (HSDPA)
16QAM: 4 (HSDPA)
100
••64QAM:
64QAM:66 (WLAN)
(WLAN)
Spreading Factor & Processing gain
Processing Gain Examples
 Spreading Factor

1 Bit (symbol)*
User Data 1 0 1 0
Data +1
(converted
to +1/-1) -1

+1
Spreading
Code -1
SF = Rchip / Rdata spread +1
Data
via Air Interface -1

Spreading +1
SF: Spreading Factor Code
SF: Spreading Factor
Rchip: Chip Rate [cps]
-1
Rchip: Chip Rate [cps]
Rdata: Data Rate [symbol/s]
Rdata: Data Rate [symbol/s] +1
(information
(informationrate
rateon
onthe
the Data
air interface)
air interface) -1
User Data 1 0 1 0
SF: Spreading Factor
Channelization Codes in UMTS
DL & UL Channelization Codes
Radio Channels-GSM

GSM has mainly two channel types:

Physical channels: Each timeslot on a carrier is referred to as a
physical channel. Per carrier there are 8 physical channels.
Logical Channels: Variety of information is transmitted
between the MS and BTS. There are different logical
channels depending on the information sent. The logical
channels are of two types
• Common Channels
• Dedicated Channels
GSM Physical Channels

 GSM using both FDMA & TDMA on the air interface

 Each frequency supports 8 time separated physical channels
 A group of 8 timeslots is known as a TDMA frame.

Physical channel parametrs

ARFCN
Time Slot Number

1 TDMA FRAME
200 kHz
4.615 ms
0.577 ms

TS 0 TS 1 TS 2 TS 3 TS 4 TS 5 TS 6 TS 7
GSM Logical Channels

There are two types of logical channels are available

• Traffic Channels
• Control Channels
WCDMA Channels
In GSM, we distinguish between logical and physical channels. In UMTS there
are three different types of channels:
 Logical
 Transport
 Physical

Logical Channels
content is organised in separate channels, e.g.
System information, paging, user data, link management

Transport Channels
logical channel information is organised on transport channel
resources before being physically transmitted

Physical Channels Frames

(UARFCN, spreading code ) Iub interface
WCDMA Physical Channels
WCDMA Physical Channels
WCDMA Downlink (FDD)
 Power Control

 Why Power Control is required?

Power Control

 What is Slow power control?

 What is Fast power control?
Power control (PC) in WCDMA

 Fast, accurate power control is of utmost importance – particularly in UL

• UEs transmit continuously on same frequency  Always interference between
users
• Poor PC leads to increased interference  reduced capacity
 Every UE accessing network increases interference
• PC target to minimise the interference  Minimize transmit power of each link
while still maintaining the link quality (BER)
 Mitigates 'near far effect‘ in UL by providing minimum required power for
each connection
 Power control has to be fast enough to follow changes in propagation
conditions (fading)
 Step up/down 1500 times/second
Power Control
Open Loop Power Control
Closed Loop Power Control
Outer Loop Power Control
Power Control procedure in WCDMA
Radio Propagation
Multipath
Signaling Codes & Multi Path Propagation
RAKE Receiver
Handover Methods
Handover Methods
Soft Handoff Advantage
Soft Handoff Advantage
WCDMA with Soft Handover
WCDMA Softer Handover
Soft Handover Procedure in UMTS
Handover Example
Soft Handover & Micro diversity
Macro Diversity
Soft Handover & Macro-Diversity
Cell Breathing
Soft Handover & Cell Breathing handover
Softer Handover
Key Points for Handover
Key Points for Handover