UMTS Technology, RF Planning &

Optimization
Military College of Signals, National University of Science & Technology,
Islamabad , Pakistan
30th April 2013

By,
Dr. Adnan A. Khan
Tariq Mumtaz
Usman Qureshi
Training Schedule
Start End
Session Time Time Speaker Module Duration Session contents/details

Module A 9:00 9:30 Dr. Adnan A. Khan Spread Spectrum Technology & Introduction to UMTS &
30 Minutes WCDMA

Module B 9:35 10:25 Dr. Adnan A. Khan 50 Minutes UMTS codes & Technical details of WCDMA, HSDPA,
HSUPA and HSPA
1st Tea Break 10:25 10:45 20 Minutes

UMTS Architecture, Protocols, Network Elements,

Module C 10:45 0:00 Usman Qureshi 1:15 Minutes Services, and RF Design (Parameter, coverage, capacity,
frequency and code planning)

Module D 0:00 13:00 Tariq Mumtaz 1:00 Minutes Network Dimensioing + Capacity issues + brief practical
overview of various 3G networks around the world
Lunch 13:00 14:15 1:15 Minutes

Major UMTS Algorithms, RAKE receiver phenomenon,

Module E 14:15 17:00 Usman Qureshi 2:00 Minutes
Call setup, and UMTS optimization Basics

2nd Tea
17:00 17:20 20 Minutes
Break
Optimization practical aspects, UMTS Call setup details,
Module F 17:20 18:30 Tariq Mumtaz 1:10 Minutes UMTS RF Optimization KPIs, Real world Optimization
issues and resolution
UMTS Architecture, Protocol stack,
Services & RF Design
UTRAN Logical Architecture

Core Network
2 separated domains: Circuit Switched (CS) and Packet Switched (PS) which reuse the
infrastructure of
GSM and GPRS respectively.
UTRAN UMTS Radio Network
new radio interface: CDMA
new transmission technology: ATM
Network Element Function

RNC: Radio Network Controller

Main Functions of this Intelligent part of UTRAN System includes;
- Radio resource management (code allocation, Power Control, congestion control, admission control)
- Call management for the users
- Connection to CS and PS Core Network
-Radio mobility management

Node-B
A Node-B can be considered, as first approximation, like a transcoder between the data received by
antennas and the data in the ATM cell on the Iub.
- Radio transmission and reception handling
- Involved in the mobility management
-Involved in the power control

An RNS (Radio Network Subsystem) contains one RNC (Radio Network Controller) and at
least one Node-B.
UMTS Global Services

A Radio Bearer is the service provided by a protocol entity (i.e. RLC protocol) for transfer of data
between UE and UTRAN.
Radio bearers are the highest level of bearer services exchanged between UTRAN and UE
Radio bearers are mapped successively on logical channels, transport channels and physical
channels (Radio Physical Bearer Service on the figure)
Radio Access Bearers

The RAB provides confidential transport of signaling and user data between UE and CN with the
appropriate QoS.
Protocols in UTRAN

The Radio protocols

Used to process the data sent on the air and for the signaling between UTRAN and the UEs

NAS Signaling
Signaling between a UE and the Core Network. Typically, the Authentication and the Location

Important Radio Protocols

RRC: Radio Resource Control
RLC: Radio Link Control
MAC: Medium Access Control
Radio Channels, Protocols & Network Elements

The radio protocols are responsible for exchanges of signaling and user data between the UE and the
UTRAN over the Uu interface.

User plane protocols

These are the protocols implementing the actual Radio Access Bearer (RAB) service,
i.e. carrying user data through the access stratum (EXAMPLES 1,2 and 4).

Control plane protocols

These are the protocols for controlling the radio access bearers and the connection between the UE and the
network from different aspects including requesting the service, controlling different transmission
resources, handover & streamlining etc...
Also a mechanism for transparent transfer of Non Access Stratum (NAS) messages is included.
Radio protocol stack
Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer

Call management
RRC connection establishment/release (initial access)
Radio Bearer establishment/release/reconfiguration (in the control plane and in the user plane)
Transport and Physical Channels reconfiguration
Radio mobility management
Handover (soft and hard)
Cell and URA update
Paging procedure
Measurements control (UTRAN side) and reporting (UE side)
Outer Loop Power Control
Control of radio channel ciphering and deciphering
Radio Link Control (RLC) layer

RLC Connection Establishment/Release in 3 configuration modes:

transparent data transfer (TM): without adding any protocol information.

unacknowledged data transfer (UM): without guaranteeing delivery to the peer entity (but can detect
transmission errors).

acknowledged data transfer (AM): with guaranteeing delivery to the peer entity. The AM mode provides
reliable link (error detection and recovery, in-sequence delivery, duplicate detection, flow Control, ARQ
mechanisms).
Medium Access Control (MAC) layer
Physical Layer
UMTS RF Design Methodology

Marketing Requirements Rollout Strategy

(products and services) (priorities and schedule)

Coverage & Capacity

Requirements

Traffic/Service Maps

Automated Planning
Site Selection-Pre Surveys
Tools
RF Planning (tool based)

Design Optimisation
Feedback to Improve

Preliminary Design
Review and Fine Tuning
Design Process

Site Surveys

Final Design Review

and Fine Tuning

Pre-launch optimisation
(tuning)
WCDMA has changed radio network planning
WCDMA technology has set new requirements to radio network planning
Multiservice environment (CS, PS) with different service requirements
WCDMA has a strong impact on radio interface management and thus also
GSM-based radio network planning principles and planning and measurement
tools need updates
WCDMA air-interface: Capacity and coverage coupled, Fast power control,
Planning a soft handover overhead, Cell dominance and isolation, Vulnerability
to external interference
All the WCDMA cells can use the same frequency -> reuse = 1
Also wideband nature of WCDMA (5 MHz) compared to GSM (200 kHz)
imposes new criteria in modeling the propagation environment.
In GSM
Coverage is planned separately after network is dimensioned
Capacity and frequency planning is executed simultaneously
In WCDMA
Coverage and capacity are planned simultaneously
Capacity requirements and traffic distribution affect coverage
Frequency and code planning can be executed separately
Radio Network Planning Strategies for UMTS
Network
WCDMA generally operates in the frequency band of 2100 MHz, which is
greater than traditional GSM/DCS, hence higher the frequency greater will be
the penetration losses .
Similarly for achieving higher user data rates require better signal quality,
Eb/No,
hence deduced that radio propagation in WCDMA is not
equivalent to GSM.

In low traffic areas, WCDMA planning is quite similar to GSM planning as the
load does not have a great impact on coverage
In high traffic areas, unlike for GSM, there is no clear split between coverage,
interference and capacity planning of WCDMA,
hence extra costs will be required for installations of new
WCDMA base stations.
RF Design Planning Phase

The overall radio network planning goal is to maximize the coverage and capacity while meeting the
key performance indicators (KPIs) and quality of service (QoS).

Distribution of traffic between voice and data should be estimated at each base station coverage as
accurately as possible.

Location of users should be known as exactly as possible (hard to forecast).

Regional traffic hot spots should be identified.

Base station locations should be selected so that they are on the traffic hot spots.
RF Design Dimensioning Phase

Link budgets are used to determine the required Eb/Io, maximal allowable
path loss and consequently the cell radius.
Link budgets should be calculated for both Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL), in
order to find out which link is restricting the cell size.
WCDMA Coverage & Capacity Planning

Objective for coverage is to obtain the ability of the network to ensure availability
of services in the entire service area.
WCDMA coverage planning can be done as in GSM by using pathloss information
and prediction models such as Okumura-Hata if there is no other traffic (one user
only) and thus no interference in the radio network.
Maximum load or capacity of the WCDMA network depends on the coverage area
(cell overlapping, depth of propagation slope, etc.), base station locations, antenna
configurations (height, direction, beam width, tilting, etc.).
Traffic expectation is important input, but also difficult to define.
Service coverage performance should be specified on a per service and per clutter
basis for indoor, outdoor, and in-car environments.
Service quality objectives are defined in terms of call blocking probabilities applied
to speech, circuit switched data, and packet switched data.
WCDMA Code & Frequency Planning
Main task for network planning is allocation of scrambling codes for the
downlink
512 primary scrambling codes (0-511) to separate cells in DL direction
In the uplink there are several million scrambling codes available.
Example scrambling code planning criteria
Same scrambling code and frequency with nearby WCDMA cells should be
avoided
One GSM cell should not have two or more neighbor WCDMA cells with same
frequency and scrambling code -> code reuse distance
Frequency planning has minor importance as compared with GSM
Usually a WCDMA operator has 3 x 5 MHz (UL & DL) carriers
Possible to use different cell layers (macro, micro, pico/indoor) in different
carriers
One should aim to use the minimum number of codes in the system whilst
achieving the required C/I.
Intra- and inter-operator Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI) problems should
be examined and solved
WCDMA Parameter Planning

The purpose of planning parameters is to optimize the usage of radio network

and to fully utilize the planned coverage and capacity

Parameters are planned together with coverage and capacity planning

Radio resource management (Admission, Load, Power, Handover control,
Packet scheduling)
Measurements
Idle mode camping
Connection establishment
Connected mode

Common channel (CPICH, P-CCPCH etc) powers are important

Interlink between Coverage, Capacity and
Quality

In order to increase the quality in UL,

We need to;

Decrease the error ratio at Node B Level

So we have to increase the SIR at Node B level
In that case, UE will use more power

Impacts will be;

Increase in the UL interference

Hence decreasing the cell size
And resulting in the decreasing in the cell capacity
UMTS RAN Resource Dimensioning
UMTS QoS Classes

3GPP TS 23.107 V.4.4.0 (2002-03)

Channel Element ( CE)

Channel Element is the fundamental Base band processing Element. CE

resource are in common pool of Node B for all cells.
Different Services requires different Baseband processing elements,
higher Data Rate services are expensive in terms of CE resource
requirement.

RAB CE ( UL) CE ( DL)

Voice 1 1
Video 3 2
PS 64K 3 2
PS 128K 5 4
PS 144K 5 4
PS 384K 10 8
Downlink Transmit Power

NodeB have limited Down Link transmitted Power. Total Power is distributed
in mainly two categories:
1. Common Control Channels which serves mainly for signaling
2. Dedicated Channel which serve mainly to provide required QoS
1. RT: Real Time Services
2. NRT: Non Real Time Services
Channelization Code
The channelization codes used for spreading are Orthogonal Variable
Spreading Factor (OVSF) codes that preserve the orthogonality between a
user's physical channel.
Transmission (Iub)

TXN resources required to fulfill the requirement for O&M Bandwidth,

Common Channel signaling Bandwidth & Dedicated traffic Bandwidth. Iub
resources are in common pool of Node B all cells.
Usually IP transport Layer is used at Iub Interface.

RAB Iub BW Required ( Kbps)

Voice 22
Video 90
PS 64K 84
PS 128K 164
PS 144K 190
PS 384K 488
Admission Control
In CDMA networks the 'soft capacity' concept applies: each new call increases
the interference level of all other ongoing calls, affecting their quality. Therefore
it is very important to control the access to the network in a suitable way (Call
Admission Control - CAC).
3GPP TR 25.922 V3.7.0 (2002-03)

1. CN requests RNC for establishing a RAB

indicating QoS parameters.
2. According to QoS parameters the requested
service is assigned a type of service.
CAC is performed according to
the type of service.
3. Resources are allocated according to the
result of CAC.
4. Acknowledgement is sent back to CN
according to the result of CAC.
Sublayers are configured accordingly.
Admission Control
Load Control
The task of Load Control is to monitor, detect, and handle situations in which
the system reaches a preventive state or an overload situation with the users
already connected.
Load Control
UMTS RRM Algorithms &
RF Optimization
UMTS Radio Resource Management
According to the measurement report and actual resource, RRC Layer will make
decision to allocate the radio resources.
Through signaling, RRC Layer will send this decision to Layer 2, Layer 1 or UE to
execute it.
Fundamental procedure of radio resource management
Measurement control & Measurement reporting at UE, NodeB, RNC
Judgment
Execution

Measurement control
The RNC informs the UE of measurement objects, neighboring cell list, reporting
mode, and event parameters.
Measurement report
The UE sends the measurement report to the RNC when the triggering conditions
are satisfied.
RRM Algorithms in a WCDMA network

Power Control
RNC Admission Control
Handover
Load Control
Packet Scheduling

Node Node Node Power Control

B B B
Load Control

Power Control
WCDMA Handover Procedure & Types

In terms of signaling:
Soft handover (softer handover)
Hard handover
In terms of source cell and target cell attributes:
Intra-frequency handover
Inter-frequency handover
Inter-mode handover (FDD <-> TDD)
Inter-RAT handover (UMTS <-> GSM/CDMA2000)
WCDMA Handover Comparison
Soft & Hard handover

Comparison Soft Handover Hard Handover

Number of Radio links in the active
Multiple One
set after Handover

Service Interruption due to

No Yes
Handover

Cell frequency before and after Cells of the same Cells of the same frequency, different
Handover frequency frequencies, or different systems

Soft handover & Softer handover

In the softer handover, the maximum ratio combination is performed on the
uplink signals at the Node B.

In the soft handover, the selection combination is performed on the uplink

signals at the RNC. As the gain of maximum ratio combination is larger than the
gain of selection combination, the softer handover is better than the soft
handover.

Because the combination of the softer handover is performed at the Node B,

the transmission resources on the Iub interface are saved.
Power Control (Near Far Effect)

Near-far effect occurs in the uplink. If all the subscribers in the cell transmit signals to the BS with the
same power, then the signals of the MS near the BS are strong while the signals of the MS far from the
BS are weak. In such a case, the weak signals will be masked by the strong signals.

Therefore, on the basis of ensuring QoS for subscribers, how to effectively control power, how to
reduce the transmit power as much as possible, and how to reduce the system interference and
increase the system capacity are the key to WCDMA technologies.
Power Control Types
Uplink power control
Open loop power control
Closed loop power control
Inner loop power control
Outer loop power control

Downlink power control

Open loop power control
Closed loop power control
Inner loop power control
Outer loop power control

The objective of open loop power control is to provide the estimates of the initial transmit power.

The objective of closed loop power control is to rapidly adjust the power in the uplink/downlink during
the communication period.

The inner loop power control is to converge the received SIR to the target SIR by controlling the
transmit power of physical channels.

The outer loop control mechanism is to dynamically adjust the SIR target value of the inner loop
control, so as to ensure that the communication quality always meets the requirements.
Other RRM algorithms in a WCDMA network

Admission Control

Performs checks so that a new connection does not sacrifice planned coverage area or
existing connections.
Not admitted if the resulting total interference level exceeds threshold.

Congestion Control

Reject any power-up commands from UE

Drop calls in a controlled fashion (soft-dropping)
Reduce target for fast power control
Reduce the throughput of packet data traffic
Handover to another WCDMA carrier or to GSM
Rake Receiver

A Rake receiver is capable to decode several signals simultaneously in the so called fingers and to
combine them in order to improve the quality of the signal or to get several services at the same time.

The components of the multi-code signal are demodulated in parallel each in one finger of the Rake
Receiver.
The outputs of the fingers:
can provide independent data signals
can be combined to provide a better data signal(s)
 Rake receiver Functionality
RAKE Receiver
Finger Circuit
RX Finger Circuit Combiner
Combined
Signal
Finger Circuit

Searcher Calculation

Electric
Electric Power Output Power
Power
Multiple Signal 1
Multiple Signal 2
Multiple Signal 3

Delay Time
Delay Profile Delay Time

A Rake receiver can provide:

- multi-service (via handling of multiple physical channels that are carrying the services)
- soft handover
- path diversity
UMTS Call Setup - Overview
 UMTS Frequency allocations

Operating Band UL Frequencies DL frequencies

I 1920 1980 MHz 2110 2170 MHz

II 1850 1910 MHz 1930 1990 MHz

III 1710-1785 MHz 1805-1880 MHz

IV 1710-1755 MHz 2110-2155 MHz

V 824 849 MHz 869-894 MHz

VI 830-840 MHz 875-885 MHz

Operating Band TX-RX frequency separation

I 190 MHz

II 80 MHz.

III 95 MHz.

IV 400 MHz

V 45 MHz

VI 45 MHz
Simplified RF Optimization Process

Identify Any RF related

Issues

Carryout Drive Testing

Analysis Using
Network Statistics
Specialised Tools

Change
Recommendations

Meet the
KPIs?

Acceptance Testing
Key Optimization Parameters

Coverage probability (based on Ec/Io [correlated signal strength of pilot

channel])
Call blocking probability
Call drop rate
Call completion success rate
Variable data rate performance
Throughput at the edge of the cell (PS and CS bearers)
End-to-end packet delay transfers
Cell search time/ Call Setup Time
Inter-cell handover success rate
Intersystem (UMTSGSM and UMTSGPRS [general packet radio service])
handover/cell reselection success rate
Reduced Coverage Cell Breathing

Different traffic loads would result in different interference levels.

Due to increased interference, cell radius decreases.

MAI

MAI

Cell breathing could cause gaps in the coverage or significant amount of

interference.
Downlink power control is used to remedy this problem.
Sufficient overlap to cope with breathing would need to be considered
during the design.
UMTS Optimization Basics

Capacity Optimization
Coverage Optimization
Neighbor Optimization
Pilot Pollution Optimization
SHO Optimization
Optimization Targets

Item Requirements Comments

Target - 85 dBm Corresponds to outdoor

CPICH RSCP
Minimum -95 dBm measurements.

Target -8 dB Applicable for unloaded network.

CPICH Ec/Io
Minimum - 14 dB

Active Set size

Target 3 Based on scanner data.
(estimated)

% of time a cell is seen as a pilot

Max % < 10 %
polluter.
Pilot pollution
Relative to best server when cell in
Threshold 8 dB
not in Active Set.
UE Tx power Max <15 dBm Assuming 21 dBm max.

SHO Success rate Target >95 % For e1a, e1b & e1c
Capacity Optimization

Increased Sectorization
Antenna patterns are not perfect and will result in increased
interference

Reduced cell radius

Increased number of sites / equipment hence increased infrastructure
cost

Use of enhanced technologies

Transmit diversity: In Use
Intelligent antenna: Use of MIMO Technology
Advanced Multiple Access Techniques: OFDMA
Coverage Optimization (Too Many Pilots)

Too many pilots leading to

excessive soft handoff

Example of too many

best server changes
Coverage Optimization (CPICH Coverage (RSCP))

Good: RSCP -85 dBm

Fair: -95 dBm RSCP < -85 dBm
Poor: RSCP < - 95 dBm

Example of poor
coverage
Coverage Optimization (Interference (CPICH (Ec/Io))

Good: Ec/Io -8 dB
Fair: -14 dB Ec/Io < -8 dB)
Poor: Ec/Io < - 14 dB
An example of poor
Ec/Io as a result of
poor coverage
Pilot Pollution Optimization

As more and more 3G sites are integrated, the pilot pollution within the
network will increase.

With >4 pilots of a similar level it can be very difficult to establish even a voice
call.

The higher the data rate the more susceptible the service is to pilot pollution
(bad Ec/Io).

Whilst 3G voice requires an Ec/Io of above -15dB, 384kbps will required Ec/Io
levels of -9dB or higher !!

Pilot pollution should not be confused with poor coverage, where there is
poor coverage, there is generally pilot pollution/bad Ec/Io.
Pilot Pollution Optimization

An example of too many

pilots (SHO candidates)
Neighbor Optimization

Three Policies generally adopted for Neighbor list optimization;

Retain: This indicates that those neighbours have been confirmed from the
drive survey data.
Add: Missing neighbours (thats neighbours seen in the drive test but not
included in the neighbour list)
Remove: These neighbours that were not measured but are in the neighbour
.
list

S a m p le S a m p le
SC C e ll S ite L a titu d e L o n g itu d e A c tio n Nbr SC %
Count Count
009 70548 A jm a n C e n tr a l 2 5 .4 1 2 0 4 5 5 .4 4 7 576 R e ta in 018 82 1 4 .2 %
R e ta in 010 46 8 .0 %
R e ta in 016 31 5 .4 %
R e ta in 032 20 3 .5 %
R e ta in 011 18 3 .1 %
Ad d 130 17 3 .0 %
R e ta in 021 17 3 .0 %
R e ta in 008 12 2 .1 %
R e ta in 020 6 1 .0 %
R e ta in 012 5 0 .9 %
R e ta in 017 2 0 .3 %
R em o ve 053 0 0 .0 %
R em o ve 019 0 0 .0 %
R em o ve 034 0 0 .0 %
R em o ve 037 0 0 .0 %
R em o ve 013 0 0 .0 %
R em o ve 051 0 0 .0 %
Drop Call Optimization

Poor coverage (RSCP & Ec/Io)

High interference and hence poor Ec/Io
Poor uplink coverage (insufficient UE Tx power)
Poor dominance (best cell changes too frequently resulting in too many SHO
events)
Pilot pollution (too many cells present)
Missing neighbours
Fast change of RF conditions (e.g. turning a corner)
Key Optimization Targets

Everything is based around Ec/Io, to improve this we need to

Increase Ec (improve the best server(s))

Reduce Io (reduce pilots not eligible for the active set)
Get all neighbors optimized
UMTS RAN Key Performance Indicator ( KPI)
UMTS Main KPIs

Main KPIs are Accessibility, Retianability & Mobility. All these Kpis are
categorized for different QoS of UMTS.
Accessibility

Based on UMTS user Service Request ( QoS), network Resources assigned to

UE. The first step to negotiate QoS & accordingly received desired resources is
called Accessibility OR Call Setup Success Rate ( CSSR).
Call Setup Success Rate
Call Setup Failure Causes
Retain ability

Once Network resources assigned to UE & Call gets connected, system will
check either call retained throughout the session or gets dropped. In case of
any failure, call dropped & particular failure cause pegged in specific counter.
Voice Call Drop

Main Contributor of Call drops are:

Weak RF Coverage
Bad RF Quality due to Interference
Missing Neighbors
Equipment failure
Poor Transmission
Mobility

If UE is moving then serving cells will change & system have to make sure
smooth & successful Handovers. The Main KPI for Mobility is Handover success
rate. In UMTS, there are two categorize for Hand Over:
1. Soft HO
2. Hard HO
Inter RAT Handover

In case of UMTS to GSM Hand Over, Inter RAT HO scenario will trigger. From
UMTS to GSM, Handover are possible but from GSM to UMTS there is no HO
rather UE will Reselect the UMTS after Call completion.
Inter RAT Handover