Quick Paging Channel (QPCH)

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Quick Paging Channel (QPCH)

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Quick Paging Channel (QPCH)

Table of Contents

LIST OF FIGURES.....................................................................................................................II

1. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1

2. QUICK PAGING CHANNEL STRUCTURE..................................................................1

2.1 PAGING INDICATORS (PI).................................................................................................2

2.2 CONFIGURATION CHANGE INDICATORS (CCI).................................................................2

2.3 BROADCAST INDICATORS (BI)............................................................................................3

3. OPERATION OF THE QUICK PAGING CHANNEL..................................................4

4. QPCH PERFORMANCE FACTORS................................................................................5

5. QPCH CONTROLLING PARAMETERS........................................................................6

5.1 NUM_QPCH.....................................................................................................................6

5.2 QPCH_RATE.....................................................................................................................7

5.3 QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_PAGE......................................................................................8

5.4 QPCH_CCI_SUPPORTED...............................................................................................8

5.5 QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_CONFIG................................................................................8

5.6 QPCH_BI_SUPPORTED..................................................................................................8

5.7 QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_BCAST...................................................................................9

6. RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................................9

7. References.............................................................................................................................1

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Quick Paging Channel (QPCH)

List of Figures
FIGURE 1. QUICK PAGING CHANNEL GENERATION...............................................................1

FIGURE 2. QUICK PAGING CHANNEL TIMELINE.....................................................................2

FIGURE 3. CONFIGURATION CHANGE AND BROADCAST INDICATOR BIT POSITIONS............3

FIGURE 4. DECODING THE QPCH......................................................................................4

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Quick Paging Channel (QPCH)

1. Introduction
The Quick Paging Channel (QPCH) is one of the new forward link common channels
introduced in the IS-2000 standard. The QPCH improves slotted mode operation of the
mobile station, thus increasing standby time. In an IS-95 system, a mobile station
operating in the slotted mode wakes up for an entire slot cycle during its assigned slot.
With the use of QPCH, a mobile station only needs to wake up long enough to
demodulate one or two QPCH bits, which indicates whether a page is present in the
following slot cycle. This minimizes the time the RF components are kept active, thus
improving the battery life of the mobile station.

This white paper describes the structure and operation of the QPCH, and analyzes the
various tradeoffs associated with the system parameters affecting its performance.
Finally, recommendations are provided for optimizing QPCH performance in a
network.

2. Quick Paging Channel Structure

The Paging Channel (PCH) in IS-2000 is compatible with the IS-95B PCH. The IS-2000
standard also uses the following three forward link common physical channels: 1) the
Quick Paging Channel (QPCH), 2) the Broadcast Channel (BCCH), and 3) the Common
Control Channel (CCCH). The QPCH carries the indication of pages directed to the
mobile station. The QPCH is transmitted only when a mobile station needs to be paged.
The BCCH is broadcast over the entire cell and carries cell specific overhead messages,
such as those transmitted on the PCH in IS-95. It is also used for broadcast Short
Message Service (SMS). The CCCH is used for transmitting mobile station specific
messages. All messages on the CCCH can be transmitted to the mobile station in a soft-
handoff mode. The CCCH is transmitted only when the base station needs to send a
message to the mobile station.

The QPCH is an un-coded, spread, and On-Off-Keying (OOK) modulated spread

spectrum signal. It transmits information at a fixed data rate of 4800 or 2400bps
(corresponding to indicator rate of 9600 or 4800bps). There may be up to three QPCHs
in use at any given time. The corresponding Walsh codes used for 1x MC mode are
W80128 for the first channel, W48128 for the second, and W112128 for the third. Figure 1 below
shows the generation of the QPCH.

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Quick Paging Modulation

Symbol Symbol
Channel Indicators Signal Point Mapping:
Repetition Channel X
Indicator Rate 9.6 or +1 when indicator enabled
(2x or 4x Gain
4.8ksps, Data Rate 19.2ksps 0 otherwise
factor)
4.8 or 2.4kbps

Figure 1. Quick Paging Channel Generation

The QPCH is divided into slots that are 80ms in duration. These slots are aligned
beginning 20ms before the start of the zero-offset pilot PN sequence at every even-
second time mark. The QPCH slot assigned to a mobile station begins 100ms before the
start of its assigned slot on the F-CCCH (or F-PCH if PCH is used instead). The slot is
subdivided into four 20ms frames, as shown in Figure 2.

80ms QPCH slot 80ms PCH/CCCH slot

A1 B1 A2 B2

-100ms -80ms -60ms -40ms -20ms 0ms 80ms t

Figure 1. Quick Paging Channel Timeline

The QPCH slot contains Paging Indicator (PI), Configuration Change Indicator (CCI)
and Broadcast Indicator (BI) bits (applies to IS-2000 Release A only). These indicators
are un-coded OOK symbols, which are transmitted on either I or Q channels, or both,
depending on symbol rate, 1x/3x, OTD/non-OTD mode. The indicator rate is set to
either 4800 or 9600bps by the base station. The indicator bits are transmitted twice in the
80ms slot, giving an effective data rate of 2400 or 4800bps for the channel.

2.1 Paging Indicators (PI)

The PI bits are used to indicate to a mobile station whether to wake up for a subsequent
F-CCCH (or F-PCH) slot. The two bits for an indicator are separated by at least 20ms to
achieve time diversity. Each mobile station is assigned a PI using a hash function based
on the International Mobile Station Identification (IMSI) of the mobile station and the
system time. The hash function is designed such that the mobile is hashed into the A or
B group. A mobile station hashed to the A group has the first PI bit assigned in the A1
frame, and the second bit assigned in the A2 frame (as shown in Figure 2). Similarly, a
mobile station hashed to the B group has the first indicator bit in the B1 frame, and the
second in the B2 frame of the QPCH slot.

2.2 Configuration Change Indicators (CCI)

The Configuration Change Indicators (CCIs) are used to indicate whether changes have
occurred in the base station’s configuration in the last 10 minutes (time T 31m). These

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indicators are optional, and are only present in the first QPCH. If more than one QPCH
is configured in a system, the bit positions for these indicators are kept as reserved in the
rest of the QPCHs.

When an indicator data rate of 4800bps is used, the last two bits of frames B1 and B2 are
used for CCIs. When a data rate of 9600 bps is used, the last four bits of the frames B1
and B2 are used for the CCIs. The bit locations for these indicators are shown in Error:
Reference source not foundFigure 3.

The CCI bits are unique to each base station, and cannot be soft combined.

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Two Broadcast Indicators on

first QPCH
Reserved on other QPCHs and
for releases prior to
Release A
QPCH Slot

Frame A1 Frame B1 Frame A2 Frame B2

QPCH Rate
2400bps
(Indicator Rate
4800bps)
Paging Indicators Paging Indicators

Two Configuration Change

Indicators on first QPCH
Reserved on other QPCHs

Four Broadcast Indicators on

first QPCH
Reserved on other QPCHs and
for releases prior to
Release A
QPCH Slot

Frame A1 Frame B1 Frame A2 Frame B2

QPCH Rate
4800bps
(Indicator Rate
9600bps)
Paging Indicators Paging Indicators

Four Configuration Change

Indicators on first QPCH
Reserved on other QPCHs

Figure 2. Configuration Change and Broadcast Indicator Bit Positions

2.3 Broadcast Indicators (BI)

Broadcast Indicators (BIs) have been added in IS-2000 Release A. They are used to
indicate to the mobile station that it should wakeup to receive its assigned broadcast slot
on the F-CCCH. These indicators are optional, and are only present in the first QPCH.
If more than one QPCH is configured in a system, the bit positions for these indicators
are kept as reserved in the rest of the QPCHs. Prior to IS-2000 Release A, the bits
allocated to BIs are set aside as reserved.

When an indicator data rate of 4800bps is used, the two bits prior to the last two bits of
frames B1 and B2 are used for BIs. When a data rate of 9600bps is used, the four bits
prior to the last four bits of the frames B1 and B2 are used for the BIs. The bit locations
for these indicators are shown in Figure 3.

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3. Operation of the Quick Paging Channel

The QPCH and the quick paging slot (located on the QPCH) are assigned to a mobile
station in the same manner as a PCH and a paging slot are assigned. The mobile station
selects the QPCH based on a hash function that uses the IMSI of the mobile station and
the number of QPCHs configured (maximum of three) in the system. The QPCH slot is
then selected using the system time, slot cycle index, and the result of the same hash
function, now using the IMSI of the mobile station and the number of paging slots
(2048). As stated previously, the PI bits in the assigned slot for the mobile station are
determined using a hash function based on the IMSI of the mobile station and the
system time (in frames).

When a QPCH is supported, the base station transmits PIs to the mobile station in the
assigned positions in the assigned QPCH slot. The base station sets the PI bits to one if
the mobile station needs to receive the subsequent F-PCH or F-CCCH slot. A mobile
station only needs to wake up for decoding the assigned PI bits and, if supported, the
CCI bits and the BI bits. Each QPCH bit consists of two symbols, which are decoded
coherently using the phase reference provided by the pilot. The symbols are tri-valued:
erasure, one, or zero in order to obtain a reliable estimate. The symbol is declared an
erasure if the pilot level falls below a certain threshold; otherwise, it is detected in the
regular way. Figure 4 below shows how the indicator bits are decoded by the mobile
station.

1/Erasure
Read Bit 1 Read Bit 1

0 0
1/Erasure

Go to sleep Read F-PCH/

F-CCCH slot

Figure 4. Decoding the QPCH

The base station uses the QPCH indicators to notify the mobile stations of any
configuration changes (when CONFIG_MSG_SEQ changes) also. When CCIs are not
supported, the base station uses the PIs for this purpose. It sets the PI bits to 1 for all the
mobile station for all QPCH slots for a time interval T (in units of 1.28 seconds), such
that

T = N x 2MAX_SLOT_CYCLE_INDEX

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where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

When CCIs are supported, the base station sets the indicator bits to one for all the QPCH
slots for a time interval of 10 minutes (time T 31m). When a mobile station detects that the
CCIs are set to one, it receives the messages on the next assigned slot on the F-PCH or F-
CCCH to update its configuration. It is allowed to keep the updated configuration for 10
minutes (time T31m), and it can ignore the CCIs during that time.

When a mobile station performs an idle handoff to a base station whose F-PCH or F-
CCCH was previously monitored, the mobile station can use the CCIs to determine the
need to update its configuration. It does not need to receive the messages on the paging
slot if less than 10 minutes have elapsed since it received the configuration for the new
base station.

In IS-2000 Release A, BIs are also supported. The base station uses the BIs when it sends
an enhanced broadcast page using Periodic Broadcast Paging. It sets the indicator bits to
one for the QPCH slot which begins 100ms prior to the beginning of the F-CCCH slot in
which the message containing the enhanced broadcast page begins. When a mobile
station detects the BI bits are set to one, it receives its assigned broadcast slot on the F-
CCCH. The broadcast slot contains the page that directs the mobile station to the BCCH.

Broadcast messages sent using Multi-Slot Broadcast Transmission or Multi-Slot

Enhanced Broadcast Paging, are indicated to the mobile stations using the PIs. The base
station sets all the PI bits to one for the QPCH slot which begins 100ms prior to the
beginning of the F-PCH slot in which the broadcast message begins.

The BIs are set to zero at all times when there are no broadcast messages, or when they
are not supported. The reserved bits in QPCH, other than the first channel, are always
set to zero. Releases prior to IS-2000 Release A have these bits reserved.

4. QPCH Performance Factors

The QPCH has been designed with the goal of improving the mobile station standby
time, by allowing it to wake up only when it is being paged. However, two factors:
collision and false alarm, result in less than optimum performance.

Collision is a result of more than one mobile station being hashed to the same PI bits in a
QPCH slot. As previously discussed, the allocation of the PI bits is hashed using the
IMSI and system time, and the hash function can result in more than one mobile station
being assigned the same indicator position. This is possible even when only a few
mobile stations are actually registered in a base station. Collisions result in the event
when all mobile stations are monitoring the same indicator bits to wake up, when only
one of them was actually being paged.

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The hash function is designed to minimize collision in QPCH to a certain extent. The
use of system time typically results in a different set of mobile stations that hash to the
two indicator bits. Therefore, the probability of a mobile station finding both indicator
bits set to 1, due to collision with another mobile station, are lower.

False alarm results from a detection of 1 or erasure when the indicator was actually set
to zero by the base station.

Both collision and false alarm result in a mobile station waking up to receive the F-PCH
or F-CCCH slot when it was not actually being paged. However, this is not a serious
problem, and only results in unnecessary battery usage.

A more serious problem is that of missing a page. This results when the mobile station
detects a 0 and goes to sleep, when the indicator was actually set to one. The use of tri-
valued symbols one, erasure or zero, helps minimize this situation. Even if the channel
conditions are bad, a one can still be detected as an erasure. This design results in less
than 1 percent probability of detecting a zero when the indicator bits were set to one.

5. QPCH Controlling Parameters

The base station controls the parameters that determine the configuration (rate, power
level, etc.) of the QPCH. These parameters are sent to the mobile station in the Extended
System Parameters Message. The parameters associated with BIs introduced in IS-2000
Release A are sent in the MC-RR Parameters message. The following sections discuss
each of these parameters and their associated tradeoffs.

5.1 NUM_QPCH
This parameter provides the number of QPCHs available on the frequency assignment.
This parameter takes on the values from 00 (0 QPCH supported) to 11 (3 QPCH
supported).

The number of QPCHs used should be relative to the loading of associated F-PCH.
Under loaded conditions, lower number of QPCHs would result in a higher rate of
collisions. On the other hand, under lightly loaded conditions, a high number of QPCHs
would result in a waste of Walsh code space and reduce the forward link capacity.

The probability of collision, P(C), is a function of network traffic, and is given by [1] as

t
 1
P(C) = 1  1  
 n

where n is the number of available bit positions to hash the mobiles to, and t denotes the
total number of pages in a slot.

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The following two graphs show the probability of collision versus the total number of
pages in a slot, when a different number of QPCHs are used. The graphs are plotted for
the two data rates of 4800bps and 9600bps supported by the QPCH.

Probability of Collision in F-QPCH for 4800bps rate

0.5
0.45
Probability of collision

0.4 NUM_QPCH=1
0.35
0.3
0.25
NUM_QPCH=2
0.2
0.15
0.1 NUM_QPCH=3
0.05
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Number of pages per slot

Probability of Collision in F-QPCH for 9600bps rate

0.5
0.45
0.4
Probability of collision

0.35
0.3
0.25
NUM_QPCH=1
0.2
0.15 NUM_QPCH=2
0.1
0.05 NUM_QPCH=3
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Number of pages per slot

5.2 QPCH_RATE
This parameter specifies the indicator rate used by the QPCHs. It is capable of
supporting two values: 00 (4800bps) or 01 (9600bps).

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The use of a lower indicator rate of 4800bps results in more collisions, as the number of
PI bits available is only 188. On the other hand, a lower data rate requires less power for
operation, thus increasing forward link capacity. In addition, the probability of false
alarm decreases when operating at a lower rate.

The use of a higher indicator rate of 9600bps results in a lower number of collisions, as a
higher number of PI bits (376 instead of 188) are available. On the other hand, to
provide the same performance as the 4800bps rate, about 3dB more power is required.
This results in a reduction of the forward link capacity. If the QPCH is operated at
9600bps with the same power as the 4800bps rate, the probability of false alarm is
higher.

5.3 QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_PAGE
This parameter specifies the power level used by the QPCHs relative to the forward Pilot
Channel power. It takes on values from 000 (relative power level of
–5dB) to 111 (relative power level of +2dB).

Higher power levels reduce the probability of false alarm, but results in a reduction of
the forward link capacity.

Tests indicate that optimum performance is achieved at relative power levels of 0dB for
4800bps rate, and +2dB for 9600bps rate. However, these are still high, and would lower
the forward link capacity. Power levels can be reduced slightly at the expense of false
alarm probability.

5.4 QPCH_CCI_SUPPORTED
This parameter indicates if the base station supports the CCI bits. It takes on the value
of zero (CCI not supported) or one (CCI supported).

The use of CCI helps the base station notify all mobile stations of changes in the
configuration more efficiently. If the CCI bits are not supported, the base station needs
to turn on the PIs for all the mobile stations so that they can receive the F-PCH or F-
CCCH. The mobile stations will then need to look at the CONFIG_MSG_SEQ in the
messages to determine a configuration change.

5.5 QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_CONFIG
This parameter specifies the power level used for sending the CCIs by the QPCHs,
relative to the forward Pilot Channel power. It takes on values from 000 (relative power
level of –5dB) to 111 (relative power level of +2dB).

As discussed in section 5.3, the same tradeoffs hold for this parameter.

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5.6 QPCH_BI_SUPPORTED
This parameter, introduced in IS-2000 Release A, is included in the MC-RR Parameters
Message and indicates if the base station supports the BIs. It takes the values of zero
(not supported) or one (supported).

The use of BI bits allows a base station to efficiently notify mobile stations when it sends
an enhanced broadcast page using Periodic Broadcast Paging. If BI bits are not used, the
base station would need to use PIs to inform the mobile stations.

5.7 QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_BCAST
This parameter, introduced in IS-2000 Release A, is included in the MC-RR Parameters
Message and specifies the power level used for sending the BIs by the QPCHs, relative to
the forward Pilot Channel power. It takes on values from 000 (relative power level of –
5dB) to 111 (relative power level of +2dB).

As discussed in section 5.3, the same tradeoffs hold for this parameter.

6. Recommendations
The use of QPCHs improves the standby time of mobile stations, and its use is highly
recommended. However, the rate at which it is operated and the relative power level
used have implications on the capacity of the forward link, and therefore need to be
carefully selected based on the network configuration and load conditions.

The number of QPCHs (NUM_QPCH) should be selected based on the estimated load of
number of pages, per PCH slot, in the network. The curves provided in section 5.1 can
be used for determining the optimum point for increasing the number of QPCHs used
for a target probability of collision. For example, when the QPCH is operated at
4800bps, in order to maintain the probability of collision at less than 5 percent, the
number of QPCHs should be selected as two if the number of pages per slot is above
nine (translating to about 400,000 calls per hour). Three QPCHs should be selected if the
number of pages per slot is above 19 (about 850,000 calls per hour).

The QPCH should be operated at a rate of 4800bps (set QPCH_RATE to 0). This allows
for greater capacity on the forward link and is more beneficial than reduction in collision
probability achieved by increasing the data rate to 9600bps. If the probability of collision
is of more concern than the reduction in forward link capacity, the curves provided in
section 5.1 can be used to determine the optimum load (number of pages per slot) when
a higher data rate of 9600bps (set QPCH_RATE to 1) should be used to reduce the
probability of collision.

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The QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_PAGE should be set in the range of 001 (-4dB) to 011 (-2dB)
when using an indicator rate of 4800bps. When the indicator rate used is 9600bps, the
power level should be set in the range of 100 (-1dB) to 110 (+1dB).

The CCI bits should be supported by setting the QPCH_CCI_SUPPORTED to one. The
power level used for the CCI bits (QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_CONFIG) should be
identical for the PIs — in the range of 001 (-4dB) to 011 (-2dB) for 4800bps rate, and 100
(-1dB) to 110 (+1dB) for 9600bps rate.

The BI bits should be supported if IS-2000 Release A is deployed, by setting the

QPCH_BI_SUPPORTED to one. The power level used for the BI bits
(QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_BCAST) should be the identical for the PIs — in the range of
001 (-4dB) to 011 (-2dB) for 4800bps rate, and 100 (-1dB) to 110 (+1dB) for 9600bps rate.

7. References
[1] Sandip Sarkar, Brian K. Butler, and Edward G. Tiedemann, Jr., “Phone Standby
Time in cdma2000: The Quick Paging Channel in Soft Handoff” in IEEE Transactions
on Vehicular Technology, VOL. 50, No. 5, September 2001.
[2] TIA/EIA/IS-2000 Standard

QPCh in Motorola system is still not enabled. if my understanding is correct when

the QPCh is enabled, while on a data call/ phone in dormant mode, the MS doesn't
receive the page.

Is it happening only when two or more QPCh is enabled .? Then what stops us
from enabling QPCh.

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Motorola definition
qpchrate - This parameter indicates the rate used by the Quick Paging Channel in the
system. The two data rates possible are 2400 bps and 4800 bps for this field's value of
0 or 1 respectively. This field is sent by the BTS in the "Extended System Parameter
Message" towards the Mobile Station. The range is: 0-1. The default is: 0. The parameter
is optional.
Set to Zero in our system which means data rate is 2400 bps.

Qulcomm Explanation

This parameter specifies the indicator rate used by the QPCHs. It is capable of
supporting two values: 00 (4800bps) or 01 (9600bps).

The use of a lower indicator rate of 4800bps results in more collisions, as the number of
PI bits available is only 188. On the other hand, a lower data rate requires less power for
operation, thus increasing forward link capacity.
But Qualcomm recommendation on this is

The QPCH should be operated at a rate of 4800bps (set QPCH_RATE to 0). This
allows for greater capacity on the forward link and is more beneficial than reduction in
collision probability achieved by increasing the data rate to 9600bp

QPCH_CCI_SUPPORTED

This parameter indicates if the base station supports the CCI bits. It takes on the value
of zero (CCI not supported) or one (CCI supported).

The use of CCI helps the base station notify all mobile stations of changes in the
configuration more efficiently. If the CCI bits are not supported, the base station needs
to turn on the PIs for all the mobile stations so that they can receive the F-PCH or F-
CCCH. The mobile stations will then need to look at the CONFIG_MSG_SEQ in the
messages to determine a configuration change.

In our system QPCh CCI supported is set to zero and any change in the
parameter the MS have to look in to the L3 messages. Do we need to
enable this?.

QPCH_POWER_LEVEL_CONFIG

This parameter specifies the power level used for sending the CCIs by the QPCHs,
relative to the forward Pilot Channel power. It takes on values from 000 (relative power
level of –5dB) to 111 (relative power level of +2dB).

In our system this particular parameter is set to 2 which reduces the FWD
link capacity when QPCh is enabled.

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Enclosed is the recommended value of qualcomm. Does proper optimization

of these parameters improves the perfomece of the system.

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