Overview of 3G

3G Architecture (UMTS)

3G

Radios
2G MS (voice only)

CN
BSS

Abis

PSTN

PSTN

B
BSC
BTS
2G+ MS (voice & data)

Gb

MSC
Gs

VLR

RNS

Gr

ATM
IuPS
RNC

Node B

SS7

IuCS

Iub

GMSC

HLR

AuC

Gc

Gn
SGSN

Gi

IP

PSDN

GGSN

3G UE (voice & data)

BSS Base Station System
BTS Base Transceiver Station
BSC Base Station Controller
RNS Radio Network System
RNC Radio Network Controller

CN Core Network
MSC Mobile-service Switching Controller
VLR Visitor Location Register
HLR Home Location Register
AuC Authentication Server
GMSC Gateway MSC

SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

Evolution of Mobile Systems to 3G

- drivers are capacity, data speeds, lower cost of delivery
for revenue growth
Expected market share

TDMA
TDMA
GSM
GSM

EDGE

EDGE
EDGE Evolution
EDGE
Evolution

GPRS
GPRS

WCDMA
WCDMA

PDC
PDC

cdmaOne
cdmaOne
2G

3GPP Core
Network

CDMA2000
CDMA2000
1x
1x
First Step into 3G

90%
HSDPA
HSDPA

CDMA2000
CDMA2000
1xEV/DV
EV/DV
1x

10%

CDMA2000
CDMA2000
1xEV/DO
EV/DO
1x
3G phase 1

Evolved 3G

ADVANTAGE OF 3G
Higher bandwidth enables a range of new applications!!
Bandwidth 1,885-2,025 MHz and 2,110-2,200 MHZ.
For the consumer
Video streaming, TV broadcast
Video calls, video clips news, music, sports
Enhanced gaming, chat, location services
For business
High speed teleworking / VPN access
Sales force automation
Video conferencing
Real-time financial information

General Packet Radio Service(GPRS)

Modulation GMSK
Symbol Rate 270 ksym/s
Modulation bit rate 270 kbps
Radio data rate per time slot 22.8kbps
User data rate per time slot 20kbps (CS4)
User data rate (8 time slots) 160kbps, 182.4kbps
Applications are required to provide their own error
correction scheme as part of carried data payload.

EDGE

EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution

EDGE is add-on to GPRS

Uses 8-PSK modulation in good conditions
Increase throughput by 3x (8-PSK 3 bits/symbol vs GMSK 1 bit/symbol)
Offer data rates of 384kbps, theoretically up to 473.6kbps
Uses 9 Modulation coding schemes (MCS1-9)
MCS(1-4) uses GMSK, while MCS(5-9) uses 8PSK modulation.
Uses Link adaptation algorithm
Modulation Bit rate 810kbps
Radio data rate per time slot 69.2kbps
User data rate per time slot 59.2kbps (MCS9)
User data rate (8 time slots) 473.6kbps

New handsets / terminal equipment; additional hardware in the BTS, Core

network and the rest remains the same
EDGE access develops to connect to 3G core
6

UMTS

UMTS is the European vision of 3G.

UMTS is an upgrade from GSM via GPRS or EDGE.
The standardization work for UMTS is carried out by Third
Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
Data rates of UMTS are:
144 kbps for rural
384 kbps for urban outdoor
2048 kbps for indoor and low range outdoor
Virtual Home Environment (VHE)

UTRAN
Wide band CDMA technology is selected for UTRAN air
interface.
Base Station is referred to as Node-B and control
equipment for Node-Bs is called is called as Radio
Network Controller (RNC).
Functions of Node B are:
Air Interface Tx/Rx
Modulation / Demodulation
Functions of RNC are:
Radio Resource Control
Channel Allocation
Power Control Settings
Handover Control
Ciphering
Segmentation and Reassembly
8

UMTS Frequency Spectrum

UMTS Band : 1900-2025 MHz and 2110-2200 MHz for 3G transmission.
Terrestrial UMTS (UTRAN) : 1900-1980 MHz, 2010-2025 MHz, and 21102170 MHz bands

IMPACT ON EXISTING NETWORK

Wireless
Data
Tech

HSCSD

GPRS

EDGE

W-CDMA

Channel
BW

200KHz

200KHz

200KHz

5MHz

Duplex

Infrastructure
Change

FDD

Requires
Software
Upgrade at
base station

FDD

Requires new
packet overlay
including
routers and
gateways

FDD

Requires new
transceivers at
base station.
Also, software
upgrade to the
BSC & BTS

FDD

Requires
completely
new base
stations

Requires
New
Spectrum

Requires New Handsets

No

Yes, New HSCSD handsets provide

57.6Kbps on HSCSD n/w and 9.6 Kbps on
GSM n/w with dual mode phones. GSM
only phones will not work in HSCSD N/w.

No

Yes, New GPRS handsets work on GPRS

n/w at 171.2Kbps, 9.6 Kbps on GSM n/w
with dual mode phones. GSM only phones
will not work in GPRS n/w.

No

Yes, New handsets work on EDGE n/w at

384Kbps, GPRS n/w at 144Kbps, and
GSM n/w at 9.6 Kbps with tri-mode
phones. GSM and GPRS-only phones will
not work in EDGE n/w.

Yes

Yes, New W-CDMA handsets will work on

W-CDMA at 2Mbps, EDGE n/w at 384
Kbps, GPRS n/w at 144 Kbps. GSM n/w at
9.9 Kbps. Older handsets will not work in
10
W-CDMA.

UMTS Network Architecture

Mobile Station

ME

SIM

Base Station
Subsystem

BTS

BSC

Network Subsystem

MSC/
VLR

EIR

Other Networks

GMSC

HLR

PSTN

AUC

PLMN

RNS

ME

USIM

S
D

Node
B

RNC

SGSN

GGSN

Internet

UTRAN

Note: Interfaces have been omitted for clarity purposes.

11

GSM Evolution for Data

Access
2 Mbps
UMTS

384 kbps
115 kbps

EDGE

GPRS
9.6 kbps
GSM

1997

2000

GSM evolution

2003

2003+
3G