SOFT HANDOVER IN UMTS

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third

generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard.
Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project),
UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunications Union IMT-
2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for networks
based on the competing CDMA One technology. UMTS uses wideband code
division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technology to offer greater
spectral efficiency and bandwidth to mobile network operators.
UMTS specifies a complete network system, which includes the radio access
network (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, or UTRAN), the core
network (Mobile Application Part, or MAP) and the authentication of users via SIM
(subscriber identity module) cards.
The technology described in UMTS is sometimes also referred to as Freedom
of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA)[1] or 3GSM.

Unlike EDGE (IMT Single-Carrier, based on GSM) and CDMA2000 (IMT

Multi-Carrier), UMTS requires new base stations and new frequency allocations.
UMTS requires new base stations and new frequency allocations. UMTS supports
maximum theoretical data transfer rates of 42 Mb/s. The electromagnetic radiation
spectrum for UMTS has been identified as frequency bands 1885-2025 MHz for
future IMT-2000 systems, and 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz for the satellite
portion of UMTS systems. It is also referred to as WCDMA. It allows many more
application to be introduced in worldwide. It provides new services like alternative
billing methods or calling plans. The higher bandwidth enables video conferencing.
It uses FDD/TDD methods. It uses a bandwidth of 5MHz.Chip rate is about
3.84Mbps.It uses BPSK for uplink and QPSK for downlink. The maximum data rate
for indoor is 2Mbps and for mobile it is 384kbps.The channel coding is convolution
coding and for higher data rate turbo coding is used. UMTS uses two modes: UMTS
FDD, UMTS TDD. In FDD mode, two frequencies are used, one for uplink and other
for downlink. In TDD mode, only one frequency is used for both uplink and
downlink, but frequency is divided into time slots for uplink and downlink
communications.

Fig 1.1 Modes of UMTS

Features

UMTS supports maximum theoretical data transfer rates of

[2]
42 Mb/s when Evolved HSPA (HSPA+) is implemented in the network. Users in
deployed networks can expect a transfer rate of up to 384 kb/s for Release '99 (R99)
handsets (the original UMTS release), and 7.2 Mb/s for High-Speed Downlink
Packet Access (HSDPA) handsets in the downlink connection. These speeds are
significantly faster than the 9.6 kb/s of a single GSM error-corrected circuit switched
data channel, multiple 9.6 kb/s channels in High-Speed Circuit-Switched
Data (HSCSD) and 14.4 kb/s for CDMA One channels.
Since 2006, UMTS networks in many countries have been or are in the process
of being upgraded with High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), sometimes
known as 3.5G. Currently, HSDPA enables downlink transfer speeds of up to 21
Mb/s. Work is also progressing on improving the uplink transfer speed with
the High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA). Longer term, the 3GPP Long
Term Evolution (LTE) project plans to move UMTS to 4G speeds of 100 Mb/s down
and 50 Mb/s up, using a next generation air interface technology based
upon orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing.
 The first national consumer UMTS networks launched in 2002 with a heavy
emphasis provide on mobile applications such as mobile TV and video calling. The
high data speeds of UMTS are now most often utilized for Internet access:
experience in Japan and elsewhere has shown that user demand for video calls is not
high, and audio/video content has declined in popularity in favor of high-speed
access to the World Wide Web—either directly on a handset or connected to a
computer via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth USB.
 CHAPTER 2

ARCHITECTURE OF UMTS

UMTS, short for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, is a 3G

networking standard used throughout much of the world as an upgrade to existing
GSM module. UMTS makes use of WCDMA, a technology that shares much with
CDMA networks used throughout the world, though it is not compatible with them.
Base level UMTS networks are generally capable of downlink speeds as 384 kbps.
The UMTS architecture takes advantage of the existing GSM and GPRS networks
which serve as a core network in UMTS infrastructure. The UMTS is made up of 3
main components:
a) User Equipment:
It is assigned to a single user and contains all the functions needed to access UMTS
services. It contains:

1. Mobile Equipment (ME) :It is a radio terminal which is used to connect the
UMTS subscriber with the fixed part of UMTS system via the Uu radio
interface .

2. UMTS Subscriber Identity Module (USIM): A smartcard which contains the

subscriber identity, authentication algorithms, encryption keys etc.

b) UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN):

It handles cell-level mobility. It is a system of base station and controller handling
function related to mobility. It contains:

1. Nodes B (Base Stations): It converts the data between Uu radio interface and
the Iub interface connecting a Node B with the RNC. It performs physical
level processing such as channel coding, data interleaving, rate matching,
modulation etc.
 2. Radio Network Controllers (RNC): RNC’s controls and manages radio
resources to Node B.RNC performs the data-link layer processing and
participates in handover operations.RNC is considered a single access point of
UTRAN for the core network. It’s connected to a single MSC/VLR to route
circuit-switched traffic and to a single SGSN to route packet switched traffic.

c) Core Network (CN):

The core network is shared with GSM and GPRS. The CN contains functions for
intersystem handover, gateways to other networks and performs location
management. It contains:

1. Home Location Register (HLR)

2. Mobile Station Controller / Visitor Location Register (MSC/VLR).
3. Gateway MSC: Connect UMTS to external circuit switch n/w (e.g PSTN)
4. Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN): It serves the Packet-switched traffic.
5. Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN): Connects UMTS to external packet
switched. (e.g. Internet)

For simultaneous access to the medium by base station and receiver station in a
network, we used channel duplex.
FDD: One method to achieve this duplex is to transfer the signals in both directions
by sending them at different frequencies. Therefore, the two directions, i.e. user-
station to base station and vice versa (uplink and downlink) are separated using
different frequencies. Such a scheme is called frequency division duplex (FDD).
TDD: In similar environment, when we assign different time-slots for uplink and
downlink using same frequency ( not using two frequency as in FDD but only one
frequency used ) we call it as Time Division Duplex (TDD).Duplex is an important
part of a wireless communication system. Here we have to type UTRA-FDD and
UTRA-TDD.
UTRA-FDD: The FDD mode for UTRA used wideband CDMA (WCDMA) with
direct sequence spreading (DSS).As per FDD’s definition, the uplink and downlink
uses different frequencies. The UTRA-FDD uses the following frequency band for
transmission
(MS->BS) Uplink -> 1920 to 1980 MHz
(BS->MS) Downlink -> 2110 to 2170 MHz
Each radio channel is divided into 10 ms frames and each frame is further divided
into 15 time slots. The time slots over here are not used for user separation (as in
GSM) but for periodic functions.
UTRA-TDD: As TDD is used here, this UTRA mode i.e. UTRA-TDD separates
uplink and downlink in time using a radio frame with 15 slots as in FDD. The
duration of each frame with 15 slots is 10millisec with each slot having 2560 chips
per slot. To satisfy the requirements of different users in terms of data rates, the TDD
frame can be symmetrical or asymmetrical i.e. the frame can contain the same
number of uplink and downlink slots or any other combination (e.g. 5slots for uplink
& 10 for downlink out of total 15 in a single frame).However at least one slot must
be compulsorily be allocated for uplink & downlink respectively.

Fig 2.1 architecture of UMTS

 CHAPTER 3

HANDOVER

When a mobile move into a different cell with a conversation is in progress,

the MSC automatically transfer the call to the new channel belonging to the new
base station. This is called handoff. Handoff must be performed successfully and
infrequently as possible. There is an optimum signal level to initiate handoff and
have a minimum usable signal with acceptable voice quality. The handoff initiating
threshold must be slightly stronger.

Delta=Pr (handoff)-Pr (minimum usable).

Delta value should not be too large or too small. If it is too large, then
unnecessary handoff will take place. If it is too small, there won’t be sufficient time
to complete a handoff before a call is lost due to weak signal condition.

There are basically two types of hand off : soft handoff and hard handover.
Hard handover is one in which the channel in the source cell is released and only
then the channel in the target cell is engaged. Thus the connection to the source is
broken before or 'as' the connection to the target is made. For this reason such
handovers are also known as break-before-make. The advantages of hard hand off
are it provide expanded services, reduces dropped calls, continues the call beyond
the current network.

In the soft handoff, connection to the target is established before the

connections to the source is broken, hence this handover is called make-before-
break. It can occur between cells, sectors in a cell, or combination of cells and
sectors. The basic advantages are it reduce interference, increases capacity, and
improves voice quality.
Fig 3.1 proper and improper handoff
 CHAPTER 4

SOFT HANDOVER IN UMTS

Soft handover occurs when a UE (user equipment) is in the overlapping

coverage area of two cells. Links to the two base stations can be established
simultaneously and in this way the UE can communicate with two base stations. By
having more than one link active during the handover process, this provides a more
reliable and seamless way in which to perform handover. When the UE and NodeB
undertake a soft handover, the UE receives signals from the two NodeBs and
combines them using the RAKE receiver.

In the uplink the situation is more complicated as the signal combining

cannot be accomplished in the NodeB or base station as more than one NodeB is
involved. Instead, combining is accomplished on a frame by frame basis. Once the
soft handover has been completed, the links to the old NodeB are dropped and the
UE continues to communicate with the new NodeB. Soft handover uses a higher
degree of the network resources than a normal link, or even a hard handover.
However this is compensated by the improved reliability and performance of the
handover process.
 CHAPTER 5

SCENARIO OF SOFT HANDOVER IN UMTS

Here we are considering mobile user equipment. The mobile user

equipment is initially connected to the base station 0 or node B0.The mobile user
equipment is moving. It moves towards certain base stations during certain time.
Then RNC (radio network controller) is expected to handover the mobile user A to
different base stations. This scenario works on three statistics. The first one is to
show how many cells are in the active set of user equipment A. The second one is to
count the number of cells added into the active set of A. The third one is to check
how many cells are removed from the active set of A. Initially user equipment A is
having only node B0 in its active set. After completing the GPRS attach procedure,
it starts moving towards the other node Bs. After completing 50 seconds, node B3
and B4 appears to be in active set of A. Here soft handover starts. After 100s, node
B5 becomes eligible for active set of A. The node B0 is still there in the active set of
A. Here we are providing a cell limit of 3 in the active set. So a replacement between
node B0 and B5 is performed instead of simple addition of node B5 to the set. Then
after 210s, cell 3 and 4 are replaced by cell 1 and 2.Finally after 317s, node 5 is
removed and after 325s, node 2 is removed. Now user A have only node 1 in its
active set. Hence handover is complete.
Fig 5.1 scenario of the mentioned topic
 CHAPTER 6

OUTPUT OBTAINED

1.Cell count in the active set

2.Cell added and removed

 CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSION

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third

generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS
(Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) is a so-called "third-generation
(3G)," broadband , packet -based transmission of text, digitized voice, video, and
multimedia at data rates up to and possibly higher than 2 megabits per second
( Mbps ), offering a consistent set of services to mobile computer and phone users
no matter where they are located in the world. Developed and maintained by
the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project).UMTS is a component of
the International Telecommunications Union IMT-2000standard set. UMTS uses
wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technology to
offer greater spectral efficiency and bandwidth to mobile network operators. Soft
handover occurs when a UE(user equipment) is in the overlapping coverage area of
two cells.
 REFERENCES

https://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/definition/UMTS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS

https://www.slideshare.net/mohammadmateen9210/umts-introduction

www.ques10.com/p/2963/explain-umts-architecture-explain-utra-fdd-and-tdd/