3G WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY

&
RADIO ACCESS NETWORK
ARCHITECTURE

Engr. Lubna Nadeem

INTRODUCTION 3G
 There are currently widely different views throughout the
wireless industry as to what constitutes a 3G wireless access
network.
 The problem is rapidly getting worse with the increased usage of
4G to describe, in many cases, technologies that are basically just
evolutions of 3G technologies.
 The general concept behind different technology “generations” is
that each new generation offers significant “revolutions” in
performance and capabilities compared to its predecessor.
 Third Generation (3G) mobile devices and services will transform
wireless communications into on-line, real-time connectivity.
 3G wireless technology will allow an individual to have immediate
access to location-specific services that offer information on
demand.
 Mobile phones are rapidly becoming the preferred means of
personal communication creating the world's largest consumer
electronics industry.
ROUTE TO 3G

 1G: analog
 2G : 1st digital mobile telephony

 2.5G: transition from 2G to 3G

 3G standard: IMT 2000

 3G & FUTURE WIRELESS VS. BANDWIDTH
10,000,000,000

1,000,000,000 4G

100,000,000
3.5G
10,000,000
bps 3G
1,000,000
GPRS
100,000 2G
10,000

1,000

100
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
LITERATURE SURVEY OF 3G
 The first pre-commercial 3G network was launched by
NTT DoCoMo in Japan on 1998, branded as FOMA. It
was first available in May 2001 as a pre-release (test) of
W-CDMA technology.The first commercial launch of 3G
was also by NTT DoCoMo in Japan on 1 October 2001.

 In Pakistan, Mobilink, Telenor And Ufone Picking Up

Licences For 3g Services While Zong Being The Only
Bidder To Acquire A Licence For Both 3g And 4g
Services On April 24, 2014
3G AT PRESENT IN PAKISTAN
 Chairman PTA was speaking on the occasion of Internet
Exchange Point (IXP), which has been organized by
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for 18 April, 2016
to 22 April 2016

 “Owing to the introduction of the latest

technologies such as 3G /4G exponential growth
has been seen in broadband users. 30 million
users (17% of the total population) are already
using 3G and 4G LTE services in Pakistan,” said
Dr. Syed Ismail Shah, chairman PTA.
MOBILE PENETRATION WORLD-WIDE
MAJOR PLAYERS OF 3G IN MARKET
 A Recent breakdown of statistics shows
 Mobilink is leading the market with 8.4 million 3G
subscribers
 followed by Telenor with 7.7 million 3G subscribers.
 China Mobile (Zong) has around 5.7 million
3G subscribers and 0.535 million 4G LTE subscribers,
 Ufone has 5.1 million 3G connections
 Warid has 0.283 million 4G subscribers.
WHY 3G
 Higher bandwidth enables a range of new applications.
 For the consumer
 Video seamless roaming, TV broadcast
 Video calls, video clips – news, music, sports
 Enhanced gaming, chat, location services…
 For business
 High speed teleworking
 Sales force automation
 Video conferencing
 Real-time financial
Information
EFFECTS OF 3G
 Mobile internet connectivity.
 Multimedia services such as digital photos taken by and
shared by wireless handsets.
 Wireless applications downloading.
 Music on your mobile.
 Enhanced Location Based Services.
3G CAPABILITIES
 Speed :- 144 kbps – 2mbps
 Time to download a 3 min mp3 song : 11 sec – 1.5
min
 Voice quality comparable to the public switched telephone
network
 144 Kbps- user in high-speed motor vehicles
 384 Kbps- pedestrians standing or moving slowly over
small areas
 Up to 2 Mbps- fixed applications like office use
 Support for both packet switched and circuit switched data
services like Internet Protocol (IP) traffic and real time
video
ORGANIZATIONS
 3G is also known as UMTS (Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System)
 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project.
 3GPP2 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2
 Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF)
 ITU-IMT-2000 Standard (International Telecommunication
Union- International Mobile Telecommunication)
 IMT-2000 RADIO INTERFACE
IMT

Paired Spectrum Unpaired Spectrum

IMT-DS IMT-MC IMT-TC IMT-SC

IMT-FT
UMTS-FDD CDMA-2000 UMTS-TDD UWC-136
DECT
(WCDMA) (1x-EvDO/DV) (TD-SCDMA) (EDGE)
Freq. time
Direct spread Multi carrier Time code Single carrier

CDMA TDMA FDMA

 IMT-2000 FREQUENCY BANDS
1G + 2G
806 960 MHz

2G (Asia, Europe) + 3G

1710 1885 MHz

WCDMA(UL) 1820-1880MHz
WCDMA(DL) 1910-1970MHz

DECT, PHS + 2G + 3G
1885 2025 2110 2200 MHz

2500 2690 MHz

TAKING GAMES TO THE NEW LEVEL
• Realtime Multiplayer Gaming is
possible in 3G
system.
ADVANTAGES OF 3G TECHNOLOGY
 Higher call volumes and support for multimedia data
applications such as video and photography.
 Faster data transfer rates.

 Free or cheap call rates overwide.

 Capability to determine geographic

position of mobiles and report it.

 Worthwhile for users that need

connectivity on the move.

PROBLEMS IN 3G??
 High spectrum licensing fees for the 3g services
 Huge capital required to build infrastructure for 3g services.
 Health impact because of the electromagnetic waves.
 Prices are very high for 3g mobile services.
 Will 2g users switch to 3g services? It is a Big question.
 Takes time to catch up as the service is new.
 Expense of 3G phones.
 It is a challenge to build the necessary infrastructure for 3G.
 Limitation to meet expectations of applications like
multimedia, full motion video, wireless teleconferencing.
 Wider Bandwidth
 5.1 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
 Functional network elements
 User Equipment (UE)
 interfaces with user and radio interface

 Radio Access Network (RAN, UMTS Terrestrial RAN =

UTRAN)
 handles all radio-related functionality

 Core Network
 switches and routes calls and data connections to external
networks
 PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network)
 operated by a single operator
 distinguished from each other with unique identities
 operational either on their own or together with other
sub-networks
 connected to other PLMNs as well as to other types of
network, such as ISDN, PSTN, the Internet, etc.
 UE consists of two parts
 Mobile Equipment (ME)
 the radio terminal used for radio communication
over Uu interface
 UMTS Subscriber Identity Module (USIM)
 a smartcard that holds the subscriber identity
 performs authentication algorithms

 stores authentication and encryption keys

 some subscription information that is needed at the

terminal
 UTRAN consists of two elements
 Node B
 converts data flow between Iub and Uu interfaces
 participates in radio resource management

 Radio Network Controller (RNC)

 owns and controls radio resources in its domain
 the service access point (SAP) for all services that
UTRAN provides the CN
 e.g., management of connections to UE
 Main elements of CN
a) HLR (Home Location Register)
b) MSC/VLR (Mobile Services Switching Centre/Visitor
Location Register)
c) GMSC (Gateway MSC)
d) SGSN (Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)
Support Node)
e) GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node)
(a) HLR (Home Location Register)
 a database located in user’s home system that stores
the master copy of user’s service profile
 service profile consists of, e.g.,
 information on allowed services, forbidden
roaming areas
 supplementary service information such as

status of call forwarding and the call

forwarding number
 it is created when a new user subscribes to the
system, and remains stored as long as the
subscription is active
 for the purpose of routing incoming transactions to
UE (e.g. calls or short messages)
 HLR also stores the UE location on the level of
MSC/VLR and/or SGSN
(b) MSC/VLR (Mobile Services Switching
Centre/Visitor Location Register)
◦ the switch (MSC) and database (VLR) that serve the
UE in its current location for Circuit Switched (CS)
services
◦ the part of the network that is accessed via MSC/VLR
is often referred to as CS domain
◦ MSC
 used to switch CS transactions
◦ VLR
 holds a copy of the visiting user’s service profile,
as well as more precise information on the
UE’s location within the serving system
(c) GMSC (Gateway MSC)
 the switch at the point where UMTS PLMN is
connected to external CS networks
 all incoming and outgoing CS connections go through
GMSC
(d) SGSN (Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio
Service) Support Node)
 functionality is similar to that of MSC/VLR but is
typically used for Packet Switched (PS) services
 the part of the network that is accessed via SGSN is
often referred to as PS domain
(e) GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node)
 functionality is close to that of GMSC but is in
relation to PS services
 External networks can be divided into two groups
 CS networks
 provide circuit-switched connections, like the existing telephony
service
 ISDN and PSTN are examples of CS networks

 PS networks
 provide connections for packet data services
 Internet is one example of a PS network
 Main open interfaces
 Cu interface
 the electrical interface between USIM smartcard
and ME
 Uu interface
 the WCDMA radio interface
 the interface through which UE accesses the fixed

part of the system

 the most important open interface in UMTS
 Iu interface
 connects UTRAN to CN
 Iur interface
 allows soft handover between RNCs
 Iub interface
 connects a Node B and an RNC
5.2 UTRAN ARCHITECTURE
5.2.1 Radio Network Controller
5.2.2 Node B (Base Station)
 UTRAN
 consists of one or more Radio Network Sub-systems (RNS)
 RNS
 a subnetwork within UTRAN
 consists of one Radio Network Controller (RNC) and one or
more Node Bs
 RNCs
 may be connected to each other via Iur interface
 RNCs and Node Bs are connected with Iub interface
 Main characteristics of UTRAN
 support of UTRA and all related functionality
 support soft handover and WCDMA-specific Radio Resource
Management algorithms
 use of ATM transport as the main transport mechanism in
UTRAN
 use of IP-based transport as the alternative transport
mechanism in UTRAN from Release 5 onwards
5.2.1 RADIO NETWORK
CONTROLLER

 RNC (Radio Network Controller)

 the network element responsible for radio resources control
of UTRAN
 it interfaces CN (normally to one MSC and one SGSN)
 terminates RRC (Radio Resource Control) protocol that
defines the messages and procedures between mobile and
UTRAN
 it logically corresponds to the GSM BSC
5.2.1.1 LOGICAL ROLE OF THE RNC
 The RNC controlling one Node B is indicated as
the Controlling RNC (CRNC) of Node B
 Controlling RNC
 responsible for load and congestion control of its own
cells
 executes admission control for new radio links
 In case one mobile–UTRAN connection uses
resources from more than one RNS (due to
handover), the RNCs involved have two separate
logical roles
 Serving RNC (SRNC)
 Drift RNC (DRNC)
 Serving RNC
 SRNC for one mobile is the RNC that terminates
both the Iu link for the transport of user data and the
corresponding RANAP (RAN Application Part)
signaling to/from the core network
 SRNC also terminates the Radio Resource Control
Signaling, that is the signaling protocol between the
UE and UTRAN
 it performs L2 processing of the data to/from the
radio interface
 basic Radio Resource Management operations are
executed in SRNC
 map Radio Access Bearer (RAB) parameters into
air interface transport channel parameters
 handover decision

 outer loop power control

 one UE connected to UTRAN has one and only one

SRNC
 Drift RNC
 DRNC is any RNC, other than the SRNC, that
controls cells used by the mobile
 DRNC does not perform L2 processing of the user
plane data, but routes the data transparently
between Iub and Iur interfaces
 one UE may have zero, one or more DRNCs
5.2.2 NODE B (BASE STATION)
 Main function of Node B
◦ perform the air interface L1 processing, e.g.,
 channel coding and interleaving

 rate adaptation

 spreading

 also performs some basic Radio Resource

Management operations, e.g.
 inner loop power control

 It logically corresponds to the GSM Base Station

 Iu can have two main different instances and one
additional instance
 Iu CS
 connect UTRAN to Circuit Switched (CS) CN

 Iu PS
 connect UTRAN to Packet Switched (PS) CN

 Iu BC (Broadcast)
 support Cell Broadcast Services

 connect UTRAN to the Broadcast domain of CN

GSM Network

SCP
gsm
PSTN/ISDN SSP SCF
STP
ISUP IN
HLR
AuC
C
Gw-MSC
Billing
C, D Center

VLR SMS-GW
MSC
GSM
04.08 A

BSS

UE
Circuit domain
GSM & GPRS

SCP
gsm
PSTN/ISDN SSP IP Services PDN
SCF
STP
ISUP IN Gi
HLR
AuC Gc
C
Gw-MSC GGSN
Billing Ga Data,
Center CGw
C, D voice,
Gn video
Ga
call
SMS-GW Gr
VLR
MSC SGSN
GSM
GSM
04.08+ A Gb 04.08+

BSS

UE
Circuit domain Packet domain
WCDMA/UMTS

SCP
gsm
PSTN/ISDN SSP IP Services PDN
SCF
STP IN, CAMEL
ISUP Gi+
HLR+
AuC Gc+
C
Gw-MSC GGSN
Billing Ga+ Data,
C+, D+ CGw
Center voice,
Gn+ video
Ga+
call
VLR SMS-GW Gr+
3G-MSC 3G-SGSN
GSM
GSM
04.08++ Iu-cs Iu-ps 04.08++

UTRAN

UE
Circuit domain Packet domain