Week 9 UMTS

FDD
GGSN
• Multiple Access TDD SGSN
HLR
Core N/W VLR
EIR
MSC/GMSC
AuC

• Network Architecture UE

Macrodiversity
Radio Resource
Admission
UTRAN Congestion
Code Allocation
Power
Handover
 FDD-CDMA / TDD-CDMA
• Two types of terrestrial transmission have been agreed on for UMTS:
the wideband CDMA with the Frequency Division Duplex- or FDD
mode, and the Time Division CDMA with the Time Division Duplex-
or TDD mode.
• In the FDD mode, the uplink is on one 5MHz band (lower
frequency), and the downlink on a higher one.
• With TDD data is sent and received on the same frequency, but not
simultaneously.
• The subscriber is assigned at least one timeslot for the uplink and at
least one for the downlink.
• With UMTS, these timeslots can be shared among up to 15
subscribers.

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 FDD-CDMA

c o de
D O W0 N LIN K

U P L0IN K
Fre que nc y
5 M hz

5 M hz
tim e

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 TDD-CDMA

c o de

U P0LIN K D O W0N L IN K U P0L IN K D O W0N LIN K

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UMTS Network Architecture

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 Network Architecture
• A UMTS network consist of three interacting
domains;
• Core Network (CN),
• UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
(UTRAN) and
• User Equipment (UE).

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 Core Network
• The main function of the core network is to provide
switching, routing and transit for user traffic.
• Core network also contains the databases and
network management functions.
• The basic Core Network architecture for UMTS is
based on GSM network with GPRS.

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 RN S MSC B VLR
BT S A-bis

Nm BT S BS C E
A VLR
BT S B
PSTN
Gb MSC GMSC

RNS C
D
N o de B Iub Iu C S F
Iu P S
Uu
EIR HLR H AuC
Cu Gs
US IM ME N ode B RN C
Gf Gc
N ode B Gr

Iur Gi
IuC S SGSN GGSN
Gn
RN S
N od e B Iub
IuP S

N ode B RNC

N ode B

UM T S netw ork elem ents and interfac es

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 Core Network
• The Core Network is divided in circuit switched and
packet switched domains.
• Some of the circuit switched elements are Mobile
services Switching Centre (MSC), Visitor location
register (VLR) and Gateway MSC.
• Packet switched elements are Serving GPRS Support
Node (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN).
• Both domains share some network elements, like EIR,
HLR, VLR and AUC.

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 Core Network (MSC)
• The functions of an MSC include;
­ Paging
- Co-ordination of call setup from all MS’s in the MSC
region
- Dynamic allocation of resources
- Location registration
- Handover management
- Collection of data for the billing centre
- Frequency allocation management in the MSC area

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 Core Network (VLR)
• The visitor location register (VLR) contains information about
the mobile stations roaming in this MSC area.
• A VLR subscriber data entry contains the following information;
- International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)
- Mobile station international ISDN number (MSISDN)
- Mobile station roaming number (MSRN)
- Temporary mobile station identity (TMSI)
- Location mobile station identity (LMSI)
- Location area where the mobile station has been registered
- Identity of the SGSN where the MS has been registered
- Last known location and the initial location of the MS

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 Core Network (HLR)
• The home location register (HLR) contains the permanent
subscriber data register
• The permanent data in the HLR includes;
- International mobile subscriber number (IMSI), which identifies the
subscribers SIM unambiguously
- MSISDN (the directory number of the MS)
- Possible roaming restrictions
- Closed user group (CUG) membership data
- Supplementary services parameter
- Authentication key
- Network access mode (NAM), determining whether the user can
access the GPRS networks, non-GPRS networks, or both.
- PDP address if GPRS is supported

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 Core Network (HLR)

• The temporary data include;

- Local mobile station identity (LMSI); Triplet vector, ie. three
authentication and ciphering parameters: 1) random number
(RAND), 2) signed response (SRES), and 3) ciphering key (Kc)
- Quintuplet vector; ie. five authentication and ciphering
parameters: 1) random challenge (RAND), 2) expected
response (XRES), 3) cipher key (CK) 4) integrity key (IK), and
5)authentication token (AUTN)
- MSC number
- VLR number (the identity of the currently registered VLR)
- SGSN number if GPRS is supported.

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 Core Network (EIR)

• The equipment identity register stores the international mobile

equipment identities (IMEI’s) used in the system.
• An EIR may contain three separate lists:

- White list: The IMEI’s of the equipment known to be in

good order
- Black list: The IMEI’s of any equipment reported to be
stolen
- Gray list: The IMEI’s of the equipment known to contain
problems (such as faulty software), but which are not
fatal enough to justify barring them.

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 Core Network (AuC)
• The authentication centre (AuC) is associated with an HLR.
• The AuC stores the subscriber authentication key, Ki, and the
corresponding IMSI.
• The Ki key is used to generate an authentication parameter
triplet (Kc, SRES, RAND) during the authentication procedure.
Parameter Kc is also used in encryption algorithms.

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 Core Network (GMSC)
• The Gateway MSC (GMSC) is an MSC that is located between
the PSTN and the other MSC’c in the network.
• Its function is to route the incoming calls to the appropriate
MSC’s.

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 Core Network (SGSN)
• The serving GPRS support node (SGSN) is the central element in the
packet switched network. It contains the following types of
information:
- Subscription information
- IMSI
- Temporary identities
- PDP addresses
- Location information
- The cell or router area where the MS is registered
- VLR number
- GGSN address of GGSN for which an active PDP context exists.
• The SGSN connects to the UTRAN via the IuPS interface and to the
BSS via the Gb interface.

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 Core Network (GGSN)
• The gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) corresponds to the
GMSC in the circuit switched network.
• But whereas the GMSC only routes the incoming traffic, the
GGSN must also route the outgoing traffic. It has to maintain the
following data:
- Subscription information
- IMSI
- PDP addresses
- Location information
- The SGSN address of the SGSN where the MS is registered.
• The GGSN receives this information from the HLR and from the
SGSN.

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UMTS Radio Access Network

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 UTRAN’s Functions
R adio
R es ourc e
C ontrol
M ac ro-
divers ity
Adm is s ion
C ontrol

Handover
Control UT R AN

C onges tion
C ontrol
P ow er
Control
Code
Alloc ation
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 Radio Resource Control
• The Radio Resource Control, that is the management and release of
radio resources, it is a function of the Radio Network Controller.
• When a Mobile Originated Call (MOC) is set up, the connection is
initiated by the User Equipment.
• After the Radio Network Controller has made the required resources
available, this is notified to the User Equipment.
• In the case of a Mobile Terminated Call (MTC), the connection is
initiated by a paging procedure.
• Among other things, the Radio Resource Control is required when
resources are to be made available for macrodiversity or for
improving the quality of the bearer service.

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 Admission Control
• Admission Control serves to avoid overload situations in the
radio network.
• Based on measurements of the interference and the net load
within the concerned cell, the RNC decides whether or not to
allow further connections.
• Each new connection to a user equipment occupies some of
the available resources.
• If there are no more resources available, then the RNC denies
the new user equipment access to the network

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 Congestion Control
• If the subscribers active in a cell cause an overload situation,
Congestion Control provides functions that bring the system
back in to a stable and manageable state.
• Congestion Control can, for example,
– force a handover to a different Node B
– force a handover to the GSM system
– reduce the datarate of individual active subscribers
– perform a controlled teardown of active connections.

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 Code Allocation
• The Radio Network Controller is responsible for Code
Allocation, i.e for assigning the codes to the individual
connections.
• The RNC constantly monitors the codes used in its Node B’s.
• The codes must be unique within a single cell and its
neighboring cells.

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 Power Control
• Power Control takes over the task of adapting the transmit power
so the signals are transmitted with just enough power to be
received by the Node B.
• UMTS uses three different kinds of Power Control:
– Open Loop Power Control
– Closed Loop Power Control and
– Outer Loop Power Control.
• Based on the Signal-to-Interference Ratio (SIR) and the power
received, the Node B makes the User Equipment adapt its transmit
power.
• This happens every 0.667 ms. In comparison, the power in GSM is
adjusted every 480 ms.

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 Power Control
• With Outer Loop Power Control, the Node B uses certain channels
to broadcast information about the transmit power that a User
Equipment must use when performing its first network access.
• The random access to the network must be performed with the
lowest transmit power possible.
• With Closed Loop Power Control commands to control the
increase or decrease of power transmitted by the UE, is send on
the control channel (DPCCH).
• Based on the Signal-to-Interference Ratio (SIR) and the power
received, the Node B makes the User Equipment adapt its
transmit power.

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 Power Control
• With Outer Loop Power Control, if the RNC detects that a
connection is deteriorating, the target SIR in the node B is
increased by a certain amount.
• The user equipment will gradually increase its transmit power
until it has achieved the new value.
• In the reverse case, the target SIR will be reduced by a certain
amount and the user equipment will reduce its transmit
power.

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 Handover Control

• In UMTS, there is the possibility of switching the connection if

the signal quality worsens. This process is called handover.
There are two types of handover in UMT
- Soft Handover (Soft - and Softer Handover)
- Hard Handover (Inter-Frequency or Inter-System Handover)
• In the case of a soft handover, the User Equipment is connected
to two or more cells using the same frequency.
• The data streams received are combined in the Radio Network
Controller. In the opposite direction, the RNC duplicates the data
and sends it to the User Equipment via different routes.

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 Handover Control
• The softer handover is similar to the soft handover, only that
the procedure refers to different sectors of one Node B.
• A hard handover is performed between two cells using
different bearer frequencies. It can also be performed within a
Node B in order to switch to another frequency.
• Since UMTS and 2nd generation systems are designed to be
interoperable, a handover between the different systems
must be possible.
• If the User Equipment leaves the coverage area of a UMTS
network, or if the quality of the signal worsens, the User
Equipment switches to a different radio system.

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 Macrodiversity
• The macrodiversity function allows the User Equipment to be
connected to several cells simultaneously.
• The User Equipment receives the data via different
connections, which increases the quality of the communication.
• In the opposite direction, several Node Bs receive the data
stream from one User Equipment.
• The data streams received are brought together again in the
Radio Network Controller.
• The macrodiversity function allows the User Equipment to
transmit with less power, as several paths are available.
• Thus there is less interference in the individual cells.

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