Cellular Radio Networks

Samiseppo Aarnikoivu
Juha Winter

1.11.2005 T-110.5120 Next Generation Wireless Networks 1

 Contents

Introduction 3

Core Development 6

2G Radio Development 10

3G Radio Development 13

Long-Term Radio Evolution 17

Service Evolution 19

Summary and Conclusions 23

References 24

Additional Material 25

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 Introduction, 1/3

Current 2G/3G architecture
 3GPP Release 4 is being deployed

1.11.2005 T-110.5120 Next Generation Wireless Networks 3

 Introduction, 2/3

Current 2G/3G performance

 End-user throughput and latency

GPRS EGPRS (EDGE) WCDMA

(GSM) (UMTS)
Typical rate 80−160 (2 slots), In line with
(kbps) 40−50
160−200 (4 slots) peak rates
Peak rate 85 (pract.), 236 (pract.), 384 (DL) /
(kbps) 115 (theor.) 384 (theor.) 64-384 (UL)
Average
~900 350-700 150-250
RTT (ms)

1.11.2005 T-110.5120 Next Generation Wireless Networks 4

 Introduction, 3/3

Current 2G/3G services
 Basic services

Voice telephony, CS and PS data

 Messaging

SMS, MMS, Instant Messaging (IM)

 Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC)

 E-mail, web browsing
 Video telephony
 Streaming media

Audio streaming

Video streaming/sharing

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 Core Development

There is a clear need to build only one
core network that provides access-
independent and flexible services:
 AAA
 Call processing and management
 Mobility
 Secure transport with QoS support
 Gateways
 Network management etc.

Core network machinery and interfaces
are a vital counterpart and enabler for the
actual radio access evolution

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 IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)

Defines a horizontal
architecture of service
enablers and common
functions providing
 Interoperability
 Roaming
 Bearer control
 Charging
 Security

Generic architecture for
offering VoIP and multimedia
services in multiple networks
 Migration path to an all-IP
network

Utilizes heavily the Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP,
RFC3261) Source: Ericsson

Trials and first commercial AS = Authentication Server

deployments are on-going CSCF = Call Session Control Function
HSS = Home Subscriber Server
MRF = Media Resource Function
SG/MGCF = Service Gateway / Media Gateway Control Function

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 Multi-Access

Modern terminals
already contain a
number of air interfaces,
and a lot more can be
expected

Operators, enterprises
or even end users are
able to extend the
access networks with
what they already may
have

Interworking aspects are
addressed in many 3GPP
Release 6 specifications Source: Nokia

Focus is at least on BT = Bluetooth
WLAN and WiMAX DVB-H = Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds
MBWA = Mobile Broadband Wireless Access
NFC = Near Far Communication
RFID = Radio Frequency Identification
UWB = Ultra Wide Band

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 Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA)

Network coverage enhancement, which provides access

to 2G services over unlicensed frequency spectrum
 WLAN, WiMAX
 Bluetooth etc.

Seamless mobility between 2G BSS and UMA accesses

Originally developed by Kineto, now a 3GPP standard

First commercial products out in 1H/2006

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 2G Radio Development, 1/3

Dual Transfer Mode (DTM)
 Simultaneous voice & data connections in
GSM/EDGE
 Specified in 3GPP TS 43.055
 Mixed use of time slots for CS & PS traffic

DTM multi-slot classes (5, 9, 11) and high multi-slot
classes with Enhanced Dynamic Allocation (EDA)

1 time slot for CS services (DL/UL), multiple for PS data,
e.g. CS 1/1 + PS 2(DL)/1(UL)
 E-mail, SMS and web browsing during voice calls ⇒
improved usability
 New services for GSM/EDGE

Video sharing (previously only in 3G!)

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 2G Radio Development, 2/3

Why DTM?
 Increased flexibility of services for the end-user in
GSM/EDGE networks
 New revenue opportunities for operators due to new
(enabled) services
 Enhanced service continuity in GSM/EDGE/WCDMA
multi-radio networks

WCDMA already supports simultaneous CS & PS
connections, but coverage may be limited in some areas
 Incremental upgrade to existing BSS network
elements and terminals

Only a SW upgrade may suffice, depending on vendor
specific implementation

First DTM compliant terminals already on the
market, commercial launches expected in early
2006

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 2G Radio Development, 3/3

EDGE Evolution
 Will be standardized from Release 7 onward
 Aims to tighten the gap between current GSM/EDGE
and WCDMA/High Speed Packet Access (HSPA)
technology
 Improved service performance, enhanced service
continuity, more cost-efficient coverage
 Increased spectral efficiency
 Offers 2−3 fold increase in data rates
 Halves the latency (RTT)
 Can be implemented to existing GSM/EDGE
networks with low network impact
 Backwards compatible with existing EDGE solutions

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 3G Radio Development (3.5G)

Current 3G networks have not been able to
actually respond to the high expectations of
mobile broadband
 Performance not on par with xDSL
 Relatively high costs for operators as well as end
customers

A number of competitive techniques are now
beginning to enter the market
 CDMA 450
 Flash-OFDM
 Mobile WiMAX (806.11e)

3GPP Releases 5 and 6 will address these issues

3G network architecture can be optimized to be
more cost-effective for packet data

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 High Speed Downlink Packet Access
(HSDPA)

New shared channels (HS-
SCCH and HS-DSCH) with
functionalities pushed to Node
B
 Adaptive modulation and
coding (16-QAM & QPSK)
 Fast scheduling (2 ms)
 Fast retransmission (HARQ)

DL Throughput and delay
improvements
 ~1500 kbps (first phase),
>10 Mbps possible in practice
 RTT < 100 ms

Software update (some
vendors may require HW
update as well)

First commercial HSDPA
network has already been
opened (O2/Isle of Man),
mainstream launches will
happen during 2006
Source: Siemens

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 High Speed Uplink Packet Access
(HSUPA)

New uplink data path (E-DCH) below the RLC layer parallel to
DCH, similar improvements as HSDPA (except for adaptive
modulation, which is not feasible)
 Layer1 hybrid ARQ
 Node B based scheduling for uplink
 Frame sizes 2 ms & 10 ms

UL Throughput and delay improvements
 ~1 Mbps (first phase)
>5 Mbps possible
 RTT < 50 ms

Software update (some vendors may require HW update as well)

Commercial launches will probably start to happen in late 2006 -
early 2007

Source: Nokia
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 PS-optimized Network Architecture

UTRAN architecture is
designed to provide both CS
and PS services
 Layered functionality between
Node B and RNC
 ATM-based transmission etc.

UTRAN evolution is clearly
happening with PS services
 Air interface may no longer be
the actual bottleneck

Nokia’s Internet-HSPA is one
solution to optimize the
already deployed network for
PS services
 I-HSPA is also sold for
greenfield operators as an
alternative for other mobile
broadband techniques
 Scalability, lower cost
 Better RTT

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 Long-Term Radio Evolution

UTRAN LTE is a 3GPP research item for Release 8
 Also known as 3.9G or “Super 3G”
 Still a long way from being commercial (2009?)

Aims at peak data rates of 200 Mbps (DL) and
100 Mbps (UL)
 Optimized for PS only
 New architecture
 New modulation
 Spectrum and bandwidth flexibility
 Lower latency (<30 ms?)
 Interworking with 3.5G evolution

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 Potential 3.9G Enablers

MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output)
 Multiple antennas on both receiver and transmitter
side
 Increased capacity (e.g. 3x) due to multi-stream
transmissions and code reuse
 Already accepted to 3GPP Release 7
 Demands high processing power

OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing)
 Already used e.g. in ADSL and DVB transmission
 Available bandwidth is split into many (100-8000)
narrowband channels
 Low symbol rate => high multipath delay tolerance
=> allows high spectrum efficiency

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 Service Evolution, 1/4

New speech codecs
 Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband (AMR-WB)

Standardized by both 3GPP (TS 26.171) and ITU-T (G.722.2),
intended to be used in UMTS

Multi-mode speech codec supporting 9 wide band speech coding
modes with bit rates 6.6−23.85 kbps

Wider speech bandwidth of 50−7000 Hz compared to narrowband
speech codecs ⇒ excellent speech quality

Performs reasonably well also under severe background
noise conditions and in the case of music as input
 Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband Plus (AMR-WB+)

Supports even higher sampling rates and stereo signals
(for high quality music)

Greatly improved generic audio coding capabilities due to
use of transform coding in addition to Algebraic Code
Excited Linear Prediction (ACELP)

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 Service Evolution, 2/4

Rich media and mobile multicast
 Increased data transfer capabilities are a key
enabler for broadcast/mobile/Internet
convergence services
 Mobile TV (IP datacast over DVB-H)
 High quality audio/music streaming (e.g.
mobile jukebox)
 Scheduled audio/video distribution, push
media
 Video announcements
 Real-time, content-rich multiplayer games
 File distribution between multiple parties,
mobile P2P systems

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 Service Evolution, 3/4

Voice over IP (VoIP)
 Cost-efficient telephony using existing IP network
infrastructure, mobile access through IMS
 Already massively utilized by telco carriers and corporate
offices but also increasingly popular with private
consumers (e.g. Skype)
 Natural consequence of the all-IP convergence
 VoIP codecs

Internet Low Bit-rate Codec (iLBC)
 Dual rate operation: 15.2 kbps with 20 ms frames or 13.33
kbps with 30 ms frames

ITU-T G.723.1
 Capable of achieving up to 12:1 compression ratio
 Dual rate operation: 5.3 kbps or 6.3 kbps

ITU-T G.729(/A/AB)
 8 kbps, speech quality similar to that of 32 kbps ADPCM
landline connections

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 Service Evolution, 4/4

Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service
 Point-to-multipoint (p-t-m) bearer service enabling
efficient unidirectional multimedia content delivery to
mobile subscribers
 Two modes of operation

Multicast
 Users need to subscribe to and join specific services

Broadcast
 Service data is sent to predefined network area without
system knowledge of the presence of potential users, no
charging data collected
 Impact on RAN radio resource and mobility management,
type of used radio bearers in WCDMA
 Idle-mode reception: UE must be able to receive data also
when idle (no signaling connection to the network) to
reduce battery power consumption

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 Summary and Conclusions

There are several different (and changing) drivers
and enablers for network development and new
services – performance is only one of them

Radio evolution is pushed by increased
competition and interworking support within the
core network, cost goes down all the time

2G/3G has the most vendors and users, so it will
be hard to beat

Network capabilities and resulting services will be
at least an order of magnitude better and more
versatile than today

“You ain’t seen nothing yet”

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 References
1. http://www.3gpp.org/specs/specs.htm
2. http://www.ericsson.com/products/white_papers_pdf/ims_ip_multimedia_subsystem.pdf
3. http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3261.txt
4. http://www.sipcenter.com/
5. http://www.wimaxforum.org/
6. http://www.umatechnology.org/
7. http://www.europe.nokia.com/BaseProject/Sites/NOKIA_MAIN_18022/CDA/Categories/Business/Tech
nologies/EDGE/_Content/_Static_Files/nokia_edge_evolution_wp.pdf
8. http://www.netlab.hut.fi/opetus/s38310/04-05/Kalvot_04-05/H%E4m%E4l%E4inen_070605.ppt
9. http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Operators/Mobile_Operators_&_Service_Providers/Mobile_Net
works/WCDMA/radio_network_evolution_a4_02-2005_net.pdf
10. http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/About_Nokia/Press/White_Papers/pdf_files/hspa_a4_02-
2005_net.pdf
11. http://www.siemens.com/Daten/siecom/Germany/COM/Internet/Mobile_Networks/WORKAREA/com_
mnde/templatedata/Deutsch/file/binary/HSDPA_0105_1306647.pdf
12. http://www.nortel.com/solutions/wireless/collateral/nn_112020.06-01-05.pdf
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COFDM
14. http://www.mobiletv.nokia.com/resources/files/mobile_tv_brochure_2005.pdf

Further information: http://www.google.com

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 Additional Material

HSDPA User Plane

HSUPA User Plane

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 HSDPA User Plane

UE Node B RNC
RLC

RLC MAC-d

MAC MAC-hs FP FP

WCDMA L1 WCDMA L1 Transport Transport

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 HSUPA User Plane

UE Node B RNC

RLC

RLC MAC-d

MAC MAC-e

MAC-es/e MAC-es FP FP

WCDMA L1 WCDMA L1 Transport Transport

1.11.2005 T-110.5120 Next Generation Wireless Networks 27