Umts Ha Noicc

TAMPERE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Jarosaw cki
Optimization of Soft Handover Parameters for

UMTS Network in Indoor Environment
Master of Science Thesis
Subject Approved by the Department

Council on May 11th, 2005
Examiners:
Professor Jukka Lempiinen

M.Sc. Jarno Niemel
Preface
This Master of Science Thesis entitled Optimization of Soft Handover Parameters for
UMTS Network in Indoor Environment has been written in the Department of
Information Technology at the Tampere University of Technology, Finland. This Thesis
has been completed based on research conducted during my work at the Institute of
Communication Engineering, Tampere University of Technology.
I would like to express my hearty acknowledgements to my supervisor, Professor Jukka
Lempiinen and my examiner M.Sc. Jarno Niemel for their excellent guidance and
supervision during my work. I would also say many thanks to my colleagues from
Radio Network Planning Research Group - Panu Lhdekorpi, Jakub Borkowski, and
Tero Isotalo for their help and very nice working atmosphere. I would also thank to
Advanced Techniques for Mobile Positioning (MOT) project for founding the work and
Institute of Communication Engineering for framework.
I would like to express my thanks to Professor Markku Renfors, Ulla Siltaloppi, and
Tarja Erlaukko for their kindness, help with practical matters of my work and studies.
Moreover, I would also direct my thanks to Elina Orava for her assistance related to
formal and daily matters of international studies.
Finally, I would like to express my warmest thanks to my parents Iwona and Henryk
and my sister Sonia as well as to my girlfriend Katarzyna, for their love, definite
support, and help during my whole work.
Tampere, December 7th, 2005
Jarosaw cki
Insinrinkatu 60 C 208
33 720 Tampere
Finland
jaroslaw.lacki@tut.fi
ii
Table of contents
Preface ............................................................................................................... i
Table of contents .............................................................................................. ii
Abstract ............................................................................................................ v
Tiivistelm...................................................................................................... vii
List of symbols ................................................................................................ ix
List of abbreviations ....................................................................................... xi
1.
Introduction ............................................................................................ 14
2.
UMTS system .......................................................................................... 16

2.1
2.2
2.3
UMTS system architecture .................................................................................... 16

2.1.1
UE .......................................................................................................................... 17
2.1.2
UTRAN................................................................................................................... 17
2.1.3
Core network.......................................................................................................... 18
WCDMA radio interface ....................................................................................... 19

2.2.1
Multiple access method.......................................................................................... 19
2.2.2
WCDMA parameters.............................................................................................. 20
Radio resource management.................................................................................. 21

2.3.1
2.4
2.5
Admission and load control ................................................................................... 21
Power control......................................................................................................... 22
2.4.1
Open loop power control ....................................................................................... 23
2.4.2
Inner loop power control ....................................................................................... 24
2.4.3
Outer loop power control....................................................................................... 25
Handovers .............................................................................................................. 25
2.5.1
Soft handover ......................................................................................................... 26
2.5.2
Softer handover...................................................................................................... 27
2.5.3
Intra-system handover intra-frequency............................................................... 28
iii
3.
3.2
2.5.5
Inter-system handover............................................................................................ 28
Basic propagation phenomenon............................................................................. 29

3.1.1
Reflection and refraction ....................................................................................... 29
3.1.2
Diffraction.............................................................................................................. 32
3.1.3
Scattering ............................................................................................................... 34
Mobile radio channel ............................................................................................. 35

3.2.1
Multipath propagation ........................................................................................... 35
3.2.2
Fast fading ............................................................................................................. 36
3.2.3
Slow fading ............................................................................................................ 38
3.2.4
Delay spread .......................................................................................................... 38
3.2.5
Angular spread ...................................................................................................... 39
3.2.6
Coherence bandwidth ............................................................................................ 39
3.2.7
Propagation slope.................................................................................................. 40
3.3
Characteristics of indoor and outdoor propagation environments ......................... 40
3.4
Indoor propagation channel ................................................................................... 42
Soft handover function............................................................................ 45

4.1
4.2
5.
Intra-system handover inter-frequency ............................................................... 28
Characteristics of radio wave propagation in mobile channels............. 29

3.1
4.
2.5.4
SHO performances................................................................................................. 45
4.1.1
SHO procedure and algorithm............................................................................... 45
4.1.2
SHO probability and overhead .............................................................................. 49
4.1.3
SHO gain ............................................................................................................... 50
4.1.4
SHO features.......................................................................................................... 51
4.1.5
SHO optimization................................................................................................... 52
SHO optimization methods.................................................................................... 52
Measurements environment and setup................................................... 55

5.1
5.2
Description of indoor test network and measurements parameters ....................... 55

5.1.1
Antenna configuration ........................................................................................... 56
5.1.2
Measurements equipment....................................................................................... 58
5.1.3
Measurements campaign ....................................................................................... 59
Setup of measurements parameters........................................................................ 62
iv
6.
7.
Measurements results ............................................................................. 63

6.1.1
Measurements results in indoor environment ........................................................ 63
6.1.2
SHO gain for various time to trigger values.......................................................... 66
6.1.3
SHO probability, BER, DROP call values, and SIR target.................................... 69
Conclusions ............................................................................................. 71
References ...................................................................................................... 72
Abstract
TAMPERE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
International Master Degree Program in Information Technology
Institute of Communication Engineering
cki, Jarosaw: Optimization of Soft Handover Parameters for UMTS Network in
Indoor Environment
Master of Science Thesis, 75 p.
Examiners: Professor Jukka Lempiinen, M.Sc. Jarno Niemel
Funding: National Technology Agency of Finland (TEKES)
Department of Information Technology
December 2005
The third generation networks provide high data rate digital communication. In mobile
networks based on WCDMA air access technology, multi-services are enabled and
available in real time. Mobile phone users utilize multimedia streaming with high data
transfers, mainly in indoor locations. Along with new services, the succeeding
challenges are brought for capacity and coverage planning as well as optimization of
parameters controlling the functionality of the network.
In this Master of Science Thesis, optimum parameters for soft handovers were found
based on conducted measurements. Signal propagation in wideband indoor systems has
characteristics of the signal propagating in flat fading channel. It causes fading of the
signal together with large amplitude variations. Such propagation characteristics lead to
a degradation of system performance, which is seen as reduction of capacity, coverage,
or QoS. Soft handover function provides lower signal fading, because of simultaneous
connections via multiple physical radio links, which provide diversity. Implementation
of larger soft handover areas is quite simple and attractive way to improve indoor
system performance.
The aim of this Thesis was to analyze the downlink transmission power gain provided
by soft handover. Measurements were focused on downlink direction, because usually
this direction of data transmission requires higher data rates than the transmission in
vi
uplink direction. Measurements were conducted in the UMTS pico-cell test network, at
Tampere University of Technology. Soft handover gain was defined as difference
between transmitted power in downlink direction, when only hard handover existed,
and transmitted power in downlink direction, when soft handover was enabled. The soft
handover gain was measured for various dynamic and static soft handover parameters,
but along the same measurements route and measurements scenario. Transmission
power gain, provided by soft handover, resulted in lower interference and increased
capacity of the network.
vii
Tiivistelm
TAMPEREEN TEKNILLINEN YLIOPISTO
Tietotekniikan kansainvlinen koulutusohjelma
Tietoliikennetekniikan laitos
cki, Jarosaw: Pehmen Solunvaihdon Parametrien
sistilaverkoissa.
Diplomity, 75 s.
Tarkastajat: Professori Jukka Lempiinen, DI Jarno Niemel
Rahoittajat: TEKES
Tietotekniikan osasto
Joulukuu 2005
Optimointi
UMTS-
Kolmannen sukupolven matkaviestinverkot tuovat mukanaan nopeita digitaalisia

tiedonsiirtoyhteyksi kuluttajien hydynnettvksi. WCDMA-tekniikkaan pohjautuvat
matkaviestinverkot ovat monipalveluverkkoja tarjoten samalla mahdollisuuden useiden
erilaisten multimediapalvelujen reaaliaikaiseen kyttmiseen. Matkaviestimien kyttjt
kyttvt nopeita tiedonsiirtoyhteyksi vaativia multimediapalveluita pasiassa
sistiloissa. Palvelujen monipuolistuminen nostaa esiin uusia haasteita
matkaviestinverkon suunnitteluvaiheessa. Nit haasteita esiintyy sek verkon peittoa
suunniteltaessa, ett verkon kapasiteettia suunniteltaessa. Muutoksia esiintyy mys
matkaviestinverkon
toimintaa
ohjaavien
verkkosuunnitteluparametrien
optimointivaiheessa.
Tm diplomity ksittelee WCDMA-radioverkossa tapahtuvien pehmeiden
solunvaihtojen ohjausparametrien optimointia. Optimaalisten solunvaihtoparametrien
etsint varten tehtiin radioverkkomittauksia UMTS-sistilaverkossa. Optimaaliset
parametrit lydettiin nit mittaustuloksia analysoimalla ja tutkimalla. Laajan
kaistanleveyden omaava matkaviestinverkko kyttytyy sistiloissa kapeakaistaisen
verkon tavoin. Tm nkyy vastaanotetun signaalin tason suurina vaihteluina.
Seuraukset havaitaan matkaviestinjrjestelmn suorituskyvyn heikkenemisen verkon
kapasiteetin, palvelun laadun tai peiton osa-alueilla. Pehmen solunvaihdon osuutta
viii
kasvattamalla voidaan ehkist signaalin tason heittelyst aiheutunutta suorituskyvyn

alenemista sistilaverkoissa.
Tmn diplomityn tavoitteena oli mitata pehmen soluvaihdon kytn vaikutusta
tukiasemien lhetystehoihin. Mittausympristn toimi Tampereen Teknillisen
Yliopiston Tietotalo-rakennus, johon oli asennettu toimiva, testaamiseen tarkoitettu,
UMTS-sistilaradioverkko. Mittauksia tehtiin pehmen solunvaihdon kanssa sek ilman
sit. Pehmen solunvaihdon aiheuttamaa eroa verkon suorituskyvyss analysoitiin
tutkimalla tukiasemien keskimrisi lhetystehoja. Pehmen solunvaihdon kytst
johtuva lhetystehojen aleneminen nkyy suoraan pienentynein hiritasoina ja siten
kasvaneena verkon kapasiteettina. Tm motivoi tutkimaan pehmen solunvaihdon
menetelm tarkemmin.
ix
List of symbols
Angle of diffraction
Angle of incidence
Angle of reflection
Angle of refraction
Pang
Angular power distribution
Angular spread
Average delay
hBTS
Base station effective antenna height
Breakpoint distance
P()
Channel power delay profile
fc
Coherence bandwidth
hc
Critical height
Sd
Delay spread
Ld
Diffraction loss
Diffraction parameter
d2
Distance from knife-edge to the receiver
d1
Distance from the knife-edge to transmitter
rc
Dominant signal component
Rh
Horizontal reflection coefficient
Lwi
Loss of walls of type i
Mean angle
Mean deviation
Mean power
Erec
Mean value of received signal amplitude
hMS
Mobile station antenna height
I0
Modified Bessel function of the first kind of order zero
Number of penetrated walls
Kwi
Number of penetrated walls of type i
Propagation delay
pr
Rayleigh/Ricean probability distribution function
Ec/No
Received energy per chip to noise ratio
Received signal amplitude
rs
Received slow fading signal
Refraction coefficient of the first medium
Refraction coefficient of the second medium
Relative permittivity
KRicean
Ricean K-factor
Separation between the transmitter and the receiver
Standard deviation
Time to trigger
P_tot
Total angular received power
Varamp
Variance of received signal amplitude
Rv
Vertical reflection coefficient
Wavelength
xi
List of abbreviations
1G
First Generation
2G
Second Generation
3G
Third Generation
3GPP
Third Generation Partnership Project
AC
Admission Control
AMPS
Advanced Mobile Phone Services
BER
Bit Error Rate
BLER
Block Error Rate
BS
Base Station
BTS
Base Transceiver Station
CDMA
Code Division Multiple Access
CN
Core Network
CPICH
Common Pilot Channel
CRNC
Controlling Radio Network Controller
CS
Circuit Switched
DAS
Distributed Antenna System
DL
Downlink Direction
DRNC
Drift Radio Network Controller
EDGE
Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution
EIRP
Effective Isotropic Radiated Power
ETSI
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
FDD
Frequency Division Duplex
FDMA
Frequency Division Multiple Access
GGSN
Gateway GPRS Support Node
GMSC
Gateway MSC
GPRS
General Packet Radio Services
GSM
Global System for Mobile Communication
xii
HC
Handover Control
HHO
Hard Handover
HLR
Home Location Register
HO
Handover
HSCSD
High Speed Circuit Switched Data
HSxPA
High Speed Downlink/Uplink Packet Access
IS-95
Interim Standard 95
ITU
International Telecommunication Union
Iu
Normalized Network Interface between UTRAN and CN
Iub
Interface between RNC and Node B
Iur
Interface between RNCs
LC
Load Control
LOS
Line of Sight
ME
Mobile Equipment
MRC
Maximal Ratio Combining
MS
Mobile Station
MSC
Mobile Services Switching Center
NB
Narrowband
NLOS
Non-Line of Sight
NMT
Nordic Mobile Telephony
Node B
BTS in UMTS
OVSF
Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factor
PC
Power Control
PS
Packet Switched
PSTN
Public Switched Telephone Network
QoS
Quality of Service
RNC
Radio Network Controller
RNS
Radio Network Subsystem
RRC
Radio Resource Control
RRM
Radio Resource Management
RSCP
Received Signal Code Power
xiii
RSSI
Received Signal Strength Indicator
SC
Selection Combining
SfHO
Softer Handover
SGSN
Serving GPRS Support Node
SHO
Soft Handover
SIR
Signal to Interference Ratio
SRNC
Serving Radio Network Controller
SSDT
Site Selection Diversity Transmission
TDD
Time Division Duplex
TDMA
Time Division Multiple Access
TPCcmd
Transmission Power Control Command
UE
User Equipment
UL
Uplink Direction
UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
USIM
UMTS Subscriber Identity Module
UTRA
Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
UTRAN
UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
Uu
Radio Interface between UE and UTRAN
VLR
Visitor Location Register
WAP
Wireless Application Protocol
WB
Wideband
WCDMA
Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
WLAN
Wireless Local Area Network
Chapter 1. Introduction
14
1. Introduction
In the beginning of the 20th century, telecommunication became generally accessible
technology and universal form of communication. Initially, speech communication was
enabled, which utilized wired telephony over long distances. In the beginning of 1980s,
the first generation (1G) analogous mobile communication system NMT (Nordic
Mobile Telephony) and AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Services) were launched. This
started the further evolution of the mobile telephony. However, digital mobile
communication systems replaced analogous ones. The second generation (2G) GSM
(Global System for Mobile Communication) system was capable of providing speech
communication as well as data transfer services. In the beginning, in 2G networks, the
maximum data rate was 9.6 kbit/s. During the next stage, improvements were applied
for existing 2G systems along with HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data) and
GPRS (General Packet Radio Services), supporting data rates up to 57 kbit/s. WAP
(Wireless Application Protocol) was a standard of applications and protocols introduced
within 2G networks, enabling subscribers to communicate with Internet platforms and
servers. In addition, the wireless access to Internet like WLAN (Wireless Local Area
Network) became an inseparable part of cellular networks, particularly used in the hot
spot places. Next evolution being a step toward the third generation (3G) networks was
EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) technology, which adapted the 2G
systems to faster data transfer requirements.
Standardization of 3G mobile communication networks was carried out by ITU
(International Telecommunication Union). The WCDMA (Wideband Code Division
Multiple Access) was selected as radio interface for 3G systems in Europe by the ETSI
(European Telecommunications Standards Institute) in year 1988. Afterwards,
international standardizing organization 3GPP (3G Partnership Project) was caring
standardization process and established common name UMTS (Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System) for the 3G cellular networks.
UMTS guarantees high data rate communication for mobile subscribers utilizing the
wideband (WB) access technology. Multi-service WCDMA offers various data rates
depending on used service. Originally, maximum data transfer was 2 Mbit/s in downlink
direction (DL). Nowadays, in UMTS networks exist extensions like HSPxA (High
Speed Downlink/Uplink Packet Access) appropriated for higher data throughputs.
Chapter 1. Introduction
15
Planning phase of coverage and capacity requires different approach in WCDMA

networks compared to GSM networks. In GSM, the coverage and capacity are planed in
two separate phases, while in WCDMA coverage and capacity are strictly tight to each
other. Therefore, planning of coverage and capacity is carried into effect at one stage.
WCDMA calls also for new service challenges, and therefore coverage and capacity
should be carefully planned with appropriate QoS (Quality of Service). There is also
large area of research to be accomplished in order to optimize the network parameters
defined nowadays by 3GPP.
WCDMA is interference-limited network and every additional user is seen as
interference, which decreases the capacity of the network. Coverage and capacity are
mutually dependent on each other in the WCDMA cellular network. This matter should
be considered especially in indoor environment, where large throughputs and high
priority services are utilized. Signal propagation in wideband indoor systems has
characteristics of the signal propagating in flat fading channel. Multipath phenomenon
causes frequent fading of the signal, which degrades the system performance
significantly. One way to counteract is to use larger SHO (Soft Handover) windows,
which provide diversity reducing detrimental fading effect. In this way, SHO causes
lower transmission power in downlink direction, providing gain to the power budget
and reducing overall interference.
In this Master of Science Thesis, the impact of soft handovers in indoor environment in
downlink direction is measured and described. Measurements were conducted in UMTS
indoor test network at Tampere University of Technology. The SHO gain seen as lower
downlink transmission powers, bit error rate (BER), signal to interference ratio (SIR)
target values, together with lower drop call rates, are presented. The Thesis is divided
into two parts, theoretical (Chapter 2, 3, and 4) and measurements (Chapter 5 and 6).
Chapter 2 includes UMTS system architecture and basics of WCDMA radio interface.
Chapter 3 describes fundamental information related to propagation mechanisms,
highlighting the propagation in indoor environment. This knowledge is crucial in
understanding later parts of the Thesis. The algorithm procedure for SHO and all other
crucial issues related to SHO are presented in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 describes
measurements environment and measurements setup. In Chapter 6, measurement results
are presented. Conclusions are drawn in the Chapter 7.
Chapter 2. UMTS system
16
2. UMTS system
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System is the one of third generation
communication technologies. UMTS provides fully integrated digital communication
with maximum data throughput up to 2 Mbit/s. High data transfers and compression
methods make possible high quality video streaming and comfortable access to web
servers. UMTS became perfect tool for providing wireless video calls and
videoconferences. It was possible until now using only fixed digital connections. UMTS
uses packet switched connection, which are integrated part of this network. WCDMA
access technology was chosen for radio access technology for UMTS.
In this chapter, UMTS system architecture is presented as well as description of
WCDMA radio interface and radio resource management (RRM).
2.1 UMTS system architecture

UMTS system is divided into three main subsystems; namely, user equipment (UE),
UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), and core network (CN). Functional
elements are grouped in UTRAN and CN. UTRAN handle radio related functions. CN
is responsible for gathering and switching the data to the external networks. As a
completion of all system, UE is the radio interface for the user. UE is connected to
UTRAN through radio interface Uu. UTRAN subsystem is connected to CN through
network interface Iu, where radio network controller (RNC) is connected to packet
switched (PS) or circuit switched (CS) part of the core network through Iu CS or Iu PS
interface. Iur interface can be found between RNCs and Iub interface between RNC and
Node B. All of the UMTS elements have logically defined function described briefly
later in this subchapter. These elements are illustrated in Figure 2.1.
17
Figure 2.1 UMTS high-level system and network elements [14], [15].
2.1.1 UE
The UMTS UE consists of mobile equipment (ME) and the UMTS subscriber identity
module (USIM). ME is the radio terminal used for communication through Uu interface
directly with Node B. USIM is a smartcard, which include information of subscribers
such as identity, authentication, and other related to security.
2.1.2 UTRAN
UTRAN consist of one or more RNSs (Radio Network Sub-systems). RNS consists of
Node B and RNC. Node B is a unit for the radio transmission and reception. The main
task of Node B is to convert the data traffic between the Uu and Iu interfaces in both
directions. The Node B also takes part in the downlink transmission power control (PC)
performed in inner loop power control. The synonyms to Node B are BS (Base Station)
and BTS (Base Transceiver Station), both used interchangeably. The RNC is the part of
UTRAN, which features the most important rule. RNC is responsible for controlling
integrity of radio resources of the Node Bs connected to particular RNC. Main tasks,
18
which belong to RNC, are radio resource control (RRC), admission control (AC), load
control (LC), channel allocation, power control settings, handover control (HC), macrodiversity, broadcast signaling, and open loop power control (PC). RNC handles data
conversion between Iu, Iur, and Iub interfaces. The Iur interface may connect RNCs.
This inter-RNC connection enables soft handover between them, otherwise only softer
handover (SfHO) is possible. There are different logical roles of the RNC, i.e., CRNC
(Controlling RNC), SRNC (Serving RNC), and DRNC (Drift RNC). CRNC is
responsible for load and admission control through Iub interface of particular Node B.
SRNC takes control through Iu and Uu interfaces and is responsible for basic radio
resource management operations, such as handover (HO) decisions and power control.
DRNC controls the cells used by the mobile and if needed performs macro-diversity
combining and splitting.
2.1.3 Core network

The core network is divided into two domains; namely, circuit switched (CS) and packet
switched (PS). Circuit switched elements are: mobile services switching centre (MSC),
visitor location register (VLR), home location register (HLR), and gateway MSC
(GMSC). Packet switched elements are: serving GPRS support node (SGSN) and
gateway GPRS support node (GGSN). MSC/VLR (Visitor Location Register) is a
switch that handles circuit switched data and VLR contains visiting users profile. VLR
is an integrated part of the MSC, rather than a separate entity. HLR is a database of
home service area containing the users profile information, for example identity of
subscribers or sort of services, to which users have accesses. GMSC is a switch, which
connects UMTS to external circuit switched networks like the PSTN (Public Switched
Telephone Network). SGSN works similarly to MCS/VLR, but is usually used for
packed switched connection. This gateway is between RNC and core network. GGSN
works similarly to GMSC, but is used for packet switched connection.
External networks are divided in two groups, circuit switched and packet switched
networks. CS networks provide circuit switched connections like in existing telephony.
PSTN is an example of CS network. PS networks provide packet data services. The
example PS network is Internet.
19
2.2 WCDMA radio interface

WCDMA is radio air interface technology used in UMTS network. Although UMTS
system, which is based on WCDMA technology, is compatible with GSM system, the
access to the air interfaces is very different. The main aspects of multiple access
method, WCDMA parameters, code, and channel allocation are considered in this
subchapter.
2.2.1 Multiple access method

There are various schemes of sharing the radio interface by the simultaneously
communicating multiple users. In cellular systems, these methods are TDMA (Time
Division Multiple Access), FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access), and CDMA
(Code Division Multiple Access). This multiple access schemes are shown in Figure
2.2.
(a) CDMA
(b) FDMA
(c) TDMA
Figure 2.2 Multiple access schemes: (a) CDMA, (b) FDMA, and (c) TDMA [14].
20
In CDMA technology, the simultaneous users utilize the same frequency, but they are
separated by different codes. FDMA technology divides whole band to sub-bands, and
then assigns each subscriber to unique frequency. TDMA is an air interface that allows
subscribers to use the same frequency, but separates them by time slots. In TDMA
access method, different time slot of a channel are assigned for each user.
2.2.2 WCDMA parameters

UTRA TDD (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Time Division Duplex) and UTRA FDD
(UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Frequency Division Duplex) combines accordingly
time or frequency division multiple access with CDMA scheme. In this technology, user
is assigned to different time, frequency, and unique code. The physical layer parameters
are partly various in UTRA TDD and UTRA FDD modes, as presented in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1 Comparison of UTRA TDD and UTRA FDD physical layer parameters [14].
UTRA TDD
UTRA FDD
TDMA, CMDA (inherent FDMA)

CDMA (inherent FDMA)
TDD
FDD
5 MHz
3.84 Mcps
15 slots/frame
10 ms
Multicode, multislot, and orthogonal
Multicode and OVSF
Multirate concept
variable spreading factor (OVSF)
Inter-frame interleaving (10, 20, 40, and 80 ms)
Interleaving
QPSK
Modulation
Uplink:
open
loop;
100
Hz
or
200
Hz Fast closed loop; rate = 1500
Dedicated channel power
Hz
control
Downlink: closed loop; rate 800 Hz
Hard Handover
Intra-frequency handover
Soft Handover
Hard Handover
Inter-frequency handover
1 16
4 512
Spreading factors
Multiple access method
Duplex method
Channel spacing
Carrier Chip rate
Time slot structure
Frame length
In UTRA FDD mode, the frequencies are allocated as following 1900-1920 MHz in
uplink direction (UL) and 2010-2015 in downlink direction. For UTRA FDD, also two
21
bands are allocated in uplink and downlink direction, consecutively 1920-1980 MHz
and 2110-2170 MHz. The bandwidth of the channel is fixed to 5 MHz and chip rate to
3.84 Mcps. The central frequency of the channel is in raster of 200 kHz [16]. In the rest
of this Thesis, UMTS FDD mode is considered.
In UMTS network, channelization and scrambling codes are used. The combination of
these codes gives pseudorandom code sequence. Channelization cedes like orthogonal
variable spreading factor (OVSF) are used to separate data and control channels of a
certain user in uplink direction and separate a different users in downlink direction.
Scrambling codes are employed to distinguish different UEs in uplink direction and
distinguish cells in downlink direction. Transmission period consists of 10 ms frames,
where every frame contains 15 slots, and each slot consists of 2560 chips.
2.3 Radio resource management

RRM in UMTS network is responsible for the utilization of the air interface resources.
The following aspects of RRM should be considered: optimization of the system
capacity, maintain the planned coverage, guarantee certain level of the quality of
service. Keeping these aspects at the most optimum level is the priority in the radio
network planning and optimization. Radio resource management can be also divided
into the following functionalities: admission control, load control power control, and
handover control. Accordingly, UE, Node B, and RNC perform these functionalities. In
this subchapter, the terms admission control, load control, power control and handover
control are explained, as it is important for the content of the later part of this Thesis.
2.3.1 Admission and load control

In UMTS, systems capacity and coverage are depended of each other. According to
capacity request, while changing the throughput of existing radio connection between
user and BS or while adding new subscriber, the cell changes its coverage, i.e., cell is
breathing. Before the new UE is added to the cell, admission control function estimates
if addition of new connection will not cause increase of interference by such amount
22
that coverage or QoS of existing radio connections will decrease below planned level.
This estimation is prepared separately for UL and DL direction. According to the result
of the estimation, the admission control rejects or accepts the request of establishing
new radio access bearer in certain cell in the network. Admission control gives
permission to connect new UE if both UL and DL are admitted. Admission control is
located in RNC, where load information from couple of cells is available.
Load control has similar role to admission control, ensures that system will be not
overloaded. If admission control works correctly, then load control is used only in
exceptional situations. If the overload in certain cell occurs, then load control recovers
the system to the target load. Load control actions are following: handover to another
WCDMA carrier, handover to GSM, decrease bit rates of real time UEs, drop low
priority calls, reduce throughput of packet data traffic, reduce UL Ec/No (Received
Energy per Chip to Noise Ratio) energy to target level used by UL inner loop power
control, deny DL power up commands received from the UE.
2.4 Power control

The UMTS system is an interference-limited system. The main goal is to provide
appropriate signal coverage with maximum capacity and the best quality of service.
Therefore, optimization of transmission power levels is the main task. It also means that
interference introduced by additional users and introduced by high throughputs should
be minimized. The power control is responsible for keeping the power strength at
appropriate level. Approximately 200 MHz band separates transmission in uplink and
downlink direction in frequency domain. Because of frequency separation in both
directions, various path losses in UL and DL direction occur. Therefore, separated UL
and DL power control is needed. Especially in uplink direction, the power control is
needed, because near-far effect occurs only in this direction. This effect occurs, when
one mobile station (MS) near base station uses too high transmission power compared
to other mobiles, located far away from the base station. In downlink direction, power
control is necessary to reduce inter-cell interference. Three types of power control
referred to UL and DL direction are used in UMTS network: open loop power control,
inner loop power control, and outer loop power control. The power control algorithms
involve participation of different parts of the network, which are presented in Figure
2.3.
23
Figure 2.3 Power control in UMTS network [14].
2.4.1 Open loop power control

The open loop power control is used for setting initial uplink and downlink transmission
powers, when the UE is attempting to access the network. Because there was no
transmission initiated by UE, open loop power control is responsible for setting the
initial output powers to certain level. This power level is set, based on estimated path
loss from MS to Node B and received information of allowed transmission power levels
in particular cell. In normal condition, the open loop power control tolerance is 9 dB
and in extreme condition 12 dB [16]. The open loop power control is used to
compensate these negative effects of multipath propagation and is crucial in reducing
near-far effect in uplink direction.
24
2.4.2 Inner loop power control

In inner loop power control, in uplink direction, an UE adjusts output transmission
power, as it is required in the transmission power control command (TPCcmd). The
decision whether to increase or decrease UE transmission power, is undertaken in order
to meet signal to interference ratio target value. The estimation of the SIR target value
for each individual inner loop power control is the task of outer loop power control.
Transmission power control is executed 1500 times per second, meaning that one
command is sent in time interval of 0.666(7) ms. In every time interval, up (+1) or
down (-1) transmission power control command is send, and then UE transmission
power is changed accordingly to the power step size. The UE output power is changed
with power step size of 1, 2, and 3 dB. In addition, smaller step size can be emulated.
The transmission power control ranges are given in Table 2.2.
Table 2.2 Transmission power control ranges [16].

Transmission power control range
TPCcmd
+1
0
-1
1 dB step size
Lower
Upper
+ 0.5 dB
+ 1.5 dB
- 0.5 dB
+ 0.5 dB
- 0.5 dB
- 1.5 dB
2 dB step size
Lower
Upper
+ 1.0 dB
+ 3.0 dB
- 0.5 dB
+ 0.5 dB
- 1.0 dB
- 3.0 dB
3 dB step size
Lower
Upper
+ 1.5 dB
+ 4.5 dB
- 0.5 dB
+ 0.5 dB
- 1.5 dB
- 4.5 dB
There are different inner loop power control algorithms used. Two basic ones are
presented here. According to first algorithm, the single power control command changes
the UE output power with particular power control step. In second algorithm, all five
transmission power control up commands results in increasing transmission power by
1 dB or all five-transmission power control down commands results in reducing
transmission power by 1 dB.
25
2.4.3 Outer loop power control

Outer loop power control is responsible for maintaining the required quality of the
communication using the lowest possible power. In outer loop power control, RNC
calculates the SIR target value and sends it to the Node B. The SIR target value is
evaluated accordingly to the BER or BLER (Block Error Rate) value of existing radio
connection between UE and Node B. In case the quality of radio link connection is
lower than the required, higher SIR target value is sent to Node B. If the radio link
quality is too high, a lower SIR value is delivered to Node B. The information of SIR
target value sent to node B is later used by inner loop power control.
2.5 Handovers
Mobile user is allowed to access the network service while moving. Deep variations in
the signal level and interference can be observed, especially in indoor environment.
During change of a location from one cell edge to the other, the signal from serving
base station is worsening. There is need for such a user to change the serving BS and
use the radio resources of the new cell than from the old one, where signal level is
worse. This process is known as handover. Handovers provide freedom in terms of
mobility in cellular networks.
In first generation cellular systems like NMT, handovers were quite simple. In second
generation systems based on TDMA/FDMA access technique like GSM, various
handover algorithms were introduced. In these systems, only so called hard handovers
(HHOs) exist. In a hard handover, old radio link is released before new radio link is
established. WCDMA technology introduces new kind of handovers; namely, soft
handovers (SHOs) and softer handovers (SfHOs). Soft and softer handovers are
supported in UTRA FDD mode only. Moreover, WCDMA utilizes sometimes hard
handovers, which can be classified as intra-frequency, inter-frequency, and inter-system
handovers. These types of handovers are supported in both UTRA TDD and UTRA
FDD mode. HHOs can introduce unnecessary high power rise peaks, which result in
high interference causing near-far effect and reducing the capacity. This is also the
reason, why SHOs are very essential in UMTS network.
26
Handover procedure can result in drop calls. This could be caused by signaling errors or
lack of the radio resources. The handover failure should be minimized especially in high
performance networks like UMTS. In UMTS network pico-cells for indoor environment
are implemented, meaning that range of such cell is very small compared to the microcells and macro-cells. Usage of smaller cells is beneficial, because this is the way to
boost the capacity, but smaller cells causes that handovers occur more often than in
larger cells. Thus, handovers have to be very efficient, mainly because the access to the
service have to be assured for users during the ongoing call, and when the handovers are
performed.
2.5.1 Soft handover

Soft handovers are very characteristic feature implemented within CDMA technology.
Soft handover occurs, when two or more Node Bs serve mobile station simultaneously.
In soft handover, mobile station is in cell coverage area of two or more sectors
belonging to different Node Bs. UE during soft handover is schematically depicted in
Figure 2.4.
Figure 2.4 Soft handover function.
27
The reception of the signal in soft handover is similar to multipath propagation. In

uplink direction, the signal is received by Node B and routed to the RNC. In the RNC,
the signal frames are compared with each other and the best candidate frame is selected.
This process is called selection combining (SC). In downlink direction, the Node B uses
different scrambling codes to distinguish signal coming from different sectors. The rake
fingers in the MS should perform proper despreading on the signal. Later, the signal is
combined based on maximal ratio combining (MRC) principle. The wider discussion
about soft handover is presented in the Chapter 4 and measurements related to soft
handover can be found in Chapter 6.
2.5.2 Softer handover

A softer handover is a special kind of soft handover. In SfHO, the mobile station is
simultaneously connected to adjacent sectors under the same Node B (Figure2.5).
Figure 2.5 Softer handover function.
28
During softer handover, the signal reception in downlink direction is similar to the
reception in soft handover. The difference exists only in uplink direction, where signal
received by the Node B is routed to the rake receiver, and then combined with MRC
method.
2.5.3 Intra-system handover intra-frequency

In UMTS system, hard handovers are possible as well. These intra-system hard
handover are intra-frequency or inter-frequency. The intra-frequency handover occurs
between cells operated within the same WCDMA carrier. Such handover can be
performed in UMTS network, when the MS is in SHO between the cells belonging to
different radio network subsystems and Iur interface is not established.
2.5.4 Intra-system handover inter-frequency

The inter-frequency handover occurs within the cells belonging to different WCDMA
carriers. Such handover can be completed for example between different cell classes
like pico-cell and micro-cell.
2.5.5 Inter-system handover

Inter-system handover is the one of hard handover types allowed in UMTS network.
This handover is possible between 2G and 3G systems as well as between UTRA TDD
and UTRA FDD mode. Inter-system handover allows coexistence of different network
and can be a solution for balancing the load in the network.
Chapter 3. Characteristics of radio wave propagation in mobile channels
29
3. Characteristics of radio wave

propagation in mobile channels
In mobile radio environment, in which propagation mechanism occurs, transmitted
signal reaches the receiver through different paths. Signal between a transmitter and a
receiver is disturbed by environmental factors, causing path losses. Path loss models of
radio channel help to predict the received signal strength, and are an important aspect in
the design of radio networks. Propagation models, which characterize signal strength
over large distances between the transmitter and the receiver, are called large scale
propagation models, and they are based on reflection, refraction, diffraction, and
scattering. Small scale propagation models describe rapid changes of the signal over
short distances, i.e., fast fading and results of it. In this chapter, basic propagation
phenomenon, large scale and small scale propagation mechanisms are considered.
3.1 Basic propagation phenomenon

3.1.1 Reflection and refraction
Reflection and refraction takes place, when a propagating wave faces an obstacle of a
large surface compared to the incident wavelength. A part of the wave is reflected from
the medium and part of the wave propagates into a new medium. The part, which has
entered the new medium, is called transmitted or refracted wave. The amount of energy,
which is reflected and refracted, depends on the electrical properties of the boundary
between two mediums. These properties are: permeability, conductivity, dielectric
constant, frequency, and polarization as well as the angle of incidence of the
propagating wave. The wave can be completely reflected without any loss of energy, if
it impinges a perfect conductor. Reflection and refraction phenomena change direction,
amplitude, and phase of the propagating wave.
The refraction mechanism is described as following. The wave is refracted, when it
enters a new medium and changes the direction of the propagation at the boundary of
30
two mediums. In the new medium, wave also changes its speed of propagation. If the
new medium has higher index of refraction than the previous medium, then the angle
between refracted wave and the line perpendicular to the boundary of two mediums will
be smaller compared to the angle between the wave in the first medium and the line
perpendicular to boundary of two mediums (Figure 3.2). In this case, the propagation
speed of refracted wave will be lower than the speed of the reflected part. Snells Law
describes the angle of incidence and the angle of refracted part of propagating wave,
and is given in Equation 3.1 [1],
1 sin i = 2 sin t .
(3.1)
Here, 1 and 2 are the refraction coefficients of the first and the second medium,
consecutively. In Equation 3.1, i is the angle between the incident wave and the line
perpendicular to the boundary of two mediums, and t is the angle between the refracted
wave and the line perpendicular to boundary of two mediums.
The simple rule describes the behavior of the reflected part of the wave. The wave is
reflected, when impinges upon an object of larger size than the wavelength. Therefore,
the angle between the direction of incident wave and a line perpendicular to the
boundary of two mediums is equal to angle between the direction of the reflected wave
and a line perpendicular to the boundary of two mediums. The reflection and refraction
is illustrated schematically in Figures 3.1 and 3.2.
Figure 3.1 Reflection of propagating wave.
31
Figure 3.2 Refraction of propagating wave.
In Figure 3.1 and 3.2, i indicate the angle of incidence, r the angle of reflection, and t
the angle of refraction. The reflection differs for vertically and horizontally polarized
waves. The wave is vertically polarized, when its electric field vector oscillates along a
line orthogonal to the direction of propagation. Similarly, the wave is horizontally
polarized, when its electric field vector oscillates along a line parallel to the direction of
propagation. Vertically and horizontally polarized waves are described by Fresnel
coefficients. The vertically polarized wave coefficient Rv is given by [1],
Rv =
r sin i + r cos 2 i
r sin i + r cos2 i
(3.2)
The horizontally polarized wave coefficient Rh is expressed as [1],
Rh =
sin i r cos 2 i
sin i + r cos 2 i
(3.3)
where i is the angle of incidence, and r is the relative permittivity of reflecting

medium. The magnitudes of each Fresnel coefficients as a function of angle of
incidence i are shown in Figure 3.3.
32
1
h o r iz o n ta l
v e r tic a l
Magnitude of reflection coefficient
0 .9
0 .8
0 .7
0 .6
0 .5
0 .4
0 .3
0 .2
0 .1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
A n g le o f in c id e n c e
Figure 3.3 The magnitude of vertical and horizontal reflection coefficients [2].
To simplify the problem and to avoid the scattering effect due to rough surface, the
wave is assumed to reflect from a smooth surface of relative permittivity from 2.5, to 0.025 At Brewster angle, the wave component with vertical polarization will disappear.
The Brewster angle in Figure 3.3 is 32 degrees [2].
3.1.2 Diffraction
Diffraction occurs, when the electromagnetic wave impinges with obstruction of large
dimension compared to a signal wavelength. Based on Hyugens theory, diffraction
causes secondary waves, which are formed behind the obstructing object and later
propagate in all directions including the direction of primary propagation. This
phenomenon explains how the electromagnetic wave can be received, if there is nonline of sight (NLOS) situation between a transmitter and a receiver. When a single
object, such as hill or building, causes the diffraction, then knife-edge diffraction model
can be used to estimate path loss due to the diffraction. To calculate the total path loss,
the diffraction loss should be estimated and added to free space propagation loss. The
33
NLOS situation caused by knife-edge diffraction of the propagating wave from

transmitter to the receiver is presented in Figure 3.4.
Figure 3.4 Knife-edge diffraction model [6].
Before calculating the diffraction loss, diffraction parameter v has to be defined first as
in 3.4 [7],
v=h
2(d1 + d 2 )
2d1d 2
=
,
( d1d 2 )
( d1 + d 2 )
(3.4)
where d1 is the distance from transmitter to the knife-edge, d2 is the distance from knifeedge to the receiver, h is the height between Line of Sight (LOS) path and cross point of
diffracted waves, is the angle of diffraction, and is the wavelength. In real
environment, many obstacles can occur on the way between two antennas. In such case,
the calculation of diffraction losses can be very complex. Bullington has proposed that a
single equivalent obstacle can replace a couple of obstacles. Thus, path loss due to
diffraction can be calculated using single knife-edge diffraction model. This path loss
can be calculated, but first the diffraction parameter form Equation 3.4 must be
estimated. The diffraction losses Ld as a function of diffraction parameter v, are
calculated from Lees approximation in Equations from 3.5 to 3.9 [7],
34
Ld (v) = 0 ,
v < 0.8
Ld (v) = 20log10 (0.5 0.62v) ,
0.8 < v < 0 (3.6)
Ld (v) = 20log10 (0.5exp(0.95v)) ,
0 < v <1
Ld (v) = 20log10 (0.4 0.1184 (0.38 0.1v)2 , 1 < v < 2.4
0.225
.
v
Ld (v) = 20log10
v > 2.4
(3.5)
(3.7)
(3.8)
(3.9)
3.1.3 Scattering
Scattering occurs, when a propagating wave faces an obstacle, which exhibits a rough
surface and the dimension of an obstacles surface is smaller than surface of a
propagating wavelength. This rough surface causes that wave is scattered in different
directions and propagates into the areas that would not be covered, when the wave is
diffracted or reflected from smooth surface. To estimate the roughness of the surface,
the Rayleigh criterion has to be used, to define critical height hc, given by [2],
hc =
8cos i
(3.10)
If the height of the obstacle is larger than critical height hc, then the surface is
categorized as rough. When the surface is smooth, then the wave is only reflected.
35
3.2 Mobile radio channel

The characteristics of mobile radio channel should be known in order to plan the radio
communication system properly in different environments. The small scale propagation
models of mobile radio channel are based on multipath propagation and fading of the
signal and these in turn, are based on propagation phenomenon described in Subchapter
3.1. The following terms: multipath propagation, fast fading, slow fading, delay spread,
angular spread, coherence bandwidth and propagating slope are important factors for
characterizing the radio propagation environment. Small scale models are used to
describe the rapid fluctuation of the amplitude of a radio signal. This subchapter
explains shortly small scale propagation models in mobile radio channel and introduces
3GPP propagation model for indoor environment.
3.2.1 Multipath propagation

In real mobile radio environment, there are different obstacles, these natural like hills,
trees, mountains and human built like buildings, towers, and houses. These structures
strongly affect the propagating radio wave. The signal on the way to receiver in real
mobile radio environment is exposed for many reflections, refractions, diffractions, and
scattering due to the obstacles. Hence, the received signal consists of many components
of different phase, amplitudes, and delays. Above described phenomenon is called
multipath propagation, and illustrated in Figure 3.5.
36
Figure 3.5 Multipath propagation.
3.2.2 Fast fading

In a moving receiver, the multipath components are interfering between each other.
These components are added constructively or destructively in the receiver, causing
large fluctuations in the received signal level. This problem is called fast fading. In an
NLOS situation, when there is no dominant component received, the phases of received
signal components are uniformly distributed and amplitudes have different values. The
amplitudes and phases of the signal are independent and all components come under
Rayleigh distribution. The Rayleigh probability distribution function is given by [2],
r
r2
2 exp( 2 ),
pr (r ) =
2
0,
r0
(3.11)
r<0
where r is the received signal amplitude, and 2 is the mean power of all multipath
terms. The mean value of envelope Erec and the variance of received signal amplitude
Varamp, are given consecutively in Equations 3.12 and 3.13 [2],
Erec (r ) = / 2 ,
Varamp (r ) = 2
37
(3.12)
2
.
2
(3.13)
In radio communication, there may exist LOS path between transmitter and receiver.
Therefore, a dominant signal component is received, and then the amplitude of the
received signal is Ricean distributed. Ricean probability distribution function is given
by [2],
pr (r ) =
r 2 + rc 2 rrc
r
exp(
) I 0 2 ,
2 2
2

(3.14)
where the I0 is modified Bessel function of the first kind of order zero and rc is the
dominant LOS signal component. When dominant LOS component rc can be reduced to
zero, Ricean distribution becomes Rayleigh distribution. To estimate the power
magnitude of dominant term over whole received power, the Ricean K-factor is derived
and expressed in Equation 3.15 [2],
K Ricean (dB) = 10log10 (
rc 2
),
22
(3.15)
where rc/2 is the power of dominant signal term. Taking into account the Ricean Kfactor, the Ricean probability distribution function from Equation 3.14 is modified to
the following form,
pr (r ) =
10 K /10 (r 2 + rc 2 )
2r10 K /10
2r10 K /10
exp(
)
I
(
).
0
rc 2
rc
rc 2
(3.16)
38
3.2.3 Slow fading

Large obstacles like mountains and buildings cause slow fading of the received signal.
Slow fading reduces the average level of the received signal. The dynamic range
changed by slow fading is much less than the dynamic range changed by fast fading.
Shadow fading is log-normally distributed. This distribution is defined as [2],
pr (rs ) =
1
( r )
exp(
),
2 2
2
(3.17)
where rs is received slow fading signal, is mean deviation, and is standard deviation.
The standard deviation of slow fading depends on the environment topology and used
frequency.
3.2.4 Delay spread

Delay spread is the result of the multipath components having different paths lengths,
which arrive at different time in the receiver. Delay spread Sd is calculated from the
channel power delay profile P() as [1],
Sd =
2
( D ) P()d
P()d
(3.18)
where D is average delay, and is propagation delay. Delay spread depends strongly on
the environment, where the wave propagates. Delay spread is larger in macrocellular
environment than in microcellular. Maximum excess delay is defined as the time
difference between the first signal and the last signal that arrive to the receiver.
39
3.2.5 Angular spread

The deviation of angle of incidence for different multipath components is described by
angular spread. In many situations, it is desired to calculate angular spread S, by using
the following formula [6],
S =
+180
2
( )
180
Pang ()
d .
P_tot
(3.19)
In Equation 3.19, is the mean angle, Pang() is angular power distribution, and P_tot
is the total angular received power.
3.2.6 Coherence bandwidth

The bandwidth, over which two frequencies of a signal experience the same fading
characteristics, is called coherence bandwidth. The coherence bandwidth fc is
calculated as a function of multipath delay spread Sd. It is defined in the following
equation [6],
f c =
1
,
2 Sd
(3.20)
where Sd is the delay spread. The coherence bandwidth varies, depending on the
multipath delay spread. To avoid correlated fading of two signals, the frequency
separation between them should equal or be higher than coherence bandwidth.
40
3.2.7 Propagation slope

The propagation slope indicates the amount of signal attenuation and it changes
accordingly to the propagation environment. In urban environment, the more there exist
obstacles on the signal path, the higher is the signal attenuation, which results in larger
decrease of propagation slope. For free space propagation, this slope equals square of
the distance between a transmitter and a receiver. In decibel scale, propagation slope in
free space equals to 20 dB/dec. In rural environment, propagation slope is 25 dB/dec,
but in urban environment propagation slope can be 45 dB/dec. The distance, where the
propagation slope changes over network coverage area is called breakpoint distance B.
This can be calculated using the following equation [5],
B=4
hBTS hMS
,
(3.21)
where hBTS is the base station effective antenna height, and hMS is the mobile station
antenna height. This propagation slope is necessary factor, which should be taken in to
account in mobile radio network planning phase.
3.3 Characteristics of indoor and outdoor propagation

environments
There are three major classes of propagation environments: macrocellular,
microcellular, and indoor. Macrocellular environment consist of urban, suburban, and
rural. The outdoor environment is macrocellular and microcellular. Picocellular has
been defined also as a name for indoor environment. The signal is variously attenuated
in each of these environments, because of the amount and the distribution of obstacles.
Characteristics of the signal propagation in different environments highlight the major
differences between outdoor and indoor environment. As a comparison to indoor
environment, Table 3.1 contains propagation characteristics of different environments.
41
Table 3.1 Characteristics of different radio propagation environment at 900 MHz [5].
Environment
type
Macrocellular
Urban
Suburban
Rural
Hilly rural
Microcellular
Indoor
Angular
spread
()
Delay
spread
(s)
Fast
fading
Slow fading
standard
deviation
(dB)
Propagation
slope
(dB/dec)
Coherence
bandwidth
(MHz)
5-10
5-10
5
0.5
NLOS
NLOS
(N)LOS
(N)LOS
(N)LOS
(N)LOS
7-8
7-8
7-8
7-8
6-10
3-6
40
30
25
25
20
20
0.32
40-90
90-360
0.1
3
<0.01
<0.01
1.6
0.053
15.92
15.92
The picocellular environments have characteristics of narrowband (NB) system even the
UMTS is wideband-based system. The system is recognized as wideband (WB), when
the signal band is much larger than the coherence bandwidth of the channel. On the
contrary, the system is narrowband, when signal band is much smaller than the
coherence bandwidth. The characteristics in Table 3.2 present, whether the GSM,
UMTS, and IS-95 (Interim Standard 95) systems behave like narrowband or wideband
system.
Table 3.2 Narrowband or wideband behaviors of different radio propagation environments [5].
Environment Type
Bandwidth
Macrocellular
Urban
Rural
Hilly
Microcellular
Indoor
WCDMA
GSM
IS-95
3.84 MHz
0.27 MHz
1 MHz
WB
NB/WB
WB
NB/WB
NB
NB/WB
NB
WB
NB
NB
WB
NB
WB
NB/WB
NB
42
3.4 Indoor propagation channel

In this subchapter, the propagation characteristics of radio wave in indoor environment
are introduced. These particular characteristics are discussed, because measurements for
this Thesis were conducted in indoor environment. In addition, differences of
propagation parameters from indoor and outdoor environments, presented in previous
subchapter, are discussed.
The indoor environment has clear differences between indoor and outdoor environment.
The major differences can be drawn as in Table 3.3.
Table 3.3 Major differences between indoor and outdoor environment [11].
Indoor
Non-stationary in time and space

Deep fluctuations in mean signal level
Not universally established path loss model
Negligible Doppler shifts
Small delay spread
Large angular spread
Lower UE power consumption
Outdoor
Stationary in time and non-stationary in space

Slow changes in mean signal level
Well established path loss model
Large Doppler shifts due to high UE velocity
Large delay spread
Small angular spread
Higher UE power consumption
The indoor environment is characterized by large differences of the signal strength level
over small distances. The propagation in indoor environment differs from outdoor
environment in couple of aspects, especially interference and fading rate. Interference
level in picocellular environment is often higher than in microcellular environment.
Higher interference is caused by spurious emission of electronic devices such as,
computers and by different radio systems. The fading signal can fall below certain
signal to interference level and exceed bit error rate threshold, which satisfies good
quality of service. The slowly changing slow fading rate can be explained as follows.
The indoor mobile user can spend quite long time in the locations, where the signal
strength is at low level. This situation is caused by high attenuation over small distances
and low mobility of indoor mobile users. Moreover, delay spread in indoor environment
is very small and on the contrary, coherence bandwidth is high. That fact causes that
43
this environment is considered as narrowband. In indoor locations, the angular spread is

much higher than in outdoor environment. This is due to the different surfaces, which
surround the antennas.
The impulse response characterizes the channel at microscopic level. Path loss describes
the channel at macroscopic level. Path loss is very necessary information, because it
allows estimation of the coverage and helps to select optimum location for base stations
and antennas. A proper location of antennas should be chosen to satisfy coverage in the
required area in building. On the other hand, the leakage of the power should be very
low from the covered structure. Building has very complicated structure (furniture,
walls, and door) and there is possibility that power will leave the building, which is an
undesirable situation. However, there do not exist any universal statement for prediction
of indoor propagation characteristics. It is highly dependent on the structural materials
and layout of the building. The radio wave is attenuated variously in different
environments, and therefore different propagation models should be introduced. For
indoor locations, it is suitable, if the prediction of the path loss would be a model based
on the distance between transmitter and receiver for given building structure. The ideal
situation when the path loss can be the most accurately estimated is, if the rooms in
building are uniformly distributed having the same sizes and are made of the same
materials. In such case, the attenuation between each room and each floor would have
the same value, but practically, this situation is impossible. A good practical solution for
estimation of the indoor path loss L is model introduced by 3GPP [8]. The model of the
form given in Equation 3.22 is expressed in dB scale and derived from COST 231
model,
L = 37 + 20log10 ( R) + kwi Lwi + 18.3n(( n+ 2)/( n+1)0.46) .
(3.22)
In Equation 3.22, R is the separation between transmitter and receiver in meters, Kwi is
number of penetrated walls of type i, Lwi loss of walls of type i, and n is the number of
penetrated walls. There are two types of walls: light internal and regular internal. It is
assumed that light internal and regular internal type of wall attenuates the signal,
consecutively by 3.4 dB and 6.9 dB. The slow fading deviation in indoor environment is
assumed to be 6 dB. Figure 3.6 presents the path losses between transmitter and receiver
for one, two, and three floors, and rooms with light and heavy walls. The maximum
separation between transmitter and receiver is 50 meters.
44
120
110
100
Path loss [dB]
90
80
70
60
50
0
1
2
0
1
2
40
30
20
10
15
20
25
30
flo o r
flo o r
flo o r
flo o r
flo o r
flo o r
2
2
2
2
2
2
35
h e a vy w a lls
h e a vy w a lls
h e a vy w a lls
lig h t w a lls
lig h t w a lls
lig h t w a lls
40
45
50
D is tan c e b etw een tr an s m itter an d rec eiv er [ m ]
Figure 3.6 Path loss with internal walls path loss information.
If the internal walls are not modeled, Equation 3.22 is modified to the following form
[8],
L = 37 + 30log10 ( R) + 18.3n((n + 2) /(n + 1) 0.46) .
(3.23)
Path loss without internal walls information is shown in Figure 3.7.
12 0
10 0
Path loss [dB]
80
60
40
20
0 f lo o r s ep ar atio n
1 f lo o r s ep ar atio n
2 f lo o r s ep ar tio n
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
D is tan c e b etw een tr an s m itter an d r ec eiv er [m ]
Figure 3.7 Path loss without internal walls path loss information.
45
50
Chapter 4. Soft Handover function
45
4. Soft handover function

In this chapter, the SHO performances like SHO procedure, algorithm, gain and other
features are described. In the later part of this chapter, SHO optimization methods are
presented.
4.1 SHO performances

4.1.1 SHO procedure and algorithm
The soft handover procedure is divided into 3 phases: measurement, decision, and
execution. In the measurement phase, mainly the ratio of received energy per chip to
noise ratio (Ec/No) is evaluated on the downlink common pilot channel (CPICH) based
on received signal code power (RSCP) and received signal strength indicator (RSSI).
The RSCP is the received power of decoded pilot channel. The RSSI is the total
received power in the channel bandwidth. MS performs the measurements of RSCP
and RSSI. The relation between Ec/No, RSCP, and RSSI is described in the following
equation [17],
Ec RSCP
.
=
N o RSSI
(4.1)
Later, performed measurements are sent by UE to the Node B. All these measurements
parameters are contained in the measurement report, and then passed to RNC, where
the decision phase takes place. Performed measurements are compared with defined
soft handover criteria in the decision phase. This process is carried out by RNC. After
decision phase, the execution of soft handover is accomplished, if the soft handover
criteria are fulfilled. After execution phase, mobile station enters or leaves the soft
handover area.
46
The optimization of all soft handover procedure phases should be performed to achieve
the highest possible soft handover gain. Optimization of particular phase can provide a
significant gain in uplink and downlink direction. In the measurement phase, it is
important to apply appropriate filtering time of the Ec/No measurements. Better
accuracy of the measurements works against fast fading, but longer filtering period can
cause unnecessary delays in handovers. This filtering period should be chosen as a
compromise between the accuracy of the measurements and handover delay. The other
important parameter is timing information of different CPICH channels. This
parameter delivers information of time differences of arriving signal from different
cells. This information is crucial for combining received signal components and for
adjusting the power of different signals. The optimization of decision phase, which is
performed by choosing appropriate dynamic and static SHO parameters, is an
attractive way to improve system performance. The optimization should be applied to
SHO algorithm as well. The examples of optimized SHO algorithm and parameters are
described in [18-23] and in later part of Chapter 4.
In explanation of soft handover algorithm, the following terms are crucial, and have to
be defined. Active set contains the list of cells having the connection with MS.
Monitored set contains the list of cells, which CPICH channels power are not high
enough to be added to the active set or, if active set is already full.
There are different soft handover algorithms standardized as the one used in IS-95
standard. Soft handover algorithm discussed in this paragraph is taken form technical
report TR 25.922 of 3GPP specification [24], currently used in UMTS networks.
MS measures continuously the power level of CPICH pilot signals. Based on these
measurements, the RNC decides, which SHO event is triggered. These events are
mainly: radio link addition (event 1A), radio link replacement (event 1C), and radio
link removal (event 1B), which is also called drop event. These events are illustrated in
Figure 4.1 and 4.2. The reporting range is the threshold defining whether the cell
should be added to active set or removed from it. All events are executed depending on
the signal strength level as well as the time to trigger value (T). Time to trigger value
is the minimal time, for which the signal level has to be above or below certain
threshold, to trigger certain event. Event 1A is completed, if pilot signal from
monitored set is strong enough to be added to active set, meaning that the signal level
from certain cell is above reporting range plus hysteresis for at least the time to trigger.
The cell can be added, if active set size is not larger than predefined. The event 1B is
executed in similar way, when the signal strength level is below reporting range minus
47
hysteresis for the time to trigger. A cell can be replaced (event 1C) from the active set,
if the signal strength level of the worst cell in the active set is lower than the best cell
outside the active set. The difference between these two cells should be higher than
replacement threshold over the time to trigger.
The reference point for reporting range is the best pilot signal. It means that a certain
cell is added or dropped from active set depending on the difference, defined by
reporting range, between its pilot signal power level and the power level of the best
pilot signal in active set. If this difference is smaller or larger than the difference
between best pilot signal and predefined constant value of reporting range, then event
1A or 1B is triggered, respectively. SHO algorithm is illustrated in Figure 4.2. In the
explanation of the soft handover algorithm, all events are triggered in the order
illustrated in SHO scenario in Figure 4.1. This figure presents the user with ongoing
call moving from the cell 1 through cell 2 to the third cell. During the call, all three
events are accomplished in the following order adding (1A), replacing (1B), and
removing radio link (1C).
Figure 4.1 Soft handover scenarios.
48
In the beginning, in this scenario, the MS is connected to the cell of the strongest
signal pilot 1 (green line). As the MS moves onwards, the pilot 2 (blue line) reaches
the upper hysteresis boundary of reporting range for the time T and is added to active
set. Now UE is connected to cell 1 and cell 2 simultaneously, meaning that MS is in
the soft handover area. Afterwards, signal strength of pilot 3 (violet line) becomes
better than decreasing power level of pilot 1. The difference between these two pilot
signals becomes larger than hysteresis for replacement, for the time to trigger T and
the event 1C is accomplished, where pilot 1 is replaced with pilot 3. Now the pilot 3
and pilot 2 are in active set, and UE is still in soft handover. After that, as the MS
moves onwards, the power level of pilot 3 decreases below the lower hysteresis
boundary of the reporting range for the time to trigger T, and then pilot 3 is removed
form the active set. The mobile station is again connected only to one BS in cell 2. In
this case, the active set size is one.
Figure 4.2 3GPP soft handover algorithm [24].
49
4.1.2 SHO probability and overhead

The soft handover probability is an important topic in radio network planning. SHO
probability defines the network performance, expressed by capacity or coverage. The
SHO probability can be calculated as a ratio of users in the soft handover to the total
number of users, or as the time during the mobiles are in the soft handover to the total
time of all connections. In this Thesis, the second way of calculating the SHO
probability is used. The soft handover window traces an SHO area where its criteria
are fulfilled. These criteria are mainly adding, dropping thresholds, and their time to
trigger values. Soft handover window has a direct impact on SHO probability. For low
values of adding and dropping thresholds, the SHO window is smaller than for larger
thresholds. According to described SHO algorithm in Subchapter 4.1.1, the larger the
SHO window (Figure 4.3 a), the more probable is for a mobile station to be added to
active set. A situation, where the SHO window is smaller (Figure 4.3 b), results in a
lower SHO probability.
SHO
Window
SHO
Window
(a) Large SHO probability
(b) Small SHO probability
Figure 4.3 Different size of SHO window.
During the soft handover, more connections are established. Thus, there is larger use of
the radio resources in the downlink direction, which consumes transmission power and
causes higher interference. The soft handover criteria should be planned carefully and
have to be compromise between SHO gain and additional capacity consumption. The
soft handover gain is strongly dependent of the environment, where the particular
network is operating. Achieved SHO gain is different in UL and DL direction.
50
4.1.3 SHO gain

The system level performance of soft handover can be expressed by the following
factors: capacity and coverage provided for certain QoS level, outage probability,
unsuccessful soft handover rates, call blocking, soft handover probability. In CDMA
networks, there is high request for the downlink capacity. One of the key functions in
UMTS network, which can provide more capacity, is the soft handover. The amount of
soft handover is always a compromise between increasing the interference by multiple
connections, and decreasing the interference by lower transmission power for each
radio link. One of the purposes of the soft handover was enabling seamless
transmission. This is important feature in high data rate transmissions, because
possible data loss during handover is eliminated.
Soft handover diversity gain produces macro-diversity and micro-diversity gain,
obtained by different diversity combining methods. Macro-diversity gain is achieved
against slow fading and micro-diversity gain is reached against fast (Rayleigh) fading,
caused by multipath propagation. The macro-diversity gain is different for UL and DL
direction, because of various combining scenarios in each direction.
The SHO gain can be achieved mainly by micro-diversity and macro-diversity,
providing lower interference. It can be explained as following. If the target BLER or
BER of certain connection is at level of 1 %, this is possible to use two links with
lower quality with target BER of 10 %. By multiplying this two different links, the
final target BER, is this required one at level of 1 %. Decrease of the quality of the
links allows lower transmission power in DL direction. Then, interference is lower in
the middle cell, but higher in the neighbor cells. This phenomenon is called soft
capacity. The achievable macro-diversity gain is from 1 dB up to 4.5 dB and its value
depends on the relative path loss. Relative path loss is the difference of path losses
between each serving Node Bs in SHO. There are also many different ways to achieve
gain from soft handover. It is briefly presented and explained in the rest of this
subchapter.
SHO gain is also provided by different cell selection schemes. Cell selection scheme is
responsible for finding the best cells, which mobile should camp on. This process is
based on the measurements of the Ec/No of downlink CPICH. The task of cell selection
scheme is to choose the cell with good enough QoS of serving base station. Cell
selection schemes are taking part in SHO process. There exist different cell selection
51
schemes, like this example ones, distance-based, perfect, and normal. The procedure of
cell selection is described in [25].
The SHO gain is provided as well by different power control algorithms. There are
mainly two power control schemes for UE under SHO; namely, conventional and site
selection diversity transmission (SSDT). The capacity gain due to the SHO is a
combination of these two algorithms. There are also various modifications of power
control algorithm under SHO. As example, one of such modifications is described in
[18].
The SHO gain can be also provided by optimum SHO dynamic and static parameters,
which change the SHO probability. Finding these parameters was the motivation for
this Master Thesis. More information about SHO gain is included in the later part of
this subchapter and measurement results in Chapter 6.
4.1.4 SHO features

Soft handover introduces many advantages of the network performance. One
advantage of soft handover is less ping-pong effect. Ping-pong effect occurs, when
a mobile moves closer and farther from a cell boundary causing frequent handovers.
This is mainly happening in hard handovers. This effect in hard handovers can be
mitigated by larger hysteresis margins, but in turn, this solution may introduce longer
handover delays and higher interference in neighbor cells. Ping-pong effect is
strongly decreased by soft handovers, where few simultaneous links exist at the same
time.
The other feature of SHOs is smoother transmission. During soft handover, there is no
break point in transmission like during hard handovers. It means that there is no data
loss during soft handover. It is important feature in CDMA systems, because high data
rates transmissions are allowed and even short transmission brake can result in
significant data loss. SHOs introduce also lower UL interference resulting in better
communication quality or greater capacity for the same QoS. Soft handover can have
also negative effects. There is more complexity in implementation of SHO as well as
consumption of additional radio resources in DL direction during the mobile is in
SHO. SHO advantages and disadvantages give the reason to consider its parameters in
52
the planning phase and keep reasonably SHOs probabilities providing gain and
possible losses.
4.1.5 SHO optimization

Optimization of SHO procedure should be following. First, the aim of optimization
should be clarified, as it is for example reduction of outage probability, increasing the
capacity or coverage. Then, the manners leading to SHO optimization, like SHO
algorithm or parameters of SHO should be chosen. Next, results under optimized SHO
should be compared with those results measured without SHO or with different SHO
parameters. In this Thesis, optimum SHO parameters, adding and dropping thresholds
with their time to trigger values, has been measured, compared, and optimized ones
selected.
4.2 SHO optimization methods

The purpose of this subchapter is to present the results of already conducted
measurements and simulation related to the soft handover function in UMTS network.
In already conducted studies, there is very minor amount of research related to
optimization of SHO function in indoor environment. Most of SHO study and research
is related to outdoor environment. As SHO is a part of radio resource management it is
supposed to be a means, providing possible gain in the network power budged,
increasing the capacity, coverage, or QoS. This gain is achieved mainly by defining
SHO dynamic and static parameter or by changes in SHO algorithm.
Very interesting, decision avoided SHO algorithm used for UMTS indoor network is
proposed in [18]. This algorithm is designed especially for indoor environment. For
unstable signal in picocellular environment and deep variations of the signal, decision
avoided SHO algorithm helps to avoid unnecessary handovers. The role of avoided
SHO algorithm is to not allow the SHO when the signal level has been rapidly
decreased for very short time. Functionality of this algorithm is presented in Figure
4.4.
53
Figure 4.4 Idea of decision avoided SHO algorithm.
In above Figure S1 and S2 are the signals from both BSs and Sm and So are additional
thresholds controlling this algorithm. In publication [18] measurements were
conducted in indoor environment where users were moving from the coverage area of
the one BS to the coverage area another BS. The transmission rate was 256 kbit/s. The
handset height was 1.65m. The measurements were taken in the corridor width of 2.9
meters. The phone quality was unacceptable if the power level of one of BSs was
below S0 level. The decision avoided handover algorithm exhibits that BS power
control can mitigate the interference problems.
Simulations showing the SHO gain in UMTS network are included in [19].
Simulations were conducted in 25 hexagonal cells in urban and rural area. The omnidirectional antennas were used. Cell radius was up to 2000 meters. The propagation
model was following the Okumura-Hata formula. The BS maximum output power was
5W in urban area. MS speed in this environment was up to 65 km/h. For the rural area,
the BS output power was 20W and the maximum MS speed was up to 120 km/h. The
correlation between BSs was 50%. Active set size was set up to 3 cells. Adding and
dropping thresholds were 1dB with their time to trigger values of 100 ms. Simulation
results showed the SHO gain that can be seen as the improvement of the coverage or
capacity. In this simulation, the soft handover gain was defined as the difference
between the highest transmitted power during hard and soft handover. In this
simulation environment, the results showed the SHO gain in downlink and uplink
54
direction. SHO gain is a function of the static and dynamic parameters, consecutively
SHO window and SHO delay. The higher SHO delay and SHO window the larger was
the transmission power gain. The gain was achieved for the urban and rural
environment. The highest gain up to 3 dB was reached in rural environment in
downlink direction. The network was slightly loaded by only one user per one BS.
Reference [23] proposed the SHO optimization by choosing the optimal static and
dynamic SHO parameters. The simulation model was following. The amount of
hexagonal cells was 19. The cell radius was 2000 meters. Duration of the call was 120
seconds and during this time, the 8 kbit/s throughput was used. If the soft handover
probability increased and the users could benefit from the diversity gain, then outage
probability decreased. At the same time when outage probability was decreasing, the
blocking probability was increased because the mean active set size was larger. When
the soft handover probability and blocking probability was reduced, then outage
probability was increased.
Soft handover function provides lower signal fading, because of simultaneous
connections via multiple physical radio links, which provide diversity. The SHO is a
simple way for providing the power gain in the network. In this Thesis, the
measurements prove previous theoretical deliberations of possible SHO gain in indoor
environment. The theoretical deliberation of the indoor environment and SHO function
gave the reason to conduct the measurements described in details in Chapter 5 and 6.
Chapter 5. Measurements environment and setup
55
5. Measurements environment and setup

The purpose of these measurements was to find out the soft handover gain, expected
form the previous theoretical deliberation. The measurements were conducted in
UMTS indoor test network, installed in Tampere University of Technology, IT
department building. The equipment used to provide the research result was: two Node
Bs, two discrete antennas, UE, and RNC/Iub simulator [43]. Additionally WCDMA
radio interface analyzer was used [42].
In this chapter, indoor test network architecture and equipment used in the
measurements are presented. Configuration of the base station, antennas, radiating
cables, and locations on the corridors is explained. The key parameters of the network
are given. In addition, measurements scenario is described.
5.1 Description of indoor test network and measurements

parameters
The measurements were conducted in indoor environment having different rooms,
corridors, and surfaces reflecting the wave. This environment was IT department
building in Tampere University of Technology. The whole building consists of four
floors and the indoor test network covered the whole building. Every floor is build of
four small corridors perpendicular to the main corridor.
The measurements were accomplished using UTRA FDD frequencies. In the
measurements, two base stations were used. Two cells exist in this test network and
each belongs to respective BS. Base stations were connected through Iub interface to
RNC/Iub simulator. In whole system, five discrete antennas and two radiating cables
were installed. In the measurements campaign, only two of those transmitting antennas
were utilized. Coaxial cable was employed to connect transmitting antennas and
radiating cables to BSs. RNC/Iub was supporting soft handovers between BSs. The
most important base station parameters are listed in Table 5.1. Additionally, within
these parameters, the radio link measurement period is listed. This parameter means
56
that DL transmission powers were captured in every second second of each base
station.
Table 5.1 Base station parameters.

Parameter
Base Station
Maximum transmission power

Common pilot channel (CPICH)
Other common channels (CCCH)
Synchronization channel (SCH)
Receiver sensitivity
Radio link measurement period
Value
42.6 dBm
27 dBm
24 dBm
24 dBm
-123.7 dBm
2 sec
5.1.1 Antenna configuration

The distributed antenna system (DAS) was employed in UMTS test network. Antennas
used in measurements were standard UMTS antennas, operating at frequencies
between 1920 and 2170 MHz. In indoor test network, discrete antennas, one omnidirectional, and four directional antennas as well as two radiating cables were utilized.
The signal coming from the BSs is distributed to antennas and radiating cables through
coaxial cable, splitters, and tappers [41]. The diameter of coaxial cable was with
the signal attenuation 11.3 dB/100m at 2200 MHz [44]. The 2-way splitter and 2-way
tapper were part of the indoor test network. Both devices work in frequency range
from 800 to 2200 MHz. The signal loss of the splitter between input and both outputs
was equal, 3 dB. The tapper signal loss between the input and the first output was 7 dB
and between the input and the second output was 1 dB. Antennas were vertically
polarized. Omni-directional antenna gain was 2 dBi. In directional antennas, the gain
was 6 dBi or 7 dBi accordingly. Vertical and horizontal radiation patterns of
directional antenna are introduced in Figure 5.1.
57
(b) Horizontal
(a) Vertical
Figure 5.1 Antenna radiation pattern: (a) vertical, (b) horizontal [41].
The vertical and horizontal radiation patterns of omni-directional antenna are

illustrated in Figure 5.2.
(a) Vertical
(b) Horizontal
Figure 5.2 Antenna radiation pattern: (a) vertical, (b) horizontal [41].
58
Two radiating cables were used in the UMTS test network infrastructure. The coupling
loss of radiating cables was 80 dB and longitude loss 12.4 dB/100m. Length of every
radiating cable is approximately 20 meters. The UMTS indoor network scheme can be
found in Figure 5.3. Two antennas used in the measurement campaign are highlighted
in this figure. This figure contains also coaxial and radiating cable lengths, their
attenuations at 2200 MHz, antennas gain, and pilot channel power transmitted by BSs.
Based on this information, effective isotropic radiated power for each antenna is
calculated and included in Figure 5.3. All antennas and radiating cables are assigned to
particular base station and connected to it through tappers and splitters as well as
coaxial cables. The STM-1 is physical interface between NetHawk ATM adapter and
the Node B.
Figure 5.3 UMTS indoor network scheme.
5.1.2 Measurements equipment

The input data changed manually in RNC/Iub simulator during this measurements
campaign was various SHO parameters. The most important output data was downlink
transmission power of two BSs, SIR target value, BER, SHO probability, and drop call
rate. Each BSs downlink transmission power was captured in every two-second
periods by the RNC/Iub simulator. The radio air interface analyzer was used to capture
and store the SIR target value, BER, SHO probability. This analyzer was installed on a
59
laptop computer. Mobile phone was connected laptop computer. The mobile
equipment as well laptop computer was placed on small trolley. The height of the
trolley was approximately 1 m and height of the MS was 1.6 m. This trolley was
moved manually along the corridors, on which the measurements were performed. The
speed of the trolley was approximately 2 km/h. Measurement trolley is depicted in
Figure 5.4.
Figure 5.4 Measurement trolley.
5.1.3 Measurements campaign

In order to calculate the SHO gain, measurements were conducted on the first floor
because of the clear SHO area. It means that two antennas belonging to different base
stations were symmetrically placed and their beams were partly overlapping on each
other. Moving people did not additionally attenuated transmitted signals, because
measurements were mostly conducted during weekends and afternoons. Slowly moved
trolley was imitating the low mobility user behavior, typical for indoor mobile users.
During the measurements, the trolley with laptop and mobile was moved from corridor
G to the corridor F, through the C corridor of the building. Measurements route and
direction of antennas radiation can be found in Figure 5.5.
60
Figure 5.5 The measurements route.
The images of the measurements route, its corridors F, G, and corridor C are presented
in Figure 5.6.
(a) Corridor F
(b) Corridor G
61
(c) Corridor C
Figure 5.6 Images of measurements route: (a) corridor F, (b) corridor G, and (c) corridor C.
While the trolley was moved, the transmission powers from both base stations were
recorded by RNC/Iub simulator and stored in a text file. Air interface analyzer
recorded the time, when the MS was in SHO area, and when MS was connected to
only one cell. This information was necessary to calculate the SHO probability. This
analyzer stored also other parameter like BER and SIR target values. The
measurements were conducted for the combination of various adding and dropping
threshold, with different time to trigger values. During each measurement, the
transmission powers were tracked separately for the mobile being in soft handover and
for the same mobile being outside the soft handover area. Power levels were later
averaged in such manner that first the power outside SHO area was averaged and
added to the average power transmitted during SHO. Later, this sum of two values was
averaged again. The difference between power transmitted in HHO and SHO was
defined as soft handover gain. The power transmitted during hard handover, i.e.,
when the SHO window was extremely small, was the reference point for the rest of the
measurements. First, the SHO window was changed by various adding and dropping
thresholds. The SHO was considered as hard handover for the smallest adding and
dropping thresholds. The second approach was to show soft handover gain with
various time to trigger values. In this case, the reference point for the rest of the
measurements was the measurement with the shortest time to trigger value. The soft
handover gain was calculated by comparing the powers transmitted during hard
handover and powers transmitted during SHO. Only one mobile was used for making
62
a call, and this call was reflected from the RNC/Iub simulator. Reflection of the call
means that the call was mobile oriented and mobile terminated by the same phone.
Hence, both uplink and downlink connections were present.
5.2 Setup of measurements parameters

The aim of this Thesis was to present the optimum SHO parameters for UMTS
network in indoor location. In framework of this Thesis, accomplished measurements
present the SHO gain expressed as DL transmission power for different SHO windows
compared to hard handover. For obtaining this gain, various sets of adding and
dropping threshold with different sets of their time to trigger values were chosen and
results analyzed. The smallest SHO adding and dropping thresholds were,
consecutively 0 dB and 1 dB, and the highest ones were 6 dB and 9 dB. The shortest
time to trigger values for adding and dropping the signal to and from active set were,
consecutively 100 ms and 240 ms, and longest were 160 ms and 1280 ms. The SHO
adding threshold 0 dB and dropping threshold 1 dB with the time to trigger values 100
ms and 240 ms was considered as hard handover. For HHO parameters, almost
only one connection existed during the performed call while moving through the
measurement route.
Chapter 6. Measurements results
63
6. Measurements results
6.1.1 Measurements results in indoor environment
The parameters used in the measurements are shown in Table 6.1. The rows contain
the list of adding and dropping thresholds. Adding thresholds are in the left side of the
brackets and the dropping thresholds are in the right side of the brackets. Each row is
marked with the number form 1 to 12. The columns contain the time to trigger values
of adding and dropping thresholds. The value on left and the value on the right value
are, consecutively adding and dropping time to trigger values. The columns are
numbered from 1 to 5. Numbers of rows and columns are later used in the
measurement analyzis.
Table 6.1 List of SHO parameters used in measurements.
Measurement
number
Measurement
number
Time to trigger
values
[40 640]
[100 640]
[160 640]
[160 1280]
[100 240]
Threshold
[0 1]
(1,1)
(1,2)
(1,3)
(1,4)
(1,5)
[1 2]
(2,1)
(2,2)
(2,3)
(2,4)
(2,5)
[1 4]
(3,1)
(3,2)
(3,3)
(3,4)
(3,5)
[2 4]
(4,1)
(4,2)
(4,3)
(4,4)
(4,5)
[1 5]
(5,1)
(5,2)
(5,3)
(5,4)
(5,5)
[2 5]
(6,1)
(6,2)
(6,3)
(6,4)
(6,5)
[3 4]
(7,1)
(7,2)
(7,3)
(7,4)
(7,5)
[3 5]
(8,1)
(8,2)
(8,3)
(8,4)
(8,5)
[3 6]
(9,1)
(9,2)
(9,3)
(9,4)
(9,5)
10
[3 8]
(10,1)
(10,2)
(10,3)
(10,4)
(10,5)
11
[4 7]
(11,1)
(11,2)
(11,3)
(11,4)
(11,5)
12
[6 9]
(12,1)
(12,2)
(12,3)
(12,4)
(12,5)
64
Table 6.2 presents DL transmission power for different set of SHO parameters. In
Table 6.3, SHO probability values are listed, in Table 6.4 SIR target values are given,
and BER values can be found in Table 6.5.
Table 6.2 DL transmission powers as dBm.

Time to trigger
values
Threshold
[0 1]
[1 2]
[1 4]
[2 4]
[1 5]
[2 5]
[3 4]
[3 5]
[3 6]
[3 8]
[4 7]
[6 9]
[40 640]
[100 640]
[160 640]
[160 1280]
[100 240]
28.54
28.31
27.31
27.12
26.43
25.87
28.43
27.65
27.54
26.43
24.65
23.22
29.11
28.67
27.65
27.52
26.53
25.34
29.55
29.21
28.56
27.93
25.93
24.94
30.92
30.15
29.17
28.32
28.23
27.32
30.32
29.32
28.64
28.20
26.21
25.18
28.42
27.32
27.53
26.42
26.23
25.83
25.21
24.79
24.22
23.58
23.32
22.69
31.09
30.87
30.32
30.87
30.11
29.44
30.31
29.73
29.60
28.99
27.40
26.56
Table 6.3 SHO probabilities as percentage.

Time to trigger
values
Threshold
[0 1]
[1 2]
[1 4]
[2 4]
[1 5]
[2 5]
[3 4]
[3 5]
[3 6]
[3 8]
[4 7]
[6 9]
[40 640]
[100 640]
[160 640]
[160 1280]
[100 240]
21
21
22
23
25
27
29
30
31
35
38
48
20
20
21
22
25
26
26
28
30
33
36
48
19
20
20
21
23
24
25
27
28
32
35
47
23
24
25
26
27
27
30
32
33
36
39
51
16
17
17
18
20
21
22
24
25
28
31
43
65
Table 6.4 SIR target values.

Time to trigger
values
Threshold
[0 1]
[1 2]
[1 4]
[2 4]
[1 5]
[2 5]
[3 4]
[3 5]
[3 6]
[3 8]
[4 7]
[6 9]
[40 640]
[100 640]
[160 640]
[160 1280]
[100 240]
18.54
17.21
16.43
16.42
15.12
14.87
13.61
13.34
12.81
13.13
11.79
9.54
20.50
19.32
19.12
18.93
17.56
16.74
15.58
15.31
14.27
16.93
12.25
9.18
22.45
23.32
21.23
18.16
16.92
16.86
14.63
15.39
15.65
14.34
14.82
11.57
16.40
16.20
17.54
15.80
14.12
15.55
13.36
12.83
11.68
10.28
9.36
9.48
23.41
24.46
23.85
25.42
22.69
21.74
18.61
17.30
15.57
15.81
12.95
11.20
[40 640]
[100 640]
[160 640]
[160 1280]
[100 240]
4.30.
3.78
5.91
4.47
3.38
3.95
4.49
3.27
3.48
2.94
1.17
1.40
6.85
6.70
8.82
5.73
5.28
2.94
3.18
2.94
3.57
3.47
2.81
2.18
6.51
6.51
8.19
6.65
6.28
4.84
5.39
3.84
2.94
3.06
2.43
1.35
4.54
4.17
3.75
3.02
3.44
3.82
5.63
2.73
2.59
1.22
0.98
0.97
8.24
6.39
7.36
6.75
4.58
5.28
4.25
4.72
3.25
2.70
2.25
1.98
Table 6.5 BER values as percentage.

Time to trigger
values
Threshold
[0 1]
[1 2]
[1 4]
[2 4]
[1 5]
[2 5]
[3 4]
[3 5]
[3 6]
[3 8]
[4 7]
[6 9]
66
6.1.2 SHO gain for various time to trigger values

For each SHO parameter, the transmitted DL power was measured. The higher was the
adding and dropping thresholds, and the longer time to trigger values of SHO, the
higher was the SHO probability. These measurements clearly present that the larger is
the SHO probability, the lower is the DL transmission power. The SHO with
parameter set (12,4) provides the lowest DL transmission power. In this case, where
time to trigger values are very long, 160 ms for adding and 1280 for dropping
threshold, UE enters and leaves the SHO area slowly, without rapid SHO decisions
that could cause large signal variations. The last column in Table 6.2 is the worst case
and the column before last one is the best case situation during the measurements in
context of DL transmitted power. Accomplished measurements can be also presented
as in Figure 6.1 and 6.2.
30
[160 1280]
29
[100 640]
28
[100 240]
[dBm]
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
1
10
11
12
Measurement number
Figure 6.1 DL transmission power for three different set of SHO time to trigger values.
67
32
DL transmission power [dBm]
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
Best case [160 1280]

Typical case [100 640]
Worst case [100 240]
1
5
6
7
8
Measurement point
10
11
12
Figure 6.2 DL transmission power for three different set of SHO time to trigger values.
Figures 6.1 and 6.2 show the comparison of transmission powers between different
time to trigger set of values for particular SHO windows. These measurements prove
that the gain is transmission power can be achieved using various time to trigger
values. The highest SHO gain, approximately 5.5 dB, is obtained for the adding 3 dB
and dropping 4 dB thresholds, if the time to trigger values are changed from [100 240]
to [160 1280]. If the adding and dropping time to trigger value is too short, the pingpong effect occurs often and the signal from the base stations hops rapidly because of
propagation characteristic. When signal does not leave or enter SHO area
unnecessarily, the transmitted power is smoother in time domain and average
transmitted power is lower.
DL Transmission powers are compared also for a certain set of time to trigger values
with different adding and dropping thresholds. In these measurements, soft handover
gain can be noted at the level almost 4.5 dB. The gain is calculated between
transmitted power for adding and dropping 0 dB and 1 dB, and power transmitted for 6
dB and 9 dB adding and dropping thresholds. For all sets of time to trigger values, it
can be seen that soft handover gain is significant and reaches almost 6 dB. The highest
transmitted power is at the level of 31 dBm and the lowest one is over 23 dBm. As a
comparison, the highest possible transmission power of the BS was 8 W, which equals
to approximately 39 dBm. All this results are introduced in Figure 6.3.
68
32
[0 1]
[3 4]
[4 7]
[6 9]
30
[dBm]
28
26
24
22
20
1
Measurement number
Figure 6.3 DL transmission power comparison between 4 different set of SHO adding and
dropping thresholds for certain time to trigger values.
This behavior of the signal was expected form previous deliberations. Soft handover
reduces the fast fading effect, which is typical for the indoor environments. The
simultaneous connections via multiple physical radio links reduce the fading dips in
the signal that is also visible by the probability distribution function in Figure 6.4. In
addition, in this figure it is clearly illustrated how the dynamic range at DL
transmission power is larger for small SHO window sizes.
100
90
80
70
CDF[%]
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
15
Best case [6dB 9dB]

Wrost case [0dB 1dB]
20
25
30
35
40
[dBm]
Figure 6.4 Cumulative distribution function of DL transmission power for the best and the
worst scenario.
69
These curves are the measure of the signal for the adding and dropping time to trigger
values 160 ms and 1280 ms consecutively. The adding and dropping thresholds for red
curve are 6 dB and 9 dB, and for the blue curve the 0 dB and 1 dB, consecutively.
These results also present the soft handover gain along the powers transmitted during
the particular measurement.
6.1.3 SHO probability, BER, DROP call values, and SIR target.
As the measurements show, the highest power gain is provided for the situations, when
mobile is the longest time in SHO, meaning that the SHO probability should be the
highest. This is for the following measurements (12,1), (12,2), (12,3), (12,4), (12,5).
Different SHO thresholds have the highest impact on SHO probabilities. Time to
trigger values change only slightly the SHO probabilities and transmission powers.
The BER values are also lower for the measurements, where the SHO gain was the
highest. This is the other benefit from SHO. Next, reduced drop call rate can be
assumed a gain. Results show that for higher time to trigger values of adding and
dropping thresholds, drop call rates are smaller that is very important feature for
mobile operators. This drop calls rates are varying very deeply for SHO used with
different time to trigger values. Drop call rates are much more dependent on time to
trigger values than on the various adding and dropping thresholds. This is the reason
for analyzing drop call rates for only one of set of adding and dropping threshold. The
curve in Figure 6.5 presents drop call rates as function of SHO with different time to
trigger values and for the adding and dropping threshold is 3dB and 4dB,
consecutively. In addition, gain from SHO was decreased SIR target value. The SIR
target value was lower for the particular measurements with higher SHO probability.
70
35
30
Drop call rate [%]
25
20
15
10
0
1
3
Measurement point
Figure 6.5 Drop call rates.
These measurements clearly show that larger SHO areas should be used in indoor
locations, in order to mitigate the fast fluctuations of the signal level. Moreover, to
avoid ping pong effect, longer time to trigger values are desirable. Short time to
trigger values resulted also in the high amount of drop calls, which were affecting
smooth transmission. The drop calls can be also avoided by use of larger time to
trigger values. Moreover, the time to trigger values up to 640 ms are very short and
there was no significant SHO gain, if these values were used. During the
measurements, the signal added to active set with the time to trigger values within
mentioned range was not significantly prolonging the time of adding the signal to
active set. The only marginal SHO gain for lower time to trigger values was expected
before. The conclusions of SHO optimum parameters for the radio network planning
are clear. The SHO thresholds providing the large SHO area should be used as well as
longer time to trigger values.
Chapter 7. Conclusions
71
7. Conclusions
In radio network planning it is important to estimate correctly the capacity and plan the
coverage for given area. Optimum parameters, responsible for functionality of the
network, are needed to satisfy above criteria. The purpose of this Master of Science
Thesis was to explore experimentally the effect of soft handover on improvement of
the transmission power in downlink direction in UMTS indoor network.
The measurements for this Master of Science Thesis were conducted in UMTS indoor
test network. Two directional antennas were radiating in such a manner that clear soft
handover area was obtained. Performance of downlink direction of transmission was
researched. Soft handover gain in downlink transmission power was estimated for
various sizes of the soft handover windows, i.e., adding and dropping threshold and
their time to trigger values. The gain was calculated by comparing transmission powers
during hard handover and during soft handover with different parameters. Soft
handover gain achieved in these measurements was varying from 3 dB to 5.5 dB,
depending on the soft handover window sizes changed by SHO adding and dropping
thresholds and their adding and dropping time to trigger values. These measurements
proved that soft handover provides downlink transmission power gain, which can be
seen as improvement of the WCDMA network performance. In addition, it was shown
that BER and SIR target values, together with drop call rates were improved for higher
SHO probabilities. SHO provides macro-diversity, which seems to be very crucial for
indoor environment. The measurements show the gain for one user. It means that the
network with optimum SHO window in real situation could support more users
compared to the situation, when small SHO windows are used.
As it was mentioned, in WCDMA network the improvement of the network
performance can be seen as coverage and capacity extension. High bit rate services
should be provided with sufficient QoS, especially for indoor users. This requires
reasonable radio resources management. An attractive and simple way to improve the
downlink performance in indoor environment is to use larger soft handover areas. This
causes lower transmission powers in downlink direction providing more capacity to
the network, but also larger overhead is introduced, reducing the network performance.
Therefore, further study is required to calculate how much downlink transmission
power can improve the capacity in indoor network.
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72
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TAMPERE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Optimization of Soft Handover Parameters for

Subject Approved by the Department

Professor Jukka Lempiinen

Tampere, December 7th, 2005

UMTS system .......................................................................................... 16

UMTS system architecture .................................................................................... 16

WCDMA radio interface ....................................................................................... 19

Multiple access method.......................................................................................... 19

Radio resource management.................................................................................. 21

Admission and load control ................................................................................... 21

Open loop power control ....................................................................................... 23

Inner loop power control ....................................................................................... 24

Outer loop power control....................................................................................... 25

Soft handover ......................................................................................................... 26

Intra-system handover intra-frequency............................................................... 28

Basic propagation phenomenon............................................................................. 29

Reflection and refraction ....................................................................................... 29

Mobile radio channel ............................................................................................. 35

Multipath propagation ........................................................................................... 35

Fast fading ............................................................................................................. 36

Slow fading ............................................................................................................ 38

Delay spread .......................................................................................................... 38

Angular spread ...................................................................................................... 39

Coherence bandwidth ............................................................................................ 39

Characteristics of indoor and outdoor propagation environments ......................... 40

Indoor propagation channel ................................................................................... 42

Soft handover function............................................................................ 45

Intra-system handover inter-frequency ............................................................... 28

Characteristics of radio wave propagation in mobile channels............. 29

SHO procedure and algorithm............................................................................... 45

SHO probability and overhead .............................................................................. 49

SHO gain ............................................................................................................... 50

SHO optimization methods.................................................................................... 52

Measurements environment and setup................................................... 55

Description of indoor test network and measurements parameters ....................... 55

Antenna configuration ........................................................................................... 56

Measurements campaign ....................................................................................... 59

Setup of measurements parameters........................................................................ 62

Measurements results ............................................................................. 63

Measurements results in indoor environment ........................................................ 63

SHO gain for various time to trigger values.......................................................... 66

SHO probability, BER, DROP call values, and SIR target.................................... 69

Kolmannen sukupolven matkaviestinverkot tuovat mukanaan nopeita digitaalisia

kasvattamalla voidaan ehkist signaalin tason heittelyst aiheutunutta suorituskyvyn

Angular power distribution

Base station effective antenna height

Channel power delay profile

Distance from knife-edge to the receiver

Distance from the knife-edge to transmitter

Dominant signal component

Horizontal reflection coefficient

Loss of walls of type i

Mean value of received signal amplitude

Mobile station antenna height

Modified Bessel function of the first kind of order zero

Number of penetrated walls

Number of penetrated walls of type i

Rayleigh/Ricean probability distribution function

Received energy per chip to noise ratio

Received signal amplitude

Received slow fading signal

Refraction coefficient of the first medium