WWCDMA HANDOVER FUNDAMENTALS

GSM-to-UMTS Training Series

Page
1

Page
2

Preface: Why the Handover is Required?

A major characteristic in the mobile
communications:
Mobility of the UE
l

As a key component of the mobile

communication system, the cell has a limited
coverage area.

HUAWEI TECHNOLO
l The primary

function of the handover is to provide

the continuous service for the moving UEs in the
coverage of the network.
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3

PREFACE: MOBILITY MANAGEMENT ON

THE RAN SIDE
Handover and directed retry

Serving cell change for the UE in CELL_DCH state

Cell selection and reselection

[ Camped cell change for the UE in IDLE, CELL_FACH, CELL_PCH, or

URA_PCH state
[

Also referred to as the forward handover

Page
4

PREFACE: UE MODE AND STATE

UTRAN Connected
Mode
URA_PC
H

Cell_DC
H

Release RRC
Connection

Cell_PC
H

Cell reselection

Cell_FAC
H

Establish RRC Release RRC

Connection
Connection

GSM:
Handover

UTRAN:
Inter-System
Handover

Establish RRC
Connection

Camping on a UTRAN cell1

GPRS
Packet
Transfe
r
Mode
Release of
temporary
block flow

GSM
Connecte
d Mode

Release RR
Connection

Initiation of
temporary
block flow

GPRS Packet Idle Mode1

Camping on a GSM / GPRS cell1

Idle Mode

Page
5

Establish RR
Connection

Scope
After this course, you are able to:
l

Learn about the differences between the GSM

handover and the WCDMA handover

Grasp the WCDMA handover decision

algorithm

Grasp the WCDMA handover procedure

Grasp the WCDMA handover parameters

Grasp the WCDMA blind handover and

directed retry

Page
6

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: GSM vs. WCDMA

Chapter 2 Handover Measure
Chapter 3 Basic Handovers
Chapter 4 Blind Handover and
Directed Retry

Pag
e7

Chapter 1 Introduction: GSM vs. WCDMA

Handover Purpose

Handover Types

Soft Handover and Hard

Handover

Handover Procedure

WCDMA Handover
Concepts

Pag
e8

Handover Purposes in WCDMA and GSM

WCDMA HO Purpose

GSM HO Purpose

l Main purpose: to provide the

continuous service for the moving
UEs in the coverage of the network

l Main purpose: to maintain the

continuity of the conversation for
the moving mobile stations (MSs)

l Load balancing: resource sharing

l QoS improvement for the

network Call drop rate reduction
Congestion rate reduction

l Speed steering and

service steering (HSDPA):
efficient resource usage

Pag
e9

Handover Types in WCDMA and GSM

GSM HO Types

WCDMA HO Types
l In terms of signaling:
Soft handover (softer handover)
Hard handover
l In terms of source cell and target
cell attributes:
Intra-frequency handover
Inter-frequency handover
Inter-mode handover
(FDD <-> TDD)
Inter-RAT handover (UMTS <->
GSM/CDMA2000)
l
In terms of handover purpose:
Coverage-based handover (primary
function)
Load balancing-based handover
(optional)
Service sharing-based handover
(optional)
Speed estimation-based handover
(optional)

In terms of triggering
conditions: Emergency
handover
TA handover
Bad quality handover
Rapid Rx_level drop handover
Interference handover
Load handover
Normal handover
Edge handover
Hierarchical handover
PBGT handover
Speed-sensitive
moving handover)
handover (Fast
Concentric
cell handover
l In terms of the time that the
link
configuration takes effect:
Synchronous handover
Asynchronous handover

Pag
e 10

HANDOVER TYPES IN WCDMA AND GSM

WCDMA HANDOVERS
Intra-frequency handover
Soft/Softer handover
Hard handover
Based on coverage

Inter-RAT
handover

Based on
Load/
UE
Speed

Based on
Coverage

Based on
Load/Service

WCDMA Freq. 2
Based on
Coverage

WCDMA Freq. 1

Inter-frequency
handover

GSM/GPRS/EDGE

Pag
e 11

COMPARISON BETWEEN SOFT

HANDOVER AND HARD HANDOVER
Comparison

Soft Handover

Hard Handover

Number of radio links

in the active set after
handover

Multiple

One

Service interruption
due to handover

No

Yes

Cell frequency
before and after
handover

Cells of the
same frequency

Cells of the same

frequency, different
frequencies, or different
systems.

Differences between the soft handover and the softer handover:

In the softer handover, the maximum ratio combination is performed on the uplink
signals at the NodeB. In the soft handover, the selection combination is performed on
the uplink signals at the RNC. As the gain of maximum ratio combination is larger
than the gain of selection combination, the softer handover is better than the soft
handover.

Because the combination of the softer handover is performed at the NodeB, the
transmission resources on the Iub interface are saved.

Pag
e 12

Comparison Between the Soft Handover and the

HANDOVER
Hard
RNC

RNC frame processing board

RNC

NodeB

NodeB 1

NodeB 2

Soft handover

NodeB 1

Softer handover

NodeB 2

Hard handover

Pag
e 13

Comparison Between WCDMA Handover

Procedure and GSM Handover Procedure
Three phases in the WCDMA handover:
Measurement<
>Decision<>Execution
Decision
Phase

Measurement

Phase

Execution

er

Handov

Overall procedure of the GSM handover

algorithm
MR

Penalty

preprocessing

processing

Basic queuing

Network characteristic

HO decision

adjustment

Pag
e 14

PRIMARY WCDMA HANDOVER PROCEDURE THREE PHASES

OF A HANDOVER
l

Measurement

Decision

Measurement
[ Measurement control
[

Measurement implementation and

result processing

Measurement report

Mainly accomplished by the UE

Decision
[ On the basis of measurement
[

Resource application and

assignment

Mainly accomplished by the network

(RNC RRM)
Execution
[

Execution
l

Signaling procedure

Failure rollback supported

Measurement control update

Pag
e 15

BASIC CONCEPTS IN THE WCDMA

HANDOVER
l

Active set
Monitored set
Detected set

Event report

[ Event-to-period report
(1A, 1C)
Periodical report

l
l

Radio Link (RL)

Radio Link Set (RLS)

Combing mode: maximum

Soft handover gain

Pilot channel (CPICH)
Soft HO, softer HO, and hard HO
Blind handover

l
l
l

ratio combining and selection

combing

Pag
e 16

Questions

Differences between soft handover, softer

handover, and hard handover

Typical scenarios of the WCDMA

handover

Basic concepts of the WCDMA handover

Pag
e 17

Summary
l

This chapter describes the handover purpose and the

common types of the WCDMA handover.

Pag
e 18

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: GSM vs. WCDMA

Chapter 2 Handover Measure
Chapter 3 Basic Handovers
Chapter 4 Blind Handover and
Directed Retry

Pag
e 19

Chapter 2 Handover Measurement

Measurement Control
l

and Measurement Report

Basic Concepts of

Measurement IntraFrequency Measurement

Event
Inter-Frequency and InterRAT Measurement Event

Pag
e 20

MEASUREMENT CONTROL AND

MEASUREMENT REPORT
Measurement control:
UTRAN

UE

MEASUREMENT CONTROL

Measurement control, normal case

The RNC informs the UE of

measurement objects,
neighboring cell list, reporting
mode, and event parameters.
When the measurement conditions
change, the RNC informs the UE of
the new measurement conditions.

Measurement report:
UE

UT

RAN

MEASUREMENT REPORT

The UE sends the measurement

report to the RNC when the
triggering conditions are satisfied.

Measurement report, normal case

HUAWEI
CONFIDENTIAL

Pag
e 21

BASIC CONCEPTS OF MEASUREMENT

l

Measurement quantities of the handover

[
Intra-frequency and inter-frequency: CPICH RSCP, CPICH Ec/N0,
Pathloss
[

Inter-frequency: CPICH RSCP, CPICH Ec/N0

[
Inter-RAT: GSM Carrier RSSI, BSIC Identification, BSIC
Reconfirmation
l

Reporting mode of the MR

[

Periodical report (event-to-period report)

Event report

Events indicating the report mode

[

Intra-frequency events: 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1F

Inter-frequency events: 2D, 2F, 2B, 2C

Inter-RAT events: 3A, 3C

Others: 6G, 6F

Pag
e 22

MEASUREMENT MODEL

parameter
s

Layer
1
filterin
g

Layer
3
filterin
g

parameter
s

C'

Evaluation
of
reporting
criteria

Pag
e 23

BASIC CONCEPTS OF MEASUREMENT

l

Measurement ID

Measurement command: create, modify, and

delete
l

Measurement event ID

Measurement object list: neighboring cells

Filtering coefficient

Report hysteresis

Trigger delay time

Pag
e 24

Descriptions of Key Parameters

CPI C
Hc / N
E
o

Re p o r t i n g
Ra n ge

Hy s t

1A
t

Even

1B
t

Even

No t
t r i gger e
d

Pag
e 25

INTRA-FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT
EVENTS
l

The intra-frequency measurement event is identified by 1X where X is A, B, C.

Event 1A: Relative threshold addition event. A primary CPICH enters the
reporting range (FDD only), indicating that the quality of a cell reaches the
quality of the best cell or active set quality. When the active set of the UE
is full, the event 1A reporting stops.
Event 1B: Relative threshold deletion event. A primary CPICH leaves the
reporting range (FDD only), indicating that the quality of a cell is far lower
than the quality of the best cell or active set quality.
Event 1C: Replacement event. A non-active primary CPICH becomes better
than an active primary CPICH (FDD only).
Event 1D: Change of the best cell (FDD only).
Event 1F: A primary CPICH becomes worse than an absolute threshold
(FDD only).

Pag
e 26

Inter-Frequency and Inter-RAT Measurement

Events
l

The inter-frequency measurement event is identified by 2X.

Event 2B: The estimated quality of the currently used frequency is below a certain threshold
and the estimated quality of a non-used frequency is above a certain threshold.
Event 2C: The estimated quality of a non-used frequency is above a certain threshold.
Event 2D: The estimated quality of the currently used frequency is below a certain
threshold. Used to enable the compressed mode.
Event 2F: The estimated quality of the currently used frequency is above a certain
threshold. Used to disable the compressed mode.

The inter-RAT measurement event is identified by 3X.

Event 3A: The estimated quality of the currently used UTRAN frequency is below a certain
threshold and the estimated quality of the GSM cell is above a certain threshold.
Event 3C: The estimated quality of the GSM cell is above a certain threshold.

Pag
e 27

Questions

Which events do the intra-frequency

measurements involve?

Which events do the UE-internal

measurements involve?

Which events do the inter-frequency

measurements involve?

Pag
e 28

Summary
l

This chapter details the meaning and applications of intrafrequency measurements, inter-frequency measurements,
and inter-RAT measurements.

Pag
e 29

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: GSM vs. WCDMA

Chapter 2 Handover Measure
Chapter 3 Basic Handovers
Chapter 4 Blind Handover and
Directed Retry

Pag
e 30

Chapter 3 Basic Handovers

Soft Handover

Intra-Frequency Hard Handover

Inter-Frequency Hard Handover

Inter-RAT Hard Handover

HSDPA Handover

Compressed Mode

Pag
e 31

Soft Handover
l

Overview

Measurement

Algorithm

Procedure l
Execution
Common
Parameters
l

Pag
e 32

OVERVIEW
l

Characteristics
[
RLs between the UE and multiple cells in the UTRAN after the handoverActive set
[
Softer handover can be implemented between multiple cells in a RLS.

Soft handover. Selection combination on the uplink and maximum ratio combination on
the downlink.
Softer handover. Maximum ratio combination on the uplink and downlink.
Advantages
[
Soft handover gain, which involves
Multi-cell gain: Multiple unrelated branches in the soft handover reduce the requirements
on shadow fading margin.

Macro diversity combining gain: The improvement on the link demodulation

performance brings the power gain against the fast fading.

Load sharing: On the uplink, multiple cells receive the UE signals, which reduces the
transmit power of the UE. On the downlink, multiple cells transmit the RF signals, which
reduces the transmit power of each cell.
[
Number of call drops due to ping-pong handovers is reduced.
Disadvantages
[

[
[
[

The downlink resource consumption is large, especially the code resources consumed by
the high-speed BE services.
The downlink power gain is usually negative.
In case of power imbalance, side effect occurs.

Pag
e 33

MEASUREMENT EVENTS
l

Measurement events of soft handover/softer handover

[

Intra-frequency measurement event types

Event 1A: Relative threshold addition event. The quality of a cell reaches the
quality of the best cell or active set quality. When the active set of the UE is
full, the event 1A reporting stops.
Event 1B: Relative threshold deletion event. The quality of a cell is far
lower than the quality of the best cell or active set quality.
Event 1C: Replacement event. A non-active primary CPICH becomes better
than an active primary CPICH.
Event 1D: Change of the best cell.
Event 1F: A primary CPICH becomes worse than an absolute threshold.

Pag
e 34

PROCEDURE_RL ADDITION
Execution (RL
addition)
l

Pag
e 35

PROCEDURE_RL DELETION
Execution (RL
deletion)
l

Pag
e 36

COMMON PARAMETERS
Relative threshold

[
[

Threshold of 1A < Threshold of 1B, thus making it difficult to delete the RL and
therefore avoiding the ping-pong handover.
Generally set 3 dB for event 1A and 6 dB for event 1B.

Trigger delay time

Respectively configured for each event.

[
[
[

Generally set the parameter value for 1B larger than that for 1A, thus making it difficult
to delete the RL and therefore avoiding the ping-pong handover.
Generally set 320 ms for 1A and 640 ms for 1B.

Layer 3 filter coefficient

Respectively configured for event 1A and 1B.

All intra-frequency measurements share one such parameter.

This parameter is sensitive to the trigger delay time and ping-pong handover.

Generally set to 3.
Minimum quality threshold of the soft handover

MML command: SET INTRAFREQHO

Pag
e 37

Intra-Frequency Hard Handover

l

Overview

Measurement and Decision

Procedure

Common Parameters

Pag
e 38

OVERVIEW

Pag
e 39

CHARACTERISTICS
l

Characteristics
After the handover, the UE is connected to only one cell.

[
Disconnect the original RRC connection first, and then perform the
handover.

The original cell and the target cell have the same frequency.

Generally, the hard handover with synchronization is adopted.

Advantages
The code resources and hardware resource consumption is reduced.

[
l

Disadvantages
[

High call drop rate due to co-frequency interference

Application scenarios
[

No Iur-interface or Iur-interface congestion (mandatory)

The specific strategy can be based on code resources or signal quality, subject
to the practical applications.

Pag
e 40

COMMON PARAMETERS
BEBITRATETHD: Decision threshold of the BE services handover rate

[ When the maximum rate of the transmission channel of the BE

services is less than or equal to this threshold, the system performs
the soft handover on the UEs that are using the BE services.
[ When the maximum rate of the transmission channel of the BE
services is larger than this threshold, the system performs the intrafrequency hard handover on the UEs that are using the BE
services.
Parameters related to Event 1D

Trigger delay time and hysteresis

[ Trace the cell changes to accomplish the handover in time, and
reduce the number of ping-pong handovers.

Pag
e 41