Part 2:

UMTS Planning
Radio Planning Process
Use TEMS
Cellplanner and
digitized map

TRAFFIC AIR INTERFACE NOMINAL RADIO

MODELLING DIMENSIONING CELL PLAN NETWORK
DESIGN

Site type
Site Count
Site to Site Distance
Carrier Required
Input Analysis Hardware dimensioning
Mapping of Radio Access Channel Elements
Bearer
 Overall Planning Process
The overall Planning Process can be described with the following figure:

Performance Monitoring
System Radio Pre-launch Post-launch Capacity
Optimisation Optimisation
Dimensioning Network Evolution
Node B count & Planning
Site selection 3G neighbour lists 3G neighbour lists RF carriers
configuration Site design 2G neighbour lists 2G neighbour lists Sectorisation
Adapter count & 3G neighbour lists Antenna tilts Antenna tilts ROC to modules
System CEC
configuration 2G neighbour lists Local area Local area Node B power
Transmission Scrambling codes parameter tuning parameter tuning Baseband proc.
capacity & Location areas Additional sites Transmission
configuration Routing areas User experience HSDPA
RNC areas
URA areas optimisation Microcells

Link budgetanalsysis
Link budget analysis Wide area parameter tuning
Dimensioning Objective

To dimension radio capacity with reasonable accuracy

before using planning tools
To establish the parameters and assumptions to be used
throughout the project
Input Data

Environment and Coverage

Area to cover and coverage degree
Channel Model for EbNos
Propagation Model (Ok-Hata > 1km, Walfish < 1km)
Service Characteristics
Services and RABs
Grade of Service
UE Type
Input Data

Subscriber Density and Subscriber Behaviour

Number of Subs per area
Traffic per Sub at Busy Hour
Activity Factor for services
Body Loss
System Design Data
Retransmissions
Handover parameters
Site Configuration
Bandwidth (# carriers)
Load
Traffic Profile

Traffic model in average Short term Medium term Long term

per user during BH after 1 year after 2-3 years after 4 to 6 years
Voice (mE) 8 to 30 10 to 30 10 to 30
Typical voice (mE) 15 to 20 15 to 20 15 to 20
Typical CS64 data (mE) 0,1 to 0,5 around 1 2 to 3
PS data (KByte/BH) 20 to 100 60 to 250 up to 500 to 600
Typical PS data(KB/BH) 40 to 60 100 to 150 200 to 300

Average user in BH
Voice/Video in mE
PS in kB/BH
UL/DL Asymmetry = 15-20%
BH Traffic = 10-15% Daily Traffic
Air Interface Dimensioning
Input Data Assume an
uplink loading

Calculate uplink Calculate uplink Calculate PCPICH, ref

capacity coverage/Lmax based on UL Lmax

Estimate sitecount Estimate sitecount Calculate PCCH, ref

for capacity for coverage

Calculate PDCH
No
Balanced?

Yes Calculate
DL Capacity

No DL Capacity
fulfill req.

Yes

Finished
 Link Budget Method - Overview
Uplink PS & CS traffic
Lsa
Step 1 Step 2

Start
UL link budget CPICH link budget
Lsa or PCCH
too large
- Link budget margins
- HW configuration
- Cell border parameters Lsa or PDCH
too large
Step 3 PCCH,
Lsa Average DL
network load (Q)
DL link budget

PCCH, PDCH, Lsa,

Step 4

HSDPA dimensioning - PHSDPA

- HSDPA cell average throughput
Done! - HSDPA cell border throughput
What decides HSDPA cell border throughput and cell average throughput is basically Lsa and
power left for HSDPA.
The dimensioning is done in 4 steps:
Step 1
Lsa is given from link budget calculations, starting with R99 UL link budget that decides Lsa.
Step 2
Lsa is used in the CPICH link budget to calculate needed CPICH and CCH power.
If the needed power turns out to be too large, Lsa needs to be reduced (redoing the UL link
budget, i.e step 1)
Step 3
Lsa is used to calculate needed power for R99 RABs, both per link (as a normal link budget
when the user is standing on the cell border) and as average needed RBS power (when loading
the system with many users that are distributed within the cell).
If the needed power turns out to be too large, Lsa needs to be reduced (redoing the UL link
budget, i.e step 1)
Step 4
Lsa and needed power for CCH and R99 RABs are used to calculate HSDPA throughput.

Inputs
The reddish color shows different inputs that affects the end result.
-The amount UL CS and PS traffic decides the UL link budget (noise rise).
-Link budget margins (antenna gain, building penetration loss, body loss, etc), HW configurations
(RBS power) and DL network load decides Lsa. Note that the network load is assumed to 100%
for HSDPA dimensioning.
System Reference Point
Eb/No vs BLER

A Eb/No = 1 dB

B Eb/No = 6 dB

A BER > B BER

Log Normal Fade Margin
Propagation models predict only mean values of signal strength
Mean signal strength value fluctuates, the deviation of the local has a
nearly normal distribution in dB, compared to the predicted mean
Probability that the real signal strength will exceed the predicted one
on the cell border is around 50%
For higher coverage probability than 50% an additional margin has to be
added to the predicted required signal strength
The LNF margin depends on:
Radio channel properties (channel model)
Area type (Clutter type) Area coverage %
Environment
Required coverage confidence 75 85 90 95 98
soft handover gain Rural, Suburban 4.1 1.7 0 2.3 4.6

Urban 3.9 0.9 1.1 4.1 7.2

Urban Indoor 3.8 0.6 3.4 7.5 12.1

Dense Urban Indoor 3.8 1.1 4.3 9 14.3

Uplink Dimensioning

Max path loss due to propagation

Cell range and cell area can be calculated

The number of sites required for meeting

coverage requirement can be found
Uplink Service
Service Speech CS Data PS Data
Service Rate 12.2 64 64 kbps
Transmitter - Handset
Max Tx Power 21 21 21 dBm
Tx Antenna Gain 0 2 2 dBi
Body Loss 3 0 0 dB
EIRP 18 23 23 dBm
Receiver - Node B
Node B Noise Figure 3 dB
Thermal Noise -108 dBm
Uplink Load 50 %
Interference Margin 3.0 dB
Interference Floor -102.0
Service Eb/No 4.4 2 2 dB
Service PG 25.0 17.8 17.8 dB
Receiver Sensitivity -122.6 -117.8 -117.8 dB
Rx Antenna Gain 18.5 18.5 18.5 dBi
Cable Loss 2 2 2 dB
Benefit of using MHA 2 2 2 dB
UL Fast Fade Margin 1.8 1.8 1.8 dB
UL Soft Handover Gain 2 2 2 dB
Building Penetration Loss 12 12 12 dB
Indoor Location Prob. 90 90 90 %
Indoor Standard Dev. 10 10 10 dB
Slow Fade Margin 7.8 7.8 7.8 dB
Isotropic Power Required -121.5 -116.7 -116.7 dB
Allowed Prop. Loss 139.5 139.7 139.7 dB
 HSDPAs Effect on Uplink Coverage
Service PS Data PS Data PS Data PS Data
Service Rate 16 64 128 384 kbps
Transmitter - Handset
Max Tx Power 24 24 24 24 dBm
HS-DPCCH Overhead 4.6 2.8 1.6 1.1 dB
Tx Antenna Gain 2 2 2 2 dBi
Body Loss 0 0 0 0 dB
EIRP 21.4 23.2 24.4 24.9 dBm
Receiver - Node B
Node B Noise Figure 3.0 dB
Thermal Noise -108.0 dBm
Uplink Load 50.0 %
Interference Margin 3.0 dB
Interference Floor -102.0 dBm
Service Eb/No 2.5 2 1.4 1.7 dB
Service PG 23.8 17.8 14.8 10.0 dB
Receiver Sensitivity -123.3 -117.8 -115.4 -110.3 dB
Rx Antenna Gain 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5 dBi
Cable Loss 2 2 2 2 dB
Benefit of using MHA 2 2 2 2 dB
UL Fast Fade Margin 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 dB
UL Soft Handover Gain 2 2 2 2 dB
Building Penetration Loss 12 12 12 12 dB
Indoor Location Prob. 90 90 90 90 %
Indoor Standard Dev. 10 10 10 10 dB
Slow Fade Margin 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.8 dB
Isotropic Power Required -122.2 -116.7 -114.3 -109.2 dB
Allowed Prop. Loss 143.6 139.9 138.6 134.1 dB
UL Noise Rise
BIUL - Noise Rise is referred as the increase in receiver noise floor
when a system is more loaded.

12

Interference increase DI [dB]

10

where Q is the uplink system loading 4

0
E.g. 20%=0,97dB, 50%=3dB 0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9
Load
Calculating Cell Range
Maximum Pathloss (Okumura-Hata)
Lpath = A - 13.82log(ha) + (44.9 - 6.55log(ha))logR - a(hm)
[dB]
Where the following A values are valid for 2050 MHz:
A = 155.1 in urban areas ha base station antenna height [m
= 147.9 in suburban and semiopen areas hm UE antenna height [m]
= 135.8 in rural areas R distance from transmitter [km]
= 125.4 in open areas a(1.5) = 0

Range
R = 10,
where: = [Lpath - A + 13.82logHb]/[44.9 - 6.55logHb]

Use Walfish Ikegami if cell range <1km

Calculating Site Distances

3 9 3
Area = 3R 2 Area = 3R2 Area = 3R 2
2 8 2

R R
R

3
Site to Site= 3R Site to Site= R Site to Site= 3R
2
Downlink Dimensioning
Transmitter (RBS) is in a single point, Receivers (Terminals) are
distributed in the cell
DL coverage and capacity are not only dependent on the number
of terminals, but also on their distribution in a cell and their relative
position towards other cells
Downlink Service
Service Speech CS Data PS Data PS Data PS Data
Service Rate 12.2 64 64 128 384 kbps
Transmitter - Node B
Max Tx Power (Total) 43 dBm
Max Tx Power (per Radiolink) 34.2 37.2 37.2 40.0 40.0 dBm
Cable Loss 2 2 2 2 2 dB
MHA Insertion Loss 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 dB
Tx Antenna Gain 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5 dBi
EIRP 50.2 53.2 53.2 56.0 56.0 dBm
Receiver - Handset
Handset Noise Figure 8 dB
Thermal Noise -108 dBm
Downlink Load 80 %
Interference Margin 7.0 dB
Interference Floor -93.0
Service Eb/No 7.9 5 5 4.7 4.8 dB
Service PG 25.0 17.8 17.8 14.8 10.0 dB
Receiver Sensitivity -110.1 -105.8 -105.8 -103.1 -98.2 dBm
Rx Antenna Gain 0 2 2 2 2 dBi
Body Loss 3 0 0 0 0 dB
DL Fast Fade Margin 0 0 0 0 0 dB
DL Soft Handover Gain 2 2 2 2 2 dB
MDC Gain 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 dB
Building Penetration Loss 12 12 12 12 12 dB
Indoor Location Prob. 90 90 90 90 90 %
Indoor Standard Dev. 10 10 10 10 10 dB
Slow Fade Margin 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.8 dB
Isotropic Power Required -90.5 -91.2 -91.2 -88.5 -83.6 dB
Allowed Prop. Loss 140.6 144.4 144.4 144.5 139.6 dB
Uplink v/s Downlink
HSDPA Dimensioning

Average cell throughput

What is the expected average HSDPA capacity?
Cell border throughput
What is the expected HSDPA cell border throughput?

Decided by:
Signal Attenuation, Lsa
Power left for HSDPA
HS-DSCH power calculation

Treated as true best effort in dimensioning

Will take whatever power that is left in RBS after common
channels and dedicated channels has taken their part
No headroom is needed

Power
Max cell power
HS-DSCH power
Admission control threshold

DCH power
HS-SCCH power
CCH power
time
HS-DSCH power calculation (2)

PHS-DSCH calculated as:

RBS power at Power needed by Power needed for

Tx reference point DCH RABs (PS & CS) A-DCH on DL

PHS DSCH = Ptot,ref PCCH PDCH PHS SCCH PA DCH

Common Channel High-Speed Shared Control Channel power

Power (CPICH, BCH, etc.)
Traffic estimation

The traffic estimation requires information related to the network topology, subscribers &
traffic:
Cell Area from Coverage Dimensioning
Subscriber density from Marketing
Subscriber traffic profile from Marketing
Topology Subscribers Basic Traffic Model

Cell area Subs density Traffic / subscriber

+
Traffic / cell

Air Interface
Dimensioning

Traffic / site
Channel Card
Dimensioning

Iub
Dimensioning
 Load Calculation: Uplink Load
Processing Gain
1
Load Lj Lj =
of subscriber W / Rj 1
1
with Service j
Eb / N 0 j j
Activity Factor

18
16

Margin [dB]
N UL = 30 50 %
UL = L j
UL 14
12
total
loss/dB
10

Cell Load j =0 Interference

8
6
4
2
0
10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

95

98
loading/%
Cell Load [%]
j: Activity factor; for Speech some 67% due to VAD/DTX; for Data: 1
Load Calculation Formulas in analogy to
H. Holma WCDMA for UMTS
 Inter-Cell Interference: Little i
In the real environment we will never have separated cell. Therefore, in the load factor calculation the other cell
interferences should be taken into account.
This can be introduced by means of the Little i value, which describes how much two cells overlap (bigger
overlapping more inter-cell interferences)

Inter-Cell Interference Ratio

Little i Iother

other cell interferen ce

i=
own cell interferen ce

1
UL = (1 i) L j = (1 i)
W / Rj 1
j j
1
Eb / N 0 j j
 Uplink Load calculation
Simplified UL load equation UL DCH capacity
for 1 service type j only
W/Rj >> (Eb/No)j
( Eb / No) j
UL = (1 i) N j j
W / Rj
Nj: No. of Trunks
Nj x Rj = Cell Throughput = Capacity [kbps]
Downlink Load calculation

Cell Type
Macro Cell 0.4 0.9
Micro Cell > 0.9
 Load Calculation Examples
Load factor for different services has to be calculated separately, total load is then the sum of
different services in the cell area
UL/DL single connection load examples are shown in the table below
For example 50 % UL load means on average 50 speech users or about 9 64 kbits/s users/cell in
a 3-sector (1+1+1) configuration

Services UL Fractional Load DL Fractional Load

12.2 kbit/s 0,97% 1,00%
64 kbits/s 4,80% 6,21%
128 kbits/s 8,56% 11,07%
384 kbits/s 22,89% 29,59%
Total Load 37,22% 47,87%
 Planning Tasks

Scrambling Code Planning

Neighbour List Planning
Location, Routing and UTRAN Registration Area
Planning
 AUTOMATIC ALLOCATION
ALLOCATION CRITERIA
Additional conditions on Ec/Io
Reuse distance
7. SCRAMBLING CODE PLANNING

SC domain assigned to the cell

Number of scrambling codes per cluster

ALLOCATION STRATEGIES
Clustered
Use a minimum number of clusters
Cluster =
Distributed per Cell Scrambling Code Group
Use as many clusters as possible
One Cluster per site

34
 AUTOMATIC ALLOCATION
EXAMPLES OF ALLOCATION STRATEGIES

DISTRIBUTED
CLUSTERED PER CELL

ONE
CLUSTER
PER SITE
35
 Planning Tasks

Scrambling Code Planning

Neighbour List Planning
Location, Routing and UTRAN Registration Area
Planning
 Inter-
Inter- system 3G
Introduction system 3G to LTE
There are the following types of neighbor lists Inter- to 2G
Intra-frequency (3G to 3G) Intra- frequency
frequency
Inter-frequency (3G to 3G)
Inter-system
3G to 2G
3G to LTE

Neighbor lists are usually refined during pre-launch or post-

launch optimization
Neighbor list planning should be as accurate as possible
Impact upon pre-launch optimization has to be recognized
Pre-launch optimization often limited to specific drive route which may not
identify all neighbors
Neighbor list tuning usually achieves the greatest gains during pre-launch
optimization

High quality neighbor lists are essential for a good performance

of the network
Intra-Frequency Neighbors (3G to 3G) (1/2)
Used for cell re-selection, SHO, softer handover & intra-frequency HHO
Missing neighbors
Poor signal to noise ratio (EC/I0)
UEs transmitting with high power close to neighboring site, but not served by it
Excessive number of neighbors
Increase of UE measurement time
May lead to deletion of important neighbors during soft handover
Intra-frequency neighbor lists are transmitted in SIB11 & dedicated measurement
control messages
Missing neighbours can be identified
Cell
CPICH Ec/Io SC100 Selection from UE log files:
SC200 1) Decrease of CPICH Ec/Io until
connection drops
Drop 2) Then sudden improvement after
Time cell selection
UE movement Example: SC200 missing from
neighbour list associated with SC100
 Intra-Frequency Neighbors (3G 3G) (2/2)
When a UE is in SHO the neighbor lists belonging to each of the active set AS cells
are combined
Neighbor lists are combined for both intra-RNC & inter-RNC SHO
The RNC generates a new intra-frequency neighbor list after every AS update procedure (events 1a, 1b & 1c)
The RNC transmits the new intra-frequency neighbor list to the UE if the new list differs from the existing one
3GPP allows the network to specify max. of 32 intra-frequency cells for the UE to measure (1-3 AS cells + 29-
31 neighbors)

Priorities for generating

combined neighbor lists
Neighbor Neighbor Neighbor
cells cells cells defined
AS cells
common to common to for only 1 AS
3 AS cells 2 AS cells cell

Active set update

AS: Active Set

Inter-Frequency IF Neighbors (3G to 3G) (1/2)
Used for IF cell re-selection & inter-frequency HHO
Following procedures are not supported:
IF handover from Cell_FACH
IF handover while anchoring at an RNC
Missing neighbors:
UE cannot escape bad actual carrier
Poor signal to noise ratio (EC/I0) and / or coverage (RSCP)
Excessive number of neighbors
Increase of UE measurement time
May lead to selection of non optimum target cell
IF neighbor lists are transmitted in SIB11 and dedicated measurement control
messages
IF neighbors are usually introduced after network launch; refining them is a post
launch optimization task

IF: Inter-Frequency
Inter-Frequency Neighbors (3G to 3G) (2/2)
When a UE is in intra-RNC SHO the neighbor lists belonging to each of the active set cells are combined

Neighbor lists are not combined for Inter-RNC SHO (no support of inter-frequency neighbor signaling
across Iur)
The RNC generates a new inter-frequency neighbor list after an active set update procedure, if
compressed mode CM is not running
In CM the neighbor list valid at the time to trigger the hard handover is taken
NSN allows the network to specify a max. of 32 inter-frequency cells for the UE to measure per carrier,
and a max. of 48 cells for all carriers

Priorities for generating combined neighbor lists

Neighbor cells which are common to 3 AS cells
Neighbor cells which are common to 2 AS cells
Neighbor cells which are defined for only 1 AS set cell

Inter-frequency
neighbour list
AS: Active Set
Inter-System Neighbors (3G to 2G) (1/2)
Used for cell re-selection and (hard) handover towards 2G
GSM neighbor list can be based upon existing BSC 2G neighbor list if 3G and 2G sites are co-sited
If an operator has both GSM900 and DCS1800 networks then inter-system neighbors can be defined
only for GSM900 or only for DCS1800
The following procedures are not supported
Inter-system handover from Cell_FACH
Inter-system handover while anchoring at an RNC

Missing neighbors Just like Inter-

UE cannot escape bad actual carrier
frequency
Poor signal to noise ratio (EC/I0) and / or coverage (RSCP)

Excessive number of neighbors

Increase of UE measurement time
May lead to selection of non optimum target cell

Inter-system neighbor lists are transmitted in SIB11 and dedicated measurement control messages

The RNC instructs the UE to measure all GSM neighbors (RSSI),

but to verify the BSIC for one specific neighbor only
Inter-System Neighbors (3G to 2G) (2/2)
When a UE is in intra-RNC SHO the neighbor lists belonging to each of the active set cells are combined

Neighbor lists are not combined for inter-RNC SHO (no support of inter-system neighbor signaling
across Iur)
The RNC generates a new inter-system neighbor list after an active set update procedure, if
compressed mode is not running
In compressed mode the neighbor list valid at the time to trigger the HHO is taken
3GPP allows the network to specify a maximum of 32 inter-system cells for the UE to measure

Priorities for generating combined neighbor lists

Neighbor cells which are common to three
active set cells
Neighbor cells which are common to two
active set cells
Neighbor cells which are defined for only
one active set cell

Inter-system neighbour list

Maximum Neighbor List Length (1/2)
SIB11 is used to instruct the UE which cells to measure in RRC Idle, CELL_FACH &
CELL_PCH
According TS 25.331 contradiction about SIB11
Should be able to accommodate information regarding 96 cells

Inter-
Inter- system 3G
system 3G to LTE
Inter- to 2G
Intra- frequency
frequency
Maximum Neighbor List Length (2/2)
Enables transmission of all defined neighbors
32 intra-frequency
32 inter-frequency
32 inter-system (both to 2G and LTE together)

Typical Neighbor List Lengths

Neighbor list lengths are scenario dependant, e.g.
Simple layering (two or more carriers serving the same coverage area)
Hierarchical cell structure (macro umbrella cells and underlying micro cells)
Typical values
3G intra-freq 3G inter-freq inter-sys 3G
to 2G
Urban 16 14 14
Suburban 12 10 10
Rural 12 10 10
 Planning Tasks

Scrambling Code Planning

Neighbour List Planning
Location, Routing and UTRAN Registration Area
Planning
Core Network Service States
To describe the presence of a UE within the core network, each service domain (CS or
PS) uses independently the following state machine
Detached (UE not registered)
Idle (UE registered, but no Iu signaling connection exists
Connected (UE registered and Iu signaling connection exists)
In idle and connected mode the core network has to track the location of a UE
Location area LA used by CS domain
Routing area RA used by PS domain
Both LA and RA are handled by the non access stratum NAS layer within the core network and the UE
The position of the UE has to be updated MSC SGSN
CS PS
Idle mode if UE moves to another LA or RA state state
Connected mode if UE moves to another cell
Iu cs Iu ps
or UTRAN registration area Two Iu Signalling
Connections
RNC

Single RRC
Connection Node B

CS PS
state state
UE
Location Area
Identification of LA
Globally using a Location Area Identification (LAI)
LAI: concatenation of Mobile Country Code (MCC), Mobile Network Code
(MNC) & Location Area Code (LAC)
2 Bytes for LAC
00 00 and FF FE values reserved
Almost 65536 LAC values per PLMN

LA2
The cells of a LA can belong to VLR area
LA1
One or several RNC
Just to a single MSC/VLR LA3
The size of a LA can range between
Single cell (minimum)
All cells connected to a single VLR (maximum)
The mapping between LA and its associated RNCs is handled by the MSC/VLR
The mapping between LA and its cells is handled by the RNC
Routing Area
Identification of LA
Globally using a Routing Area Identification (RAI)
A LAI is a concatenation of Location Area Identification (LAI) & Routing Area Code
(RAC)
1 Byte for RAC
256 RAC values per of LA LA split into
several RAs

RA2
The cells of a RA can belong to LA1
One or several RNC
Just to a single SGSN RA1
Just to a single
LA
The size of a RA can range between
Single cell (minimum) LA3 LA identical
All cells belonging to a single LA (maximum)
RA3 with RA

The mapping between RA and its associated RNCs is handled by the SGSN
The mapping between RA and its cells is handled by the RNC
Paging Capacity
NSN RAN provides either a 8 kbps or 24 kbps PCH transport channel on the S-CCPCH
One page message has a size of 80 bits and is transmitted within 10 ms (1 radio frame)
With 8 kbps PCH thus 100, with 24 PCH 300 UEs can be paged per second
In practice in most cases the 8 kbps PCH clearly is sufficient

Trade Off Between Paging and LA/RA Update

Number of cells per LA/RA: to be designed as compromise between signaling traffic
paging and LA/RA update

Small LA/RA Large LA/RA

Less page traffic, as page Splitting of LA into
More page traffic, as page
messages transmitted to
messages transmitted to several RA
fewer cells
more cells Usually LA and RA are
More LA/RA updates, as
Less LA/RA updates, as planned to be identical
more cells at LA/RA
less cells at LA/RA borders Splitting of LA into smaller
borders
Optimum design if RAs needed only in case of
Optimum design if
network dominated by high PS page traffic
network dominated by
fast moving UEs
slow moving UEs
Design of LA/RA Borders
2G LA/RA borders often good starting point of 3G LAs/RAs, as usually already
optimized
To avoid large number of LA/RA updates, borders should not
Go parallel to major roads / railway lines
Traverse areas of high subscriber density
To verify success of LA/RA update procedure, LA/RA borders should cross clusters
defined for drive test

LA1 LA2

Road
LA/RA with both 2G and 3G Cells
A LA/RA can have both 2G and 3G cells
Requires unique 2G and 3G Cell Identities (CI) and Cell Global Identities (CGI)
A CGI is a concatenation of Location Area Identification (LAI) and Cell Identity (CI)

CN not able to distinguish between 2G & 3G network for paging purpose both
2G & 3G paging appears on both the 2G & 3G network
Less probable that UE misses paging message when it completes inter-system cell
re-selection
But increased paging traffic on both systems and coordinated cell identities
needed
In practice implementation of the same location areas for 2G & 3G may be difficult
2G & 3G network often have different coverage area
Not all sites are co-sited
UE States
Idle mode
No connection to radio network (No RRC connection established)
This minimizes resource utilization in UE and the network

CELL_FACH mode
User Equipment (UE) in Connected Mode (has an RRC Connection to radio
network)
UE uses the common transport channels RACH or FACH
If the parameter interFreqFDDMeas Indicator = 1, the UE will evaluate cell
reselection criteria on inter-frequency cells (0)

CELL_DCH mode
User Equipment (UE) in Connected Mode (has an RRC Connection to radio
network)
UE uses dedicated channels for transmitting data and signalling
System Information
System parameters are broadcast on BCCH. It has information
regarding Idle Mode Behaviour.

The System Information elements are broadcast in System

Information Blocks (SIBs). Each SIB contains a specific collection of
information.
Idle mode Functions

PLMN Selection
Cell Selection and
Reselection
Location Area (LA) and
Routing Area (RA)
updating
Paging
System Information
Broadcast
PLMN Selection
PLMN selection performed upon power on or upon recovery from lack of coverage

If there is no last registered PLMN, or if it is unavailable, the UE will try to select

another PLMN AUTOMATICALLY or MANUALLY depending on its operating mode

Manual mode
UE displays all PLMNs (allowed and not allowed) by scanning all frequency
carriers
The user makes a manual selection and the UE attempts registration on the
PLMN

Automatic mode
Each PLMN in the user-controlled PLMN list in the USIM, in order of priority
Each PLMN in the operator-controlled PLMN list in the USIM
Other PLMNs according to the high-quality criterion

Roaming
Roaming is a service through which a UE is able to obtain services from another
PLMN
The UE in Automatic mode, having selected and registered a Visited PLMN
(VPLMN) periodically attempts to return to its Home PLMN (HPLMN) according to
a timer. Default = 30mins
Cell selection and reselection
procedure Start

No suitable cell found

Initial
Stored Information Cell Selection
Cell selection
Suitable cell
No suitable cell found found
Location registration failed
Suitable cell found
Cell selection Camped
when leaving Connected Normally
connected mode mode No suitable cell found

Measurements Suitable
evaluation cell selected
Camped on an
Cell Acceptable cell
Reselection (Limited Service)
Process

In Automatic
mode, new
PLMN
selection
Cell Selection
UE looks for a suitable cell in the selected PLMN and camps on to it
Cell search procedure
UE acquires slot synchronization using P-SCH
It acquires frame synchronization using S-SCH
Primary scrambling code is obtained from CPICH

UE then monitors the paging and system information, performs periodical

radio measurements and evaluates cell reselection criteria

Strategies used for the cell selection process:

Initial Cell Selection: UE has no knowledge of the WCDMA radio channels
UE scans all WCDMA radio frequency channels to find a suitable cell
with the highest signal level and read BCCH
The PLMN is determined from the mcc and mnc in the MIB in BCCH

Stored Information Cell Selection: UE knows the carrier frequencies that

have previously been used
Cell Selection Parameters

For cell selection criteria the UE calculates

Squal = Qqualmeas - qQualMin (for WCDMA cells)
Srxlev = Qrxlevmeas - qRxLevMin Pcompensation (for all cells)
Where Pcompensation = max(maxTxPowerUL P,0)
P is output power of UE according to class
Cell selection criteria (S criteria) is fulfilled when
Squal>0 ( for WCDMA cells only)
and Srxlev>0
Recommended values
qQualMin= -19dB
qRxLevMin= -115dBm
maxTxPowerUL = 24
Cell Reselection

Allows UEs to move between cells in idle and cell_FACH

connected mode
Always camp on the best cell the UE performs the cell
reselection procedure in the following cases:
When the cell on which it is camping is no longer suitable
When the UE, in camped normally state, has found a better
neighbouring cell than the cell on which it is camping
When the UE is in limited service state on an acceptable cell
Cell Reselection Parameters

UE ranks available cells using R criteria

R(Serving) = Qmeas(s) + qHyst(s)
R(Neighbour) = Qmeas(n) qOffset(s,n)

Qmeas is the quality value of the received signal

Derived from the averaged received signal level for GSM cells
Derived from CPICH Ec/Io or CPICH RSCP for WCDMA cells
depending on the value of qualMeasQuantity (2, Ec/Io)

qHyst(s) = qHyst1 when ranking based on CPICH RSCP (4)

qHyst(s) = qHyst2 when ranking based on CPICH Ec/Io (4)
qOffset(s,n) = qOffset1sn when ranking based on CPICH RSCP
qOffset(s,n) = qOffset2sn when ranking based on CPICH Ec/Io
The above two values are 0 for WCDMA cells and 7 for GSM cells
Cell Reselection Measurements

Measurement ranking ranking ranking Neighbour 1 is the

Quantity QHyst1 new serving cell

1
Serving cell 1

2
Neighbour 1 1
2
Qoffset1sn
Neighbour 2
3 3

tReselection
Location and Routing Area updating
Location Area = The area to which the Core Network sends a paging
message for circuit switched.
Routing Area = The area to which the Core Network sends a paging
message for packet switched.

If the Location Area Identity (LAI) or Routing Area Identity (RAI) read
on system information is different to the one stored on the USIM, the
UE performs a LA or RA registration update
Three types of registration update
Normal
Periodic according to T3212, T3312
IMSI attach/detach - used if att = 1 (1)
UE sends attach or detach messages when the UE is
powered on or off
Paging

Two types of paging

Core Network informs a UE of a terminating service request
RAN informs all UEs that the system information has been
modified

Paging messages sent to all UEs in LA or RA

Discontinuous Reception: UE listens to PICH at predefined
times only
Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle = (2^k) * 10 (ms)
where k = cnDrxCycleLengthCs (7) for CS and
cnDrxCycleLengthPs (7) for PS