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Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Protocols and Protocol Testing Tutorial 2. UMTS Network Arc itecture
UMTS (Rel. ?99) incorporates enhance !SM "hase #$ Core %et&or's &ith !"RS an C(ME). This ena*les net&or' operators to en+oy the i,prove cost-e..iciency o. UMTS &hile protectin/ their #! invest,ents an re ucin/ the ris's o. i,ple,entation. In UMTS release 0 (Rel. 199)2 a ne& ra io access net&or' UMTS terrestrial ra io access net&or' (UTR(%) is intro uce . UTR(%2 the UMTS ra io access net&or' (R(%)2 is connecte via the Iu to the !SM "hase #$ core net&or' (C%). The Iu is the UTR(% inter.ace *et&een the ra io net&or' controller (R%C) an C%3 the UTR(% inter.ace *et&een R%C an the pac'et-s&itche o,ain o. the C% (Iu-"S) is use .or "S ata an the UTR(% inter.ace *et&een R%C an the circuit-s&itche o,ain o. the C% (Iu-CS) is use .or CS ata. 4!SM-only4 ,o*ile stations (MSs) &ill *e connecte to the net&or' via the !SM air (ra io) inter.ace (U,). UMTS5!SM ual-,o e user e6uip,ent (UE) &ill *e connecte to the net&or' via UMTS air (ra io) inter.ace (Uu) at very hi/h ata rates (up to al,ost # M*ps). 7utsi e the UMTS service area2 UMTS5!SM UE &ill *e connecte to the net&or' at re uce ata rates via the U,. Ma8i,u, ata rates are 009 '*ps .or CS ata *y HSCSD2 0:0 '*ps .or "S ata *y !"RS2 an 99; '*ps *y ED!E. Han over *et&een UMTS an !SM is supporte 2 an han over *et&een UMTS an other ;! syste,s (e./.2 ,ulticarrier CDM( <MC-CDM(=) &ill *e supporte to achieve true Table o! "ontents De.inition an 7vervie& 0. Evolution o. Mo*ile Co,,unications #. UMTS %et&or' (rchitecture ;. UMTS Inter.aces >. UMTS an UTR(% Measure,ent 7*+ectives 9. (ppen i8 Sel.-Test

&orl &i e access. #igure $. Transmission %ate

Correct (ns&ers !lossary Co,,ent on This Tutorial %elated *irtual &+ ibits Te'troni8

The pu*lic lan ,o*ile net&or' (")M%) escri*e in UMTS Rel. ?99 incorporates three ,a+or cate/ories o. net&or' ele,ents? !SM "hase 05# core net&or' ele,ents? ,o*ile services s&itchin/ center (MSC)2 visitor location re/ister (@)R)2 ho,e location re/ister (H)R)2 authentication center ((C)2 an e6uip,ent i entity re/ister (EIR) !SM "hase #$ enhance,ents? !"RS (servin/ !"RS support no e <S!S%= an /ate&ay !"RS support no e <!!S%=) an C(ME) (C(ME) service environ,ent <CSE=) UMTS speci.ic ,o i.ications an enhance,ents2 particularly UTR(%

Network &lements !rom 'SM P ase ()2

The !SM "hase 05# ")M% consists o. three su*syste,s? the *ase station su*syste, (ASS)2 the net&or' an s&itchin/ su*syste, (%SS)2 an the operations support syste, (7SS). The ASS consists o. the .unctional units? *ase station controller (ASC)2 *ase transceiver station (ATS) an transco er an rate a apter unit (TR(U). The %SS consists o. the .unctional units? MSC2 @)R2 H)R2 EIR2 an the (C. The MSC provi es .unctions such as s&itchin/2 si/nalin/2 pa/in/2 an inter-MSC han over. The 7SS consists o. operation

an ,aintenance centers (7MCs)2 &hich are use .or re,ote an centraliBe operation2 a ,inistration2 an ,aintenance (7(M) tas's. #igure ,. UMTS P ase ( Network

Network &lements !rom 'SM P ase 2'P%S The ,ost i,portant evolutionary step o. !SM to&ar UMTS is !"RS. !"RS intro uces "S into the !SM C% an allo&s irect access to pac'et ata net&or's ("D%s). This ena*les hi/h- ata rate "S trans,ission &ell *eyon the C> '*ps li,it o. ISD% throu/h the !SM C%2 a necessity .or UMTS ata trans,ission rates o. up to # M*ps. !"RS prepares an opti,iBes the C% .or hi/h- ata rate "S trans,ission2 as oes UMTS &ith UTR(% over the R(%. Thus2 !"RS is a prere6uisite .or the UMTS intro uction. T&o .unctional units e8ten the !SM %SS architecture .or !"RS "S services? the !!S% an the S!S%. The !!S% has .unctions co,para*le to a /ate&ay MSC (!MSC). The S!S% resi es at the sa,e hierarchical level as a visite MSC (@MSC)5@)R an there.ore per.or,s co,para*le .unctions such as routin/ an ,o*ility ,ana/e,ent.

"AM&. C(ME) ena*les &orl &i e access to operator-speci.ic I% applications such as prepai 2 call screenin/2 an supervision. C(ME) is the pri,ary !SM "hase #$ enhance,ent .or the intro uction o. the UMTS virtual ho,e environ,ent (@HE) concept. @HE is a plat.or, .or .le8i*le service e.inition (collection o. service creation tools) that ena*les the operator to ,o i.y or enhance e8istin/ services an 5or e.ine ne& services. Durther,ore2 @HE ena*les &orl &i e access to these operator-speci.ic services in every !SM an UMTS ")M% an intro uces location-*ase services (*y interaction &ith !SM5UMTS ,o*ility ,ana/e,ent). ( CSE an a ne& co,,on control si/nalin/ syste, : (SS:) (CCS:) protocol2 the C(ME) application part (C(")2 are re6uire on the C% to intro uce C(ME).

Network &lements !rom UMTS P ase (

(s ,entione a*ove2 UMTS i..ers .ro, !SM "hase #$ ,ostly in the ne& principles .or air inter.ace trans,ission (E-CDM( instea o. ti,e ivision ,ultiple access <TDM(=5.re6uency ivision ,ultiple access <DDM(=). There.ore2 a ne& R(% calle UTR(% ,ust *e intro uce &ith UMTS. 7nly ,inor ,o i.ications2 such as allocation o. the transco er (TC) .unction .or speech co,pression to the C%2 are nee e in the C% to acco,,o ate the chan/e. The TC .unction is use to/ether &ith an inter&or'in/ .unction (IED) .or protocol conversion *et&een the ( an the Iu-CS inter.aces. UT%AN The UMTS stan ar can *e seen as an e8tension o. e8istin/ net&or's. T&o ne& net&or' ele,ents are intro uce in UTR(%2 R%C2 an %o e A. UTR(% is su* ivi e into in ivi ual ra io net&or' syste,s (R%Ss)2 &here each R%S is controlle *y an R%C. The R%C is connecte to a set o. %o e A ele,ents2 each o. &hich can serve one or several cells. #igure /. UMTS P ase (0 UT%AN

E8istin/ net&or' ele,ents2 such as MSC2 S!S%2 an H)R2 can *e e8ten e to a opt the UMTS re6uire,ents2 *ut R%C2 %o e A2 an the han sets ,ust *e co,pletely ne& esi/ns. R%C &ill *eco,e the replace,ent .or ASC2 an %o e A .ul.ills nearly the sa,e .unctionality as ATS. !SM an !"RS net&or's &ill *e e8ten e 2 an ne& services &ill *e inte/rate into an overall net&or' that contains *oth e8istin/ inter.aces such as (2 !*2 an (*is2 an ne& inter.aces that inclu e Iu2 UTR(% inter.ace *et&een %o e A an R%C (Iu*)2 an UTR(% inter.ace *et&een t&o R%Cs (Iur). UMTS e.ines .our ne& open inter.aces?

Uu? UE to %o e A (UTR(2 the UMTS E-CDM( air inter.ace) Iu? R%C to !SM "hase #$ C% inter.ace (MSC5@)R or S!S%) o Iu-CS .or circuit-s&itche ata o Iu-"S .or pac'et-s&itche ata Iu*? R%C to %o e A inter.ace Iur? R%C to R%C inter.ace2 not co,para*le to any inter.ace in !SM

The Iu2 Iu*2 an Iur inter.aces are *ase on (TM trans,ission principles. The R%C ena*les autono,ous ra io resource ,ana/e,ent (RRM) *y UTR(%. It per.or,s the sa,e .unctions as the !SM ASC2 provi in/ central control .or the R%S ele,ents (R%C an %o e As).

The R%C han les protocol e8chan/es *et&een Iu2 Iur2 an Iu* inter.aces an is responsi*le .or centraliBe operation an ,aintenance (7FM) o. the entire R%S &ith access to the 7SS. Aecause the inter.aces are (TM-*ase 2 the R%C s&itches (TM cells *et&een the,. The user?s circuit-s&itche an pac'ets&itche ata co,in/ .ro, Iu-CS an Iu-"S inter.aces are ,ultiple8e to/ether .or ,ulti,e ia trans,ission via Iur2 Iu*2 an Uu inter.aces to an .ro, the UE. The R%C uses the Iur inter.ace2 &hich has no e6uivalent in !SM ASS2 to autono,ously han le 0GG percent o. the RRM2 eli,inatin/ that *ur en .ro, the C%. Servin/ control .unctions such as a ,ission2 RRC connection to the UE2 con/estion an han over5,acro iversity are ,ana/e entirely *y a sin/le servin/ R%C (SR%C). I. another R%C is involve in the active connection throu/h an inter-R%C so.t han over2 it is eclare a ri.t R%C (DR%C). The DR%C is only responsi*le .or the allocation o. co e resources. ( reallocation o. the SR%C .unctionality to the .or,er DR%C is possi*le (servin/ ra io net&or' su*syste, <SR%S= relocation). The ter, controllin/ R%C (CR%C) is use to e.ine the R%C that controls the lo/ical resources o. its UTR(% access points. #igure 1. %N" #unctions

Node 2 %o e A is the physical unit .or ra io trans,ission5reception &ith cells. Depen in/ on sectorin/ (o,ni5sector cells)2 one or ,ore cells ,ay *e serve *y a %o e A. ( sin/le %o e A can support *oth DDD an TDD ,o es2 an it can *e co-locate &ith a !SM ATS to re uce i,ple,entation costs. %o e A connects &ith the UE via the E-CDM( Uu ra io inter.ace an &ith the R%C via the Iu* asynchronous trans.er ,o e ((TM)-*ase inter.ace. %o e A is the (TM ter,ination point. The ,ain tas' o. %o e A is the conversion o. ata to an .ro, the Uu ra io inter.ace2 inclu in/ .or&ar error correction (DEC)2 rate a aptation2 ECDM( sprea in/5 esprea in/2 an 6ua rature phase shi.t 'eyin/ (H"SI) ,o ulation on the air inter.ace. It ,easures 6uality an stren/th o. the connection an eter,ines the .ra,e error rate (DER)2 trans,ittin/ these ata to the R%C as a ,easure,ent report .or han over an ,acro iversity co,*inin/. The %o e A is also responsi*le .or the DDD so.ter han over. This ,icro iversity co,*inin/ is carrie out in epen ently2 eli,inatin/ the nee .or a itional trans,ission capacity in the Iu*. The %o e A also participates in po&er control2 as it ena*les the UE to a +ust its po&er usin/ o&nlin' (D)) trans,ission po&er control (T"C) co,,an s via the inner-loop po&er control on the *asis o. uplin' (U)) T"C in.or,ation. The pre e.ine values .or inner-loop po&er control are erive .ro, the R%C via outer-loop po&er control. #igure 3. Node 2 4verview

UMTS U& The UMTS UE is *ase on the sa,e principles as the !SM MS-the separation *et&een ,o*ile e6uip,ent (ME) an the UMTS su*scri*er i entity ,o ule (SIM) car (USIM). Figure 8 sho&s the user e6uip,ent .unctions. The UE is the counterpart to the various net&or' ele,ents in ,any .unctions an proce ures. #igure 5. U& #unctions

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