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Capacity Improvements for 3G UMTS Networks

Tellabs VQE solutions improve mobile call quality to reduce capital expense and attract new subscribers.
Introduction
This paper shows how to reduce the capital expense associated with increasing subscriber capacity in UMTS radio (RF) networks and mobile backhaul networks. Tellabs Voice Quality Enhancement (VQE) solutions achieve 10% to 12% improvement in network efficiency by eliminating unnecessary packet transmissions. Fewer packets enable the network to operate at a higher Bit Error Rate (BER) in the air interface. This paper demonstrates how VQE network devices can eliminate acoustic echoes and reduce background noise to increase network efficiency without sacrificing voice quality.
-2 -3 -4 -5 Log (BER) -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 28

UMTS is a Bit Error Rate Limited System

UMTS networks use direct sequencing spread spectrum technology an interference limited system. The technology consolidates multiple users on to the same spectrum by identifying each user with a code. When the number of users in the network increases, the amount of interference and noise also increases. However, as the number of users increases, the signal-to-noise ratio decreases for any given signal. This noise hinders the channel decoders ability to accurately retrieve speech bits which leads to error bits for a voice call. As the number of users in the system increases, you will observe more noise and increased bit error rate. This relationship between Bit Error Rate and subscriber count is illustrated in Figure 11. The BER is depicted on the y-axis and number of users on the x-axis. The exponential relationship highlights the fact that BER increases from 10E-6 to 10E-5 when the number of users increases from 35 to 37.

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34 36 38 40 Number of subscribers

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Figure 1: Relation between BER and number of users in a CDMA network

The signal transmitted within the mobile operators network combines encoded speech bits and additional artifacts. Because these artifacts share similar speech characteristics, the artifacts are not discarded by the transmitting Node B or the receiving mobile handset. These artifacts lead to unnecessary transmission of extra bits that consume valuable RF spectrum. Acoustic echo is one artifact that increases the number of bits transmitted over the air. It occurs when sound from the speaker is picked up by the microphone and re-transmitted back to the sounds originator. The acoustic echo feedback loop is the result of the mechanical coupling between the earpiece and microphone, or the acoustic coupling between the speaker and microphone (e.g., a speaker phone). Despite being a nuisance to the user, this acoustic echo can increase the bit-rate transmitted over the air. The handset encodes the echo as active speech, thus increasing the bit rate. The encoded echo requires considerably more bits when compared to silence/ background. While many handsets have an echo control function, performance varies considerably between handsets. The problem is exacerbated by Bluetooth-enabled, hands-free devices that create large amounts of echo transmission.

Increasing Subscriber Capacity

Along those lines, when the number of bits transmitted over the air is reduced, the average transmit power decreases, thereby reducing the noise or interference level. The removal of background noise in speech indirectly enables the ability to add more users. Anything that reduces the average transmitted power enhances capacity.

Eliminating Unnecessary Transmissions

The primary benefit of the Tellabs solution is the elimination of transmitting unnecessary bits associated with voice impairment artifacts. This improves voice quality and reduces the bandwidth consumed by an individual mobile voice call.

[1] For further related information, see also the IEEE paper, On the capacity of a cellular CDMA system and some linear extensions, IEEE transactions on vehicular technology , Vol 40, No 2, May 1991

See tellabs.com for more information about Tellabs Solutions

2 CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS FOR 3G UMTS NETWORKS

In a recent study, Tellabs found that about 10% of mobile calls include significant acoustic echoes. Tellabs acoustic echo control solution reduces the average network bit-rate per voice call on the RF downlink. The average bit rate reduction enables more subscribers to use the network without the additional capital expenditures needed to increase capacity.

Because the addition of users on the network causes increased bit error rates, voice quality is typically lowered. The Tellabs VQE solution eliminates audible background noise while maintaining voice quality at the same level. As a result, increased network capacity is achieved. In mobile calls, background noise significantly affects voice quality. By removing background noise, you can enhance voice quality, potentially offsetting quality degradation due to bit errors caused by channel noise.

Example (AMR 12.2 kbps)

Before Echo control: V V V V E E E E E E E E N N N N N N S N N N V = 5,067 Bits

After Echo control: V V V V N N N N

Silence Hangover Period N N N S N N N N N N N S N N V = 3,308 Bits

Silence Hangover Period Legend V: Voice E: Echo N: Silence/Noise E: Echo Speech Mode Silence Mode Silence Update

Figure 3 illustrates how background noise reduction maintains voice quality at a higher packet error rate as compared to the absence of applied noise reduction. Alternatively, higher packet (or bit) error rate is sustained by the speech conversation when background noise is removed.

Comparison of MOS vs. packet error rate at 18 dB SNR using AMR 5.9 kbps codec 3.2
with VQE

3.3

no VQE

Figure 2: Network spectral efficiency improvements with AMR acoustic echo removal
MOS (SwissQual LQ)

3 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.5

Figure 2 illustrates the reduction in downlink bit-rate by controlling acoustic echo in the network for mobile-to-mobile calls. The depiction shows a sample speech multi-frame that has speech bits, silence or comfort noise bits, echo bits and silence descriptors for an Adaptive Multi Rate (AMR) 12.2 kbps voice call. The first multiframe shows a typical speech frame with acoustic echo bits (E) along with speech bits (S). The second multi-frame shows the same call with echo control, where echo is replaced with comfort noise and silence frames. Tellabs studies show that acoustic echo control has the potential to reduce the bit rate by 4% to 8%, lowering the number of bits transmitted. 4% to 8% spectral efficiency can be achieved by applying acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) for mobile-to-mobile calls. This means the network can accommodate 4% to 8% more users without adding costly RF infrastructure and RF planning.

10 Packet Error (%)

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Figure 3: Comparison of MOS v.s Packet Error Rate

Removing Background Audible Noise

The second benefit is maintaining voice quality (MOS) with increased bit error rate. The 3G UMTS network uses the AMR speech coding method for transporting voice over the 3G network. The VQE features, like acoustic echo removal and the noise reduction algorithms, improve speech quality. Customers experience improved speech quality, which can result in greater satisfaction with services offered by mobile operators. Additionally, calls may last longer when the speech quality is better.

Tellabs performed a study that combines the illustration in Figure 1 and Figure 3. The study shows that applying noise reduction in a UMTS network provides a 2% to 4% increase in the number of users without affecting voice quality. Voice quality degradation caused by the higher bit error rate resulting from the increased number of subscribers, is offset by the improvement in voice quality attributed to noise reduction.

See tellabs.com for more information about Tellabs Solutions

3 CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS FOR 3G UMTS NETWORKS

The study results and analysis reflect the improvement illustrated in Figure 4. It is evident from this analysis that removing background noise helps support additional users while maintaining speech quality at a particular MOS.
Interference Signal Power

Inteference Signal Power

Interference from background acoustic noise Interference from acoustic echo Interference from active speech of other subscribers

Max allowable Interference Power

Additional headroom

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without VQE

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with VQE (linear model)

Acoustic Echo Control and Noise Reduction

Adding more Subscribers

Figure 5: Network spectral efficiency improvements with AMR acoustic echo removal

Conclusion
The 3G UMTS network uses CDMA and employs direct sequence spread spectrum technology for multiple access points to voice and data services. Service providers are investing in 3G UMTS networks and moving voice and data calls from traditional GSM networks to UMTS networks. Tellabs VQE solutions include techniques that remove acoustic echo and background noise associated with voice calls. Based on Tellabs studies, voice quality enhancement techniques applied to 3G UMTS networks can increase network capacity by 10% to 12% without additional and expensive network expansion costs. The interaction between impairment removal and the 3G UMTS standards enable these capacity improvements.

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Figure 4: Network spectral efficiency improvements with AMR acoustic echo removal

The Figure 5 illustration depicts the merits of the Tellabs study; the y-axis shows the unit of transmitted power.

Assume an optimum level for interference power level so the signal is detectable (the red line depicted in Figure 5). The interference caused from acoustic echo and background noise would contribute towards that interference power along with (interfering) power transmitted from other active speech users. See the green and yellow additions to the power shown in Figure 5. The Tellabs VQE solution removes the acoustic echo and background noise artifacts that are transmitted along with speech, hence lowering the networks average power output. This headroom accommodates additional users and maintains voice quality at the same level.

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