WCDMA IDLE MODE

BEHAVIOUR

HUAWEI

IDLE MODE

PLMN Selection
Cell Selection
Cell Reselection
Location Registration
Paging Reception
System Information Reception

PLMN Selection
At switch-on, or after lack of coverage UE will select a
PLMN. The PLMN selection procedure is used for finding
a suitable PLMN.
There are two modes of PLMN selection:
Automatic selection:
The UE automatically selects a PLMN according to the
priority order.
Manual selection:
The UE shows all available PLMNs to the subscriber. The
subscriber then selects a PLMN.

Automatic PLMN
Selection
In automatic PLMN selection UE can select a
PLMN from the Home PLMNs (HPLMNs) and
roam in the Visited PLMN (VPLMN).
The MCC and MNC in the PLMN identity of the
HPLMN match the MCC and MNC in the IMSI of the
UE.
To select a PLMN from the HPLMNs:
The UE maintains a list of allowed and available
PLMNs in priority order. When selecting a PLMN,
the UE searches for the PLMNs from the highest
priority to the lowest.

Roaming in the VPLMN

If a UE stays in a VPLMN, it regularly searches for the HPLMN and
higher-priority PLMNs for better services.
For this purpose, a value of T minutes may be stored in the SIM.
Either T is in the range 6 minutes to 8 hours in 6-minute steps or
T indicates that no periodic attempts shall be made. If no value is
stored in the SIM, a default value of 60 minutes is used.
After the UE is switched on, a period of at least two minutes and
at most T minutes shall elapse before the first attempt is made.
Periodic attempts shall be performed only by the UE in idle
mode.

Manual PLMN Selection

The UE maintains a list of allowed
and available PLMNs in priority order.
When selecting a PLMN, the UE
indicates the list to the subscriber
who will select a PLMN, and then
camps on the selected PLMN.

Cell Selection
When the PLMN is selected and the
UE is in idle mode, the UE starts to
select a cell that belongs to the
selected PLMN to camp on and to
obtain normal services.

Cell Selection
Camped normally: The UE obtains normal services.
Connected mode: After RRC connection setup, the UE
changes from the idle mode to the connected mode
(CELL_DCH, CELL_FACH etc.)
Any cell selection: The UE attempts to find an
acceptable cell of any PLMN to camp on.
Camped on any cell: The UE obtains limited services
and selects a cell through cell selection or reselection.
In this case, the PLMN identity is not considered.

Initial cell selection

If no cell information is stored for the
PLMN, the UE starts the initial cell
selection. For this procedure, the UE
need not know in advance which
Radio Frequency (RF) channels are
UTRA bearers. The UE scans all RF
channels in the UTRA band according
to its capabilities to find a suitable
cell of the selected PLMN

Stored information cell

selection
For this procedure,UE knows the
carrier frequencies that have
previously been used. After this
procedure is started, the UE selects a
suitable cell if any. Otherwise, the
initial cell selection procedure is
triggered.

Suitable cell
Suitable cell is the cell that the UE
may camp on to obtain normal
services.
When returning to the idle mode from the
connected mode, the UE shall select a
suitable cell to camp on. Candidate cells for
this selection are the cells used immediately
before the UE leaves the connected mode.

Acceptable cell
An acceptable cell is the cell that the UE may
camp on to obtain limited services. For
example, the UE may originate emergency
calls.
When returning to the idle mode after an
emergency call on any PLMN, the UE shall
select an acceptable cell to camp on.
Candidate cells for this selection are the cells
used immediately before the UE leaves the
connected mode.

Cell Selection Criteria

The cell selection criterion S is fulfilled when:
Srxlev > 0
and
Squal > 0
where
Squal = Qqualmeas Qqualmin
Srxlev = Qrxlevmeas - Qrxlevmin Pcompensation

Cell Selection
Pcompensation =
Max (UE_TXPWR_MAX_RACH P_MAX, 0) (dBm)
Where

UE_TXPWR_MAX_RACH:
MaxAllowedUlTxPower

P_MAX: maximum RF output power of the UE

Cell Reselection
The signal strength of both serving cell and
neighboring cells varies with the movement
of a UE and so the UE needs to select the
most suitable cell to camp on. This process
is called cell reselection. The cell reselection
involves three parts:
cell reselection process
measurement start criteria
cell reselection criteria

Cell Reselection Process

The cell reselection process is as follows:
1. The UE calculates the cell SX according to the following
formulas:
Squal = Qqualmeas - Qqualmin
Srxlev = Qrxlevmeas - Qrxlevmin - Pcompensation
2. The UE decides whether to start the intra-frequency or
inter-frequency measurement according to the
measurement start criteria.
3. The cells are queued according to the measurement
results.
4. The UE selects a suitable cell to camp on according to the
cell reselection criteria

Measurement Start
Criteria
If Squal > Sintrasearch, the UE need not
start the intra-frequency measurement.
If Squal Sintrasearch, the UE need
start the intra-frequency measurement.
If system messages do not contain
Sintrasearch, the UE always need start
the intrafrequency measurement

Inter-frequency & Inter-RAT

measurement
If Squal > Sintersearch, the UE need not start the interfrequency measurement.
If Squal Sintersearch, the UE need start the interfrequency measurement.
If system messages do not contain Sintersearch, the UE
always need start the interfrequency measurement.
If Squal > SsearchRATm, the UE need not start the interRAT measurement.
If Squal SsearchRATm, the UE need start the inter-RAT
measurement.
If system messages do not contain SsearchRATm, the UE
always need start the inter-RAT measurement.

Cell Reselection Criteria

TEMP_OFFSETn is used as an offset to the R criteria for the

duration of PENALTY_TIME after a timer Tn is started for that
neighboring cell.

only applicable
when the system information indicates that
the HCS is enabled.
TEMP_OFFSETn and PENALTY_TIMEn are

 Qhysts IdleQhyst1s

IdleQhyst2s
Qoffsets

IdleQoffset1sn
IdleQoffset2sn

Cell Reselection
If GSM cell is ranked as the best cell, the UE shall reselect that GSM
cell.
If a WCDMA cell is ranked as the best cell and the quality measure
for cell selection and reselection is set to CPICH RSCP(QualMeas =
CPICH_RSCP), the UE shall reselect that UTRAN cell.
If a WCDMA cell is ranked as the best cell and the quality measure
for cell selection and reselection is set to CPICH Ec/N0(QualMeas =
CPICH_ECNO), the UE shall perform a second ranking of the UTRAN
cells according to the R criteria specified above.
The new cell is better ranked than the serving cell during a time
interval Treselections (treSelection)

Location Registration
Location registration is used for the PLMN to
trace the current status of the UE. Location
registration ensures that the UE is connected to
the network when the UE does not perform any
operation for a long period.
Location registration is of the following three
types:
Normal location registration
Periodic location registration
IMSI attach/detach

Normal Location
Registration
The UE performs normal location
registration in the following conditions:
After the switch-on, the UE selects a
suitable cell that belongs to a new LA or
RA. That is,the LA or RA is different from
that recorded in the USIM before the
switch-off of the UE.
The UE in idle mode enters the cell of a
new LA or RA.

Periodic Location
Registration
Periodic location registration may be used to
periodically notify the network of the availability of the
UE.
It is controlled by a Periodic Location Update timer
T3212or a Periodic Routing Area Update timer T3312.
The value of T3212 is sent by the network to the UE in
SIB 1. The value of T3312 is sent by the network to the
UE in the messages ATTACH ACCEPT and ROUTING
AREA UPDATE ACCEPT. The value of T3312 shall be
unique within an RA.

IMSI Attach/Detach
A location registration request indicating IMSI attach is
made when the UE is activated in the same LA in which it
was deactivated
It is managed by the cell parameter att sent on the BCCH.
If the parameter att is set to 1, the UE sends an attach or
detach.
When the UE is switched on and the IMSI attach/detach
procedure is applied, the UE performs a location registration
request, indicating IMSI attach, if it is in the same LA or RA
in which it was switched off. If the registration area is
changed, a normal LA update is performed by the UE.

Paging Reception
When a UE stays in idle mode, the paging to the UE
is performed within an LA or RA or the whole RNC.
The UE reads the paging information from the PICH
and S-CCPCH. The PICH indicates when the UE reads
the paging information from the S-CCPCH, whereas
the S-CCPCH carries specific paging messages.
To reduce power consumption, the UE can read the
information from the PICH only at a particular time.
This is known as the Discontinuous Reception (DRX)
technology. The interval between two consecutive
periods of time is called DRX cycle.

 DRX cycle length shall be 2^k

frames, where k is an integer and is
decided by the following three
parameters:
CN domain specific DRX cycle length for
CS=DRXCYCLELENCOEF
CN domain specific DRX cycle length for PS

UTRAN DRX cycle

length=MaccPageRepeatTimes

System Information
Reception
The structure of system information is like a tree, which includes
the following items:
MIB
Master Information Block (MIB) provides reference and scheduling
information for a number of SIBs in a cell or one or two Scheduling
Blocks (SBs) in a cell. The MIB contains only the PLMN types
supported and the corresponding PLMN identities.
SB
Scheduling Block (SB) provides reference and scheduling
information for other SIBs. The scheduling information of an SIB
may be included in the MIB or SB.
SIB
System Information Block (SIB) contains actual system information.
It consists of system information elements (IEs) with the same
purpose.

System Information

Reception of System
Information
The UE shall read system information broadcast on a BCH transport channel
when the UE is in idle mode or connected. Then, the UE takes actions on the
following occasions:
When the UE is switched off Except the SIBs stored in the USIM and used for the
stored information cell selection, the UE shall consider other stored SIBs as
invalid.
When the UE is switched on The UE shall store SIBs with an area scope (cell,
PLMN, or equivalent PLMN) and their value tag. These SIBs are used when the UE
returns to the cells.
When the UE selects a new cell in a new PLMN The UE shall consider all current
SIBs with an area scope (cell or PLMN) as invalid, and shall store and use a new
SIB.
When the UE selects a new cell in the current PLMN The UE shall consider all
current SIBs with an area scope (cell) as invalid, and shall store and use a new
SIB