UMTS Air Interface

Overview

This course is primarily designed for engineers working for equipment manufacturers and for network operators who are involved in UMTS equipment design, manufacturing, network planning, network optimization, strategy determination, deployment, etc. of UMTS technology. Some will find that this course will satisfy their complete requirements, while for others it will provide a steppingstone to further research and study based on primary material and related Wray Castle courses.

This course is also useful for engineers and scientists working in areas related to UMTS operation. This includes base station commissioning, antenna or transmission line design, Government security or forensic work, service developers, legal professionals supporting network operators, equipment manufacturers or local authorities, support staff and those in technical management roles.

On completion of this course the delegate will be able to:

• state the general UMTS service aims and consider their impact on radio access and terminal capability
• explain the principles of CDMA operation and its use of codes and relate this to UMTS/HSPA air interface design
• describe the UMTS Radio Access Network (UTRAN) architecture and interfaces
• identify the UMTS/HSPA air interface protocols and their relationship
  with UMTS system elements
• identify the physical layer and layer 2 channel structures and state their functionality
• state the key functions of the layer 3 protocol and relate this to bearer establishment and radio link control for UMTS/HSPA operation.
• describe higher-layer signalling sequences for call control, session management and mobility management
• justify and describe the operation of cell selection and reselection, power control and all types of handover
• state the role of network access and radio network identities
• describe the optimal features available in UMTS, HSPA and HSPA+ for both current and future releases
• describe User Equipment (UE) activity in idle mode and in the connected state
• list the security and error protection features on the UMTS air interface

In addition to gaining a good understanding of the UMTS air interface and its capabilities, attending this course will enable the delegate to deliver operational improvements and generate cost savings or reduce project timelines by:

• improving network design, planning, operations and maintenance
• avoiding the laborious search through specifications, standards and white papers, while benefiting from a practical analysis and interpretation of such documentation by experienced engineers
• knowing better where to look to accelerate research and fact finding and facilitate earlier project completion
• improving the equipment procurement process by better analysis and challenge of technical specifications and supplier responses, thus giving greater certainty to on-target performance and value-for-money purchasing
• shortening the learning curve and speeding productive inputs from new team members and freeing more experienced employees’ time
• evaluating better a system’s capabilities through improved knowledge, leading to superior operations and maintenance performance
• providing greater confidence in the sale of equipment by anticipating customers’ technical requirements and being able to promote relevant superior equipment performance

and, after the course, Wray Castle’s unrivalled post-course support comes into effect.

Section 1 – 1.5 hours UMTS Structure and Aims
General service aims
Service definition and service capabilities
UMTS, HSPA and HSPA+ performance expectations
UTRAN and core network architecture
UE capabilities
AMR speech codec
Multimedia service capabilities
UE radio characteristics
Radio spectrum

Section 2 – 2.5 hours CDMA Principles in Practice
Multiple access schemes
Spreading and despreading
Code application
Direct Sequence (DS) spread spectrum
Spreading and multiple access
Shannon’s equation
Processing Gain (Gp) and Spreading Factor (SF)
Code generation and correlation
Code types and code choice

Section 3 – 2.5 hours Engineering for CDMA Operation
Pilot signals and pilot transmission
CDMA receiver
Code synchronization
Acquisition
Tracking
Rake diversity
The near-far effect
The need for fast power control
Open loop power control
Soft handover
Power budget and coverage
Noise and interference reduction
MIMO principles

Section 4 – 1.5 hours UTRAN Protocol Structure
Air interface structure
Access Stratum (AS) and Non Access Stratum (NAS)
Protocol termination within the UTRAN
Logical channels and transport channels
Downlink and uplink physical channels
FDD mode channel mapping
UTRAN architecture and protocol structure
Control plane and user plane
ATM and IP in the UTRAN
Iub, Iur and Iu interfaces
Radio network layer control plane

Section 5 – 3.5 hours UMTS Physical Layer
The UARFCN
Application of codes to the air interface
Complex scrambling
General structure for physical channels
Dedicated Physical Channels (DPCH)
Downlink common physical channels
HSPA channels
Physical channel time alignments
Formats for physical layer data transfer
Channel coding and multiplexing
Power control: closed loop, inner loop, outer loop

Section 6 – 1.5 hours Layer 2 Operation RLC and MAC
RLC and MAC functions and architecture
RLC communication mechanisms
Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)
MAC, MAC-c/sh and MAC-d architecture
MAC-hs/ehs and MAC-e/es architecture
MAC transmission mechanisms
MAC header information
Application of MAC header elements

Section 7 – 2.5 hours Radio Resource Control (RRC)
RRC architecture, functions and procedures
Paging
UE capability enquiry
Security mode control
Direct transfer of higher-layer NAS signalling
RB control procedures
Signalling Radio Bearers (SRBs)
Radio Access Bearers (RABs)
RRC connection mobility procedures
Cell update procedure
URA update
Handover and external reselection-related procedures
Measurement procedures

Section 8 – 2.5 hours Air Interface Procedures and NAS Interactions
Idle mode
PLMN selection
Cell selection and reselection
Connected mode
NAS/AS interaction for signalling flows
RRC connection establishment
Registration procedures
CS-LA update and PS-RA update
CS mobile-originated (MO) call
Packet data transfer
Real-time connection through the PS domain
SMS transfer in UMTS
Security functions
Handover procedures
UE measurements
Compressed mode
Transmit diversity
Open loop mode
Closed loop mode

EXERCISES: This course includes CDMA Radio Link Exercises

This course has been developed for engineering staff requiring detailed knowledge of a specialist area of technology. It assumes some underlying knowledge in broader, related topic areas on which the detailed content is built. It also assumes general engineering skills and knowledge appropriate to the course topic.

Along with a paper copy of comprehensive course notes the delegate will receive an electronic version on CD. This provides delegates with an easily transportable and fully searchable reference tool, including all the colour detail of the course presentation.

Following attendance on any Wray Castle course the delegate will automatically become eligible for free post-course support. If a delegate has any questions relating to the course content, this service puts the delegate in direct e-mail contact with a Wray Castle expert.

This course is designed for instructor-led training. The practical and/or complex nature of the course is best delivered in a class where the Wray Castle expert trainer can demonstrate and explain the content using a variety of specialist delivery techniques.

Employees working in network planning and optimization should attend this course before attending our Cell Planning for UMTS Networks or Introduction to UMTS Optimization courses. Those involved in handset technology areas may consider our HSPA Principles and Application course, while those working in network design would benefit from our UMTS Core Network course. Broadband Access Technologies may be relevant, and delegates should also consider our growing LTE portfolio.

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) air interface has been designed to be flexible enough to transport a wide range of traffic types, each with different Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, in real-world radio conditions. This exacting requirement has led to a very complex technology described in many thousands of pages of technical specifications.

Wray Castle has distilled these specifications into a tight and focused learning experience. This course provides a clear description of the technology and its operation, the protocols and their interaction in the provision of UMTS/HSPA communication channels. It includes topics from Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and physical layer operation through to higher-layer signalling message exchanges.

Prerequisites

In order to achieve the maximum benefit from attending this course, it is recommended that you are familiar with the architecture and general operation of a UMTS network. This is best obtained through attendance on our UMTS System Overview course.