Implementation

AMR-WB Rate Selection

The following two rate sets are usually used for AMR-WB services:
 Rate set 0 with the maximum rate of 12.65 kbit/s and MOS of about 3.9
 (Recommended) Rate set 4 with the maximum rate of 23.85 kbit/s and MOS of about 4.1
The rate set to be used is configured on the CN.
AMR-WB services using rate set 0 consume nearly the same network resources as AMR-NB services, imposing no network impact.
AMR-WB services using rate set 4 (23.85 kbit/s for example) consume more of the following network resources than AMR-NB services, imposing limited
network impact:
 Bandwidth: AMR-WB services (23.85 kbit/s) increase the transmission bandwidth over the Iub and Iu-CS interfaces, relatively by 65% in ATM
transmission mode and by 40% in IP transmission mode.
 Code: AMR-WB services (23.85 kbit/s) consume twice as many codes as AMR-NB services (12.2 kbit/s). Given that PS services consume most code
resources on a network, code consumption of AMR-WB services barely has impact on the network. For example, in a cell where AMR services consume
10% code resources, deploying AMR-WB services (23.85 kbit/s) will increase the overall code consumption by about 3-4% if AMR-WB UEs are
predicted to account for 30% of all AMR UEs.
 Power: AMR-WB services (23.85 kbit/s) consume twice as many power resources as AMR-NB services (12.2 kbit/s). Given that PS services consume
most power resources and AMR-WB UEs have low penetration rate on a network, power consumption of AMR-WB services barely has impact on the
network. For example, in a cell where AMR services consume 20% power resources, deploying AMR-WB services (23.85 kbit/s) will increase the overall
power consumption by about 6-7% if AMR-WB UEs are predicted to account for 30% of all AMR UEs.
 Coverage: The coverage of AMR-WB services (23.85 kbit/s) shrinks by 2-3 dB compared with that of AMR-NB services (12.2 kbit/s), and can be
improved using the following methods:
 Run the RNC MML command ADD UCELLRLPWR or MOD UCELLRLPWR to increase the maximum transmit power (the RlMaxDlPwr
parameter) by 3 dB for AMR-WB UEs (23.85 kbit/s). The increase takes effect in weak coverage areas and therefore imposes no impact on the
network because only 5-10% UEs camp on such areas.
 Control the uplink AMR speech rates. If the AMR-WB service (23.85 kbit/s) quality deteriorates, UEs capable of rate control can automatically
reduce the rate, without requiring a rate control request from the network side. For UEs incapable of rate control, you can enable features in the
widest coverage solution to improve UE coverage, including WRFD-180201 Improved Uplink Coverage for SRB over DCH, WRFD-
190103 Voice Coverage Improvement by Advanced Demodulation (Trial), and WRFD-190208 Crystal Voice Coverage Improvement by Rate
Adaption.
Therefore, AMR-WB services (23.85 kbit/s) are more likely to affect the network KPIs but deliver better voice quality. Site statistics show that AMR-WB
services (23.85 kbit/s) impose no impact on the overall network performance because of good network coverage and low proportion of resource consumption
by AMR services. To guarantee KPI stability, it is good practice to enable AMR-WB services (12.65 kbit/s), that is rate set 0. To provide the best
speech quality, it is good practice to enable AMR-WB services (23.85 kbit/s), that is rate set 4. If deployment conditions permit, you can enable rate set 0 first
and then enable rate set 4 after the KPIs are stable.

Deployment Suggestions

When AMR-WB services are enabled, TFO/TrFO must be enabled on both the CN and RAN to perform codec negotiation between the calling party and called
party before call setup, achieving HD voice experience. AMR-WB services can be set up only when both the two parties support AMR-WB services. Generally,
the RAB for the calling party is set up before the negotiation ends. If the negotiation fails, the CN will instruct the calling party to fall back to AMR-NB services
and to establish the TFO/TrFO connection with the called party. During the calling party's fallback process, call drops may occur in weak coverage areas.
Either of the following methods can be adopted to avoid call drops:
 (Recommended) The CN performs late assignment for the calling party. That is, the CN negotiates codecs for the calling and called parties first and
then performs assignment for the calling party. This method may increase the voice service access delay for the calling party but does not increase the
call drop rate.
 The calling party does not fall back to the AMR-NB services. If the codec negotiation for the calling party and called party fails, the CN transcodes
codecs between AMR-WB and AMR-NB services. Although this method cannot bring the best speech quality and consumes extra codec resources, it
does not increase the call drop rate.
For versions earlier than RAN19.1, enabling the CN to perform late assignment is preferred. As of RAN19.1, the Always HD-Voice (Trial) feature is introduced
to address the issue on the RAN side, without the need of modifications on the CN. This feature prevents AMR-WB UEs from falling back to AMR-NB
services, improving the proportion of AMR-WB UEs using the HD voice services and avoiding call drops caused by the fallback.

 NOTE:
The Always HD-Voice (Trial) feature is designed for scenarios where AMR-WB UEs have to use AMR-NB services. If the CN always provides AMR-WB UEs
with AMR-WB services and does not fall them back to AMR-NB services, this feature does not take effect.

Scenario Configuration Requirements

CN RAN UE

Configuring rate set 0 (maximum Configure rate set 0, and enable TFO/TrFO for Enable the following features as required: None
rate: 12.65 kbit/s) intra-UMTS calls and AMR-WB.  AMR-WB (Adaptive Multi Rate Wide
Band)
  TFO/TrFO
 AMR/WB-AMR Speech Rates Control
 AMR Voice Quality Improvement Based
on PLVA
 Always HD-Voice (Trial)

Configuring rate set 4 (maximum Configure rate set 4, and enable TFO/TrFO for Enable the following features as required: None
rate: 23.85 kbit/s) intra-UMTS calls and AMR-WB.  AMR-WB (Adaptive Multi Rate Wide
Band)
 TFO/TrFO
 AMR/WB-AMR Speech Rates Control
 AMR Voice Quality Improvement Based
on PLVA
 Always HD-Voice (Trial)

 NOTE:
WRFD-010613 AMR-WB (Adaptive Multi Rate Wide Band) and WRFD-011600 TFO/TrFO must be enabled on the RAN. It is recommended that the CN
enable TFO/TrFO for intra-UMTS calls, but not for inter-RAT calls between UMTS and GSM or LTE networks, to avoid compatibility issues. If CN devices are
provided by Huawei, it is good practice to enable only the TFO/TrFO-based AMRC function in the feature WRFD-020701 AMR/WB-AMR Speech Rates
Control. If CN devices are provided by other vendors, it is good practice to disable this feature to avoid compatibility issues. It is good practice to enable the
other RAN features listed.

If both CN and RAN devices are provided by Huawei, the implementation is as follows:
1. If AMR-WB is enabled for both the CN and RAN, it is recommended that the CN configure rate set 4 (including data rates of 23.85 kbit/s, 12.65 kbit/s,
8.85 kbit/s, and 6.6 kbit/s) for all the RNCs on the network.

 NOTE:
You are advised to enable AMR-WB first for the RNCs and then for the CN. Otherwise, call setup may fail. Disable AMR-WB in a reverse order.

2. To support true HD voices during AMR-WB calls, enable TFO/TrFO for both the CN and RAN.
  NOTE:
You are advised to enable TFO/TrFO first for the RNCs and then for the CN. Otherwise, call setup may fail. Disable TFO/TrFO in a reverse order.

3. To obtain better speech quality, it is good practice to enable the AMR Voice Quality Improvement Based on PLVA feature. For the AMR/WB-AMR
Speech Rates Control feature, you can enable only TFO/TrFO-based rate control. If the uplink network coverage is weak and the UEs do not support
rate control, enable also link stability-based AMRC. To enable the AMR/WB-AMR Speech Rates Control feature, contact Huawei technical support
engineers. If CN devices are not provided by Huawei, this feature is not recommended due to rate control compatibility issues.
4. In scenarios where AMR-WB UEs have to fall back to AMR-NB services, it is good practice to enable the Always HD-Voice feature to improve the
proportion of UEs using HD voice services. This feature also avoids call drops caused by CN-initiated second assignments for AMR-WB UEs.