Evolution to 3g

Requirements of 3G
Bit rates up to 2 Mbps; Variable bit rate to offer bandwidth on demand; Multiplexing of services with different quality requirements on a single connection, e.g. speech, video and packet data; Delay requirements from delay-sensitive real-time traffic to flexible best-effort packet data; Quality requirements from 10% frame error rate to 106 bit error rate; Coexistence of second- and third-generation systems and inter-system handovers for coverage enhancements and load balancing; Support of asymmetric uplink and downlink traffic, e.g. web browsing causes more loading to downlink than to uplink; High spectrum efficiency.

Evolution
The first new technology when going from GSM to UMTS is General Packet Radio Services (GPRS). It is the trigger to 3G services. The main point is that the network connection is always on, so the subscriber is online all the time. From the operator's point of view, it is important that GPRS investments are re-used when going to UMTS. Also capitalizing on GPRS business experience is very important. From GPRS, operators could go directly to UMTS, but they could also invest in an EDGE system.

Evolution
UMTS system is based on layered services, unlike GSM. On the top there is the services layer, which will give advantages like fast deployment of services and centralized location

From GPRS to UMTS

The key point when going to UMTS is the use of the existing mobile network. From GSM core network side, the following network elements will be reused: MSC (Mobile switching centre) (vendor dependent) AUC (Authentication centre) HLR (Home location register) VLR (Visitor location register) EIR (Equipment identity register) From GPRS network, the following network elements will be reused: SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) (vendor dependent) GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) From GSM radio network, the following network elements CANNOT be reused: BSC (base station controller) BTS (base transceiver station)

From GPRS to UMTS

UMTS network will introduce new network elements that will give the functionality as given in standards: Node-B (base station) RNC (Radio Network Controller) MGW (Media Gateway) The functionality of MSC and SGSN will change when going to UMTS. In a GSM system, MSC handles all the circuit switched operations like connecting A- and B-subscriber through the network. SGSN handles all the packet switched operations and transfers all the data in the network. In UMTS the MGW (Media gateway) will take care of all data transfer in both, circuit and packet switched networks. MSC and SGSN will act as "brains" of the system and they will control MGW operations. The name of the nodes will change into MSC-server and GSN-server

Migration to 3G

EDGE(Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution):

EDGE is the part of the ITUs IMT-2000 family and has been designed to enhance the existing GSM air interface in order to support more advanced services. However, EDGE does not represent a replacement for 3GSM. 3GSM is a more efficient carrier for data than EDGE and also provides an increased voice capacity over those systems based on the GSM air interface.

3G SERVICES
Universal global roaming Multimedia (voice, data & video) Increased data rates 384 kbps while moving 2 Mbps when stationary at specific locations Increased capacity (more spectrally efficient) IP architecture Problems No killer application for wireless data as yet Vendor-driven. Video on demand,

Roadmap to 3G

wcdma
By definition, the bandwidth of a WCDMA system is 5 MHz or more, and this 5 MHz is also the nominal bandwidth of all 3G WCDMA proposals. This bandwidth was chosen because: It is enough to provide data rates of 144 and 384 Kbps (these were 3G targets), and even 2 Mbps in good conditions. Bandwidth is always scarce, and the smallest possible allocation should be used, especially if the system must use frequency bands already occupied by existing 2G systems. This bandwidth can resolve more multipaths than narrower bandwidths, thus improving performance.

IMT-2000
IMT-2000 is the umbrella specification of all 3G systems. Originally it was the purpose of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to have only one truly global 3G specification, but for both technical and political reasons this did not happen. In its November 1999 ITU accepted the following proposals as IMT2000 compatible IMT Direct Spread (IMT-DS; also known as UTRA FDD); IMT Multicarrier (IMT-MC; also known as CDMA2000); IMT Time Code (IMT-TC; also known as UTRA-TDD/ TD-SCDMA narrowband TDD); IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC; also known as UWC-136); IMT Frequency Time (IMT-FT; also known as DECT).

What is 3GPP?
3GPP is an organization that develops specifications for a 3G system based on the UTRA radio interface and on the enhanced GSM core network. 3GPP is also responsible for future GSM specification work. This work used to belong to ETSI, but because both 3GPP and GSM use the same core network (GSMMAP) and the highly international character of GSM, it makes sense to develop the specifications for both systems in one place.

3G Evolution paths

3G Evolution paths

3G network implementation on the 3GPP R99

3GPPR4
WCDMA radio access provides excellent possibilities to extend coverage and transfer capacity within the radio coverage area, unlike GSM radio access. 3GPP R4 offers an option to convert protocol stacks in such a way that the transport protocols become IP-based. The third mentioned item, bearer-independent CS CN brings scalability to the system. The traditional MSC contains both connection capacity and connection control capacity, but these two capacity types do not necessarily go hand in hand. 3GPP R4 defines the way to split these two capacity types into two different nodes.

The node that maintains CS connection capacity is called the Circuit Switched Media Gateway (CS-MGW) and it takes care of all physical connection set-up matters. The node that maintains connection control capacity is called the MSC server. The MSC Server and CS-MGW have a one-to-many relationship (i.e., one MSC server could control numerous CS-MGWs).

3GPPR4

3G Evolution paths

3G Evolution paths

3G network implementation on the 3GPP R99

3GPPR4
WCDMA radio access provides excellent possibilities to extend coverage and transfer capacity within the radio coverage area, unlike GSM radio access. This is not, however, a simple issue as such, and the use of repeaters has its effect on, for instance, LCSs. 3GPP R4 offers an option to convert protocol stacks in such a way that the transport protocols become IP-based. The third mentioned item, bearer-independent CS CN brings scalability to the system. The traditional MSC contains both connection capacity and connection control capacity, but these two capacity types do not necessarily go hand in hand. 3GPP R4 defines the way to split these two capacity types into two different nodes. The node that maintains CS connection capacity is called the Circuit Switched Media Gateway (CS-MGW) and it takes care of all physical connection set-up matters. The node that maintains connection control capacity is called the MSC server. The MSC Server and CS-MGW have a one-to-many relationship (i.e., one MSC server could control numerous CS-MGWs). With this arrangement the operator is able to optimise the physical length of the user plane within its network. This in turn helps us to migrate to the IP-based transport network.

3GPPR4

3GPP R5
After 3GPP R4 the aim was to implement the following major items: . IP transport over the whole system from the BS up to the network border gateway. . To introduce an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) in order to start wide use of various multimedia services. . To unify the open interface between the various access and core networks. . To gain more capacity in the UTRAN air interface in the downlink direction. The major items defined to be implemented in 3GPP R5 aim to simplify the network structure; making the transport protocol environment uniform enables more straightforward solutions to be used than those used in R3 implementation. The first main item mentioned, IP transport throughout the whole network starting from the BS, has the aim of simplifying this transport network structure. From the service point of view, the IMS will play a major role in R5 and further implementations. IMS is a separate system solution that is able to utilise various networks itself; one of these is UMTS. With IMS, end-users will be able to use sophisticated multimedia and messaging services. IMS architecture is described in Chapter 6 and some related service aspects are discussed

3GPP R5

WCDMA
3G introduced the new radio access method, WCDMA. WCDMA and its variants are global; hence, all 3G networks should be able to accept access by any 3G network subscriber. In addition to its global nature, WCDMA has been thoroughly studied in the laboratory and it has been realised that it has better spectral efficiency than Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) (under certain conditions) and it is more suitable for packet transfer than TDMA-based radio access. WCDMA and radio access equipment as such are not compatible with GSM equipment, and this is why, when adding the WCDMA to the network, one must add two new elements: the Radio Network Controller (RNC) and the Base Station (BS). The network part that contains these elements and maintains the WCDMA radio technology is called the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN).

 3GPP specified important evolution steps on top of WCDMA: HSPA for downlink in Release 5 and for uplink Release 6. The downlink solution, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) was commercially deployed in 2005 and the uplink counterpart, High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), during 2007. Further HSPA evolution is specified in 3GPP Release 7, and its commercial deployment is expected by 2009. HSPA evolution is also known as HSPA.

Service Evolution
WCDMA Release 99 in theory enabled 2 Mbps, but in practice gave 384 kbps. HSPA in Release 5 and Release 6 pushes the peak rates to 14 Mbps in downlink and 5.7 Mbps in uplink. HSPA evolution in Release 7 brings a maximum 28 Mbps in downlink and 11 Mbps in uplink. LTE will then further push the peak rates beyond 100 Mbps in downlink and 50 Mbps in uplink by using a 20 MHz bandwidth.

Service Evolution

3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership project):

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project is developing technical specifications for IMT-2000, the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) framework for third-generation standards. 3GPP is a global co-operation between six Organizational Partners (ARIB,, ETSI, T1, TTA and TTC) who are recognized as being the world's major standardization bodies from Japan, China, Europe, USA and Korea.

IMT2000
"IMT-2000" initiative, covering high speed, broadband, and Internet Protocol (IP)-based mobile systems featuring network-to-network interconnection, feature/service transparency, global roaming and seamless services independent of location. IMT-2000 is intended to bring high-quality mobile multimedia telecommunications to a worldwide mass market by achieving the goals of increasing the speed and ease of wireless communications, responding to the problems faced by the increased demand to pass data via telecommunications, and providing "anytime, anywhere" services.

3GPP2
The Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) is: A collaborative third generation (3G) telecommunications specificationssetting project, Comprising North American and Asian interests developing global specifications for ANSI/TIA/EIA-41 Cellular Radio telecommunication Intersystem Operations network evolution to 3G, and Global specifications for the radio transmission technologies (RTTs) supported by ANSI/TIA/EIA-41. 3GPP2 is a collaborative effort between five officially recognized SDOs. They are: ARIB - Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (Japan), CCSA - China Communications Standards Association (China), TIA - Telecommunications Industry Association (North America), TTA - Telecommunications Technology Association (Korea), TTC - Telecommunications Technology Committee (Japan)

Basic Design Philosophy of 3GPP2:

Leverage existing globally-accepted IETF protocols whenever possible e.g., mobile IP (for mobility), IP Sec (for e2e security), AAA (authentication, authorization and accounting for network access). Some advantages are Interoperability/roaming with existing IP networks. Easy deployment of new services. Well understood standards.