services in umts. umts mobile terminals(services wise) the umts user equipment (ue) is not a simple...

Services in UMTS

UMTS mobile terminals(Services wise)

The UMTS User Equipment (UE) is not a simple mobile phone

Mobile multimedia terminal able to provide simultaneously voice, video and data services.

UEs offering: speech-only, video-telephony only, Internet-access only, streaming-only, or a combination of all above.

The UEs may also differ from each other according to their radio access capability.

UMTS mobile terminals(Technology Wise) They can be dual-mode and allow

seamless service provision across 2G and 3G networks.

Examples are GSM + UTRA/FDD, GSM + GPRS + UTRA/FDD, GSM + EGPRS + UTRA/FDD, GSM + EGPRS + UTRA/FDD + HSDPA.

UE functional description

From a functional point of view, the UE is composed of two parts, the Mobile Equipment (ME) and the Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM). The reference point bounding ME/USIM functions is referred to as “Cu”.

UE functional description

Functions carried by MT : UMTS radio-modem functionality and

performs reliable data and signaling message transfer throughout the radio interface. Channel coding/decoding, spread spectrum, RF modulation and packet retransmission

The TE is the part within the UE where user data is generated in uplink and processed in the downlink. Application protocols such as WAP/IP and the video/audio codecs are located in the TE

UMTS user and UE identities

As in GSM, in UMTS the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) makes it possible to unambiguously identify a particular UMTS subscriber.

The IMSI number is located in the USIM & comprises: the Mobile Country Code (MCC); the Mobile Network Code (MNC), i.e. the code of the operator’s network that holds the user’s subscription information(Home PLMN) and the Mobile Subscriber Identification Number (MSIN).


The MSISDN is the dial able number that UMTS callers use to reach a mobile subscriber to establish a voice or video-call.

More than one “phone number” or MSISDN may be associated with the same IMSI.

a UMTS subscriber may also be reached via a dynamic or static IP address allocated by the network for packet-switched service provision


When the UE exchanges data or signaling information with the core network, it identifies itself with the IMSI.

The use of temporary identities is then preferred and Two types:

the Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) used when data and signaling exchanges concern circuit-switched services (voice, video telephony, etc.), and

the Packet Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (P-TMSI) when the exchanges concern packet-switched services (streaming, Internet surfing, etc.).

UE maximum output power

The UEs are classified as a function of their maximum output power.

The knowledge of the power classes supported by the UEs is also an input parameter used for dimensioning the radio network.

For instance, voice telephony services may require a low power level (class 4)

whereas high rate packet data services may need the UE to transmit at its maximum power level

(class 3).

UE maximum output power

Dual-mode GSM/UMTS terminals

A dual-mode UE equipped with both UTRA and GSM technology would enable those operators who already have a GSM network to capitalize on their investments when introducing UMTS services.

Most European operators require the UE to be dual-mode, i.e. to support GSM in addition to UMTS.


UE Type Dual-mode UTRA/GSM behavior Type 1 With respect to the network, the UE is seen as a

single mode terminal and changes from one radio network to another is done manually, with the user’s intervention

Type 2 The results are reported to the network via the

active mode. Switching from one radio network to another (inter-RAN handover/cell reselection) is done automatically, without the user’s intervention


Type 3 Similar to Type 2 but it additionally offers the

possibility to receive simultaneously user-data or signaling information in more than one mode.

However, it does not transmit simultaneously in more than one mode

Type 4 Compared to Type 3, this UE makes it possible to simultaneously receive and transmit user-data or signaling information in UTRA and GSM technologies

UE radio access capability

UMTS terminals are also categorized according to their radio capability.

when the UE wants to start sending user data or network control information, a radio signaling connection shall be established (RRC connection).

During this phase, the UE declares its radio capability i.e. UMTS frequency operation bands, support for UTRA/FDD and/or UTRA/TDD, dual-mode capability, kind of ciphering and integrity algorithms supported, power class, support for UE positioning, maximum data

rate, etc.


From these parameters, the network determines the data rate class of the UE and, at the same time, its

service capabilities, independently for the uplink and downlink directions.

For instance, “64 kbps class” in both directions is the minimum required to support video-telephony.

If the UE is further required to support a packet-switched data service (e.g. web browsing)in parallel with video-telephony, a “128 kbps class” in uplink and “384 kbps class”

in downlink may be needed. Most of the current UMTS terminals are “384 kbps class”

in both downlink and uplink directions.

UMTS Speech Service UMTS : used for a variety of data services, But speech may remain the widely used

service. For Speech : certain requirements data rate,

delay, jitter, and error-free delivery Speech quality in UMTS needs to be

comparable to that in fixed telephony networks no worse than that experienced in 2G wireless NWs

UMTS Speech Service The AMR coder also supports voice activity

detection (VAD) and discontinuous transmission (DTX). The net effect is that little or nothing is sent over the air interface when nothing is being Said

it is possible to reduce the amount of transmission over the air interface by as much as 50 percent. Of course, VAD and DTX are supported by most modern wireless technologies.

UMTS Speech Service UMTS uses the Adaptive Multirate (AMR) speech

coder. Actually several coders in one and provides

coding rates of 12.2 Kbps, 10.2 Kbps, 7.95 Kbps, 7.40 Kbps, 6.70 Kbps

UMTS Speech Service

UMTS Speech Service Each AMR speech frame is 20 ms

in duration and it is possible to change the speech-coding rate from one speech frame to the next.

Standard UMTS telecommunication services The classification is common to major mobile

communication networks and comprises:

1.Teleservices; 2. Bearer services; 3. Supplementary services;

UMTS bearer services Bearer services are basic telecommunication services

that offer the capability of the pure transmission of signals between access points.

These services can be either circuit-switched or packet-switched.

Bearer services concern only the three lowest layers of the OSI model.

UMTS bearer services are the “pipes” allowing reliable data transfer from the source to the destination

Multiple bearers may be active in a multimedia call – each of them having different Quality of Service (QoS).

UMTS bearer services A bearer service is defined using a set of characteristics These service characteristics define such things as the

traffic type, the traffic characteristics, and the supported bitrates.

QoS attributes of UMTS bearer services Connection-oriented/connectionless; Traffic type;

• Constant bit rate (CBR); • Dynamically variable bit rate (VBR); • Real-time dynamically variable bit rate

with a minimum guaranteed bit rate;

UMTS bearer services• Traffic characteristics;• Point-to-point (uni-/bidirectional,

symmetric/asymmetric);• Point-to-multipoint (multicast/broadcast). The information quality is characterized

according to the following parameters: • Maximum transfer delay; • Delay variation; • Bit error ratio (BER); • Data rate.

QoS N/W Requirements

Circuit-switched and packet-switched bearer services

Circuit-switched data (CSD) services are such that a dedicated physical circuit path must exist between source and destination for the duration of the call.

Conversely, packet-switched data (PSD) services use either dedicated or common physical resources and only when there is actual data to be received or transmitted.

UMTS inherited CSD bearers from GSM and PSD bearers from GPRS

Teleservices A tele-service is a type of telecommunication service

that provides the complete end-to-end capability for communication between mobile users

Telephony; • Emergency calls; • Cell broadcast service; • Alternate speech and facsimile • Automatic facsimile • Voice group call service; • Voice broadcast service; • Internet access.

Traffic classes of UMTS bearer services

Conversational services

Conversational traffic class services are mainly for real-time applications involving a two-way (symmetric) transport between human users.

Examples of applications are speech services, video-telephony and interactive games.

Streaming services

Streaming traffic class service concerns the transferring of data, such that it can be processed as a steady and continuous stream.

This class is appropriate to carry real-time traffic flows of non-interactive and very asymmetric nature as in server-to user service schemes.

high-quality audio and video streaming, remote video-surveillance, radio and TV programs sent through Internet, file and still-images transfer, etc. RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol) is recommended in UMTS specifications to provide streaming services

Interactive services

Interactive services imply the interaction between a human or a machine with a remote equipment.

Within this scheme, the entity sending a message or a command expects a response from the destination.

Web browsing is an example of interactive service where a human requests information from a server and the server replies.

Interactive services are non-real-time, asymmetric, require a low BER(10–5 – 10–8) and the data rate cannot be guaranteed (best-effort).

Background services

Background services are almost insensitive to the delivery time.

Examples of services are: background download of emails, SMS, Fax reception, background file downloading, reception of measurement records, etc.

Compared to interactive services, the destination is not expecting the data within a certain time.

Service continuity across GSM and UMTS networks

3GPP specifications recommend UMTS network operators to enable continuity of service to a UE as it moves between the cells associated with GSM and UMTS radio access technologies. This functionality called “handover” requires the terminal to be Type 2 as well as the network to have appropriate resources interconnection to support the feature.

The service continuity of active CS, PS and multi-bearer CS/PS services when moving from UMTS to GSM radio networks and vice versa.

radical differences between UMTS and GSM radio technologies, it is impossible to guarantee service continuity for all scenarios.

Service continuity across GSM and UMTS networks

GSM/GPRS-> UMTS UMTS-> GSM/GPRS

Voice service Yes Yes

Supplementary services Yes Yes

CS data service Yes Yes, for CS bearerswith data rate ≤ 9.6 kbps

PS data service Yes Yes, provided that a possible QoS renegotiation is successful

Commonality BetweenWCDMA/CDMA2000/CDM

WCDMA utilizes a wide band channel, while CDMA2000 utilizes both a wideband and several narrow band channels in the process of achieving the required throughput levels.

Both systems can operate in the same frequency bands provided the spectrum is available.

Commonality BetweenWCDMA/CDMA2000/CDM Both systems will be able to

interoperate with each other and it is possible for a wireless operator to deploy both a CDMA2000 network as well as a WCDMA system, barring, of course, the capital cost issues.

services in umts. umts mobile terminals(services wise) the umts user equipment (ue) is not a simple...

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