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RF Engineering
Continuing Education & Training
Introduction to CDMA
Prepared by:
SAFCO Technologies, Inc.

600 Atlantis Rd.
Melbourne, FL 32904 USA
Phone: (407) 952-8300
Fax: (407) 725-5062
www.safco.com
Revision 3
Copyright1997 by SAFCO Technologies, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission
from SAFCO Technologies, Inc.
Approximate Unit Length: 8 hr.
The purpose of this unit is to expose personnel unfamiliar with CDMA Technology to the basic
properties of CDMA. This unit assumes that the attendees have a basic understanding of wireless
digital and analog communications systems. The target audience for this unit includes Associate
level and above RF engineers as well as engineering managers.
Upon successful completion of this unit, the student should be able to describe:
• The definition of CDMA and its theoretical advantages
• The direct sequence modulation technique
• The concept of physical and logical channels
• The concept of call quality, how it is measured, and how it affects system capacity
• The CDMA advantage as provided by the utilization of the RAKE receiver
• The factors affecting the capacity of CDMA systems
• The various handoffs associated with CDMA
• The basic reverse link and forward link processes of a CDMA system
• Some basic concerns associated with engineering a CDMA system
RF Engineering Continuing Education & Training
Table of Contents
1 DEFINITION OF CDMA...............................................................................................................................................9
1.1 CDMA BASICS...................................................................................................................................................9
1.2 CDMA POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY & NOISE...........................................................................................................9
1.3 ADVANTAGES OF CDMA.....................................................................................................................................11
1.3.1 Frequency Reuse.............................................................................................................................................11
1.3.2 Coherent Signal Combination.........................................................................................................................11
1.3.3 User Privacy....................................................................................................................................................12
1.4 COVERAGE AND CAPACITY LIMITATIONS..................................................................................................................12
1.5 COMPARISON OF MULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNIQUES......................................................................................................12
1.5.1 FDMA..............................................................................................................................................................12
1.5.2 TDMA..............................................................................................................................................................12
1.5.3 Multiple access: division by code...................................................................................................................13
2 CDMA SPREAD SPECTRUM TERMINOLOGY...................................................................................................14
2.1 IS-95 AND IS-95-A CDMA:..............................................................................................................................14
2.2 FORWARD AND REVERSE LINKS.............................................................................................................................14
2.3 CORRELATION AND ORTHOGONALITY.......................................................................................................................14
2.4 PN SEQUENCE ...................................................................................................................................................15
2.5 CHIPS AND CHIP RATE.........................................................................................................................................16
2.6 BIT RATE..........................................................................................................................................................16
2.7 TRAFFIC FRAME..................................................................................................................................................16
2.8 PROCESSING GAIN...............................................................................................................................................16
2.9 EB/NT, BER, AND OTHER FIGURES OF MERIT.........................................................................................................17
2.10 SUMMARY OF CODES.......................................................................................................................................17
2.10.1 PN Long Code.............................................................................................................................................17
2.10.2 PN Short Codes...........................................................................................................................................18
2.10.3 Walsh Codes................................................................................................................................................18
2.11 CDMA CALL QUALITY (EB/NT)........................................................................................................................19
2.12 COHERENT VS. NON-COHERENT DETECTION...........................................................................................................20
3 CDMA PHYSICAL AND LOGICAL CHANNELS..................................................................................................21
3.1 PHYSICAL CHANNEL............................................................................................................................................21
3.2 LOGICAL CHANNEL..............................................................................................................................................21
3.2.1 Forward Link (Downlink)...............................................................................................................................21
3.2.1.1 Pilot..........................................................................................................................................................................22
3.2.1.2 Sync Channel...........................................................................................................................................................22
3.2.1.3 Paging Channel........................................................................................................................................................22
3.2.1.4 Traffic Channel........................................................................................................................................................22
3.2.1.5 Power Control Sub-Channel....................................................................................................................................23
3.2.2 Reverse Link (Uplink).....................................................................................................................................23
3.2.2.1 Access Channel........................................................................................................................................................24
3.2.2.2 Traffic Channel........................................................................................................................................................24
4 CDMA MODULATION & DEMODULATION.......................................................................................................25
4.1 TYPES OF SPREAD SPECTRUM MODULATION.............................................................................................................25
4.1.1 Frequency Hopping.........................................................................................................................................25
4.1.2 Direct Sequence..............................................................................................................................................25
4.2 SPREAD SPECTRUM (CDMA) MODULATION EXAMPLE: ENCODING AND DECODING OF INFORMATION................................26
4.2.1 Spread Spectrum Transmit Process................................................................................................................26
4.2.2 Spread Spectrum Receive Process..................................................................................................................27
4.2.3 Multiple Signal Case.......................................................................................................................................27
5 THE CDMA ADVANTAGE - THE RAKE RECEIVER AND THE MULTIPATH ENVIRONMENT............30
5.1 A BRIEF REVIEW OF MULTIPATH AND ITS EFFECT ON ANALOG AND DIGITAL TRANSMISSIONS .............................................30
Copyright © 1997 by SAFCO Technologies, Inc. 3 Version 3.0

5.2 THE RAKE RECEIVER........................................................................................................................................32

5.3 COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF MULTIPATH ON FDMA, TDMA, AND CDMA..........................................................36
5.3.1 FDMA..............................................................................................................................................................36
5.3.2 TDMA..............................................................................................................................................................36
5.3.3 CDMA..............................................................................................................................................................38
5.3.4 Summary of Multipath Effects.........................................................................................................................38
5.4 RAKE RECEIVER EXAMPLE: IMPROVEMENT IN CALL QUALITY (EB/NT) ....................................................................38
6 DYNAMIC POWER CONTROL................................................................................................................................39
6.1 THE “NEAR-FAR” PROBLEM.................................................................................................................................39
6.2 REVERSE LINK...................................................................................................................................................40
6.2.1 Open-Loop.......................................................................................................................................................40
6.2.2 Closed-Loop....................................................................................................................................................40
6.3 FORWARD LINK..................................................................................................................................................41
7 CDMA IMPLEMENTATION AND DIGITAL RADIO LINK PROCESSES.......................................................42
7.1 FORWARD LINK..................................................................................................................................................42
7.1.1 Variable Rate Speech Coding.........................................................................................................................43
7.1.2 Channel Coding..............................................................................................................................................44
7.1.3 Bit Interleaving...............................................................................................................................................45
7.1.4 Encryption: Long Code Scrambling..............................................................................................................45
7.1.4.1 Paging Channel Encryption ..................................................................................................................................46
7.1.4.2 Access Channel Encryption .................................................................................................................................47
7.1.4.3 Traffic Channel Encryption ..................................................................................................................................47
7.1.5 Walsh Function Modulation...........................................................................................................................47
7.1.5.1 Power Control Signaling Subchannel Modulation..................................................................................................47
7.1.5.2 Forward Link Base Station Transmit Power Control..............................................................................................48
7.1.6 Quadrature Spreading & Carrier Modulation...............................................................................................49
7.2 REVERSE LINK...................................................................................................................................................50
7.2.1 Variable Low Bit Rate Speech Coding...........................................................................................................51
7.2.2 Channel Coding..............................................................................................................................................52
7.2.3 Bit Interleaving...............................................................................................................................................53
7.2.4 64-ary Orthogonal Walsh Symbol Modulation..............................................................................................53
7.2.5 Encryption: Long Code Spreading................................................................................................................54
7.2.6 Quadrature Spreading & Carrier Modulation...............................................................................................55
7.3 SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM....................................................................................................................................56
8 CDMA CAPACITY.......................................................................................................................................................57
8.1 THE GENERAL CASE............................................................................................................................................57
8.2 ADJUSTMENTS TO THE GENERAL CASE....................................................................................................................58
8.2.1 Sectorization Gain...........................................................................................................................................58
8.2.2 Voice Activity Factor......................................................................................................................................58
8.2.3 Frequency Reuse Efficiency (IADJ.)..............................................................................................................59
8.3 DEFINITION OF POLE POINT...................................................................................................................................59
8.4 THE POLE POINT EQUATION..................................................................................................................................59
9 CDMA HANDOFF........................................................................................................................................................61
9.1 HANDOFF TERMINOLOGY......................................................................................................................................61
9.1.1 Introduction to TADD, TDROP & TCOMP...................................................................................................61
9.1.2 Handoff Candidate Classification..................................................................................................................62
9.2 TYPES OF HANDOFFS...........................................................................................................................................62
9.2.1 Soft Handoff.....................................................................................................................................................62
9.2.1.1 Forward Link.........................................................................................................................................................63
9.2.1.2 Reverse Link..........................................................................................................................................................63
9.2.1.3 Joint Power Control...............................................................................................................................................63
9.2.2 Soft - Soft Handoff...........................................................................................................................................63
9.2.3 Softer Handoff.................................................................................................................................................63
9.2.4 Soft - Softer Handoff.......................................................................................................................................63

9.2.5 Hard Handoff..................................................................................................................................................64

9.2.6 CDMA to Analog Handoff..............................................................................................................................64
9.3 HANDOFF CRITERIA.............................................................................................................................................64
9.4 HANDOFF PROCESS ..............................................................................................................................................64
9.4.1 Example 1........................................................................................................................................................64
9.4.2 Example 2........................................................................................................................................................65
9.4.3 Example 3........................................................................................................................................................67
10 CDMA CALL EXAMPLE....................................................................................................................................68
10.1 INITIAL SYSTEM ACCESS .....................................................................................................................................68
10.2 CALL INITIATION AND SETUP ..............................................................................................................................68
10.3 SOFT HANDOFF.................................................................................................................................................68
10.4 CALL TERMINATION...........................................................................................................................................69
11 BASIC SYSTEM ENGINEERING ISSUES........................................................................................................69
11.1 PROPAGATION MODELING OF THE WIDEBAND CDMA RF SIGNAL.............................................................................70
11.2 LINK BUDGET...................................................................................................................................................70
11.3 NOMINAL CELL CONFIGURATIONS & NOMINAL CELL RADII CALCULATIONS.................................................................72
11.4 NOMINAL SYSTEM PARAMETERS ..........................................................................................................................75
11.5 COVERAGE & CAPACITY RELATIONSHIP................................................................................................................75
11.5.1 Sensitivity Analysis: Effects of Loading on the System..............................................................................75
11.5.2 Sensitivity Analysis Example........................................................................................................................76
11.6 PN OFFSET PLANNING.......................................................................................................................................76
11.7 PN INTERFERENCE............................................................................................................................................78
11.8 NOMINAL ASSIGNMENT OF PN (RAKE) SEARCH WINDOW......................................................................................78

List of Figures
FIGURE 1-1: COMPARISON OF INFORMATION AND TRANSMISSION BANDWIDTH.............................10
FIGURE 1-2: NOISE IN NARROW BAND AND SPREAD SPECTRUM COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS....10
FIGURE 1-3: COMPARISON OF MULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNIQUES.............................................................13
FIGURE 2-4: AUTOCORRELATION OF PSEUDO-NOISE BIT SEQUENCE....................................................15
FIGURE 2-5 FOUR-STAGE SHIFT REGISTER: GENERATION OF PN SEQUENCE....................................16
FIGURE 2-6: SUMMARY OF SEQUENCES USED IN CDMA SPREAD SPECTRUM......................................18
FIGURE 2-7: EXAMPLE OF FER TO EB/NT RELATION: DIFFERENT FOR FORWARD AND
REVERSE LINK..............................................................................................................................................................20
FIGURE 3-8: FORWARD LINK CHANNEL ASSIGNMENTS...............................................................................21
FIGURE 3-9: REVERSE LINK CHANNEL ASSIGNMENTS............................................................................23
FIGURE 4-10: SPREAD SPECTURM TRANSMIT PROCESS...............................................................................26
FIGURE 4-11: SPREAD SPECTRUM RECEIVE PROCESS..................................................................................27
FIGURE 5-12: DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE DUE TO MULTIPATH.........................................................31
FIGURE 5-13: SINGLE TRANSMITTER WITH MULTIPATH............................................................................32
FIGURE 5-14: TYPICAL SINGLE TRANSMITTER BAND-LIMITED CHANNEL IMPULSE RESPONSE

WITH FIVE DISCRETE MULTIPATH COMPONENTS.........................................................................................33
FIGURE 5-15: COHERENT COMBINATION OF THREE STRONGEST MULTIPATH COMPONENTS

FROM A SINGLE TRANSMITTER.............................................................................................................................34
FIGURE 5-16: MULTIPLE TRANSMITTERS WITH MULTIPATH....................................................................35
FIGURE 5-17: TYPICAL MULTIPLE TRANSMITTER BAND-LIMITED CHANNEL IMPULSE

RESPONSE WITH DISCRETE MULTIPATH COMPONENTS.............................................................................35
FIGURE 5-18: COHERENT COMBINATION OF THREE STRONGEST COMPONENTS OF A TYPICAL

MULTIPLE TRANSMITTER BAND-LIMITED CHANNEL IMPULSE RESPONSE WITH DISCRETE
MULTIPATH COMPONENTS......................................................................................................................................36
FIGURE 5-19: TIME DISPERSION.............................................................................................................................37
FIGURE 7-20: CDMA DIGITAL RADIO FORWARD LINK PROCESS..............................................................43
FIGURE 7-21: FORWARD LINK SPEECH PROCESSING AT THE NETWORK SIDE....................................44
FIGURE 7-22: CHANNEL CODING PROCESS........................................................................................................45
FIGURE 7-23: BIT INTERLEAVING.........................................................................................................................45
FIGURE 7-24: FORWARD LINK SCRAMBLING FOR TRAFFIC AND PAGING CHANNELS.....................46

FIGURE 7-25: POWER CONTROL SIGNALING SUBCHANNEL.......................................................................48
FIGURE 7-26: FORWARD LINK BASE STATION TRANSMIT POWER CONTROL.....................................48
FIGURE 7-27: FORWARD LINK QUADRATURE SPREADING AND CARRIER MODULATION...............50
FIGURE 7-28: CDMA REVERSE LINK RADIO PROCESS...................................................................................51
FIGURE 7-29: SPEECH PROCESSING AT MOBILE SIDE...................................................................................52
FIGURE 7-30: REVERSE LINK CHANNEL CODING PROCESS........................................................................53
FIGURE 7-31: REVERSE LINK BIT INTERLEAVING..........................................................................................53
FIGURE 7-32: REVERSE LINK TRAFFIC CHANNEL SPREADING, POWER CONTROL GROUP
GATING, AND ENCRYPTION.....................................................................................................................................55
FIGURE 7-33: REVERSE LINK QUADRATURE SPREADING AND CARRIER MODULATION.................56
FIGURE 7-34: CDMA FORWARD LINK (BASE TO MOBILE) PHYSICAL LAYER.......................................56
FIGURE 7-35: CDMA REVERSE LINK (MOBILE TO BASE) PHYSICAL LAYER.........................................57
FIGURE 9-36: MOBILE UNIT TRANSITIONS INTO A REGION DEFINED BY TWO PILOT CHANNELS
GREATER THAN T_ADD (SOFT HAND-OFF).........................................................................................................65
FIGURE 9-37: MOBILE UNIT TRANSITIONS INTO A REGION DEFINED BY FOUR OR MORE PILOT
CHANNELS GREATER THAN T_ADD......................................................................................................................66
FIGURE 9-38: MOBILE UNIT TRANSITIONS THROUGH A REGION DEFINED BY TWO PREVAILING
PILOTS GREATER THAN T_ADD..............................................................................................................................67
FIGURE 11-39: TYPICAL CDMA SYSTEM PARAMETERS................................................................................75
FIGURE 11-40: COMPARISON OF COVERAGE DUE TO CHANGE IN TRAFFIC (5% TO 80% OF

THEORETICAL CAPACITY).......................................................................................................................................76

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 4-1: SUMMARY OF FREQUENCY HOPPING QUALITIES...................................................................25
TABLE 4-2: SUMMARY OF DIRECT SEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM QUALITIES.................................25
TABLE 5-3: CALL QUALITY DB TO LINEAR CONVERSION TABLE.............................................................39
TABLE 6-4: FORWARD LINK TCE ATTENUATION LEVEL VS. VOICE CODING RATE ........................41
TABLE 6-5: BASE STATION NOMINAL CHANNEL POWER ALLOCATIONS..............................................41
TABLE 7-6: BASE STATION TRANSMIT POWER VS. DATA RATE.................................................................49
TABLE 7-7: I AND Q BITS AND CORRESPONDING PHASE MODULATION STATE..................................50
TABLE 7-8: I AND Q BITS AND CORRESPONDING PHASE MODULATION STATE..................................55
TABLE 9-9: PILOT SEARCH PARAMETERS.........................................................................................................62
TABLE 11-10: RECEIVER SENSITIVITY FOR DIFFERENT CDMA CHANNEL TYPES...............................71
TABLE 11-11: SIMPLIFIED EXAMPLE OF IS-95 CDMA LINK BUDGET FOR IN-VEHICLE COVERAGE
............................................................................................................................................................................................72
TABLE 11-12: SUMMARY OF PARAMETERS USED TO CALCULATE NOMINAL CELL RADIUS, AND
CALCULATED CELL RADIUS FOR EACH AREA TYPE AND ANTENNA CONFIGURATION OF A
TYPICAL SYSTEM AT 50% LOADING.....................................................................................................................74
TABLE 11-13: TYPICAL DELAY SPREAD VALUES FOR DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT TYPES.............77
LIST OF EQUATIONS
EQUATION 2-1: DEFINITION OF CORRELATION..............................................................................................15
EQUATION 2-2: PROCESS GAIN................................................................................................................................16
EQUATION 2-3: FRAME ERROR RATE..................................................................................................................19
EQUATION 5-4: ∆ PATH LENGTH..........................................................................................................................33
EQUATION 5-5: CALL QUALITY DB TO LINEAR CONVERSION...................................................................39
EQUATION 8-6: CAPACITY EQUATION (GENERAL FORM) ...........................................................................58
EQUATION 8-7: POLE POINT EQUATION...........................................................................................................60
EQUATION 11-8: CALCULATION OF NOMINAL CELL RADII.........................................................................74

1 Definition of CDMA
Cellular and Personal Communications Services (PCS) face an ever-increasing number of users
sharing a limited amount of spectrum. In order to accommodate this increasing demand for
communication services, providers must increase system capacity without degrading the quality of
service to an unacceptable level. One approach for meeting increased subscriber demand is the use
of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). CDMA is a digital spread spectrum technology that
has been used for military and satellite communications for several decades. CDMA, as it applies
to the land mobile telephone environment, is new and is most easily defined or explained by
comparison with more familiar technologies and simple example. Section 1 addresses some basic
characteristics and parameters associated with and unique to CDMA.
1.1 CDMA Basics

CDMA is a Multiple Access Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Modulation Technique. This
type of modulation takes narrow band (10 kHz) user information (voice or data) and transmits it
over a very wide RF bandwidth (1.23 MHz). Many users occupy the same RF transmission band.
This is very different from standard AMPS cellular in which each user is assigned a unique narrow
band (10 or 30 kHz) channel. CDMA uses correlative codes to distinguish each individual user in
the system. Each CDMA channel or Traffic Channel Element (TCE) is defined by a unique
correlative code and an associated center frequency. When the signal is received, a correlator
recovers the desired signal and rejects the other signals and interference. This is possible because
all interference sources (including other CDMA users) are uncorrelated with the desired signal.
1.2 CDMA Power Spectral Density & Noise

In a narrow band communication system, the energy used to transmit information is confined to a
relatively small bandwidth – on the order of the information bandwidth. The underlying concept of
spread spectrum communication system is the spreading of the transmitted energy over a wide
bandwidth. The “effective” transmission bandwidth of a direct sequence spread spectrum system is
related to the rate of the final spreading sequence and the type of modulation used. Relatively wide
(i.e. large time duration) pulses in the time domain result in energy being transmitted over a narrow
frequency range. Much shorter pulses (used in CDMA PN spreading sequences) result in energy
being transmitted over a wide range of frequencies. This is illustrated in Figure 1-1.

ni a m o D e mi T ni a m o D y c n e u q e r F
τ t n f
τ
τ t n f
τ
Figure 1-1: Comparison of Information and Transmission Bandwidth
The thermal noise encountered in a narrow band communication system is typically considered to
be constant (for a given temperature) over frequency. This level of background noise power
contained in a given bandwidth is called the noise floor. In the case of narrow band
communications, concentrating the transmitting energy in a narrow frequency band provides a
received RF signal that is above the noise floor. Having the signal sufficiently above the noise
floor is critical to being able to detect and receive (demodulate) the narrow band signal. This is
measured as ratio of the desired signal energy per bit (Eb) to total system noise (Nt). For spread
spectrum systems, the transmitted energy is spread over such a wide bandwidth that the received
signal density may be below the noise floor – yet it is still recoverable knowing the correct
spreading sequence (code). This is illustrated in Figure 1-2.
Narrow Band & Wide Band Signal/Noise

-40
-60
RSL
-80
Pwr
(dBm) Wide Band
-100 Noise Floor
(1.23 MHz)
-120
Narrow Band
Noise Floor
-140 (30 kHz)
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
Distance
Figure 1-2: Noise in Narrow Band and Spread Spectrum Communication Systems

Unique Features
The following is a list of features that differentiate CDMA from analog cellular telephone (AMPS).
These features will be explained in later sections.
• Spread Spectrum Modulation – Narrow band information is transmitted
over a wide band RF channel.
• N=1 Frequency Reuse – Multiple users (in adjacent cells) operate on the
same frequency.
• Code Division Access – Each user and base station is associated with a
unique code rather than a frequency or time slot.
• Coherent Multiple Transmission (CMT) – Multiple base stations
simultaneously transmit to a given mobile user.
• Coherent Multiple Reception (CMR) – mobile units coherently combine
multipath components and signals from multiple base stations.
• Dynamic Power Control – Forward and reverse link transmit power is
controlled to the minimum required to achieve the link.
• Variable Rate Speech Encoding – Voice is encoded at a slower rate
when the user is not speaking in order to minimize transmitted power and
system interference.
1.3 Advantages of CDMA

The use of CDMA technology offers several advantages including:
• Increased capacity due to adjacent cell frequency reuse (N=1),
• Coherent combination of signals, and
• User privacy.
These features are described in the following sections.
1.3.1 Frequency Reuse

Capacity gain is achieved with CDMA’s inherent N=1 frequency reuse pattern. This is distinctly
different from the typical AMPS N=7 frequency reuse pattern in which only one-seventh of the
available frequencies are used in a given cell. N=1 indicates that the same (wide band) frequencies
are used in each cell. When sectored cells are used, the same frequencies can be used in each
sector. Adjacent cell frequency reuse is possible because each signal in the system is associated
with a unique code – not a frequency.
1.3.2 Coherent Signal Combination

CDMA has the ability to coherently combine signals from multiple sources. This multiple
correlation system employs a RAKE receiver. The RAKE receiver combines signals arriving at a
given location, with different time delays, thus mitigating fading due to multipath. In addition, this
feature allows the mobile receiver to use signals from multiple base station transmitters, thus
improving cell-boundary performance and minimizing dropped calls.

1.3.3 User Privacy

CDMA’s spread spectrum modulation technique distributes the user information over an RF
bandwidth that is much larger than the information bandwidth. The resulting power spectral
density (PSD) of the transmitted wide band signal resembles thermal noise making the signal very
difficult to detect. In addition, a unique address code is required to recover user information.
1.4 Coverage and Capacity Limitations

The capacity of a CDMA cell site is effectively limited by the amount of interference in the
environment. Interference is generated by several sources including:
• Users of the given cell sight interfering with each other,
• Users of adjacent cell sites interfering with users of the given cell site,
• Adjacent base stations interfering with users of the given cell site, as well as
• Thermal and spurious noise.
It will be shown that system interference is a function of the number of users and their transmit
power. Dynamic power control is used to minimize forward and reverse link transmit power to
mitigate interference. The dynamic nature of interference due to system load must be carefully
considered during system design.
1.5 Comparison of Multiple Access Techniques

In addressing CDMA, it is useful to understand other commonly used multiple access techniques
such as FDMA and TDMA. CDMA can be considered a combination of these techniques as it
possesses elements of frequency and time diversity.
1.5.1 FDMA
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) is used in conventional analog cellular systems (e.g.
AMPS, NMT). The FDMA process assigns discrete frequencies (i.e. channels) to individual users.
It is considered multiple access in that a number of users can simultaneously use the system
providing there is sufficient spectrum to accommodate each user. Accordingly, the capacity of this
system is limited by the amount of available spectrum.
1.5.2 TDMA
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is employed in digital communication systems. TDMA is
used in cellular systems such as Digital-AMPS and GSM. It is considered multiple access in that a
number of encoded messages can be transmitted over time on a common carrier frequency. TDMA
assigns discrete time slots on a common carrier frequency to each user. During the time slot
designated for a specific user, digital information is burst out using the entire allocated RF channel.
Information is recovered by the receiver which decodes information only in its designated time slot.
As the number of users increases, the transmission bit rate and associated bandwidth increases.
Hence, TDMA is also limited by the amount of available spectrum.
Note that TDMA may be coupled with FDMA to further increase system capacity. Each channel in
an FDMA system may be time-division multiplexed between several users.

1.5.3 Multiple access: division by code

In the CDMA scheme, the digital information from each user is allowed to access the system
simultaneously (as each user requests) using the same frequency spectrum. Frequency division is
still used, but a large bandwidth is used for each carrier. A user “channel” in CDMA is defined by
a specific code and an associated carrier frequency. The user code is correlated against the receive
signal to recover only the information specific to that user. The capacity of a CDMA system is
governed by the amount of interference in the environment that the receiver can tolerate before it is
unable to recover the desired user information.
C od e
C od e
C od e
Tmi e
...
..
Tmi e Tmi e U se r
Us 4
U se r
U se r e r 2 3
U se 1 U se r
2
1
U se r e r 2 U se r2 r3 U se r
1
A U s e r3 U se r1
B andw loca et d U s e r4
di ht Us
F requ F requ F requ

ency ency ency
A M DF A M DT A M D C
Figure 1-3: Comparison of Multiple Access Techniques

2 CDMA Spread Spectrum Terminology

There are several key words and tricky phrases that are used in discussing CDMA processing and
Spread Spectrum modulation. The following sections define some of the common terms that will
be used in the following sections.
2.1 IS-95 and IS-95-A CDMA:

CDMA as described in this document is based on an document known as IS (Interim Standard) -95.
IS-95 is the “Mobile Station - Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wideband
Spread Spectrum Cellular.” IS-95 is also known as the CDMA “Air Interface” specification1.
CDMA air interface for PCS applications is described in Interim Standard 95-A (IS-95-A). The
basic CDMA process is the same in both standards. Note however that IS-95-A specifies a
maximum data rate of 14.4 kbps where as IS-95 specifies a maximum rate of 9.6 kbps.
Some standards that encompasses are:

IS-96-A Voice Encoder Spec
IS-97 Base Station Performance Spec
IS-98 Mobile Station Performance Spec
J - STD 8 Defines RF requirements at 1900 MHz
J - STD 18 Recommends minimum performance for 1900 MHz personal stations
2.2 Forward and Reverse Links

The definitions of the forward and reverse links are the same in CDMA as in other cellular systems.
The Forward link (also known as the Downlink) refers to transmissions from the base station
(cell/sector) to the mobile user. The Reverse link (also known as the Uplink) refers to
transmission from the mobile user to the serving base station (cell/sector).
2.3 Correlation and Orthogonality

In discussing spread spectrum CDMA modulation, we often refer to the “correlation” properties of
different signals or sequences. In conceptual terms, two binary sequences that are being received
are correlated if their patterns of 1s and 0s are “alike” as they are received over time. If their
received bit patterns are different or “random” with respect to each other, the sequences or signals
are said to be uncorrelated. Correlation can be thought of as the “degree of similarity” of signals as
they are received over time.
The correlation of two sequences can be determined by multiplying the received signals and
summing them over time. Correlation of two bit sequences is defined by
1
Term cdmaOne has been adopted by CDG as a designator for CDMA technology based on IS-95 and accompanying
standards.

1 L
R AB ( n) = ⋅ ∑ A(k ) ⋅ B( k + n)
L k =1
Equation 2-1: Definition of Correlation
Where:
n is a relative shift (offset) of the two sequences

A(k ) and B (k ) are bit sequences of the length L
For some offset n, two bit sequences are totally correlated if RAB (n) is 1. If the correlation
RAB (n) is zero, sequences are orthogonal.
2.4 PN Sequence
The Pseudo-Noise (PN) Sequence (periodic and noise like) is fundamental to all direct sequence
spread spectrum systems. The PN sequence is a finite length binary sequence (code) that exhibits
properties similar to those of an infinite length random sequence. A good PN sequence is such that
the number of 1's versus the number of 0's (or -1's) are equal. The correlation of a PN sequence
with itself results in only 1 peak. It is illustrated in Figure 2-4, for any offset other than zero PN
sequence is totally uncorrelated with itself. This property is the foundation for finding the desired
code among all other PN codes.
RAA(n)
1
-L -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 L
0 time [Tc]
-1/L
Figure 2-4: Autocorrelation of pseudo-noise bit sequence
An example of PN sequence generator (four-stage shift register):

1 2 3 4
0001
1000
1100
1110
1111
0111
1011
0101
M A X IM U M L E N T G H O F 1010
SEQUENCE: 2 4 -1 = 1 5 1101
0110
0011
1001
0100
0010
Figure 2-5 Four-stage shift register: generation of PN sequence
2.5 Chips and Chip Rate

A Chip is a “bit” (1 or 0) of a PN sequence. The Chip Rate is the rate at which the PN sequence is
generated. For CDMA per IS-95, the chip rate is 1.2288 * 106 cps (chips per second).
2.6 Bit Rate

The Bit Rate (Rb) is the rate of the digitized baseband user information (i.e. user voice). In
CDMA, voice is digitized at different rates depending on the speech activity level. The system
parameters presented in this discussion are based on a maximum bite rate of 9.6 kbps per IS-95 and
14.4 for PCS CDMA systems (per IS-95-A).
2.7 Traffic Frame

A traffic frame is a 20 ms burst of data (i.e. user voice, error correction coding and control
information) from either the base station or the mobile unit.
2.8 Processing Gain

Processing (or Process) Gain is a term common to all direct sequence spread spectrum system.
Process gain is defined as the ratio of the Chip Rate (Rc) to the information bit rate (Rb). This
provides a measure of the amount of “spreading” in the system.
Rc
Process Ga in =
Rb
Equation 2-2: Process Gain

For CDMA as defined in IS-95:
Rc = 1.2288 Mcps,
Rb = 9.6 kbps (max), resulting in
Process Gain = 128 or 21.07 dB.
2.9 Eb/Nt, BER, and other Figures of Merit

There are several figures of merit that are bantered about when discussing CDMA as well as digital
communication systems in general.
• Eb/No = Ratio of Transmitted energy per bit (Eb) to Thermal Noise (No)
usually expressed in dB.
• Eb/Nt = Ratio of Transmitted energy per bit (Eb) to Total Noise (Nt) including
thermal, spurious, and interference from other CDMA users usually expressed in dB.
• Ec/Nt = Ratio of Transmitted energy per chip (Ec) to Total Noise (Nt) usually
expressed in dB.
• Ec/Io = Ratio of Transmitted energy per chip (Ec) to Total Noise including self-
interference (Io) usually expressed in dB.
• BER (Bit Error Rate) = Probability that a transmitted bit will be received
incorrectly (i.e. 1 received as a 0 or a 0 received as a 1)
• FER (Frame Error Rate) = Probability that a transmitted frame will be received
incorrectly.
2.10 Summary of Codes

In discussing CDMA modulation, several different PN sequences or “codes” are bantered about
incessantly. In attempting to make sense out of CDMA modulation, it is helpful to know the
relative length (time period) of these codes as well as what they are used for.
2.10.1 PN Long Code

The Long Code is a PN sequence that is 242 - 1 bits (chips) long. It is generated at a rate of 1.2288
Mbps (or Mcps) giving it a period (time before the sequence repeats) of approximately 41.4 days.
The long code is used to encrypt user information. Both the base station and the mobile unit have
knowledge of this sequence at any given instant in time based on a specified private “long code
mask” that is exchanged.
The generation of a Long Code is governed by Long Code Mask. A long code mask is a 42 bit
code which define the initial values used by the long code generator. Knowledge of this long code
mask allows the base station or mobile user to generate the same PN Long Code. Generating the
same long code (synchronized in time) at both end of the link allows information to be encrypted
and decrypted.
A unique and private, long code mask (thus, PN long code) is assigned to each CDMA user. This
code is referred to as a “user mask”. The user mask is exchanged between the mobile and the
serving cell(s)/sector(s), which allows user traffic data to be encrypted on both the forward and
reverse links.

A different long code mask is used to generate the long code for encryption and decryption of
Access and Paging information – more on this later.
2.10.2 PN Short Codes

The Short Code is a PN sequence that is 215 bits (chips) in length. This code is generated at
1.2288 Mbps (or Mcps) giving a period of 26.67 ms. This code is used for final spreading of the
signal and is transmitted as a reference known as the “Pilot Sequence” by the base station. All
base stations use the same short code. Base stations are differentiated from one another by
transmitting the PN short code at different “offsets” in absolute. This time offset is known as a “PN
Offset”. All base stations and mobiles have knowledge of this code, however, mobile units do not
have initial knowledge of absolute time. Mobile units initially search (in time) until they
synchronize with a pilot code transmitted by a base station. The base station then conveys timing
information to the mobile – more on this stuff later.
2.10.3 Walsh Codes

CDMA defines a group of 64 orthogonal sequences, each 64 bits long, known as Walsh Codes.
These sequences are also referred to as Wash Functions. These codes are generated at 1.2288 Mbps
(Mcps) giving them a period of approximately 52 µ s. These are used to identify users on the
forward link. For this reason they are loosely referred to as CDMA channels. All base stations and
mobile users have knowledge of all Walsh codes.
2 42 - 1 b it s
4 2 b it u s e r m a s k
PN Long
id e n t if ie s u s e r
C odes o n u p lin k
2 15 b it s
6 4 c h ip o f f s e t s
P N s h o rt c o d e s : P N - i( t ) = P N - 0 ( t - i x 6 4 T c)
u s e d t o id e n t if y
b a s e s t a t io n / s e c t o r
t o t h e m o b il e
6 4 b it s
6 4 b it W a ls h C o d e s
W a ls h C o d e s u s e d t o id e n t if y u s e r s
o n d o w n lin k
Figure 2-6: Summary of Sequences used in CDMA Spread Spectrum

2.11 CDMA Call Quality (Eb/Nt)

With CDMA the raw channel bits have no inherent information and are not available outside of the
spread spectrum receiver. For this reason the fundamental performance measure is the frame error
rate (FER) rather than the bit error rate. Note that a frame includes signaling information and error
detection bits as well as user voice/data. This metric includes the error detection/correction coding
inherent in the system. Frame error rate is defined as:
number ⋅ of ⋅ frames ⋅ received ⋅ correctly ⋅ at ⋅ rate ⋅ X
FER x = 1 −
number ⋅ of ⋅ frames ⋅ transmitte d ⋅ at ⋅ rate ⋅ X
Equation 2-3: Frame Error Rate
The “rate X ” term refers to the specific rate at which voice information is being encoded by the
variable rate vocoder.
System performance is typically characterized by plotting Frame Error Rate vs. Received signal
Eb/Nt. These plots are known as “waterfall curves” due to their shape. These are similar to Bit
Error Rate (BER) curves for other digital communication systems. An example plot of this type is
shown in Figure 2-7 for different modulation types. Specific CDMA performance curves are not
shown as they are specific to vendor hardware. CDMA systems require a Frame Error Rate of less
than 1% for acceptable call quality. This roughly corresponds to a Bit Error Rate (BER) of 10-3 .

10 -0 Forward Link FER Performance
Probability of Frame Error

10 -1 Reverse Link FER
Performance
“Good Call Quality”
10-2
10 -3
10 -4
10 -5
10 -6
-3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11
Average Despread Eb/Nt
(dB)
Figure 2-7: Example of FER to Eb/Nt relation: different for Forward and Reverse Link
2.12 Coherent vs. Non-Coherent Detection

The typical values Eb/Nt required to maintain a 1% FER have a more-or-less Log Normal
distribution with a standard deviation of 2.5. A 1% FER corresponds to a mean Eb/Nt of 5 dB for
the forward link and 7 dB on the reverse link. The difference in the required signal strength is due
to the use of coherent reception on the forward link and non-coherent reception on the reverse link.
Coherent reception implies knowledge of the received signals phase (or timing). In the case of the
forward link, this is provided by the Pilot sequence which is transmitted by each cell/sector.
Non-coherent reception implies detection of only the magnitude of received signals. The phase of
the incoming signals is not known. As there is no pilot sequence transmitted on the reverse link,
this type of receiver must be used. CDMA systems are therefore considered to be reverse link
limited with regards to call quality.

3 CDMA Physical and Logical Channels

3.1 Physical Channel
Physical channels are described in terms of a wideband RF channel and code sequence. As defined
in IS-95, each RF channel is 1.2288 MHz wide. For each RF channel, there are 64 Walsh
sequences (W0 through W63) available for use on the forward link. These Walsh sequences are
commonly referred to as CDMA channels (though this is not correct for the uplink).
3.2 Logical Channel

Divisions on the physical channel that carry specific types of information are known as logical
channels. Logical channels in CDMA are divided into two categories: Traffic Channels and
Control Channels. For the forward link there are three types of Control/Signaling channels and
one Traffic Channel (per user). For the Reverse Link there is one type Signaling Channel and one
Traffic Channel per user.
It is important to note that signals on the forward link are identified by Walsh codes, however, signals
on the reverse link are identified by Long Codes.
3.2.1 Forward Link (Downlink)

The logical channels for the Forward Link must provide identification of the Base station, timing
and synchronizing of the transmissions between the base station and mobile station, “hailing” of
mobile units in the area, and the voice/data transmission from the base station to the mobile unit.
The forward link is comprised of:
• The Pilot Channel,
• Up to one Sync Channel,
• Up to seven Paging Channels, and
• Up to 55 Traffic Channels.
Forward CDMA Channel
(1.23 Mhz radio channel
transmitted by base station)
Pilot
Chan
Sync
Chan
Paging
Ch 1 ...
up to
Paging
Ch 7
Traf
Ch 1 ... Traf
Ch n ...
up to
Traf
Ch 24
Traf
Ch 25 ...
up to
Traf
Ch 55
W0 W32 W1 W7 W8 W31 W33 W63
Traffic Overhead
Data Control Bits
Figure 3-8: Forward Link Channel Assignments

3.2.1.1 Pilot
The Pilot Channel allows a mobile station to acquire the timing of the Forward Traffic Channel -
user information. It provides a phase reference for coherent demodulation and provides a means
for signal strength comparisons between base stations, which is used to determine when to handoff.
It consists of the unmodulated final spreading sequences (PN short codes). The Pilot signal is
transmitted continuously on Walsh 0 by each CDMA base station at the transmitter (cell/sector)
level.
3.2.1.2 Sync Channel

The Synchronization Channel is an encoded, interleaved and modulated spread spectrum signal
that is used with the Pilot Channel to acquire initial system time and synchronization. The sync
channel is always transmitted on Walsh 32.
3.2.1.3 Paging Channel

The Paging Channel is used for transmission of control information to the mobile. When a mobile
is to receive a call it will receive a “page” from the base station. Up to seven (7) channels may be
configured for paging depending on the expected demand.
Page channel messaging to each user takes place in an 80 ms “slot”. The 80 ms slots are grouped
into cycles of 2048 slots (cycle duration 163.84 s) referred to as maximum slot cycles. The base
station can limit the maximum slot cycle used by the mobile. The mobile randomly picks a “slot
cycle index” and informs the base station of its choice when it registers. The mobile now only
monitors the Page channel during its assigned 80 ms slot defined by:
Slot Cycle = 1.28 x 2 SLOT_CYCLE_INDEX (in seconds)
where: SLOT_CYCLE_INDEX is {0 … 7}
That is to say… for a slot cycle index of 5, the mobile “powers up” and monitors the Page channel
for 80 ms once every 1.28 x 25 = 40.96 seconds. This process of periodic monitoring allows
considerable power savings by the mobile unit.
3.2.1.4 Traffic Channel

The Traffic Channel or Traffic Channel Element (TCE) carries all the phone calls (voice or data
signal) from a given base station to all the mobile units active in the coverage area. Each user has a
dedicated TCE, and corresponding Walsh code, on the down link. The forward traffic channel
message consists of user voice (or data), power control data, and error correction bits. The message
is transmitted as a series of traffic frames. The traffic channel may also carry signaling information
with or in place of user voice (or data). A Walsh code is assigned by the base station for each
Traffic Channel in use.

3.2.1.5 Power Control Sub-Channel

A Power Control Sub-Channel is continuously transmitted on the forward traffic channel as part of
the traffic frame. Information on this channel commands the mobile unit to adjust its transmitted
power + 1 dB every 1/16 of a speech frame (800 times per second).
3.2.2 Reverse Link (Uplink)

The logical channel requirements of the reverse link must provide for the identification and access
request by the mobile unit to the base stations in the area and the voice/data transmission from the
mobile unit to the base station. The reverse link is composed of:
• Access Channels and
• Traffic Channels.
These channels share the same CDMA center frequency on the reverse link (a different frequency is
used for forward link transmissions). The total number of channels is determined by base station
activity. The example in Figure 3-9 shows 55 Traffic Channels available for all reverse links at a
given base station in accordance with the previous forward link channelization discussion. In
actuality, an individual subscriber unit is limited to one access channel and one traffic channel. The
reverse link capability of a given base station is limited by the number of traffic channels assigned
(up to 55) and up to seven (7) access channels (correlating to a maximum of 7 paging channels).
Note that a mobile does not “tie up” an access channel, it only borrows it for a short amount of
time.
Reverse CDMA Channels

(1.23 Mhz radio channel
received by base station)
Access
Ch 1
... Access
Ch n
Traf
Ch 1
................. Traf
Ch 55
up to
Addressed by Long Codes
User Data
and/or
Control
Figure 3-9: Reverse Link Channel Assignments

3.2.2.1 Access Channel

The Access Channel is used for the transmission of control information to the base station. When
a mobile is to place a call it uses the “access” channel to inform the base station. This channel is
also used when responding to a “page”. Each Access Channel is identified by a distinct “Access
Channel Long PN Code ”. An Access Channel is selected randomly by the mobile unit from the
total number of access channels available from the serving cell/sector.
3.2.2.2 Traffic Channel

The Traffic Channel for the reverse link is identical to the forward link Traffic Channel Element
in function and structure. Each traffic channel is identified by a “User Long PN Code” which is
unique to each CDMA user.

4 CDMA Modulation & Demodulation

4.1 Types of Spread Spectrum Modulation
CDMA is a spread spectrum modulation scheme. This implies that the transmission bandwidth is
much larger than the information bandwidth. The types of spread spectrum modulation commonly
used in communication systems are classified as:
• Frequency Hopping
• Direct Sequence
GSM and PCS-1900 are TDMA systems with the ability to frequency hop. CDMA is a direct
sequence technique. These modulation schemes are described further below.
4.1.1 Frequency Hopping

The carrier frequency is varied and the bandwidth of the transmitted signal is comparable to the
bandwidth of the information signal. Information is modulated on top of a rapidly changing carrier
frequency. Some advantages and disadvantages of frequency hopping systems are listed in Table
4-1.
Table 4-1: Summary of Frequency Hopping Qualities
Advantages Disadvantages
• Carrier can be hopped over large • Complex Frequency Synthesizer

portions of the spectrum
• Can be programmed to avoid • Not useful for location and

portions of the spectrum velocity measurements
• Shorter Acquisition Time than • Error correction required

direct sequence
• Less affected by near-far problem

than direct sequence
4.1.2 Direct Sequence

In direct sequence modulation the carrier frequency is fixed and the bandwidth of the transmitted
signal is larger and independent of the bandwidth of the information signal. Some properties of
direct sequence spread spectrum systems are listed in Table 4-2.
Table 4-2: Summary of Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Qualities
Advantages Disadvantages
• Better noise & anti-jam • Requires wide band channel with

performance than frequency hopping little phase distortion

for a fixed transmission bandwidth.
• More difficult to detect than • Longer acquisition time than

Frequency hopping or narrow band frequency hopping systems
transmissions.
• Best discrimination against • Fast code generator needed

multipath due to inherent frequency
diversity
4.2 Spread Spectrum (CDMA) Modulation Example: Encoding and

Decoding of Information
This section provides a simple example of CDMA spread spectrum modulation. The example
illustrates how information bits are encoded by a PN sequence an the recovered in presence of
another spread spectrum signal.
4.2.1 Spread Spectrum Transmit Process

Transmitting a spread spectrum signal involves
*0 Modulating the information signal with the spreading PN sequence,
*1 Modulating the resulting signal with the desired carrier wave,
*2 Band Pass Filtering the output, and
*3 Transmitting the resulting RF signal.
This is illustrated below in Figure 4-10
R F S ig n a l
S ( t ) C 1 ( t ) C o s (ω c t )
C a r r ie r Band Pass
In fo r m a tio n S p r e a d in g M o d u la t io n F ilte r
S ig n a l
S (t) BPF
C 1(t) C o s ω ct
Figure 4-10: Spread Specturm Transmit Process
Where:
S(t) = Desired information signal as a function of time (digital signal).
C1(t) = CDMA PN code as a function of time (comprised of a known binary
pattern).
Cos(ω ct) = Desired RF carrier frequency.

S(t)*C1(t)*Cos(ωct) = Transmitted RF signal.
4.2.2 Spread Spectrum Receive Process

Receiving a spread spectrum signal involves
*4 Demodulating the signal with the RF carrier,
*5 Low Pass Filtering the resulting wide band signal,
*6 Demodulating with the signal with the known spreading sequence, and
*7 Integrating the de-spread signal over a bit time to recover the information signal
This process is illustrated below in Figure 4-11.

R e c e iv e d D e -S p r e a d in g
R F S ig n a l
S (t) C 1 ( t) C o s (ω c t)
In te g ra te o v e r
C o r r e la tio n B it T im e &
C a r r ie r D e - Low P ass w ith th e P N D um p In fo r m a tio n
M o d u la tio n F ilte r sequence
t +τ S ig n a l
LPF
∫t
S (t)
C o s (ω ct) C 1(t)
Figure 4-11: Spread Spectrum Receive Process
[S(t)*C1(t)*Cos(ωct)]*Cos(ωct) = [S(t)*C1(t)*Cos(ωct)]*Cos(ωct)
= 1/2*[S(t)*C1(t)] + 1/2[S(t)*C1(t)*Cos(2ωct)] → LPF
= 1/2*[S(t)*C1(t)]
1/2*[S(t)*C1(t)] *C1(t) = 1/2*[S(t)] → after integration over the information period
Where:
[S(t)*C1(t)*Cos(ωct)] = Received RF signal
LPF = Low Pass Filter with bandwidth equal to the spread bandwidth (W)
S(t) = Signal as a function of time (Digital)
C1(t) = PN code as a function of time (comprised of pseudo random binary
sequence)
Cos(ωct) = Desired RF carrier frequency.
C1(t)*C1(t) = 1 when the codes are aligned in time because of correlation properties of
the PN codes.
4.2.3 Multiple Signal Case
What if the Code 1 signal was also received by a Code 2 receiver ?

C1(t)*C2(t) = C3(t) because of correlation properties of the PN codes. Knowledge of (and time
synchronization to) the PN code associated with a specific information signal allows us to recover
that signal from among other spread spectrum transmissions.
A simple example illustrates how the CDMA signal is transmitted and then recovered in the
presence of another CDMA signal. In the example shown, two (2) information bits are encoded
onto a repeating 7 chip CDMA like code sequence. Note that the effects of noise and interference
are not considered.
Question: What is the processing gain of the spread spectrum signal in this example?
Hint: Rc/Rb
Information bits from two different transmitters

S1 S2
Encoding PN Sequences from those two transmitters

C1 C2
Encoded Information
S1*C1 S2*C2
Receipt of Multiple Encoded Signals

S1*C1 + S2*C2 S1*C1 + S2*C2

Receiver Decoding Sequences (Same as TX Sequences)

C1 C2
Decoding (Correlation) of Received Signals

(S1*C1 + S2*C2)*C1 (S1*C1 + S2*C2)*C2

Integration of the Correlated Received Signals

Integrator Output Integrator Output
Output of Translated Information Bits (at T + 1 Bit)

Comparitor Output Comparitor Output
5 The CDMA Advantage - The RAKE Receiver and the

Multipath Environment
The land based wireless telephone environment is a multipath environment. Multipath is generally
a destructive force in TDMA and FDMA systems and has been factored as a loss in the engineering
of those networks. In CDMA systems, as proposed by the interim standards and proponents of the
technology, multipath is converted to a positive force through the application of the RAKE
receiver. In order to clearly illustrate the benefits associated with the RAKE receiver’s unique
ability to demodulate signals in a multipath environments, it is prudent to briefly review the
additive properties of waves and the multipath phenomena.
5.1 A Brief review of Multipath and its effect on Analog and Digital
Transmissions.
Multipath, as it is referred to in RF engineering, is the result of reflections and scattering of radio
waves off of buildings, water towers, mountains, etc. Multipath will exist anywhere the incident
wave and one or more reflected and/or defracted waves can reach the receiver as shown in Figure
5-13
Multipath, in effect, creates “multiple versions” of the transmitted signal which arrive at the
receiver at different times. These “multiple versions” of the transmitted signal are known as
multipath components. The arrival of multipath components results in destructive interference due
to the superposition of the various waves. The received signal for a given frequency will be the
sum of all the multipath components. When the components arrive perfectly in phase, the overall

Received Signal Level (RSL) will be stronger than any of the individual components. When they
arrive out of phase, as a result of the reflective/defractive process, the overall RSL is less than the
strongest individual component.
Lets consider a single transmitted wave that is scattered such that the receiver detects the
transmitted wave and three multipath components of differing magnitudes and relative phase angles
from the incident wave. Mathematically these waves are given as:
f(t)Incident (Direct) Wave = 2.0 sin (ω t )
f(t)Multipath 1 = 1.5 sin (ωt + 90o)
The figure below provides a graphic representation of the incident waveform, multipath waveforms
and the resultant waveform. Notice that magnitude of the resultant waveform is less than the
incident waveform as a result of the superpositioning of the multipaths on the incident wave.
Destructive Interference Due to Multipath
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00 Incident Wave
Relative Amplitude
0.50 Multipath 1
0.00 Multipath 2
0
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
-0.50 Multipath 3
-1.00 Resultant Wave
-1.50
-2.00
-2.50
Tim e
Figure 5-12: Destructive Interference due to Multipath
Destructive (and constructive) interference due to the arrival of equal amplitude and random phase
multipath components is referred to as Rayleigh Fading. The significance or degree that Rayleigh
Fading affects system operation is determined by the surrounding environment. If we assume four
(4) different land classifications based on the concentration and size of structures in a given area
and designate them in decreasing concentration as Dense Urban, Urban, Suburban, Rural. In
general we would expect to see the greatest effects of Rayleigh fading in the Dense Urban
environment and the least in a Rural Environment. This is due to the greater concentration of
scattering structures in a Dense Urban Environment than in rural areas

5.2 The RAKE Receiver

The RAKE receiver is the optimum demodulator structure for multipath propagation paths in a
land mobile telephone environment. It was first implemented in static form in the late 1950’s.
Essentially this device has the capability of “looking” at a given window in time, picking out
multipath components of a given signal and lining them up so that they are in phase again. This
process is referred to as coherent addition and results in a greater probability of making or
maintaining the forward link in areas where it would otherwise be prohibited. The RAKE receiver
is also applied to reverse link, however, because of a lack of a coherent reference (pilot signal) the
reverse link uses a non-coherent RAKE demodulator.
To explain the conceptual processes of the RAKE receiver, consider the forward link scenario in
Figure 5-13below in which a mobile unit (in the car), is being served by the nearby base stations
designated BSA.
Direct wave θ
1
Wave θ 1= θ 2
θ
2
Figure 5-13: Single Transmitter with Multipath
For a single pulse transmitted from BSA, the mobile receives many copies of the pulse, delayed in
time, with amplitude which depend on the interaction with buildings, terrain, and the antenna. The
plot of the received signal vs. Time for a pulse is called an impulse response. In theory, a pulse of
zero time duration requires an infinite bandwidth. In practice this is not possible, therefor, the
transmitted pulse has a finite time duration resulting in a finite bandwidth. For this reason the plot
of receive signal vs. time for a pulse is referred to as a “Band Limited Impulse Response”.
A typical band-limited channel impulse response for the above scenario would be composed of
multipath components from BSA arriving at MU1 at different points in time as shown below in
Figure 5-14. The spikes indicate discernible multipath signals. The surrounding envelope is caused
by smaller multipath components, scattering, and background noise.

A 2
A 4
A1
|h (t) |
A 5
A 3
t
Figure 5-14: Typical Single Transmitter Band-Limited Channel Impulse Response with Five
Discrete Multipath Components
The time delay between the received components is related to the different distances traveled by the
various components as they propagate from BSA to MU1. The difference in path length between
two signals can be found by multiplying the time difference between the received signals by the
speed of light.
∆ Path Length Between A1 and A2 = (T2 - T1) 3 x 108 m/s
Equation 5-4: ∆ Path Length
In the time domain, these multipath components differ in amplitude and time shift. In the frequency
domain, these differences correspond to differences in amplitude and phase. In IS-95 CDMA, the
function of the RAKE receiver is to align up to a maximum of three multipath components in time
by selectively adjusting the phase of the multipath components so that they are all equal. When
correctly adjusted and put in a summing device the result is the coherent addition of the multipath
signals as shown in Figure 5-15. This figure shows the magnitude of the received and combined
signals, however the phase information of the signals is also maintained.

ylt n er e h o C f o e d uti n g a M
ht a pitl u M d e ni b m o C
A 1
|h (t) |
sl a n gi S d e vi e c e R
A 2
A 2
A 4
A 1
A 5 A 4
A 3
t
Figure 5-15: Coherent Combination of Three Strongest Multipath Components from a Single
Transmitter
It is important to note that the only means of adjusting these components is by having a reference
that is also transmitted by BSA along with the traffic information. All IS-95 CDMA base stations
within a given system continuously transmit a pseudorandom (PN) binary (short) code for the
purpose of synchronization and timing (Pilot Channel). Synchronization to the pilot signal allows
the RAKE receiver to operate in an efficient manner.
Each base station starts the PN short code at a unique time which is offset from the system
reference (which is maintained by GPS time). The PN offset makes it appear to a mobile that each
base station is transmitting a unique code because of the correlation properties of the PN sequence.
Note that the PN Code has properties such that when the received PN short code and the PN short
code generated by the mobile unit are aligned in time, a correlation peak occurs. When they are not
aligned, the correlation between the codes is noise.
The RAKE receiver provides for the coherent combination of multipath components from a single
base station and multiple cells/sectors jointly in a CDMA Handoff scenario (see Section 9). In IS-
95 CDMA, the RAKE receiver is limited to resolving and combining a maximum of three
multipath components from either a single transmitter, multiple transmitters, or a combination of
both. The limit of resolution in time of the received signals may be as small as ½ of a chip. The
maximum number of signals considered is defined in the system specification and results from the
fact that there is very little added benefit from using more than three components. Typically the
RAKE receiver processes the three strongest three signal components, however, the precise
determination of which signals will be process depends on the handoff type, desired traffic flow,
and relevant thresholds seat at each serving cell/sector.

Consider the forward link scenario given below in which a mobile unit, MU1, is being served by
three base stations designated BSA, BSB, BSC. The lines from the base stations indicate multipath
that could exist for the geometry indicated.
S B B
U M 1
S B A
S B C
Figure 5-16: Multiple Transmitters with Multipath
A typical band-limited channel impulse response for the above scenario could be composed of
multipath components from serving base stations BSA, BSB, BSC and arriving at MU1 at different
points in time as shown below.
A3
|h ( t) | C2
B2
A1
B1 C3
C1
A2 C4
tim e
Figure 5-17: Typical Multiple Transmitter Band-Limited Channel Impulse Response with
Discrete Multipath Components
Given that the RAKE receiver MU1 has knowledge that BSA, BSB, and BSC are all serving base
stations (See Section 9 for details on joint handoffs), the receiver performs the following functions:

• Identifies the components which are the strongest (maximum of three),

• Performs time alignment of the select components, and
• Sums the components.
When correctly time aligned and put into a summing device, the result is the coherent combination
of the multipath signals as shown in Figure 5-18.
M a g n itu d e o f C o h e r e n tly C o m b in e d
M u ltip a t h s C2
R e c e iv e d M u lt ip a t h s
A3 B2
R e la t iv e C2
Pow er B2
A1
B1 C3
C1
A2 C4
A3
t im e
Figure 5-18: Coherent Combination of Three Strongest Components of a Typical Multiple

Transmitter Band-Limited Channel Impulse Response with Discrete Multipath Components
5.3 Comparison of the effects of Multipath on FDMA, TDMA, and

CDMA.
5.3.1 FDMA
The quality of service provided by a Frequency-Division Multiple-Access System is a function of
the received signal level and proper frequency planning. Assuming no frequency reuse or the
assignment of adjacent channels within the system, the problem becomes one dimensional as a
function of signal strength. In FDMA, the carrier wave is subjected to the multipath fading
(Rayleigh fading) as discussed above. The human ear is an excellent discriminator of echoes,
noise, fading. Multipath may greatly impact voice quality.
5.3.2 TDMA
Multipath in a digital system adversely effects the performance in two ways that must be
compensated for in the design and implementation of the hardware. First, multipath fading of the
carrier wave results in reduced signal strength. The reduction in signal strength results in increased
bit error rate as Eb/Nt falls below what is required for acceptable call quality.
The second effect of multipath, the time delay in arrival over which multipath components arrive
(delay spread), can be large enough to create Inter Symbol Interference (ISI). This effect is known

as time dispersion. ISI may result in false 1’s when a zero is sent or visa versa. This effect is
illustrated in Figure 5-19.
1 0 1 0
1
1
1
B u ild in g s B u ild in g s B u ild in g s

1. 2. 3.
Figure 5-19: Time Dispersion
Time Delay Compensation
TDMA systems use a variety of techniques to compensate for the effects of multipath fading and
time dispersion including
*8 Reduced transmitted bit rate to increase Eb/Nt,
*9 Encoding the digital signal to allow detection / correction of bit errors,
*10 Use of an equalizer to compensate for time delays, and
*11 Frequency hopping to combat frequency selective Rayleigh fading.
The following sections expand on the application of channel coding and equalization to combat the
effects of multipath fading.
Channel Coding
Channel coding (encoding of the binary signal) is the process of modifying the bit structure of the
original information so that there is redundancy and increased predictability of the transmitted
digital signal. The receiver knows the encoding process so that it can be reversed. Several coding
schemes exist and may be used alone or in some combination. Some common channel coding
schemes are block coding, convolution coding, and interleaving. A detailed discussion of these
schemes is beyond the scope of this document.
5.3.2.1.1 Equalization
The equalizer creates a model of the transmission channel and calculates the most probable
transmitted sequence. This is accomplished by transmitting a known bit pattern with good

correlation properties, called a training sequence. The equalizer compares the received training
sequence with the standard and makes the appropriate adjustments in its bit recognition algorithm.
This process repeats itself with every frame of data transmitted (on the order of tens of
milliseconds).
5.3.3 CDMA
CDMA is a digital technology that is subject to all of the multipath phenomena that TDMA is
subjected to but, because of the properties of spread spectrum and the use of the RAKE receiver, it
is less susceptible to the adverse effects of multipath. Specifically, degradation of system
performance due to frequency selective Rayleigh fading is reduced because the signal energy is
spread over 1.25 MHz as opposed to 200 kHz for GSM TDMA or 30 kHz channels for AMPS
TDMA. In effect spread spectrum is a form of frequency diversity. Also, by coherently combining
multipath components, the effects of time dispersion and destructive interference are reduced by
aligning the three strongest multipath components in time and combining for a net positive sum
greater than any individual component. Note that the time alignment occurs in a maximal sense
when there is some prior knowledge of phase.
5.3.4 Summary of Multipath Effects

TDMA systems may use equalizers to compensate for multipath effects, however, the equalization
settings are typically static while the multipath environment is changing in time. FDMA systems
rely on the total received power from all multipath components, however, the random phase of the
multipath components results in constructive and destructive interference (fading). CDMA is able
to pool available signal resources (received multipath components) for a “combined effort”. The
net result is the ability to close a link in an area that is not adequately supported by a single
multipath component, but by combining up to three components or incident waves, the link can be
closed. As stated earlier, the incident waves or multipath components can come from the same
transmitter or multiple transmitters.
To illustrate this point, let’s walk through a numerical example.
5.4 RAKE Receiver Example: Improvement in Call Quality (Eb/Nt)

Let’s suppose the minimum acceptable Eb/Nt for a given system is 7 dB and the three strongest
multipath components have a corresponding Eb/Nt of 5, 3, and 2 dB. It is clear that the individual
components will not provide for service. However, the RAKE receiver will coherently combine
these components such that the resultant Eb/Nt is sufficient to provide the quality of service we
desire. This can be accomplished as follows:
Linearize the respective Eb/Nt measurements so as to allow for coherent combination by using
Equation 5-5.

 E  
 0.1× b  

  Nt  dB 
LinearValue = 10
Equation 5-5: Call Quality dB to Linear Conversion
The linearized values for each of the multipath components are 3.16, 2.00, 1.58 respectively.
Assuming perfect phase alignment and zero processing losses, the combined value for all of the
components is 6.74 which corresponds to a calculated Eb/Nt of 8.29 dB which provides the desired
level of call quality.
Additional examples can be made up and solved using Equation 5-5 or Table 5-3 for the
linearization of Eb/Nt.
Table 5-3: Call Quality dB to Linear Conversion Table

Eb/Nt Linearized Eb/Nt Linearized Eb/Nt Linearized Eb/Nt Linearized
(dB) Value (dB) Value (dB) Value (dB) Value
0.1 1.02 2.1 1.62 4.1 2.57 6.1 4.07
0.2 1.05 2.2 1.66 4.2 2.63 6.2 4.17
0.3 1.07 2.3 1.70 4.3 2.69 6.3 4.27
0.4 1.10 2.4 1.74 4.4 2.75 6.4 4.37
0.5 1.12 2.5 1.78 4.5 2.82 6.5 4.47
0.6 1.15 2.6 1.82 4.6 2.88 6.6 4.57
0.7 1.17 2.7 1.86 4.7 2.95 6.7 4.68
0.8 1.20 2.8 1.91 4.8 3.02 6.8 4.79
0.9 1.23 2.9 1.95 4.9 3.09 6.9 4.90
1.0 1.26 3.0 2.00 5.0 3.16 7.0 5.01
1.1 1.29 3.1 2.04 5.1 3.24 7.1 5.13
1.2 1.32 3.2 2.09 5.2 3.31 7.2 5.25
1.3 1.35 3.3 2.14 5.3 3.39 7.3 5.37
1.4 1.38 3.4 2.19 5.4 3.47 7.4 5.50
1.5 1.41 3.5 2.24 5.5 3.55 7.5 5.62
1.6 1.45 3.6 2.29 5.6 3.63 7.6 5.75
1.7 1.48 3.7 2.34 5.7 3.72 7.7 5.89
1.8 1.51 3.8 2.40 5.8 3.80 7.8 6.03
1.9 1.55 3.9 2.45 5.9 3.89 7.9 6.17
2.0 1.58 4.0 2.51 6.0 3.98 8.0 6.31
6 Dynamic Power Control

One of the fundamental requirements for successful IS-95 CDMA operation is the implementation
of Dynamic Power Control (DPC) on the forward and reverse links. Using DPC the power of all
mobile units is controlled so their transmitted signals arrive at the base station at an equal and
minimum received power level. In addition, the traffic channel power on the forward link is varied
as a function of voice coding rate. In this way, the interference generated from one mobile unit to
another is kept to a minimum resulting in increased system capacity.
6.1 The “Near-Far” Problem

The “near-far” problem in spread-spectrum systems relates to the problem of very strong signals at
a receiver swamping out the effects of weaker signals located on the edge of the coverage area in a
CDMA system resulting in dropped and blocked calls. The direct-sequence spread spectrum

(CDMA) technology is the most susceptible to “near far” due to the ‘N = 1’ frequency reuse
scheme. A frequency-hopping system is much less susceptible to the near-far problem because it is
an avoidance system. Interference will result only when there is simultaneous occupancy of a given
frequency slot. FDMA and TDMA are virtually immune to “near-far” because of frequency
isolation for FDMA and much lower baud rates for TDMA.
Conceptually, the near-far problem is overcome in CDMA systems by making the base station
receive all signals of equal strength. For a static system, the reverse link transmit powers would be
selectively optimization so that an individual base station receives equal power from all subscribers.
Overcoming “near-far” in the mobile environment requires that the reverse link transmit power for
all subscribers be continuously adjusted. The rate and degree of adjustment should be commiserate
with the maximum anticipated rate and magnitude of change in required power to maintain a
constant RSL at the base station. This is accomplished through the implementation of dynamic
power control.
6.2 Reverse Link

Two forms of power control are used for the reverse link:
• Open-loop, and
• Closed-loop.
6.2.1 Open-Loop
Open loop power control involves only the mobile unit. Open-loop control sets the sum of the
transmit (Access Channel) and receive (Pilot Channel) powers (in dBm) to a constant, nominally
-73 dBm. A reduction in received signal power from the base station results in increased transmit
power from the mobile unit. For example, if the received pilot power from the base station is -85
dBm, the open-loop transmit power setting would be (-73) - (-85 dBm) = 12 dBm. This process is
used for reverse link transmissions made on the access channel prior to setting up a user call. Note
that access attempts are made at successively higher power levels until a response is received from
the base station or a maximum threshold is reached. Once a user call is initiated, closed-loop power
control takes effect.
6.2.2 Closed-Loop
Close-loop power control is used to allow the power from the mobile unit to deviate from the
nominal as set by open-loop control. The base station monitors the power received from each
mobile station and commands each mobile unit to raise or lower its power by a fixed step
(nominally 1 dB) to keep the received signal at the minimum acceptable level. Acceptable signal is
defined by < 1% FER. This process is repeated 800 times per second, or every 1.25 ms. This is
accomplished by dividing each 20 ms traffic frame into 16 power control groups. Each power
control group is preceded by a power control bit. Mobile units support a dynamic range of about
80 dB and can be controlled to transmit as little as -60 dBm.

6.3 Forward Link

Forward traffic channel (TCE) power is attenuated (for each TCE) based on voice coding rate that
is being used. As the data rate is lowered, the output signal is attenuated. This provides a constant
Eb for the output signal.
Table 6-4 lists the attenuation levels for the available Vocoder rates.
Table 6-4: Forward Link TCE Attenuation Level vs. Voice Coding Rate
Vocoder Data Rate (Rb) kbps Attenuation Level
Rate (per IS-95) (dB)
1 9.6 0
½ 4.8 3
¼ 2.4 6
1/8 1.2 9
In addition, the available base station transmit power is divided among the pilot, sync, paging, and
traffic channels in use. Table 6-5 lists the nominal power allocations. These allocations are not
dynamic with time but may be adjusted on a per transmitter basis as necessary by the operator.
Table 6-5: Base Station Nominal Channel Power Allocations

Logical Channel Relative Power Allocation Nominal
Allocation
Pilot 0.2 of total power (linear) 20 %
Sync + Paging + Remainder (0.8) of total power (linear) 80 %
Traffic
Sync 3 dB less than one Traffic Channel; 3%
always 1/8 rate
Paging 3 dB greater than one Traffic Channel; 2%
full rate only
Traffic Equal power in each Traffic Channel: 75 %
full rate only (or specified maximum
per TCE)

7 CDMA Implementation and Digital Radio Link Processes

The following sections provide a general explanation of how a CDMA radio link is implemented.
A detailed hardware description is not discussed here and is provided in Unit 2 of The IS-95
CDMA Digital Cellular Communication System. Note that the following discussion assumes a
maximum bit rate of 9.6 kbps as specified in IS-95 for 850 MHz systems. PCS CDMA systems
using a 14.4 kbps maximum data rate, as specified in IS-95-A, follow the same implementation
procedure as discussed below.
The forward and reverse links are broken into functional blocks and a qualitative description of
each block is provided. The digital processing for the forward link and reverse link are not
identical. Pilot signals on the forward link allow more robust detection techniques to be
implemented (e.g. coherent demodulation). A pilot signal is not transmitted on the reverse link,
requiring the use of non-coherent detection at the base station. This necessitates 2 to 3 dB higher
Eb/Nt at the base station receiver than at the mobile unit.
7.1 Forward Link

The forward link or downlink describes the communication from the base station to the mobile
user. A block diagram of the transmit path of the base station and the receive path of the mobile
unit is shown in Figure 7-20. Note that the demodulation process includes a RAKE receiver to
combine multipath signals. The operation of the RAKE receiver is omitted for clarity in the
following sections, however, the RAKE receiver is discussed Section 5.2.

T r a n s m i t P a t h in B a s e S t a t io n R e c e iv e P a t h in M o b ile
V a ria b le V a ria b le L o w
L o w B it R a te B it
Speech R a te S p e e c h
C o d in g D e c o d in g
D o w n lin k
Channel Channel
S p e e c h /C h a n n e l
P r o c e s s in g
B it B it
I n te r le a v in g D e in te rl e a v in g
E n c ry p tio n : D e c r y p t io n :
Long Code Long Code
S c ra m b li n g D e s c r a m b li n g
W a ls h W a ls h
F u n c tio n F u n c tio n
M o d u l a t io n D e m o d u la t io n
Q u a d ra tu re
Q u a d r a tu r e
S p re a d in g a n d
D e s p re a d in g
M u lt ip le x in g
Q u a d ra tu re Q u a d r a tu r e
C a rrie r C a rrie r
M o d u l a t io n D e m o d u la t io n
RF
Channel
Figure 7-20: CDMA Digital Radio Forward Link Process
The following sections describe the forward link processing with respect to the transmit side.
Reception of the signal at the mobile unit employs coherent detection using the base station pilot
signal and is essentially the reverse of the described transmit process.
7.1.1 Variable Rate Speech Coding

When voice is transmitted over the commercial telephone system (land line) it is assumed to be
band limited to the frequency range of 200 to 3300 Hz. The voice signal is initially sampled 8000
times per second, logarithmically (µ -law) quantized to 8 bits, and transmitted at 64 kbps. In
CDMA, as well as conventional Digital AMPS cellular, speech is sampled at 8 kHz and uniformly
quantized to 13 bits. This data is divided into 20 ms frames and transmitted at 104 kbps. The first
step in the Speech Coding process is to transcode and rate adapt (modify the quantization and
data rate) to the cellular standard 104 kbps bit stream. Note that transcoding is not required by
mobile unit for the reverse link voice transmissions. The transcoded data is then fed to the Code-
Excited Linear Predictive (CELP) coder. This is illustrated in Figure 7-21.

V a r ia b l e R a t e
64 kbps 8 - b it µ - la w to 104 kbps C ELP 1 to 1 /8
1 3 - b it u n if o r m Speech
D i g it a l S p e e c h tr a n s c o d e r u n if o r m Encoder
In p u t F ro m
L a n d L in e
Figure 7-21: Forward Link Speech Processing at the Network Side
The CELP speech encoder produces a variable output data rate based on speech activity. The
encoder generates one frame (a.k.a. packet, a.k.a. block) every 20 ms. The coded data frame is at
one of the following data rates:
• Rate 1: 171 bits / packet (8.55 kbps)
• Rate 1 2 : 80 bits / packet (4.0 kbps)
The advantage of using lower bit rates when there is little or no speech activity is that it allows the
transmit power to be decreased while maintaining a constant Eb/Nt. A reduction in transmit power
decreases the level of interference imposed on other users of the system.
7.1.2 Channel Coding

Channel coding involves converting the 20 ms speech frames into traffic blocks and applying ½
rate convolutional coding. Generating traffic blocks involves incorporating overhead data
transmissions (signaling information) with the voice data. The Mixed Mode (MM) bit indicates the
insertion (MM=1) or non-insertion (MM=0) of signaling data into the traffic frame as required by
the system. A 20 ms frame of voice at coding Rate 1 may be replaced entirely with signaling
information. This is known as blank-and-burst. Alternatively, signaling data transmitted at Rate
1 may share a frame with lower rate voice data. This process is known as dim-and-burst. Traffic
Frames are then generated by adding Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC) code bits which provide
error detection capability.
The resulting traffic frame is fed to a convolutional coder of rate ½ with a constraint length of 9.
This coder uses an 8 bit shift register and outputs 2 bits for every input bit. Convolutional coding
provides channel bit error detection and correction capability. For data rates below 9.6 kbps (Rate
1 + overhead), output bits are repeated to bring the number of bits in a 20 ms block to 384 for a
constant output rate of 19.2 kbps. Remember that the user data (voice information) is still input to
the system at a variable rate – the change to 19.2 kbps represents a change in sampling rate. This
channel coding process is illustrated below in Figure 7-22.

S peech T r a f f ic b lo c k s T r a ffic fr a m e
M M b it
b lo c k s
CR C a t V a r i a b le
R a te
F ro m
V a r ia b le
T r a ff ic 1 9 .2 k b p s
C o n v o lu t io n a l
R a te B lo c k Σ T o In te rle a v e r
C oder
S peech G e n e ra to r
C oder
T a il b it s
S ig n a lin g
M M = 0 N o S i g n a li n g
M M = 1 S ig n a lin g p r e s e n t
Figure 7-22: Channel Coding Process
7.1.3 Bit Interleaving

The effect of interleaving is to spread a burst of bit errors that occur in the transmission channel
over several data blocks as well within a data block. The coded transmissions used in CDMA are
less susceptible to random errors than to burst errors. . Interleaving consists of writing bit stream
into the buffer matrix using one pattern and reading the bit stream from the matrix using different
pattern. Forward link uses 24 by 16 matrix. This is illustrated below in Figure 7-23. The process
is reversed to de-interleave the data.
B lo c k I n t e r le a v e r
F ro m C h a n n e l C o d e r W r it e b lo c k in t o m a t r ix T o E n c r y p t io n ( S c r a m b lin g )
a c c o r d in g to p a tte r n
2 0 m s b lo c k 2 0 m s b lo c k
R e a d b lo c k f r o m m a t r ix
3 8 4 b it s a c c o r d in g to p a tte r n 3 8 4 i n t e r le a v e d b i t s
1 9 .2 k b p s 1 9 .2 k b p s
C o d e d B lo c k s In I n t e r le a v e d B l o c k s O u t
Figure 7-23: Bit Interleaving
7.1.4 Encryption: Long Code Scrambling

The data transmitted on several CDMA channels is encrypted (scrambled). Encryption provides
• Privacy of user traffic information
• Identification of signals on the reverse link (reverse link traffic and access channels)
The encrypted channels are:
• Paging channel (forward link)
• Access channel (reverse link)
• User Traffic channels (reverse link and forward link)

Data on these channels is encrypted by modulating it with a PN sequence with a length of 2 42 - 1

chips at a chip rate of 1.2288 Mbps. This PN sequence is referred to as a Long Code. All long
codes are generated using a 42 bit Long Code Mask. The long code mask is used in conjunction
with a 42 bit state vector of a PN sequence generator to generate a long code. In the case of the
forward link, the long code is converted to 19.2 kbps by keeping and holding the first chip of every
64 long code chips. This is used to encrypt the interleaved bits using a modulo 2 addition. This
process is illustrated for the forward link in Figure 7-24. At the receiver, the encrypted signal is
operated on by the inverse process, using the same long code mask to generate the equivalent long
code and thus, reproduce the original forward link / reverse link coded data streams.
Page Channel or M o d u lo 2
F o r w a r d T r a f fic Add
C h a n n e l C o d e d B it s 1 9 .2 k b p s
B lo c k In t e r le a v e r
1 9 .2 k b p s 1 9 .2 k b p s
s c r a m b le d b it ( t o
W a ls h F u n c t io n
m o d u l a t io n )
1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s
Page Channel
1 / 6 4 lo n g
or U ser Long
Take 1st of 64 code
C ode M ask Long C ode
b it s a n d h o ld
G e n e r a to r
fo r 6 4 b its 1 9 .2 k b p s
Figure 7-24: Forward Link Scrambling for Traffic and Paging Channels
Knowledge of a specific long code mask allows the user (and base station) to encrypt or decrypt
the information associated with that mask. Masks for the Paging, Access, and traffic channels are
based on the knowledge of different information.
7.1.4.1 Paging Channel Encryption

The information transmitted by the base station to the mobile user on the paging channel is
encrypted using a Long Code. To generate the Long Code that will decrypt this data, the mobile
user must formulate the 42 bit mask that corresponds to the paging channel that it is listening to. To
formulate this mask, the mobile must have knowledge of :
• Pilot channel PN offset index (PILOT_PN), and
• the Page channel number that it is listening to (PCN)
The Pilot channel PN offset is transmitted to the mobile unit on the Sync channel. The mobile
initially defaults to Page Channel 1 (PCN=1) until it is reassigned.

7.1.4.2 Access Channel Encryption

The information transmitted by the mobile user to the base station on the access channel is
encrypted using a Long Code. To generate the Long Code that will encrypt this data, the mobile
user must formulate the 42-bit mask that corresponds to the selected access channel it will transmit
on. To formulate this mask, the mobile must have knowledge of :
• Pilot channel PN offset index (PILOT_PN),
• Number of the page channel that it is listening to (PCN),
• Selected Access Channel Number (ACN), and
• the Base Station Identification Number (BASE_ID).
The Pilot channel PN offset and the Base station ID number are transmitted to the mobile unit on
the Sync channel. The mobile initially defaults to Page Channel 1 (PCN=1) until it is reassigned by
a page channel message. The access channel number is randomly selected based on the maximum
number of access channels associate with the paging channel that the mobile is listening to. The
maximum number of access channels is provided by a page channel message.
7.1.4.3 Traffic Channel Encryption

The information transmitted on the forward and reverse traffic is encrypted using a Long Code. To
generate the Long Code that will encrypt and decrypt this data, the mobile and the base station must
have knowledge of the 42-bit mask that corresponds to that specific user. This mask is exchanged
and authenticated through Page and Access channel messages. The details of this process are not
public information.
7.1.5 Walsh Function Modulation

The “narrow band” data transmitted on the forward link is spread over a wide bandwidth by
modulating it with a Walsh function at a fixed rate of 1.2288 Mbps. There are 64 orthogonal Walsh
functions (loosely referred to as channels). Standard assignments are:
• Pilot channel: Walsh 0
• Sync Channel: Walsh 32
• Page Channel: Walsh i, i = 1 to 7,
• Traffic Channel: Walsh i, i = 8 up to 63 , ≠ 32
The specific Walsh function on to which the data is modulated defines the forward link
channelization.
7.1.5.1 Power Control Signaling Subchannel Modulation

To facilitate closed loop power control, the base station commands the mobile to increase or
decrease its transmit power to maintain the Received Power Level (RSL) at the base station at a
constant and minimum acceptable level. This information is encoded on each traffic channel just
prior to Walsh code modulation as illustrated in Figure 7-25. Every interleaved and encrypted 20
ms frame is divided into 16 power control groups. Each power control group is preceded by a
power control bit. A “1” power control bit requests the mobile to decrease its transmit power by
1 dB. Conversely, a “0” power control bit requests the mobile to increase its power by 1 dB. This
signaling format allows the mobile unit output power to be changed 800 times per second.

1 / 6 4 lo n g
code W a ls h F u n c t i o n
F o r w a r d T r a f f ic W i
S c r a m b le d I n t e r le a v e d
O u t p u t B it s R e p la c e 2
1 9 .2 k b p s c o n s e c u tiv e in p u t 1 9 .2 k b p s 1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s
b it s b y o n e p o w e r
c o n tr o l b it e v e r y T o Q u a d ra tu re
S p r e a d in g &
1 .2 5 m s C a r r ie r
M o d u la t io n
P o w e r C o n tro l
B it s
800 bps
Figure 7-25: Power Control Signaling Subchannel
7.1.5.2 Forward Link Base Station Transmit Power Control

As mentioned previously, voice data is coded at varying rates based on the level of speech activity.
The base station seeks to transmit signals at a constant Energy per Bit (Eb). Since the bit rate is
varying, data coded at a high rate (Rate 1) must be transmitted at a higher power than data coded at
a lower rate (e.g. Rate 1/8) in order to maintain a constant Eb.
Forward link transmit power control accomplished using a Variable Attenuator which is
implemented immediately following Walsh function modulation as shown in Figure 7-27. The
transmit power attenuation level vs. Voice encoding data rate is given in Table 7-6. Reducing
transmit power in this manner reduces the interference introduced into the system.
1 /6 4 L o n g C o d e W a ls h
F u n c t io n
W i
F o w a r d T r a f f ic
Channel
S c r a m b le r O u t p u t
S tre a m o f i th u s e r B it 1 9 .2 k b p s 1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s V a r ia b le
1 9 .2 k b p s
P u n c tu r e r A tte n u a to r to Q u a d ra tu re
S p r e a d in g
P o w e r C o n tro l R a te
B it s 8 0 0 b p s
Figure 7-26: Forward Link Base Station Transmit Power Control

Table 7-6: Base Station Transmit Power vs. Data Rate

Data Rate (Rb) kbps
Voice Coding Rate Base Station Transit Power
(per IS-95) Attenuation Level (dB)
9.6
1 0
4.8
1 2 3
2.4
1 4 6
1.2
1 8 9
7.1.6 Quadrature Spreading & Carrier Modulation

After the appropriate Walsh function modulation (spreading) is performed, the pilot, paging, and
traffic channels are summed together. The composite signal is then spread in quadrature by
dividing the signal in quadrature and phase modulating the I and Q channels with a “short code” of
length 215 chips at a chip rate of 1.2288 Mbps. Note that this sequence repeats every 26.66 ms.
The Binary “0” and “1” for the I and Q channels are mapped according to phase states as specified
in Table 7-7. This process result in a QPSK modulated signal with a bandwidth of 1.2288 MHz.

Table 7-7: I and Q bits and Corresponding Phase Modulation State

I Q Phase
0 0 π/4
1 0 3π/4
1 1 −3π/4
0 1 −π/4
These spreading sequences are referred to as Pilot PN Sequences and can be noted in the following
way:
PN-I-i(t) = PN-I-0 (t - i x 64 Tc)
PN-Q-i(t) = PN-Q-0 (t - i x 64 Tc)
Where: i = 0, 1, 2, … 511
t = Time
Tc = Chip Period = 1/1.2288 MHz = 814 ns
This means that including the zero offset sequence, PN-I-0(t) and PN-Q-0(t), there are 512
possible time offset indices, i, to identify cells. There are referred to as “PN Offsets”. Each PN
Offset is 64 chips long. The assignment of PN offsets to specific base stations is known as PN
Offset Planning. This is discussed further in Section 11. The offset I and Q channels are
quadrature modulated with the RF carrier (cos (ω c t) and sin (ωc t)), summed, and transmitted as
illustrated in Figure 7-27
P N - I - i( t )
I
LPF Σ
1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s 1 .2 2 8 8 co s ωc RF
P N - Q - i( t ) M bps s in ω c
Σ
f r o m W a ls h f u n c t io n i
m o d u la t io n
( a f t e r s c r a m b lin g ) Q
LPF Σ
Figure 7-27: Forward Link Quadrature Spreading and Carrier Modulation
7.2 Reverse Link

The reverse link or “uplink” describes the communication from the mobile unit to the base
station(s). A block diagram of the transmit/receive is shown in Figure 7-28. Note that the
demodulation process includes a RAKE receiver to combine multipath signals. The operation of
the RAKE receiver is omitted for clarity in the following sections, however, the RAKE receiver is
discussed in Section 5 of this document.

T r a n s m it P a t h in M o b ile R e c e iv e P a t h in B a s e S t a t io n
V a ria b le V a ria b le L o w
L o w B it R a te B it
Speech R a te S p e e c h
U p lin k
Channel Channel
S p e e c h /C h a n n e l
P r o c e s s in g
B it B it
In te rle a v in g D e in te r le a v in g
6 4 a ry 6 4 a ry
O rth o g o n a l O rth o g o n a l
W a ls h S y m b o l W a ls h S y m b o l
M o d u la tio n D e m o d u la tio n
E n c ry p tio n : D e c ry p tio n :
Long Code Long Code
S p re a d in g D e s p re a d in g
D e m u ltip le x in g
Q u a d ra tu re
a n d Q u a d ra tu re
S p re a d in g
D e s p re a d in g
Q u a d ra tu re Q u a d ra tu re
C a rr ie r C a rrie r
M o d u la tio n D e m o d u la tio n
Figure 7-28: CDMA Reverse Link Radio Process
The following sections describe the reverse link processing with respect to the transmit side.
Unlike the forward link process, no pilot channel is transmitted. The lack of an reverse link pilot
signal dictates the use of non-coherent detection of the signal at the base station. For this reason the
base station requires 2 to 3 dB higher Eb/Nt at its receiver that at the mobile unit receiver.
7.2.1 Variable Low Bit Rate Speech Coding

The speech coding process at the mobile unit is the same as that used at the base stations except that
transcoding is not required. At the mobile unit, filtered analog speech is sampled at 8000 times per
second and linearly quantized at 13 bit resolution. This 104 kbps data stream is then fed to the
Code-Excited Linear Predictive (CELP) Speech Coder. This is illustrated in Figure 7-29.

104 kbps C ELP

LPF A /D Speech
u n if o r m
Encoder
M o u t h p ie c e
Figure 7-29: Speech Processing at Mobile Side
The CELP speech encoder produces a variable output data rate based on speech activity. The coder
generates one frame, or packet, every 20 ms. The available output rates are:
• Rate 1: 171 bits / packet (8.55 kbps)
As with the forward link, the advantage of using lower bit rates when there is little or no speech
activity is that it limits the amount of extraneous information transmitted. Decreasing the bit rate
allows the transmit power to be reduced while maintaining a constant Eb/Nt resulting in less
interference imposed on other users of the system.
7.2.2 Channel Coding

The channel coding process for the reverse link is identical to that on the forward link with the
exception of the convolution coding rate. Channel coding involves converting the 20 ms speech
frames into traffic blocks and applying 1/3 rate Convolutional coding. Generating traffic blocks
involves incorporating overhead data transmissions (signaling information) with the voice data.
The Mixed Mode (MM) bit indicates the insertion (MM=1) or non-insertion (MM=0) of signaling
data into the traffic frame as required by the system. A 20 ms frame of voice at coding Rate 1 may
be replaced entirely with signaling information. This is known as blank-and-burst. Alternatively,
signaling data transmitted at Rate 1 may share a frame with lower rate voice data. This is known as
dim-and-burst. Traffic Frames are then generated by adding Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC)
code bits that provide error detection capability.
The resulting traffic frame is fed to a convolutional coder of Rate 1/3 with a constraint length of 9.
This coder uses an 8 bit shift register and outputs 3 bits for every input bit. Convolutional coding
provides channel bit error detection and correction capability. For data rates below 9.6 kbps (Rate
1 + overhead), output bits are repeated to bring the number of bits in a 20 ms block to 576 for a
constant output rate of 28.8 kbps. Remember that the user data (voice information) is still input to
the system at a variable rate – the change to 19.2 kbps represents a change in sampling rate. This
channel coding process is illustrated below in Figure 7-30.

Speech T r a f f ic b lo c k s T r a f f ic f r a m e
M M b it
b lo c k s V a r ia b l e
CRC
R a te
F ro m
V a r ia b l e T r a f fic 2 8 .8 k b p s
C o n v o lu t io n a l
R a te B lo c k Σ T o I n t e r le a v e r
C oder
Speech G e n e r a to r
Coder
T a il b it s
S i g n a l in g
M M = 0 N o S ig n a l i n g
M M = 1 S ig n a l i n g p r e s e n t
Figure 7-30: Reverse Link Channel Coding Process
7.2.3 Bit Interleaving

The bit interleaving process on the reverse link is very similar to that used on the forward link. The
effect of interleaving is to spread a burst of bit errors that occur in the transmission channel over
several data blocks as well within a data block. The coded transmissions used in CDMA are less
susceptible to random errors than burst errors. Interleaving consists of writing bit stream into the
buffer matrix using one pattern and reading the bit stream from the matrix using different pattern.
Reverse link uses 32 by 18 matrix. This is illustrated below in Figure 7-31. The process is
reversed to de-interleave the data.
C o d e d B lo c k s In In te rle a v e d B lo c k s O u t
B lo c k I n t e r le a v e r
F ro m C h a n n e l C o d e r T o 6 4 a r y S y m b o l M o d u la t io n
- - W r it e b lo c k in t o m a t r ix
2 0 m s b lo c k 2 0 m s b lo c k
a c c o r d in g to p a t te r n
5 7 6 b its - - R e a d b lo c k f r o m m a tr ix 5 7 6 in t e r le a v e d b i t s
a c c o r d in g to p a t te r n
2 8 .8 k b p s 2 8 .8 k b p s
Figure 7-31: Reverse Link Bit Interleaving
7.2.4 64-ary Orthogonal Walsh Symbol Modulation

The process of 64-ary orthogonal Walsh symbol modulation is not really that scary. To improve
error performance, and aid in non-coherent detection, groups of 6 bits coming from the interleaver
are mapped to one of 64 orthogonal Walsh Codes. The index to the specific Walsh Code is
determined by the decimal equivalent of the binary number consisting of the 6 incoming bits. This
6 bit, binary number has decimal equivalent ranging from 0 to 63. The selected Walsh Code

becomes the “modulation symbol” representing 6 binary bits. Note that on the reverse link Walsh
functions Do Not designate channels.
In summary, the input 20 ms frame of data consists of 576 bits. This frame gets converted
(“modulated”) to 96 Walsh functions. Each group of 6 Walsh functions is called a “power control
group”.
Power Control Group Gating
As it turns out, several of the power control groups are repeated bits when the traffic frame rate is
less than Rate 1 (9.6 kbps). The power control groups with repeated bits are removed by gating off
their transmissions with a data burst randomizer. The long code is used by the data burst
randomizer to determine which power control groups are to be gated off. The gating of repeated
bits decreases the self interference to all mobiles transmitting on the same CDMA RF carrier
frequency. The resulting output of the data burst randomizer is still at 307.2 kbps and is then
encrypted. This process is illustrated in Figure 7-32.
7.2.5 Encryption: Long Code Spreading

The data transmitted on several CDMA channels is encrypted (scrambled). Encryption provides
• Privacy of user traffic information
• Identification of signals on the reverse link (reverse link traffic and access channels)
The encrypted channels are:

• Paging channel (forward link)
• Access channel (reverse link)
• User Traffic channels (reverse link and forward link)
Data on these channels is encrypted by modulating it with PN sequences with a length of 242 - 1
chips at a chip rate of 1.2288 Mbps. This PN sequence is referred to as a Long Code. All long
codes are generated using a 42 bit Long Code Mask. The long code mask is used in conjunction
with a 42 bit state vector of a PN sequence generator to generate a long code.
On the reverse link, The 64-ary modulated symbol at 307.2 kbps is modulated with the long code
at 1.2288 Mbps. The output stream is encrypted (as well as spread) data at 1.2288 Mbps with 4
chips for each 64-ary data bit within the symbol. This process is illustrated for the reverse link
Traffic Channel in Figure 7-32. At the receiver, the reverse link data is identified by the long
code used to encrypt it -- not a Walsh Function. The received signal is operated on by the
inverse process, using the same long code mask to generate the equivalent long code and thus,
reproduce the original forward link / reverse link coded data streams.

T r a f f ic F r a m e R a t e V a l u e on on on on g a te d
power
c o n tro l
R e p e a te d b its g a te d o ff (b e lo w 9 .6 k b p s ) o ff o ff g ro u p s
In te r fe r e n c e to o th e r m o b ile s r e d u c e d w h e n o ff 3 0 7 .2 k b p s
6 B its 1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s
B lo c k D a ta B u r s t
T o W a ls h
I n te r le a v e r 2 8 .8 3 0 7 .2 R a n d o m iz e r 4 P N c h ip s
F u n c t io n
kps kpbs p e r W a l s h b it
( to Q u a d ra tu r e
P o w e r C o n tr o l
S p r e a d in g )
G r o u p G a t in g
U ser Long C ode M ask L o n g C o d e

G e n e r a to r 1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s
Figure 7-32: Reverse Link Traffic Channel Spreading, Power Control Group Gating, and
Encryption
Note that the Access Channel and the Traffic Channel are modulated with different long codes
generated with different Long Code Masks. Knowledge of a specific long code mask allows the
user (and base station) to encrypt or decrypt the information associated with that mask. Masks for
the Paging, Access, and Traffic channels are based on the knowledge of different information.
These masks are discussed in Section 7.1.4.
7.2.6 Quadrature Spreading & Carrier Modulation

In the reverse link transmitter, following the direct sequence spreading by the long code, the
forward link zero offset PN codes, PN-I-0(t) and PN-Q-0(t) are used, where PN-Q-0(t) is delayed
by one-half chip time. This delay (406.9 ns) results in an offset quadrature spreading eliminating
the 180 deg phase transitions from the reverse link, allowing the use of a more nonlinear amplifier,
without incurring serious intermodulation problems. Nonlinear amplifiers are cheaper and simpler
to build. The reverse link modulation process is illustrated in Figure 7-33. The Binary “0” and “1”
for the I and Q channels are mapped according to phase states as specified in Table 7-8. This
process results in an Offset QPSK modulated signal. The offset I and Q channels are modulated
with the RF carrier (cos(ωc t) and sin(ωc t)), summed, and transmitted.
Table 7-8: I and Q bits and Corresponding Phase Modulation State

I Q Phase
0 0 π/4
1 0 3π/4
1 1 −3π/4
0 1 −π/4

P N -I-0 (t)
I
LPF
RF
1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s 1 .2 2 8 8 c o s ωct
f r o m lo n g P N -Q -0 (t) M bps Σ
s in ω c t
code
s p r e a d in g
1 /2 P N C h ip Q
( e n c r y p t io n ) LPF
D e la y = 4 0 6 .9 n s
Figure 7-33: Reverse Link Quadrature Spreading and Carrier Modulation
7.3 System Block Diagram

Figure 7-34 and Figure 7-35 provide simplified block diagrams of the reverse link and forward link
processes.
1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s
I SHORT
20m sec
CODE
CONVOLUTIONAL
INTERLEAVER
b lo c k s
ENCODER
W ALSH
COVER
1 .2 2 8 8
1 /2
RATE
M bps
F IR I
9 .6 1 9 .2 1 9 .2 1 9 .2
kbps kbps kbps kbps
VOCODED
SPEECH
DATA
LONG
F IR
Q
CODE
1 .2 2 8 8
M bps 1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s
W ALSH CO DE Q SHORT
SEQUENCE CODE
Figure 7-34: CDMA Forward Link (Base to Mobile) Physical Layer

1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s
6 4 -a r y I SHORT
C O N V O L U T IO N A L
M o d u la to r CODE
20m sec ENCODER 1 t o 6 4 W a ls h
b lo c k s R a t e 1 /3 IN T E R L E A V E R
C odes
3 0 7 .2
kb p s
1 .2 2 8 8
M bps
F IR I
9 .6 2 8 .8 2 8 .8
kbps kbps 1 / 2 C h ip
kbps
D e la y
VOCODED
SPEECH
1 /2 F IR Q
DATA
LO NG
CODE 1 .2 2 8 8
M bps 1 .2 2 8 8 M b p s
Q SHORT
CODE
Figure 7-35: CDMA Reverse Link (Mobile to Base) Physical Layer
8 CDMA Capacity
CDMA technology offers a significant capacity advantage over other multiple access systems. The
capacity of FDMA and TDMA systems is limited by the finite amount of spectrum allocated to
cellular and PCS services with the corresponding frequency reuse requirements. CDMA is
different in that many users operate on a single wideband RF carrier. This carrier frequency may
be reused by the adjacent cell (N=1 reuse). CDMA capacity is only interference limited, therefore
any reduction in interference converts directly and linearly into an increase in capacity.
Interference is introduced from several sources including:
• Co-cell mobile users,
• Adjacent cell mobile users,
• Adjacent cell base stations, as well as
• Thermal and spurious noise.
CDMA employs several techniques to reduce these interference sources including:
• Suppressing or squelching transmissions during quiet periods of each speaker.
• Using sectored base station antennas.
• Dynamic power control to keep transmit levels to the minimum required to close the
link.
8.1 The General Case

For the simplest case of the single CDMA cell site, the approximate capacity in terms of number of
users can be written as:

W R η
N = 1+ −
Eb N 0 S
Equation 8-6: Capacity Equation (General Form)
Where:
W= Spread Spectrum bandwidth (Hz)
R= Information bit rate (Hz)
Eb = Energy per bit (J)
No = System (thermal) noise energy (J)
N= Number of users
S= Received power of user signals at the base station (Watts)
(not including serving signal)
η = Received background noise level at the base station (Watts)
W/R is known as the processing gain and the value of Eb/No is the value required for adequate
performance of the receiver. For the case of digital voice, this implies a Frame Error Rate of 1% or
better which corresponds to a BER of 10-3 or less.
We can see that the number of users (i.e. TECs that may be assigned) is proportional to the system
processing gain and inversely proportional to the required Eb/No (or Eb/Nt as the case may be). In
addition, capacity is reduced by the inverse of the per user signal-to-noise ratio in the total system
spread bandwidth.
8.2 Adjustments to the General Case

Short of reducing the required Eb/Nt through improved coding or modulation techniques, we can
only increase capacity by reducing interference. We must consider the interference generated by
other users with in the given cell and as well as interference from adjacent cell sites. Adjustments
are made to the general capacity equation to reflect these factors.
8.2.1 Sectorization Gain

A common technique for reducing interference is sectorization at the base station. Sectorization
refers to using directional antennas at the cell site for both receiving and transmitting. For a three
sectored cell site, the number of interferers seen by any antenna is, theoretically, a third of the
number seen by an omni directional antenna. An adjustment term called Sectorization Gain (Gs)
is incorporated into the capacity equation to reflect the resulting increase in system capacity. The
sectorization gain for an omni site is 1 and approximately 2.55 for a three-sectored site.
Sectorization gain is slightly less than three due to some overlap in coverage (antenna patterns)
between sectors.
8.2.2 Voice Activity Factor

Studies have shown that either speaker is active only 35% to 40% of the time when making a phone
call. The percentage of time that a user is actually speaking is called the voice activity factor
(VAF). Statistically determined VAF values range from approximately 0.25 to 0.6 with 0.4 to 0.5
being the most common. CDMA uses a variable rate voice encoder that monitors the voice activity

level and suppresses transmission when no speech is taking place. This process reduces the level of
interference introduced into the system. The VAF is incorporated into the capacity equation to
reflect this advantage.
8.2.3 Frequency Reuse Efficiency (IADJ.)

The Frequency Reuse Efficiency, (IADJ) accounts for the interference caused by other mobile units
as well as base stations in the surrounding cells. Dynamic power control is used on the forward and
reverse links to minimize adjacent (as well as co- ) cell interference. IADJ is statistically dependent
on the loading of adjacent cells as well as the location of users within those cells.
This factor is stated as a fraction of the noise experienced nominally by the cell under
consideration. A typical value for IADJ is given as 0.66. This value implies that a cell located in the
center of a seven cell cluster is subject to a noise floor that is 160% of that which would be
observed if a cell is operating in total isolation.
8.3 Definition of Pole Point

The pole point is frequently referred to in CDMA capacity analysis. It is best described
conceptually by visualizing the operation of a single CDMA Forward channel transmitter. When
the transmitter is idle, only Pilot, Paging, and Sync are transmitted. As a single conversation (TCE)
becomes active, some power is added to the total transmitted signal to service that conversation. It
may be a minority of the total transmitter power, but the CDMA processing gain, (roughly 19.3 dB
for a 14.4 kbs information rate) will make the received de-spread Eb/Nt sufficiently large that the
data can be demodulated. As path loss (distance) increases, the subscriber will eventually lose the
signal, as No (thermal noise) begins to become the dominant part of Nt, and it overwhelms Eb.
As the number of users (TCEs) increases on the single CDMA RF carrier, the call we wish to
decode becomes a smaller and smaller fraction of the total transmitter power, and the total
transmitter power will increase to provide an adequate signal for each active call (TCE). At large
distances, Nt is significantly above that which was observed with only one active call, and the cell's
maximum range is gradually reduced. The available fixed processing gain of the system is less
effective in eliminating the transmitter-produced portion of Nt because of the correlated effect of
multiple users.
At some point, the increasing number of active calls (TCEs) becomes large enough that No no
longer matters. The noise resulting from Sync, Paging, Pilot, and the other active calls overwhelm
the processing gain, and the desired call can no longer be decoded, at any range, regardless of how
high the transmit power is raised. In other words, the cell jams itself with its own co-channel (i.e.
co-frequency) transmissions. This number of users at which this condition occurs is known as the
Pole Point.
8.4 The Pole Point Equation

The pole point equation estimates the maximum number of traffic channels that may be assigned to
a single CDMA base station (or sector) on a single carrier frequency. This equation includes the
effects of sectorization, voice activity, and adjacent cell interference.

Equation 8-7: Pole Point Equation
(W Rb )
#ofTCEs at Pole Point = 1 +
(1 + I ADJ )(VAF )( Eb N t )( Gs )
where:
W = The Spread Bandwidth in Chips/sec = 1.2288 x 106 for IS-95 derivatives,
Rb = The Information Bit Rate = 14.4 x 103 bps (IS-95-A), (9.6 kbps for IS-95)
IADJ = The additional interference contributed by adjacent cells = 0.6,
VAF = Voice Activity Factor = 0.5,
Eb/Nt = Minimum Eb/Nt required (after despreading) to provide specified voice quality,
Gs = Sectorization Gain
= 1 for omni cells
= 1.18 (that is 3/2.55) for 3-sector cells
To explain these variables further,
• The spread bandwidth (W) is the actual number of chips transmitted on the RF channel after the
data signal is spread by a direct sequence technique, as it is in IS-95 and PCS derivatives.
• The information bit rate (Rb) is the channel information bit rate, including both the voice
channel and system overhead bits to support a single voice channel
• The additional interference contributed by adjacent cells (IADJ) is an adjustment factor that has
been stated by equipment vendors to be the nominal amount of extra system-generated noise
contributed by adjacent cells. This is stated as a fraction of the noise generated by the cell
under consideration. In other words, 0.6 means that Nt (neglecting the No component) is 160%
of that which would be observed if a cell is operating in total isolation. This factor is a function
of cell loading, propagation characteristics, and voice activity factor.
• The voice activity factor (VAF) is the fraction of the time that a person is actually speaking
(and transmitting full-rate data) during an average conversation. If a person spends 50% of the
time talking, VAF=0.5.
• Minimum Eb/Nt is the Eb/Nt required to maintain a 1% frame error rate, that which has been
specified as the minimum acceptable to maintain call quality. This is normally expressed as a
linear energy ratio, not in dB.
• Sectorization gain (Gs) is somewhat similar to the additional interference contributed by

adjacent cells except that it is a factor to describe the noise introduced by adjacent sectors
within the same cell. In other words, it is intended to adjust for the fact that sectorizing a cell
does not quite increase the available number of TCEs available at a 3 sector cell by a factor of
3.
For the assumptions stated previously, the # of TCEs at Pole Point = 19.09, or 19 when truncated to
the next lower integer

It is important to note that pole point is expressed per sector, not per cell.
It is also possible to show that the accuracy of the closed loop power control plays a part in the pole
point, as it affects the ratio of the desired signal's power to the total noise. The pole point equation
shown above assumes that perfect power control is maintained. At this time, the specifications is
for ±2.5dB which results in a 20% reduction in the available maximum number of TCEs2.
9 CDMA Handoff
A CDMA cellular network handles mobile unit call processing transitions more subtly than the
other technologies used for mobile communications networks. CDMA Handoffs require that the
mobile unit maintain an ongoing list of possible base station sites that it may use for Handoffs as it
travels through the system. CDMA offers the unique feature of allowing mobile users to process
signals from multiple (up to 3) base stations simultaneously. The terminology and various types of
Handoffs associated with CDMA are described below.
9.1 Handoff Terminology

Handoffs are initiated and terminated as a result of the pilot signal strength as measured by the
mobile unit in terms of Ec/Nt (Energy per chip to Total Noise). The parameters and classifications
associated with CDMA Handoffs are provided below.
9.1.1 Introduction to TADD, TDROP & TCOMP

TADD is the value of the Pilot signal strength, Ec/Nt, in dB received by the mobile unit at which the
mobile will recognize the cell/sector as a possible contributor to the call processing activities.
Values provided by vendors are typically on the order of -13 dB.
TDROP is the value of the Pilot signal strength, E c/Nt, in dB received by the mobile unit at which the
mobile will drop the cell/sector as a possible contributor to the call processing activities. Values
provided by vendors are typically on the order of -17 dB. Note that the received pilot strength must
fall below TDROP for some specified length of time before the cell/sector is dropped in order to keep
from “toggling” the cell on and off. This length of time (T_TDROP) is an addressable parameter
with values ranging from 0.1 to 319 seconds.
Note that both TADD and TDROP are assigned on a per transmitter (i.e. per cell or sector) basis. These
terms need not be the same for every cell in the system.
T_COMP is the Active Set versus Candidate Set comparison threshold. Mobile Stations transmit a
Pilot Strength Measurement Message when the strength of a pilot in the Candidate Set exceeds that
of a pilot in the Active Set by this margin. The base station shall set this field to the threshold
Candidate Set pilot to Active Set pilot ratio, in units of 0.5 dB.
Reference Robert Padovani, “Reverse Link Performance of IS-95 Based Cellular Systems,” IEEE Personal
2
Communications, Third Quarter 1994

9.1.2 Handoff Candidate Classification

The mobile station continuously searches for Pilots to detect the presence of other CDMA signals
that have the same carrier frequency and measures the strength (received Ec/Nt) of the pilots. When
the mobile station detects a Pilot of sufficient strength that is not associated with the serving
cell/sector, it sends a message to the serving base station. The cellular network decides which
neighbor base stations can be involved in a Handoff. In doing this, the all of the base stations are
classified into one of the categories described in the following table.
Table 9-9: Pilot Search Parameters

Classification Description
Active Set The pilots associated with the Forward Traffic Channels assigned to the mobile
station.
Candidate Set The pilots that are not currently in the active set but have been received by the
mobile station with sufficient strength to indicate that the associated Forward
Traffic Channels could be successfully demodulated.
Neighbor Set The pilots that are not currently in the Active Set or the Candidate Set and are
likely candidates for Handoff.
Remaining Set The set of all possible pilots in the current on the current CDMA frequency
assignment, excluding the pilots in the Neighbor Set, the Candidate Set, and the
Active Set.
9.2 Types of Handoffs

The RAKE receiver allows the mobile unit to coherently combine bit energy from up to three
different sources to complete the forward link. Conversely base station processing software allows
for completion of the reverse link by evaluating and selecting the best data received by up to three
base stations. The differences in the types of Handoffs stems from the number of contributing
entities and the relative locations of the contributing base stations (i.e. adjacent cells or adjacent
sectors).
9.2.1 Soft Handoff

The condition where two cells are in simultaneous communication with the mobile is called
Soft Handoff. Soft Handoff will continue until the pilot signal from one of the contributing cells
drops below a predefined threshold (TDROP). At that time the call will be transferred to the
remaining cell.
The mobile station typically initiates soft Handoffs. The mobile station continuously searches for
pilots to detect the presence of other CDMA signals that have the same carrier frequency and
measures the strength of the pilots. When the mobile station detects a pilot of sufficient strength
that is not associated with the serving cell, it sends a message to the serving base station. The
cellular network decides which neighbor base stations can be involved in a Handoff and selects an
idle Walsh function associated with the selected site, effectively selecting a traffic channel. The
selected site is given the mobile’s long code mask. The serving base station is directed to send the
mobile a message to initiate Soft Handoff. The simultaneous communication with the two base
stations is handled differently on the forward link and reverse link.

9.2.1.1 Forward Link

When the Soft Handoff is initiated, the two base stations begin transmitting data to the mobile. The
mobile receives information from the two forward links and uses the RAKE receiver to coherently
combine the signals using the pilot sequence transmitted by each cell/sector as its reference. This
combination of multiple forward link signals improves overall link performance.
9.2.1.2 Reverse Link

In the case of the reverse link, both base stations are receiving the transmitted speech frames from
the mobile. However, these signals are not coherently combined at the MTSO. Instead, the highest
quality traffic frame received from among the two base stations is selected on a frame-by-frame
basis. Improved reverse link performance results since it is more probable that a traffic frame of
acceptable quality will be receive by one of the two base stations than by a single base station. The
Soft Handoff reverse link process is modeled in terms of a “joint probability”.
9.2.1.3 Joint Power Control

During a Soft Handoff, closed-loop power control of the mobile user is handled “jointly”
between the serving base stations. The base stations send identical traffic frames with the
exception of the power control bits. If all of the serving base stations request the mobile increase
its power, the mobile will increase its output power by 1 dB (nominal). However if any one of the
serving stations request a decrease in power, the mobile will drop its output by 1 dB. As with the
normal closed-loop power control process, adjustments are made for each power control group
(1/16 of a 20 ms frame or 800 time per second).
9.2.2 Soft - Soft Handoff

Soft-Soft Handoffs are identical in function and process to that of the soft Handoff described in
Section 9.2.1, however, Soft-Soft Handoffs entail the simultaneous serving of a mobile unit by
three cell sites. Three is the maximum number of serving signals due to mobile (RAKE) receiver
specification.
9.2.3 Softer Handoff

Softer Handoffs are identical in function and process to that of the soft Handoff described in
Section 9.2.1, however Softer Handoffs entail the simultaneous serving of a mobile unit by two
sectors of the same cell.
9.2.4 Soft - Softer Handoff

Soft - Softer Handoffs are identical in function and process to that of the Soft Handoff described in
Section 9.2.1, however, Soft-Softer Handoffs are the simultaneous serving of a mobile station
by the original sector, an adjacent sector, and an adjacent or neighboring cell.

9.2.5 Hard Handoff

The mobile unit will initially seek to perform a soft Handoff. If the cellular network cannot
perform a soft Handoff, a hard Handoff is necessary. A hard Handoff occurs when a CDMA call
is transferred from one base station to another base station transmitting on a different carrier
frequency. Hard Handoff is analogous to the Handoff procedure that takes place in standard
AMPS Cellular. When the serving base station directs the mobile unit to perform a hard handoff, it
provides the mobile with the new CDMA frequency assignment, new Walsh Code assignment, and
new Active Set of base stations. The mobile then disables its transmitter, switches its receiver to
the new CDMA frequency. It then acquires the Pilot signals from the base stations in the newly
specified active set. Once the mobile station has received a predetermined number of correct traffic
frames from the new base station, it enables its transmitter on the new CDMA frequency and
continues the conversation.
9.2.6 CDMA to Analog Handoff

If there are no CDMA channels to Handoff to, then the call would be handed off to an available
analog channel at the serving base station and switched to the analog mode of processing. From
that point on, the call will be handled as any other analog call at that base station. The CDMA to
Analog Hand off is applicable to 850 MHz cellular CDMA, however, it is not currently defined for
PCS applications.
9.3 Handoff Criteria

It is important to note that current system implementations base handoff decisions solely on Pilot
signal strength. Call quality is not considered a handoff parameter. Systems put mobile stations
into soft handoff with as many base stations as possible. That is, the system will seek to put mobile
users in soft handoff with the with all the base stations (max. of three) with pilots signals exceeding
TADD. Indeed; resources (TCEs) are allocated on the ability to allocate them rather than the need to
allocate them. Go figure. In short:
• Handoffs are based solely on Pilot Strength – not call quality
• If a mobile station can be into a soft handoff – it will
9.4 Handoff Process

Three examples are provided to illustrate IS-95 CDMA Soft Handoff Processing.
9.4.1 Example 1
Figure 9-36 walks through the processes associated with two Pilot Channels greater than T_ADD. It
is easily extended to the case of three Pilot Channels greater than T_ADD.
Mobile Station Base Station
(User conversation using A) (User conversation using A)
• Pilot B strength exceeds T_ADD
• Sends Pilot Strength Measurement ⇒ Reverse Traffic ⇒ • A receives Pilot Strength
Message Channel Measurement Message

• B begins transmitting traffic on the

Forward Traffic Channel and
acquires the Reverse Traffic
Channel
• Receives Handoff Direction ⇐ Forward Traffic ⇐ • A and B send Handoff Direction
Message Channel Message to use A and B
• Acquires B; begins using Active
Set (A,B)
• Sends Handoff Completion ⇒ Reverse Traffic ⇒ • A and B receive Handoff
Message Channel Completion Message
Figure 9-36: Mobile Unit transitions into a region defined by two Pilot Channels greater than
T_ADD (Soft Hand-off)
9.4.2 Example 2
IS-95 permits up to three Pilots to be assigned to the Active Set. There will be situations in which a
fourth Pilot Channel is greater than T_ADD. IS-95 deals with this situation by favoring the
prevailing Pilot Channels greater than T_ADD through the use of T_COMP. T_COMP compares the value
of the incoming pilot to the weakest Pilot in the Active Set and will demote promote the incoming
Pilot if its Ec/Io value exceeds the active pilot by some specified margin and demotes the weaker
Pilot to the Candidate Set. A simplified example is given in Figure 9-37 where base station C is the
weakest Active Pilot.

(User conversation using A, B, C) (User conversation using A, B, C)
• Pilot D strength exceeds T_ADD
• Sends Pilot Strength Measurement ⇒ Reverse Traffic ⇒ • A, B, C receives Pilot Strength
Message Channel Measurement Message.
• T_COMP is applied to C & D.
• D begins transmitting traffic on
the Forward Traffic Channel and
Channel
• Receives Handoff Direction ⇐ Forward Traffic ⇐ • C and D send Handoff Direction
• Acquires D; begins using Active
Set (A,B,D)
• C is relegated to Candidate Set
• Sends Handoff Completion ⇒ Reverse Traffic ⇒ • C and D receive Handoff
• Handoff drop timer of pilot C

expires
• Sends Pilot Strength Measurement ⇒ Reverse Traffic ⇒ • A, B, C and D receive Pilot
Message Channel Strength Measurement Message
• Receives Handoff Direction ⇐ Forward Traffic ⇐ • C and D send Handoff Direction
Message Channel Message to use D only
• Stops diversity combining with C;

begins using Active Set (A,B, D)

• Sends Handoff Completion ⇒ Forward Traffic ⇒ • A, B, C and D receive Handoff
• C stops transmitting on the
receiving on the Reverse Traffic
Channel
(User conversation using A, B, D) (User conversation using A, B, D)
Figure 9-37: Mobile Unit transitions into a region defined by four or more Pilot Channels
greater than T_ADD

9.4.3 Example 3
Figure 9-38 illustrates the basic processes associated with a transition involving two Pilots. This is
easily extended to handle three Pilots

(User conversation using A) (User conversation using A)
• Pilot B strength exceeds T_ADD
• Sends Pilot Strength Measurement ⇒ Reverse Traffic ⇒ • A receives Pilot Strength
• B begins transmitting traffic on the
Channel
• Acquires B; begins using Active
Set (A,B)
• Sends Handoff Completion ⇒ Reverse Traffic ⇒ • A and B receive Handoff
• Handoff drop timer of pilot A

expires
• Sends Pilot Strength Measurement ⇒ Reverse Traffic ⇒ • A and B receive Pilot Strength
Message Channel Message to use B only
• Stops diversity combining; begins
using Active Set (B)
• Sends Handoff Completion ⇒ Forward Traffic ⇒ • A and B receive Handoff
• A stops transmitting on the
receiving on the Reverse Traffic
Channel
(User conversation using B) (User conversation using B)
Figure 9-38: Mobile Unit transitions through a region defined by two prevailing pilots
greater than T_ADD.
In these situations, we have assumed that system access was not limited by available traffic
resources. It is clear that the hand off process will be initiated as a result of Pilot Channel E c/Io
with no reference to call quality. The operating parameters that are directly affected by E b/Nt are
measured by the mobile unit and the base station to be used for statistical processes only.

10 CDMA Call Example

The following is a example of a possible cellular call in a CDMA system. The example describes:
• Initial system access
• Call initiation and setup,
• Soft Handoff, and
• Call termination.
10.1 Initial System Access

When the mobile is first turns on, it must find the best base station with which to communicate.
The mobile unit tunes its receiver to a specified “primary” CDMA carrier frequency (Note that
detailed CDMA frequency planning is not addressed in this document). The mobile then scans for
available pilot signals, which are all on different time offsets of the same PN short (2 15 chips) code.
This acquisition process is similar to what takes place in an analog system where the mobile scans
the control channels and selects the strongest one. The scanning process is made somewhat easier
since the timing of any base station is always an exact multiple of 64 system clock cycles (chips)
offset from any other base station. The mobile selects the strongest pilot sequence and establishes
frequency and time reference with this signal. If the mobile does not detect any pilot signals of
adequate strength, the unit tunes its receive to another specified CDMA carrier frequency
The mobile then demodulates the sync channel which is always transmitted on Walsh 32. The Sync
Channel provides master clock information by sending the state of the 42 bit shift register, which
generates the long (242 chips) code, 320 ms in the future. The long code, generated in conjunction
with a private user mask, is used for encryption and decryption. The mobile then starts listening to
the paging channel and waits for a page directed to its phone number.
10.2 Call Initiation and Setup

The mobile user then decides to make a call and enters the desired phone number. This initiates an
access probe. The mobile uses the access channel and attempts to contact the serving base station.
Since no traffic channel has been established, the mobile uses open loop power control. Multiple
tries are allowed at random times to avoid collisions that can occur on the access channel. Each
successive attempt is made at a higher power level. After each attempt, the mobile listens to the
paging channel for a response from the base stations. Once the access request has been received by
the base station, the base station responds with an assignment to a traffic channel (Walsh code).
The base station initiates the land link, and conversation takes place.
10.3 Soft Handoff

During the call the mobile finds another base station with pilot power received at the mobile
adequate to service the call (above the TADD threshold for that cell). The mobile unit makes a
request to its serving cell to initiate a soft Handoff with the additional cell. The base station passes
this request to the MSC. Contingent on some other factors (requested site availability, system, etc.)
the MSC will approve the request for handoff. The MSC then contacts the second base station and
gets a Walsh (traffic channel) assignment. The assignment is sent to the mobile by the first base
station. The land link is connected to both base stations. The mobile coherently combines the

signals from both base stations using the two pilot signals as coherent phase (time) references. On
the reverse link, the MSC examines the signals from each base station and the best 20 ms frame is
selected based on the Frame Error Rate.
At this point, closed-loop power control is conducted by both base stations. In this case, the mobile
will increase its power only if both stations request it. However if any one serving base station
requests a decrease, the mobile will decrease its power. As the signal from the first base station
degrades (drops below the TDROP threshold), the mobile will ask that the Soft Handoff be
terminated. The mobile sends a drop request for the first cell and the MSC then discontinues its
transmission and reception from that cell.
10.4 Call Termination

Call termination can be initiated either from the mobile or the land side. In either case the
transmissions are stopped, the Walsh code is freed, and the land line connection is broken. The
mobile unit resumes monitoring the page channel of the current serving cell.
11 Basic System Engineering Issues

The properties of CDMA require that the design guidelines of conventional AMPS or GSM systems
be modified to accommodate the addition of the noise floor (Nt), the constructive benefits
associated with multipath as variables that effect system performance, as well as the non-
symmetrical relationship between the forward and reverse links. There are some basic concepts
that need to be kept in mind when engineering a CDMA system that are not applicable to the other
technologies.
1. The coverage provided by CDMA system is not static. As the loading on a given
base station changes, the coverage provided by that base station changes inversely.
Otherwise stated; just because you have great RF coverage doesn’t guarantee good signal.
2. Holes in coverage may result when there is either insufficient or abundant levels of
RF. System coverage is measured as the ratio of desired signal to all other signals and that
the ratio can be unacceptable regardless of the absolute quantity.
3. CDMA systems allow for the non-symmetrical simultaneous processing of a call by
multiple base stations. The energy in the forward link is summed to a greater strength than
the individual components. The reverse link employs the shotgun effect in that multiple base
stations will receive the transmitted signal and the probability that the signal will be
acceptable for at least one of them is greatly increased.
4. Traffic engineering in a CDMA system requires that in addition to all of the factors
associated with engineering a FDMA or TDMA system, the element of time also be
introduced. PN Offset Planning for a CDMA system requires the careful assignment of 512
available time offsets to the cells/sectors in a system.

11.1 Propagation Modeling of the Wideband CDMA RF signal

Modern RF engineering must rely on accurate and reliable EM wave propagation models. The
foundations of good propagation models are well-established theory, statistical analysis and ability
to be modified by measured data. The question to ask is: can we use existing narrow-band signal
propagation model to design wideband CDMA system?
A RF signal propagating through wireless medium arrives at the receiver distorted as a result of
different propagation paths. These paths are caused by a scattering, reflection and diffraction from
either a natural or man made structure existing over the propagation area. In addition, the received
signal reaches the receiver significantly attenuated due to the propagation loss phenomena. In
theoretical modeling of the propagation loss we can determine two separate loss mechanisms.
The first one is the signal level decay due to the dispersion of the energy in space, absorption of the
ground and foliage and effects of the ground reflection. This phenomenon defines mean power
path loss. In addition to mean power path loss, existing terrain features as well as large man made
structures impose additional variations of the signal commonly referred to as slow or long-term
fading. The statistical distribution of the long-term fading has been studied extensively and it can
be modeled as additional loss having normal zero mean normal distribution in the logarithmic
domain. For that reason the long-term fading is frequently called log normal fading.
Multipath propagation causes large signal strength variations over distances comparable with signal
wavelength. These large variations are commonly termed short term or fast fading. Due to the fast
fading, the envelope of the received signal has a statistical distribution that is often model by
Rayleigh density function [1].
Theoretical analyses described above, assumes a signal bandwidth which is relatively small in
comparison to the RF carrier frequency. In comparison to other cellular standards, IS-95 CDMA
has a considerably larger bandwidth. Study of the path loss characteristic for the wide-band signals
presented in [2] demonstrated that, provided the power spectrum density of the signal is
approximately flat, narrow-band path loss estimation are of sufficient accuracy as long as the
bandwidth of the signal is smaller than 66% of the carrier frequency. For the case of cellular IS-95
based CDMA systems this is certainly the case. In addition, due to its wide-band nature CDMA
signal has an inherent multipath fading resistance and for that reason fast fading is not as
pronounced as in the case of narrow-band signals.
Two most popular macroscopic propagation models are Lee’s Propagation Model and Hata-
Okumura Propagation Model. As it is shown in [3], Lee’s Model is valid for 1900 MHz band, too.
Although Hata-model is developed for frequencies from 150 and 1500 MHz, there is a separate
version for 1500 to 2000 MHz band called COST-231.
11.2 Link Budget

Link budget analysis examines all gains and losses present in the radio path between a transmitter
and a receiver. In order for a system to operate properly, both forward and reverse links have to
satisfy power and quality requirements. Balancing the forward and reverse link budget for a
CDMA system takes into consideration: traffic load in a particular system, various hardware

limitations, equipment characteristics, signal quality requirements, required coverage reliability and
type of propagation environment. The link budget analysis provides the maximum allowable path
loss that can be tolerated on the radio link and determines the extent of the cell coverage radius.
Due to the different processing schemes for six channel types defined by IS-95 standard, link
budget analysis must be examined separately for each channel type. Usually, analysis starts with
reverse link calculations using the expected traffic load as a main input parameter. The result is
maximal allowable path loss. Next step combines previously calculated maximal path loss and
receiver sensitivity to obtain the appropriate power allocation for each of the forward link channels.
This is illustrated in Table 11-11, which uses pre-calculated receiver sensitivity (see Table 11-10).
Detailed explanation of all aspects of link budget is given in ‘Unit C2: Intermediate CDMA Planing
and Design Issues’.
Table 11-10: Receiver Sensitivity for Different CDMA Channel Types

Channel Bit Rate PG Quality Noise RxSens
Type [Kb/sec] [dB] Requirement Figure [dBm]
[dB] [dB]
Pilot N/A 0 -14 8 -119
Paging 7.2 22.3 8 8 -119
4.8 24.1 8 8 -121
Sync 1.8 25.3 8 8 -122
1.2 27.1 8 8 -124
Traffic- 14.4 19.3 6.5 8 -118
Forward
9.6 21.1 5 8 -121
Traffic – 14.4 19.3 7 5 -120
Reverse
9.6 21.07 6 5 -123

Table 11-11: Simplified Example of IS-95 CDMA Link Budget for In-Vehicle Coverage
Reverse Forward Link

Link
Pilot Paging Sync Traffic
Reverse Link TX 23.01 dBm

Power (0.2 Watts)
Forward Link 34.7 dBm 28.7 dBm 25.7 dBm 25 dBm
TX Power (2.9 Watts) (0.74 Watts) (0.37 Watts) (.3 Watts)
MS antenna gain -2.16 -2.16 -2.16 -2.16 -2.16

(dBd)
Human/Head Loss -3 -3 -3 -3 -3
Cable Loss -3.0 -3.0 -3.0 -3.0 -3.0
BS antenna gain 15.0 15.0 15.0 15.0 15.0

(dBd)
In vehicle loss -8 -8 -8 -8 -8
Soft Hand-off Gain 3.7 0 0 0 3.7
Fade Margin -4.3 -4.3 -4.3 -4.3 -4.3
Interference Margin -4 -8 -4 -4 -4
(60% loading)
RX sensitivity (dBm) -123 -119 -121 -124 -121
Maximum path loss 140.24 140.24 140.24 140.24 140.24

(dB)
11.3 Nominal Cell Configurations & Nominal Cell Radii Calculations

The basic cell configurations for a CDMA system is pretty much the same as for conventional
cellular with regards to radiation centerlines, building locations, etc. A set of assumed parameters
(antenna heights, etc.) can be developed for a system designed from the ground up with no specific
requirements concerning existing structures. This will provide a “cookie cutter” approach to the
initial design process that is customized on a per cell basis as the system is built. The customization
will require revisiting the Link Budget if the assumptions are changed. When the exact location and

present configuration of the cell sites are known, the Link Budget is modified to accommodate the
cell specific capabilities. The cell parameters, nominal or otherwise, can be loosely translated into
a circular cell coverage area that meets the coverage minimum criteria for a balanced path. The
edge of the coverage circle is referred to as the nominal cell radii. The nominal cell radii shown in
Table 11-12 refers to the expected cell radii for an assumed loading percentage, the propagation
model type, the nominal values for the propagation model, and the signal level which corresponds
to a desired area coverage reliability.
Establishing the conditions necessary for Nominal Cell Radii Calculations requires knowledge of
statistics and propagation modeling which is provided in SAFCO’s “Introduction to Statistics,
Propagation Modeling, and the WIZARD propagation Model” course and is not provided here.
The section below does, however, provide the process for the calculation once the conditions are
established.
Procedure for Calculating the Nominal Cell Radii with Example
• Based on a required signal level for a given performance level, a nominal cell radius can be
computed. The term nominal is used because the calculation process itself assumes a
homogenous terrain type with no effective antenna height gain. However, because we have
assumed a standard deviation in our link calculations the use of a prediction model to show
the desired coverage bands will in fact illustrate the desired coverage reliability we wish to
show.
• The steps to be followed in computing a nominal cell radius for coverage purposes as well
as required coverage bands.
1. Determine the application of the prediction model to the area type. Determine the
standard deviation that can be expected for a model that is optimized for the area where
the model will be used.
2. Determine a nominal cell configuration to be used (antenna radiation centerline, antenna
gain) as well as path loss slope and 1 mile intercept values,
3. Compute required area and boundary coverage reliability numbers and corresponding
Fade Margin,
4. Calculate a balanced path maximum path loss for the area type, application (in-building,
in-vehicle, and outdoors), and class of mobile or portable. Ensure all factors in the
reverse link and forward link have been accurately accounted for.
5. From the balanced path calculations, ensure that the TX power from the BS (we predict
the DL) is only large enough to represent a balanced path (what you display on screen
will in fact allow the mobile unit. The TX Power (dBm) maximum for a balanced path -
maximum path loss from link budget = received signal level (dBm) for the coverage
type desired.
6. Using the antenna height, slope, 1 mile intercept, and the Lee model for the area type
calculate the maximum cell size for a homogenous area of the type specified. The
propagation model will adjust the predictions as the terrain profile is traversed with
point by point adjustments.
Example:
Assume the following parameters based on maintaining a balanced path with a 90%
coverage reliability for the area type and link budget parameters assumed in a relatively flat
standard suburban area type.

Parameter Nominal
Value
Minimum Received Signal Level at cell edge for a balance path (RSL) -100.9 dBm
Reference ERP Power (PTX Ref) 100 Watts
Actual ERP Power from Link Budget (PTX ) 8 Watts
Reference Transmit Antenna Height (HTX Ref) 150’
Actual Transmit Antenna Height from Nominal Cell Configuration (HTX) 131’
One mile intercept as referenced to 50 dBm transmit power (P1 mile) -75 dBm
Decay Slope (dB/decade) 38.4 dB/decade
The Nominal Cell Radius in miles, is given by:
 P   
PL = RSL − P1mile − 10 ⋅ log  tx  −15 ⋅ log  H tx  (equation 1)
P  H 
 tx , ref   tx , ref 
PL
Rnominal = 10 DecaySlope (equation 2)
Equation 11-8: Calculation of Nominal Cell Radii
Substituting these values results in a calculated nominal cell radius of 2.322 miles.
Table 11-12: Summary of Parameters used to calculate nominal cell radius, and calculated
cell radius for each area type and antenna configuration of a typical system at 50% loading.
Antenna Signal
Height TCE MAX Level at Nominal Cell
Service meters TX ERP Boundary Radius
Area Type Offering (feet) (dBm) (dBm) miles (km)
DU IB 30 (98.4) 36.94 -99.08 1.07 (1.71)
U IB 40 (131.2) 36.44 -101.06 1.60 (2.56)
S IB 40 (131.2) 38.94 -101.06 2.33 (3.73)
R IB / IV 75 (246) 37.44 -105.06 5.80 (9.28)
DU OD 30 (98.4) 36.94 -113.26 2.21(3.54)
U OD 40 (131.2) 36.44 -113.26 3.13 (5.01)
S OD 40 (131.2) 38.94 -113.26 4.85 (7.76)
R OD 75 (246) 37.44 -113.26 10.44 (16.70)

11.4 Nominal System Parameters

Figure 11-39 lists the system parameters typically used by WIZARD.
Figure 11-39: Typical CDMA System Parameters
11.5 Coverage & Capacity Relationship

There is an inverse relationship between the coverage area of a given cell and the loading on that
cell due to a rising of the noise floor induced by the users on that site. This phenomena results in a
“breathing” and a “self regulating” communication system. The average required capacity of a
given base station has to be estimated at the time of design so as to predict both the coverage it will
provide and the interference it will introduce at a given average loading. On the system level, the
design of a network that will provide seamless coverage at 70% theoretical loading will require a
greater number of cells spaced closer together than a network designed to operate at 50%
theoretical loading.
11.5.1 Sensitivity Analysis: Effects of Loading on the System

A sensitivity analysis will provide the design engineer with an idea of the extent system
performance will change for increases and decreases in instantaneous traffic loading. This analysis
is essentially an overlay of the coverage provided at the maximum anticipated operating level
placed atop the coverage provided at an average anticipated operating levels. By performing
several iterations at various levels, an engineer will be able to determine the maximum average
loading the system can sustain and still meet the design coverage objectives.

11.5.2 Sensitivity Analysis Example

Figure 11-40 represents the reverse link voice channel coverage provided by a given cell at 5% and
80% of theoretical capacity. Notice the reduction in effective voice channel coverage as a result
of the increase in system noise due to the increase in traffic at the cell. AMPS and GSM
technologies do not experience changes in effective coverage area due to increases in traffic
demand on the system.
Figure 11-40: Comparison of Coverage due to change in traffic (5% to 80% of theoretical
capacity)
11.6 PN Offset Planning

In general, PN offset planning for a CDMA system is analogous to frequency planning in an
FDMA or TDMA system. For a given CDMA system, PN offset planning is a function of the same
basic parameter as an AMPS channel plan such as:
• Base Station Locations
• Propagation Characteristics
• Topography of the area
As discussed earlier, each base station transmits a pilot signal used for acquisition, system
synchronization, cell selection, and coherent demodulation of the traffic channels. All base stations
transmit a unique pilot signal using the same Pseudo Random Noise (PN or PRN) spreading code
(Short Code) but with different time offsets. There are a total of 512 phase offsets that are used to
uniquely describe a base station. PN offsets can be reused if there is sufficient separation between
cells using the same offset.
To efficiently track pilot signals, the mobile station categorizes the received signals into four sets:
active set, candidate set, neighboring set, and the remaining set. The active set contains pilot PN
offsets associated with the current base station(s) (or sectors) supporting an on-going call. The
candidate set contains the pilot PN offsets associated with all base stations (sectors) likely to be

candidates for soft Handoff. The neighbor set contains all pilot PN offsets for base stations close to
the mobile station. The remaining set contains all pilot PN offsets not included in the other three
sets.
PN offsets are selected based upon the relative time delay (signal travel time at the speed of light)
between sites and exact served areas of those sites. The development of a PN offset plan depends
upon exact information on final site locations. There are 512 PN offsets available to allocate to
cells / sectors. Each PN offset is 64 chips. This ‘separation’ between pilots may be increased by
parameter PN-increment (i.e. if PN-increment is 2, separation between pilots is 128 chips and the
total number of pilots is 256).
Basic PN Offset Planning Strategy
In the mobile radio environment the signal transmitted from a BS and arriving at a mobile unit will
be from different paths as a result of the multipath reflection phenomenon. Since each path has a
different path length, the time of arrival for each path is different. This means that, for an impulse
transmitted from the BS, by the time the impulse is received at the MS it is no longer an impulse
but rather a pulse with a spread width which is referred to as the delay spread. Measured data
indicates that the mean delay spread value is different for different kinds of environments. This
fact is intuitive because of the increasing amount of multipath reflectors that are present in different
environments. The table below illustrates some representative numbers:
Table 11-13: Typical Delay Spread Values for Different Environment Types
Expected Range of Delay
Environment Spread (micro-seconds)
Heavy Mountains 1 - 100
Dense Urban 6 - 10
Urban 4-6
Suburban 2-4
Rural .2 - 2
In the above table a delay spread value of 6 microseconds means that a very narrow pulse (i.e. .1µ
seconds) is transmitted, that the effective pulse width of the received signal is 6µ seconds. The
delay spread number normally, in most situations, refers to the width where the received signal
energy drops to 10 dB below the peak value of energy received. In practice, a single transmitted
pulse will result in a delay spread number which is extremely large, however, only a fraction of the
time is energy received which is usable, and this usable energy is normally defined to be within 10
dB of the peak.
The actual distribution of received pulses versus time will in most cases be a function of the
environment. In some regions an exponential decay versus time is appropriate, in others, a normal
distribution versus time may be appropriate. In the PN offset planning algorithm it is assumed that
the delay spread is symmetric about the center of the specified delay spread number. This means
that the delay spread distribution is more normal than exponential.

11.7 PN Interference
Since all pilot signals in a system are time-shifted versions of the same bit-sequence (short code), a
pilot from any sector can appear to belong to any other sector. When receiver can not distinguish
pilots from different sectors, demodulation is erroneous and it is known as PN interference. There
are three types of PN interference:
• Co-PN interference – if there is no enough space separation (signal attenuation) between

cells that reuse PN offset.
• Adjacent PN offset interference – if there is no enough separation (signal attenuation)

between cells that have adjacent PN offsets (i.e. serving site has PN offset 100 and interferer
has a PN offset 101)
• Handoff confusion – interference to a neighbor set pilot (i.e. due to time delay, strong pilot
appear to be a strong neighbor list pilot: unnecessary handoff occurs)
11.8 Nominal Assignment of PN (RAKE) Search Window

The mobile station searches for Pilot code offsets which arrive inside of some nominal time frame
known as the PN or RAKE Search Window. The time frame assigned is determined by the time
dispersion of multipath and desirable speed of tracking the pilot quality. Each type of pilot set
(active, neighbor and remaining) has specific settings for RAKE Search Window size. The size of
Search Window is usually expressed in chips (i.e. 8, 10, 14, 20, …).
Generally, if RAKE Search Window is too small, multipath components will not be received (and
post-processed). In the other hand, if the RAKE Search Window is too big, receiver might be
confused by strong components of nearby pilots. This issue will be covered in ‘Intermediate
CDMA Planning and Design’ class.

REFERENCES:
[1] Rappaport, T.S., Wireless Communications, Principles and Practices, Prentice Hall, 1996.
[2] Lee, W. C. Y., Overview of the Cellular CDMA, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology,
Vol. 40, No.2, May 1991.
[3] Evans, G., Joslin, B., Vinson, L. and Foose, B., Optimization and Application of the W. C. Y.
Lee Propagation Model in the 1900 MHz Frequency Band, in proceedings of IEEE 47th Annual
International Vehicular Technology Conference, Phoenix, AZ, May 1997.

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SAFCO Technologies, Inc.

Copyright © 1997 by SAFCO Technologies, Inc. 3 Version 3.0

5.2 THE RAKE RECEIVER........................................................................................................................................32

Copyright © 1997 by SAFCO Technologies, Inc. 4 Version 3.0

9.2.5 Hard Handoff..................................................................................................................................................64

Copyright © 1997 by SAFCO Technologies, Inc. 5 Version 3.0

FIGURE 1-3: COMPARISON OF MULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNIQUES.............................................................13

FIGURE 2-4: AUTOCORRELATION OF PSEUDO-NOISE BIT SEQUENCE....................................................15

FIGURE 2-5 FOUR-STAGE SHIFT REGISTER: GENERATION OF PN SEQUENCE....................................16

FIGURE 2-6: SUMMARY OF SEQUENCES USED IN CDMA SPREAD SPECTRUM......................................18

FIGURE 3-8: FORWARD LINK CHANNEL ASSIGNMENTS...............................................................................21

FIGURE 3-9: REVERSE LINK CHANNEL ASSIGNMENTS............................................................................23

FIGURE 4-10: SPREAD SPECTURM TRANSMIT PROCESS...............................................................................26

FIGURE 4-11: SPREAD SPECTRUM RECEIVE PROCESS..................................................................................27

FIGURE 5-12: DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE DUE TO MULTIPATH.........................................................31

FIGURE 5-13: SINGLE TRANSMITTER WITH MULTIPATH............................................................................32

FIGURE 5-14: TYPICAL SINGLE TRANSMITTER BAND-LIMITED CHANNEL IMPULSE RESPONSE

FIGURE 5-15: COHERENT COMBINATION OF THREE STRONGEST MULTIPATH COMPONENTS

FIGURE 5-16: MULTIPLE TRANSMITTERS WITH MULTIPATH....................................................................35

FIGURE 5-17: TYPICAL MULTIPLE TRANSMITTER BAND-LIMITED CHANNEL IMPULSE

FIGURE 5-18: COHERENT COMBINATION OF THREE STRONGEST COMPONENTS OF A TYPICAL

FIGURE 5-19: TIME DISPERSION.............................................................................................................................37

FIGURE 7-20: CDMA DIGITAL RADIO FORWARD LINK PROCESS..............................................................43

FIGURE 7-21: FORWARD LINK SPEECH PROCESSING AT THE NETWORK SIDE....................................44

FIGURE 7-22: CHANNEL CODING PROCESS........................................................................................................45

FIGURE 7-23: BIT INTERLEAVING.........................................................................................................................45

Copyright © 1997 by SAFCO Technologies, Inc. 6 Version 3.0

FIGURE 7-25: POWER CONTROL SIGNALING SUBCHANNEL.......................................................................48

FIGURE 7-26: FORWARD LINK BASE STATION TRANSMIT POWER CONTROL.....................................48

FIGURE 7-27: FORWARD LINK QUADRATURE SPREADING AND CARRIER MODULATION...............50

FIGURE 7-28: CDMA REVERSE LINK RADIO PROCESS...................................................................................51

FIGURE 7-29: SPEECH PROCESSING AT MOBILE SIDE...................................................................................52

FIGURE 7-30: REVERSE LINK CHANNEL CODING PROCESS........................................................................53

FIGURE 7-31: REVERSE LINK BIT INTERLEAVING..........................................................................................53

FIGURE 7-33: REVERSE LINK QUADRATURE SPREADING AND CARRIER MODULATION.................56

FIGURE 7-34: CDMA FORWARD LINK (BASE TO MOBILE) PHYSICAL LAYER.......................................56

FIGURE 7-35: CDMA REVERSE LINK (MOBILE TO BASE) PHYSICAL LAYER.........................................57

FIGURE 11-39: TYPICAL CDMA SYSTEM PARAMETERS................................................................................75

FIGURE 11-40: COMPARISON OF COVERAGE DUE TO CHANGE IN TRAFFIC (5% TO 80% OF

Copyright © 1997 by SAFCO Technologies, Inc. 7 Version 3.0

TABLE 4-2: SUMMARY OF DIRECT SEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM QUALITIES.................................25

TABLE 5-3: CALL QUALITY DB TO LINEAR CONVERSION TABLE.............................................................39

TABLE 6-5: BASE STATION NOMINAL CHANNEL POWER ALLOCATIONS..............................................41

TABLE 7-6: BASE STATION TRANSMIT POWER VS. DATA RATE.................................................................49

TABLE 7-7: I AND Q BITS AND CORRESPONDING PHASE MODULATION STATE..................................50

TABLE 7-8: I AND Q BITS AND CORRESPONDING PHASE MODULATION STATE..................................55

TABLE 9-9: PILOT SEARCH PARAMETERS.........................................................................................................62

TABLE 11-10: RECEIVER SENSITIVITY FOR DIFFERENT CDMA CHANNEL TYPES...............................71

EQUATION 2-2: PROCESS GAIN................................................................................................................................16

EQUATION 2-3: FRAME ERROR RATE..................................................................................................................19

EQUATION 5-4: ∆ PATH LENGTH..........................................................................................................................33

EQUATION 5-5: CALL QUALITY DB TO LINEAR CONVERSION...................................................................39

EQUATION 8-6: CAPACITY EQUATION (GENERAL FORM) ...........................................................................58

EQUATION 8-7: POLE POINT EQUATION...........................................................................................................60

EQUATION 11-8: CALCULATION OF NOMINAL CELL RADII.........................................................................74

Copyright © 1997 by SAFCO Technologies, Inc. 8 Version 3.0

1.1 CDMA Basics

1.2 CDMA Power Spectral Density & Noise

Copyright © 1997 by SAFCO Technologies, Inc. 9 Version 3.0

Narrow Band & Wide Band Signal/Noise