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The evolution of CDMA can be described by the various protocol revisions

IS-95, Protocol revision 1
Published in July of 1993
Compatibility standard for wideband spread spectrum cellular mobile
telecommunications described the generation of CDMA channels, power control,
call processing, handoffs, and registration techniques

IS-95A, Protocol revision 2

Published in May of 1995, update to messaging and parameters

IS-95A + TSB 74, Protocol revision 3

Published in December of 1995, incorporated PCS CDMA 1900MHz
Improved signaling, added new rate set (Rate Set 2)

TIA/EIA-95-B, Protocol revisions 4 & 5

Published in October of 1998
Included all of protocol revision 3 but removed analog details
Added new capabilities (medium data rate, improvements to handoffs, etc.)

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IS-2000, Protocol revisions 6 and 7
Provides support for voice and concurrent packet data service with rates as high as
144 Kbps
Standard supports supplemental channel data rates as high as 307.2 Kbps for 1x,
and as high as 1.03 Mbps for 3x

IS-2000, Protocol revisions 9 and 10

Data and Voice evolution for CDMA2000. It supports both data and voice on the
same channel and data speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps can be achieved. The system is
defined under IS-2000. The first offering appears in Release C of the standard
where the high data rate is only available in the downlink, the uplink allows for data
at the same rate as 1X. Release D allows for the high speed data in both directions.

IS-856 (TIA-856)
The initial design of EV-DO was developed to meet requirements for a greater-than-
2-Mbit/s down link for stationary communications, as opposed to mobile
communication such as a moving cellular phone. Originally, 1xEV-DO stood for "1x
Evolution-Data Only", referring to its being a direct evolution of the 1xRTT air
interface standard, with its channels carrying only data traffic.

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FDMA
FDMA assigns users to specific frequency bands. The user has the sole use of the
frequency band for the entire call duration within the cell. Analog systems use
FDMA. In an analog system, cell sites operating on the same frequency must be
separated by a large enough distance to minimize mutual interference

TDMA
TDMA is an assigned frequency band shared among a few users. However, each
user is allowed to transmit in predetermined time slots. Hence, channelization of
users in the same band in achieved through separation in time. TDMA is a digital
technology. As in an FDMA system, TDMA cell sites with the same frequency must
be separated by a large enough distance to minimize the impact of mutual
interference. GSM is a version of TDMA technology

CDMA
CDMA is a method in which users occupy the same time and frequency allocations,
but are channelized by uniquely assigned codes. The signals are separated at the
receiver by using a correlator that accepts only signal energy from the desired
channel. Undesired channels only contribute to noise. Unlike other technologies,
CDMA cell sites share the same frequency

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CDMA Concept
The concept of CDMA technology is analogous to communicating while at a party

CDMA “Cocktail Party”

At the party, all people are talking in the same room simultaneously. Imagine that
every conversation in the room is being carried out in a different language that you
do not understand. They would all sound like noise from your perspective. If you
knew the language (analogous to a CDMA code) you could filter out the other
conversations and focus only on the conversation of interest to you

A CDMA system must filter the other conversations (or interference) in the same
manner

Even with the knowledge of the appropriate language, the conversation of interest
may not be completely audible. The listener can signal the speaker to increase his
volume and can signal others to decrease their volume. This is analogous to the
power control process used by CDMA systems

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Digital Functions (X-OR)

X-OR gates are used in cdmaOne coding processes, specifically to spread

signals with orthogonal codes and to generate Psuedorandom Noise (PN)
codes

X-OR Gate

The figure above depicts a two-input X-OR gate and its corresponding truth
table. A and B denote the inputs to the gate, while Y represents its output.
The X-OR gate outputs a logic “1” when the two inputs are at opposite
levels. The output of the X-OR gate is zero if the two inputs are at the
same level. This is similar to multiplying two analog voltage levels when the
voltage levels are either +1 volt or -1 volt A x B = Y
+1 +1 +1
+1 -1 -1
Assume: Logic 0 = +1 volt -1 +1 -1
Logic 1 = -1 volt -1 -1 +1

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Orthogonal Sequences

Orthogonal sequences are crucial to the CDMA encoding process. Orthogonal

sequences are used on the forward link to uniquely distinguish one subscriber’s traffic
from a different subscriber’s traffic

Orthogonal signals or sequences have zero cross-correlation. Zero cross-correlation

is obtained if the product of two signals, summed over a period of time, is zero. For
the special case of binary sequences, the values 0 and 1 may be viewed as having
opposite polarities. Thus when the product (X-ORing in this case) of two binary
sequences results in an equal number of 1s and 0s, the cross-correlation is zero

Properties of orthogonal sequences

• zero cross-correlation
• equal number of 1s and 0s (except the all 0s sequence)
• if X-ORed with another orthogonal sequence, the result is an orthogonal sequence

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Correlation (cont.)

The example above shows two different signals. However, the two signals are
uncorrelated and therefore knowing one of them does not provide any information of
the other

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Correlation

Correlation is a measure of similarity between any two arbitrary signals. It is computed

by
• multiplying the two signals
• then summing (integration) the result of a defined time window
• lastly, dividing the result by the total number of clock cycles

If the result is “1” the two signals have 100% correlation and are said to be identical.
An example of this is shown in the figure above

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Generating Orthogonal Sequences

Orthogonal sequences are easily generated by starting with a seed of 0, repeating the
0 horizontally and vertically, and then inverting to a 1 diagonally. This process may
continue with the newly generated block until the desired codes with the proper length
are generated

Sequences generated in this manner are referred to as “Walsh Codes”

In the above illustrated example, we start with a seed of 0. Using the process
described above, we will generate four 4-bit Walsh Codes:
0000
0101
0011
0110

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Walsh Codes

The orthogonal sequences currently used in terrestrial cdmaOne systems are Walsh
Codes of length 64. These Walsh Codes are used in the forward link to separate
users’ traffic from one another. In any given sector, each forward channel is assigned
a distinct 64-bit Walsh Code

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Walsh Code Spreading

Walsh Code spreading is done on the forward link to separate users’ traffic from one
another
Data is spread in the RBS by X-ORing the data symbol-by-symbol with a particular
Walsh Code. When the subscriber device receives the spread signal it again X-ORs
the signal with the very same Walsh Code, thus retrieving the original data. This is
known as despreading. The process can be expressed logically as follows

Assumptions

A 0=A
A equation
Logical A = 0 for spreading and despreading data

(A
Where B)
A is theBoriginal
= A data,
(B and
B)B= is
A the Walsh
0 = A Code used for spreading in the RBS
and despreading in the subscriber device

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Spreading with an Orthogonal Function
Spreading the user data (symbols from the FEC) is done by X-ORing each symbol
with an entire walsh code

Orthogonal Spreading

Each symbol is X-ORed with all the chips in the orthogonal sequence (Walsh Code)
assigned to the user. The result is then processed and transmitted over the
physical channel after being combined with the other forward link signals

In the above example the user data is spread with a 4-bit Walsh Code. The product
of the user symbols and the 4-bit Walsh Code is a sequence of digits that must be
transmitted at four-times the rate of the original user data sequence

Note that this is a simplification used to exemplify the process; 64-bit Walsh Codes
are used for spreading in cdmaOne

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Recovery of Spread Symbols using the Correct Walsh Code
In order to recover the original user data (symbols from the FEC), the receiver must X-
OR the received signal with the same Walsh Code that was used for spreading

Signal Recovery
The receiver despreads the chips by using the same Walsh Code used at the
transmitter. If there is no noise, the symbols (or digits) are completely recovered
without any error. In reality, the channel is not noise free, but cdmaOne systems
employ FEC techniques to combat the effects of noise and to enhance the
performance of the system

The above example shows the the received data being X-ORed with the same 4-bit
Walsh Code used at the transmitter. The result is the original user data (symbols)

Note that this is a simplification used to exemplify the process; 64-bit Walsh Codes
are used for despreading in cdmaOne

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Recovery of Spread Symbols Using the Wrong Walsh Code
If the wrong Walsh Code is used to despread the signal received at the transmitter, the
result is a set of digits that provide no information of the original user data

Signal Recovery

When a different Walsh Code is used for despreading, the resulting set of digits yield
an equal number of 1s and 0s, and thus the original digit cannot be determined.
This is a clear demonstration of the advantage of the orthogonal property of Walsh
Codes. Whether a different sequence is used by the target user or other users
attempting to decode the received signal, the result always has an equal number of
1s and 0s

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Spreading with Multiple Signals
On the forward link, the individual spread signals are combined in the RBS and
transmitted as one signal on the same frequency
Example of combining a three spread signals
The illustration above shows three signals being combined into one signal for
transmission
User A
Original data from FEC: 00
Walsh Code used for spreading: 0101
User B
Original data from FEC: 10
Walsh Code used for spreading: 0011
User C
Original data from FEC: 11
Walsh Code used for spreading: 0000

The analog signal shown on the bottom of the slide is the composite signal when the
spread signals of all three users are summed together

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Despreading a Composite Signal
The composite signal is received by the subscriber device on the forward link. The
subscriber device must despread the composite signal with the correct Walsh Code to
retrieve its specific user data

Example of despreading a the composite signal

The subscriber device receives the composite signal and despreads it with the Walsh
Code assigned to User A to retrieve User A’s data. The composite signal is X-
ORed with user A’s assigned Walsh Code, and the result is then averaged by
according to the bit size of the Walsh Code. In the example above, we are using 4-
bit Walsh Codes, though cdmaOne spreads and despreads using 64-bit Walsh
Codes. If the correct Walsh Code is used, the result of the averaging will
determine the original data of User A regardless of the number of combined signals
that were sent from the RBS on the forward link. Again, this is due to the
orthogonal properties of Walsh Codes

The original data of user B and user C can be retrieved in the same manner by
despreading with the appropriate user Walsh Code

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CDMA Modulation Overview
cdmaOne systems convert analog voice signals into digital signals for transmission.
There are several steps in the digital transmission process. Many of these steps are
common to digital wireless schemes. After each step in digital processing, the signal
conveys a different meaning and several terms are used to refer to the signal at
different stages in the process. Bits, symbols, and chips all look the same: a single
binary digit. What distinguishes one from another is their relationship to the stage of
processing
Bits
A bit is the fundamental unit of information; a single binary digit. Analog information
is encoded into a sequence of binary digits (A/D conversion). Both user data and
error detection code digits are considered “bits”. The bit rate is the measure of the
volume of information being transmitted
Symbols
A symbol is the output of the coding process known as the Forward Error Correction
(FEC). Each incoming bit produces several code symbols. The symbol rate is a
measure of the redundancy introduced by the FEC scheme
Chips
The output digits of a spreading code generator are commonly termed “chips”.
Several chips are used to spread a single code symbol. The chip rate is a measure
of the amount of of spreading performed

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Analog to Digital Conversion (A/D conversion)
Elementary analog-to-digital conversion is commonly referred to as “Waveform
Coding”. The simplest method of waveform coding is one that directly samples the
speech signal, quantizes the sample, and then encodes each sample into a binary
code. This process produces a Pulse Codes Modulated (PCM) signal with a data rate
of 64 Kbps for voice telephony. This process occurs at the PSTN on the forward link,
and it occurs at the subscriber device on the reverse link
Low Pass Filtering (LPF)
The analog signal is filtered to allow only frequencies below 4 KHz to pass
Sampling
The samples of the analog signal must be taken at twice the highest possible
frequency. Since the LPF allows a maximum frequency of 4 KHz to pass, sampling
is done 8000 times per second
Quantizing
Quantization is the process of assigning an 8-bit value (for PCM) to each of the
samples. This gives a dynamic range of 256 different values
Encoding
Encoding is a compression process converting the digitized signal from a linear form
to a logarithmic scale. The conversion insures that low-amplitude signals have a
minimal loss of fidelity. The signal is later expanded at the receiver

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Voice Coder (Vocoder)
Voice coders (Vocoders) compress the high rate digital voice signal from 64 Kbps
(PCM) down to between 4 and 13 Kbps depending on the technique used. Vocoders
take advantage of the pauses in human speech patterns to compress the digital signal.
This process occurs in the BSC on the forward link and occurs in the subscriber device
on the reverse link

Linear Digital Conversion

The digital PCM speech signal is transcoded from the compressed 8-bit per sample
logarithmic form into a 13-bit per sample linear form. The conversion to 13-bits per
sample provides the system with better dynamic range. The signal is then sent into
the Code Excited Linear Prediction (CELP) encoder

Code Excited Linear Prediction (CELP)

The CELP encoder outputs a variable rate frame of compressed voice every 20
msec. The rate of the digitized compressed voice in the frame depends on voice
activity and will be one of four different rates (for the service option selected). The
average rate is roughly 4 Kbps or 7 Kbps depending on the service option selected

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Error Detection Codes
Each variable rate vocoded frame contains a number of additional check bits used to
detect errors when received at the destination. These additional check bits are known
as Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC) bits

Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC)

CRC provides a high level of error detection. The price paid for this detection
capability is overhead bits added to the information bits. these overhead bits are
appended to the information bits prior to transmission to the FEC. Within each 20
msec variable rate vocoded frame there may be as many as 12 CRC bits and as
few as 0 bits

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Variable Rate Vocoding
The vocoder compresses the output of the A/D converter to a lower bit rate. This
saves valuable bandwidth on the backhaul between the BSC and the RBS. The
variable rate vocoder takes advantage of low speech activity and transmits a lower
rates, thereby reducing the average transmission rate to roughly 4 or 7 Kbps

Examples of different rates

The example above illustrates the vocoder outputting variable rate frames at
• full rate (192 bits)
• half rate (96 bits)
• quarter rate (48 bits)
• eighth rate (24 bits)

Each of these frames are transmitted every 20 msec, and the vocoder is utilizing
Radio Configuration 1

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Radio Configurations
CDMA2000 systems can employ different Radio Configurations according to the
standard. The Radio Configurations supported in CDMA2000 initial systems are
shown above. The frame will contain user data or digitized, compressed voice
information at one of the data rates shown above. The data rate depends on the level
of voice or data activity. Note that data bypasses the vocoding (voice compression)
process since the information is not voice information.

Radio Configuration
A “Radio Configuration” (RC) is a set of traffic channel formats. Each RC is
comprised of different bit rates. A RC may carry voice, user data, and/or signaling
depending upon the code channel and service option. The transmit rate of the
frame changes based on the voice activity or based upon the bandwidth required
for a given amount of data.

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Forward Error Correction (FEC)
Voice transmissions require “real time” transmission. Delays are unacceptable to the
human ear. It is impractical to attempt to retransmit a portion of a conversation that
arrives at the receiver in error. For this reason, the signal must be transmitted reliably.
One method to increase reliability is to simply transmit at higher power (not good for
CDMA). An alternate method is to use some form of coding that enables the receiver
to correct some errors. FEC occurs in the RBS on the forward link, and it occurs in the
subscriber device on the reverse link
FEC Coding
Coding that enables the receiver to correct errors is referred to as Forward Error
Correction coding. A very unsophisticated form of coding is illustrated above.
Redundancy is introduced simply by repeating the digits. In cdmaOne, we use
more sophisticated techniques introduce redundancy through other means
Interleaving
The purpose of interleaving is to enable the recovery of information when burst errors
occur (i.e., loss of consecutive symbols over the RF channel)
Interleaving jumbles the symbols before transmission over the RF channel. The
receiver puts the data back to the original order (deinterleaving), thereby uniformly
distributing the impact of the burst error across the frame. The receiver can then
use a simple majority logic decoder to determine the original sent digits

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Turbo Encoder

Data transmissions may require more bandwidth than voice, and the “realtime”
consideration (in some instances) is no longer as important as with voice. As will be
shown later, higher bandwidth is achieved using shorter Walsh Codes. To help
compensate for the shorter Walsh Codes, turbo coding provides more data protection
than the coding used with voice transmissions. However, the complexity of the turbo
coding may cause processing delays during the decoding process. Therefore, turbo
coding is best suited for non-realtime data transmissions but not well suited for
realtime data and voice transmissions.

Turbo encoding may be used for

data rates of 19.2 kbps or greater.

The adjacent table shows

the error correction
improvement (in terms of
dB) when compared
to the Convolutional Encoder.

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Spread Spectrum
A system is defined to be a spread spectrum system if it meets the following:
• The transmitted signal occupies a bandwidth much greater than the minimum
bandwidth needed to send the information
• Spreading is accomplished by means of a “spreading signal”, often called a “code
signal”, which is independent of the data
• At the receiver, despreading (recovering the original data) is accomplished by the
correlation of the received signal with a synchronized replica of the spreading
signal

Why spread?

In 1948, Claude Shannon proved that error-free communication is possible on a

noisy channel provided that the data rate is less than the channel capacity. His
equation (“Shannon’s Equation”) showed that channel capacity depends linearly on
the bandwidth and logarithmically on the the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio

Therefore, larger gains in capacity are realized by increasing the bandwidth than by
increasing the S/N ratio. Furthermore, increasing bandwidth allows a much lower
S/N ratio (or power) for a constant capacity

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Spread Spectrum Techniques
There are different methods for spreading a signal over a defined bandwidth.
cdmaOne uses a technique known as “Direct Sequenced” spreading. This occurs in
the RBS on the forward link, and it occurs in the subscriber device on the reverse link

Direct Sequenced spreading

The voice information signal is inherently narrowband, on the order of less than 10
KHz. The energy from this narrowband signal is spread over a much larger
bandwidth by multiplying the information signal by a wideband spreading code. In
cdmaOne, the chip rate of the spreader is 1.2288 Mcps (Mega chips per second)

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Channel Encoding Process
The processes for encoding a forward link code channel and for encoding a reverse link
code channel is very similar, and can be described by three major processes: Error
Correction, Channel Separation, and Transmitter Separation. The encoding processes
used for Channel Separation and Transmitter Separation will be discussed in this
section.

Error Correction
This process allows real-time burst errors incurred during transmission to be removed at
the receiver.

Channel Separation
This process uniquely encodes each code channel sent from a single transmitter. This
allows the receiver to separate the channels as they are received.

Transmitter Separation
This process tags each transmitter with a specific code sequence. This allows the
receiver to distinguish between signals from different transmitters.

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Channel Separation
Each sector of an RBS transmits multiple code channels simultaneously on one
frequency. Similarly, a subscriber device may transmit multiple code channels
simultaneously on one frequency. Therefore, CDMA2000 technology must have a
method for separating these code channels from each other at the receiver.
Forward link channels are separated from each other by applying a unique Walsh
Code to each channel. These Walsh Codes are unique within a sector, but these
same Walsh Codes are used in every sector. Sectors are separated using unique
offsets of the Short PN sequences (as will be seen later in this section).

Forward Link Code Channels

The graphic above shows the forward link code channels that will be supported by
initial CDMA2000 systems. These codes channels will be discussed in detail in the
next section, but they are shown here to illustrate Walsh Code assignments in the
forward link.

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Separation of Reverse Link Code Channels

Transmitting user traffic on the reverse link requires multiple channels to be

transmitted from the same subscriber device simultaneously. For example, a
subscriber device may be transmitting a Reverse Pilot Channel, a Reverse
Fundamental Channel, and a Reverse Supplemental Channel simultaneously.

Separating Channels Transmitted from a Single User

When a subscriber device transmits multiple channels simultaneously, Walsh Codes

(know as Walsh Covers) are applied to the different channels. This allows the RBS
to separate them based upon these Walsh Covers. The lengths of these Walsh
Covers are variable as shown in the table above.

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This process tags each transmitter with a specific code sequence. This allows the
receiver to distinguish between signals from different transmitters.

RBS Sector Separation on the Forward Link

A subscriber device may be receiving signals from multiple RBS sectors. The
subscriber device must have a method of separating signals from different sectors.
In CDMA2000, the subscriber device looks for specific time offsets the each of the
RBS sectors applies to Psuedorandom Noise (PN) sequences for identification.

Subscriber Device Separation on the Reverse Link

The RBS is receiving all of the traffic that is being transmitted by each of the
subscriber devices in its area of reception. The RBS must have some way of
distinguishing these subscribers from each other. In CDMA2000, the RBS looks for
unique time offsets that each of the subscriber devices applies to a Psuedorandom
Noise (PN) sequence to uniquely identify itself.

The next few pages will describe how PN sequences are generated and used in
CDMA2000.

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Pseudorandom Noise (PN) Sequences
PN sequences are used in both the forward and reverse links. Later it will be shown
that these sequences can be manipulated to provide very specific information about
the transmitting source (RBS sector on the forward link, subscriber devices on the
reverse link). For example, a manipulation of a PN sequence on the forward link
allows the subscriber device to identify the specific transmitting RBS sector. A
manipulation of a PN sequence by each subscriber device on the reverse link allows
the RBS to distinguish the different subscriber devices from one another
Properties of PN Sequences
A pseudorandom sequence is a deterministic sequence of 1s and 0s that mimic
randomness properties of a Bernoulli sequence, sometimes referred to as a “coin-
flipping” sequence. Each 1 and 0 corresponds to a “heads” or “tails” outcome in a
succession of independent coin-flip experiments
PN Sequence Generation
The state machines generating PN codes are very simple and consist of shift
registers and X-OR gates. The length of a PN code is determined by counting the
number of bits in the sequence before it begins to repeat itself. In general, if the
number of shift registers is represented by “r”, then the length of the PN code (N) is
equal to 2r-1
In the above example, N = 23-1 = 7. Therefore, the PN sequence will repeat every 7
bits

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PN Sequence Masking
Masking a PN sequence will produce the same sequence offset in time by a specific
number of bits. This specific shift in time can be measured and identified by the
receiving source. As mentioned earlier, cdmaOne uses this manipulation (masking to
produce a time shift) of the PN sequence to allow the subscriber device to identify the
specific transmitting RBS sector on the forward link, and to allow the RBS to
distinguish the different subscriber devices from one another on the reverse link

Autocorrelation
Autocorrelation is the measure of correlation between a signal and a time-shifted
version of the same signal

Generation of Masked PN Sequences

Different masks will produce different time offsets of the sequence
PN Offsets
In the example above, there are 7 possible offsets to the code generated in the
example. Each offset is produced by a unique mask as shown in the table. The
offset defined in terms of the number of chips (chip offset) is known as the “PN
Offset”

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PN Sequences in Forward Link
As in the reverse link, there are two short PN sequences (known as “Short PN Codes”)
and one long PN sequence (known as “Long PN Code”) used in CDMA2000 on the
forward link. All RBSs generate these codes, and synchronization of the codes is
based on GPS timing.

Short PN Codes
The Short PN Codes are masked (time-shifted) on the forward link to uniquely
identify the RBS sector.

The standard defines 512 (32768/64) offsets of the Short PN Code. Each Short PN
Code offset (known as “PN Offset”) is 64 chips apart. In other words, the standard
allows for 512 unique PN offsets for identifying RBS sectors. Therefore, a system
could have a maximum of 512 uniquely identified RBS sectors on the same
frequency. However, it is possible to re-use these PN offsets in a similar manner to
the way TDMA and FDMA re-use frequency assignments per sector.

Long PN Code
The Long PN Code is used on the forward link to scramble the data; not for
identification purposes.

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RBS Sector Separation

Short PN Offsets Assignments for CDMA Systems

CDMA systems allow for a minimum of 128-chip separation between Short PN
Offsets assigned to RBS sectors. Therefore, an CDMA2000 system could have a
maximum of 256 uniquely identified RBS sectors on the same frequency within one
BSS.

The 128-chip offset increment ensures that there will be virtually no chance of the
subscriber device mistaking RBS sector identities due to propagation delay.

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Reverse Link Channel Separation

Multiple users (subscriber devices) may be sending traffic on the reverse link in any
given RBS sector. These users are uniquely identified by their unique Long PN Code
mask, which equates to a specific time shift of the Long PN Code.

Note that each Access Channel has its own unique Long PN Code mask that identifies
it and provides information regarding the Paging Channel and RBS sector seen by the
subscriber device.

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