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3G Quetionare
3G Quetionare
Ec/Io = energy of carrier over all noise. RSCP = Receive Signal Code Power. In FDD mode (what we normally deal with) they are measured on the CPICH
(pilot). Bonus if they know that Io is the sum of all interference: thermal/background noise + interferers + own cell and is wideband. Bonus if they
understand that RSCP is actually measured AFTER de-spreading (i.e. narrowband)
4. Explain the concept of Cell Breathing. How is the accounted for in the link Budget?
Io or No (the interference part of Ec/Io and Eb/No) increase as the traffic on the network increases since everyone is using the same frequency. Therefore
as Io or No increases the UE or BTS needs to use more power to maintain the same Eb/No or Ec/Io. When the power required is more than the maximum
power allowed, the connection cannot be made. Users at the cell edge are usually the first to lose service; hence the service area of a cell shrinks. As traffic
decreases, the reverse happens and the service area increases. They should say that it is accounted for in the Noise Rise Margin found in the Link Budget.
7. What is the major difference in link budgets between UMTS and GSM/TDMA?
In UMTS you generally have a link budget for each service (voice, data, video etc), in GSM you usually only use 1 for voice. Each service has a different
Eb/No target. In UMTS you have to consider the target traffic load you will have and add a noise-rise margin, in GSM you may have a slight interference
margin but not normally related to traffic. In UMTS some services (like voice) will show up as uplink limited but other services (like HSDPA, 384kbps service)
will show as downlink limited. In UMTS you usually have to consider that all users use the same power from the BTS therefore the more number of users
the lower the maximum power available per user (maximum power per connection) which is a starting point in the link budget.
8. In the Link Budget, what is a Shadow Fade Margin for and what factors does it depend on?
The shadow fade margin is dependent on the target percentage area coverage, the propagation model, and the standard deviation of the lognormal
shadowing (usually the same as the model's standard deviation if the fast fading effects are removed). The Shadow Fade Margin is a added margin placed
in the link budget such that a guaranteed level of service can be offered "in the worst case".
9. What is the typical maximum active set size and what needs to be considered when setting this?
3 to 4 cells, the larger the active set size the more likely it is that Iub link efficiency is reduced (more than one resource for a single connection due to SHO)
10. What are typically the requirements (criteria) for a cell to be added/removed/replaced to/from/in the active set?
For addition (Event 1a), candidate cell needs to have an Ec/Io value that is within a T_ADD threshold of the primary/reference (usually the best) cell for a
specify time hysteresis. For removal (event 1b), cell needs to have Ec/Io lower than T_DROP margin for a specific time hysteresis. For replacement (event
1c), cell needs to have an Ec/Io better than the worst cell in the active set by the T_REPLACE and for a specific time hysteresis.
12. How would you find such cells from a planning tool and from a drive test tool?
Ignoring low signal conditions, if the best cell RSCP is greater than say -85dBm and there are cells not in the active set but are strong enough to be in the
active set then they are candidate for pilot polluters. Looking at cells that have a high noise rise, high amount of traffic compared to surrounding cells, may
also indicate a pilot polluter, Any location where, high Signal strength for the (Active Set Size + 1) best pilot (like the 4th best pilot if AS size is 3). In DTT,
areas with poor Ec/Io but good RSCP, in the monitored set contain a cell with a good Ec/Io but cannot enter the AS because it is full, Areas where scanner
shows a strong signal for a far away cell.
13. What would the call flow be for a Mobile Originated Call (major RRC messages)?
RRC Connect Request -> RRC Connection Setup -> RRC Setup Complete -> (SETUP, authentication encryption, TMSI reallocation etc) -> CALL PROCEEDING-
> Radio Bearer Setup -> Radio Bearer Setup Complete -> ALERT -> CONNECT -> CONNECT ACK ->DISCONNECT -> RELEASE.
15. What is compressed mode, what is its function, and what impact does it have on the network?
Compressed mode is when the mobile goes into a slotted transmit mode whereby it opens up an idle period (transmission gap) where it can monitor
another carrier or technology (GSM). The impact is that to maintain the same bitrates, it halves the SF, and therefore increases power level causing higher
interference to the network, If, the SF cannot be halved then the bit rate of the bearer decreases. If they seem knowledgably, ask them if they know what
messages and events trigger and configure compressed mode on/off. 2D event for on, 2F for off. Messages would for configuration would be RADIO
BEARER RECONFIGURATION, TRANSPORT CHANNEL RECONFIGFURATION or PHYSICAL CHANNEL RECONFIGURATION.
16. Name the 4 RRC Connected Modes (states) and describe the characteristics of each.
Cell-DCH: UE has been allocated a dedicated physical channel in uplink and downlink.
Cell-FACH: UE listens to RACH channel (DL) and is allocated a FACH channel (UL). Small amounts of UL/DL data can be transfers in this state. The RNC tracks
the UE down to the cell level and cell reselections are possible with the CELL UPDATE message.
Cell-PCH: UE monitors (using discontinuous reception) a PCH channel (PCH) indicated by the PICH channel. The RNC tracks the UE down to the cell level
and cell reselections are possible with the CELL UPDATE message. No data can be transferred in the UL in this state.
URA-PCH: UE monitors (using discontinuous reception) a PCH channel (PCH) indicated by the PICH channel. The RNC tracks the UE down to the URA level.
17. If a UE is on a data call (CELL-DCH state) and there is in no activity for awhile what would you expect to see occur?
UE should go from CELL-DCH to CELL-FACH then if still no activity to either CELL-PCH or URA-PCH (via CELL-FACH). If they talk about inactivity timers and
mention that the state goes from CELL-DCH straight to CELL-PCH or URA-PCH that is also possible. Bonus they say they would see RADIO BEARER
RECONFIGURATION messages when the states are changing.
18. In Release '99, how does the network manage the throughput on the Radio Interface for a user/connection?
This question is a little harder to ask, so you may need to work it differently a few times. Perhaps leading questions could be: What parameter/configuration
does the network change on the air interface What you are trying to hear from the candidate is that the network assigns a radio bearer with a
channelization code with a spreading factor that matches the requested service maximum bit rate.
19. What is the typical/most common bit rate that a voice call uses?
They should say 12.2kbps but may be different if they start talking about AMR and the different rates then the know more. Prod them to see if they know
the Spreading Factor (SF) used for the radio bearer, should be 128.
20. Depending on the RF conditions, what can the network do to manage call quality?
AMR - for good conditions use codec will low redundancy/overhead; for poor conditions use codec with lower bit rate requirement but higher overhead,
stronger coding and more redundancy.
21. In HSDPA, how does the network manage the throughput on the Radio Interface for a user/ connection?
Modulation (16QAM, QPSK etc), Coding (convolution coding, fire codes etc), number of codes allocated and scheduling (it's a shared resource)
22. Explain Inner and Outer loop power control and who controls them.
If they start talking about Open and Closed Loop PC, tell them you want Inner/Outer Closed Loop PC. Inner loop power control is performed by the NodeB
to set the transmit power of the UE and BTS to compensate for signal variations due to fading or path loss to maintain the set SIR (occurs up to 1500 times
per sec). Outer loop power control is performed by the RNC to set the target SIR based on the required BER/BLER for the requested services (occurs up to
100 times per sec).
24. Explain the concept of a Monte Carlo Simulation for UMTS Design
This is a simulator that randomly distributes terminals/users geographically onto the network and then checks the link budget for each terminal/connection
to see if they can successfully connect or not. The simulator modifies parameters such has UE Tx Power, BTS Tx Power, requested bearer (in the case that
multiple bearers could support the same service) when checking if a connection can be made. In every snapshot the simulator runs through the list of
terminals/connections and attempts to make them all connect successfully, it starts a new snapshot when the number of successful connections converges.
The process then starts on a new snapshot.
39. What is threshold for adding and deleting a cell from Active Set?
For addition 3 dB and for deletion 6dB
40. What are the types of location & routing is registration update?
1. IMSI attach / detach. 2. Normal LA & RA updating. 3. Periodic LA & RA updating
41. Which timer is involved for periodic LA & RA update?
Timer t3212 is involved and is contained in SIB1.
43. What are the no. of scrambling codes used in UL and DL?
Scrambling codes in uplink- 2^24-1. Scrambling codes in Downlink- 2^18-1= 8192.
44. What are the types of compressed mode techniques used in 3G?
Three Types- 1. Puncturing. 2. SF/2. 3.Higher Layer Scheduling.
50. Which parameter decides the preference between IFHO & IRAT HO
Handover type
where ,Pcompensation = max (maxTXpowerUL - P ;0 ), qQualMin - Minimum required quality value and is sent in SIB3 for serving cell and SIB 11 for
adjacent cell, qRxLevMin - Minimum required signal strength and is sent in SIB3 for serving cell and SIB 11 for adjacent cell, maxTXpowerUL - Maximum
transmission power during random access on the RACH and is sent in SIB3, P - UE maximum output power according to its class
1)
Intra-frequency reporting events for FDD
Event 1a:A Primary CPICH enters the reporting range
Event 1b:A Primary CPICH leaves the reporting range
Event 1c:A non-active primary CPICH becomes better than an active primary CPICH
Event 1d:Change of best cell
Event 1e:A Primary CPICH becomes better than an absolute threshold
Event 1f:A Primary CPICH becomes worse than an absolute threshold
(2) Inter-frequency reporting events
Event 2a:Change of best frequency
Event 2b:The estimated quality of the currently used frequency is below a certain thresholdand the estimated quality of a non-used frequency is above a
certain threshold.
Event 2c:The estimated quality of a non-used frequency is above a certain threshold
Event 2d:The estimated quality of the currently used frequency is below a certain threshold
Event 2e:The estimated quality of a non-used frequency is below a certain threshold
Event 2f:The estimated quality of the currently used frequency is above a certain threshold
(3) Inter-RAT measurements reporting events
Event 3a:The estimated quality of the currently used UTRAN frequency is below a certainthreshold and the estimated quality of the other system is
above a certain threshold.
Event 3b:The estimated quality of other system is below a certain threshold
Event 3c:The estimated quality of other system is above a certain threshold
Event 3d:Change of best cell in other system
(4) Traffic Volume Measurements
Event 4a:Transport Channel Traffic Volume becomes larger than an absolute threshold
Event 4b:Transport Channel Traffic Volume becomes smaller than an absolute threshold
(5)Quality Measurements
Event 5a:A predefined number of bad CRCs is exceeded
(6) UE internal measurements
Event 6a:The UE Tx power becomes larger than an absolute threshold
Event 6b:The UE Tx power becomes less than an absolute threshold
Event 6c:The UE Tx power reaches its minimum value
Event 6d:The UE Tx power reaches its maximum value
Event 6e:The UE RSSI reaches the UE's dynamic receiver range
Event 6f:(FDD) The UE Rx-Tx time difference for a RL included in the active set becomes