CDMA Basic Theory

CDMA THEORY MODULE

 Unit 1 －－ CDMA Overview

 Unit 2 －－ CDMA Basic Principle
 Unit 3 －－ CDMA Channel Structure

 Unit 4 －－ CDMA Key Technology

 CDMA Theory Unit 1

CDMA
Overview
 Main Content
 CDMA evolution path
 The advantage of CDMA
 CDMA spectrum usage
 Role of ZTE in CDMA
Evolution of
Mobile Communications System

AMPS:
AMPS:Advanced
AdvancedMobile
MobilePhone
PhoneSystem
System
TACS:
TACS:Total
TotalAccess
AccessCommunication
CommunicationSystem
System
GPRS:
GPRS:General
GeneralPacket
PacketRadio
RadioServices
Services
Mobile Communication Standards
 Advantages of CDMA (1)
AMPS, D-AMPS, N-AMPS
 Frequency 
Frequency  1 3 1 Users 2
reuse factor is 
reuse factor is 
7
6
1
3
4

1;
5
1; 30 30 10 kHz
 network design 
network design  Typical Frequency Reuse N=7

and expanding 
and expanding 
GSM

become much 
become much  8 Users 1
2

easier
3
easier 4
200 kHz
Typical Frequency Reuse N=4

CDMA 1
1 1
1
1 1
40 Users 1 1
1 1
1
1250 kHz 1 1
1
Typical Frequency Reuse N=1
Advantages of CDMA(2)
 large coverage
large coverage
 almost 2 times than GSM, save money for 
almost 2 times than GSM, save money for 
operator
operator

Example:cover
Example:cover1000
1000kmkm2： ： GSM
GSMneed
2
need
200 BTS ，
200BTS ，CDMA
CDMAonlyonlyneed
need50
50BTS
BTS
Attention:
Attention:exact
exactresult
resultneed
need
“Link
“LinkBudget
Budget””
 Advantages of CDMA(3)
High spectrum capacity ， 8­­10 times  FDMA
High spectrum capacity ， 8­­10 times 
than AMPS,4—6 times than GSM
than AMPS,4—6 times than GSM Power
FDMA­­­Different user use different 
frequency
TACS 、 AMPS
TDMA
TDMA­­­Different user use different  Power
time slot of one frequency
GSM 、 DAMPS

CDMA
CDMA­­­Different user use same  Power
frequency at the same time, but with 
different spreading code
 Advantages of CDMA(4)
 High privacy, hard to wiretapping

Spread signal

Information Demodulated
signal signal

TX RX

Spread code Spread code

 Advantages of CDMA(5)
Use soft handoff, decrease drop­call rate
Use soft handoff, decrease drop­call rate

CDMA System
CDMA System Other systems: 
Other systems: 
”make before break”­­­­
”make before break”­­­­   “make after break” 
  “make after break” 
    soft handoff
    soft handoff ­­­­­­­­hard handoff
­­­­­­­­hard handoff
 Advantages of
CDMA(6)
 Good voice quality, use 8k QCELP, 8k EVRC,
 13K QCELP voice coding—the best coding method in
the world.

64k 13 8k QCELP 13k 8kEVRC

PCM k CDMA QCELP CDMA
GS CDMA
M
QCELP: QualComm Code Excited Linear Predictive Coding
EVRC: Enhanced variable Rate Coding
 Advantages of CDMA(7)
 Perfect Power Control and voice activation make the
MS
 Power low, healthy for body—green mobile phone.

                
                Mean Power           Max Power
Mean Power           Max Power
GSM:         125mW                   2W
GSM:         125mW                   2W
CDMA:      2mW                      200mW
CDMA:      2mW                      200mW
CDMA 800 MHz Cellular Spectrum
Usage
Channel
Numbers
1023

1023
991

333
334

666
667
716
717

799

991

333
334

666
667
716
717

799
1

1
other
A” A B A’ B’ uses A” A B A’ B’
1 10 10 1.5 2.5 1 10 10 1.5 2.5
824 Reverse link (i.e., mobile transmits) 849 869 Forward link (i.e., cell site transmits) 894
MHz MHz MHz MHz

Possible CDMA ~300 kHz. “guard bands” possibly required if adjacent-

Center Freq. Assignments frequency signals are non-CDMA (AMPS, TDMA, ESMR, etc.)

• All CDMA RF carriers are 1.25 MHz. Wide

• Between CDMA carriers, no guard band
 CDMA Frequency Channel
Assignment at 800 MHz Cellular
1023

333

666

715
716

799
991

334

667
1

A” A Band B Band A’ B’
Channel
Numbers

?
1019 37 78 119 160 201 242 283 384 425 466 507 548 589 630 691 736 777

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 9 8

* ** *
CDMA A-Band Carriers CDMA B-Band Carriers * Requires frequency coordination with
non-cellular interferers

** Requires frequency coordination with

A-band carrier

A Band Primary Channel 283 B Band Primary Channel 384

A Band Secondary Channel 691 B Band Secondary Channel 777

Up link: 825.00MHz+0.03MHz*N
Channel
Channel number?
number? Down link: 870.00MHz+0.03MHz*N
Center
Center
frequency
frequency Up link: 825.00MHz+0.03MHz*(N-1023)
Down link: 870.00MHz+0.03MHz*(N-1023)
 ZTE － A Famous CDMA Brand

PSTN/PLMN

MSC/VLR HLR/AUC
Abis

BTS （ IS- E1 SC
Um
95 ）
IS95 BSC （ IS-
95 ）

Abis

BTS （ IS-
95 ） WIN
IP HA
Um Abis
BSC/ PCF (1X)
IS2000 E1 OMC
E1 Internet
STM-1
2G/3G BTS （ 1X
Terminals ） Ethernet Router Router
IP
Abis Ethernet
BSC/ PCF (1X) PDSN/FA
E1
STM-1
BTS （ 1X AAA Server
）
CDMA Theory Unit 2

CD MA Bas ic Principle
 Main Content
 Definitions of CDMA and How to realize
 Spread spectrum modulation
 Spreading codes used in CDMA
 Vocoding in CDMA
 Defining Our Terms
CDMA Channel or CDMA Carrier or CDMA Frequency
Duplex channel made of two 1.25 MHz-wide bands of electromagnetic
spectrum, one for Base Station to Mobile Station communication (called the
FORWARD LINK or the DOWNLINK) and another for Mobile Station to Base
Station communication (called the REVERSE LINK or the UPLINK)
In 800 Cellular these two simplex 1.25 MHz bands are 45 MHz apart
In 1900 MHz PCS they are 80 MHz apart
CDMA Forward Channel

1.25 MHz Forward Link

CDMA Reverse Channel
1.25 MHz Reverse Link
CDMA Code Channel
Each individual stream of 0’s and 1’s contained in either the CDMA Forward
Channel or in the CDMA Reverse Channel
Code Channels are characterized (made unique) by mathematical codes
Code channels in the forward link: Pilot, Sync, Paging and Forward Traffic
channels
Code channels in the reverse link: Access and Reverse Traffic channels
 Channels
Channel: An individually-assigned, dedicated
pathway through a transmission
FDMA
medium for one user’s information.
The transmission medium is a resource that can be Power
subdivided into individual channels according to the
technology used. n cy
 FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access Tim q ue
e
e Fr
 Each user on a different frequency
 A channel is a frequency
TDMA
 TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
Power
 Each user on a different window period in time
(“time slot”) cy
Tim u en
 A channel is a specific time slot on a specific e Fre
q
frequency
 CDMA Code Division Multiple Access CDMA
 A channel is a unique code pattern
 Each user uses the same frequency all the time, Power
but mixed with different distinguishing code
patterns n cy
Ti ue
m
e req
F
 Main Content
 Definitions of CDMA and How to realize
 Spread spectrum modulation
 Spreading codes used in CDMA
 Vocoding in CDMA
 What is Spread Spectrum
ORIGINATING SITE DESTINATION
Spread Data Stream

Input Recovered
Data Data

Spreading Spreading
Sequence Sequence

Definition:Spread spectrum technique ,employ a transmission bandwidth that is

several orders of magnitude greater than the minimum required signal bandwidth.
Sender combines data with a fast spreading sequence, transmits spread data
stream
Receiver intercepts the stream, uses same spreading sequence to extract original
data
 Spread Spectrum Principles
SHANON Formula

C=B*log2(1+S/N)
Where,
C is capacity of channel, b/s
B is signal bandwidth, Hz
S is average power for signal, W
N is average power for noise, W

ItItisisthe
thebasic
basicprinciple
principleand
andtheory
theory
for
forspread
spreadspectrum
spectrumcommunications.
communications.
 CDMA Is a Spread-Spectrum System
TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM
Spread Spectrum
Narrowband
·Traditional technologies try to squeeze
Slow Signal Slow the signal into the minimum required
Information
Sent
Information
Recovered
bandwidth
TX RX ·Direct-Sequence Spread spectrum
systems mix their input data with a fast
spreading sequence and transmit a
SPREAD-SPECTRUM SYSTEM wideband signal
Wideband Signal ·The spreading sequence is
Slow Slow
independently regenerated at the receiver
Information
Sent
Information
Recovered
and mixed with the incoming wideband
TX RX
signal to recover the original data

Fast Fast
Spreading Spreading
Sequence Sequence

Spread Spectrum Payoff:

Processing Gain
Spread Spectrum Principles

Power is “Spread” Over a Larger Bandwidth

30 KHz
1.25 MHz
 Spread Spectrum Principles

Many code channels are individually

“spread” and then added together to
create a “composite signal”
 Main Content
 Definitions of CDMA and How to realize
 Spread spectrum modulation
 Spreading codes used in CDMA
 Vocoding in CDMA
 Spreading Codes in CDMA

 Spreading codes selection is the key of spreading

Spectrum modulation!
 Spreading code chip speed ： 1.2288Mc/s ；
 Spreading code ：
Forward link—Walsh code & Short PN
Reverse link—Long PN
 Walsh Code Defination
 The Walsh function is named after Walsh, the
mathematician who proved it an orthogonal function in
1923. It is expressed as Walsh (n,t), n for the serial
number. The CDMA system of IS-95 is differentiated with
the Walsh function.
 Walsh code is an orthogonal square matrix. It is just
composed of +1(0) and –1(1).

0 0 0 0
Hn Hn
0 0 0 1 0 1
0
0 1 0 0 1 1
H 2n = ___

Hn Hn
0 1 1 0

H1 H2 H4
 Walsh Codes
• 64 Sequences, each 64 chips long
–A chip is a binary digit (0 or 1) #
WALSH CODES
---------------------------------- 64-Chip Sequence ------------------------------------------
0 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

• Each Walsh Code is Orthogonal to all other 1

2
3
0101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
0011001100110011001100110011001100110011001100110011001100110011
0110011001100110011001100110011001100110011001100110011001100110

Walsh Codes
4 0000111100001111000011110000111100001111000011110000111100001111
5 0101101001011010010110100101101001011010010110100101101001011010
6 0011110000111100001111000011110000111100001111000011110000111100
7 0110100101101001011010010110100101101001011010010110100101101001

–This means that it is possible to recognize and 8

9
10
0000000011111111000000001111111100000000111111110000000011111111
0101010110101010010101011010101001010101101010100101010110101010
0011001111001100001100111100110000110011110011000011001111001100

therefore extract a particular Walsh code from a

11 0110011010011001011001101001100101100110100110010110011010011001
12 0000111111110000000011111111000000001111111100000000111111110000
13 0101101010100101010110101010010101011010101001010101101010100101
14 0011110011000011001111001100001100111100110000110011110011000011

mixture of other Walsh codes which are “filtered out” 15

16
17
0110100110010110011010011001011001101001100101100110100110010110
0000000000000000111111111111111100000000000000001111111111111111
0101010101010101101010101010101001010101010101011010101010101010

in the process 18
19
20
0011001100110011110011001100110000110011001100111100110011001100
0110011001100110100110011001100101100110011001101001100110011001
0000111100001111111100001111000000001111000011111111000011110000

–Two same-length binary strings are orthogonal if

21 0101101001011010101001011010010101011010010110101010010110100101
22 0011110000111100110000111100001100111100001111001100001111000011
23 0110100101101001100101101001011001101001011010011001011010010110
24 0000000011111111111111110000000000000000111111111111111100000000

the result of XORing them has the same number of 25

26
27
0101010110101010101010100101010101010101101010101010101001010101
0011001111001100110011000011001100110011110011001100110000110011
0110011010011001100110010110011001100110100110011001100101100110

0s as 1s 28
29
30
0000111111110000111100000000111100001111111100001111000000001111
0101101010100101101001010101101001011010101001011010010101011010
0011110011000011110000110011110000111100110000111100001100111100
31 0110100110010110100101100110100101101001100101101001011001101001
32 0000000000000000000000000000000011111111111111111111111111111111
33 0101010101010101010101010101010110101010101010101010101010101010
34 0011001100110011001100110011001111001100110011001100110011001100
35 0110011001100110011001100110011010011001100110011001100110011001
36 0000111100001111000011110000111111110000111100001111000011110000
37 0101101001011010010110100101101010100101101001011010010110100101
38 0011110000111100001111000011110011000011110000111100001111000011
39 0110100101101001011010010110100110010110100101101001011010010110
40 0000000011111111000000001111111111111111000000001111111100000000
41 0101010110101010010101011010101010101010010101011010101001010101
42 0011001111001100001100111100110011001100001100111100110000110011

EXAMPLE:
43 0110011010011001011001101001100110011001011001101001100101100110
44 0000111111110000000011111111000011110000000011111111000000001111
45 0101101010100101010110101010010110100101010110101010010101011010
46 0011110011000011001111001100001111000011001111001100001100111100
47 0110100110010110011010011001011010010110011010011001011001101001

Correlation of Walsh Code #23 with Walsh Code #59 48

49
50
0000000000000000111111111111111111111111111111110000000000000000
0101010101010101101010101010101010101010101010100101010101010101
0011001100110011110011001100110011001100110011000011001100110011
51 0110011001100110100110011001100110011001100110010110011001100110
52 0000111100001111111100001111000011110000111100000000111100001111
#23 0110100101101001100101101001011001101001011010011001011010010110 53
54
0101101001011010101001011010010110100101101001010101101001011010
0011110000111100110000111100001111000011110000110011110000111100
#59 0110011010011001100110010110011010011001011001100110011010011001 55
56
0110100101101001100101101001011010010110100101100110100101101001
0000000011111111111111110000000011111111000000000000000011111111
XOR 0000111111110000000011111111000011110000000011111111000000001111 57
58
0101010110101010101010100101010110101010010101010101010110101010
0011001111001100110011000011001111001100001100110011001111001100
59 0110011010011001100110010110011010011001011001100110011010011001
60 0000111111110000111100000000111111110000000011110000111111110000

Correlation Results: 32 1’s, 32 0’s: Orthogonal!! 61

62
63
0101101010100101101001010101101010100101010110100101101010100101
0011110011000011110000110011110011000011001111000011110011000011
0110100110010110100101100110100110010110011010010110100110010110
Pilot
Sync
FW Traffic FW Traffic
(for user #1) (for user #2)
Paging
FW Traffic
(for user #3)
 Short PN: 4-bits register example
0 0 0 1
p1 p2 p3 p4
1 1 0 0
0 1 1 0
p4 0 0 1 1
p4 p2 p3 1 1 0 1
p5 = p1 + p4 1 0 1 0
0 1 0 1
1 1 1 0
0 1 1 1
p4 p5 p2 p3 1 1 1 1
1 0 1 1
• The PN sequences are deterministic and periodic.
1 0 0 1
–The length of the generated string is 2n-1, where “n” is the number of
elements in the register 1 0 0 0
–The number of zeroes in the sequence is equal to the number of ones 0 1 0 0
minus 1 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1
 Short PN Function
in Forward Link

Up to 64 Up to 64
Code Channels Code Channels
A B
 The short PN Sequences are 32,768 chips long. Short PN is used to
distinguish Different sectors.
 Each Sector in each Base Station is transmitting a Forward Traffic
Channel containing up to 64 forward code channels.
 A Mobile Station must be able to discriminate between different Sectors
of different Base Stations.
 The Short PN Sequences are defined for the purpose of identifying
sectors of different base stations.
 The Short PN Sequences can be used in 512 different ways in a CDMA
system. Each one of them constitutes a mathematical code which can
be used to identify a particular sector.
 Long PN:4-bits
shift register example
Original PN
XOR
sequence

0001
1100
0110
0011
mask 1101
1010
0101
1110
AND AND AND AND 0111
1111
1011
1001
1000
( XOR) 0100
New PN 0010
sequence 0001
Attention:different mask lead to different offset!
Attention:different mask lead to different offset!
 The Long PN Sequence

Long Code Register

(@ 1.2288 MCPS)
AND
1100011000 P E RMU T E D ESN Public Long Code Mask
(STATIC)
=
S UM User Long Code
Sequence
(@1.2288 MCPS)

• Each mobile station uses a unique User Long Code Sequence generated
by applying a mask, based on its 32-bit ESN, to the 42-bit Long Code
Generator which was synchronized with the CDMA system during the
mobile station initialization.
 Long PN Function
in Reverse Link

RV Traffic
from M.S.
#1837732008 RV Traffic • The CDMA system must be able to identify
from M.S. each Mobile Station that may attempt to
#1997061104
communicate with a Base Station.
• A very large number of Mobile Stations will
be in the market.

System Access RV Traffic

Attempt by M.S. from M.S.
#2000071301 #1994011508
(on access channel #1)
 Main Content
 Definitions of CDMA and How to realize
 Spread spectrum modulation
 Spreading codes used in CDMA
 Vocoding in CDMA
Vocoding - A1/A2 interface

Analog voice
Variable Rate PCM

BTS BSC
BSC MSC
MSC
CDMA Theory Unit 3
CDMA CHANNEL STRUCTURE
 Main Content
 The forward channels in IS-95
 The reverse channels in IS-95
 CDMA Call Processing
IS-95 Channel Structure
 Pilot Channel
•Used by the mobile station for initial system acquisition
•Transmitted constantly by the base station
•The same Short PN sequences are shared by all base stations, Each
base station is differentiated by a phase offset
•The function of Pilot channel is to search the serving sectors

Ec
•Ec/Io Energy of
–Measures the “strength” of the pilot
received pilot alone

Io Total energy received

 Sync Channel
 Used to provide essential system
parameters
 Mobile Station re-synchronizes at (Acquired Pilot)

the end of every call Sync Channel

  Two rates are supported: 9600 and 4800 bps
 The Paging Channel uses Walsh function 1
 There is one paging channel per sector per CDMA carrier
Used
Usedbybythe
thebase
basestation
stationto
to
transmit
transmitsystem
systemoverhead
overheadinformation
information
and
andmobile
mobilestation-specific
station-specificmessages.
messages.
Paging Channel
Paging Channels
 Paging Channel Messages
ACC_MSG_SEQ

Access
AccessParameters
ParametersMessage
Message

Overhead
Overhead
Messages
Messages
CONFIG_MSG_SEQ

System
SystemParameters
ParametersMessage
Message
Paging
Paging
Messages
Messages Configuration
Configuration CDMA
CDMAChannel
ChannelList
ListMessage
Message
Parameter
Parameter
Messages
Messages
Extended
ExtendedSystem
SystemParameters
ParametersMessage
Message

Extended
ExtendedNeighbor
NeighborList
ListMessage
Message
Mobile-Station-
Mobile-Station-
Directed
Directed
Messages Global
Messages GlobalService
ServiceRedirection
RedirectionMessage
Message
 Main Content
 The forward channels in IS-95
 The reverse channels in IS-95
 CDMA Call Processing
 Reverse Access Channels
Access channel

 Used by the mobile station to:

 Initiate communication with the base station
 Respond to Paging Channel messages
 Has a fixed data rate of 4800 bps
 Each Access Channel is associated with only one
Paging Channel
CDMA Reverse Traffic Channels
Reverse Traffic Channel

 Used when a call is in progress to send:

 Voice traffic from the subscriber
 Response to commands/queries from the base
station
 Requests to the base station
 Main Content
 The forward channels in IS-95
 The reverse channels in IS-95
 CDMA Call Processing
 CDMA MS Call Processing
Power-Up
Power-Up

Initialization
Initialization
Mobile station Mobile station is in idle handoff
has fully acquired with NGHBR_CONFG equal to
system timing ‘011’ or is unable to receive
Paging Channel Message

Mobile station ends use

Idle
Idle of the Traffic Channel

Mobile station receives an ACK to

an Access Channel transmission
Mobile station receives a Paging other than an Origination Message
Channel message requiring ACK or a Page Response Message
or response, originates a call, or
performs registration System
System
Access
Access

Mobile station is directed Traffic

Traffic
to a Traffic Channel
 Main Content
 The forward channels in IS-95
 The reverse channels in IS-95
 CDMA Call Processing
 CDMA2000-1X New Features
 High speed 307.2 kbps packet data capabilities;
 Increased mobile standby battery life;
 Total backward compatibility to reuse switch and call
processing features;

CDMA2000 1x RF Capacity
CDMA Theory Unit 4
CDMA Key Technology
 Main Content
 Power control in CDMA
 Soft handoff in CDMA
Reverse Open Loop Power Control
Reverse Open Loop
Power Control

Mobile BTS

 The mobile station makes a coarse initial estimation of the required

transmit power, based upon the total received power.
 Problems with Reverse Open Loop Power Control:
 Assumes same exact path loss in both directions; therefore, cannot
account for asymmetrical path loss
 Estimates are based on total power received; therefore the power
received from other cell sites by mobile station introduces
inaccuracies
 Reverse Closed Loop Power Control

Mobile BTS
or
Reverse Closed Loop Signal Strength
Power Control Measurement

Setpoint

 Compensates for asymmetries between the forward and reverse paths

 Consists of power up (0) & power down (1) commands sent to the mobile
stations, based upon their signal strength measured at the Base Station and
compared to a specified threshold
 Each command requests a 1dB increase or decrease of the mobile station
transmit power
 Transmitted 800 times per second
Reverse Outer Loop Power Control
Mobile BTS BSC
or
Reverse Closed Loop Signal Strength
Power Control Measurement

Reverse Outer
Setpoint Loop Power FER
Control

 Most gradual form of reverse link power control

 Setpoint is varied according to the FER on the Reverse Traffic Channel
(determined at the Base Station Controller)
 Sampled at a rate of 50 frames per second (20 ms / frame)
 Setpoint adjusted every 1-2 seconds
 Forward Traffic Channel
Power Control

MS BTS BSC

Adjust Fwd.
Power

FER

Forward Link Power Control

 The base station slowly decreases power to each mobile station.

 As the FER (determined at the mobile station) increases, the mobile
station requests a Forward Traffic Channel power increase.
 Summary of All Power Control Mechanisms

Reverse Open
Loop Power Control
MS BTS BSC
or
Reverse Cloesed
Loop Power Control Signal Strength Adjust Fwd.
Measurement Power
Reverse Outer
FER Set point Loop Power
FER
Control

 All types of power control work together to minimizes power consumption at

the mobile stations, and increases the overall capacity of the system transmit power.
 Main Content
 Power control in CDMA
 Soft handoff in CDMA
 CDMA Soft-handoff
 CDMA handoff classification
 Soft-handoff principle
 Soft-handoff characteristics
CDMA Handoff Classification
While in the Idle Handoff
Idle State

Soft Handoff

Softer Handoff

During Inter-System Soft Handoff

a Call
CDMA-to-CDMA Handoff

CDMA-to-Analog Handoff
 CDMA Idle Handoff （ 1 ）

PN 108
Ec/Io

104 108

s
Msg
l
ne
an
C h
Msg
g l
in ne It’s
Pa
g
an It’snot
notsoft
softand
andhard
hard
Ch
y nc handoff!
handoff!
S
PN 104
CDMA Idle Handoff （ 2 ）

>3dB PN 108
Ec/Io
s
Msg
l
ne
an
104 108 Ch sg
ng M
gi ne
l
Pa an
Ch
nc
Sy
A

PN 104
 Soft Handoff
PSTN

Cell Site MSC Cell Site

A B

B
S
C

 Between sectors of different cells

 Soft Handoff: the mobile station starts communications with a target
base station without interrupting communications with the current
serving base station.
 Can involve up to three cells simultaneously and use all signals
 Mobile station combines the frames from each cell
 Softer Handoff
•Handoff is between sectors of
the same cell
•Communications are
maintained across both
alpha sectors until the mobile station
transition has completed
•May happen frequently
beta •MSC is aware but does not
participate
•All activities are managed by
gamma the cell site
•Signals received at both
sectors can be combined for
improved quality

How many CE will be used?

 Inter-System Soft Handoffs
E1 Links
TIA/EIA-41D
MSC MSC

E1 Links
BSC BSC

AA DD UU XX
f1
f1 f1
f1 f1
f1 f1
f1
BB EE VV YY
f1
f1 f1 f1
f1 f1
f1 f1
CC FF WW ZZ
f1f1 f1 f1
f1 f1
f1 f1

CDMA Soft Handoff ISSHO CDMA Hard Handoff

 Mobile Station starts communications with a new cell controlled by a different

BSC while still communicating with the cell controlled by the source BSC
 Soft Handoffs over Hard Handoffs
 CDMA-to-CDMA Hard Handoff
PSTN
PSTN
MSC MSC MSC
T1 or E1 Links
TIA/EIA-41D
BSC BSC BSC

A B
A B
(ƒ1) (ƒ2)

 Between cells operating on different frequencies

 Between cells that could be on the same frequency, but which are
subordinated to different MSC
 Pilot Sets
Pilot Sets
1. Active
2. Candidate
3. Neighbor
4. Remaining

 There are 4 memorizer(pilot set) in handset, to save the related PN offset index.After
power off, all memorizer will be cleared automatically.
 Active Set: Pilots associated with the forward traffic channels assigned to the mobile
station (max 6 pilots)
 Candidate Set: Pilots not currently in the Active Set, but received by the mobile with
sufficient strength to indicate that the corresponding Traffic Channels can be
successfully demodulated (max 5 pilots)
 Neighbor Set: Pilots not currently on the Active or Candidate Sets, that are likely
handoff candidates (at most 20 pilots)
 Remaining Set: All other possible pilots in the current system on the current CDMA
frequency assignment
 These sets can be updated during handoff by the base station
 Pilot Strength Measurement
Message (PSMM)

A
B

Timing
Ch annels
C Tr affic

Pilot Channel PSMM

 The Pilot Strength Measurement Message is used by the mobile station to direct the base
station in the handoff process.

 Mobile station reports the strength of the pilots associated with forward traffic channels
currently being demodulated (and whether it would like to continue to receive traffic from
them), as well as pilots from the neighbor and remaining list which are being received with
sufficient strength so that traffic could be demodulated from them successfully.
 Soft Handoff Signaling
PSMM sent (request to add) ,
EHOD message received, Pilot Added to Active Set,
Pilot added to Candidate Set
EHOC message sent, NLU message received
Pilot
Strength Pilot strength drops below T_DROP,
Pilot Strength Drop Timer started
exceeds T_ADD
Drop Timer expires
T_ADD
PSMM Sent (request to remove)
T_DROP
EHOD message received,
Pilot Dropped into Neighbor Set,
T_TDROP EHOC message sent,
NLU message received
Time
(1)(2) (3) (4) (5)(6) (7)
N C A N

• T_ADD: pilot detection threshold (Typically 26 = -13dB)

• T_DROP: pilot drop threshold (Typically 30 = -15 dB)
• T_TDROP: drop timer value (Typically 3 = 4 sec)
–Prevents unnecessary transmissions of PSMM when a mobile station experiences a fade
THANKS!