UMTS Signaling Information

Prepared by:
Marzieh Abaspour
Ehsan Roustaei

Structure of System Information

System information is organized as a tree,

including:
MIB (Master Information Block )
SB (Scheduling Block )
SIB (System Information Block )

Structure of System
Information
System information is used for the network to broadcast network
information to UEs camping on a cell so as to control the behavior of
UEs.
MIB:
When selecting a new cell, the UE reads the MIB
The UE may locate the MIB by predefined scheduling information
The IEs in the MIB includes MIB value tag, PLMN type, PLMN identity,

reference and scheduling information for a number of SIBs in a cell or

one or two SBs in a cell
SB:
Gives reference and scheduling information to other SIBs
The scheduling information of a SIB may be included in only one of MIB

and SB
SIB:
Contains actual system information,
Consists of system information elements (IEs) with the same purpose
Scheduling information for a system information block may only be

included in either the master information block or one of the scheduling

MIB

SB

System Information
Following SIBs are mostly seen in layer 3 messages:
SIB1: Contains the system information for NAS and the timer/counter for

UE
SIB2: Contains the URA(UTRAN Registration area ) information
SIB3: Contains the parameters for cell selection and cell reselection
SIB5: Contains parameters for the common physical channels of the cell
SIB7: Contains the uplink interference level and the refreshing timer for

SIB7
SIB11: Contains measurement controlling information

SIB1
SIB1: Contains the system
information for NAS and the
timer/counter for UE

The routing area is

the PS domain
equivalent of the
location area

Routing Area Code

Routing area : PS domain equivalent of the location area
Routing area : Normally a subdivision of a location area
Used by mobiles which are GPRS-attached (GPRS is optimized for "bursty" data

communication services)
The bursty nature of packet traffic means that more paging messages are

expected per mobile

It is worth knowing the location of the mobile more accurately than it would be

with traditional circuit-switched traffic

"Routing Area Update" is done in an almost identical way to a change from

location area to location area

The main difference is that the "Serving GPRS Support Node" (SGSN) is the

element involved.

Timers & Counters

T300 RRC Conn Req Retransmit Timer

This setting determines how long the UE waits for the RRC
Connection Setup after sending an RRC Connection Setup Request.

T300 can be set to one of the following values: 400, 600, 800,
1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, 1800, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, 8000 ms.

N300 RRC Conn Req Max Retransmits

This setting specifies the maximum number

of retransmissions of

the RRC Connection Request message.

N300 can be set to any integer value from 0 to 7.

T308 RRC Conn Release Comp Retransmit Timer

T308 specifies the time between the transmissions ofRRC

Connection Release Completemessage.

N308

RRC Conn Release Comp Max Retransmits

N308 specifies the maximum number of retransmissions of

theRRC CONNECTION RELEASE COMPLETEmessage.

Timers & Counters

T312

Link Establishment Timer (Idle)

This setting determines how long the UE waits for an N312 "in-sync" indication
from layer 1 when establishing a dedicated channel and the connection status
isIdle. According to 3GPP TS 25.331 table 10.3.3.44, The value 0 is not used.

T312 can be set to any integer value from 1 to 15.

T312

Link Establishment Timer (Connected)

This setting determines how long the UE waits for an N312 "in-sync" indication
from layer 1 when establishing a dedicated channel in connected status. According
to 3GPP TS 25.331 table 10.3.3.43, The value 0 is not used.

N312

Link Establishment In-Sync Count (Idle)

This setting specifies the number of " in-syncs" required when establishing a
dedicated channel when the connection status isIdle.

N312 can be set to one of the following values: 1, 2, 4, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 400,
600, 800, 1000.

N312

Link Establishment In-Sync Count (Conn.)

setting specifies the number of " in-syncs" required when establishing a
dedicated channel in connected status.

N312 can be set to one of the following values: 1, 2, 4, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 400,
600, 800, 1000.

This

Timers & Counters

T313 Out-of-Sync Reception Timer
After receiving N313 consecutive "out of sync" indications from layer 1, the UE
shall start the T313 timer. Upon receiving N315 successive "in sync" indications
from layer 1, the UE shall stop and reset the T313 timer. If T313 expires, a "Radio
Link failure" has occurred, and the UE shall drop the call.
N313 Successive Out-Of-Sync Reception Max
N313 specifies the maximum number of successive "out of sync" received from L1.
N313 can be set to one of the following integer values: 1, 2, 4, 10, 20, 50, 100,
200.
N315 Successive In-Sync Reception Counter
N315 specifies the maximum number of successive "in sync" received from L1
during T313 is activated.
N315 can be set to one of the following integer values: 1, 2, 4, 10, 20, 50, 100,
200, 400, 600, 800, 1000.
T3212 Periodic Location Update Timer
T3212 specifies how often the UE will perform the periodic location update
procedure. It is signaled in SIB1.
When T3212 is set to zero, the UE will regard the timer to be infinite.

Timers & Counters

T302
Starts at the transmission of Cell Update or URA Update
Stops at the receipt of Cell Update Confirm or URA Update Confirm
At expiry, re-transmits Cell Update/URA Update if V302<= N302 Else go to IDLE Mode

T304
Starts at the transmission of UE Capability Info
Stops at the receipt of UE capability Information Confirm
At Expiry, re-transmits UE capability information if V304<=N304, Else initiate a Cell Update proc

T305
Starts upon entering CELL_FACH/URA_PCH/CELL_PCH state. OR upon receipt of CELL Update Confirm/URA Update

Confirm
Stops upon entering another state
At expiry, transmits CELL Update if T307 is not activated and UE detects "In Service Area" Otherwise If T307 is not

active, initiate starting of timer T307

T307
Starts

when timer T305 has been expired and UE detects the " Out of Service Area"
when UE detects "In Service Area"
At Expiry it transit to the IDLE MODE
Stops

T309
Starts

upon receipt of Cell Change Order from UTRAN message

upon successful response to a CONNECTION ESTABLISHMENT REQUEST in a new CELL
At Expiry, resumes the Connection to UTRAN network.
Stops

T310
Starts

upon transmission of PUSCH Capacity Request message

upon receipt of Physical Shared Channel Allocation
At expiry transmits PUSCH Capacity Request if V310 <= N310 ELSE stops the procedure
Stops

Timers & Counters

T311
Starts upon reception of Physical Shared Channel Allocation ( When "PUSCH

ALLOCATION" set to "PUSCH ALLOCATION pending")

Stops upon receipt of Physical Shared Channel Allocation ( When "PUSCH
allocation" set to "PUSCH allocation assignment")
At Expiry, UE initiate a PUSCH CAPACITY REQUEST procedure

T316
Starts when UE detects "out of service area" in the URA_PCH or CELL_PCH

state
Stops when UE detects "in service area"
At expiry,initiates cell update procedure if "in service area" is detected,
OTHERWISE starts timer T317,
transit to CELL_FACH state and initiate cell update procedure when the UE
detects "in service area"

T317
Starts when timer T316 expires OR when in CELL_FACH state, UE detects "out

of service area"
Stops when UE detects "in service area"
At Expiry, transits to IDLE MODE.

SIB2

SIB2: Contains the URA

information

SIB3

SIB3: Contains the

parameters for cell
selection and cell
reselection
Cell selection is
based on Ec/No.
Inter-RAT cell
selection
parameters.
Indicates that the cell is
barred or not.
When there is call setup
issue on a cell this
element should be
checked.

Q-Hyst-2
Description:The hysteresis value of the serving cell ( used for

cell ranking for the serving cell). It is used for WCDMA cells
when qualMeasQuantity is set to CPICH Ec/No.
Range:0 to 40
Default:4
Recommended:4
Resolution:2
Function:Cell Selection & Reselection
Access:Read & Write
Dependencies:Default: qHyst2 = qHyst1
Effect of Change:If reselection hysteresis is set too low, e.g.

0 dB that can lead to many intra-frequency cell reselections.

S-intersearch & S-intrasearch

S-intersearchcontrols whether the UE must make measurements of

inter-frequency cells while camped

If the quality of the serving cell is above S-intersearch, the UE will not

measure other inter-frequency cells while camped

If S-intersearchis not present, the UE must make inter-frequency

measurements while camped

If the UE does not make measurements on other cells, it will not

reselect away from the current cell, even if there is another cell at a
higher signal level.
Can be set to any even number value between -32 dB and +20 dB,

but any negative value will be interpreted by the UE as 0 dB.

WhenS-intersearchisOff, the S-intersearch information element is

not included in SIB3.

S-intersearchparameter does not affect measurements performed by

the UE while on a connection

S-intrasearchis similar to S-intersearch but for intra-frequency cells.

SIB5

SIB5: Contains parameters

for the common physical
channels of the cell

It is used to increase
the transmit power of
the PRACH preamble
when no response is
received from the test
set.
How many times a
preamble shall be
transmitted with
increased UL power
within one cycle.

Preamble-Retrans-Max
Initial RACH Preamble Power = Primary CPICH TX Power

CPICH_RSCP + UL_Interference + Constant Value

CPICH_RSCP is the power directly measured by UE and all other

parameters are calculated (obtained) from system information. The

related parameter and system information is as follows
If UE fail to get AICH for the PRACH, it increment the PRACH power by

Power Ramp Step and transmit the PRACH again. UE repeat this
process until it gets AICH or it retried the specific number specified in
SIB3.
Mmax: Maximum number of RACH preamble cycles. Defines how many

times the PRACH preamble ramping procedure can be repeated before

UE MAC reports a failure on RACH transmission to higher layers.
NB01Maxis the Upper bound of the waiting time in 10 millisecond

increments (i.e. 1 corresponds to 10 ms and 50 corresponds to 500

ms).

Following screenshot is an example of PRACH transmission and

retransmission. In this test case, Network intentionally does not
send AICH so that UE keep sending PRACH with specified power
increment in the specified number of times

Preamble-Retrans-Max
Physical Value Range : 1 to 64 times
Parameter Setting : The default value is 8 times.
The product of this parameter and the previous PRACH Power

Ramp Step determines the maximum ramp power of the UE

within a preamble ramping cycle.
Impact on the Network Performance
If this value is too low, the preamble power may fail to ramp to the

required value, resulting in UE access failure.

If it is too high, the UE may repeatedly make access attempts by
increasing the transmit power, resulting in interference to other
users.

SIB5
Defines the transmission
power offset measured
indBof one AICH relative
to the Primary CPICH
power.

SIB5: Contains parameters

for the common physical
channels of the cell
Defines the maximum
transmission power offset
measured in dB of the
PICH channel relative to
the Primary CPICH
transmission power.

Periodicity at which a
Transport Block set is
transferred by the
physical layer on to the
radio interface - {10, 20,
40, 80 ms}

SIB7

SIB7: Contains the uplink

interference level and the
refreshing timer for SIB7

If this number is
greater than -95,
then we have the
interference on
these cells.

SIB11 Intra-frequency

SIB11: Contains
measurement controlling
information
Active_s
et

Intra-frequency
cells which are
defined
neighbour with
the active cell

If a cell is not stated

here it means that it
is not defined
neighbour with the
active cell.

SIB11 Inter-frequency

SIB11: Contains
measurement controlling
information
Active_s
et

Inter-frequency
cells which are
defined for the
active_set cell

System Information
Following SIBs are rarely seen in layer 3 messages:
SIB4: Contains parameters for cell selection and cell re-selection while

UE is in connected mode.
SIB6: Contains parameters for the common physical channels of the

cell while UE is in connected mode.

SIB8: Contains the CPCH static information
SIB9: Contains the CPCH dynamic information
SIB10: Contains information to be used by UEs having their DCH

controlled by a DRAC procedure. Used in FDD mode only. To be used in

CELL_DCH state only. Changes so often, its decoding is controlled by a
timer.

System Information
Following SIBs are rarely seen in layer 3 messages:
SIB12: Contains measurement controlling information in connecting mode
SIB13: Contains ANSI-41 system information
SIB14: Contains the information in TDD mode
SIB15: Contains the position service information
SIB16: Contains the needed pre-configuration information for handover

from other RAT to UTRAN

SIB17: Contains the configuration information for TDD
SIB18: Contains the PLMN identities of the neighboring cells To be used in

shared networks to help with the cell reselection process

References:
WCDMA UE Behaviors in Idle Mode , 2008

Huawei Technologies Co.

TEMS Investigations help
WCDMA Physical Layer Design , A.
Chockalingam , Assistant Professor , Indian
Institute of Science