AMR

- Adaptive Multi Rate

An overview

by
Sudha Kandi T
 AGENDA

Codec
Channel coding
Interleaving
AMR
Messages in AMR
Advantages of AMR
TMG mechanisms.
BSS Capacity
 CODEC-CODER / DECODER
A device used to transform analogue signal
samples into digital bit words and back again.

CHANNEL CODING IN GSM

Adding redundant bits to source information, errors

in a noisy channel can be reduced without sacrificing
the information trasmission rate,provided the
information rate is less than the channel capacity
 AMR - ADAPTIVE MULTI RATE
A Codec offering a wide range of data rates.
The philosophy behind AMR is to lower the codec rate as
the interference increases and thus enabling more error
correction to be applied.

NORTEL-USEAGE OF AMR
To Increase voice Quality in degraded radio
conditions, due to adaptation of the pair (Source ,
Channel) to the radio channel Quality.
 QUALITY OF SPEECH

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Adaptive Multi- Rate Codecs (AMR )
Best Codec Mode for the connection
AMR is made of different modes to optimize certain C/I regions
Mode= Channel coding + Source Coding
Link Adaptation between modes of the same codec rate
Handover between FR and HR Based on Link
Performance
AMR CODEC SETS
In the recommendations, the following coding modes are
defined (in kbits/s) :

AMR FR AMR HR
12.2
10.2
7.95 7.95
7.4 7.4
6.7 6.7
5.9 5.9
5.15 5.15
4.75 4.75
 CONSTRAINTS

 hardware capacity : all TRX types have to have

the same AMR capacities,
 intrinsic quality of each codec mode in term of
voice quality and functioning range,
 rec. limitation to 4 active codec mode at the
same time,
only the following coding modes are loaded in the
BSS :
AMR AMR
FR HR
10.2
6.7 6.7
5.9 5.9
4.75 4.75
Adaptive Multi-Rate Codecs(AMR)
Capacity and Quality without Costs

Optimal quality and capacity through appropriate

and efficient selection of codec modes

Increase spectral efficiency and higher fractional reuse with

ROBUST AMR FR
Higher erlang capacity in good radio conditions with AMR
HR without additional equipment
Improve voice quality at cell edge and in building with AMR
FR
 MESSAGES/ DEFINITIONS
Initial codec mode : at the TCH allocation, the
initial codec (ICM) mode used by
the MS and the BTS is the 5.9 kbits/s.
AMR may operate in full rate channels, or half rate
channels. This is called the “channel type”
Basis of AMR is that within the channel (FR or HR), there is
a set of voice coders, along with associated channel coding,
among which the best combination can be selected to
maximize speech quality according to conditions met on the
radio link. This is “codec mode adaptation”.
 MESSAGES/ DEFINITIONS
For uplink adaptation, the Quality Indicator, as measured
in the BTS is compared to certain thresholds and
generates, also considering possible constraints from
network control, a Codec Mode Command (CMC)
indicating the codec mode to be used on the uplink.

Both for uplink and downlink, the presently applied

codec mode is transmitted inband as Codec Mode
Indication (CMI) together with the coded speech
data.
 MESSAGE FLOW

MS BTS

CMI
CMI
20ms

40ms CMR 20ms

CMC 40ms

CMI
CMI

CMR
CMC
It can be noticed that this choice ensures

• A Good overlapping between each codec mode

• An Optimal voice quality,
• A Good trade-off between stability and codec
mode adaptation
RATSCCH Robust AMR Traffic Synchronized Control Channel

• Frame Stealing : one speech frame is stolen for each RATSCCH message,
and on TCH/AHS two speech frames are stolen

• FACCH frames have higher priority than RATSCCH frames

• The RATSCCH protocol elements consist of a number of REQuest

Messages and three ACKnowledgement Messages
ACK_OK message
ACK_ERR message
ACK_UNKNOWN message
CMI_PHASE_REQ message
AMR_CONFIG_REQ message
THRESH_REQ message
 TMG MECHANISMS

The BSC should determine whether AMR is to be used, and select

between FR or HR. This mechanism is based on proprietary
algorithms, which provide to the operator a full control of the allocation.

These decisions are made based on several criteria :

OAM flags which indicate if the BSC, the TCU, and the cell support
AMR, and strategy selected
MS capability, which is reported by the MSC in Assignment request
or Handover request messages2,
radio context-RR Management

--------------------------------------Setup[Bearer Cap] --------------------------->

< ---------------------------- Call Proceeding [Bearer Cap] --------------------

+ Assignment procedure
 HANDOVER
Principle •“(n,p)” voting
If in the last p requested codec modes, at least n are strictly less than a
target codec mode, then the condition is fulfilled

HANDOVER TYPES

Alarm inter-cell handover

Intra –Cell handover
Handover AMR FR -> AMR HR
Direct half rate TCH allocation
Inter-zone handover
 HANDOVER CONTD..

Pre handover BTS has to intercept :

•Assignment Command in case of intra-cell,

•Handover Command in case of inter-cell handover,
and to perform up to 2 codec mode adaptations, in order to activate the initial
codec mode (5.9 kbits in all cases) and to stop the adaptative mechanism.

This induces :
•an increase of around 150ms on the handover duration from the BSS
point of view,
•a delay of around 150ms on the handover starting time from a MS
point of view, but no impact for the end-user in term of voice quality
(i.e. same speech gap).
In case of handover failure when the MS returns on the old channel, the
adaptation mechanism is restarted by the BTS at reception of the Start
Measurement message.
 ADVANTAGES

• Good Call quality

• Better solution for long term fading
• Good Handover control
 POWER CONTROL

Based on Step by step power control

• decrease power level by one step if last requested codec mode

is greater than target codec mode
• increase power level by one step if last requested codec mode
is lesser than target codec mode

•HRPowerControlTargetMode:7.4,6.7,5.9,4.75

•FRPowerControlTargetMode:12.2,10.2,6.7,5.9,4.75
 IMPACTED AREAS

AMR Management
• AMR Vocoders,
• Dedicated VAD/DTX,
• Link Adaptation Mechanism,
• RATSCCH channel
• TRAU frames

L1m Mechanism
Adaptation of current mechanism (power control
and handover) to the intrinsic quality of AMR channel

TMG Management
Allocation and management of AMR channels
and specially half rate channels
 BSS CAPACITY
Abis PCM
AMR Half Rate allows to double the number of calls that could
be carried on a Abis PCM.

BSC e3 capacity
The introduction of AMR services on BSC induces :
handovers between half rate and full rate TCH, in order to
adapt the radio link to radio conditions,
more complex algorithm,Channel allocation),
Thus the BSC load of an AMR call is greater than the load
induced by a non AMR call.

TCU e3 capacity
AMR services induce more complexity on TCU, but no
capacity reduction compared with EFR or FR calls is
expected.
GOOD DAY!
Thank you