UMTS

Cell Selection & Reselection UMTS02 v2.1

Wireless Network Engineering April 03

Cell Selection & Reselection

PLMN Selection
Slot Synchronization Frame Synchronization Scrambling Code Identification System Information decoding

Cell Selection Cell Reselection (idle&Cell_Fach) Location Registration

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Mobility & Cell Selection

4 steps:
Network Selection
Mobile in idle mode acquires the best received UMTS cell and identifies its scrambling code Mobile in idle mode selects the PLMN

Cell Selection
Mobile in idle mode selects the cell to camp on according to basic criteria Cell Reselection Mobile in idle mode selects a new cell according to parameters broadcasted on the current cell

Location Registration
The mobile in idle mode informs the network about a change of location area

Handover
Mobile in RRC connected mode in one cell is handed over another cell

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Mobile Supposed Behaviour

Mobile is switched ON Does the UE have in memory the frequency used previously ?

Y e s

N o

Mobile is searching for PSCH on this frequency

No PSCH

Mobile is scanning the band from the lower UMTS Frequency

P-SCH Found

P-SCH Found

No PSCH

Cell Selection

Cell Selection

Scanning next frequency

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P-SCH1

P-SCH2

Slot Synchronization
1 Slot = 667s P-SCH1 S-SCH1 P-SCH2 S-SCH2 P-SCH3 S-SCH3
P-CCPCH

P-SCH3
P-CCPCH P-CCPCH P-CCPCH

P-CCPCH P-CCPCH P-CCPCH

UE synchronizes on the strongest correlation peak

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P-SCH

Frame Synchronization
512 Primary Scrambling Codes divided into 64 groups
Scram bling C ode G roup G roup G roup G roup G roup G roup G roup G roup G roup 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 #0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 #0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 #0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 #0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 #0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 #0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 slot num ber #0 #0 #0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

S-SCH

#0 #0 #0 #0 #0 #0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Slot # ?

Slot #?

Slot #?

P-SCH S-SCH

acp 16
256 chips 2560 chips

acp 11

acp 2

..

Group 4 Slot 12,13,14

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Scrambling Code Identification

P-SCH S-SCH P-CPICH

For i = 1 to 8

x OVSF Cch,256,0

x SC #i N o

Symbol by Symbol Correlation ?

Y e s
Primary DL Scrambling Code Known (best correlation peak)

Mapping between group and Scrambling codes defined in TS 25.331

P-CPICH: Predefined sequence (20 bits) spread with Cch,256,0 scrambled with the primary SC
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Cell Information
P-SCH: Coverage indication, Slot Synchronization S-SCH: Frame Synchronization, Group identification P-CPICH: Scrambling Code Identification P-CCPCH: System Information Broadcast

Logical Channel BCCH

Bit Rate: 12.3 kbps

Transport Channel BCH

RLC Mode: transparent Mac-B: transparent

Physical Channel P-CCPCH

OVSF Cch,256,1 Primary Scrambling Code Transmitted during 9/10th slot

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FDDCell Parameters
Parameter bchPowerRelativetoPcpich Object FDDCell Range Float (dB) Min= -35, max= 15 Step = 0.1 Int [10551..10999] (UARFCN) Float (dBm) Min=-10 max = 50 Step = 0.1 Int [0..511] Float (dB) Min = -35, max = 15 Step = 0.1 Float (dB) Min = -35, max = 15 Step = 0.1 Default Value -5 Recommended Value -2 Class C0

dlFrequencyNumber pcpichPower

FDDCell FDDCell

N.A. 35

N.A. 1 carrier : 35 2 carriers: 32 N.A. -5

C0 C0

primaryScramblingCode pschPowerRelativeToPcpich

FDDCell FDDCell

N.A. -5

C0 C0

sschPowerRelativeToPcpich

FDDCell

-5

-5

C0

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PLMN Selection
MCC = Mobile Country Code MNC = Mobile Network Code
Parameter MobileCountryCode MobileCountryCode MobileNetworkCode MobileNetworkCode Object Network RNC Network RNC Range BcdString length = 3 BcdString length = 3 BcdString length = 3 BcdString length = 3 Default Value N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. Recommended Value N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. Class C0 C0 C0 C0

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Synchronization of SCH at BTS level

Cell #3 Cell #1

So as to prevent overlapping of SCH channels from differents cells belonging to the same NodeB are shifted by a certain number of 1/10th of time slot, according to the parameter Tcell, representing the timing delay relative to BFN used for defining start of SCH, CPICH and Donwlink csrambling code for a cell

Reference Slots (form BTS Frame Number Counter)

Cell #2

1 Slot (2560 chips, 0.667 ms)

1 Slot (2560 chips, 0.667 ms)

STSR3 Case

Cell #1 TCell = 0

SCH

SCH

Cell #2 TCell = 3

SCH

SCH

Cell #3 TCell = 6

SCH

SCH

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Tcell Parameter
Parameter TCell Object FDDCell Range Int [0..9] Default Value 0 Recommended Value See rule Class C0

In case of multi-sectorial site, Tcell parameter has to be different for each sector, so as to prevent problems during handover procedures. The gap (for Tcell value) has to be as big as possible for cells belonging to the same site. Example: 1 cell Tcell = 0 2 cells Tcell = 0 and 5 3 cells Tcell = 0, 3 and 6 In case of more than one frequency layer used, Tcell can take the same value for cells belonging to different layers: Example Frequency layer 1 Tcell = 0, 3 and 6 for three cells Frequency layer 2 Tcell = 0, 3 and 6 for three cells

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Cell Selection Procedure

Definitions:
Acceptable Cell:
Cell on which UE can obtain limited services (emergency calls)

Suitable Cell:
Cell on which the UE can obtain a normal service

UE States for cell Selection / Reselection:

Camped on any cell: UE monitors System Information but has chosen a cell irrespective of PLMN identity Camped on a cell: UE monitors System Information and paging information
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Cell Selection Criteria

Suitable Cell Conditions: Squal > 0 AND SRXLev > 0
With: Squal= Qqualmeas qQualMin = CPICH_Ec/No qQualMin
SrxLev= QrxLevMeas qRxLevMin Pcompensation = CPICH_RSCP qRxLevMin Pcompensation Pcompensation= MAX (SibMaxAllowedUlTxPowerOnRach p_MAX, 0)

Suitable Cell Conditions: CPICH_Ec/No > qQualmin AND CPICH_RSCP > qRxLevMin + Pcompensation
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Cell Selection Parameters

Parameter qQualMin qRxLevMin SibMaxAllowedUlTxPowerOnRach Object CellSelectionInfo CellSelectionInfo PowerConfClass Range Int [-24..0] (dB) Int [-115..-25] Step = 2 (dBm) Int [-50..33] (dBm) Default Value -10 -45 33 Recommended Value -16 -115 33 Class C2 C2 C2

P_Max = maximum UE output power (dBm) according to its class Power Class 1 2 3 4 Maximum Output Power (dBm) 33 27 24 21

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INTERNAL

Cell Selection : Engineering Notes

SibMaxAllowedUlTxPowerOnRach is transmitted in SysInfo #3, #4, #11 and #12 SibMaxAllowedUlTxPowerOnRach modifications This parameter is a Class 2 parameter. So, to modify it, it is needed to lock / unlock all the FDDCell pointing to the concerned PowerConfClass instance. It is recommended that: SibMaxAllowedUlTxPowerOnRach = MaxAllowedUlTxPower There is one instance of MaxAllowedUlTxPower for each Radio Bearer (in UlUsPowerConf Object)

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Cell Reselection Procedure

General Description:
On a cell, the UE listens to system information and
3G 3G Fre Fre q. 1 q.

?
2 G

performs radio measurements

The network controls what the UE shall measure and

sends the system information data concerning the neighboring cell

The UE then uses an algorithm to select a better cell The Inter-Frequency algorithm uses a set of broadcast
parameters :

3G 3G Fre Fre q. 2 q. 2

a criteria for searching Inter-frequency cells and

performing measurements

a criteria S to assess whether the cells are eligible a criteria R for ranking eligible cells and determining
the best one

3G can be favoured compared to 2G by playing on engineering parameters

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Cell Reselection Procedure

Squal
SintraSearch
Thresholds given as example

SinterSearch
Measurement on same frequency Measurement on other frequencies

SinterRAT
Measurement on other RAT

If

Squal

= CPICH_Ec/No qQualMin < Threshold

Associated measurements are performed

Thresholds are broadcasted in SIB 11 In UMTS02, 2 types of measurements are done: Intra frequency and inter RAT

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Cell Reselection Thresholds

Parameter sInterSearch sIntraSearch sSearchGSM csDrxCynLngCoef psDrxCynLngCoef Object CellSelectionInfo CellSelectionInfo CellSelectionInfo FDDCell FDDCell Range Int [-32..20] (dB) Step=2 Int [-32..20] (dB) Step=2 Int [-32..20] (dB) Step=2 Int [6..9] Int [6..9] Default Value -32 -32 -32 6 6 Recommended Value 6 6 6 TBD TBD Class C2 C2 C2 C0 C0

Without HCS (Hierarchical Cell Structures, not implemented in UMTS02), for FDD cells, Squal is compared to different threshold broadcast in the System Information to determine which kind of measurement (intrafrequency, inter-frequency and inter-RAT) the UE shall do.

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Cell Reselection: Ranking

First step: Eligible Cells Selection: Squal > 0 and SrxLev > 0 for FDD cells SrxLev > 0 for GSM Cells Second Step: 1st Ranking, considering CPICH_RSCP: Serving cell: Neighbor FDD cell: Rs = CPICH_RSCP + qHyst1 Rn = CPICH_RSCP - qOffset1sn
3 3 G G

?
2 G

qHystx and qOffsetxsn are Hysteresis (to prevent PingPong Effect) and Offset (to favoritize a neighbor cell) values for serving and neighbor cells

GSM Cell: RnGSM = RxLev - qOffset1sn Third Step: 2nd Ranking, considering CPICH_Ec/No
(Only applied if an FDDcell is ranked as the best cell, and qualMeas = CPICH Ec/No (always the case in UMTS02):

Serving Cell: Neighbor FDD Cell:

Rs = CPICH_EcNo + qHyst2 Rn = CPICH_EcNo qOffset2sn

In UMTS02 & 03 qualMeas = CPICH Ec/No (qualMeas determines the cell selection quality measure)
qOffset1sn is a static parameter for FDD neighboring cells, its value is 0
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Cell Reselection Measurements

Measurements: DRX Cycle csDrxCynLngCoef psDrxCynLngCoef int [6..9] int [6..9]

These two parameters determine the measurement frequency in idle mode , as defined in TS 25.133
DRX Parameter DRX Cycle Length (s) Nserv (nb of cycles) TmeasureFDD (s) TevaluateFDD (s) TmeasureGSM (s)

6 7 8 9

0.64 1.28 2.56 5.12

4 2 2 1

1.28 1.28 2.56 5.12

5.12 6.4 7.68 10.24

5.12 6.4 7.68 10.24

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Cell Reselection Conditions

Squal > 0 and SrxLev > 0 for the new cell New cell is better ranked than serving cell during tReselection More than 1 second has elapsed since the UE camped on the current serving cell
Squal =< Threshold Measurements
FDD Meas. + FDD Meas. FDD Meas. FDD Meas. GSM Meas.

Squal > Threshold tReselection Tmeasure Tevaluate Cell Ranking New cell choice

Cell Resele ction

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Cell Reselection Parameters

Parameter qHyst1 qHyst2 qOffset1sn qOffset2sn qualMeas tReselection CellSelectionInfo Object CellSelectionInfo CellSelectionInfo GSMCell UMTSFDDNeighbouring Range Int [0..40] (dBm) Step = 2 Int [0..40] (dB) Step = 2 Int [-50..50] (dB) Int [-50..50] (dB) CPICH_EcNo or CPICH_RSCP Int [0..31] (s) Default Value 10 4 0 0 CPICH_EcNo 31 Recommended Value 4 6 TBD TBD N.A. 6 Class C2 C2 C0 C0 Static C2

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CELL FACH mobility

Even if Cell_FACH an RRC connected state, mobility in CELL_FACH state is performed via Cell Reselection. It is called Cell Update procedure Restrictions : Same parameters than for Idle mode Cell Reselection. Differentiation only possible when supporting SIB 4 and SIB 12 (v4) in case of inter-RNC Cell Update, the request is rejected and the UE is forced to go to idle mode.
UE
RRC RRC

Serving RNC Cell update Cell update confirm UTRAN mobility Information Confirm
RRC RRC

UMTS 03

RRC

RRC

Parameter

Object

Range

Default Value 1 400 (ms) 30 (mn)

Recommen ded Value Not Defined Yet

Class

N302 (Max restransmissions of Cell Update) T302 (Between Cell update and Cell Update confirm) T305 (Periodic cell update)

UeTimerCstCInteger onnectedMod min=0, Max=7 e 100, 200, 400,600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, 1800, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, 8000 NoUpdate, 5, 10, 30, 60, 120, 360, 720

M3 M3 M3

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Mobility in Idle Mode Strategy

Target: Staying in UMTS as much as possible
UMTS cells GSM cells

Squal Measurement Trigger: Sintrasearch > SsearchRAT

Sintrasearch Sintersearch SsearchRAT
No Intra frequency measurements Intra frequency measurements performed No Inter frequency measurements Inter frequency measurements performed No Inter System measurements Inter system measurements performed

Cell Ranking Criteria

Qoffset (3G cell) < Qoffset (2G cells) Qhyst set to a high value qRxLevMin setting not too low to avoid too many 2G eligible cells

For the serving cell Rs = Qmeas,s + qHyst For the neighboring cells Rn = Qmeas,n - qOffset

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INTERNAL

Engineering Notes
Informations on Mobiles: Treselection is not taken into account (v) SearchRat is not used Recommended Values: Treselection recommended value (5 sec.) seems to be too high, 2 sec. Should be enough (to be tested)

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Cell Access Restrictions

The following parameters allow to restrict access to some cells. They prevent to send the initial access message, but there is no impact on cell selection/reselection
Parameter accessClassBared barredOrNot cellReservedForOperatorUse cellRservationExtension intraFreqCellReselectInd tBarred Object FDDCell FDDCell FDDCell FDDCell FDDCell FDDCell Range List 0..15 Barred/notbarred Barred notBarred Reserved notReserved Reserved notReserved Allowed notAllowed
barredS10, barredS20, barredS40, barredS80, barredS160, barredS320, barredS640, barredS1280

Default Value N.A. notBarred notReserved notReserved Allowed BarredS160

Recommended Value N.A. notBarred notReserved notReserved Allowed TBD

Class C0 C0 C0 C0 C0 C0

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Initial Cell Selection, SIB decoding

BarredOrN ot
barred notbarred
All the other UEs

intraFreqCellRe selectInd
allowed
UE tries to select another intrafreq cell

CellReservedForOp eratorUse
Reserved
Only UEs Class 11 and 15 are accepted

notAllowed
UE tries to select another frequenc y If no other Freq

notReserved

CellReservationE xtension
notReserved Reserved

Retry on the same cell

wait

all UE are accept ed

tBarr ed

wait

Max_tBarre d (barredS12 80)

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Location Registration Procedure

UE selects the PLMN according to the network identifiers broadcasted in SIB and stored in the SIM card

Parameter locationAreaCode routingAreaCode mobileCountryCode

Object FDDCell FDDCell GSMCell Network RNC GSMCell Network RNC

Range Int [0..65535] Int [0..255] String Length = 3 String Length = 3

Default Value N.A. N.A. N.A.

Recommended Value N.A. N.A. N.A.

mobileNetworkCode

N.A.

N.A.

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UE
RRC

Node B
RACH / RRC Connection Request (Cause)

RN C
RRC

New MSC/VLR
The RRC Connection Request message initiated by the UE contains the establishment cause

NBAP NBAP DCH_FP DCH_FP

Radio Link Setup Request Radio Link Setup Response DL Synchro UL Synchro

NBAP NBAP DCH_FP DCH_FP

The NBAP Radio Link configuration contains hte TFC Used for the DCCH that will be used in the early call setup phase

FACH / RRC Connection Setup (U-RNTI) RRC DCH / RRC Connection Complete RRC Measurement Control RRC Initial Direct Transfer (Location Updating Request) RRC RRC RRC Connection Request Connection Confirm Initial UE Message (MM: Location updating Req.) RRC RRC The RRC Connection Setup message contains the signaling bearer TFC. A UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity is also allocated to the UE

Old MSC/VLR

SCCP SCCP RANAP

SCCP SCCP RANAP

SCCP Connection Request may be encapsulated in the RANAP Initial UE Message: RANAP RNC MSC with SCCP Conn.Req. SCCP RNC MSC Connection Conf.

Send Indentification (TMSI) MAP Send Indentification Ack (IMSI) MAP

MAP

MAP

Location Update Dataflow (1/2) Cell_DCH

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UE

Node B

RN C

New MSC/VLR

Old MSC/VLR

MM MM

Service Accept + Authentication & Ciphering Request Authentication & Ciphering Response

MM The UE is authenticated by the MSC MM Security Mode Command RANAP

RANAP Security Mode Command RRC Security Mode Complete RRC RRC RANAP RRC

HL R

The ciphering and integrity procedures between UE and RNC are activated by the MSC

Security Mode Complete Update Location (IMSI, new VLR)

RANAP MAP Cancel Location (IMSI) Cancel Location Ack MAP

MAP MAP MAP MAP MAP

MAP MAP

Insert Subscriber Data Insert Subscriber Data Ack Update Location Ack MM MM Location Updating Accept (new TMSI, new LAI) TMSI Reallocation Complete

MAP MAP MAP MM MM

Location Update Dataflow (2/2) Cell_DCH

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Periodic Location Area Updtae

It is possible to configure an periodic location area update through LocUpdatePeriod parameter. This can be used in case of LAC Reconfiguration or MSC Problem (then VLR will have to rerecord subscribers).
Parameter locUpdatePeriod Object RadioAccessService Range Int [0..65535] Unit = deciHour (=6 min.) Default Value 0 Recommended Value Between 20 and 60 (2 to 6 hours)

Note: This parameter is also known as T3212 Timer

The periodic Routing Area Update is also possible, but by configuring it at the SGSN level (timer T3312)

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Available Documents
UMT/SYS/DD/0054 : UMTS Radio Mobility
3GPP TS 25.304 : UE Procedures in Idle and Procedures for Cell Reselection in Connected Mode 3GPP TS 25.301: Radio Interface Protocol Architecture 3GPP TS 25.303 : Interlayer Procedures in Connected Mode 3GPP TS 25.331 : RRC Protocol Specification 3GPP TS 23.122 : NAS functions related to MS in Idle Mode 3GPP TS 25.133 : Requirements for Support of Radio Resource Management (FDD) 3GPP TS 25.922 : Radio Resource Management Strategies

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INTERNAL

Engineering Notes
Modifications for V3: MobileCountryCode & MobileNetworkCode will have 2 instances for PS and CS Domains.

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