Wideband CDMA

WIDEBAND CDMA (WCDMA)

WCDMA is based on DS-CDMA technology. Apart from high-bit rate services, (384 kbps wide
area coverage and 2 Mbps local coverage) the WCDMA radio interface offers significant
improvements over second-generation narrow band CDMA.

WCMDA offers:
❖ Improved coverage and capacity, thanks to greater bandwidth and improved coherent
uplink detection. (5MHz bandwidth);
❖ Support for inter-frequency handover, which is necessary for large-capacity hierarchical
cell structures (HCS);
❖ Support for capacity-enhancing technologies, such as adaptive antennas and multi-user
detection;
❖ A fast and efficient packet-access protocol.

• 5 MHz carriers
• Frequency Division Duplex, FDD.
• 3.84 Mcps chip rate
• Variable spreading codes
• Optimized packet access on common or dedicated channel
• High spectrum efficiency.

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and, hence, there are no timeslots or frequency allocation
in the same sense as in TDMA- and FDMA-based systems, respectively:

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Allocation of bandwidth in WCDMA in the time–frequency–code space.

WCDMA is a third-generation (3G) standard that employs the direct-sequence code division
multiple access (DS-CDMA) channel access method and the frequency-division duplexing (FDD)
method to provide high-speed and high-capacity service. WCDMA is the most commonly used
variant of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). It was developed by
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and formed the basis of its Freedom of Multimedia Access (FOMA) 3G
Network

Wideband CDMA which allows use of both voice and data and offers data speeds of up to 384
Kbps. The frequency bands for WCDMA are as follows: Europe and Asia - 2100MHz, North
America - 1900MHz and 850MHz. WCDMA is also called UMTS and the two terms have become
interchangeable. Some parts of the WCDMA are based on GSM technology and the networks are
designed to integrate the GSM networks at some levels.

The Main WCDMA parameters

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THE MAIN PARAMETERS IN WCDMA SUMMARY.
Table below summarises the main parameters related to the WCDMA air interface. Here we
highlight some of the items that characterise WCDMA.

✓ WCDMA is a wideband Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA)

system, i.e. user information bits are spread over a wide bandwidth by multiplying the user
data with quasi-random bits (called chips) derived from CDMA spreading codes. In order
to support very high bit rates (up to 2 Mbps), the use of a variable spreading factor and
multicode connections is supported. An example of this arrangement is shown in Figure

✓ The chip rate of 3.84 Mcps leads to a carrier bandwidth of approximately 5 MHz.
DSCDMA systems with a bandwidth of about 1 MHz, such as IS-95, are commonly
referred to as narrowband CDMA systems. The inherently wide carrier bandwidth of
WCDMA supports high user data rates and also has certain performance benefits, such as
increased multipath diversity. Subject to his operating licence, the network operator can
deploy multiple 5 MHz carriers to increase capacity, possibly in the form of hierarchical
cell layers. Figure below also shows this feature. The actual carrier spacing can be selected
on a 200 kHz grid between approximately 4.4 and 5 MHz, depending on interference
between the carriers.

✓ WCDMA supports highly variable user data rates, in other words the concept of obtaining
Bandwidth on Demand (BoD) is well supported. The user data rate is kept constant during
each 10 ms frame. However, the data capacity among the users can change from frame to
frame. Figure also shows an example of this feature. This fast radio capacity allocation
will typically be controlled by the network to achieve optimum throughput for packet data
services.

✓ _ WCDMA supports two basic modes of operation: Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)
and Time Division Duplex (TDD). In the FDD mode, separate 5 MHz carrier frequencies
are used for the uplink and downlink respectively, whereas in TDD only one 5 MHz is
timeshared between the uplink and downlink. Uplink is the connection from the mobile to
the base station, and downlink is that from the base station to the mobile. The TDD mode
is based heavily on FDD mode concepts and was added in order to leverage the basic
WCDMA system also for the unpaired spectrum allocations of the ITU for the IMT-2000
systems.

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 ✓ _ WCDMA supports the operation of asynchronous base stations, so that, unlike in the
synchronous IS-95 system, there is no need for a global time reference such as a GPS.
Deployment of indoor and micro base stations is easier when no GPS signal needs to be
received.

✓ _ WCDMA employs coherent detection on uplink and downlink based on the use of pilot
symbols or common pilot. While already used on the downlink in IS-95, the use of coherent
detection on the uplink is new for public CDMA systems and will result in an overall
increase of coverage and capacity on the uplink.

✓ _ The WCDMA air interface has been crafted in such a way that advanced CDMA receiver
concepts, such as multiuser detection and smart adaptive antennas, can be deployed by the
network operator as a system option to increase capacity and/or coverage. In most second
generation systems no provision has been made for such receiver concepts and as a result
they are either not applicable or can be applied only under severe constraints with limited
increases in performance.

✓ WCDMA is designed to be deployed in conjunction with GSM. Therefore, handovers

between GSM and WCDMA are supported in order to be able to leverage the GSM
coverage for the introduction of WCDMA.

CHIP RATES AND SPREADING CODES,

Abbreviation for binary digit. Used in all digital communications.
A bit is a binary unit, represented by either a "0" or a "1". In many cases where "bit" is a
measurement, more bits are better.
WCDMA treats a single originating piece of user data, called a ‘‘bit’’.
The bit rate of the code used for original signal spreading is, as defined, 3.84 Mb/s.
The ‘‘bit’’ occurring in the code used for spreading is called a ‘‘chip’’.
One bit of the code signal used for signal multiplying is called a chip.
Bits are most often used for measuring data speeds, such as internet connection speed, as well
as download or upload speed. Bytes.
Chip rate of WCDMA? Chip Rate (W-CDMA(3GPP)/HSPA). Default: 3.84 MHz.

Chip rate: is the direct sequence spread spectrum technologies such as DSSS and CDMA, it is
the number of bits per second (chips per second) used in the spreading signal. A different
spreading signal is added to the data signal to code each transmission unique

UMTS uses a 5 MHz wide radio signal and a chip rate of 3.84 Mcps, which is about three times
higher than the chip rate of CDMA2000 (1.22 Mcps).

Super frame A Super frame has duration of 720ms and consists of 72 radio frames. The super
frame boundaries are defined by the System Frame Number (SFN)
Radio frame A Radio frame is a processing unit of 10ms length, which consists of 15 time slots.

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Time slot A Time slot is a unit that consists of 2560 chips that represent the information symbols.
The number of symbols per time slot depends on the physical channel.
Symbol One symbol consists of a number of chips. The number of chips per symbol is equivalent
to the spreading factor of the physical channel.

The bit rate of the code used for original signal spreading is, as defined, 3.84 Mb/s. This value is
constant for all WCDMA variants used in 3G networks. This is called the ‘‘System Chip Rate’’
(SCR) and is expressed as 3.84 Mchip/s (megachips per second). With this SCR the size of one
chip in time is 1/384 000 0¼0.000 000 260 41 s.

The ratio between the bit rate and the chip rate is called the Spreading Factor (SF).
WCDMA is a wideband Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA) system,
i.e., user information bits are spread over a wide bandwidth by multiplying the user data with
quasi-random bits (called chips) derived from CDMA spreading codes

SPREADING PRINCIPLES
Spreading with Codes
In advance of outlining the process of spreading, some basic terms will be reviewed as follows:
• A bit of information is a ‘1’ or a ‘0’ (binary) or a ‘-1’, ‘+1’ (bipolar).
• The user information bits are spread into a number of chips when it is “multiplied” with the
spreading code. The chip rate for the system is constant 3.84 Mchip/s and the signal is spread
into a bandwidth of approximately 5 MHz.
• The Spreading Factor (SF) is the ratio between the chip rate and the symbol rate. This is equal to
the spreading gain (that is, the protection against interference).
• The same code is used for de-spreading the information after it is sent over the air interface, that
is, both the UE and the BS use the same codes.

What are spreading codes in WCDMA?

The codes required to spread the signal must be orthogonal if they are to enable multiple users
and channels to operate without mutual interference. The codes used in W-CDMA are Orthogonal
Variable Spreading Factor (OVSF) codes, and they must remain synchronous to operate.

THE SPREADING PROCESS

WCDMA uses Direct Sequence spreading, where spreading process is done by directly
combining the baseband information to high chip rate binary code. The Spreading Factor is
the ratio of the chips (UMTS = 3.84Mchips/s) to baseband information rate. Spreading factors
vary from 4 to 512 in FDD UMTS. Spreading process gain can in expressed in dBs (Spreading
factor 128 = 21dB gain).

Codes
• Requirements for the spreading codes:
– Good auto-correlation properties. For separating different paths.
– Good cross-correlation properties. For separating different channels.

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Channelisation codes used for channel separation from the same source.
• Same codes from all the cells.
• Short codes: used for channel separation in Uplink and Downlink.
– Othogonality property, reduce interference.
– Different spreading factors, different symbol rates.
– Limited resource, must be managed.
– Do not have good correlation properties, need for additional long code.
Scrambling codes.
• Long Codes:
– Good correlation properties.
– Uplink: different users.
– Downlink: different BS

In CDMA communication systems, all the subscribers share the common channel. The only
way to distinguish them is to use orthogonal or nearly orthogonal codes (or so-called spreading
sequences) to modulate the transmitted bits (Figure 1.1). Figure 1.2 shows an example of the
spreading result. The base station uses the knowledge of these codes to detect and estimate each
user's bits.

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UMTS uses a 5 MHz wide radio signal and a chip rate of 3.84 Mcps, which is about three times
higher than the chip rate of CDMA2000 (1.22 Mcps). The chip rate for the system is constant
3.84 Mchip/s and the signal is spread into a bandwidth of approximately 5 MHz.

MODULATION is the process of converting data into radio waves by adding information to an
electronic or optical carrier signal (A carrier signal is one with a steady waveform- Constant
height or amplitude and frequency.)

SPREADING
Coding is applied before modulation. It consists of two operations. The first is the channelization
operation, which transforms every data symbol into a number of chips, thus increasing the
bandwidth of the signal. The number of chips per data symbol is called the Spreading Factor (SF).
The second operation is the scrambling operation, where a scrambling code is applied to the spread
signal. Note that before the complex multiplication, the binary values 0 and 1 are mapped to +1
and -1,

Spreading and Despreading

Figure below depicts the basic operations of spreading and despreading for a DS-CDMA system.

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User data is here assumed to be a BPSK-modulated bit sequence of rate R, the user data bits
assuming the values of ±1. The spreading operation, in this example, is the multiplication of each
user data bit with a sequence of 8 code bits, called chips. We assume this also for the BPSK
spreading modulation. We see that the resulting spread data is at a rate of 8 X R and has the same
random (pseudo-noise-like) appearance as the spreading code. In this case we would say that we
used a spreading factor of 8. This wideband signal would then be transmitted across a wireless
channel to the receiving end. During despreading we multiply the spread user data/chip sequence,
bit duration by bit duration, with the very same 8 code chips as we used during the spreading of
these bits. As shown, the original user bit sequence has been recovered perfectly, provided we
have (as shown in Figure) also perfect synchronisation between the spread user signal and the
(de)spreading code. The increase of the signalling rate by a factor of 8 corresponds to a widening
(by a factor of 8) of the occupied spectrum of the spread user data signal. Due to this virtue, CDMA
systems are more generally called spread spectrum systems. Despreading restores a bandwidth
proportional to R for the signal.

Figure. Spreading and despreading in DS-CDMA

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User Bit-rate and Spreading Factors

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