6/21/2019 What is 3G UMTS | WCDMA Tutorial | Electronics Notes

ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATIONS HISTORY TEST EQUIPMENT RESOURCES SHOPPING 

at is 3G UMTS: WCDMA Tutorial

TS using WCDMA technology is a third generation mobile telecommunications
run under the auspices of 3GPP providing mobile data connectivity & circuit
ed voice.

S includes:
UMTS     Network architecture     Radio access     Radio interface     Frequency bands     UMTS CDMA    
on     Data channels     UMTS TDD     TD-SDCDMA     Handover    

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, is the 3G successor to the GSM family of standards
GPRS and EDGE.

S uses a totally different radio interface based around the use of Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum as
Code Division Multiple Access.
FOLLOW
3G UMTS uses a totally different radio access standard, the core network is the same as that used for
d EDGE to carry separate circuit switched voice and packet data.
  
es a wideband version of CDMA occupying a 5 MHz wide channel. Being wider than its competition
00 which only used a 1.25MHz channel, the modulation scheme was known as wideband CDMA, or
/ W-CDMA. This name was often used to refer to the whole system.
20 JUNE 2019

Fact of the day: On this day in 1755, Andre-

Marie Ampere was born in Lyon France.
Ampere formulated the law of
electromagnetism that mathematically
defines the magnetic force created by two
currents.Then on this day in 1840, Samuel
Morse was granted a patent for his idea for
telegraphy signalling.

Quote:
Whether you drive a BMW or Maruti, the road
remains the same. Whether you fly Economy or
Business Class, your destination doesn’t change.
Whether you wear a Titan or Rolex, time remains
the same. Whether you use a Samsung or Apple,
the people who call you are the same. There is
P UMTS Specifications and Management nothing wrong in dreaming about a luxurious
life. What needs to be seen is that need doesn’t
to create and manage a system as complicated as UMTS or WCDMA it is necessary to develop and become greed, because needs can always be
a large number of documents and specifications. For UMTS or WCDMA, these are now managed by a met… but greed can never be fulfilled.
own as 3GPP - the Third Generation Partnership Programme. This is a global co-operation between six Rajnikanth
tional partners - ARIB, CCSA, ETSI, ATIS, TTA and TTC.
Fact: The first American satellite to be
e of 3GPP was to produce globally applicable Technical Specifications and Technical Reports for a 3rd launched into orbit around the Earth was
on Mobile Telecommunications System. This would be based upon the GSM core networks and the named Explorer 1 and it carried a small
cess technologies that they support (i.e., Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) both Frequency scientific payload that eventually discovered
Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) modes). the magnetic radiation belts (Van Allen Belts)
around the Earth
was originally formed, 3GPP has also taken over responsibility for the GSM standards as well as looking
developments including LTE (Long Term Evolution) and the 4G technology known as LTE Advanced.

e on the History of Mobile Phone Technology:

https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/connectivity/3g-umts/what-is-umts-wcdma-tutorial.php 1/4
6/21/2019 What is 3G UMTS | WCDMA Tutorial | Electronics Notes
e phone technology has developed every year. From the first introductions of cellular phone SPONSORED SEARCHES
ms in the 1980s to current day, new technology development has steadily improved the systems
wireless communication radio
ble. Starting with the first generation analogues systems, new 2G digital systems were introduced
hese have moved on so that 5G technology is now being developed. 5g network
more about Mobile Phone History.
4g data sim

5g bandwidth

S WCDMA specification summary 3g mobile

S WCDMA system offered a significant improvement in capability over the previous 2G services.

3G UMTS SPECIFICATION SUMMARY

  FOCUS ON TEST
PARAMETER SPECIFICATION
Focus on Test from Rohde & Schwarz offers a
data rate 2048 kbps low range
huge number of informative PDFs, white-
384 kbps urban and outdoor
papers, webinars videos and general
bandwidth 5 MHz
information on many test topics.
ccess scheme CDMA ▶ Rohde &Schwarz Focus on Test Zone.
hemes FDD and also TDD

SUPPLIER DIRECTORY

Knowledge & Training For everything from distribution to test

equipment, components and more, our
directory covers it.
▶ Check our Supplier Directory

EVENTS

uction to LTE: LTE, 5G Mobile and Wireless 5G Explained: Security and 5G Mobile Communications ▶ HAM RADIO Friedrichshafen
nced, SAE, VoLT… Communications Technology Deployment of Advanced ▶ European Microwave Week
Mobile Communications
88.00 $98.48 $114.00
▶ RSGB Convention

$102.78 $130.00 $147.80 $219.99

▶ CeBIT
(4) (3)
▶ Engineering Design Show, EDS

Books & Textbooks mobile communications Go More events

Ads by Amazon

MTS capabilities FEATURED ARTICLES

▶ Oscilloscope Specifications: buying a scope

es Wideband CDMA - WCDMA - as the radio transmission standard. It employs a 5 MHz channel ▶ Buying Capacitors - what to think about
th. Using this bandwidth it has the capacity to carry over 100 simultaneous voice calls, or it is able to ▶ How to Buy the Best DMM
a at speeds up to 2 Mbps in its original format. However with the later enhancements of HSDPA and ▶ Flash Memory Cards - selecting the right
described in other articles accessible from the cellular telecommunications menu page ) included in type
ases of the standard the data transmission speeds have been increased to 14.4 Mbps. ▶ Capacitors - the different types

the ideas that were incorporated into GSM have been carried over and enhanced for UMTS. Elements
he SIM have been transformed into a far more powerful USIM (Universal SIM). In addition to this, the
has been designed so that the enhancements employed for GPRS and EDGE can be used for UMTS. In
the investment required is kept to a minimum.

troduction for UMTS is that there are specifications that allow both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)
e Division Duplex (TDD) modes. The first modes to be employed are FDD modes where the uplink and
are on different frequencies. The spacing between them is 190 MHz for Band 1 networks being
used and rolled out.

the TDD mode where the uplink and downlink are split in time with the base stations and then the
transmitting alternately on the same frequency is particularly suited to a variety of applications.
y where spectrum is limited and paired bands suitably spaced are not available. It also performs well
mall cells are to be used. As a guard time is required between transmit and receive, this will be smaller
nsit times are smaller as a result of the shorter distances being covered. A further advantage arises
fact that it is found that far more data is carried in the downlink as a result of internet surfing, video
ds and the like. This means that it is often better to allocate more capacity to the downlink. Where
pectrum is used this is not possible. However when a TDD system is used it is possible to alter the
between downlink and uplink transmissions to accommodate this imbalance and thereby improve the
y. In this way TDD systems can be highly efficient when used in picocells for carrying Internet data. The

https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/connectivity/3g-umts/what-is-umts-wcdma-tutorial.php 2/4
6/21/2019 What is 3G UMTS | WCDMA Tutorial | Electronics Notes
ems have not been widely deployed, but this may occur more in the future. In view of its character, it is
erred to as TD-CDMA (Time Division CDMA).

MTS / WCDMA technologies

e several key areas of 3G UMTS / WCDMA. Within these there are several key technologies that have
ployed to enable UMTS / WCDMA to provide a leap in performance over its 2G predecessors.

these key areas include:

interface:   The UMTS radio interface provides the basic definition of the radio signal. W-CDMA occupies
z channels and has defined formats for elements such as synchronisation, power control and the like

technology :   3G UMTS relies on a scheme known as CDMA or code divison multiple access to enable
ple handsets or user equipments to have access to the base station. Using a scheme known as direct
nce spread spectrum, different UEs have different codes and can all talk to the base station even
h they are all on the same frequency

network architecture:   The architecture for a UMTS network was designed to enable packet data to be
d over the network, whilst still enabling it to support circuit switched voice. All the usual functions
ng access toth e network, roaming and the like are also supported.

modulation schemes:   Within the CDMA signal format, a variety of forms of modulation are used. These
pically forms of phase shift keying.

channels:   As with any cellular system, different data channels are required for passing payload data
l as control information and for enabling the required resources to be allocated. A variety of different
hannels are used to enable these facilities to be accomplished.

TDD:   There are two methods of providing duplex for 3G UMTS. One is what is termed frequency
on duplex, FDD. This uses two channels spaced sufficiently apart so that the receiver can receive whilst
ansmitter is also operating. Another method is to use time vision duplex, TDD where short time blocks
ocated to transmissions in both directions. Using this method, only a single channel is required

over:   One key area of any cellular telecommunications system is the handover (handoff) from one cell
next. Using CDMA there are several forms of handover that are implemented within the system.

MTS enhancements
c 3G UMTS cellular system enabled data rates up to 2048kbps to be achieved. However as the use of
dly increased, these figures were no longer sufficient and further data rate increases were required.

e known as HSDPA, high speed packet download access was first introduced to enable the downlink
be increased. This was followed with HSUPA, high speed packet uplink access was introduced. The
d suite was then known as HSPA, high speed packet access.

c 3G UMTS was able to provide a good increase in data performance over that of GPRS and EDGE,
the expected use of video did not occur when the basic form of UMTS was introduced. It was too slow
y when many users were connected. However the enhancements in terms of HSPA helped increase the
ance and data usage increased at a much greater rate.

    NEXT PAGE    

& Wired Connectivity Topics:

ommunications basics     2G GSM     2G GPRS     2G GSM EDGE     3G UMTS     3G HSPA     4G LTE     5G    
MR     WiFi     IEEE 802.15.4     DECT cordless phones     NFC- Near Field Communication     Ethernet    
ta     USB     Z-Wave     SigFox     LoRa    
to Wireless & Wired Connectivity

https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/connectivity/3g-umts/what-is-umts-wcdma-tutorial.php 3/4
6/21/2019 What is 3G UMTS | WCDMA Tutorial | Electronics Notes

Notes receives a small commission on sales via Amazon to pay for running the site and providing free information. © electronics-notes.com

tronics Notes Advertise Privacy Policy Images

https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/connectivity/3g-umts/what-is-umts-wcdma-tutorial.php 4/4