Overview of UMTS network evolution through radio and transmission feature validation

This project is based on several UMTS network feature validation with the aim to provide an end-to-end in-depth knowledge overview gained in parallel in the areas of radio network mobility processes (cell camping and inter-system handover), Quality of Service improvement for HSPA data users and transport network evolution towards the All-IP era.Hardware and software validation is a key step in the relationship between the mobile network operator and the vendor. Through this verification process, while executing that functionality or testing a specific hardware, the difference between the actual result and expected result can be better understood and, in turn, this in-depth knowledge acquisition is translated into a tailored usage of the product in the operator’s live network. As a result, validation helps in building a better product as per the customer’s requirement and helps satisfying their needs, which positively impacts in the future evolution of the vendor product roadmap implementation process for a specific customer. This project is based on several Universal Mobile Telecommunication Services (UMTS) network feature validation with the aim to provide an end-to-end in-depth knowledge overview gained in parallel in the areas of radio network mobility processes (cell camping and inter-system handover), Quality of Service improvement for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSPA) data users and transport network evolution towards the All-IP era.Las campañas de validación hardware y software son un paso clave en las relaciones comerciales establecidas entre un operador de telecomunicaciones y su proveedor de equipos de red. Durante los procesos de certificación, mientras se ejecuta una funcionalidad software o se valida un determinado hardware, se obtiene un conocimiento profundo de la diferencia entre el resultado obtenido y el esperado, repercutiendo directamente en un uso a medida de dicha funcionalidad o hardware en la propia red del cliente. Como consecuencia de lo anterior, podemos aseverar que los procesos de validación permiten en gran medida al proveedor adaptarse mejor a los requerimientos del cliente, ayudando a satisfacer realmente sus necesidades. Esto implica directamente un impacto positivo en la futura evolución del portfolio que el fabricante ofrece a un determinado cliente. Este proyecto está basado en la validación de diferentes funcionalidades de red UMTS, cuyo objetivo es proporcionar un conocimiento global de distintos aspectos que conforman el funcionamiento de una red de telecomunicaciones 3G, como son los procesos de movilidad de acceso radio (acampado de red y handover inter-sistema), las mejoras en la calidad de servicio para usuarios de datos HSPA y la convergencia de la red de transporte hacia la era IP.Els processos de validació hardware i software són un punt clau en les relacions comercials establertes entre un operador de telecomunicaciones i el proveïdor d'equipament de la xarxa. En el transcurs dels processos de certificació, a la mateixa vegada que s'executa una funcionalitat software o es valida un determinat hardware, s'obtenen grans coneixements respecte la diferència entre el resultat obtingut i l'esperat, que són d'aplicació directa a l'hora d'establir un ús adpatat a la xarxa del client. En conseqüència, podem asseverar que les campanyes de validació permeten en gran mesura al proveïdor adaptar-se millor als requeriments del client, ajudant a satisfer realment les seves necessitats. Això implica directament un impacte positiu en la futura evol.lució del portfoli que el fabricant ofereix a un determinat client. Aquest projecte es basa en la presentació d'un procès de validació de diferents funcionalitats relacionades amb la xarxa UMTS, amb l'objectiu de proporcionar un coneixement global de la varietat d'aspectes que conformen el funcionament d'una xarxa de telecomunicacions 3G, com són els processos de mobilitat en accès radio (acampat de l'usuari i handover inter-sistema), millores en la qualitat de servei per a usuaris de dades HSPA i la convergència de la xarxa de transport cap a l'era IP

Interworking Architectures in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks: An Algorithmic Overview

The scarce availability of spectrum and the proliferation of smartphones, social networking applications, online gaming etc., mobile network operators (MNOs) are faced with an exponential growth in packet switched data requirements on their networks. Haven invested in legacy systems (such as HSPA, WCDMA, WiMAX, Cdma2000, LTE, etc.) that have hitherto withstood the current and imminent data usage demand, future and projected usage surpass the capabilities of the evolution of these individual technologies. Hence, a more critical, cost-effective and flexible approach to provide ubiquitous coverage for the user using available spectrum is of high demand. Heterogeneous Networks make use of these legacy systems by allowing users to connect to the best network available and most importantly seamlessly handover active sessions amidst them. This paper presents a survey of interworking architectures between IMT 2000 candidate networks that employ the use of IEFT protocols such as MIP, mSCTP, HIP, MOBIKE, IKEV2 and SIP etc. to bring about this much needed capacity

Run-time Energy Management for Mobiles

Due to limited energy resources, mobile computing requires an energy-efficient a rchitecture. The dynamic nature of a mobile environment demands an architecture that allows adapting to (quickly) changing conditions. The mobile has to adapt d ynamically to new circumstances in the best suitable manner. The hardware and so ftware architecture should be able to support such adaptability and minimize the energy consumption by making resource allocation decisions at run-time. To make these decisions effective, a tradeoff has to be made between computation , communication and initialization costs (both time and energy). This paper describes our approach to construct a model that supports taking such decisions

Final report on the evaluation of RRM/CRRM algorithms

Deliverable public del projecte EVERESTThis deliverable provides a definition and a complete evaluation of the RRM/CRRM algorithms selected in D11 and D15, and evolved and refined on an iterative process. The evaluation will be carried out by means of simulations using the simulators provided at D07, and D14.Preprin

Mobile Audiovisual Terminal: System Design and Subjective Testing in DECT and UMTS networks

It is anticipated that there will shortly be a requirement for multimedia terminals that operate via mobile communications systems. This paper presents a functional specification for such a terminal operating at 32 kb/s in a digital European cordless telecommunications (DECT) and universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) radio network. A terminal has been built, based on a PC with digital signal processor (DSP) boards for audio and video coding and decoding. Speech coding is by a phonetically driven code-excited linear prediction (CELP) speech coder and video coding by a block-oriented hybrid discrete cosine transform (DCT) coder. Separate channel coding is provided for the audio and video data. The paper describes the techniques used for audio and video coding, channel coding, and synchronization. Methods of subjective testing in a DECT network and in a UMTS network are also described. These consisted of subjective tests of first impressions of the mobile audio–visual terminal (MAVT) quality, interactive tests, and the completion of an exit questionnaire. The test results showed that the quality of the audio was sufficiently good for comprehension and the video was sufficiently good for following and repeating simple mechanical tasks. However, the quality of the MAVT was not good enough for general use where high-quality audio and video was needed, especially when transmission was in a noisy radio environment

WCDMA Mobility Troubleshooting Studies and Enhancements

Mobiliteetti on yksi WCDMA-teknologian menestyksen avaintekijöistä. Saumattoman liikkuvuuden ylläpitämiseksi radioresurssien hallinnan algoritmit ovat tärkeässä roolissa verkon hallinnassa. Yhdessä pääsyvalvonnan, kuormavalvonnan, pakettiskedulerin, resurssimanagerin ja tehovalvonnan kanssa kanavanvaihtoalgoritmit vastaavat laadukkaan, katkeamattoman yhteyden ylläpidosta. Nämä algoritmit on toteutettu radioverkko-ohjaimen (RNC) ohjelmistossa. Ohjelmiston elinkaaren aikana ohjelmiston eri osissa kohdataan erilaisia haasteita. Ohjelmiston lisäksi ongelmia voi löytyä myös radioverkon suunnittelusta, verkkolaitteistosta tai päätelaitteista. Kaikkien näiden ongelmien analysointiin vaaditaan kokeneita R&D-insinöörejä, eikä ongelmien varsinaisen aiheuttajan löytäminen usein ole yksinkertaista. Tämän takia erilaiset vianetsintätyökalut ovat ohjelmistokehityksessä ensisijaisen tärkeitä. Tämä diplomityö analysoi jo käytössä olevia vianetsintämenetelmiä NSN-WCDMA-Control Plane-Handover Algorithm -ryhmässä sekä esittää erilaisia paranneltuja ratkaisuja näihin menetelmiin. Tämän diplomityön tuloksena muutamia paranneltuja ratkaisuja toteutettiin ja muutamia muita ratkaisumalleja analysoitiin. Vianetsintätyökalujen sekä -menetelmien kehitys jatkuu tarkastellussa ohjelmistokehitysryhmässä myös tämän diplomityön valmistumisen jälkeen.Mobility is the key success area in WCDMA technology. To maintain seamless mobility, Radio Resource Management algorithms are essential in network management. Together with Admission Control, Load Control, Packet Scheduler, Resource Manager and Power Control algorithms, Handover Control algorithms are responsible for high quality seamless communication. These algorithms take place in the Radio Network Controller software. In software life-cycle there can be challenges related with different software program blocks. Other than software problems there can also be radio network planning problems, hardware problems and user-equipment related problems. Those issues have to be analyzed by experienced R&D engineers. Usually it is not straightforward to investigate what is the root cause. Because of this reason troubleshooting tools play a vital role in software development. This thesis analyzes the existing troubleshooting solutions in NSN-WCDMA-Control Plane-Handover Algorithm team and proposes enhanced solutions for those needs. As a result of this thesis, some of the enhanced solutions are implemented and analyses for the other solutions are provided. Development of troubleshooting tools and methodology will continue in the software development team after the completion of this thesis

3D multiple description coding for error resilience over wireless networks

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Mobile communications has gained a growing interest from both customers and service providers alike in the last 1-2 decades. Visual information is used in many application domains such as remote health care, video –on demand, broadcasting, video surveillance etc. In order to enhance the visual effects of digital video content, the depth perception needs to be provided with the actual visual content. 3D video has earned a significant interest from the research community in recent years, due to the tremendous impact it leaves on viewers and its enhancement of the user’s quality of experience (QoE). In the near future, 3D video is likely to be used in most video applications, as it offers a greater sense of immersion and perceptual experience. When 3D video is compressed and transmitted over error prone channels, the associated packet loss leads to visual quality degradation. When a picture is lost or corrupted so severely that the concealment result is not acceptable, the receiver typically pauses video playback and waits for the next INTRA picture to resume decoding. Error propagation caused by employing predictive coding may degrade the video quality severely. There are several ways used to mitigate the effects of such transmission errors. One widely used technique in International Video Coding Standards is error resilience. The motivation behind this research work is that, existing schemes for 2D colour video compression such as MPEG, JPEG and H.263 cannot be applied to 3D video content. 3D video signals contain depth as well as colour information and are bandwidth demanding, as they require the transmission of multiple high-bandwidth 3D video streams. On the other hand, the capacity of wireless channels is limited and wireless links are prone to various types of errors caused by noise, interference, fading, handoff, error burst and network congestion. Given the maximum bit rate budget to represent the 3D scene, optimal bit-rate allocation between texture and depth information rendering distortion/losses should be minimised. To mitigate the effect of these errors on the perceptual 3D video quality, error resilience video coding needs to be investigated further to offer better quality of experience (QoE) to end users. This research work aims at enhancing the error resilience capability of compressed 3D video, when transmitted over mobile channels, using Multiple Description Coding (MDC) in order to improve better user’s quality of experience (QoE). Furthermore, this thesis examines the sensitivity of the human visual system (HVS) when employed to view 3D video scenes. The approach used in this study is to use subjective testing in order to rate people’s perception of 3D video under error free and error prone conditions through the use of a carefully designed bespoke questionnaire.Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF

Ultra Wideband

Ultra wideband (UWB) has advanced and merged as a technology, and many more people are aware of the potential for this exciting technology. The current UWB field is changing rapidly with new techniques and ideas where several issues are involved in developing the systems. Among UWB system design, the UWB RF transceiver and UWB antenna are the key components. Recently, a considerable amount of researches has been devoted to the development of the UWB RF transceiver and antenna for its enabling high data transmission rates and low power consumption. Our book attempts to present current and emerging trends in-research and development of UWB systems as well as future expectations