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HSDPA An Introduction

By
Juha Korhonen
A TTPCom White Paper
TTPCom Headquarters, Melbourn, Cambridge
World leading independent supplier of software and silicon IP for digital wireless terminals
For more information www.ttpcom.comHSDPA An Introduction 2

Contents
1 INTRODUCTION 3
2 HSDPA THE PRIMER 4
2.1 Why is there a need for HSDPA? 4
2.2 What does HSDPA do? 5
2.3 When and where does HSDPA deploy? 6
3 HSDPA TECHNICAL DETAILS 7
3.1 What is HSDPA? 7
3.2 How does the Air Interface work? 10
3.3 What is the future for HSDPA? 13
4 GLOSSARY 16
TTPCom 2004 www.ttpcom.com HSDPA

An Introduction 3

1 INTRODUCTION

The field of telecommunications is full of peculiar abbreviations, and HSDPA is yet another new
entrant. HSDPA stands for High Speed Downlink Packet Access. It is a new improved downlink
packet data transfer scheme for 3GPP1 systems.
Modern telecommunication networks are constantly under development, and new features are
introduced regularly. However, HSDPA is not just a minor change to 3GPP system specifications,
but a major upgrade that brings clear capacity improvements andmuch higher data speeds than the
existing 3GPP systems. This white paper explains why this enhancement is needed, how it is
achieved, and what kind of improvements it brings, as well as when it will happen.
The first part of this paper discusses the general aspects of HSDPA. It includes an overview,
discussion on the impact HSDPA has on services and applications and the probable timetable of
HSDPA deployment.
The second part is a technical discussion of HSDPA, including a presentation of HSDPA channel
structures and procedures, followed by a detailed example of HSDPA data transmission
procedure. In addition, the future development of HSDPA is discussed.
1

3G Partnership Project Organisation that deals with most of the 3G specifications. The 3G technical
specifications can be found at www.3gpp.org
TTPCom 2004 www.ttpcom.com HSDPA

An Introduction 4

2 HSDPA THE PRIMER

2.1 Why is there a need for HSDPA?

Unlike two-way voice communications that are essentially "symmetric" in their use of radio,
many 3G mobile services - such as web browsing or streaming live video - create more traffic
coming to the user (downlink) than from the user (uplink). UMTS Forum report 3G Offered
Traffic Characteristics2 concludes that data traffic on downlink will exceed uplink traffic by a
factor of 2:3. HSDPA offers a way to increase downlink capacity within the existing spectrum.
There are no reliable studies available from open sources, but the estimates generally state that
HSDPA increases the downlink air interface capacity 2-3 -fold.
The first 3GPP networks conform to a 3GPP standard version called Release 99. Release 99 is a
full 3G system, with clearly improved capabilities compared to 2G (the basic GSM) and 2.5 G
(GPRS and EDGE) systems. The maximum data rate per user in Release 99 systems is typically
384kbit/s, whereas in 2.5 G systems it is a few tens of kbit/s, or just over 100 kbit/s at best.
Current 3G technology can accommodate only a few maximum data rate users at a time before
the cell capacity runs out in the downlink direction. A typical user consumes more downlink than
uplink resources. Some applications, such as web browsing and many games, use uplink only for
control signalling, whereas the downlink carries lots of payload data for those applications.
Therefore, it is clear that a Release 99 system will first run out of capacity in the downlink.
HSDPA aims GSM
GPRS
EDGE
3G (R99)
HSDPA
to improve
downlink
capacity, and
thus remove
this potential
bottleneck
from
the
system.
It
increases
both
the
system
capacity as a
whole, and
the data rate
that can be
allocated for
one user. The
maximum
theoretical
data rate for
one user is
14.4 Mbit/s,
but in real
systems, this
is likely to be
limited
to

around
2
Mbit/s
at
first.
SYSTEM
Typical max. 9.6
data
rate
(kbit/s)
Theoretical
14.4
max.
data
rate (kbit/s)

50

130

384

2048
(or more)

170

384

2048

14400

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