February 2004

WHITE PAPER

DSCH
Downlink Shared Channel in
W-CDMA – a solution for bursty
Packet Data Traffic

E-mail: [email protected] www.hssworld.com

DSCH

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© Copyright Hughes Software Systems, 2004

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Hughes Software Systems

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2
Contents

1. Introduction 6
2. Challenges in downlink packet data with bursts 6
3. DSCH as a solution 6
4. Realization of DSCH 6
4.1. TFCI, CTFC and PDSCH Code Mapping 8
5. HSS Offering 10
6. Summary 11

3
DSCH

Figures

Figure 1 Data Transfer on DSCH (on RNC) ................................... 7

Figure 2 Timing relation between DPCH frame and associated PDSCH
frame ................................................................................. 7
Figure 3 OSVF channelisation code tree ...................................... 8

4
Tables

Table 1 Mapping of TFCI, CTFC and PDSCH Code ........................... 9

Table 2 TFCI Range Method ....................................................... 9
Table 3 PDSCH code mapping using TFCI Range Method ................ 9
Table 4 Associated TFCI (field 2) and PDSCH code for the first
PDSCH TFCI group .............................................................. 10
Table 5 Associated TFCI (field 2) and PDSCH code for the second
PDSCH TFCI group .............................................................. 10

5
DSCH

session results in wasteful utilization of the resource

1. Introduction degrades system performance and increases blocking.
For the bursty traffic, where the inactivity periods are
WCDMA is a 3G standard, aiming at providing
long, it is not optimal to keep the downlink code
high speed wireless data services with different
reserved for the longer periods of time.
quality of service (QoS) guarantees. The standard
defines a variety of transport channels to fulfil varying
requirements of delay and data rate. For example, the 3. DSCH as a solution
common transport channels like FACH/RACH are used The DSCH is defined to support flexible
for access and low data rate. The dedicated transport multiplexing of bursty data traffic. The allocation of
channel like DCH are used for applications which have DSCH is possible only in CELL_DCH state. The DSCH
stringent delay and guarantied data rate (high or low) transport channel is shared by a group of UE(s) on
requirements. Another type of transport channel, 10ms WCDMA frame basis. The channelisation codes
which is the topic of discussion of this white paper, is used for the DSCH are signaled to group of UE(s)
Downlink Shared Channel (DSCH). DSCH is well suited through RRC messages. The RNC is responsible for
for applications, which generate bursty data like web indicating the exact time of arrival of data on the
browsing, e-mail, video, etc in the downlink transfer. DSCH through dedicated physical control channel
In the subsequent sections, it is analyzed (DPCCH).
why the dedicated transport channel like DCH is not In the case of DCH, TFCI informs the UE of
suitable for bursty data traffic. How usage of DSCH the instantaneous transport format parameters (i.e.
can help to efficiently use the scare radio resources in number of transport blocks and size of each transport
the UTRAN. Finally, DSCH feature implementation in block size). But in the case of DSCH, there is a need
the HSS RNC Uu Interface Products is detailed. to identify the channelisation code also, with the TFCI.
For this purpose, the TFCI is divided in TFCI 1 and
2. Challenges in downlink TFCI 2 field.

packet data with bursts Since several UE(s) shares DSCH, the
identification of the data on the DSCH is performed by
In UMTS WCDMA downlink, base stations have
the MAC layer. For this purpose, each UE in the group
the limited transmission power and limited number of
of UE(s) using a particular DSCH is allocated a unique
orthogonal channelisation code available. Proper
identifier called the DSCH-RNTI.
management of the two resources is extremely
important. Typically, the user data is transmitted on
the allocated dedicated channels (DCHs) with a 4. Realization of DSCH
specific rate. Each DCH has its own specific
RRC Layer is responsible for configuring DSCH at
Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factor (OVSF) code
the MAC Layer. Following RRC procedures are used to
corresponding to an appropriate spreading factor (SF)
configuration/reconfiguration/deletion of DSCH to a
normally assigned for the whole duration of the
UE.
connection. The lower spreading factor means high
data rates. However, if the number of users requiring ¨ Radio Bearer Setup
DCHs becomes large, particularly at low spreading ¨ Radio Bearer Reconfiguration
factors, the code shortage results in blocking some of
¨ Radio Bearer Release
the users. For packet data users with bursty traffic,
the assignment of a DCH for the whole duration of the ¨ Transport Channel Reconfiguration

6
¨ Physical Channel Reconfiguration transferred on dedicated physical control channel
(DPCCH) of the associated DPCH for the UE. The TFCI
¨ Cell Update Confirm
informs the UE of the instantaneous transport format
Radio Bearers can be mapped on DSCH transport parameters related to the PDSCH as well as the
channel with the following multiplexing options. channelisation code of the PDSCH.
UL DL MAC-d gets the data from the RLC and sends it to
1. DCH DSCH the MAC-c/sh. MAC-c/sh sends the data transferred
on the DSCH to the CCH FP. CCH FP passes this data
2. DCH DCH + DSCH to the Node-B. Node-B sends the DSCH data on the
In the first case, uplink DTCH is mapped on PDSCH. Using different TFCI's, MAC-c/sh provides the
DCH and downlink DTCH is mapped on DSCH for a UE different data rates for the UE(s). This is further
whereas in second case downlink DTCH is mapped explained in section 4.1.
both on DCH as well as DSCH. The DCH in this case is A Timing relation is maintained between the
typically a low data rate DCH, to reduce the data DPCH and PDSCH to inform the UE apriori about data
buffering at UTRAN. on PDSCH. The associated PDSCH frame starts
between three slots after the end of the DPCH frame
DATA
and 18 slots after the end of the DPCH frame as
shown in Figure 2.

RLC
DPCH frame

MAC-d Associated frame

PDSCH
MAC-c/sh
TDPCH TPDSCH

CCH FP DCH FP
Figure 2 Timing relation between DPCH frame
and associated PDSCH frame
Figure 1 Data Transfer on DSCH (on RNC)
UE receives the data on the PDSCH channel and
MAC-c/sh is responsible for handling related to
pass it to the UE side MAC-c/sh. MAC-c/sh validates
DSCH transport channel. When the data is given to
the DSCH-RNTI field in the MAC header. MAC-c/sh
the RLC, RLC buffers the data. On every TTI boundary
decodes the logical channel using TCTF field in the
CCH FP asks for the data from the MAC-c/sh. MAC-d
MAC header. The TCTF field indicates the common
sends a query to RLC whether there is some data is
logical channel type, or if a dedicated logical channel
present for transfer. In response of this query RLC
is used. Depending upon the logical channel, MAC-/sh
sends the buffer occupancy to MAC. According to the
sends this data to respective RLC entity.
buffer occupancy, MAC-c/sh does the TFCI selection
for the DSCH transport channel. If data is to be
transferred for a particular UE from the group of UE(s)
using DSCH, MAC-c/sh sends the signaling to DCH FP
through MAC-d. This signaling information is

7
DSCH

4.1. TFCI, CTFC and PDSCH Code codes, MAC-c/sh selects appropriate code depending
Mapping on the data rate requirement.

The channelisation codes of UMTS are based on In DCH, channelisation code is allocated one time
the OVSF technique, to distinguish various physical and it remains the same until it is re-configured by
channels. An OVSF code allows the spreading factor RRC through Physical Channel Reconfiguration /
to be varied among different spreading codes with Transport Channel Reconfiguration procedures. But
different coding lengths. Figure 3 presents an OVSF for the DSCH channel, MAC-c/sh dynamically allocates
code tree. In the code tree each code is represented the channelisation code for the UE. Now, how does
as C SF,code_number where SF is the spreading factor UE able to know about the allocated channelisation
and the code_number is ranging from 0 to SF-1. A code? The answer to this question is "PDSCH code
code with the relatively smaller SF provides the mapping". During the configuration of DSCH, RRC
relatively higher data rate. associates the TFCI and PDSCH code mapping using
"PDSCH code mapping" IE.
The W-CDMA standard defines a 7-layer OVSF
code tree. The spreading factors from layers 1 to 7 For DSCH transport channel, TFCI is
are 256, 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, and 4, respectively. The associated with PDSCH code and CTFC value.
corresponding data rates are R, 2R, 4R, 8R, 16R, 32R Whenever the UE decodes TFCI value on DPCCH, it is
and 64R, where R is the basic data rate. able to know about the transport block size, number
of transport blocks and the channelisation code.

Cch, 256, 0 The mapping between the TFCI, CTFC and

Cch, 64, 0 Cch, 128, 0
SF = 32 PDSCH code is configured by the RRC for the DSCH
Cch, 128, 1
Cch, 32, 0
Cch, 128, 2 transport channel. Suppose the DSCH transport
SF = 16
Cch, 64, 1 Cch, 128, 3 channel has been configured with the information as
Cch, 16, 0
Cch, 128, 4 given in Table 1
Cch, 64, 2
Cch, 128, 5
Cch, 32, 1
Cch, 128, 6
SF = 8 Cch, 64, 3 TFCI CTFC PDSCH channelisation
Cch, 128, 7
Cch, 8, 0
(field 2) code
Cch, 64, 4 Cch, 128, 8
Cch, 128, 9 0 A C ch, 128, 0
Cch, 32, 2
Cch, 128, 10
1 A C ch, 128, 1
Cch, 64, 5 2 A C ch, 128, 2
Cch, 16, 1 Cch, 128, 11
3 A C ch, 128, 3
Cch, 64, 6 Cch, 128, 12
4 A C ch, 128, 4
Cch, 128, 13
Cch, 32, 3 5 A C ch, 128, 5
Cch, 128, 14
SF = 4
Cch, 64, 7
6 A C ch, 128, 6
Cch, 128, 15 7 A C ch, 128, 7
Cch, 4, 0
8 A C ch, 128, 8
Cch, 8, 1
9 A C ch, 128, 9
10 A C ch, 128, 10
11 A C ch, 128, 11
12 A C ch, 128, 12
Figure 3 OSVF channelisation code tree 13 A C ch, 128, 13
14 A C ch, 128, 14
Suppose the set of channelisation codes shown in 15 A C ch, 128, 15
Figure 3 has been configured for a particular DSCH at 16 B C ch, 64, 0
17 B C ch, 64, 1
MAC-c/sh. From these configured channelisation
18 B C ch, 64, 2

8
19 B C ch, 64, 3
PDSCH MAX TFCI CTFC
20 B C ch, 64, 4
Field 2 value
21 B C ch, 64, 5 TFCI group
22 B C ch, 64, 6
23 B C ch, 64, 7 1 15 A
24 C C ch, 32, 0
2 23 B
25 C C ch, 32, 1
26 C C ch, 32, 2 3 27 C
27 C C ch, 32, 3
28 D C ch, 16, 0 4 29 D

Table 1 Mapping of TFCI, CTFC and PDSCH 5 30 E

Code
Table 2 TFCI Range Method
As seen from Table 1, MAC-c/sh can change the
data rate and channelisation code by selecting For the first PDSCH TFCI group, TFCI range from
different TFCI's. 0 to 15 has been associated with the "A" CTFC value.
For the second PDSCH TFCI group, TFCI range from
RRC provides information presented in table 1 to
16 to 23 has been associated with the "B" CTFC value
the UE(s) in two IE(s) viz. TFCI Field2 information and
and so on.
PDSCH Code mapping. The "TFCI Field2 information"
IE provides the mapping between the TFCI and CTFC "PDSCH Code Mapping" IE provide four way to
value to the UE. The " PDSCH Code mapping " IE provide the association between the TFCI and PDSCH
provides the mapping between the PDSCH Code and code.
TFCI to the UE. ¨ Code Mapping
In "TFCI Field2 information" IE, there are two ¨ TFCI range
ways to provide the association between TFCI and
CTFC to the UE. ¨ Explicit

¨ TFCI Range Method ¨ Replace

Suppose, the TFCI range method is used to

¨ Explicit Method
describe the configuration in Table 1. The "PDSCH
TFCI Range method can be used for complete Code mapping" IE for the TFCI Range method is
configuration whereas explicit method can also be shown in Table 3
used for removing and replacing the CTFC value in
addition with complete configuration. PDSCH MAX S.F. CODE MULTI
TFCI TFCI NUMBER CODE
In TFCI Range method, the range of the TFCI is group FILED 2 INFO
specified for the corresponding CTFC value. For
example, for TFCI range from 0 to 15, "A" is the CTFC 1 15 128 0 0
value. For configuration present in Table 1, the "TFCI 2 23 64 0 0
Field 2 information" IE is shown in Table 2.
3 27 32 0 0

4 29 16 0 0

5 30 8 0 0

Table 3 PDSCH code mapping using TFCI Range

Method

9
DSCH

For the first PDSCH TFCI group, PDSCH code ¡ HSS RRC Functionality:
mapping is shown in the Table 4 w Supports Release 4 and Release 99
w Establishes, reconfigures and releases radio
TFCI (field 2) PDSCH channelisation bearers
code w Configures RLC/MAC entities
0 C ch, 128, 0
1 C ch, 128, 1 w Performs the mobility functions of the RRC
2 C ch, 128, 2 connection
3 C ch, 128, 3
w Performs paging and notification
4 C ch, 128, 4
5 C ch, 128, 5 w Supports UE measurement reporting and
6 C ch, 128, 6 reporting control
7 C ch, 128, 7
w Controls ciphering configuration of RLC/MAC
8 C ch, 128, 8
9 C ch, 128, 9 w Performs integrity protection and integrity
10 C ch, 128, 10 check of RRC messages
11 C ch, 128, 11
w Supports parallel execution of multiple
12 C ch, 128, 12
13 C ch, 128, 13 transactions between UTRAN and UE
14 C ch, 128, 14 w Support for DSCH transport channel
15 C ch, 128, 15
w ASN.1 Encoding/Decoding of the RRC
Table 4 Associated TFCI (field 2) and PDSCH
messages
code for the first PDSCH TFCI group

Similarly, for the second PDSCH TFCI group, ¡ HSS RLC Functionality:
PDSCH code mapping is shown in Table 5. w Supports Release 5, Release 4 and Release
99
TFCI (Field 2) PDSCH Channelisation
code w Segmentation and Re-assembly
16 C ch, 64, 0 w Concatenation and Padding
17 C ch, 64, 1 w Transfer of User Data in AM/UM/TM mode
18 C ch, 64, 2
w Error Correction and In-Sequence Delivery
19 C ch, 64, 3
20 C ch, 64, 4 w Flow Control
21 C ch, 64, 5 w Ciphering Support for AM/UM Mode RBs
22 C ch, 64, 6
23 C ch, 64, 7
¡ HSS MAC Functionality:
Table 5 Associated TFCI (field 2) and PDSCH
w Supports Release 5, Release 4 and Release
code for the second PDSCH TFCI group
99
w Mapping logical to transport channels
w Selection of appropriate Transport Format for
5. HSS Offering each Transport Channel (TFCI Selection)
HSS offers individual RNC protocol stacks on Uu w Identification of UEs on common transport
interface. These interface stacks are also available in channels
an integrated form as Uu Interface Product. w Multiplexing / De-multiplexing of higher layer
PDUs into / from transport block sets

10
w Traffic volume monitoring
w Dynamic transport channel type switching
w Ciphering Support for TM Mode RBs
w Support for DSCH transport channel

¡ HSS Iub FP Functionality:

w Supports Release 5, Release 4 and Release
99
w Node Synchronization
w Transport Channel Synchronization
w Error Detection (CRC Calculation)
w Transport of UL and DL DCH Data
w Supports set of Coordinated DCHs on the
same Transport Bearer.
w Support for DSCH transport bearer

6. Summary
This white paper focuses on the need and
the concept of the DSCH transport channel. It
also shows how the DSCH feature allows the
operators to efficiently use the radio resources for
the applications that require bursty downlink
traffic without affecting the signaling load in the
UTRAN.
HSS has developed the source code based on
3GPP specifications for the Uu interface at RNC.
This implementation includes the DSCH feature at
Uu interface.

11
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The comprehensive set of software building blocks from Hughes
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stacks for the Voice over Packet domain.

Frameworks Stacks
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Media Gateway Framework MGCP stack
Gatekeeper Framework SIP stack
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Mini Gateway Framework SIGTRAN stack

The comprehensive set of software building blocks from Hughes

Software Systems consists of both frameworks and protocol
stacks for the Voice over Packet domain.

Hughes Software Systems

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