Idle Mode Behavior

Idle Mode Behavior

• PLMN selection
• Cell Selection / Reselection
• Location Update and Routing area update
• Paging (type 1 & 2)
• System Information Blocks (SIB Messages)
 1. OFF Mode
2. IDLE MODE
3. CONNECTED MODE

UE in IDLE MODE has the following properties :

• UE is Powered ON , while it doesn't have connection to the Radio Network

• UE is synchronized with Radio Network and can read broadcast

information , Accordingly UE can access the Network request services .

• UE is registered on the network , updating Network with its LAC ,

Accordingly UE becomes reachable by the network
 Services Types in Idle Mode

• Normal Service
• When the UE select accepted level cell in its HPLMN
• Limited Service (SOS)
• When the UE didn’t find any accepted level cells at its
home PLMN it selects any accepted level cell at any
other PLMN(Emergency Calls)
• Operator reserved services (sent on SIB1)
• The operator can reserve any cell for testing only and
this through two parameters cell reserved and Access
classNbarred
PLMN Selection
 PLMN Selection
• PLMN Selection
– What is it ? And When it happens ? What are the
types of PLMN selection
• PLMN Selection is the process in which the UE decides which
PLMN it should register in and this process happens when
the Mobile turned on or when the mobile returned back
from limiting service
– Automatic PLMN selection
– Manual PLMN selection
 Automatic PLMN selection
• When the mobile powered on
• The mobile uses information about the last registered PLMN
(Freq, the stored neighbors before off) (stored at USIM)
• Mobile search the strongest signal cells and read its system
information to get (MCC and MNC)
• If the chosen cell is accepted the mobile try to do the
registration
• If the last chosen cell not available or there is no stored info
in the mobile USIM then the mobile might select any
accepted PLMN automatically or manually
• In the automatic selection if no last register PLMN exists or
available the Mobile will select the PLMN that is available
and allowed as follow:
– HPLMN if not previously selected due to RAT
– Each PLMN in User controlled PLMNs list in the USIM, in order of
priority
– Each PLMN in operator controlled PLMN list in the USIM, in order of
priority
– Other PLMNs according to the high quality criteria randomly the
minimum CPICH RSCP power is -95dBm
– Other PLMNs that don’t fulfill high quality criteria
 Initial Cell Selection – Automatic Mode
USIM
I
HPLMN
Strongest cell

Power Spectrum Magnitude (dB)

80
60

f1 40
20
0
USIM
-20
-40 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 I
II PLMN
Frequency x 107

PLMN II
PLMN III

PLMN A B C D E F USIM
I
PLMN
III II
PLMN
PLMN III
2110 2170 MHz

Power Spectrum Magnitude (dB)

80

60

40

IV PLMN 20

PLMN PLMN
-20

-40
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Frequency 7
x 10

PLMN A PLMN B

Power Spectrum Magnitude (dB)

80

PLMN B PLMN E V
60

PLMN 40

PLMN D PLMN D 20

PLMN PLMN
-20

PLMN E PLMN A -40

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Frequency 7
x 10
 Manual PLMN Selection
• UE displays all the available PLMNS after carriers
scanning
• All the available PLMNs will appear regardless it is
allowed or not and ignoring the forbidden LACs
 f1
Strongest cell PLMN A
f2 PLMN B
Power Spectrum Magnitude (dB)

80

60

40

20
• HPLMN
0

PLMN E
•
-20

-40
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Frequency x 10 7

fn
 Roaming
• It is the services in which the user will be able to
obtain services from another PLMN
– Same country (national roaming)
– Another country (international roaming)
• Every 30 minutes the UE try to reselect its home
PLMN
Cell Selection
 Cell Search
Start

Detecting slot synchronization using P-SCH

(UMTS existence )

Detecting frame synchronization and primary scrambling code group using S-SCH
(8 SCs)

Detecting primary scrambling code by Correlating SCs with CPICH

(Scan on CPICH for 8 SCs by order of highest one)

Read system information

(Read at BCCH or on P-CCPCH to know MCC & MNC)

End
(End with correct cell to make register on it)
 Broadcast Channels Pilot Channel
P,S-SCH (30Kbps,SF=256,QPSK)
1 timeslot = 2560 Chips = 10 symbols
P-CCPCH = 20 bits = 666.667 uSec

CPICH Pilot Symbol Data (10 symbols per slot)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
P-CCPCH
1 Frame = 15 slots = 10 mSec

CPICH always
assigned code 0
from SF 256 tree
 Cell selection procedure
• Squal = Qqualmeas – Qqualmin (For WCDMA)
• Qqualmeas is CPICH Ec /No
• Qqualmin is minimum required Ec/No
Qqualmin (cell level parameter) default value is -18 dB
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Srxlev = Qrxlevmeas – Qrxlevmin – Pcompensation (For all cells)
• Qrxlevmeas is CPICH RSCP
• Qrxlevmin is minimum required RSCP
Qrxlevmin (cell level parameter) default value is -115 dpm
Pcompensation= Max [(UE_TXPWR_MAX_RACH – P_MAX) , 0 ]
UE_TXPWR_MAX_RACH: Maximum power used in accessing
(sent on SIB3) (cell level parameter)

P_MAX: maximum O/P power of the UE according to its access class.

[Most of UEs is class 5 which max power could be transmited is 23 dBm]

Pcompensation: is introduced for UEs that cannot transmit at maximum power on

the RACH in the cell. The cell range decreases for those UEs.

The cell is considered as accepted if

Squal > 0 and Srxlev > 0
• Cell selection occurs when
• When UE is switched on
• When UE in idle mode has had a number of failed RRC
connection request
• When a UE returns to idle mode from the connection mode
on common channel (cell-FACH) after a number of failed cell
update
• UE returns to idle mode from connected mode (cell-DCH)
• When a UE returns to idle mode after an emergency call on
any PLMN
• After call drop
Cell Reselection
 Cell Reselection procedure
• When it occurs
– When cell on which it is camping is no longer suitable
(Srxlev or Squal is not satisfied anymore ,
CPICH power is changed , cell barred)
– When there is any neighbor with better quality than
the selected one
– When the UE in the limited service state on an
acceptable cell
– When the UE is in cell _FACH state
• According to the cell reselection criteria. In order to perform cell ranking, the UE
measures the serving cell and neighbor cells listed in SIB11 according to the
measurement rules . (Measurements  Ranking)

i. Measurement rules for cell reselection (3 triggering conditions on SIB3)

1. Intra frequency measurements starts when

Squal <= Sintrasearch

Sintrasearch : Controls when intra-frequency measurements are performed

0 means always measure

Intra frequency means measuring neighbors that have same frequency

 2. Inter frequency measurements starts when
Squal <= Sintersearch
Sintersearch : Controls when inter-frequency measurements are performed (0 dB)
0 means always measure
Inter frequency means measuring neighbors that have different frequency

3. GSM measurements starts when

Squal <= SRATsearch
OR
Srxlev <= SHCSRAT
SRATsearch : Controlsquality Threshold at which GSM measurements are
performed (4 dB)
SHCSRAT : Controls Signal Strength Threshold at which GSM measurements
are performed (3 dB)
0 means always stop measurement
 GSM measurements can also be triggered by
Qqualmeas (EcN0, dB) low RSCP
Qrxlevmeas (RSCP, dBm)

-14

SRATsearch = 4dB
-112

Qqualmin= -18 SHCS,RAT = 3dB

(negative values are
interpreted as 0)
QrxLevMin+P = -115

Time (s)
WCDMA WCDMA & GSM WCDMA WCDMA & GSM
measurements measurements measurements measurements
• When the UE triggers a cell reselections
procedure it starts ranking for the cell satisfy
S-criteria (Squal > 0 and Srxlev > 0) and the
ranking will be according R-criteria

• Rs = Qmeass + Qhysts
• Rn = Qmeasn – Qoffset s,n

Rs : Ranking of serving
Rn : Ranking of neighbors
• Qmeas: is the quality value of the received signal
which is derived from
• CPICH Ec/No or CPICH RSCP
• Qhysts: hystersis value sent to mobile in system
information used to delay the reselection as
possible on the LA boarders
– Qhyst1s if the ranking based on CPICH RSCP
– Qhyst2s if the ranking based on CPICH Ec/No
• Qoffsets,n: is the offset between the serving and the
neighbor cell also used to shift the cell boarder
– Qoffset1s,n : if the ranking based on RSCP, there are 2
Qoffset1s,n one for WCDMA neighbor and the other
one for GSM neighbor.
– Qoffset2s,n : if the ranking based on Ec/No
• “Cell_selection_and_reselection_quality_measure
information element”: is the parameter that determine
if we will do the ranking based on RSCP or Ec/No
• The UE reselect the better cell if it stay better for time
interval more than Treselection
 UMTS to UMTS cell Reselection

Qmeas (dBm)
Qmeas(n)

R(n)
Qoffset2s,n=0

Qhyst2s = 4

R(s)

Qmeas(s)

Cell reselection time

R(n)>R(s) treSelection
 UMTS to GSM cell Reselection
Qmeas (dBm)

Qmeas(n)

Qoffset1s,n
Qhyst1s

R(n)

qRxLevMin*+
sHcsRat

R(s)
qRxLevMin*
Qmeas(s)

time
WCDMA&GSM Ranking
measurements
treSelection
Cell reselection
R(n)>R(s)
* Pcompensation is assumed to be 0
• FACH-connected cell reselection
– During the FACH-connected mode the UE use secondary common
control physical channel (SCCPCH)
– The parameters used to control the measurement are IE “FACH
Measurement occasion cycle length coefficient” and IE “Inter-frequency FDD
measurement indicator”
(K) used to show when
– “FACH Measurement occasion cycle length coefficient”
the UE has to do this measurement, value should be greater than 0
and this value send to mobile via system information (If set to 0, the
parameter is not sent in system information)
– FACH measurement occasions are defined as being the frame where
the following equation is fulfilled
SFN= C-RNTI mod n*2^K
C-RNTI is the cell UE identity (16 bits) & n is the frame number 0,1,2,….
 is a value set to True or False if
– “Inter-frequency FDD measurement indicator”
it set to True the UE will perform the reselection criteria on
inter frequency or inter RAT and if it is set false it will not do
Location Area Update
 Location area Update and Routing area Update

• After a UE has found a suitable cell it tries to make PLMN registration.

• If the LAI or RAI read on system information has been changed then the
UE tries to do RA or LA registration Update
• During the idle mode when the UE changes its location or routing area it
should do LAU or RAU
• LAU and RAU managed by CN
• Types of Updates
– Periodic:
• Avoid unnecessary paging attempts for a UE that has lost coverage
• Occurs periodically after timer T3212 for LAU (The value is sent by
the WCDMA RAN to UEs on the BCCH) or T3312 for RAU (the value
of the timer sent to the UE over BCCH in the IMSI attach or in RAU
, it is CN parameter) when the UE is in connected mode and the
timer expired then the UE wait until enter idle mode again to
perform the periodic LA
– Normal
• Occurs when the UE change its LA or RA, the UE discover the
changes after comparing the new Cell RAC or LAC with the stored
values in the USIM
– IMSI attach and detach
• IMSI attach occurs when the UE activated in the same LA in
which it was before deactivation and the detach occurs
when UE deactivated
• This function used to prevent unnecessary paging for the off
UEs
• IMSI attach is an optional function and it is managed by cell
parameter called ATT sent to UE over BCCH
– If ATT set to 1 it means the UE should do IMSI attach and detach
– When the UE is switched on and the IMSI attach/detach
procedure is applied, the UE performs a location registration
request, indicating IMSI attach, if it is in the same LA or RA in
which it was switched off. If the registration area is changed, a
normal LA update is performed by the UE.
 Cell Update

In state CELL_FACH, the procedure Cell Update is used to

keep WCDMA RAN informed about the UEs location on a
cell level. Cell Update is initiated in the following cases:
• A UE in state CELL_FACH enters a new cell.
• As part of a supervision mechanism, Cell Update is
performed periodically by UEs in state CELL_FACH. The
periodicity is controlled by the timer t305.
• If a UE in state CELL_FACH re-enters the service area
after having been out of coverage when a periodic Cell
Update should have been sent.
Paging
 Paging

• Is the process through it the CN inform the UE

there is a service request or RAN inform all the
UEs that the System information has been
updated also to initiate the channel switch from
URA-PCH to Cell-FACH state
• Paging occurs in the following states
– Idle
– URA-PCH
– Cell-FACH
– Cell-DCH
• Paging in Idle mode and URA-PCH

For UEs in Idle mode, the paging message is broadcast in an LA, a

RA, or a global RNC area. Paging messages are sent in all cells in
an LA or RA, so it is necessary to find a trade-off between the
number of LA or RA registration attempts and the paging load.
The paging load will increase with larger LA and RA while the
registration load will decrease with larger LA and RA.
• Paging in Idle mode and URA-PCH
– PICH and S-CCPCH are used to page the UE
• PICH used to tell the UE when to read S-CCPCH
• S-CCPCH used to carry RRC message Paging type1 which
includes actual paging info and the number of times the
WCDMA RAN will retransmit the paging
(noOfPagingRecordTransm)
• DRX
– In the Idle mode the UE should in order to save its
power consumption to listen to the PICH in certain
predefined times

288 bits for paging indication 12 bits (undefined)

b0 b1 b287 b288 b299

One radio frame (10 ms)

– 288 bits are divided to number of PIs each PI related
to one paging group and each user belongs to a paging
group
– The number of PIs in a PICH frame is given by
parameter named “Number of PI per frame”
• If “Number of PI per frame” is 72 that mean we have 72 PIs
and each one 4 bits
– The UE monitors one PI in one paging occasion per
DRX cycle
• The length of DRX cycle is given by 2^k * 10(ms)
Where k is the DRX cycle Length coefficient defined by
“CN DRX cycle length coefficient” defined for the CS domain ,the PS domain
and URA-PCH . If the values differ, the UE is forced to use the shorter of the
two cycle lengths.
• Paging in cell-FACH and cell-DCH
– When the connection between UE and RAN is existing
Paging type 2 message are sent to the user it is carried
on DCCH so it is only for one user.
• Updated System information
– RRC message “paging type1” containing the
information element “BCCH modification info” is sent
to the UE in the idle mode to inform it about the
updated System Information “SI”
System Information Blocks
System Information
• The UE read System information when
– Powered on
– Cell Re-Selection in idle mode or Cell-FACH
– UE informed that change occurred in system
information while it is in idle mode or Cell-
FACH(Paging)
– UE switches from Dedicated mode to Common Mode.
– Timer expires for SIBs with expiration time.
MIB
SIB 1
SIB 3
SIB 5
SIB 7
SIB 12