Evaluation of handover algorithms for packet transmissions in WCDMA
Marcus Karlsson, Nicolas Guérin, N. Laaksonen, Gerald Ostermayer · 2003
The wideband CDMA (WCDMA) solution for UMTS/IMT-2000 is currently being globally standardized within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In order to facilitate mobile multimedia communications, WCDMA is being highly optimized for efficient packet transmissions. This paper evaluates macro diversity gains for high bitrate packet transmissions in a WCDMA system. Comparisons are made with hard handover which does not provide macro diversity. Evaluations have been made for both uplink and downlink by means of detailed computer simulations including fast fading and fast power control. The results show that in the downlink, the gain of macro diversity depends on the characteristics of the radio channel. The largest gain is achieved for channels with limited multipath propagation. In the uplink, macro diversity is shown to be essential in order to provide good system capacity.