Enabling UMTS end-to-end performance analysis

Because of its inherent complexity, the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) network deployment demands a significant amount of system simulations and modelling activities to ensure optimum network performance and integrity. The complexity of the radio interface, based on wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), compounded with the need to satisfy an end-to-end quality of service (QoS) for packet and circuit based applications, has rendered the planning and design of UMTS networks extremely difficult today. Over the past year, Motorola has been investing significantly in creating a number of tools designed for UNITS network optimization. UPM (UMTS e2e Performance Modeller) is a Motorola proprietary tool that addresses all the inherent issues related to data modelling activities in the IP packet data network. This tool utilizes OPNET (simulation modelling tool) as a simulation platform and integrates radio models to characterize the UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), the UMTS air link interface and core network entities derived from the traditional IP networks. Using the OPNET platform, Motorola engineers have developed the full UTRAN network solution, which is later described in this paper. By modelling the full UMTS protocol stack (including the major characteristics of the UTRAN transport layer), this tool can undertake a huge variety of activities, such as algorithm testing and optimization, protocol parameter tuning, buffer sizing, network link dimensioning, traffic growth scenario analysis, performance optimization and bottleneck location as discussed in this paper.