UMTS/IMT2000 based on wideband CDMA

The UMTS terrestrial radio access (UTRA) is based on a wideband 4.096 Mcps DS-CDMA technology. UTRA will be connected to an evolved GSM core network for both circuit and packet services. A merger between ETSI/Europe and ARIB/Japan based on WCDMA, GSM core network, and a common frequency allocation according to the ITU recommendation on 2 GHz makes a global IMT-2000 standard feasible. UTRA based on WCDMA fully supports the UMTS/IMT-2000 requirements, e.g. support of 384 kbps with wide area coverage and 2 Mbps with local coverage. Furthermore, the air-interface has flexible support of mixed services and an efficient packet mode. The key WCDMA features also include improved basic capacity/coverage performance compared to second-generation systems, full support of adaptive antenna arrays, support of hierarchical cell-structures with inter-frequency handover, and the support of asynchronous interbase-station operation.