Transmitted power statistics in W-CDMA radio access networks

In a CDMA-based mobile radio access system, power represents one of the main resources to be shared among users. For such a reason, the analysis of statistical distributions of transmitted power plays a fundamental role in the planning and optimization process of UMTS-FDD radio access networks. The aim of the present paper is to investigate several factors affecting power levels such as: cell deployment and geometry factors, QoS (quality of service) requirements of UMTS services (in particular in terms of E_b/N₀ targets), multi-service traffic characteristics, propagation conditions, power planning of signaling downlink channels, radio resource management (power control loops, soft handover, admission control). The paper presents several case studies developed with the help of an advanced Montecarlo simulator, considering both the uplink and the downlink.