FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 38,2,p.

134-139(December 2002) 134

IMT-2000 Network Architecture
vToshi o Shi moe vTakami chi Sano
(Manuscript received May 31, 2002)
International Mobile Telecommunication-2000 (IMT-2000) is a third-generation mobile
communication system. It has been established as an international standard to realize
advanced services and also overcome the performance limitations of the telephone
and data communication services that are based on existing second-generation mo-
bile communication systems (i.e., Personal Digital Cellular [PDC], cdmaOne, and Glo-
bal Systems for Mobile communications [GSM]).
This paper outlines the services recommended in IMT-2000 and describes the base
station systems, switching systems, and various servers of the IMT-2000 network ar-
chitecture. This paper also describes the packet processing mechanism and the tech-
niques for constructing IMT-2000 networks. Finally, this paper describes the
technologies related to intelligent networks (IN), which provide additional, highly ad-
vanced services.
1. Introduction
Mobi l e tel ephone and data transmi ssi on ser-
vi ces ar e mai nl y pr ovi ded by the
second-gener ati on mobi l e systems that ar e the
domesti c standar ds wor l dwi de. I n Japan, the
major di gi tal mobi l e networks are based on the
Personal Di gi tal Cel l ul ar (PDC) system. On the
other hand, a mobi l e tel ecommuni cati on servi ce
vender has started a commerci al servi ce based on
the cdmaOne system, whi ch i s a North Ameri ca
standard. I n other countri es, mobi l e networks are
constructed wi th one of two systems. One i s the
Gl obal Systems for Mobi l e (GSM) communi cati ons
system, whi ch has shown the best resul ts so far,
and the other i s the cdmaOne system, whi ch i s
based on the l atest technol ogy.
There i s a l i mi t to the data communi cati on
speed i n second-generati on mobi l e networks. Al so,
i t has been poi nted out that there i s a l i mi t to the
suppl y of hi gh-speed I P packet servi ces, for whi ch
there wi l l be an expl osi ve i ncrease i n demand i n
the future.
I nter nati onal Mobi l e Tel ecommuni cati on-
2000 (I MT-2000) i s a new, thi rd-generati on mobi l e
networ k bei ng di scussed at i nter nati onal stan-
dards organi zati ons to overcome the weak poi nts
of second-generati on mobi l e networks. I MT-2000
i s expected to consi st of mul ti -vendor networks
and to advance the standardi zati on of the i nter-
face between the functi onal el ements of networks.
I MT-2000 networks can be functi onal l y cl as-
si fi ed i nto Cor e Networ ks (CNs), Radi o Access
Networks (RANs), I ntel l i gent Networks (I Ns), and
other networks i nstal l ed i n center offi ces.
The I MT-2000 standards are bei ng di scussed
by two organi zati ons: the 3
rd
Generati on Partner-
shi p Pr oject (3GPP) and the 3
r d
Gener ati on
Partnershi p Project2 (3GPP2). The parti ci pants
of the 3GPP are ARI B, ETSI , TI , TTA, and TTC,
and the par ti ci pants of the 3GPP2 ar e ANTI ,
ARI B, ETSI , TTA, and TTC. The 3GPP ai ms to
construct an I MT-2000 network based on the GSM
135 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 38,2,(December 2002)
T. Shimoe et al.: I MT-2000 Network Architecture
network. On the other hand, the 3GPP2 ai ms to
devel op standards for the I MT-2000 network by
enhanci ng the cdmaOne system. I n the 3GPP,
I MT-2000 i s referred to as the Uni versal Mobi l e
Tel ecommuni cati on System (UMTS) or Wi deband
CDMA (W-CDMA). I n Japan, the ARI B and TTC
have advanced the domesti c standardi zati on of W-
CDMA and cdma2000.
However, al though the networ k confi gur a-
ti ons of W-CDMA/UMTS and cdma2000 ar e
si mi l ar, there i s a di fference i n the packet pro-
cessi ng method. Thi s paper outl i nes the I MT-2000
networ ks and the di ffer ences between the two
network technol ogi es.
2. Services in IMT-2000 networks
One of the mai n purposes of I MT-2000 i s to
provi de gl obal roami ng servi ces. I n order to offer
worl dwi de communi cati on servi ces that i ncl ude
access to fi xed networks and the I nternet, I MT-
2000 i s desi gned to connect not onl y l and mobi l e
networ ks but al so fi xed networ ks and satel l i te
mobi l e networks.
Another major purpose of I MT-2000 i s to pro-
vi de broadband servi ces for mobi l e termi nal s. Of
course, seaml ess handover i s requi red to provi de
qual i ty of ser vi ce (QoS) i n hi gh-speed tr ansfer
servi ces. The servi ces that I MT-2000 i s desi gned
to provi de are descri bed bel ow.
2.1 Multimedia communication service
A mul ti medi a servi ce offers the servi ce qual -
i ti es (transmi ssi on rate, l i ne qual i ty, del ay ti me,
etc.) requi red for voi ce communi cati on and data
communi cati on (i ncl udi ng vi deo communi cati on).
For exampl e, notebook per sonal computer s
equi pped wi th a mobi l e termi nal offer a servi ce
qual i ty that i s equi val ent to that offered by fi xed
networks. As a resul t, i t i s now possi bl e to access
the Worl d Wi de Web, e-mai l , el ectroni c commerce
servi ces (e.g., el ectroni c bank servi ces), and i nfor-
mati on servi ces such as el ectroni c newspapers and
educati on courses outdoors.
Moreover, a hi ghl y accurate l ocati on i nfor-
mati on servi ce usi ng mobi l e networks has been
exami ned. For exampl e, traffi c i nformati on and
si ghtseei ng gui des for a speci fi c area and navi ga-
ti on servi ces can be provi ded based on termi nal
l ocati on i nformati on.
2.2 Global service
A gl obal servi ce al l ows a user to communi -
cate anywher e, both i ndoor s and outdoor s,
regardl ess of the user s movi ng speed and l oca-
ti on (e.g., ci ty, suburb, or countrysi de). One of the
major achi evements of a gl obal servi ce i s that i t
enabl es gl obal roami ng: that i s, users can use the
same mobi l e termi nal i n any country wi thout hav-
i ng to change any of i ts setti ngs.
To r eal i ze a gl obal ser vi ce, thr ee l evel s of
mobi l i ty ar e r equi r ed: ter mi nal mobi l i ty, user
mobi l i ty, and servi ce mobi l i ty. Termi nal mobi l i ty
means i ndependence from the l ocati on and radi o
condi ti ons. User mobi l i ty means that any mobi l e
termi nal can be used. Servi ce mobi l i ty means that
the servi ce envi ronment of the home network can
be reproduced i n another network.
One of the major techni cal i ssues i n these
gl obal servi ces i s how to provi de the hi gh l evel s of
securi ty and pri vacy that are requi red.
2.3 Seamless service
A seaml ess servi ce al l ows a user to connect
to a conventi onal network and the I nternet wi th
the same qual i ty regardl ess of the wi rel ess envi -
r onment, l ocati on, and communi cati on ser vi ce
vendor.
3. Standardization trend
The 3GPP and 3GPP2 were establ i shed to
di scuss the I MT-2000 from the end of 1998 to the
begi nni ng of 1999. The 3GPP makes mobi l e net-
wor k system speci fi cati ons based on the GSM
communi cati ons/Gener al Packet Radi o Ser vi ce
(GPRS), and the 3GPP2 i s based on the ANSI -41.
The standar di zati on wor k of Rel ease1999 (the
1999 edi ti on recommendati on, or R99 for short)
was compl eted by the 3GPP i n December 1999.
136 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 38,2,(December 2002)
T. Shimoe et al.: I MT-2000 Network Architecture
R99 basi cal l y fol l ows the functi ons of GSM and
GPRS that have al ready been recommended. I n
the 3GPP2, the standardi zati on work of Rel ease
A was compl eted i n December 1999. Rel ease A
basi cal l y fol l ows the functi ons of cdmaOne that
have al ready been recommended.
Both the 3GPP and 3GPP2 have i ncl uded the
achi evement of hi gh-speed data transfer i n al l of
thei r recommendati ons. The speeds they recom-
mend are 64 kb/s or more i n ci rcui t swi tchi ng mode
and 384 kb/s or more i n packet swi tchi ng mode
(2 Mb/s for a stati onary termi nal ).
4. Mobile network structure
The mi grati on from conventi onal networks
i s the most i mportant i ssue for real i zi ng I MT-2000
mobi l e networks. I n thi s secti on, we descri be the
archi tecture of I MT-2000 networks. Then, we i n-
tr oduce the node gr oup needed to constr uct a
mobi l e network.
4.1 Realization of IMT-2000 networks
To construct I MT-2000 networks from con-
venti onal networ ks, networ k vender s can use
ei ther of the fol l owi ng two network constructi on
methods.
1) New i nstal l ati on of I MT-2000 networks
The I MT-2000 network can be i nstal l ed wi th-
out i nfl uenci ng conventi onal operati ng networks.
However, the i ni ti al capi tal i nvestment requi red
to i nstal l I MT-2000 i s hi gh.
2) Constructi on of I MT-2000 networks through
effecti ve use of exi sti ng networks.
I n thi s method, the faci l i ti es of the conven-
ti onal networks are used as much as possi bl e to
construct I MT-2000 networks economi cal l y. For
exampl e, the RAN part of I MT-2000, i ncl udi ng the
voi ce ci rcui t-swi tchi ng, can be connected wi th con-
venti onal core networks. As descri bed above, the
standardi zati on of the I MT-2000 network i s done
based on the exi sti ng networks. Thi s method fo-
cuses a l ot on the usabi l i ty of exi sti ng technol ogi es.
Moreover, subscri ber databases (e.g., the Home
Locati on Regi ster [HLR]) and the devi ces rel ated
to the I N i n the conventi onal networks can be con-
nected to I MT-2000 networks.
Compared to the fi rst method, thi s method
r equi r es a l ower i ni ti al capi tal i nvestment and
makes i t easi er to construct an I MT-2000 network.
However, thi s method requi res changes to be made
to the conventi onal networks.
4.2 Necessary nodes for construction of
IMT-2000 networks
1)
As menti oned above, an I MT-2000 network
basi cal l y consi sts of the RAN, CN, I N, and other
el ements (Figure 1). Thi s secti on i ntroduces each
of these nodes i n the W-CDMA/UMTS system.
1) RAN
The RAN i s a wi rel ess network l ocated be-
tween the user ter mi nal and the CN. I t i s
composed of Radi o Network Control l ers (RNCs),
Node-Bs, OMC-Rs, and other components.
2) CN
2)
The CN i s a networ k l ocated between the
RAN and another network (e.g., a Publ i c Swi tched
Tel ephone Network [PSTN]). I t i s composed of
ci r cui t swi tches (Mobi l e Swi tch Center [MSC]/
Gateway Mobi l e Swi tch Center [GMSC]), packet
swi tches (Servi ng GPRS Support System [SGSN]/
Gateway GPRS Suppor t System [GGSN]), sub-
scri ber databases (Home Locati on Regi ster [HLR]/
Vi si tor Locati on Regi ster [VLR]), address resol u-
ti on servers for packet processi ng (Domai n Name
Server [DNS]), and the authenti cati on and secu-
r i ty center s (Authenti cati on Center [AuC]/
Equi pment I denti ty Regi ster [EI R]).
3) I N
The i ntel l i gent network i s a node group for
achi evi ng enhanced servi ces (number portabi l i ty,
freephone, credi t card cal l s, etc.). I t i s composed
of Servi ce Control Poi nts (SCPs).
4) Other devi ces
Some of the other I MT-2000 network compo-
nents are:
Voi ce Mai l System (VMS). Thi s has voi ce re-
cor di ng and r epl ay functi ons such as an
answer phone. There i s al so a component
137 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 38,2,(December 2002)
T. Shimoe et al.: I MT-2000 Network Architecture
5.1 W-CDMA/UMTS packet processing
The speci fi cati ons for the packet system of
W-CDMA/UMTS ar e the same as those for the
GPRS system that has been used wi th conven-
ti onal GSM networ ks. Cur r entl y, mobi l i ty
management of the subscri ber i s done usi ng the
HLR. When the subscri ber moves, the l ocati on
i nformati on i n the HLR i s renewed. When the
packet ar r i ves, the l ocati on i nfor mati on i n the
HLR i s referenced and the packet i s transmi tted
to the swi tch node to whi ch the target mobi l e ter-
mi nal i s regi steri ng (Figure 2).
5.2 cdma2000 packet processing
Because the speci fi cati ons for the packet pro-
cessi ng method wer e not standar di zed i n
cdmaOne, they have been standardi zed i n i ts re-
pl acement, cdma2000. The packet pr ocessi ng
method of cdma2000 adopts the Mobi l e I P system,
for recei vi ng and re-sendi ng faxes.
Short Message Center (SMSC). Thi s compo-
nent i s used for transmi tti ng and recei vi ng
char acter i nfor mati on. The SMSC can be
used, for exampl e, to noti fy subscri bers that
there i s a message for them i n the VMS.
Group Cal l Regi ster (GCR). Thi s i s a data-
base for group cal l servi ces.
Wi rel ess Appl i cati on Protocol (WAP) server.
Thi s i s a server that offers subscri bers vari -
ous i nfor mati on usi ng the Wi r el ess
Appl i cati on Protocol .
5. Packet switching in IMT-2000
I t was menti oned above that there are two
ki nds of I MT-2000 systems: W-CDMA/UMTS and
cdma2000. Thi s secti on outl i nes the packet pro-
cessi ng of these two systems.
: Personal digital cellular
: Packet data switched network
: Public land mobile network
: Public switched telephone network
: Radio network controller
: Service control point

PDSN
PLMN
PSTN

PDC
RNC
SCP

N-ISDN
GMSC
GSM
HLR
MSC
NMS
: Gateway mobile switching center
: Global system for mobile
: Home location register
: Mobile switching center
: Narrowband ISDN
: Network management system
: Application server
: Authentication center
: Billing center
: Domain name server
: Equipment identity register
: Group call register
: Gateway GPRS support node


GGSN


APL
AuC
BC
DNS
EIR
GCR
: Serving GPRS support node
: Short message center
: User equipment
: Visitor location register
: Voice mail system
: Wireless application protocol

SGSN
SMSC

UE
VLR
VMS
WAP

VMS
SMSC
RNC
Node B
BC
SCP
HLR/AuC/
EIR
SGSN GGSN
MSC
VLR
GMSC
WAP
APL
DNS
GCR NMS
PDC network
GSM network
IP networks
PDSN
PLMN
PSTN
N-ISDN
Backbone
network
Radio access network (RAN)
Intelligent network (IN)
Core network (CN)
UE
Um
lub lu
Figure 1
IMT-2000 (UMTS) network structure.
138 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 38,2,(December 2002)
T. Shimoe et al.: I MT-2000 Network Architecture
whi ch di ffers from the HLR system i n W-CDMA/
UMTS and i s bei ng di scussed by the I ETF. When
a user moves to a forei gn network, a care-of ad-
dress i s sent from the Forei gn Agent (FA) i n the
forei gn network to the Home Agent (HA) i n the
user s home network. As shown i n Figure 3, the
packets for a movi ng user are re-forwarded to the
FA by the HA accordi ng to the care-of address.
6. Intelligent network (IN)
The I MT-2000 I N i s the key component for
r eal i zi ng a Vi r tual Home Envi r onment (VHE),
whi ch i s a concept for provi di ng the servi ce moti l -
i ti es descri bed i n Secti on 2.2. For exampl e, when
roami ng i s done, the pre-pai d card servi ce avai l -
abl e i n the home network can be made avai l abl e
i n other networks. To real i ze a VHE, the i ntel l i -
gent network central l y manages the servi ce l ogi c
at a Servi ce Control Poi nt (SCP) and the SCP con-
trol s the Servi ce Swi tchi ng Poi nt (SSP) to offer
the subscri ber servi ce as shown i n Figure 4.
The di fferent protocol s of SCP and SSP/HLR
were standardi zed by the 3GPP and 3GPP2. The
3GPP appl i ed the Customi zed Appl i cati on or Mo-
bi l e network Enhanced Logi c (CAMEL), and the
3GPP2 appl i ed the Wi rel ess I ntel l i gent Network
(WI N).
CAMEL i s based on the I ntel l i gent Network
Figure 2
UMTS packet processing.
Figure 3
cdma2000 packet processing.
Figure 4
Intelligent network for mobile network.
Appl i cati on Protocol (I NAP) that i s bei ng recom-
mended by the I TU-T/ETSI . CAMEL i mpl ements
a par t of the GSM Mobi l e Appl i cati on Pr otocol
(MAP) for i nterconnecti on between the SCP and
HLR and was recommended i n the form of the
CAMEL Appl i cati on Protocol (CAP).
On the other hand, for cdma2000 networks,
the Wi rel ess I N (WI N) was recommended. The
WI N was enhanced from the ANSI -41 MAP, whi ch
the Tel ecommuni cati on I ndustr y Associ ati on
(TI A)/El ectroni c I ndustry Associ ati on (EI A) stan-
Internet
GGSN SGSN RAN
RAN
HLR
GGSN SGSN
Mobile
network (B)
Mobile
network (A)
(1) The location information in HLR is updated along with the
subscriber movement.
(2) SGSN is specified by the location information in HLR.
(1)
(2)
Internet
PDGN RAN
RAN
PDGN
(HA)
PDSN
Mobile network (B)
Mobile network (A)
(1) The core-of-address (CoA) of mobile terminal is updated in
HA along with the subscriber movement.
(2) Incomming packets are re-forwarded by the CoA in HA.
(1)
(2)
PDSN
(FA)
Other switch nodes
Service control
point (SCP)
Home location
register (HLR)
Service
management
system (SMS)
Service
switching point
(SSP)
Service
switching point
(SSP)
Service
development
environment
Mobile switch node Mobile switch node
IN protocol
(CAP/WIN)
IN protocol
(CAP/WIN)
Mobile
protocol
(MAP)
139 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 38,2,(December 2002)
T. Shimoe et al.: I MT-2000 Network Architecture
dardi zed for the CDMA recommendati ons. New
operati ons for SCP and HLR communi cati on were
recommended for the WI N. Al so, the exi sti ng MAP
was changed to accommodate the i ntroducti on of
the WI N.
I n the future, i ntel l i gent networks wi l l occu-
py the most i mportant posi ti ons i n networks and
wi l l become i ndi spensabl e for offeri ng a seaml ess
servi ce i n mobi l e and al so fi xed networks. I ntel -
l i gent networ ks i ntegr ate the functi ons of the
servi ce control and management and can provi de
vari ous servi ces between di fferent networks.
7. Conclusion
NTT DoCoMo,I nc. has constructed an I MT-
2000 networ k based on the UMTS system and
began I MT-2000 servi ces i n May 2001. For the
networ k, Fuji tsu devel oped a Base Tr anscei ver
Stati on for Node-B, an RNC, and a Mobi l e Mul ti -
medi a Swi tchi ng node (MMS) for the CN. Fuji tsus
systems effi ci entl y i ntegrate ci rcui t swi tchi ng and
packet swi tchi ng ser vi ces by usi ng ATM and
Swi tched Vi rtual Connecti on (SVC) systems.
We are convi nced that mobi l e networks wi l l
become major parts of the access networks of the
21st century. Communi cati on networks are ex-
pected to devel op i nto a new type of network, cal l ed
a Fi xed Mobi l e Convergence (FMC), whi ch i s an
i ntegrati on of fi xed and mobi l e networks. More-
over, a standard for al l I P-based I MT-2000 systems
wi thout ci rcui t swi tchi ng wi l l be recommended.
I MT-2000 systems have the l atent abi l i ty to form
FMCs.
I MT-2000 i s expected to be devel oped as an
i nfr astr uctur e wi th new functi ons and ser vi ces
such as hi gh-speed I P communi cati on over mo-
bi l e ter mi nal s and ser vi ce por tabi l i ty r eal i zed
through the use of i ntel l i gent networks.
On the other hand, several i ssues remai n: for
exampl e, how to guar antee gl obal r oami ng be-
tween W-CDMA/UMTS and cdma2000 systems.
These remai ni ng i ssues must be sol ved so that
I MT-2000 can devel op as the i nfrastructure of a
trul y gl obal standard. Fuji tsu wi l l enhance the
functi ons of I MT-2000 based on the appropri ate
i nternati onal standards.
References
1) H. Yumi ba et al .: Overvi ew of I MT-2000 Net-
work Systems. (i n Japanese), NTT DoCoMo
Tech. J ournal, 6, 4, p.8-13 (1999).
2) K. Yamamoto et al .: Core Network Technol -
ogi es. NTT DoCoMo Tech. J ournal, 3, 3,
p.16-30 (2001).
Takamichi Sano received the B.S. de-
gree in Control and System Engineer-
ing from Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Tokyo, Japan in 1974. He joined Fujitsu
Ltd., Kawasaki, Japan in 1974, where
he has been engaged in research and
development of digital switching sys-
tems, ISDN switching systems, mobile
switching systems (IMT-2000), and
mobile Internet communication sys-
tems.
E-mail: [email protected]
Toshio Shimoe received the M.S. de-
gree in Communication Engineering
from Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
in 1978. He joined Fujitsu Laboratories
Ltd., Kawasaki, Japan in 1978, where
he was engaged in research and de-
velopment of digital switching systems
and photonic switching technologies. In
1991, he joined Fujitsu Ltd., Kawasaki,
Japan, where he has been engaged in
research and development of asynchro-
nous transfer mode switching systems
and mobile switching systems.
E-mail: [email protected]