The WCDMA Design Handbook addresses the subject of wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) as defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and provides a detailed review of the architecture and the operation of the system. In particular, the focus of the book is the radio interface, from the physical layer through to the upper layers of the non-access stratum. This text either offers a complete ‘end-to-end’ explanation of the system operation, or alternatively allows the reader to focus on any aspects of the system which are of specific interest and relevance. For this reason, the material is presented in a modular fashion, with the overlap and interlinking of the chapters kept to a minimum to allow the chapters to be as selfstanding as possible in order to facilitate a ‘pick and mix’ approach to the book where required.

The structure of the book is intended to provide a solid introduction to the basic principles for the operation of the complete system and then to focus on the specific details in each of the relevant chapters. The major principles for the operation of the WCDMA system are considered throughout the different chapters, including the use of codes and multiplexing in the physical layer, the procedures for transport format combination control in layer 2 and the radio interface control procedures either within the radio resource control (RRC) protocol in the access stratum, or within the mobility management and service management protocols in the non-access stratum.