QoS attributes for packet switched services in 3rd generation mobile systems (UMTS)

The third generation of mobile systems (UMTS) is intended to provide different end user data applications based on packet switched services. In order to meet end users´ expectations and to overcome the limitation of system resources and the air interface capacity, it is necessary to define quality of service (QoS) attributes properly. We give an overview of UMTS services, list QoS attributes used for packet switched services and explain how they are defined to provide and maintain quality of service requirements for various types of connections in a packet switched mobile environment. Considerations are mainly based on the technical characteristics and realizations of the W-CDMA standards, which have been proposed by the 3GPP organisation, and, as such, accepted for implementation in UMTS mobile systems.