Is multiuser detection beneficial to mixed service UMTS networks?

The main objective of this paper is to investigate linear multiuser detection for the uplink of present mixed service UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) networks in terms of system capacity, system coverage as well as power reduction. For the system performance assessments we apply a two-stage power control multiuser detection algorithm where the users are detected by a multiuser block detection. We evaluate the UTRAN FDD load control parameter noise rise and show corresponding system capacity bounds for different service mixes carried over dedicated channels with data rates up to 64 kbit/s. Note that for typical UTRAN FDD services the signal-to-noise operating points of a multiuser detector are very low (less than 0 dB). These low signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios (SINR) operating points severely limit multiuser detection performance gains. Compared to single-user-matched filtering the minimum mean square error (MMSE) detector leads to fairly modest system capacity gains up to 60% dependent on the service mix assumed while the decorrelator is even worse. With respect to coverage as well as mobile station power, MMSE detection indicates fair to high improvements.