BALI: A solution for high-speed CDMA data

Existing standards-based code division multiple access (CDMA) systems support circuit-mode and packet-mode data services at an effective rate limited to 8 to 13 kb/s. Lucent Technologies has taken the lead in addressing this limitation. Lucent's phase 1 solution offers the highest possible performance while conforming to current IS-95-A air interface design characteristics and thereby maintaining strict compatibility with existing base station hardware. The proposed standard will support a high data rate (64 kb/s) both to and from the mobile device. This paper describes the architecture, design, and performance of the Burst Admission based on Load and Interference (BALI) high-speed data solution for CDMA. High-speed service is provided through the aggregation of multiple codes. A new burst-mode capability is defined to allow better interference management and capacity utilization. In the burst mode, the number of codes that may be used by a mobile on the forward or reverse link for the duration of a burst is controlled by the infrastructure. Static allocation of multiple codes to a small number of users can result in inefficient use of CDMA air interface capacity. Dynamic infrastructure-controlled burst allocation makes it possible to share the bandwidth efficiently among several high-speed packet data mobiles.