inacon lte from a-z

LTE from A-Z-

Technology and Concepts of the 4G 3GPP Standard

INACON GmbHKriegsstrasse 15476133 Karlsruhe

Germanywww.inacon.com

e-mail: [email protected]

Cover design by Stefan Kohler

© 1999 - 2009 INACON GmbHKriegsstrasse 15476133 Karlsruhe

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this publication, the publisher and authors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. For more information, contact INACON GmbH at www.inacon.com.

Legend:

All INACON publications use the same color codes to distinguish mandatory from optional or conditional parts in frame formats or optional from mandatory data blocks or signaling messages in scenarios. The different color codes are explained underneath:

• Color Codes in Frame Formats:

• Color Codes in Scenarios:

Foreword of the Publisher:

Dear Reader:

Note that this book is primarily a training document because the primary business of INACON GmbH is the training and consulting market for mobile communications. As such, we are proud to providing high-end training courses to many clients worldwide, among them operators like Cingular, Mobilkom Austria, SWISSCOM, T-MOBILE or VSNL (India) and equipment suppliers like ALCATEL-LUCENT, ERICSSON and SONY-ERICSSON, MOTOROLA, NOKIA-SIEMENS and RIM.

INACON GmbH is not one of the old-fashioned publishers. With respect to time-to-market, form-factor, homogenous quality over all books and most importantly with respect to after-sales support, INACON GmbH is moving into a new direction. Therefore, INACON GmbH does not leave you alone with your issues and this book but we offer you to contact the author directly through e-mail ([email protected]), if you have any questions. All our authors are employees of INACON GmbH and all of them are proven experts in their area with usually many years of practical experience.

The most important assets and features of the book in front of you are:

• Extreme degree of detailed information about a certain technology.

• Extensive and detailed index to allow instant access to information about virtually every parameter, timer and detail of this technology.

• Incorporation of several practical exercises.

• If applicable, incorporation of examples from our practical field experiences and real life recordings.

• References to the respective standards and recommendations on virtually every page.

Finally, we again like to congratulate you to the purchase of this book and we like to wish you success in using it during your daily work.

Sincerely,

Gunnar Heine / President & CEO of INACON GmbH

Table of Content

Principles and Motivation of LTE............................................11.1 Mobile Radio: Comparison between 3G and 4G..................2

1.1.1 Performance and Mobility Management related Issues..............21.1.2 Architecture related Issues..........................................................41.1.3 Procedure and Radio related Issues...........................................6

1.2 Requirements on LTE............................................................81.2.1 General Requirements................................................................8

1.2.1.1 Support of Enhanced Quadruple Play Services............................101.2.1.2 Very High Data Rates @ flexible bandwidth deployment ((1.25) 5 – 20 MHz).....................................................................................................101.2.1.3 AIPN and PS services only............................................................10

1.2.2 Important Characteristics of LTE Physical Layer.......................121.2.2.1 General Physical Layer Characteristics.........................................12

1.2.2.1.1 OFDM ..................................................................................121.2.2.1.2 Scalable Bandwidth..............................................................131.2.2.1.3 Smart Antenna Technology..................................................141.2.2.1.4 Fast scheduling and AMC.....................................................141.2.2.1.5 No Soft(er) handover............................................................14

1.2.3.2 OFDM/OFDMA..............................................................................161.2.3.2.1 Traditional narrowband communication................................161.2.3.2.2 Problems for wideband signals.............................................171.2.3.2.3 OFDM...................................................................................171.2.3.2.4 OFDM and OFDMA..............................................................171.2.3.2.5 LTE and OFDM.....................................................................17

1.2.3.3 Smart Antenna Technology in LTE................................................181.2.3.3.1 Categorization of Smart Antenna Technologies...................18

1.2.3.3.1.1 SISO.............................................................................181.2.3.3.1.2 SIMO............................................................................181.2.3.3.1.3 MISO............................................................................191.2.3.3.1.4 MIMO...........................................................................19

1.2.3.3.2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)..................................201.2.3.3.2.1 Multiple carrier technology...........................................211.2.3.3.2.2 MIMO...........................................................................21

1.2.3.3.3 Adaptive Antenna Systems (AAS)........................................221.2.3.3.3.1 Signal generation.........................................................231.2.3.3.3.2 Constructive superimposition at the intended receiver 231.2.3.3.3.3 Destructive superimposition at the not intended receiver.......................................................................................................231.2.3.3.3.4 Generation of signals for multiple UE’s........................23

1.2.3.4 Macro Diversity exploitation by SFN..............................................241.2.3.4.1 Requirements for MBMS services........................................241.2.3.4.2 MBMS operation with a SFN.................................................241.2.3.4.3 SFN for point to point services..............................................25

1.2.3.5 The Frequency Bands Intended for LTE.......................................261.2.3.5.1 Exclusive usage....................................................................271.2.3.5.2 Refarming.............................................................................271.2.3.5.3 Licensed operation................................................................271.2.3.5.4 Unlicensed operation............................................................27

1.2.3.6 Flexible Bandwidths, Parameters..................................................28

Table of Content

© INACON GmbH 1999 - 2009. All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or unauthorized use of this material is prohibited and will be prosecuted to the full extent of German and international laws. Version Number 2.030 - i -

1.2.3.6.1 Fixed subcarrier separation..................................................281.2.3.6.2 Usage of carriers in the middle of the bandwidth for PBCH and synchronization signals.................................................................291.2.3.6.3 Deployment Scenarios..........................................................30

1.2.4 Important Characteristics of the LTE Layer 2 and 3..................321.2.4.1 Support of the new LTE L1............................................................321.2.4.2 Simple IP centric protocols supporting AIPN.................................321.2.4.3 Support of various inter RAT handovers (GSM, UTRA, etc.)........33

1.3 LTE and System Architecture Evolution (SAE)..................341.3.1 Overview...................................................................................34

1.3.1.1 Missing RNC..................................................................................341.3.1.2 Interconnected eNB’s....................................................................351.3.1.3 Separate entities for user plane and control plane in the EPC......361.3.1.4 Combined Serving Gateway and MME.........................................361.3.1.5 Combined Serving and PDN Gateways........................................361.3.1.6 S1-flex...........................................................................................361.3.1.7 Used legacy elements...................................................................361.3.1.8 Roaming case................................................................................361.3.1.9 Direct Tunnel.................................................................................361.3.1.10 EPS, EPC, E-UTRAN & LTE, SAE..............................................36

1.3.2 The eNB....................................................................................381.3.2.1 Selection of MME at attachment....................................................391.3.2.2 Scheduling of paging messages....................................................391.3.2.3 Routing of user plane data to Serving GW....................................401.3.2.4 PDCP.............................................................................................401.3.2.5 RRM/RRC......................................................................................401.3.2.6 RLC...............................................................................................401.3.2.7 MAC...............................................................................................401.3.2.8 Complete L1 functionality..............................................................40

1.3.3 The MME...................................................................................421.3.3.1 NAS signalling...............................................................................421.3.3.2 Inter CN node signaling (3GPP networks).....................................421.3.3.3 Security management....................................................................42

1.3.4 The Serving GW........................................................................441.3.4.1 Termination of U-plane packets for paging reasons......................441.3.4.2 Support of UE mobility anchoring by switching U-plane during inter eNB handover............................................................................................441.3.4.3 Transport Packet Marking According to QCI.................................451.3.4.4 Mobility anchoring for inter-3GPP mobility....................................451.3.4.5 Packet routing and forwarding.......................................................451.3.4.6 Charging support...........................................................................451.3.4.7 Lawful interception.........................................................................45

1.3.5 The PDN GW............................................................................461.3.5.1 Termination towards of PDN’s.......................................................461.3.5.2 Policy enforcement........................................................................461.3.5.3 Charging support...........................................................................461.3.5.4 DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 functions...................................................47

1.3.6 Identifiers of the UE and the Network Elements........................481.3.6.1 PLMN ID........................................................................................501.3.6.2 EPS Bearer ID...............................................................................501.3.6.3 MMEI.............................................................................................501.3.6.4 GUMMEI........................................................................................501.3.6.5 Physical Cell ID.............................................................................50

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1.3.6.6 eNB/cell ID.....................................................................................501.3.6.7 TAI.................................................................................................501.3.6.8 C-RNTI..........................................................................................501.3.6.9 RA-RNTI........................................................................................501.3.6.10 SI-RNTI........................................................................................501.3.6.11 P-RNTI.........................................................................................501.3.6.12 Random Value.............................................................................501.3.6.13 IMSI, S-TMSI, and IMEI...............................................................521.3.6.14 GUTI............................................................................................521.3.6.15 eNB S1-AP UE ID and MME S1-AP UE ID.................................52

1.4 The E-UTRAN Protocol Stack..............................................541.4.1 Control Plane Protocol Stack....................................................54

1.4.1.1 Air Interface protocols....................................................................551.4.1.2 NAS protocols................................................................................56

1.4.2 User Plane Protocol Stack........................................................581.4.2.1 Air Interface protocols....................................................................581.4.2.2 S1 protocol....................................................................................58

1.4.3 X2 Interface Control Plane Protocol Stack................................601.4.4 X2 User Plane Protocol Stack...................................................62

1.5 Overview Channels of E-UTRAN.........................................641.5.1 Channel Types..........................................................................64

1.5.1.1 Logical Channels...........................................................................641.5.1.2 Transport Channels.......................................................................641.5.1.3 Physical Channels.........................................................................65

1.5.2 Logical Channels of E-UTRAN..................................................661.5.2.1 BCCH............................................................................................661.5.2.2 PCCH............................................................................................661.5.2.3 CCCH............................................................................................661.5.2.4 MCCH............................................................................................661.5.2.5 DCCH............................................................................................671.5.2.6 DTCH.............................................................................................671.5.2.7 MTCH............................................................................................67

1.5.3 Transport Channels of E-UTRAN..............................................681.5.3.1 RACH............................................................................................681.5.3.2 UL-SCH.........................................................................................681.5.3.3 BCH...............................................................................................681.5.3.4 PCH...............................................................................................681.5.3.5 MCH..............................................................................................691.5.3.6 DL-SCH.........................................................................................69

1.5.4 Physical Channels of E-UTRAN................................................701.5.4.1 PBCH.............................................................................................701.5.4.2 PDCCH..........................................................................................701.5.4.3 PCFICH.........................................................................................711.5.4.4 PUCCH..........................................................................................711.5.4.5 PRACH..........................................................................................711.5.4.6 PHICH...........................................................................................721.5.4.7 PDSCH..........................................................................................721.5.4.8 PMCH............................................................................................721.5.4.9 PUSCH..........................................................................................721.5.4.10 Downlink reference signal...........................................................721.5.4.11 Primary and secondary synchronization signal...........................721.5.4.12 Uplink reference signal or UL pilot symbol..................................721.5.4.13 Uplink sounding signal.................................................................72

Table of Content

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1.5.4.14 Random Access Preamble..........................................................721.5.5 Mapping of Channels in E-UTRAN............................................74

1.6 Key Development Trends manifested in LTE.....................761.6.1 Mapping of User Plane Packets to the Resources....................76

1.6.1.1 Method 1: Fast resource allocation on optimum resources...........771.6.1.2 Method 2: Slow resource allocation on suboptimum resources....781.6.1.3 GSM..............................................................................................781.6.1.4 WCDMA.........................................................................................781.6.1.5 HSPA.............................................................................................781.6.1.6 LTE................................................................................................781.6.1.7 General trend.................................................................................78

1.6.2 All IP Network and Simple Packet Service Driven Protocols.....801.6.2.1 Reduced User Plane Latency........................................................821.6.2.1 Reduced Control Plane Latency....................................................84

1.7 LTE Key Feature Summary..................................................861.7.1 Air Interface Technology...........................................................861.7.2 System Architecture..................................................................871.7.3 Service Aspects........................................................................87

Key Technologies of the LTE Physical Layer......................892.1 Introduction OFDM Technology..........................................90

2.1.1 Impact of Orthogonality in the Frequency Domain – 3 Steps....902.1.2 Practical Exercise: Physical Basics of OFDM / OFDMA...........962.1.3 Practical Exercise: Scaling of OFDM / OFDMA-Systems..........982.1.4 The In-Phase – Quadrature (I/Q) Presentation.......................1002.1.5 OFDM / OFDMA and IFFT......................................................102

2.1.5.1 Considering the Discrete Oscillator Array Option........................1032.1.5.2 Details of the IFFT Option...........................................................1032.1.5.3 Why is it called F a s t Fourier Transformation?..........................103

2.1.6 Modulation Scheme Overview.................................................1042.1.8 Tackling Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI)..................................108

2.1.8.1 Introduction..................................................................................1082.1.8.1.1 Delay Spread......................................................................108

2.1.8.2 Cyclic Prefix.................................................................................1102.1.8.2.1 Variable Duration and other Assets of the Cyclic Prefix.....1112.1.8.2.2 Cyclic Prefix in OFDMA in LTE...........................................111

2.1.9 Layout of a Typical OFDM System..........................................1122.1.9.1 Remarks on the Brick Wall Image...............................................1132.1.9.2 Subchannelization ......................................................................1132.1.9.3 Pilot Subcarriers..........................................................................1132.1.9.4 Null Subcarriers...........................................................................113

2.2 Introduction to MIMO Technology....................................1142.2.1 The Basics: Signal Fading Physics between TX and RX........1142.2.2 Multiplexing Dimensions.........................................................1162.2.2 Multiplexing Dimensions.........................................................1182.2.3 The Multipath Dimension........................................................1202.2.6 MIMO General Operation........................................................122

The Physical Layer of E-UTRAN..........................................1253.1 The Use of OFDM/OFDMA in LTE.....................................126

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3.1.1 Frame Structure......................................................................1263.1.1.1 The generic frame structure........................................................1263.1.1.2 The downlink slots.......................................................................1273.1.1.3 The uplink slots............................................................................1273.1.1.4 The frame structure type 2..........................................................127

3.1.2 LTE Parameters......................................................................1283.1.2.1 The normal configuration.............................................................1283.1.2.2 The extended configuration with 15 kHz subcarrier separation...1283.1.2.3 The extended configuration with 7.5 kHz subcarrier separation..129

3.1.2 Resource Element and Resource Block Definition..................1303.1.2.1 Definition Resource Element.......................................................1303.1.2.2 Definition Resource Block...........................................................1303.1.2.3 Definition Subframe.....................................................................1303.1.2.4 Number of resource blocks in a given bandwidth........................131

3.1.3 Choice of the UL Transmission Scheme (UL Data Symbols only).........................................................................................................132

3.1.3.1 What would happen if OFDM would be used in the UL...............1333.1.3.2 SC-FDMA is used for the UL.......................................................133

3.1.4 FDD and TDD Operation in E-UTRAN....................................1343.1.4.1 Reciprocity...................................................................................134

3.1.4.1.1 Reciprocity of the mobile radio channel..............................1343.1.4.1.2 Speed of scheduling decisions...........................................135

3.1.4.2 UL / DL Asymmetry and Others...................................................1363.1.4.2.1 UL/DL symmetry.................................................................1363.1.4.2.2 Interference scenarios........................................................1363.1.4.2.3 TRX architecture.................................................................1373.1.4.2.4 Deployment in a given frequency band...............................137

3.1.4.3 Summary FDD vs. TDD...............................................................1383.2 The DL Physical Channels and their Frame Structures. .140

3.2.1 Allocation of DL Physical Channels to Resource Elements.. . .1403.2.1.1 Not used subcarriers...................................................................1423.2.1.2 Primary Synchronization Signal...................................................1423.2.1.3 Secondary Synchronization Signal..............................................1423.2.1.4 Pilot or Reference Signal.............................................................1423.2.1.5 PBCH...........................................................................................1423.2.1.6 PCFICH.......................................................................................1423.2.1.7 PHICH.........................................................................................1423.2.1.8 PDCCH........................................................................................1423.2.1.9 PDSCH (and PMCH)...................................................................142

3.2.2 System Information on PBCH and PDSCH.............................1443.2.2.1 Split of the BCH on the PBCH and the PDSCH..........................144

3.2.3 PCFICH, PDCCH, and PHICH................................................1463.2.3.1 The PCFICH................................................................................1473.2.3.2 The PDCCH.................................................................................1483.2.3.3 The PHICH..................................................................................148

3.2.4 The Downlink Processing Chain.............................................1503.2.4.1 Encoded transport block bits.......................................................1503.2.4.2 Scrambling...................................................................................1503.2.4.3 Modulator.....................................................................................1523.2.4.4 Layer Mapper..............................................................................1523.2.4.5 Precoding....................................................................................1523.2.4.6 OFDM signal generation..............................................................1523.2.4.7 CP and IFFT................................................................................152

Table of Content

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3.3 The UL Physical Channels and their Frame Structures. .1543.3.1 Overview UL Physical Channels (RRC_CONNECTED).........154

3.3.1.1 Scheduling Request (SR) on the PUCCH...................................1543.3.1.2 Small amount of L1 information on the PUCCH..........................1553.3.1.3 Big amount of L1 information on the PUSCH..............................1553.3.1.4 L1 information on the PUSCH multiplexed with the TrCH data...1553.3.1.5 Sounding reference symbols PUSCH resources.........................155

3.3.2 Overview PUCCH...................................................................1563.3.3 PUCCH Mapping for ACK/NACK only and Scheduling Request.........................................................................................................158

3.3.3.1 Usage of Zadoff-Chu sequences.................................................1583.3.3.2 Spreading of repeated data Zadoff-Chu symbols........................1603.3.3.3 Spreading of reference Zadoff-Chu symbols...............................1603.3.3.3 PUCCH Format 1........................................................................1603.3.3.4 PUCCH Formats 1a and 1b.........................................................1603.3.3.5 Shortened PUCCH Formats 1a and 1b.......................................1603.3.3.6 Multiple access of the PUCCH....................................................160

3.3.4 Shared usage of Resources with CAZAC Sequences............1623.3.4.1 Zadoff-Chu sequences are CAZAC sequences..........................1633.3.4.2 Separation of different UE’s with cyclic shifted Zadoff-Chu sequences...............................................................................................1633.3.5.1 PUCCH Format 2........................................................................1643.3.5.2 PUCCH Formats 2a and 2b.........................................................165

3.3.6 The Uplink Processing Chain..................................................1663.3.6.1 Transport block bits.....................................................................1663.3.6.2 Scrambling...................................................................................1663.3.6.3 Modulator.....................................................................................1663.3.6.4 DFT pre-coder.............................................................................1663.3.6.5 Demultiplexing of signals other than data....................................1673.3.6.6 Resource element mapper..........................................................1673.3.6.7 IFFT.............................................................................................1673.3.6.7 CP................................................................................................167

3.4 Overview all Physical Channels........................................1683.4.1 Special usage of the 6 RB around the DC carrier...................1693.4.2 Multiplexing of the PCFICH, PDCCH and the PDSCH/PMCH in the normal DL subframe...................................................................1703.4.3 Sounding reference signal.......................................................1703.4.4 Modulation of the physical channels.......................................1703.4.5 Channel coding.......................................................................170

3.5 Physical Layer Procedures...............................................1723.5.1 Timing Advance Control..........................................................174

3.5.1.1 Principle.......................................................................................1743.5.1.2 Procedure....................................................................................178

3.5.1.2.1 TA while the UE is not synchronized to the eNB................1783.5.1.2.2 TA while the UE is synchronized to the eNB......................179

3.5.2 Channel Estimation DL...........................................................1803.5.2.1 Channel Estimation Principle of LTE...........................................180

3.5.2.1.1 The description of the mobile radio channel.......................1803.5.2.1.2 Coping with a frequency selective mobile radio channel....182

3.5.2.2 Channel Estimation Downlink......................................................1843.5.2.2.1 Normal configuration with 4 TX antennas...........................1843.5.2.2.2 Normal configuration with less than 4 TX antennas...........185

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3.5.2.2.3 Extended configuration with 15 kHz subcarrier spacing.....1853.5.2.2.4 Extended configuration with 15 kHz subcarrier spacing for MBSFN..............................................................................................1853.5.2.2.5 Extended configuration with 7.5 kHz subcarrier spacing for MBSFN..............................................................................................185

3.5.3 Power Control Principle (PUSCH)...........................................1863.5.4.1 The Transmission Diversity Problem...........................................188

3.5.4.1.1 Receive diversity.................................................................1883.5.4.1.2 Unsuccessful transmit diversity...........................................1893.5.4.2 AAS in LTE............................................................................1903.5.4.2.1 Practical Exercise: Draw the Antenna Diagram of AAS......192

3.5.4.3 CDD.............................................................................................1943.5.4.3.1 Delay diversity.....................................................................1943.5.4.3.2 Cyclic delay diversity...........................................................1943.5.4.3.3 Cyclic delay diversity and MIMO.........................................195

3.5.4.4 SFBC...........................................................................................1963.5.4.4.1 Space Frequency Block Codes...........................................1973.5.4.4.2 Space Time Block Codes....................................................197

3.5.4.5 MIMO...........................................................................................1983.5.4.5.1 MIMO and AAS combined = multiple rank beamforming....1993.5.4.5.2 When MIMO fails................................................................199

3.5.4.6 The Codebook.............................................................................2003.5.4.6.1 Optimum beamforming weights..........................................2013.5.4.6.2 Signaling of sub-optimum beamforming weights................201

3.5.5 Initial Cell Search ...................................................................2023.5.5.1 Primary and Secondary Synchronization Signals........................2023.5.5.2 Procedure....................................................................................204

3.5.6 Random Access......................................................................2063.5.6.1 PRACH Structure Format 0.........................................................2063.5.6.2 Random Access Procedure.........................................................208

3.5.7 Inter Cell Interference Mitigation.............................................2103.5.7.1 Traditional frequency reuse in LTE..............................................210

3.5.7.1.1 Frequency reuse bigger than 1...........................................2113.5.7.1.2 Frequency reuse 1 with low initial load...............................2113.5.7.1.3 Frequency reuse 1 strongly increased load........................2113.5.7.1.4 Frequency reuse 1 after “the party”....................................211

3.5.7.2 Fractional Frequency Reuse with Intercell Interference Coordination............................................................................................212

3.6 UE Classes..........................................................................2143.6.1 Overview.................................................................................214

3.6.1.1 Classes 1-4..................................................................................2143.6.1.2 UE class 5...................................................................................215

3.6.2 Calculation of the DL Peak Throughput for LTE UE Class 5...216

The Higher Layers of E-UTRAN...........................................2194.1 Overview.............................................................................220

4.1.1 E-UTRAN Architecture Control Plane.....................................2204.1.2 E-UTRAN Architecture User Plane.........................................222

4.2 Features of MAC.................................................................2244.2.1 Overview.................................................................................224

4.2.1.1 Data transfer logical channels ←→ transport channels..............2244.2.1.2 Radio resource allocation............................................................224

Table of Content

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4.2.2 MAC Random Access Procedure............................................2264.2.2.1 Contention based random access procedure..............................2264.2.2.2 Non-contention based random access procedure.......................227

4.2.3 Structure of MAC-PDU............................................................2284.2.3.1 MAC control element...................................................................2294.2.3.2 Normal MAC SDU.......................................................................229

4.2.4 MAC Control Elements............................................................2304.2.4.1 Contention resolution ID..............................................................2314.2.4.2 Timing Advance...........................................................................2314.2.4.3 DRX.............................................................................................2314.2.4.4 Padding.......................................................................................2314.2.4.5 Short, long and truncated buffer status reports...........................231

4.3 Features of RLC.................................................................2324.3.1 Overview.................................................................................232

4.3.1.1 Data transfer................................................................................2324.3.1.2 Error detection and recovery.......................................................2324.3.1.3 Reset...........................................................................................233

4.3.2 Structure of RLC PDU.............................................................2344.3.3 Structure of RLC AM with PDCP PDU Segments...................236

4.4 Features of PDCP...............................................................2384.4.1 Overview.................................................................................238

4.4.1.1 RoHC...........................................................................................2384.4.1.2 Numbering of PDCP PDU’s.........................................................2384.4.1.3 In-sequence delivery of PDU’s....................................................2384.4.1.4 Duplicate deletion........................................................................2384.4.1.5 Encryption....................................................................................2394.4.1.6 Integrity Protection.......................................................................239

4.4.2 Structure of PDCP PDU..........................................................2404.5 Features of RRC.................................................................242

4.5.1 Overview.................................................................................2424.5.1.1 Transmission of broadcast information........................................2434.5.1.2 Establish and maintain services..................................................2434.5.1.3 QoS control..................................................................................2434.5.1.4 Transfer of dedicated control information....................................243

4.5.2 State Characteristics of RRC..................................................2444.5.2.1 RRC_IDLE...................................................................................2444.5.2.2 RRC_CONNECTED....................................................................244

4.6 NAS Protocol States and Transitions...............................2464.6.1 EMM-DEREGISTERED & ECM-IDLE.....................................2464.6.2 EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE..........................................2464.6.3 EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTED...........................247

4.7 Mobility...............................................................................2484.7.1 Mobility Management in the EMM-DEREGISTERED & ECM-IDLE State........................................................................................2484.7.2 Mobility Management in the EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE State.................................................................................................2504.7.3 Mobility Management in the EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTED State.........................................................................2524.7.4 Inter RAT Mobility Management..............................................254

4.7.4.1 Cell Reselection (EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE).................2554.7.4.2 Handover (EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTED)............255

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4.8 QoS in LTE..........................................................................2564.8.1 Bearer Architecture.................................................................2564.8.2 QoS Parameters.....................................................................258

4.8.2.1 ARP.............................................................................................2594.8.2.2 Label............................................................................................2594.8.2.3 GBR.............................................................................................2594.8.2.4 MBR.............................................................................................2594.8.2.5 AMBR..........................................................................................259

4.8.3 QoS Classes Identifier............................................................2604.9 Security in LTE...................................................................262

Selected E-UTRAN Scenarios..............................................2655.1 Initial Context Setup Procedure........................................2665.2 Tracking Area Update........................................................268

5.1.1 Inter MME tracking area update..............................................2685.1.2 Intra MME tracking area update..............................................269

5.3 PDP Context Establishment..............................................2705.4 Intra MME Handover...........................................................274

5.4.1 Practical Exercise: Intra eNB Handover..................................2785.5 Inter MME Handover...........................................................2805.6 How a TCP/IP MTU is reaching the UE / the Internet.......284

5.6.1 TCP/IP layer............................................................................2845.6.2 PDCP layer.............................................................................2845.6.3 RLC layer................................................................................2845.6.4 MAC layer...............................................................................2855.6.5 PHY layer................................................................................285

Solutions for Practical Exercises........................................287

Table of Content

© INACON GmbH 1999 - 2009. All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or unauthorized use of this material is prohibited and will be prosecuted to the full extent of German and international laws. Version Number 2.030 - ix -

LTE from A-Z

© INACON GmbH 1999 - 2009. All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or unauthorized use of this material is prohibited and will be prosecuted to the full extent of German and international laws. Version Number 2.030- x -

Chapter 1:Principles and Motivation of LTE

ObjectivesSome of your questions that will be answered during this session…

• What is the difference in-between 3G and 4G?

• What is LTE and why it is introduced in the first place?

• What are the requirements for LTE and how do they differentiate from those of UMTS?

• What are the key characteristics of LTE’s (E-UTRAN’s) layer 1 and layer 2/3?

• How the LTE and SAE (System Architecture Evolution) does evolved mobile radio network look like?

• How the protocol stacks of the E-UTRAN and its network elements look like?

What key development trends are manifested in LTE?

Principles and Motivation of LTE

1

- 1 -© INACON GmbH 1999 - 2009. All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or unauthorized use of this material is prohibited and will be prosecuted to the full extent of German and international laws. Version Number 2.030

1.1 Mobile Radio: Comparison between 3G and 4G1.1.1 Performance and Mobility Management related Issues

The objective of this section is to list the most important performance and mobility management related differences between 3G and 4G mobile radio.

Key points of this section are:1. 4G mobile radio will be strongly focusing on the provision of IP-based bearer services. This will also require IP-based mobility management mechanisms.2. 4G mobile radio services will not be able to provide IP-based real-time end-to-end services without QoS-aware IP backbone networks. This is an important, yet usually unconsidered constraint.

Use only for participants of NSN LTE from A-Z Training LTE from A-Z

1

- 2 - © INACON GmbH 1999 - 2009. All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or unauthorized use of this material is prohibited and will be prosecuted to the full extent of German and international laws. Version Number 2.030

Room for your Notes

• Abbreviations of this Section:

3G ... 3rd Generation ... MOBIKE IKEv2 Mobility and Multihoming Protocol (RFC 4555)

4G 4th Generation ... QoS Quality of Service

GMM GPRS Mobility Management RAN Radio Access Network

IKEv2 Internet Key Exchange protocol / version 2 (RFC 4306)

RAT Radio Access Technology (e.g. GERAN, UTRAN, ...)

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) SIP Session Initiation Protocol (RFC 3261)

MM Mobility Management


1


1.1.2 Architecture related Issues

The objective of this section is to list the most important architecture related differences between 3G and 4G mobile radio.

Key points of this section are:1. The independence between core and access network is the basic means to provide for FMC.2. Many 4G handsets will be multipurpose devices that are not limited to mobile access networks. To a large degree, these handsets will have at least the functionality of today’s PDA’s.


1


Room for your Notes


3G ... 3rd Generation ... IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791)

4G 4th Generation ... PDA Personal Digital Assistant

FMC Fixed Mobile Convergence


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1.1.3 Procedure and Radio related Issues

The objective of this section is to list the most important procedure and radio related differences between 3G and 4G mobile radio.

Key points of this section are:1. The most impressive increased spectral efficiency of 4G mobile radio.2. The transition away from an access network specific protocol architecture towards an IP-based architecture.

Spectral efficiency is not relating to the peak throughput directly but is giving average usage of the spectrum in the cells. The true unit is bit/s/Hz/cell.


1


Room for your Notes


3G ... 3rd Generation ... SIP Session Initiation Protocol (RFC 3261)

4G 4th Generation ... UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) WCDMA Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access

OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access


1


1.2 Requirements on LTE1.2.1 General Requirements

The objective of this section is to provide the key requirements on LTE.

Key points of this section are that LTE is designed for AIPN and for PS services only from the start and that the requirements are very similar to those of WiMAX.


1


Room for your Notes


AIPN All IP Network MHz Mega Hertz (106 Hertz)

DL Downlink PS Packet Switched

E-UTRAN Evolved UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

UL Uplink

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (IEEE 802.16)


1


1.2.1.1 Support of Enhanced Quadruple Play ServicesQuadruple play services have not only to be followed - also the (quality) enhancements being standardized in 3GPP and the other standardization bodies have to be followed, e.g. conversational QoS VoIP, fast gaming, enhanced MBMS etc. For the UE Mobility speeds of up to 250 km/h should be supported. In a special case implementation up to 500 km/h should be possible.

1.2.1.2 Very High Data Rates @ flexible bandwidth deployment ((1.25) 5 – 20 MHz)Very high data rates are necessary in order to keep up with the fixed network developments and the other 4G mobile radio standards. Flexible bandwidth is easing the deployment because not everywhere the biggest bandwidth deployment is reasonable or possible. It is open whether 1.25 MHz will be implemented. This is a compatibility issue with LCR. LCR and 1.25 MHz apply for China.

1.2.1.3 AIPN and PS services onlyThe AIPN will make the infrastructure deployment a lot cheaper and easier. Naturally, to use only PS services in an AIPN is the best choice. However, in order to have the same high QoS standards as known from CS services, both the network architecture and the latency requirements in the PS user plane need to be changed. As well an efficient operation of PS service including fast wake up of the UE in RRC_IDLE mode is requiring low latency times in the control plane as well.

[3GTR 25.912 (13.2, 13.3), 3GTR 25.814 (7.1.2.4.3), 3GTR 26.913 (5, 7.5), 3GTR 25.912 (7.1.1.4)]

Room for your Notes


1


Room for your Notes


3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project (Collaboration between different standardization organizations (e.g. ARIB, ETSI) to define advanced mobile communications standards, responsible for UMTS)

MHz Mega Hertz (106 Hertz)

3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PS Packet Switched

4G 4th Generation ... QoS Quality of Service

AIPN All IP Network RRC_IDLE

RRC state

CS Circuit Switched UE User Equipment

LCR Low Chip Rate TDD VoIP Voice over IP

MBMS Multimedia Broadcast / Multicast Service


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1.2.2 Important Characteristics of LTE Physical Layer

1.2.2.1 General Physical Layer Characteristics

The objectives of this section are to list the key characteristics of the physical layer and to provide understanding about how they relate to the requirements on LTE.

Key point of this section is that the LTE layer 1 is dominated by flexibility in all aspects.

1.2.2.1.1 OFDM OFDM is enabling an efficient and low complexity usage of high data rate transmission in a frequency selective channel. In a broadband single carrier system AMC is the less efficient the more bandwidth is used.

[3GTR 25.912 (7.1, 7.2), 3GTR 25.912 (5.8, 6.6)]


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1.2.2.1.2 Scalable BandwidthIt is for further study what operating bandwidths are used for TDD below 5 MHz 1.6 and 3.2 MHz will not be used for FDD.

[3GTS 36.101 (4.5.2)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report MIMO Multiple In / Multiple Out (antenna system)

3GTS 3rd Generation Technical Specification

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

AAS Adaptive Antenna Systems OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

AMC Adaptive Modulation and Coding SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

DL Downlink TDD Time Division Duplex


UE User Equipment

FDD Frequency Division Duplex UL Uplink

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network


eNB Enhanced Node B



1


1.2.2.1.3 Smart Antenna TechnologyEspecially MIMO Technologies and SDMA (beam forming) technology have to be mentioned here. These technologies are allowing reuse of the transmission capacity of the given radio channel several times and are the preconditions for very high data rates.

[3GTR 25.912 (5.3.3, 5.3.4)]

1.2.2.1.4 Fast scheduling and AMCAs known from HSPA, LTE will also perform fast scheduling and HARQ. The difference with respect to HSPA will be that these processes run much faster. LTE offers a HARQ RTT of only 5 ms. AMC will be used for both UL and DL with more variants of modulation schemes than HSPA. In contrast to HSPA a shared channel is used in the UL.

[3GTR 25.912 (7.1.2)]

1.2.2.1.5 No Soft(er) handoverSince there will be no RNC’s, currently no soft handover will be used for LTE. Instead of the soft handover the eNB’s coordinate their interference amongst each other. In order to reach the same benefits as the missing soft handover this interference coordination will be utilized in a self organizing network such that the interference amongst the eNB’s is kept at a minimum.

[3GTR 25.912 (7.1.1.4, 11.2.5)]

Room for your Notes


1


Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report MIMO Multiple In / Multiple Out (antenna system)

AMC Adaptive Modulation and Coding RNC Radio Network Controller

DL Downlink RTT Round Trip Time

HARQ Hybrid ARQ SDMA Space Division Multiple Access

HSPA High Speed Packet Access (operation of HSDPA and HSUPA)

UL Uplink

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) eNB Enhanced Node B


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1.2.3.2 OFDM/OFDMA

The objective of this section is to show how OFDM technology is combining the benefits of narrowband systems with the benefits of wideband systems by means of orthogonal frequency multiplexing technology.

Key point of this section is that OFDM is combining the advantages of narrowband systems – simple receiver – with the advantage of wideband systems – high

1.2.3.2.1 Traditional narrowband communicationAll mobile radio signals experience distortions at the boundaries of their symbols. This is due various delayed versions of the transmitted signal that are received with different delays and are thus overlapping at the symbol boundaries. The nature of traditional narrowband communication is that the symbols are very long compared to the distortion zone in-between their symbols. In the useful time of the received symbol the modulated content of the symbol can be demodulated. The advantage of this scheme is that no complex equalizer is needed in order to detect these narrowband signals


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1.2.3.2.2 Problems for wideband signalsUnfortunately this scheme cannot be used for wideband signals directly since then the symbol duration is limited by the maximum expected length of the distortion zone.

1.2.3.2.3 OFDMOFDM is a wideband system using many orthogonal narrowband carries in order to perform a simple receive processing on each of these carriers. Orthogonality is achieved by means of having an equal distance in-between the individual carriers. This frequency spacing is the inverse useful symbol duration. Thus OFDM can allow for both a wideband signal for high data rate transmission and an easy detection mechanism. In the picture Orthogonality can be seen by the fact that at the position of the main lobe of each subcarriers spectrum there is a zero crossing of the other subcarriers’ spectra.

1.2.3.2.4 OFDM and OFDMABoth OFDM and OFDMA are using OFDM technology. The difference is:

OFDMAThe OFDMA transmitter is mapping signals dedicated to more than one receiver on the OFDM carriers.

OFDMOFDM alone is using all the transmitted carriers for a single receiver.

1.2.3.2.5 LTE and OFDMLTE is using OFDMA technology in the DL and single carrier technology in the UL. However the UL signals look like OFDM signals. This method is allowing an easy equalization in the frequency domain before the UL signals are demodulated in the time domain.

[3GTR 25.912 (7.1, 7.2)]


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

DL Downlink OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) UL Uplink


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1.2.3.3 Smart Antenna Technology in LTE

1.2.3.3.1 Categorization of Smart Antenna Technologies

The objective of this section is to clarify the different terms which are used in the context of multiple antenna techniques

Key point of this section is that the terms “single in / out” or “multiple-in / out” have to be interpreted from the perspective of the channel between TX and RX. Therefore, a system with two RX-antennas and one TX-antenna is a SIMO

Image Description• The image illustrates a system which consists of a transmitter (TX) and a receiver

(RX).

• Both, transmitter and receiver may deploy one or multiple antennas to send information into the channel or to receive information from that channel.

• Depending on the number of antennas, the different configurations SISO, MISO, SIMO and MIMO have to be distinguished

1.2.3.3.1.1 SISOSISO-systems do not really belong in this section but need to be mentioned for completeness. SISO-systems deploy only one TX- and one RX-antenna which excludes them from the group of “multiple antennas” techniques with their enhanced capabilities.

1.2.3.3.1.2 SIMO• SIMO-systems have been around for quite some time. SIMO-systems apply

receive diversity schemes and typically soft decision and maximum ratio combining (MRC) to counteract poor multipath conditions at a single antenna.


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• One important implementation example for a receive diversity scheme is the GSM-uplink receive diversity: The MS uses a single TX-antenna but typically, the BS has two receive antennas

1.2.3.3.1.3 MISO• The opposite cases to the aforementioned one are MISO-systems. Two or more

TX-antennas are used to apply transmit diversity schemes towards a single RX-antenna. One important implementation example for a transmit diversity scheme is Space-Time-Coding (STC) which will be represented in a later section.

• Another example are beamforming techniques which will also be elaborated in more detail in a later section.

1.2.3.3.1.4 MIMOMIMO-systems are characterized by deploying both: Two or more TX-antennas and two or more RX-antennas.MIMO-systems may or may not incorporate the receive and transmit diversity schemes of SIMO- and MISO-systems, respectively.

Room for your Notes


BS Base Station (IEEE 802.16) RX Receive

GSM Global System for Mobile Communication

SIMO Single In / Multiple Out (antenna system)

MIMO Multiple In / Multiple Out (antenna system)

SISO Single In / Single Out (antenna system)

MISO Multiple In / Single Out (antenna system)

STC Space Time Coding

MRC Maximum Ratio Combining TX Transmit

MS Mobile Station


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1.2.3.3.2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)

The objective of this section to visualize the key features of MIMO technology in a very simple way.

Key points of this section are the efficiency of MIMO comes with the expense of equalization:

1. that MIMO is enabling a multiplication of the data rate possible on the same radio frequency2. that this increase comes at the expense of additional complexity.

Image Description• This picture is showing a comparison of multiple carrier technology with MIMO

technology


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• Green and red bits are symbolizing the two data streams at the transmitter.

• The pipes are symbolizing the mobile radio channels of the two carriers.

• The buckets are symbolizing the output of the initial detector at the receiver.

• The two guys are conveying the key messages.

1.2.3.3.2.1 Multiple carrier technologyFor the multiple carrier transmission scheme the input data need first to be separated to two data streams. Each of the data streams could be able to completely occupy the individual carrier. Each of the shown two carriers is treated individually as if only one carrier would be transmitted. Multiple carrier technology is known for a very long time even though the digital signal processing is very simple the challenge of multiple carrier technology lies in the RF. This is why these days not that much multiple carrier technology is implemented (except for OFDM systems of course).

1.2.3.3.2.2 MIMOMIMO is as well using a serial to parallel converter in order to create separate data streams. The difference here is that not multiple carriers but multiple antennas are used in TX and RX in order to create more max. throughput or signals for more users. With e.g. N antennas for TX and N antennas for RX (N x N) the data rate could be enhanced by N times. Since each receive antenna is receiving the signals from both transmitters in the general case the mobile radio channel is mixing up the two data streams. This means that the receiver has to separate these mixed data streams from each other. Since N data streams have to be separated the receiver has to receive N different versions of the N data stream signals. This is why N receive antennas are needed. This data separation might add quite significant effort in the receiver’s digital signal processing. Since with MIMO now the data rate on a single carrier is multiplied, it becomes very tempting for 4G to implement MIMO nevertheless.

MIMO add a new dimension to mobile radio: Instead of frequency space is used.


4G 4th Generation ... RF Radio Frequency


RX Receive


TX Transmit


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1.2.3.3.3 Adaptive Antenna Systems (AAS)

The objective of this section to show key features and key benefits of AAS.

Key point of this section is that AAS is both improving the signal quality and is reducing the interference in the system by means of weighing various TX antennas’ signals with different antenna weights.

Image Description• The top half of the picture is showing the generation of the signal for UE 1 in an

AAS scenario with two antennas.

• The lower half of the picture is showing how the signal for UE 1 is perceived by UE 2.


1


1.2.3.3.3.1 Signal generationIn the upper part the physical setup the signal generation is shown. At first the user signal is created as if there were no AAS. Then the signal is copied two times (once for each antenna) and is then multiplied with a user dependent weighing factor for each antenna. In the case of this picture the two weighing factors are both 1. In an AAS system the antennas are usually very close together: Typically half the wave length is chosen in order to perform beamforming.

1.2.3.3.3.2 Constructive superimposition at the intended receiverIn the picture the weighing coefficients are chosen in a way that the two antennas radio signals are superimposing constructively at the position of the UE. One benefit of the AAS is that the TX energy is bundled in the direction of the UE’s the signal is intended for.For realistic AAS more than 2 antennas are situated in a line (linear antenna array) or on a circle (circular antenna array).

1.2.3.3.3.3 Destructive superimposition at the not intended receiverUE2 is located below the two antennas. Here the signal of antenna 1 has traveled exactly half a wavelength longer than the signal of antenna 2. This has the consequence that it always has a phase shift of 180 degrees compared with the signal of antenna 2. This leads to a complete destruction of the two antennas signals. Here the benefit of AAS of interference reduction is shown very well.What would happen once one of the two antennas is switched off?How to achieve that that the AAS is radiating the signal towards UE2?

1.2.3.3.3.4 Generation of signals for multiple UE’sEach UE will have its own signal generated with its own weighing factors. After the weighing process for each UE the signals are added up before they reach the TX antennas. This feature is very important for AAS’s application in modern mobile radio systems where multiple signals for multiple UE’s are transmitted on the individual radio carrier.

Room for your Note


AAS Adaptive Antenna Systems UE User Equipment

TX Transmit


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1.2.3.4 Macro Diversity exploitation by SFN

The objective of this section is to illustrate how the SFN basically works.

Key point of this section is that SFN transmitting the same signals synchronously by multiple eNB’s in order to provide macro diversity.

Image Description• This picture is comparing SFN with a choir: The core network is the conductor,

the eNB’s are the choir members, and the UE’s are the audience.

1.2.3.4.1 Requirements for MBMS servicesSince the signals for MBMS are multicast it is difficult to direct or tune them to the individual UE’s mobile radio channels. They have to be broadcast. Even though here MIMO is applicable many other methods like power control, AAS, etc. cannot be applied. This is why it would be very advantageous if some kind of macro diversity could be exploited in order to enhance the quality of MBMS to a similar level as for the point to point services.

1.2.3.4.2 MBMS operation with a SFNLike in a choir the core network is distributing the same piece of data to a multitude of eNB’s. The eNB’s are drawn as choir members. In a choir all the members have to sing synchronously and with the same voice. In an OFDM system SFN can be applied easily provided that all the eNB’s are synchronized and that they are transmitting exactly the same bits on exactly the same subcarriers. Then the UE’s cannot distinguish whether the signal is coming from one or from several eNB’s and macro diversity is exploited automatically.


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This benefit, however, comes at a price: Like the conductor does with the choir, the mobile radio network needs to coordinate precisely within the eNB’s.

1.2.3.4.3 SFN for point to point servicesImagine an individual person is listening to a choir presentation alone. Then the ticket would be quite expensive. In the same way the aforementioned coordination overhead is limiting the use of SFN for point to point services. Features like soft handover are not intended by LTE – especially this can be seen from the network architecture.

[3GTR 25.912 (7.1.1.4, 13.9)]

Room for your Notes


AAS Adaptive Antenna Systems OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) SFN Single Frequency Network


UE User Equipment


eNB Enhanced Node B


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1.2.3.5 The Frequency Bands Intended for LTE

The objective of this section is to show how LTE will use the available frequency bands.

Key point of this section is that LTE and UTRA compete for the same frequency bands.

Table Description• These tables are showing the frequency bands foreseen for FDD and TDD. On

purpose they are identical to the frequency bands for UMTS - UTRA.Since of the frequency bands are also foreseen for other standards e.g. band 7 and 12 might/will also be used for WiMAX, LTE is both competing with other standards and with UTRA about the frequency bands.


1


Obviously 6 bits will be used for signaling of the frequency bands later on. Thus the lower 32 band numbers are used for FDD and the higher 32 band numbers are used for TDD bands. There is a work item to introduce LTE in the 3.5 GHz band.

[3GTS 36.101 (5.2)]

Possibly the following options can be used for the frequency allocation by the country individual regulators and operators:

1.2.3.5.1 Exclusive usageHere the regulator decides to mandate a certain mobile radio standard to be used on this frequency (band), e.g. LTE. These days usually this decision is left up to the operators owning this frequency.

1.2.3.5.2 RefarmingThe frequency band is previously operated with another standard e.g. UTRA and the operator decides to use LTE instead. Also both systems LTE and UMTS might be operated in the operators band. Here they will use different carriers.Another possibility is the license for this frequency band is running out and the regulator is allocating a new operator to this frequency band.

1.2.3.5.3 Licensed operationA frequency band is given to an operator and this operator decides how it is used.

1.2.3.5.4 Unlicensed operationA frequency band is not belonging to anybody and everybody can use it provided the rules set by the regulator are adhered to. Handovers will be difficult in this scenario. In any case unlicensed bands do not allow for a mobile radio operation as known from the licensed bands.What is the maximum width of the consecutive bands an operator might get?

WiMAX is aiming to use the 3.5 GHz bands as well. This indicates that higher frequency will also be an option for LTE as well.


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report TDD Time Division Duplex

DL Downlink UL Uplink

FDD Frequency Division Duplex UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

GHz Giga Hertz (109 Hertz) UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access




1


1.2.3.6 Flexible Bandwidths, Parameters

The objectives of this section are - to show how the bandwidth of both the network and the terminal can be used flexibly - to list what deployment scenarios are resulting from this flexibility to show where to find the SCH and the BCH to enable the UE to log on the cell.

Key point of this section is there are many constraints to deploy LTE at its full capability – using 20 MHz.

Image Description• On the left hand side of this picture the different applicable bandwidths of LTE are

shown. Unlike for UTRAN there is no fixed bandwidth intended to be applied in the whole network. Instead there is a set of 4 bandwidths to choose from.

• On the right hand side the basic trade-offs of the application scenarios are visualized.

Now the problem arises that regardless of the chosen bandwidth in the network every UE – regardless its capability restrictions (not only bandwidth) - should be able to use that cell and should be able to camp on this cell. This is achieved by two measures:

1.2.3.6.1 Fixed subcarrier separationThe subcarrier separation is fixed either to 15 kHz (normal configuration) or to 7.5 kHz (extended configuration for lower UE mobility and broadcast-like operation). This is resulting for a different amount of used carriers for each of the 4 bandwidths. Due to the fixed subcarrier separation all the UE’s can use at least a subset of the subcarriers regardless how big their bandwidths is.


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1.2.3.6.2 Usage of carriers in the middle of the bandwidth for PBCH and synchronization signalsIn the middle of the bandwidth always the same number of consecutive carriers is used for carrying PBCH and primary/secondary synchronization signals. This is enabling the UE’s to synchronize on the cells and to read the PBCH in the middle of the subcarrier range. Of course the UE is not in need to tune its subcarriers always to the middle. Once it gets assigned other subcarriers it does not need to read the PBCH and will tune to the sub-carriers assigned. Since the same frequency bands as UTRA are used, the center frequency of the cells can vary to any center frequency in the well-known 200 kHz grid.[3GTR 25.912 (10.1), 3GTR 25.813 (9.1.1), 3GTR 25.814 (7.1.1, 7.1.2.4.3)]

In any case the RF front end of any UE has to support 20 MHz bandwidth. This is a tough constraint for the implementation of the UE.

Room for your Notes



UE User Equipment

3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access


MHz Mega Hertz (106 Hertz) kHz Kilo Hertz (103 Hertz)

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel


1


1.2.3.6.3 Deployment ScenariosThe right hand side of the picture is showing the application scenarios of LTE. Reviewing the size of the FDD and TDD frequency bands foreseen for LTE and the current allocation of these frequency bands to the operators, it is less likely that an operator gets allocated a consecutive band of 20 MHz. Even if it gets this bandwidth it is likely that it only has 20 MHz - then at a given location the operator can only use a single 20 MHz carrier. This is imposing some restrictions on the usage of LTE at is full capability. It is more likely that 20 MHz bandwidth can be used

1. The smaller the cells are.Pico cells usually are well shielded from the surrounding macro cells and thus can be used at 20 MHz bandwidth without a penalty in the surrounding macro cells.2. The higher the carrier frequency becomesSince there is not that much opportunity in the bands noted in the tables above, the operators might need to wait to deploy LTE at its full capability in frequency bands having a higher carrier frequency than e.g. 3 GHz and are not assigned yet. These bands are broader than the bands listed above. Unfortunately due to the constraints of the radio propagation these bands only allow for less mobility and less range.LTE needs a bandwidth of 20 MHz in order to provide the peak data rates of 100 Mbit/s in the downlink and 50 Mbit/s in the uplink.

Room for your Notes


1


Room for your Notes


FDD Frequency Division Duplex MHz Mega Hertz (106 Hertz)

GHz Giga Hertz (109 Hertz) TDD Time Division Duplex

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS)


1


1.2.4 Important Characteristics of the LTE Layer 2 and 3

The objective of this section is to illustrate the key differences of the LTE layer 2 and 3 compared to the legacy UMTS systems.

Key point of this section is the simplification of layer 2 and layer 3 in LTE goes that far that the RNC has been removed.

1.2.4.1 Support of the new LTE L1Nothing to add to what is stated in the image.

1.2.4.2 Simple IP centric protocols supporting AIPNThe consequent tuning towards simple protocols suitable for an AIPN is involving quite radical changes such as removal of the RNC, an eNB covering L1/2/3 completely, and the abandoning of the soft handover concept. The concept of self-organizing networks will replace the soft handover. There are only 2 RRC states in LTE.


1


1.2.4.3 Support of various inter RAT handovers (GSM, UTRA, etc.)Nothing to add to what is stated in the image.

[3GTR 25.912 (8, 9.1, 9.3)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report MM Mobility Management

AIPN All IP Network RAT Radio Access Technology (e.g. GERAN, UTRAN, ...)


RNC Radio Network Controller

HO Handover RRC Radio Resource Control

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) SM Session Management (3GTS 23.060, 3GTS 24.008)

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

L2 Layer 2 (data link layer) UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access



1


1.3 LTE and System Architecture Evolution (SAE)1.3.1 Overview

The objective of this section is to give an overview of the LTE radio access network elements and the new SAE EPC network elements.

Key point of this section that LTE is going together with very significant changes in the core as well.

Image Description• In the picture the LTE and SAE network is shown.Here the radical change in the network architecture becomes obvious.

1.3.1.1 Missing RNCSince a RNC would have obstructed short latency times and a high quality of service it has been removed and its functionality is now distributed in-between EPC and eNB.


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1.3.1.2 Interconnected eNB’sThe X2 interface is interconnecting the eNB’s. One might think that the X2 interface is like the Iur interface. Even though the inter eNB handovers are negotiated using the X2 interface during the handover it is only transferring the data in the buffer from the source eNB to the target eNB. Continuous payload exchange and a soft handover are not foreseen. Instead the inter cell interference coordination for a self-organizing network is done on the X2 interface.

Room for your Notes



PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (3GTS 23.203) (Rel. 7 onwards)

EPC Evolved Packet Core (3GTS 23.401) (Rel. 8 onwards)

PDN Packet Data Network

EPS Evolved Packet System PS Packet Switched

GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node RNC Radio Network Controller

GW Gateway SAE System Architecture Evolution

HSS Home Subscriber Server (3GTS 23.002). HSS replaces the HLR with 3GPP Rel. 5

SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

IMS Internet Protocol Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (Rel. 5 onwards)

SGi Reference Point in LTE


MME Mobility Management Entity (3GTS 23.401) (Rel. 8 onwards)

eNB Enhanced Node B


1


1.3.1.3 Separate entities for user plane and control plane in the EPCLike in the UTRAN in the CS domain now also the EPC is separating control plane and user plane.

1.3.1.4 Combined Serving Gateway and MMEOptionally the Serving Gateway and the MME can be united in one entity. Then the S11 interface need not to be implemented.

1.3.1.5 Combined Serving and PDN GatewaysOptionally the Serving Gateway and the PDN Gateway can be united in one entity. Then the S5 interface needs not to be implemented.

1.3.1.6 S1-flexLike the Iu-flex feature in UMTS there is a S1-flex feature in SAE. With this feature the eNB’s can be connected to different MME’s and Serving Gateways also including the core networks of other operators using the regarded E-UTRAN as well.

1.3.1.7 Used legacy elementsThe SGSN, HSS, and the network elements right of the PDN Gateway are legacy elements. The PCRF is a R7 core network element.

1.3.1.8 Roaming caseIn the roaming case the VPLMN is connecting to the HSS, PDN Gateway, PCRF, IMS, PDN, etc. of the HPLMN.

1.3.1.9 Direct TunnelThe optional S12 is used between UTRAN and Serving GW for user plane tunneling when a Direct Tunnel is established.

1.3.1.10 EPS, EPC, E-UTRAN & LTE, SAEThe names LTE and SAE describe standardization processes for the RAN and the core network respectively. They are more of marketing nature soon they will disappear from the specifications. E-UTRAN, EPC, and EPS are official standardization terms in the specifications and describe the RAN, the core and the unity of RAN and core respectively.

[3GTS 23.203 (6.2.1), 3GTS 23.401, 3GTR 25.912 (9)]

Room for your Notes


1


Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS)



CS Circuit Switched PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (3GTS 23.203) (Rel. 7 onwards)



eNB Enhanced Node B RAN Radio Access Network


SAE System Architecture Evolution

EPS Evolved Packet System SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

GW Gateway UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile radio Network

UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network


VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile radio Network



1


1.3.2 The eNB

The objective of this section is to provide the key functions of the eNB.

Key point of this section is that the eNB is having most of the functions of the RNC in a UTRAN network.


1


1.3.2.1 Selection of MME at attachmentSince there is the S1-flex feature more than one MME can be connected to the same eNB. The eNB select which MME it connects the UE to according to the load situation and the operator the UE belongs to.

1.3.2.2 Scheduling of paging messagesOnce the UE is in the idle state there are neither location areas nor routing areas but tracking areas. Then the UE needs to be paged on TA level. The TA is having a function like the URA but is also replacing LA and RA.

Room for your Notes


AM Acknowledged Mode operation RNC Radio Network Controller

DL Downlink RRC Radio Resource Control

GW Gateway RRM Radio Resource Management

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) SAE System Architecture Evolution

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) TA Tracking Area

LA Location Area TM Transparent Mode operation

MAC Medium Access Control UE User Equipment


UL Uplink

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol UM Unacknowledged Mode operation

PDU Protocol Data Unit or Packet Data Unit

URA UTRAN Registration Area

RA Routing Area UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

RLC Radio Link Control eNB Enhanced Node B


1


1.3.2.3 Routing of user plane data to Serving GWIt is for further study which node is establishing the user plane tunnel and whether it is established at RRC establishment.

1.3.2.4 PDCPPlease note here that PDCP is used for both control and user plane. In UTRAN there is no PDCP in the control plane.

1.3.2.5 RRM/RRCThe RRC is issuing commands executing the decisions of the RRM.

1.3.2.6 RLCSince L1 RLC and MAC are in the eNB there is the possibility to adapt the RLC-PDU size flexibly to the transport block size in MAC.

1.3.2.7 MACNothing to add to what is stated in the image.

1.3.2.8 Complete L1 functionalitySee layer 1 sections.

[3GTS 36.300 (4.1), 3GTR 25.912 (9)]

Room for your Notes


1


Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PDU Protocol Data Unit or Packet Data Unit


RLC Radio Link Control

GW Gateway RRC Radio Resource Control

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) RRM Radio Resource Management

MAC Medium Access Control SAE System Architecture Evolution

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol eNB Enhanced Node B


1


1.3.3 The MME

The objective of this section is to provide the key functions of the mobility management entity.

Key points of this section are that the SGSN is separated in user plane entity and control plane entity and that the MME is performing all control plane activities representing the EPC towards the E-UTRAN.

1.3.3.1 NAS signallingOnce the UE is idle but stays registered the MME keeps the context of the UE in order to allow for a fast reconnection.

1.3.3.2 Inter CN node signaling (3GPP networks)The MME is interconnecting to the SGSN and the HSS as well as to the Serving GW and it has the responsibility to select the right code network nodes – especially in a handover situation.

1.3.3.3 Security managementNothing to add to what is stated in the image.

[3GTS 23.401 (4.4.2), 3GTS 36.300 (4.1)]


1


Room for your Notes





NAS Non-Access-Stratum

CN Core Network SAE System Architecture Evolution



GW Gateway UE User Equipment




1


1.3.4 The Serving GW

The objective of this section is to provide the key functions of the Serving GW.

Key point of this section is that the Serving GW is performing all user plane activities representing the EPC towards the E-UTRAN.

1.3.4.1 Termination of U-plane packets for paging reasonsOnce data is arriving in the downlink and the UE is in EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE then the Serving Gateway is initiating the paging procedure before forwarding the data packets further.

1.3.4.2 Support of UE mobility anchoring by switching U-plane during inter eNB handoverAt any time each UE has just one Serving GW. Once the UE does not leave the zone of the Serving GW the Serving GW stays the same (anchoring).


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1.3.4.3 Transport Packet Marking According to QCIThe marking of the packets is helping the eNB to reinforce the right QoS.

1.3.4.4 Mobility anchoring for inter-3GPP mobilityIt terminates the S4 interface towards the SGSN for 2G/3G traffic.

1.3.4.5 Packet routing and forwardingIn handover situations involving different code network entities the packets need to be forward to the target Serving GW before the handover is complete.

1.3.4.6 Charging supportNothing to be added to what is stated above.

1.3.4.7 Lawful interceptionThe Serving GW has to support tapping the user plane for lawful interception purposes.

[3GTS 23.401 (4.4.3.2), 3GTS 36.300 (4.1)]






EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE

Enhanced Mobility Management state for non active packet transmission

UE User Equipment



GW Gateway eNB Enhanced Node B

QCI QoS Classes Identifier


1


1.3.5 The PDN GW

The objective of this section is to provide the key functions of the Packet Data Network GW.

Key point of this section is that the PDN GW’s difference to the Serving GW is that this PDN GW is directed towards the PDN, IMS, PSTN and service related core network entities, whereas the Serving GW has a clear direction towards the E-UTRAN.

1.3.5.1 Termination towards of PDN’sIf the UE using more than one PDN it may use more than one PDN GW. Once the UE connects to a PDN GW for a service then it stays connected to this PDN GW as long as the service is consumed.

1.3.5.2 Policy enforcementNothing to add to what is stated in the image.

1.3.5.3 Charging supportFor users visiting the network the charging policies may be downloaded from its home PLMN.


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1.3.5.4 DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 functionsThe PDN GW will provide the IP addresses to the UE’s.

[3GTR 23.882 (7.2.2), 3GTS 23.401 (4.4.3.3), 3GTS 36.300 (4.1)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PLMN Public Land Mobile Network


PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

DHCPv4 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Version 4 (RFC 2131)




GW Gateway UE User Equipment





1


1.3.6 Identifiers of the UE and the Network Elements

The objective of this section is to provide a list of the most relevant ID’s in the LTE RAN and in the SAE network and to emphasize the importance of the ID’s for a packet centric protocol stack.

Key point of this section is that the ID concept of LTE is very close to UMTS even though some ID’s have changed.


1


Room for your Notes


C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier

MNC Mobile Network Code


PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

eNB Enhanced Node B P-RNTI Paging - Radio Network Temporary Identifier

EPS Evolved Packet Switched RA-RNTI Random Access - Radio Network Temporary Identifier

GUMMEI Global Unique MME Identity RAN Radio Access Network

GUTI Global Unique Terminal Identity S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

ID Identity S1-AP S1 Application Part

IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity


IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity

SI-RNTI System Information - Radio Network Temporary Identifier

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) TAC Tracking Area Code

M-TMSI MME - Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

TAI Timing Advance Index

MCC Mobile Country Code TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity


UE User Equipment

MMEC MME Code UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

MMEGI MME Group Identity UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

MMEI MME Identity


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1.3.6.1 PLMN IDLike in UTRAN multiple operators can share the same E-UTRAN. Consequently more than 1 PLMN ID (MCC + MNC) can be signaled.

1.3.6.2 EPS Bearer IDAn EPS bearer ID uniquely identifies an EPS bearer for one UE accessing via E-UTRAN.

1.3.6.3 MMEIThe MMEI provides a unique ID for identifying the MME during RRC connection establishment. It is constructed using the MMEGI identifying the group of MME’s and the MMEC being the code of the MME within these groups.

1.3.6.4 GUMMEIThe GUMMEI is the global unique ID if the MME it is adding MCC and MNC to the MMEI.

1.3.6.5 Physical Cell IDThis ID is related to the choice of the primary and secondary synchronization signals and scrambling codes of the cell.

1.3.6.6 eNB/cell IDThe exact definition of the eNB or cell ID is for further study at the point of time this training manual has been written. The eNB ID might be used in order to identify the old eNB after handover for better handover handling. The cell ID will also be used in the cell update procedure.

1.3.6.7 TAIEach cell can be allocated only to one TAI – even though the TAI of different cells belonging to the same eNB can be different. The TAI is replacing both URA ID, LAI, and RAI. Similar as the LAI the TAI is constructed using MCC, MNC, and TAC.

1.3.6.8 C-RNTIThe C-RNTI is identifying the RRC connection uniquely on cell level. It is replacing the H-RNTI for HSDPA and the E-RNTI for HSUPA.

1.3.6.9 RA-RNTIThe RA-RNTI is used during some transient states, the UE is temporarily identified with a random value for contention resolution purposes.

1.3.6.10 SI-RNTIThe SI-RNTI is used in order to identity paging groups on the BCCH mapped on the DL-SCH.

1.3.6.11 P-RNTIThe P-RNTI is used in order to identity paging groups on the PCH mapped on the PDSCH.

1.3.6.12 Random ValueDuring random access the UE is using a random ID for contention resolution.


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• Abbreviations of this Section

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel MMEI MME Identity



DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel P-RNTI Paging - Radio Network Temporary Identifier

E-RNTI E-DCH Radio Network Temporary Identifier (3GTS 25.401)

PCH Paging Channel


PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

eNB Enhanced Node B PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

EPS Evolved Packet System RA-RNTI Random Access - Radio Network Temporary Identifier

GUMMEI Global Unique MME Identity RAI Routing Area Identification

H-RNTI HS-DSCH Radio Network Transaction Identifier (3GTS 25.331, 25.433)

RRC Radio Resource Control

HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access (3GTS 25.301, 25.308, 25.401, 3GTR 25.848)

SCH Synchronization Channel

HSUPA High Speed Uplink Packet Access (3GTS 25.301, 25.309, 25.401, 3GTR 25.896)

SI-RNTI System Information - Radio Network Temporary Identifier

ID Identity TAC Tracking Area Code

LAI Location Area Identification (LAI = MCC + MNC + LAC)


MCC Mobile Country Code UE User Equipment



MMEC MME Code UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

MMEGI MME Group Identity


1


1.3.6.13 IMSI, S-TMSI, and IMEIUsed as in 3GPP 2G and 3G. S-TMSI is using the M-TMSI which is identifying the UE in the MME. The S-TMSI is replacing TMSI and P-TMSI in 2G and 3G networks. IMSI and IMEI are used as in UTRAN.

1.3.6.14 GUTIThe GUTI is a temporary ID. It is used to support subscriber identity confidentiality, and, in the shortened S-TMSI form, to enable more efficient radio signaling procedures (e.g. paging and Service Request).

1.3.6.15 eNB S1-AP UE ID and MME S1-AP UE IDThe eNB S1-AP UE ID and MME S1-AP UE ID are temporary ID’s which are identifying the UE in the S1-MME in the eNB or MME respectively.

[3GTS 23.401 (5.2), 3GTR 25.813 (5.6), 3GTS 36.300 (8)]

Room for your Notes


1


Room for your Notes




3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report MME Mobility Management Entity (3GTS 23.401) (Rel. 8 onwards)


P-TMSI Packet TMSI

eNB Enhanced Node B S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

GUTI Global Unique Terminal Identity S1-AP S1 Application Part

ID Identity TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity


UE User Equipment




1


1.4 The E-UTRAN Protocol Stack1.4.1 Control Plane Protocol Stack

The objective of this section is to visualize the control plane protocol stack of the various network elements and interfaces of LTE.

Key point of this section is the control plane protocol stack structure of LTE is combining the AIPN protocol stack and the air-interface protocol stack of UMTS.

Image Description• This picture is showing the control plane protocol stack of E-UTRAN. More or less the control plane is exhibiting the same structure as the protocols known from UTRAN with an AIPN.


1


1.4.1.1 Air Interface protocolsEven though the individual protocol layer may differ significantly due to the new air interface, names and structure are retained from UTRAN. Here also the RRM is shown which is determining the configurations and channel settings transmitted in the RRC messages. What is new here is the allocation of protocol entities on the network elements. In particular the eNB has now a complete set of L2 and L3 protocols. Since the NAS and the AS messaging will be ciphered the PDCP protocol has also been introduced for the control plane in LTE. Since all the transport channels are shared the scheduler in the eNB has to be implemented with special care.

There is a similar concept like in UTRAN for SRB’s but details are not specified yet.


AIPN All IP Network RLC Radio Link Control

AS Access Stratum (UMTS) RRC Radio Resource Control


RRM Radio Resource Management

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) S1-AP S1 Application Part

L2 Layer 2 (data link layer) SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol (RFC 2960)

L3 Layer 3 (network layer) SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) SRB Signaling Radio Bearer

MAC Medium Access Control TrCH Transport Channel (UMTS)


UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

NAS Non-Access-Stratum UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network


PDH Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy


1


Since it will be discussed later on, the RRM is shown in the picture. This is not a protocol entity which is in need to be standardized e.g. like the RRC. This is more a group of tasks which have to be included in the eNB in order to make it perform well. The RRM is using the protocols to work in a smart way. How to use the protocols smartly is not in need to be specified in the standards. A powerful RRM is essential for a good implementation.

1.4.1.2 NAS protocols

For the NAS protocols there are no details defined yet. The author is expecting that there will be SM and EMM protocol entities here.

The name S1-AP is preliminary at this point in time and might change in future

[3GTS 36.300 (4.3.2, 19)]

Room for your Notes


1


Room for your Notes




EMM Evolved Mobility Management S1-AP S1 Application Part

NAS Non-Access-Stratum SM Session Management (3GTS 23.060, 3GTS 24.008)

RRC Radio Resource Control eNB Enhanced Node B


1


1.4.2 User Plane Protocol Stack

The objective of this section is to visualize the user plane protocol stack of the various network elements and interfaces of LTE.

Key point of this section is the user plane protocol stack structure of LTE is combining the AIPN protocol stack and the air-interface protocol stack of UMTS.

Image Description• This picture is showing the user plane protocol stack of E-UTRAN. Again there is a big similarity with the protocols known from UTRAN with an AIPN.

1.4.2.1 Air Interface protocolsFor the air interface protocols the same naming conventions and presumably also the internal structure of UTRAN is reused. There again there is the possibility of AM, UM and TM for the RLC data. This means in RLC-AM there is like in HSPA both an ARQ loop on RLC level and an HARQ loop on MAC and L1 level. The RLC PDU size will be variable. The PDP is terminated in the PDN/internet.


1


1.4.2.2 S1 protocolPhysical layer, data link layer, and IP are typical protocol entities known from the AIPN already. Like in UTRAN there is the GTP-U creating a shared tunnel for the user data in the EPC. [3GTS 36.300 (4.3.1, 19)]




AIPN All IP Network PDP Packet Data Protocol

AM Acknowledged Mode operation PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request PDU Protocol Data Unit or Packet Data Unit

DL Downlink PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel RLC Radio Link Control



GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol (3GTS 29.060)

SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

GTP-U GTP User Plane SI Service Indicator

GW Gateway TM Transparent Mode operation

HARQ Hybrid ARQ UDP User Datagram Protocol (RFC 768)


UL Uplink

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) UM Unacknowledged Mode operation

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

MAC Message Authentication Code UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network




1


1.4.3 X2 Interface Control Plane Protocol Stack

The objective of this section is to visualize the control plane protocol stack of the X2 interface in LTE.

Key point of this section is that the control plane of the X2 interface is mainly dealing with inference coordination for the self-organizing network and RRM issues.

Image Description

This picture is showing the control plane protocol stack of the X2 interface.

Physical layer, data link layer, IP and SCTP are typical protocol entities known from the AIPN already. The X2-AP is executing the commands from RRM, e.g. for handover and for interference coordination in the self organizing network.

The X2 interface is a virtual interface. Physically it will connect via a router in the core.

[3GTS 36.300 (20)]


1


Room for your Notes




AIPN All IP Network SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol (RFC 2960)

Ethernet Layer 2 Protocol for IP (IEEE 802.3) SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) X2-AP X2 Application Part




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1.4.4 X2 User Plane Protocol Stack

The objective of this section is to visualize the user plane protocol stack of the X2 interface of LTE.

Key point of this section is that the user plane of the X2 interface is used to forward data from one eNB to the other but that this is only for a short time during handover.

Image Description• This picture is showing the user plane protocol stack of the X2 interface.Physical layer, data link layer, and IP are typical protocol entities known from the AIPN already. The X2 interfaces user plane is used for data forwarding during the handover procedure. Once the source eNB still has data in its buffer it will forward it to the target eNB. Unlike procedures on the Iur this data forwarding is only short term. No semi permanent data forwarding is intended.Like for the transmission in-between core network elements and the RAN the GTP-U is taking care of the transmission in-between the eNB’s.

[3GTS 36.300 (4.3.1, 19, 20)]


1


Room for your Notes



MAC Message Authentication Code

AIPN All IP Network PDH Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy

AM Acknowledged Mode operation PDN Packet Data Network

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request PDP Packet Data Protocol


RAN Radio Access Network



GTP-U GTP User Plane SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network



1


1.5 Overview Channels of E-UTRAN1.5.1 Channel Types

The objective of this section is to show that physical channels, transport channels, and logical channels are defined according to the same guidelines as in UTRAN.

Key point of this section is that the LTE has the same concept about logical, transport, and physical channels as UTRAN.

Image Description• This graph shows part of the Radio Interface Protocol Architecture of E-UTRA

and the different channel types defined for signal exchange between the different protocol layers.

1.5.1.1 Logical ChannelsThe interface between RLC and MAC is called Logical Channel. There are several different Logical Channel types.The type of data that is transferred defines each Logical Channel type. This data can be either control or user data.

1.5.1.2 Transport ChannelsThe interface between MAC and the Physical Layer is denoted as Transport Channel.


1


Transport Channels are services offered by layer 1 to the higher layers for data transfer over the air interface. Transport Channels define how and with which characteristics data is transferred by the physical layer.

Transport Channels are required to allow service multiplexing and to enable the use of variable bit rate transmission.

1.5.1.3 Physical ChannelsPhysical Channels are used to finally transmit the data over the air interface. Physical Channels define the exact physical characteristics of the radio channel (frequency, subcarrier ...)

Room for your Notes


DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel RLC Radio Link Control

E-UTRA Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access

UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access

MAC Medium Access Control UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel


1


1.5.2 Logical Channels of E-UTRAN

The objective of this section is to give an overview of the logical channels being defined for LTE uplink and LTE downlink.

Key point of this section is that except for very few exemptions the logical channels are the same as in UTRAN.

Image Description• This picture shows the different logical channels used in E-UTRA. It categorizes

them in control channels and traffic channels.

1.5.2.1 BCCHNothing to add to what is stated in the image.

1.5.2.2 PCCHNothing to add to what is stated in the image.

1.5.2.3 CCCHHere it has to be mentioned that the FACH and the RACH as signaling carrying transport channel do not exist in E-UTRAN and that all the UE specific signaling is handled on the shared channels as well.

1.5.2.4 MCCHTransmits MBMS control information.It is for further study whether MBMS scheduling is done by layer 1 signaling (like the HSPA control channels).


1


1.5.2.5 DCCHThis channel is present only once an RRC connection has been established (RRC_CONNECTED state). Usage as in UTRAN.

1.5.2.6 DTCHNothing to add to what is stated in the image.

1.5.2.7 MTCHThis point to multipoint channel is used for MBMS service.

[3GTS 36.300 (6.1.2)]




BCCH Broadcast Control Channel MBMS Multimedia Broadcast / Multicast Service

CCCH Common Control Channel MCCH MBMS point-to-multipoint Control Channel

CCH Control Channel MTCH MBMS point-to-multipoint Traffic Channel

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel PCCH Paging Control Channel


DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel RRC_CONNECTED

RRC state in E-UTRA


UE User Equipment

FACH Forward Access Channel (UMTS Transport Channel)

UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access




1


1.5.3 Transport Channels of E-UTRAN

The objective of this section is to give an overview of the transport channels being defined for LTE.

Key point of this section is that the transport channel concept in LTE is focusing on shared channels. There are no dedicated transport channels.

Image Description• his picture shows the different transport channels used in E-UTRA.

1.5.3.1 RACHTransmits very limited control information only. In UTRAN it can also carry short user packages. As in UTRAN collisions can happen.

1.5.3.2 UL-SCHRecourses are allocated dynamically or semi statically. HARQ and beamforming are applied (does not exist in UTRAN).

1.5.3.3 BCHOnly fixed transport format is used. Is transmitted over complete coverage area of the cell but is only containing the most basic system information. The other system information is transmitted on the DL-SCH.

1.5.3.4 PCHIs mapped dynamically on physical channels (different from UTRAN).


1


1.5.3.5 MCHIs transmitted for the complete cell. It supports SFN combining during transmission on multiple cells. The MCH does not exist in UTRAN.

1.5.3.6 DL-SCHRecourses are allocated dynamically or semi statically. HARQ and beamforming are applied (as in HSDPA).

[3GTS 36.300 (5.3)]

Room for your Notes



PCH Paging Channel

BCH Broadcast Channel RACH Random Access Channel

DL Downlink SFN Single Frequency Network

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel TrCH Transport Channel (UMTS)


UL Uplink

HARQ Hybrid ARQ UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel




MCH Multicast Channel


1


1.5.4 Physical Channels of E-UTRAN

The objective of this section is to give an overview of the physical channels being defined for LTE.

Key point of this section is that the physical channel concept is very similar to HSPA but with the difference that it is symmetric in uplink and downlink.

Image Description• This picture shows the different physical channels and physical signals used in E-

UTRA.

1.5.4.1 PBCHThe PBCH is using QPSK modulation and is using always the 72 subcarriers (shared with other physical channels) around the DC carrier. It carries only the MIB.

1.5.4.2 PDCCHThe PDCCH is transporting the transport format, resource allocation and the HARQ information for the PCH, UL-SCH, and the DL-SCH. As well power control information for the UL is transmitted.


1


1.5.4.3 PCFICHThe PCFICH is transmitting the size of the PDCCH.

1.5.4.4 PUCCHThe PUCCH is formed by two consecutive resource blocks with frequency hopping at the slot boundary. It contains CQI (in case of MIMO this is also containing the MIMO related feedback), the ACK/NACK (1 bit for HARQ) and the scheduling requests for the coordination of coming UL transmissions.

1.5.4.5 PRACHThe PRACH is only comprising the random access preamble and it is occupying 72 subcarriers of bandwidth in the frequency domain. Once the random access is successful the random access message is transmitted on the UL-SCH.

All control channels have QPSK modulation (the PUCCH can use BPSK) and - like in HSPA - the timing of the transport blocks and the corresponding ACK/NACK is fixed such that signaling load is saved.


ACK Acknowledgement PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

BCH Broadcast Channel PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel

BPSK Binary or Bipolar Phase Shift Keying PCH Paging Channel

CQI Channel Quality Indicator PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

DC Direct Current PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

DL Downlink PHICH Physical HARQ Acknowledgement Indicator Channel

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel PMCH Physical Multicast Channel


PRACH Physical Random Access Channel

E-UTRAN

Evolved UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

HARQ Hybrid ARQ PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel


QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) SCH Synchronization Channel

MIB Master Information Block UL Uplink



NACK Negative Acknowledgement


1


1.5.4.6 PHICHThe PHICH is used to acknowledge UL transmissions.

1.5.4.7 PDSCHThe PDSCH is carrying the DL payload. It is using AMC with QPSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM. It is intended to be used with smart antenna technologies like MIMO.

1.5.4.8 PMCHThe PMCH is carrying the DL multicast payload in case of multiple cell transmission. It can be used like the PDSCH but is transmitted with only 1 antenna. This might be an antenna only used for MBMS and only be used for SFN.

1.5.4.9 PUSCHThe PUSCH is carrying the UL payload in the LTE system it is using AMC with QPSK, 16-QAM, and optionally 64-QAM. It is intended to be used with smart antenna technologies like MIMO.

1.5.4.10 Downlink reference signalThe downlink reference signal is located on selected subcarriers on selected OFDM symbols of a downlink slot.

1.5.4.11 Primary and secondary synchronization signalThe synchronization signal is identifying 168 cell ID groups of 3 group members each.

1.5.4.12 Uplink reference signal or UL pilot symbolThe uplink reference signal is located on the 4th SC-FDMA symbol block of an UL slot of the PUSCH. The PUCCH can have 2 or 3 uplink reference signals. The reference signal is a cyclically extended Zadoff-Chu sequence. It is used as a reference for the equalization of UL signals in the frequency domain.

1.5.4.13 Uplink sounding signalThe uplink sounding signal is transmitted on the last symbol of the PUSCH. It is requested by the eNB in order to access the mobile radio channel quality and the timing of the UE’s UL transmissions.

1.5.4.14 Random Access PreambleThe random access preamble is part of the PRACH and is again generated with a Zadoff-Chu sequence. These Zadoff-Chu sequences have a zero correlation zone with eases the processing of different random access bursts received together.

[3GTS 36.211 (5, 6), 3GTS 36.300 (5.1, 5.2, 5.3.1)]


1


Room for your Notes


16-QAM 16 symbols Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

PHICH Physical HARQ Acknowledgement Indicator Channel


PMCH Physical Multicast Channel



AMC Adaptive Modulation and Coding PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel


FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

ID Identity SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) SFN Single Frequency Network


UE User Equipment


UL Uplink


eNB Enhanced Node B



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1.5.5 Mapping of Channels in E-UTRAN

The objective of this section is to visualize the mapping amongst the different channel types in LTE.

Key point of this section is that the LTE channel mapping is a lot simpler than in UTRAN.

Image Description• This picture shows how the different channel types in E-UTRA are mapped on

each other. It is worth to highlight the following mappings:

Since the RACH is carrying only limited control information no logical channel is mapped on this transport channel. Consequently mostly the MAC is driving the activities on the RACH.Like in HSPA no transport channel is mapped on the PUCCH, the PCFICH, the PHICH, and the PDCCH. This shows that also in LTE the scheduling HARQ, etc. is a procedure very close to the physical layer which is expressed by the physical layer signaling approach used here.The PBCH is always transmitted in the middle of the LTE carrier.

[3GTS 36.300 (5.3.1, 6.1.3)]


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Room for your Notes




BCCH Broadcast Control Channel PCCH Paging Control Channel


CCCH Common Control Channel PCH Paging Channel

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

DL Downlink PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel PHICH Physical HARQ Acknowledgement Indicator Channel

DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel PMCH Physical Multicast Channel


PRACH Packet Random Access Channel

HARQ Hybrid ARQ PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel



L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) RACH Random Access Channel


MAC Medium Access Control UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel

MCCH MBMS point-to-multipoint Control Channel


MCH Multicast Channel UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

MTCH MBMS point-to-multipoint Traffic Channel


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1.6 Key Development Trends manifested in LTE1.6.1 Mapping of User Plane Packets to the Resources

The objective of this section is to describe the changes of the resource scheduling strategies from UMTS over HSPA to LTE.

Key point of this section is that today’s standards combine resource allocation strategies with diversity.


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Image Description• With the introduction of digital signal processing technology the mobile radio

systems have been enabled to play with the degrees of freedom offered by the mobile radio channel and the setup of the network: time, frequency, and space. In particular the bad fading characteristics have been combated by means of one or more diversity schemes. In general there are two ways how to do that

1.6.1.1 Method 1: Fast resource allocation on optimum resourcesHere always the best instantaneous selection (time, frequency, and space) of resources is chosen.This means a combination of choosing the best time, the best frequency and the best space properties for transmission of the data packet in order to have the best possible throughput. Since for early mobile radio systems this is needing too much signaling and these systems are not able to schedule their transmissions very fast this method is not used e.g. for GSM. Another problem is that for a moving UE the optimum configuration is changing faster than it can be traced or faster than it can be signaled. This is why the second approach is also very important.

Room for your Notes



UE User Equipment



LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) WCDMA Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access


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1.6.1.2 Method 2: Slow resource allocation on suboptimum resourcesHere, the resources are spread on a wide range of time, frequency, or space. This exploits that in some regions there is good quality and in some other regions there is bad quality. Since the resources are spread on both kinds of regions the effect of the bad regions is averaged and not critical any more. This scheme is working always more or less good but of course is only providing a throughput being of average size only.In the following some examples are given of how the resource allocation is optimized in well-known mobile radio systems:

1.6.1.3 GSMIn GSM for speech transmission each interleaving frame is extending over a time of 37 ms using 8 different bursts such that the different instantaneous quality of the 8 bursts used is averaging out. As well GSM is applying frequency hopping such that also the quality of up to 8 different carrier frequencies in the interleaving frame can average out.

1.6.1.4 WCDMAWCDMA is spreading its resources on a wideband carrier and is exploiting frequency diversity by means of spreading. As well time diversity is exploited e.g. by means of a 20 ms TTI for speech services. However only the low performing second scheme can be used for WCDMA

1.6.1.5 HSPAIn HSPA the TTI’s are that short (2 ms) and the signaling is that fast that the first scheme can be applied for the first time on the time dimension. The UE’s might only be scheduled to use the resources on the carrier once the quality is very good - once the quality is bad other UE’s might be scheduled on the resources. It has to be mentioned that these methods is requiring a bidirectional signaling: One direction for the scheduling and another direction for the feedback (quality and ACK/NACK).Since still spreading is used the second method is applied on the frequency dimension. Optionally beamforming is using also the first method on the space dimension: by means of radiating the signal only to the direction of the UE.

1.6.1.6 LTEIn LTE there is now the possibility to use the first method for both the time and the frequency dimension. Once the transmission is both restricted to the subcarriers having the best quality at the time instants with the best quality as well, a very high throughput can be achieved. Again bidirectional signaling might is required. MIMO and beamforming are applied on the space dimension. Also the second method can be deployed in the frequency dimension, e.g. by applying frequency hopping.

1.6.1.7 General trendThe general trend being visible is that for modern mobile radio systems it is possible to select the best configuration for the resources very fast and even follow changing mobile radio conditions: best frequency at the best time and using the best antenna configuration. The tuning in this respect is becoming more and more precise with the advance of mobile radio standards and the duration of the allocated data packets is getting shorter and shorter in order to track a changing mobile radio channel faster.


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Room for your Notes


ACK Acknowledgement NACK Negative Acknowledgement


TTI Transmission Time Interval


UE User Equipment

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) WCDMA Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access



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1.6.2 All IP Network and Simple Packet Service Driven Protocols

The objectives of this section are to highlight the benefits of the packet service driven protocols, and to show these lead to a new network architecture tailored to the all IP network (AIPN).

Key point of this section is that the simplified network architecture of LTE leads to a reduced latency.

Image Description• This picture is visualizing the latency of a messages traveling through the UTRAN

and the E-UTRAN. The longer the line the longer the latency will be.In UTRAN an AIPN has been introduced step by step and at the same time PS services have gained more and more momentum within 3GPP. However, still the basic structure of the GSM network is used. The Node B’s are connected to RNC’s and the RNC’s are connected to the core network. This is still like BTS, BSC und Core in GSM. Since this structure is best suited for CS services which are routed rather stationary in-between the network elements the structure is leading to the rather complex protocol for the PS services where the allocation of the resources is not fixed and shared.


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In the picture a message is running through many network entities and their various algorithms – especially to pass them in and out of the network elements is very time-consuming and disadvantageous for the latency of the user plane and the latency of the control plane.This is one of the reasons why the RNC is not present in LTE. The result is that the protocols are simplifying a lot and that the latency is reduced significantly by means of having less algorithms and processing stages involved.Effectively the trend toward an AIPN and all PS services is dictating a very revolutionary change in the network architecture: The missing RNC in LTE.

Room for your Notes




AIPN All IP Network PS Packet Switched

BSC Base Station Controller RNC Radio Network Controller

BTS Base Transceiver Station SAE System Architecture Evolution

CS Circuit Switched SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node



GW Gateway UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) eNB Enhanced Node B



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1.6.2.1 Reduced User Plane Latency

The objective of this section is to visualize how the tight latency requirements of the physical layer are allowing the use of all QoS classes of the PS services.

Key point of this section is that reduced user plane latency allows for HSPA-like HARQ and the application of all QoS traffic classes.

Image Description• This picture is showing the composition of the LTE user plane latency and how it

is relating it to the QoS requirements.The user plane latency time for a good and reliable packet transmission has been one of the blocking points which have delayed an introduction of Streaming and Conversational QoS PS services.Since no CS services are intended in LTE, the user plane latency has to be significantly improved.The top part of the picture is showing the chain of processing steps leading to the user plane latency. The chain of events is starting with data arriving in the Serving GW and is ending with data arriving in the application running on the UE. It can be seen that the processing times inside the network elements and on the interfaces are dimensioned to be very short.


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This is possible because the Serving GW is directly connected to the eNB. In case of a failure to transmit a packet on the Uu interface, retransmissions using HARQ are adding another 5 ms each to the user plane latency.As shown in the middle part of the picture the duration of a single transmission (basic user plane latency) and the time duration for possible retransmissions using HARQ have to be smaller the maximum user plane delay tolerated by the QoS profile. Assuming a BLER of 30 % the average user plane latency of LTE then is ranging from 6.3 to 20.9 ms. This is a very short user plane latency. Once a RTT for HARQ of e.g. 12 ms is assumed it becomes clear that for HSPA only one retransmission could be tolerated for a high QoS service. Only then the Uu latency for the first transmission and the following retransmission can stay below the 20 ms interleaving frame duration of CS voice transmission. This would lead to a quite low performance.However with LTE the Uu latency is below 20 ms even if the voice packets are retransmitted 2 times. This is demonstrating very well that with LTE there is the possibility to achieve an even higher QoS than possible with UMTS CS services.

[3GTR 25.912 (13.3), 3GTS 36.213]

Question No 1: Once the BLER for a signal transmission is 30 %, what is the residual BLER after 3 transmissions? Once for speech services a residual BLER of 1 % is aimed at what would be the BLER for a single transmission?


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report QoS Quality of Service

BLER Block Error Rate RTT Round Trip Time

CS Circuit Switched SAE System Architecture Evolution

GW Gateway TTI Transmission Time Interval

HARQ Hybrid ARQ UE User Equipment




PS Packet Switched


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1.6.2.1 Reduced Control Plane Latency

The objective of this section is to demonstrate how the reduced control plane latency is allowing for a reduced protocol complexity.

Key point of this section is that reduced control plane latencies lead to dramatically simplified layer 3 protocols - not vice versa.

Image Description• This picture is showing the RRC states of LTE and UTRAN and the necessary

transition times in-between them.In LTE the transition times in-between the RRC states are required to be 50 ms or less and from the detached state to the active state there is the requirement of 100 ms control plane latency.

[3GTR 25.913 (6.2.1)]These latency times are very short compared to those of UTRAN because LTE is aiming to keep the UE’s in a dormant state (like URA_PCH) with the benefit of having a low resource consumption on air and a low battery power consumption whilst having also a very fast reactivation of the UE once some data is to be transferred again.For UMTS the transition time in-between the various RRC states are shown in the lower part of the picture. These times are taken from a 3GTR about the possible future improvement of the protocols and are not even implemented yet.

[3GTR 25.815 (5)]


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As it can be seen these times are a lot longer than the LTE requirement of 50 ms. The result of the LTE feasibility study shows that the transition time from the EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE to the EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTED state can be done in only 56-96 ms. This is already involving the RRC connection establishment with the MME. Since the time is significantly smaller than any UTRAN transition to the CELL_DCH state the 5 RRC states in UTRAN reduce to just 2 states in LTE. In LTE the CELL_FACH state does not make any sense any more and the RRC_IDLE, the URA_PCH, and the CELL_PCH states’ functions are taken by the EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE state. This is leading to a very significant reduction of the protocol complexity and is well suited for the packet services as well: For a packet transmission there are also two possibilities only: Either packets are transmitted or the transmitter is idle and is not transmitting any packets.

[3GTR 36.300 (A.2)]


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report RRC Radio Resource Control

CELL_DCH RRC Dedicated State RRC_CONNECTED

RRC state in E-UTRA

CELL_FACH RRC FACH State in UTRA RRC_IDLE RRC state

CELL_PCH RRC PCH State in UTRA UE User Equipment

EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTED

Enhanced Mobility Management state for active packet transmission




URA_PCH RRC URA State in UTRA




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1.7 LTE Key Feature Summary

The objective of this section is to summarize the key features of LTE.

Key point of this section is both air interface, system architecture, and services change dramatically with LTE.

1.7.1 Air Interface TechnologyThe changes in the air interface technology cause that LTE is not compatible to legacy UMTS / HSPA+ UE’s. CDMA technology has been replaced with OFDM (SC-FDMA). Also the SFN operation is new for LTE. The data rates are at least double as high than for HSPA+. The data rates given are the max possible data rates for UL and DL. Like HSPA+ LTE is using MIMO, too.


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1.7.2 System ArchitectureFor LTE all the standardization activities worked towards an AIPN from the start. This brings quite revolutionary changes such has to omit the RNC and to create a new EPC.

1.7.3 Service AspectsThe choice of only relying on PS services from the start and not to implement any CS services is leading to a quite challenging task on protocol stack level. At the beginning of the UMTS process PS services have just been some best effort services. Now PS has to comply to the same – if not tougher – requirements as for the legacy CS services. This challenge has been met with a very low user plane and a very low control plane latency.

Room for your Notes


AIPN All IP Network MIMO Multiple In / Multiple Out (antenna system)

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

CS Circuit Switched PS Packet Switched

DL Downlink RNC Radio Network Controller


SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access SFN Single Frequency Network


UE User Equipment

HSPA+ Enhanced High Speed Packet Access (operation of enhanced HSDPA and enhanced HSUPA)

UL Uplink



1


Lessons Learned / Conclusions:


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Chapter 2:Key Technologies of the LTE Physical Layer


• What is OFDM and how does it differ from OFDMA?

• How does IFFT relate to OFDM?

• What is a cyclic prefix, why can it differ in duration and what is it used for?

• How MIMO is applied in order to multiply the throughput compared to systems with a single antenna?

Key Technologies of the LTE Physical Layer

2


2.1 Introduction OFDM Technology2.1.1 Impact of Orthogonality in the Frequency Domain – 3 Steps

The objectives of this section are to provide a 3D-view of sine waves and to pave the way to understand orthogonality.

Image Description• The image illustrates 3 different sine waves on 3 different frequencies.

• The image provides two different perspectives: in the upper left part (cylinder) the image presents the time domain while in the lower right part the frequency domain is highlighted.

In the OFDM-terminology, the 3 different frequencies are usually called subcarriers or tones.

Provided their carrier frequency is different not modulated carriers can always be perfectly separated.


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© INACON GmbH 1999 - 2009. All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or unauthorized use of this material is prohibited and will be prosecuted to the full extent of German and international laws. Version Number 2.030- 90 -

Room for your Notes




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2.1.1 Impact of Orthogonality in the Frequency Domain – 3 Steps

The objective of this section is to illustrate what happens to three non-orthogonal frequencies if they are modulated.

If frequencies are non-orthogonal, they need to be sufficiently spaced apart from each other to minimize the inter-frequency interference.

Image Description• The image continues the presentation from the previous section. However, in this

section, the three non-orthogonal frequencies are modulated with some baseband signal.

• The impact becomes visible in the frequency domain: Modulation cause sidebands with decreasing amplitude, yet inter-frequency interference cannot be avoided.


2


Room for your Notes


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2.1.1 Impact of Orthogonality in the Frequency Domain – 3 Steps

The objective of this section is to illustrate how orthogonality is achieved in case of FDM.

Key point is that orthogonal frequencies are integer multiples of a base frequency. The orthogonality therefore relates to the distance among the different frequencies f1, f2, f3 and f(n).

Image Description• The image illustrates the already known cylinder.

• In this case, the distance between the frequencies f1, f2 and f3 is chosen in a way that it is always an integer multiple of the base frequency f1.

• Example: If f1 = 10 kHz, then f2 = 20 kHz, f3 = and 30 kHz and so on.

• The most important property of selecting the distance among the different carriers like this is that in case of modulation, the zero crossings of the side bands coincide with the center frequencies.

• Therefore there is no interference between these center frequencies and the side bands of the other carrier frequencies.


2


Room for your Notes


FDM Frequency Division Multiplexing


2


2.1.2 Practical Exercise: Physical Basics of OFDM / OFDMA

The objective of this section is to familiarize the students with the operation of OFDM-systems.

Image Description• The image illustrates an OFDM transmitter which uses three subcarriers and

BPSK-modulation on all subcarriers.

• The input bit rate is 6 bit/s which means that the duration of a single bit at the input equals 166.67 ms.

• On the right hand side the image illustrates the resulting OFDM-wave which represents the sum of the three subcarriers.


2


Your tasks:

1. Assign the different bits 1 through 6 to the 3 subcarriers.

2. Use color pencils to draw the signal waves for the 6 bits into the respective parts of the OFDM-modulator, using BPSK-modulation.

3. What is the duration of a single bit (symbol) within the OFDM-modulator?

Answer: The duration equals T(b) = _______ s

4. What does this mean for the smallest frequency f(0)?

Answer: Subcarrier 0 uses a frequency f(0) = _______ = ________

5. … and what does it mean for the f between the subcarriers?

Answer: Δf = _______ = ________

Room for your Notes


BPSK Binary or Bipolar Phase Shift Keying OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access



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2.1.3 Practical Exercise: Scaling of OFDM / OFDMA-Systems

The objective of this section is to guide the students through basic scaling and dimensioning issues of OFDM-systems.

Image Description• The image illustrates two options on how to scale an OFDM-system in case of

variable bandwidth situations.


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• The upper part uses fix subcarrier spacing and simply applies more subcarriers if more bandwidth is available.

• The second part uses the opposite approach: ‘n = 5’ and the subcarrier spacing varies with the available bandwidth

• The third part uses a constant overall bandwidth and varies the number of subcarriers. This will keep the throughput the same.

• The lower part uses different modulation schemes on the subcarriers.

Your tasks:

1. Which option (1 - 4) do you suggest and prefer in a mobile environment? Explain your choice in detail.

2. What is a safe subcarrier spacing in case of LTE?


BW Bandwidth OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access




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2.1.4 The In-Phase – Quadrature (I/Q) Presentation

The objective of this section is to show how sine-waves can be expressed by complex numbers in the I / Q plane.

Key point of this section is that amplitude and phase of any sine-wave can be expressed by a complex number.

Image description• This picture is showing that the superimposition of a sinus and a cosine is

creating any other sine wave of different amplitude and phase.

• On the left side the complex expression of this superimposition is shown.

The expression of base band signals in the complex notation is very common. Any sine-wave with arbitrary amplitude and phase can be expressed as the liner superimposition of a sine-wave and a cosine-wave. Note that the complex superimposition works based on the signals (phase and amplitude) being modulated on the carrier frequency of the radio carrier.


2


Room for your Notes


There are no abbreviations in this section.


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2.1.5 OFDM / OFDMA and IFFT

The objective of this section is to illustrate how IFFT maps so perfectly to the requirements of an OFDM system.

Key point of this section is that IFFT provides nothing else but the digital recipe to produce perfectly orthogonal sine waves and to burn the formula into silicon.

Image Description• The image illustrates two implementation options.

• The upper option 1 is analog and operates by producing the single orthogonal subcarriers within an oscillator array.

• Option 2 goes a different way and applies the IFFT formula within the yellow box. The most important asset of this IFFT-formula is the factor ‘k’ that inherently provides harmonic, orthogonal frequencies.

Please note that in both cases, the resulting S(t) is a baseband signal that needs to be mapped to the respective RF-carrier frequency.


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2.1.5.1 Considering the Discrete Oscillator Array OptionThis option is unrealistic for large scale deployments as it scales very poorly and since it is very expensive to implement.

2.1.5.2 Details of the IFFT Option• The illustrated formula may be real numbered only (sin) or complex numbered

(sin + cos).

• The number of samples S(t) over one symbol duration T(b) depends on the highest OFDM frequency which is k x f(0).

• According to Nyquist, we therefore need 2 x k x f(0) different samples S(t) per symbol period T(b) to provide for an error-free signal processing.

• Obviously, for each sample S(t(x)), all different k-values need to be applied.

• We provided the aforementioned details to illustrate the enormous processing power that is required for OFDM.

2.1.5.3 Why is it called F a s t Fourier Transformation?• The difference between fast and regular Fourier transformation is that fast Fourier

transformation uses a special algorithm for the fast calculation of the single values of a Fourier series.

• This algorithm was officially published in 1965 but was applied already by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1805.

• Obviously, this algorithm is also optimal for chip based calculations. The only disadvantage of FFT is that the FFT-size = N needs to be a 2k value (e.g. 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024 …) for best efficiency. Values like N = 66, 214 or similar are therefore less efficient.

Room for your Notes


FFT Fast Fourier Transformation OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

IFFT Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation RF Radio Frequency



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2.1.6 Modulation Scheme Overview

The objective of this section is to illustrate the basic modulation schemes which are used by the LTE implementation.

Key point of this section is that higher order modulation schemes require a better CINR because their decision space between adjacent symbols is smaller.


2


Image Description• The image illustrates the I/Q-plane view of the three modulation schemes which

are supported by the LTE - implementation.

• Each dot stands for a separate symbol and its position is used to convey the respective number of bits.

Room for your Notes






CINR Carrier to Interference and Noise Ratio


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2.1.7 Using different Modulation Schemes on Different Subcarriers

The objective of this section is to illustrate the inherent capability of IFFT to mimic different modulation schemes on different subcarriers.

Key point of this section is that commercial OFDM/OFDMA-systems do not use coefficients ‘0’ to ‘n’ but rather ‘-n/2’ to ‘(n/2-1)’ with the DC-subcarrier being positioned at the center carrier frequency.

Image Description• The image illustrates at the top the already introduced formula for complex

numbered IFFT.

• In this example, only three subcarriers shall be considered.

• The so called DC-subcarrier always generates a zero output (see image). This rule also applies in commercial OFDM-implementations.

• On subcarrier 1 (k = 1), QPSK shall be applied with a bit value of ‘10’ to be transmitted.

• On subcarrier 2 (k = 2), 16-QAM shall be applied with a bit value of ‘0001’ to be transmitted.


2


As the right part of the image illustrates, every combined phase and amplitude digital modulation system represents its different symbol values simply by applying different coefficients a(k(t)) and b(k(t)) to the sine and cosine parts.

Room for your Notes




DC Direct Current OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

IFFT Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying


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2.1.8 Tackling Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI)

2.1.8.1 Introduction

The objectives of this section are to illustrate how multipath causes inter-symbol interferences and which means exist to tackle this interference.

Key point of this section is that there are basically two means to cope with ISI: Either to increase the time between two successive symbols or to calculate the impact of ISI for each symbol (equalization).

Image Description• The red sine wave represents the transmitted signal at the transmitter.All the grey sine waves are attenuated and time shifted copies which are perceived by and at the receiver.• As illustrated, these copies spread into the following symbol and interfere with it.You may compare this ISI with the water that the car in front of you spills on your windshield while it is raining and if you are too close.

2.1.8.1.1 Delay Spread• The delay spread represents the maximum delay which needs to be considered.

• Its value depends mostly on the RF-frequency in use, on the relative speed of transmitter and receiver and on the type of terrain


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One well known example is GSM with an RF-frequency of 900 MHz, a symbol duration of 3.692 µs and a maximum speed of 250 km/h. The delay spread to be coped with by technical implementations is 5 symbol periods (app. 18 µs).

• In a GSM-system equalizers are used to calculate the impact of the ISI caused by the preceding 4 symbols on the current symbol.

• This equalization is a complex process and needs to be done independently for each burst.

• However, the alternative to wait long enough between two successive symbols in GSM is obviously no option considering the enormous delay spread of 18 µs compared to a symbol duration of just 3.69 µs.

However, this is very different in an OFDM-system with its inherently long symbol durations.

Room for your Notes




ISI Inter-Symbol Interference RF Radio Frequency



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2.1.8.2 Cyclic Prefix

The objective of this section is to introduce the cyclic prefix which is placed in front of each symbol to cope with the ISI from the previous symbol.

Key points of this section are:1. OFDM can cope without equalization because the inherently long symbol durations allow for the option to insert a cyclic prefix in the first place.2. The “squeezing in” of the cyclic prefix between two successive OFDM-symbols obviously degrades the system performance by the respective percentages (e.g. N(CP) = 5 - 20 % of N).3. The operation in lower RF-frequency ranges tendentiously requires larger N(CP) T(sample) -values because of the probability of more paths and therefore higher delay spread.

The useful symbol time T(b) is therefore only 80-95 % of the overall OFDMA symbol time.

• Image Description

• The image illustrates an OFDM-symbol and its preceding and succeeding neighbors.


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• The cyclic prefix represents the final part of the OFDM-symbol that is simply copied and placed at the front of the same OFDM-symbol.

• Note how smooth and without sharp edge the cyclic prefix attaches to the beginning of the indicated symbol period.

• This is clear considering that the OFDM-wave consists of the aggregation of a number of phase consistent (n x 2π) pure sine waves (upper right part of the image).

2.1.8.2.1 Variable Duration and other Assets of the Cyclic Prefix• The aforementioned smooth edge is due to the phase and amplitude consistency.

• All contributing sine waves of the OFDM-symbol are phase consistent which means that they all begin and end at n x 2π. Consequentially, there is no phase or amplitude shift at the edge between cyclic prefix and OFDM-symbol.

• In LTE, N(CP) is variable (e.g. 1/20 – 1/5 of N) to provide for the compensation of different delay spread durations at different frequencies.

• Frequently, people ask why no pure sine is used for the cyclic prefix. Taking the previous explanations on this page into account, a pure sine wave as cyclic prefix would interfere with the contiguous OFDM-symbol because of the phase shift that occurs between them.

• Opposed to a pure sine wave, the OFDM-wave is identical and even phase consistent between the cyclic prefix and the contiguous OFDM-symbol.

2.1.8.2.2 Cyclic Prefix in OFDMA in LTE• The specification mandates adjustable cyclic prefix values of 6 % and 20 % of the

OFDMA symbol to be supported by all implementations.

Room for your Notes


ISI Inter-Symbol Interference OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) RF Radio Frequency



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2.1.9 Layout of a Typical OFDM System

The objectives of this section are to illustrate the typical “brick wall image” of any OFDM/OFDMA-implementation to the student and to indicate the specific settings of the OFDM-physical layer.

Key points of this section are:1. OFDM uses all the subcarriers for a single user.2. OFDMA used different subcarriers for different users.3. There are three types of subcarriers: Data, Pilot and Null.

• Image Description

• The image illustrates the most important assets of any OFDM-system


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2.1.9.1 Remarks on the Brick Wall Image• Important to recognize are the two guard bands at the outer edges of the OFDM-

signal.

• The related guard band subcarriers remain unused (no RF-Transmission). This helps to avoid interferences with adjacent bands.

• This leaves us with only less than N subcarriers of data transmission of which one is occupied by the DC-subcarrier at the center carrier frequency.

• So there are only less than N subcarriers left. Taking into account the subcarriers reserved for pilot signals, even less subcarriers are left for data transmission.

2.1.9.2 Subchannelization • These N-X subcarriers may be subchannelized to support multiple users during

one OFDM-symbol (OFDMA).

• Or all subcarriers are allocated to a single user during the OFDM Symbol duration (OFDM).

2.1.9.3 Pilot Subcarriers• In general, pilot subcarriers are evenly distributed along the subcarriers.

• Pilot subcarriers transmit a predefined bit pattern and allow the receiver the detection of frequency selective channel distortions.

• The detection of these distortion patterns is required also for the channel estimation of the frequency adjacent data subcarriers.

Note the fix position of the pilot subcarriers the picture. In fact the position of the pilot subcarriers is variable and they may not occur in the same position in the different OFDM symbols.

2.1.9.4 Null Subcarriers• In addition to data and pilot subcarriers there are also null subcarriers without any

transmission.

• These null subcarriers are the DC-subcarrier and subcarriers within the guard bands. They are not transmitted.



MHz Mega Hertz (106 Hertz) RF Radio Frequency



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2.2 Introduction to MIMO Technology2.2.1 The Basics: Signal Fading Physics between TX and RX

The objectives of this section are to illustrate the different physical principles resulting in fading of the mobile radio channel.

Key point of this section is that all the effects are resulting in the superposition of different radio paths at the receivers antenna. This is causing the fading.

[3GTR 25.876]On its way from sender to destination, any electromagnetic wave may encounter the illustrated types of signal distortions. It depends on the terrain whether one or some of these signal distortion types are dominant or simply not there. Example: Satellite transmissions are not affected by obstacles and therefore suffer the least.

• ScatteringWhen the electromagnetic wave hits an obstacle which dimension is close to the wavelength of that wavelength then scattering happens: Scattering causes the original wave to be split into multiple parts of which each takes its own route. Compare this to a water hose that is directed at a smaller stone. The one water beam is scattered in all directions.


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• RefractionRefraction occurs when an electromagnetic wave changes the media in which it propagates. Example: When regular light moves on from the media air into the media water it is affected by refraction. We can see this refraction for instance by putting a stick into the water. The stick seems to have a buckling. That is, the direction of the electromagnetic wave changes.

• ReflectionThe most well known signal distortion is reflection. Reflection means that electromagnetic wave hits an obstacle which dimension is well beyond its wavelength. In such case, reflections occur. Reflections represent copies of the original electromagnetic wave that take a different path. Reflections occur again and again on a single wave and are pre-dominantly responsible for multipath effects.

• DiffractionDiffraction is a mixture of scattering and reflections. It occurs when electromagnetic waves run through holes which have a dimension of approximately the wavelength of this electromagnetic wave. Reflections and scattering cause a mixture of signal annulations (when (+) and (–) meet) and signal amplifications (when (+) and (+) or (-) and (-) meet) because of multipath effects.

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report TX Transmit

RX Receive


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2.2.2 Multiplexing Dimensions

The objective of this section is to indicate the four legacy multiplexing dimensions that are used in today’s mobile communication. This section continues in the next section.

Key point of this section is that there seems to be yet another multiplexing dimension in addition to SDMA, TDMA, FDMA and CDMA.


2


Room for your Notes


CDMA Code Division Multiple Access SDMA Space Division Multiple Access

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access TDMA Time Division Multiple Access


TV Television

IS Interim Standard (ANSI Standard) UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access

IS-95 Interim Standard - 95 (Qualcomm CDMA)


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2.2.2 Multiplexing Dimensions

The objective of this section is to indicate the four legacy multiplexing dimensions that are used in today’s mobile communication. This section continues from the previous section.

Key point of this section is that there seems to be yet another multiplexing dimension in addition to SDMA, TDMA, FDMA and CDMA.


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Room for your Notes


CDMA Code Division Multiple Access SDMA Space Division Multiple Access

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access TDMA Time Division Multiple Access

IS Interim Standard (ANSI Standard) TV Television




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2.2.3 The Multipath Dimension

The objectives of this section are to illustrate the radio propagation of different antennas of the same base station.

Key point of this section is that even though the antenna of a base station are quite close to each other the radio paths can differ than much that their multiple path profile is different.

⇒ Multipath is caused by the various fading events (Scattering, Reflection, Diffraction and Refraction) that the signal is exposed to on its way from transmitter to receiver due to the various obstacles on this way.

⇒ Multipath and fading cause the original signal to arrive at the receive antenna in different versions. Each version is due to scattering, reflection, diffraction and refraction differently phased, timed and attenuated.

⇒ As illustrated in the figure, two transmit antennas, sufficiently spaced apart from each other, will each cause a unique and independent reception pattern (ó fingerprint) at the receive antenna.

⇒ Technically speaking, the relative positions of antennas TX 1 ó RX 1 and TX 2 ó RX 1 allow for an uncorrelated multipath pattern at the receiver antenna RX 1.

⇒ Depending on the distance between the antennas, one achieves micro-diversity (distance between TX-antennas ≈ 0.5 wavelengths) or macro-diversity (distance between TX-antennas >> wavelength). MIMO only works with macro diversity or polarization diversity approaches.

⇒ With micro-diversity, only fast fading issues can be tackled. Macro-diversity is required to address also slow fading.


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Room for your Notes


RX Receive TX Transmit


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2.2.6 MIMO General Operation

The objective of this section is to explain the principles of MIMO-systems.

Key point of this section is that MIMO-systems transmit different information over the same resources, frequency and time but are differentiated by the receiver through the specific multipath between each transmit antenna and the receive antennas.

Image Description• The illustrated example shows a 2 x TX and 2 x RX MIMO system for the two

cases that the transmitter and the receiver are connected by means of a cable and that both of them are communicating with 2x2 antennas.

• In case there are no cables used each RX antenna receives information from each TX antenna. Sophisticated receivers need to separate the different transmit antennas from each other, e.g. based on pilot bits.

• MIMO systems therefore require sophisticated processing at the receiver side and they require a unique multipath morphology between TX and RX.


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The larger the number of TX-antennas and RX-antennas, the higher the theoretical throughput rate. The larger the number of RX-antennas, the better the diversity decision at the receiver. For linear receivers like the LMMSE MIMO can increase the max. throughput by the minimum of RX and TX antennas. E.g. once there are 3 TX and 2 RX antennas the max. throughput can be increased by 2 times.

In LoS condition MIMO can fail even though it usually works. In this case it is not possible to separate the two data streams at the receiver. Once there is real multiple path propagation (non LoS) the probability that MIMO works fine is higher.

Room for your Notes


LMMSE Linear Minimum Mean Square Error receiver

RX Receive

LoS Line of Sight TX Transmit



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Chapter 3:The Physical Layer of E-UTRAN


• How the physical frame structure is facilitating the use of a flexible bandwidth allocation?

• What is the structure of uplink and downlink physical channels in detail?

• How do the digital signal processing chains of uplink and downlink look like and what is their difference with respect to conventional mobile radio systems?

• How do the physical layer procedures of the air interface work?

• How does LTE keep aligned in timing and transmission power?

• What is the foundation of LTE’s antenna technology?

• How do initial cell search and random access work?

• How the throughput of the UE categories can be calculated?

The Physical Layer of E-UTRAN

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© INACON GmbH 1999 - 2009. All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or unauthorized use of this material is prohibited and will be prosecuted to the full extent of German and international laws. Version Number 2.030 - 125 -

3.1 The Use of OFDM/OFDMA in LTE3.1.1 Frame Structure

The objective of this section is to give an overview of the downlink frame structure and the uplink frame structure of the LTE burst.

Key point of this section is that uplink and downlink are using essentially the same frame structure only the DMA scheme is different.

Image description• This picture is giving both a view on the overall LTE frame structure and it is

showing the structure of the uplink and downlink slots.

3.1.1.1 The generic frame structureThe generic frame is consisting of 20 slots of 0.5 ms length each. Its length of 10 ms is made up of 307200 sample periods of length T(sample). This means a sampling frequency of 30.72 MHz which is corresponding to exactly 2048 carriers with 15 kHz carrier spacing. Since this would lead to a bandwidth of 30 MHz it is obvious that not all these 2048 subcarriers are indented to be used. Two slots constitute a subframe. For FDD LTE this frame structure is applying for both UL and DL. For TDD LTE the slots’ length is staying the same, too and subframe 0 and 5 are always downlink subframes.

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3.1.1.2 The downlink slotsThe downlink slots are containing 3, 6, or 7 OFDM symbols with N(CP) samples for the cyclic prefix and N samples for the useful part of the OFDM symbol. The table below the picture will give details of the possible configurations. Some OFDM symbols are containing reference signals or pilots on some subcarriers.

3.1.1.3 The uplink slotsEven though the UL is not using OFDMA the UL signals also have a cyclic prefix. Since no OFDM is applied the symbol in the middle is used as a pilot symbol or reference symbol. Later this reference symbol will be used for channel estimation. In different configurations 2 or 3 symbols can be used as a pilot.

3.1.1.4 The frame structure type 2

There is also frame structure type 2 which is not shown in this picture. It will be compatible to LCR TDD frame structure. It is likely that this standard and the alternative frame structure will be mainly used in mainland China. The alternative frame structure is not treated closer in this book.

[3GTS 36.211 (4.1, 5.2, 6.2)]

Room for your Notes




CP Cyclic Prefix OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

DL Downlink OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

DMA Division Multiple Access TDD Time Division Duplex


LCR Low Chip Rate TDD kHz Kilo Hertz (103 Hertz)



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3.1.2 LTE Parameters

The objective of this section is to give an overview of the downlink frame structure, the uplink frame structure, and the variable parameters of the LTE burst.

Key point of this section is that uplink and downlink are using also the same detailed parameters.

Table description• This table is giving the LTE parameters for both the uplink and downlink slots.There are 3 different configurations to parameterize the lengths of the different fields in the slots and symbols. These configurations are relating to different deployment scenarios of LTE. The UE has to identify which of these 3 configurations is used during initial cell search by try and error.

3.1.2.1 The normal configurationThe normal configuration is using 7 symbols in each slot. Here the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz. The cyclic prefix of the first OFDM symbol is a bit longer in order to make 7 symbols fit exactly to 0.5 ms slot length. Since the guard period is rather short this configuration is fitting for most deployments but for usage in tough conditions (mountains, big cities) it is not suited. Once SFN is used in that section of the network the cells should not be bigger then about 1-2 km because each 300 m difference in distance of the UE to e.g. two base stations will add 1 s to the length of the channel impulse response and thus to the length requirements for CP.

3.1.2.2 The extended configuration with 15 kHz subcarrier separationThe extended configuration with 15 kHz carrier separation is solving the problems mentioned for the normal configuration. It can be well deployed for SFN and for hilly terrain and in cities like in New York. With respect to the user density it usually does not make much sense to create very big cells for pure mobile radio applications with bidirectional services. Since the cyclic prefix is now making up for 20 % of the OFDM symbol time, there is 20 % throughput loss for this case. This is the penalty to let the OFDM system operated in harsh conditions.

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3.1.2.3 The extended configuration with 7.5 kHz subcarrier separationThe extended configuration exists for DL only. Here the subcarrier spacing is only 7.5 kHz and the cyclic prefix is twice a long as for the extended configuration with 15 kHz subcarrier spacing. This is indicating quite well that this configuration is intended for broadcast operation of e.g. TV programs.

[3GTS 36.211 (4.1, 5.2, 6.2)]

Room for your Notes



SFN Single Frequency Network

CP Cyclic Prefix TV Television

DL Downlink UE User Equipment

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) kHz Kilo Hertz (103 Hertz)



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3.1.2 Resource Element and Resource Block Definition

The objective of this section to provide the definition of the downlink resource elements and resource blocks within the OFDMA access scheme.

Key point of this section is that the resources can be distributed in form of resource blocks of subcarriers and OFDMA/SC-FDMA symbols instead of individual subcarriers and OFDM symbols.

Image description• The picture above is showing how the LTE carrier is split up in downlink resource

blocks.

3.1.2.1 Definition Resource ElementA resource element is a subcarrier on a OFDMA/SC-FDMA symbol.

3.1.2.2 Definition Resource BlockThe resource blocks are bundles of 1 slot and 180 kHz bandwidth of either 12 x 15 kHz subcarriers or 24 x 7.5 kHz subcarriers (only DL). These resource elements or subchannels can be assigned to the UE having the best performance on this frequency and subchannel pair. This is of essential importance for a good scheduling performance. It can be seen the DC carrier is not used (DL only) and that guard bands of several carriers are not used in order to ease both the RF implementation and the separation of different carriers, cells, and operators.

3.1.2.3 Definition SubframeThe resource blocks are grouped in two slots to form a subframe carrying the TTI. In different slots of the same subframe the allocation to resource blocks can be different. Frequency hopping might be applied a sub frame.

[3GTS 36.211 (5.2, 6.2)]

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The picture is showing a distribution of resources being consecutive. In LTE there is also a distributed configuration of the resources possible (DL only).

3.1.2.4 Number of resource blocks in a given bandwidthDue to the upper and lower guard bands only 25 resource blocks can be used per 5 MHz band. These resource blocks make up for 4.5 MHz carrier bandwidth. Consequently there are 0.5 MHz guard bands. Once the band is 20 MHz wide this ratio does not change. Only 100 resource blocks or 18 MHz can be used for the LTE carrier.

Question No 2: Why the ratio of guard bands versus used bands goes not change for bigger carriers? Why 0.5 MHz is not enough here always?

Room for your Notes





DL Downlink RF Radio Frequency

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) UE User Equipment



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3.1.3 Choice of the UL Transmission Scheme (UL Data Symbols only)

The objective of this section is to provide the reasoning behind the decision for SC-FDMA as the UL transmission technology.

Key point of this section is that SC-FDMA has been chosen because of the reduced AM requirements on the power amplifier of the UE compared to OFDM technology (cost reasons).

Image description• The picture shows the distribution of 16-QAM modulation symbols on the OFDM

subcarriers and the resulting time signal for OFDMA technology being used in the UL on the left hand side.

• The picture shows the distribution of 16-QAM modulation symbols on the SC-FDMA subsymbols and the resulting time signal for SC-FDMA technology being used in the UL on the right hand side.

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3.1.3.1 What would happen if OFDM would be used in the ULOnce OFDM would be used in the UL there would be the same RB structure as in the DL. Consequently multiple of 12 subcarriers would be used to map the UL bits of e.g. 16-QAM symbols on the subcarriers. Since all the subcarriers’ signals superimpose on the time signal of the OFDM symbol, very severe AM would be the result. For high data rate UE’s this AM would result in very expensive power amplifiers.

3.1.3.2 SC-FDMA is used for the ULThe advantage of a single carrier signal would be that the AM at the power amplifier is mainly determined by the modulation alphabet and not additionally by the number of subcarriers. Thus the AM and consequently also the power amplifiers price is much more favorable than for OFDM signals. In order to enjoy still the benefit of low processing power requirements of OFDM signals the SC- signal has been designed to fit into the corset of the would be UL OFDM signal by means of the following measures:

1. Choose the same amount of modulation symbols in the RB2. Choose the same bandwidth occupied by the RB3. Choose the same duration of SC-FDMA symbols (cluster of n x 12

modulation symbols)4. Adding the same CP period as for an OFDM signal5. Choosing the same sampling grid for the processed signals. (The

modulation symbols are interpolated to sampling grid.)All these measures ensure that effectively the same subcarriers are used, that orthogonality is kept amongst the subcarriers and that a similar way to process the SC-FDMA symbols as for OFDM symbols is kept.

Please note that SC-FDMA is strictly speaking only applied for the payload data in the UL. The L1 signaling channels, the pilots and the sounding reference symbols are created in the frequency domain and they also have almost constant amplitude in the time domain.




AM Amplitude Modulation RB Resource Block

CP Cyclic Prefix SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access



UL Uplink


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3.1.4 FDD and TDD Operation in E-UTRAN

3.1.4.1 Reciprocity

The objective of this section is to highlight the difference in reciprocity in-between FDD and TDD.

Key point of this section is that in FDD UL and DL have different mobile radio channels and in TDD whilst the mobile radio channel is the same for TDD.

Image description• The picture is showing the most important difference of FDD and TDD operation:

The channel reciprocity.LTE can be operated both with the FDD and in the FDD mode. The generic frame structure is used in both modes. However the characteristics of FDD and TDD lead to very distinct differences in the system behavior of these modes. In the following the main differences should be described.

3.1.4.1.1 Reciprocity of the mobile radio channelIn the TDD mode the mobile radio channel of UL and DL is the same. This means that once the UE is having a low mobility the eNB can conclude from the behavior of the UL signals how the downlink channel will behave. This is very beneficial for beamforming and MIMO algorithms. Then the UE is not in need to transmit a CSI any more in order to give the eNB hints how to do the beamforming in the downlink. For FDD UL and DL are always different - only their long term behavior is the same. However, this is not allowing for very powerful algorithms. This is why CSI’s are needed especially for closed loop MIMO.

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3.1.4.1.2 Speed of scheduling decisionsSince in TDD the mobile radio channel is used for both DL and UL, UL and DL have to follow one another. This means that the UE cannot transmit the CSI and the CQI whilst it is receiving the DL signals. It as to wait until it is the turn of the UL and then transmits its signaling. The same applies for the DL signaling which cannot take place whilst the UL is to be transmitted. This is lowering the performance of the scheduling algorithms. In FDD both UL and DL are transmitted simultaneously. This is used in order to optimize the timing of the scheduling algorithms.

LTE is putting big emphasis on the FDD bands while for WiMAX TDD is the focus of the work recently.

Room for your Notes



TDD Time Division Duplex

CQI Channel Quality Indicator UE User Equipment

CSI Channel State Information UL Uplink

DL Downlink UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

FDD Frequency Division Duplex WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (IEEE 802.16)



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3.1.4.2 UL / DL Asymmetry and Others

The objectives of this section are to show how both FDD and TDD operation is enabled with the frame structures of the pervious sections and to list the special advantages and disadvantages of using TDD.

Key point of this section is that both FDD and TDD have their distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Image description• The picture is showing the other very important differences of FDD and TDD

operation: The different UL / DL symmetry and the new interference scenarios in TDD.

3.1.4.2.1 UL/DL symmetryThe FDD mode is using UL and DL in a symmetrical way. This means UL and DL use the same portion of bandwidth. TDD can adjust a different amount of slots to the DL than to the UL. This is allowing for asymmetrical usage of UL and DL resources for asymmetrical UL/DL traffic.

3.1.4.2.2 Interference scenariosUnfortunately the TDD advantage of the tunable UL/DL symmetry cannot be used freely because of the interference situation. Once in FDD the interference is only coming from eNB to UE and from UE to eNB and is thus following the ´normal signal flow, the interference in TDD can also be eNB – eNB interference and UE – UE interference. Since in-between two same network elements the mobile radio channel can be very good there is a very high potential of strong interference once the once cell is allocating UL to a slot and at the same time the neighbor cell is using DL.

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This interference situation is requiring to decouple the cells by means of radio network planning or very effective interference coordination. In a macro deployment it is very difficult to circumvent this problem.

3.1.4.2.3 TRX architectureFor TDD the TRX architecture is requiring a switch and FDD is using a filtering here. The switch is in general smaller and cheaper then the filter architecture.

3.1.4.2.4 Deployment in a given frequency bandOf course it is easier to deploy a TDD system in a given frequency band. FDD always needs a paired frequency band (one band for UL and another band for the DL). Thus TDD can also fit in unoccupied niches of the overall spectrum. However, in some case the interference problems described earlier will lead to challenging co-existence problems with neighboring systems.

[3GTS 36.211 (4.1, 4.2)]

Room for your Notes




CSI Channel State Information TRX Transmitter / Receiver





eNB Enhanced Node B


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3.1.4.3 Summary FDD vs. TDD

The objective of this section the advantages of TDD and FDD discussed in the previous 2 sections.

Key point of this section is that it depends on the deployment and service what duplex mode might be more suitable than the other.

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Since the details are already discussed in the pervious sections only the conclusion should be given here:

1. The usage of FDD and TDD in a given scenario should be well thought over.

2. It depends on what services / service mix the operator wants to offer and what deployment is suitable for the operators business case whether this or the other duplex mode is more favorable than the other.

Room for your Notes


DL Downlink TRX Transmitter / Receiver

FDD Frequency Division Duplex UE User Equipment

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) UL Uplink

MBSFN MBMS Single Frequency Network eNB Enhanced Node B



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3.2 The DL Physical Channels and their Frame Structures3.2.1 Allocation of DL Physical Channels to Resource Elements

The objective of this section is to show how the different DL physical channels are mapped on the resource elements in their frame structures.

Key point of this section is that size and position of the DL physical channels is highly flexible.

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Image description• The picture shows the allocation of the DL physical channels and signals on RB

and SC level.

• The picture shows the allocation for the case that normal CP is configured, the LTE carriers has only 6 RB’s, subchannel 0 is taken, that 3 OFDM symbols are configured for L1 signaling, and that only 1 PHICH is configured.

• The thick black lines are marking the boundaries of the RB and slots. They do not represent unused subcarriers.

In the following the allocation of the physical channels and physical signals is discussed according to their allocation priority. This means a physical channel or physical signal can only assume described positions once this position has not been claimed by physical channels and physical signals described before.

Room for your Notes


CP Cyclic Prefix PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel

DC Direct Current PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

DL Downlink PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) PHICH Physical HARQ Acknowledgement Indicator Channel

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) RB Resource Block


SC Subcarrier



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3.2.1.1 Not used subcarriersThe DC subcarriers are never used in DL. They are also not counted in the subcarrier numbering.

3.2.1.2 Primary Synchronization SignalThe Primary Synchronization Signal only exists on the last OFDM symbol on slots 0 and 10. In the other slots these OFDM symbols will be used for the PDSCH or PMCH. Note that this signal is only existing on the 6 middle RB’s of the LTE carrier and that the 5 outermost SC’s are reserved for this signal but not used.

3.2.1.3 Secondary Synchronization SignalHere the last but one OFDM symbol on slots 0 and 10 is used. Apart from that the same other rules apply as for the primary synchronization signal.

3.2.1.4 Pilot or Reference SignalThe reference signal is using subcarriers distributed in time and frequency in order to access the mobile radio channel completely. Please note that in formal operation the reference signal is belonging to the eNB and is not individual to the UE getting a packet on the regarded RB’s. In this case the number of pilot subcarriers assigned is varying with the number of antennas. It is also possible to assign the reference signals individual to the UE’s in the case of plain beam forming.

3.2.1.5 PBCHThe PBCH is taking OFDM symbols in the middle 6 RB’s of the LTE carrier at the beginning of slot 1. In the other RB’s and slots these symbols are claimed by the PDSCH or the PMCH.

3.2.1.6 PCFICHThe PCFICH is indicating how many OFDM symbols of the subframe are allocated to the PCFICH, the PHICH, and the PDCCH. This is only one PCFICH for subframe. There are 4 group of 4 SC which are equally distributed on the complete LTE subcarrier. The position of the PCFICH is depending on the cell ID and the bandwidth of the LTE carrier.

3.2.1.7 PHICHThe PHICH is clustered in groups of 2 or 4. 12 SC’s (3 groups of 4 SC’s each) of the PHICH group are distributed in the L1 signaling OFDM symbols of the subframe. More than 1 PHICH group can be configured. The exact allocation rules are not clear yet.

3.2.1.8 PDCCHThe PDCCH is using the SC’s and being not used by the PCFICH and the PHICH. More than 1 PDCCH can be configured.

3.2.1.9 PDSCH (and PMCH)

All the remaining subcarriers and symbols can be used by the PDSCH or PMCH.[3GTS 36.311 (6.3 - 6.9)]

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For all the control channels MIMO is not allowed and the PMCH. They might be transmitted with a single antenna or use TX diversity (not the PMCH). Only the PDSCH might be used with MIMO.

Question No 3: What is the reason for this restriction?

Room for your Notes



PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel

CP Cyclic Prefix PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel


DL Downlink PHICH Physical HARQ Acknowledgement Indicator Channel

ID Identity PMCH Physical Multicast Channel

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) RB Resource Block

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) SC Subcarrier


UE User Equipment

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel eNB Enhanced Node B


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3.2.2 System Information on PBCH and PDSCH

The objective of this section is to show the structure of the PBCH and the work split in between the PBCH and the PDSCH.

Key point of this section is that the PBCH is only carrying the MIB - other system information messages are transmitted on the PDSCH.

Image description• The picture shows the distribution of system information MIB, SIB, and SU on the

different physical cannels carrying the BCH.

3.2.2.1 Split of the BCH on the PBCH and the PDSCHThe PBCH is just carrying very limited information. The term MIB is reused from UMTS here. The MIB carries very basic information which is quite close to a physical layer signaling. It also indicates with the SFN the presence of the most important SU in the concerned frame. The MIB is transmitted very 40 ms.Once the SU-1 is present it is located at a fixed position in the frame. It is repeated every 80 ms and contains most important system information as cell and network specific codes and ID’s. It is as well scheduling other SU’s, SB’s, and SIB’s. In general the SU is containing more than one system information. It is grouping system information having the same periodicity for their transmission and can be thus transmitted together.

[3GTS 36.300 (7.4), 3GTS 36.331(5.1.1.2, 6.2.1)]

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Room for your Notes




BCH Broadcast Channel SB Scheduling Block

DL Downlink SFN System Frame Number

FFS For Further Study SIB System Information Block

ID Identity SU Scheduling Unit

MIB Management Information Base TA Tracking Area

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel TX Transmit

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System


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3.2.3 PCFICH, PDCCH, and PHICH

The objective of this section is to show the structure of the PCFICH, the PDCCH, and the PHICH.

Key point of this section is that with the physical control channels the functions of the HS-SCCH, the E-AGCH, the E-RGCH and the E-HICH in HSPA are followed.

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Image description• The picture shows what HSPA physical channels are replaced by the LTE

physical control channels and how the related information is transmitted.

3.2.3.1 The PCFICHSince the PDCCH is sharing the RB with the PDSCH it has to be communicated how much of the RB is taken for the PDCCH. This is done by the CFI’s transmitted on the PCFICH. The PCFICH is using 16 data subcarriers of the first OFDM symbol of the subframe. Their position is depending of cell ID and used bandwidth for the cell. Since the size of the PDCCH is depending on the signaling needs there are 3 different CFI values possible. They are signaling whether the first 1, 2, or 3 OFDM symbols are used of the subframe are used for the PDCCH. In case less then 10 RB's are used for the DL carrier the numbers are 2, 3, or 4.


ACK Acknowledgement MIMO Multiple In / Multiple Out (antenna system)

CFI Control Format Indicator NACK Negative Acknowledgement

DCI Downlink Control Indicator OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

DL Downlink PC Power Control

DPCCH Dedicated Physical Control Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)


E-AGCH E-DCH Absolute Grant Channel PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

E-HICH E-DCH HARQ Acknowledgement Indicator Channel (3GTS 25.211)


E-RGCH E-DCH Relative Grant Channel (3GTS 25.211)


HI HARQ Indicator RB Resource Block

HS-SCCH High Speed Shared Control Channel (3GTS 25.211, 25.214)



UE User Equipment

ID Identity UL Uplink



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3.2.3.2 The PDCCHThe PDCCH is transmitting the information about the resource allocation, the HARQ info, the transport format and implicitly the RNTI’s for the DL transmission. This has been taken care of by the HS-SCCH in HSDPA. Due to the advanced antenna technology there is also some additional information transmitted: the codebook entry and the transmission rank of the following DL packet. Here it is specified how the TX antenna system is used. This information is needed in order to detect the data packet in the UE.The PDCCH can also transmit the scheduling grant for the UL. Since no CDMA is used in LTE here the explicit resources have to be granted. Multiple UE’s cannot access the same subcarriers in an uncontrolled manner. In the UL it is possible to choose also the TX antenna to use. The scheduling grant has been managed by the E-AGCH and the E-RGCH in HSUPA.It is also possible to perform UL power control with the PDCCH. In this sense the PDCCH is also taking functions of the DPCCH of UMTS.Since the PDCCH has a lot of functions and not all of them are used at the same time it is obvious that the PDCCH is in need to be configured flexibly. The L1 signaling is done with DCI. These DCI’s can have 10 formats following the different functions: 1 format for UL scheduling, 5 formats for DL scheduling (no MIMO), 2 formats for DL scheduling (MIMO), and 2 formats for UL power control only.

3.2.3.3 The PHICHOnce the UE is transmitting data in the UL it will listen to the PHICH for the acknowledgements. This function is taken over from the E-HICH in HSPA.The several PHICH’s are forming a PHICH group using the same resource elements. With this group depending on the CP configuration and MBSFN usage 1,2, or 3 OFDM symbols will be configured by higher layers. The PHICH’s are spread using spreading factor of 2 or 4 depending on the CP configuration.Each HI (ACK or NACK) is repetition encoded in order to have 3bits on the physical layer

In order to prevent a hen and egg situation both the PCFICH and the PDCCH and the PHICH are restricted to single antenna transmission and TX diversity with 2 or 4 antennas – MIMO is not allowed.

[3GTS 36.211 (6), 3GTS 36.212 (5.3.3, 5.3.4, 5.3.5)]

Room for your Notes

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Room for your Notes




ACK Acknowledgement L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access LTE Negative Acknowledgement

CP Cyclic Prefix MBSFN MBMS Single Frequency Network

DCI Downlink Control Indicator MIMO Multiple In / Multiple Out (antenna system)

DL Downlink NACK Negative Acknowledgement



E-AGCH E-DCH Absolute Grant Channel PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel


PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel



HARQ Hybrid ARQ TX Transmit

HI HARQ Indicator UE User Equipment


UL Uplink





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3.2.4 The Downlink Processing Chain

The objective of this section is to illustrate the structure and use of the downlink processing chain.

Key point of this section is that for of the processing is already associated with the individual antennas.

Image description• This picture is showing the basic steps of the DL signal processing chain. In the

following the individual steps are described closer.

• The path of the second TB is shown as a dotted line.

3.2.4.1 Encoded transport block bitsThe encoded transport block bits are the input of the scrambler.

3.2.4.2 ScramblingScrambling is serving two purposes: Signal separation and signal randomization. Scrambling is done by XORing the input bits with a PN scrambling code. In order to ensure the separation of different signals in different cells different scrambling codes are applied in different cells. The scrambling code is also necessary to randomize long sequences of bits being the same (e.g. once a transport block is zero padded). These sequences can evoke very severe AM in the signals to be transmitted. Without a scrambler a very expensive RF would be required to deal with this AM.

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Room for your Notes


AM Acknowledged Mode operation MIMO Multiple In / Multiple Out (antenna system)

AM Amplitude Modulation OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

CDD Cyclic Delay Diversity PN Pseudo Noise

CP Cyclic Prefix RF Radio Frequency

DL Downlink TB Transport Block

IFFT Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation TX Transmit


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3.2.4.3 ModulatorIn the next step the bits are used in order to create complex modulated symbols according to the chosen modulation alphabet of this channel (QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM).

3.2.4.4 Layer MapperIn the layer mapper these modulated symbols are then demultiplexed to the different antennas. Form then on the modulated symbols are processed differently on different antennas.

3.2.4.5 PrecodingIn case smart antenna technology is applied the precoding is preparing the modulated symbols to give optimum performance in the given antenna system. There are several methods to do that: E.g. to apply beamforming coefficients in order to ensure optimum SIR in the receiver or to use CDD which is randomizing the phases of the transmitted signals – also for better quality in the receiver.

3.2.4.6 OFDM signal generationFor the OFDM signal generation the modulated and precoded symbols are finally mapped on the subcarriers of the OFDM signal. Possibly also reference or pilot symbols are inserted on selected carriers. In case of multiple antenna operation the pilot symbols are inserted differently for the different antennas. Later on these reference signals are allowing for channel estimation of the individual antennas’ CIR’s

3.2.4.7 CP and IFFTThe IFFT and the addition of the cyclic prefix are creating the final signal to be transmitted on each antenna.

[3GTS 36.211 (6.3)]

Room for your Notes

3



Room for your Notes



CP Cyclic Prefix


IFFT Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation



CDD Cyclic Delay Diversity QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

CIR Channel Impulse Response SIR Signal to Interference Ratio


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3.3 The UL Physical Channels and their Frame Structures3.3.1 Overview UL Physical Channels (RRC_CONNECTED)

The objective of this section is to show the conditions for the usage of the UL physical channels in RRC_CONNECTED mode.

Key points of this section are that the PUCCH only used once the PUSCH is not transmitted and that the PUSCH is also carrying L1 signaling data.

Image description• The picture shows in the top part the conditions when the UL physical channels

are used how.

• The picture shows in the bottom part what data is demultiplexed on the physical channels.

3.3.1.1 Scheduling Request (SR) on the PUCCHThere are special SR resources on the PUCCH. Here the UE can request to be scheduled UL data. In case an a DL transmission has to be acknowledged at the same time this will happen on the same resource. Otherwise the acknowledgement will be on the following resources:

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3.3.1.2 Small amount of L1 information on the PUCCHA UE will get some UL resources assigned semi statically for the PUCCH for other L1 signaling than SR. These resources can be used for acknowledging the DL TB’s, for transmitting CQI, PMI, RI and other DL feedback information. Since it is not transmitted once a PUSCH is transmitted it not not contain any further UL related information.

3.3.1.3 Big amount of L1 information on the PUSCHIn case a lot of CQI, PMI, and RI have to be transmitted this L1 information is transmitted on the PUSCH.

3.3.1.4 L1 information on the PUSCH multiplexed with the TrCH dataSince SC-FDMA is used only a single carrier signal is allowed which cannot be ensured once the UE would transmit on both the PUSCH and the PUCCH. Consequently, in case a PUSCH is transmitted for data it will also contain the L1 signaling which would elsewise have been transmitted on the PUCCH/PUSCH. Then the PUCCH is not in need to be transmitted. The L1 signaling information is distributed on the SC-FDMA symbols and follows the same modulation scheme as the other PUSCH data.

3.3.1.5 Sounding reference symbols PUSCH resourcesA similar issue is also valid for the transmission of the SRS. The SRS is used for a detailed assessment of the mobile radio channel. With the SRS the eNB can decide where best to allocate the UL resources and how the timing advance has to be set for this UE. In order to keep the single carrier guideline it can only be transmitted together with the PUSCH. Only 1 position is possible: the last symbol of the subframe.[3GTS 36.212 (5.4), 3GTS 36.212 (5.2.2.7), 3GTS 36.213 (7.2.2, 10)]




ACK Acknowledgement RI Rank Indicator

CQI Channel Quality Indicator RRC_CONNECTED

RRC state in E-UTRA

DL Downlink SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

eNB Enhanced Node B SR Scheduling Request

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access SRS Sounding Reference Symbol

HARQ Hybrid ARQ TB Transport Block

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) TrCH Transport Channel (UMTS)

NACK Negative Acknowledgement UE User Equipment

PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator UL Uplink



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3.3.2 Overview PUCCH

The objective of this section is to show that both possible uplink physical channels are using the same frame structure but that they differ how it is used.

Key point of this section is that the PUCCH is combining the functions of the HS-PDCCH and some functions of the E-DPCCH in HSPA.

Image description• The picture compares the physical channels in HSPA with the PUCCH.Since the PUCCH is not transmitted in presence of a PUSCH no L1 information regarding the transmitted UL TB’s is transmitted in the PUCCH.Like the PDCCH the PUCCH is tailored from the start to the use in LTE: This is why it is combining the function^s of two HSPA channels. However the function is also enhanced with respect to the HSPA usage. The information elements are grouped in UCI’s.

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For example not only one bit ACK/NACK can be transmitted but also two. The reason for this configuration is that the downlink can transmit two data streams with MIMO. Each data stream has it own TB. In case 4x4 antennas are used in the DL the number of TB’s stays with 2.Next to the CQI other parameters are transmitted. Here codebook entries creating a favorable receive performance in the UE’s receiver are transmitted as PMI as well as the TX rank (how many parallel data streams the UE can take). This information is – as in HSPA - not binding for the eNB. This is why the eNB has to transmit the chosen codebook entry and the TX rank in the PDCCH as well.Another function of the PUCCH is to transmit the scheduling request which is needed in order to get UL resources assigned for transmission. This function corresponds quite well to the Happy Bit in HSUPA.There is a dilemma with the PUCCH: Not all the functions and transmitted information is needed all the time this is why the PUCCH has 6 different format which are restring the use of the PUCCH.

[3GTS 36.211 (5.4), 3GTS 36.300 (5.2.3)]




ACK Acknowledgement PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

CQI Channel Quality Indicator PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator

DL Downlink PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

E-DPCCH Enhanced Uplink Dedicated Physical Control Channel (3GTS 25.211)


HS-DPCCH

High Speed Dedicated Physical Control Channel (3GTS 25.211)

TB Transport Block


TX Transmit


UCI Uplink Control Indicator

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) UE User Equipment



eNB Enhanced Node B


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3.3.3 PUCCH Mapping for ACK/NACK only and Scheduling Request

The objective of this section is to show how ACK’s, NACK’s and scheduling requests are transmitted on the PUCCH with slot formats 1(x).

Key point of this section is that for these 5 formats both CDMA and cyclically shifted Zadoff-Chu sequences are used to multiplex different UE’s to use the same UL resources for the PUCCH.

Image description• The picture visualizes the different 1(x) formats of the PUCCH.

• In the foreground the picture shown the normal CP configuration. Below the second slot the extended CP configuration is shown.

Since the PUCCH is using a single RB and waste of resources needs to be prevented, this single RB is in need to be shared in-between more than 1 UE. The following 3 methods help to achieve this goal.

3.3.3.1 Usage of Zadoff-Chu sequencesThere the 12 SC's on each SC-FDMA symbol are used in order to create a Zadoff-Chu sequence in the time domain. These symbols are modulated with information of the PUCCH.

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These sequences process almost ideal autocorrelation properties such that different UE can use the same sequence but with a different cyclic shift in the time domain. Then these UE have almost orthogonal signals.

Room for your Notes


ACK Acknowledgement RB Resource Block

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access SC Subcarrier

CP Cyclic Prefix SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access UE User Equipment

NACK Negative Acknowledgement UL Uplink



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3.3.3.2 Spreading of repeated data Zadoff-Chu symbolsIn order to improve the protection the modulated Zadoff-Chu sequences are repeated 3 or 4 times. In order to increase the number of UE's sharing these resources a spreading code overlays this repetition. Different UE's can then be separated by different spreading codes.

3.3.3.3 Spreading of reference Zadoff-Chu symbols2 or 3 reference Zadoff-Chu Symbols used for chanel estimation. These symbols are modulated according to a spreading code of SF 2 or 3. In order to allow different UE's to share these resources, again different spreading codes and cyclic shifts are assigned to different UE's.

3.3.3.3 PUCCH Format 1Format 1 is used to transmit SR's in absence of acknowledgements. It is not modulated. The presence of a Zadoff-Chu sequence on a certain resource is indicating a SR. This is why it can be combined with acknowledgements, but then it would be format 1a or format 1b. Like all the format 1(x) formats there are 3 reference symbols for the normal CP and 2 reference symbols for the extended CP.

3.3.3.4 PUCCH Formats 1a and 1bThe difference with respect to format 1 is that these two formats are modulated in order to convey an acknowledgement for 1 TB (1a) or and acknowledgement for 2 TB's (1b). In order to do so they are modulated with BPSK (1a) or with QPSK (1b).

3.3.3.5 Shortened PUCCH Formats 1a and 1bThese formats cut the last data symbol of the second slot in order to support the transmission of a SRS at this position. This is not possible for the extended CP.

3.3.3.6 Multiple access of the PUCCHIn theory 12 cyclic shifts can be used for the Zadoff-Chu sequences. The SF codes would allows for 4 different codes. However since there are only up to 3 symbols for the reference signals the number of spreading codes is limited to the number of reference symbols such that the theoretical maximum of simultaneous UE's would be 36 for the normal CP and 24 for the extended CP. Since this operation is vulnerable to long channel impulse responses usually 6 instead of 12 cyclic shifts are used only. This is reducing the amount of UE's to be served in parallel by 50 %.

Once the extended cyclic prefix is used for the UL there are 2 pilot symbols for a slot only. Compared to the normal cyclic prefix 1 symbol is missing (6 instead of 7 symbols).

[3GTS 36.211 (5.4)]

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Room for your Notes



SR Scheduling Request

BPSK Binary or Bipolar Phase Shift Keying SRS Sounding Reference Symbol

CP Cyclic Prefix TB Transport Block

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel UE User Equipment

SF Spreading Factor UL Uplink


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3.3.4 Shared usage of Resources with CAZAC Sequences

The objective of this section is to show how resources can be shared with CAZAC sequences (in LTE Zadoff-Chu sequences).

Key point of this section is that cyclic shifts combined with the good auto correlation features of the Zadoff-Chu sequences are allowing have more than one UE using the same physical resource.

Image description• The top part of the picture visualizes the features which make Zadoff-Chu

sequences CAZAC sequences.

• The bottom part of the picture shows how these features are used to allocate two or more UE’s on the same physical resource.

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3.3.4.1 Zadoff-Chu sequences are CAZAC sequencesCAZAC means Constant Amplitude Zero Auto-Correlation. These features are exhibited by Zadoff-Chu sequences being used in LTE. Consequently they have an almost constant amplitude over the complete symbol duration and their autocorrelation function is 1 at 0 and almost 0 everywhere else over the length of the useful part of the SC-FDMA symbol.

3.3.4.2 Separation of different UE’s with cyclic shifted Zadoff-Chu sequences.These features can be used in order to multiplex different UE’s using the same subcarriers e.g. on the PUCCH. This is done by applying different cyclic shifts to different UE’s. Please note that for the PUCCH there are 12 sub-symbols in the time domain for each SC-FDMA symbol. In the picture the sequence of UE 2 is cyclically shifted by 2 of these sub-symbols against the sequence of UE 1.Once both UE’s are transmitting on the same RB their signals superimpose at the eNB’s receiver.Then the eNB can run the cyclical cross-correlation of UE 1’s not shifted basic sequence with the received signal. Then there are correlation peaks corresponding to the CIR and modulation of the two UE’s in different windows of the cross correlation function. This output can either be used for channel estimation or for demodulation of the PUCCH messages. Since the CIR of the UE has to fit inside the windows the number of different UE’s which can be put on the same RB’s is limited by the expected CIR length.

Since for the PUCCH only 1 RB is used the limited bandwidth is allowing only two independent CIR samples to be measured in each of the 6 windows shown in the picture. Hence 6 UE’s can be separated by means of the usage of Zadoff-Chu sequences alone. For high data rate transmissions on the PUSCH more RB’s are used and hence a more exact channel estimation is possible.


CAZAC Constant Amplitude Zero Autocorrelation Code

RB Resource Block

CIR Channel Impulse Response RX Receive

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access


PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel eNB Enhanced Node B



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3.3.5 PUCCH mapping of CQI and other information

The objective of this section is to show how CQI and other information are transmitted on the PUCCH with format 2.

Key point of this section is by means of omitting the spreading and slot repetition used for the formats 0-1 20 bits can be transported on the PUCCH.

Image description• The picture visualizes the procedure of mapping CQI and other information on the

subframe of the PUCCH.

• In the foreground the picture shown the normal CP configuration. Below the second slot the extended CP configuration is shown.

3.3.5.1 PUCCH Format 2For the case that CQI and other information are in need to be transmitted more data rate than 1-2 bit per subframe is needed.This is why for format 2 on the PUCCH the individual Zadoff-Chu sequences are modulated individually with the QPSK symbols and the repetition of the slot as well as the spreading inside a slot are omitted. There is also no spreading for the pilots.The advantage of this scheme is that still the UL resources can be shared by different UE’s by means of applying different cyclic shifts on the Zadoff-Chu sequences of the data symbols and on the Zadoff-Chu sequences of the pilot symbols.

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Please note that there are two pilot symbols for slot format 2. This leaves 5 symbols per slot for the normal CP configuration. For the extended CP configuration there is one symbol less. Consequently there is only 1 pilot symbols to keep 5 symbols per slot for the extended CP configuration.

3.3.5.2 PUCCH Formats 2a and 2bThese formats allow to transmit an acknowledgement and a CQI together. Here the first pilot symbol is modulated according to BPSK and QPSK modulation needed to transmit 1 or 2 acknowledgements. Since there is only 1 reference symbol for the extended CP configuration these formats are only applicable for the normal CP configuration.

[3GTS 36.211 (5.4)]

Room for your Notes




CP Cyclic Prefix RB Resource Block

CQI Channel Quality Indicator UE User Equipment

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel UL Uplink


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3.3.6 The Uplink Processing Chain

The objective of this section is to illustrate the structure and use of the uplink processing chain.

Key point of this section is beginning and end of the UL processing chain is the same as for the DL processing chain.

Image description• As the picture above shows the UL signal processing chain is very similar to the

DL signal processing chain. With respect to the difference of OFDM and SC-FDMA there are only few differences. In the following the individual stages are revisited.

3.3.6.1 Transport block bitsThere is no difference with respect to the DL signal processing.

3.3.6.2 ScramblingThere is no difference with respect to the DL signal processing.

3.3.6.3 ModulatorThere is no difference with respect to the DL signal processing.

3.3.6.4 DFT pre-coderAccording to the number of allocated subcarriers the sequence of modulated symbols is segmented in block with the name number of symbols than the number of sub carriers. Then each segment is undergoing a DFT.

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3.3.6.5 Demultiplexing of signals other than dataAs explained before the pilots symbols, the PUCCH symbols, and the sounding reference symbols (SRS) are created separately in the frequency domain and do not follow the DFT. PUSCH, PUCCH, and SRS have their own power control and thus their own scaling factor. The pilot symbols are following the scaling of their physical channels. The PRACH is created different form the other physical channels and is not discussed here.

3.3.6.6 Resource element mapperAccording to the allocated subcarriers and the frequency hopping sequence the DFT transformed symbols are allocated on the subcarriers.

3.3.6.7 IFFTHere the modulated symbols are interpolated in the frequency domain. Some SC-FDMA symbols are prepared to transmit reference or sounding signals. Sounding signals are needed to test a wide range of UL spectrum. Once the eNB is receiving them is has valuable information on which carriers inside the eNB’s receive band there is a good opportunity to schedule the UE next.

3.3.6.7 CPThere is no difference with respect to the DL signal processing.

[3GTS 36.211 (5.3)]




CP Cyclic Prefix PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

DFT Discrete Fourier Transformation SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

DL Downlink SRS Sounding Reference Symbol

IFFT Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation UE User Equipment


UL Uplink

PRACH Physical Random Access Channel eNB Enhanced Node B


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3.4 Overview all Physical Channels

The objective of this section is to give an overview of the structure and channel coding of all physical channels.

Key point of this section is that especially in the DL several physical channels are sharing the subframes.

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Table description• The upper section of the table is describing the DL physical channels and the DL

physical signals where as the lower half of the table is doing the same for the UL.In the following the channels and signals are described closer which are not treated in very much details in the other sections of this book.

3.4.1 Special usage of the 6 RB around the DC carrierThese RB’s are shared in-between all DL physical channels and physical signals. In the first subframe the some symbols are dedicated to the PBCH. Please note here that the 2 last symbols of the 1st and 10th slot are used by the primary and secondary synchronization signal.






BCH Broadcast Channel PMCH Physical Multicast Channel

BPSK Binary or Bipolar Phase Shift Keying PRACH Physical Random Access Channel

CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

DC Direct Current PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

DL Downlink QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel RACH Random Access Channel

FFS For Further Study RB Resource Block

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

MCH Multicast Channel SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access




TrCH Transport Channel (UMTS)

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel UL Uplink



PCH Paging Channel XOR Exclusive-Or Logical Combination



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3.4.2 Multiplexing of the PCFICH, PDCCH and the PDSCH/PMCH in the normal DL subframe.In the normal DL subframe the PDSCH is used together with the PCFICH and the PDCCH. The first OFDM symbol is (partially) be used by the PCFICH. The PCFICH is indicating how big the PDCCH will be: Whether it uses 1, 2, or 3 (+1 each number in case of less than 10 RB's) first OFDM symbols of the DL sub frame. The remaining symbols of the OFDM subframe are used by the PDSCH. The PMCH can be treated in the same way as the PDSCH. The different is that it is used on one special antenna port for SFN transmissions only.

The PRACH isexplained in a later section.

3.4.3 Sounding reference signalThe sounding reference signal is requested by the UE once it is in need to access the UL channel in order to decide which resources to schedule to the regarded UE. Once the UE is performing regular UL transmission there is no need to have this sounding signal. This is why there will be a special procedure to schedule this signal to the UE. The sounding signal may be mapped on the last symbol of an UL subframe and it will likely be a broadband signal.

The PUCCH has been explained already in an earlier section.

3.4.4 Modulation of the physical channelsThe PDSCH, PMCH and the PUSCH are carrying payload thus they are able to carry QPSK, 16-QAM and 64-QAM. For the signaling channels mostly QPSK is used. The PUCCH is the only exemption.

3.4.5 Channel codingThe PDSCH, PMCH and the PUSCH are using turbo coding like in HSPA. For the signaling channels another approach than in UMTS has been taken. The signaling channels are only carrying few bits compared to the payload carrying channels. With the block sizes the tails bits for the convolutional encoding can take a significant portion of the overall input of the channel encoder. This is why in LTE tailbiting convolutional coding is used. This has the advantage that the tailbits are spared. As some DL signaling channels in HSPA the PDCCH is using as well a 16 bit CRC which is masked wit the 16 bit RNTI’s used for indication for which user the DL signaling is intended for. The PDCCH may also indicate which TX antenna the UE is supported to use (format 0). This will also be done using a CRC masking code.

Room for your Notes

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Room for your Notes






CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel




LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier




UE User Equipment

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel UL Uplink

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System


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3.5 Physical Layer Procedures

The objective of this section is to give an overview of the following physical layer procedures.

Timing advance control Here the way how timing advance control is performed and the way possible timing advance control commands are signaled should be covered.

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Channel estimationHere the differences of UL and Downlink channel estimation should be tackled. Especially how to achieve that individual channel estimation can be performed for the individual transmit antennas.

Power controlHere the way how power control is performed and the way possible power control commands are signaled should be covered.

MIMOHere the details of how the signals are prepared for MIMO transmission should be covered: the codebook, closed loop MIMO, and CDD. As well some background of MIMO technology should be given in order to achieve understanding of the applied methods.

Initial cell searchHere the detailed procedure of synchronizing on the primary synchronization signal, secondary, synchronization signal, and finally on the BCH should be described.

Random accessHere the details of the random access procedure should be given. Inter Cell Interference MitigationHere the way how the different cells are coordinating their interference in the network is described.[3GTS 36.211, 3GTS 36.213]

Room for your Notes




BCH Broadcast Channel UL Uplink

CDD Cyclic Delay Diversity


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3.5.1 Timing Advance Control

3.5.1.1 Principle

The objectives of this section are to show the principle operation of timing advance control in LTE and to state to what degree the time synchronization by means of timing advance control is in need to be maintained.

Key point of this section is that since LTE is a TDMA system like GSM TA like in GSM becomes necessary.

Image description• This picture is stating the basic synchronization requirements for OFDM and is

visualizing the behavior of the system in the synchronized and in the unsynchronized case.

In UTRA the downlink signals are synchronized to a 256 chip grid whereas the uplink signals are asynchronous amongst each other. This is a rather relaxed synchronization requirement.However in LTE, due to the special nature of the applied OFDM and SC-FDMA technology even tougher synchronization requirements have to be followed.

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Like in GSM there is the TDMA structure to be followed. This is requiring that the UL frames of all the UE’s are synchronized to the eNB’s timing grid. As well the usage of OFDMA and SC-FDMA technology is implying that signals for multiple UE’s are received or transmitted at the same time. In order to allow for a good separation of the signals for the different UE’s this is requiring that the cyclic prefixes are coinciding. For the downlink this is quite simple to implement because the eNB is aligning the CP’s of the signals for the different UE’s automatically.For the UL however this is more difficult to achieve. As shown in the picture once the UE’s CP’s are not arriving in a synchronous manner in the eNB the distortions caused by the changing symbol modulation in the CP interfere with the UE’s signals on the neighboring carriers. This inference will make a successful detection impossible. Only once the SC-FDMA symbols are synchronized such that their CP’s are co-inciding the interference is falling into the CP. Since the CP is not processed for the detection process it is not harmful in the synchronized case.

Room for your Notes


CP Cyclic Prefix TA Timing Advance

DL Downlink TDMA Time Division Multiple Access


UE User Equipment





eNB Enhanced Node B



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Like in GSM this synchronization is achieved by means of timing advance control. The UE has to apply a timing advance which is shifting the gird of the UL timing against the downlink grid of the DL at the UE. Since both the downlink needs a propagation delay to arrive at the UE’s position and the uplink needs a propagation delay τ as well to arrive at the eNB the uplink timing grid has to advance twice to propagation delay at the UE’s position to arrive in the eNB’s timing grid at the eNB’s position.The eNB is controlling the timing advance of the UE’s by means of timing advance control commands. In general the average CIR profile is controlled since the control algorithm is too slow to follow the instantaneous changes of the mobile radio channels propagation delay. Since the CP can have a length of only about 5 s the accuracy of the timing advance control has to be for sure better than 1 s. It has to be highlighted here the timing advance inaccuracy is shortening the maximum length of the channel impulse response tolerated by the system.It is open until now whether the timing advance control is an open or closed loop, and whether it is performed suing physical layer power control commands or using higher layer commands.

[3GTR 25.814 (9.1.2.6)]

Room for your Notes

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Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report GSM Global System for Mobile Communication

CIR Channel Impulse Response UE User Equipment

CP Cyclic Prefix UL Uplink

DL Downlink eNB Enhanced Node B


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3.5.1.2 Procedure

The objectives of this section are to show how in detail the timing advance control algorithms work.

Key point of this section is that the timing advance control is operating differently for the unsynchronized and the synchronized state.

Image description• This picture is showing the operation of TA control as a flow chart in the

unsynchronized and in the synchronized state.

3.5.1.2.1 TA while the UE is not synchronized to the eNBOnce the UE is not synchronized the UE will send a random access preamble until it gets a response from the network. After that the eNB will transmit a message with the TA. The length of the TA message and the physical channel the TA message will be transmitted is not clear now.In any case the granularity of the TA is 0.52 μs. This is 16 T(sample) which would correspond to the sampling grid of a 1.25 MHz carrier which is the smallest bandwidth discussed for LTE so far. 0.52 μs is corresponding to a distance of 75 m.

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This TA update is transmitted on the DL-SCH using a special LCID in the MAC-PDU header is reserved for the RACH message 2.

3.5.1.2.2 TA while the UE is synchronized to the eNBOnce the UE is in the synchronized state the eNB will listen to the physical channels being transmitted by the UE. It is not clear which physical channel can be listened to: PUCCH, PUSCH, or sounding signals. Once the UE has not transmitted something after a given time the eNB will ask the UE to issue a sounding signal. With the analysis of the sounding signal then the TA update can be determined.Once of the key differences to GSM TA update is that a TA update will only be performed once it is needed. This is typically the case every two seconds. Once the eNB is recognizing that the UE is not very mobile it will not issue a new TA very often. In case a TA update is needed the eNB will transmit a TA update relative to the old timing advance possibly on the PDCCH. This TA update is transmitted on the DL-SCH using a special LCID in the MAC-PDU header is reserved for timing advance transmissions.

Once an UL signal with a bandwidth of 1080 kHz (72 subcarriers) or more is transmitted the TA can be determined without interpolation techniques. Once the bandwidth is reduced to e.g. 1 resource block (180 kHz) then the TA can only be determined with a granularity comparable to GSM (5 s) and then interpolation techniques will have to be applied to come to a better resolution. Some mobile radio channels might then not support a reasonable TA performance any more.

[3GTR 25.814 (9.1.2.6), 3GTS 36.211 (8), 3GTS 36.213 (4.2.4), 3GTS 36.221 (6.2.1)]


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PDU Protocol Data Unit or Packet Data Unit




DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel RACH Random Access Channel


TA Timing Advance

LCID Logical Channel ID UE User Equipment


MAC Medium Access Control eNB Enhanced Node B




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3.5.2 Channel Estimation DL

3.5.2.1 Channel Estimation Principle of LTE

The objective of this section is to show the background and the necessity of channel estimation in LTE.

Key point of this section is that the mobile radio channel essentially behaves the same in multiple dimensions: frequency and time (space).

Image description

3.5.2.1.1 The description of the mobile radio channelIn OFDMA technology the mobile radio system is dimensioned that the mobile radio channel is flat on the individual subcarriers. This means that the mobile radio channels influence can simply be described by means of a multiplication with a complex number. This complex number is introducing distortions on the transmitted data symbol i.e. the amplitude and the phase of the received symbols are different than the amplitude and phase of the transmitted symbols. Once the mobile radio channel is known then this distortion can be undone by means of dividing by the estimated complex number.

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This picture is showing the basic behavior of the mobile radio channel. Since the mobile radio channel is changing with time and also with frequency selectively, the channel estimate is in need to cover these changes and also to provide a channel estimates for data symbols on subcarriers where there are no reference or pilot symbols transmitted.

Room for your Notes




CIR Channel Impulse Response OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

FFT Fast Fourier Transformation SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

IFFT Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation UE User Equipment



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3.5.2.1.2 Coping with a frequency selective mobile radio channelAt first the mobile radio channel is showing different behavior on different subcarrier. This means that the phase shift and attenuation of the mobile radio channel is different for different subcarriers. The background is that the CIR is creating a frequency selective mobile ratio channel. The longer the CIR the more frequency selectivity is created. The Fourier Transformation of the CIR is the subcarrier spectrum. In order to space possible pilots or reference signals on the subcarriers with the right spacing in-between each other the sampling theorem has to be adhered to in the frequency domain. This means that the pilot subcarrier spacing has to follow at least the following equation:

Δf(pilot)≤1/τ

With Δfpilot being the subcarrier spacing of the pilots and τ being the max. length of the CIR (note that for SFN the CIR is lengthening due to the big difference of distance of the eNB’s). Here the longer the CIR has to be expected the more dense the pilot signals have to be spaced.3.5.2.1.3 Coping with the time variance of the mobile radio channelSecondly the mobile radio channel is changing with time. This is mainly cased by the UE’s movements. Each movement is causing a small frequency shift being called Doppler shift. The maximum Doppler frequency is proportional to the velocity of the UE. In order to cover this, the pilots have also to be repeated from time to time in order to follow the time variations of the mobile radio channels. Mathematical speaking the inverse Fourier Transformation of the Doppler spectrum is giving the behavior over time of the individual subcarriers. For the right spacing of the pilots in time the following equation has to be adhered to in order to fulfill the sampling theorem in the time domain:

Δt(pilot)≤1/(2 f(d, max))=c/(2 f(c) v)

With Δt(pilot) being the time spacing of consecutive pilot symbols, f(D, max) being the maximum Doppler shift, c the speed of light v the velocity of the UE and f(c) the carrier frequency.Of course the time variance and frequency selectivity are working on the mobile radio channels independently from each other.

Room for your Notes

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Room for your Notes


CIR Channel Impulse Response UE User Equipment

SFN Single Frequency Network eNB Enhanced Node B


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3.5.2.2 Channel Estimation Downlink

The objective of this section is to show how the reference symbols are distributed in time and subcarrier space and how it is ensured that the signals from different TX antennas can be separated in the downlink.

Key point of this section is that the special arrangement of the pilot symbols is enabling the receiver to estimate the channel impulse response belonging to the individual transmit antennas.

Image description• The picture is focusing on the 15 kHz sub carrier spacing and is showing how the

pilot subcarriers are distributed.

3.5.2.2.1 Normal configuration with 4 TX antennasHere the pilot symbols have to enable the differentiation of 4 antennas. This is done by means of having exclusively reserved positions of pilot symbols for the individual antennas. If one antenna is transmitting on one subcarrier this subcarrier will not be used by the other antenna neither for pilot symbols nor for data symbols.

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This has the advantage that no interference is coming from the other antennas for the channel estimation of the regarded antenna. The disadvantage obviously is that the throughput to be transmitted for each antenna is suffering the more antennas are used. For the 3rd and the 4th antenna the pilot symbols are less dense in the time domain, because 4 antennas would lead to an extremely high data rate and this is only less likely to successfully happening with a high UE mobility. So the UE speed to be supported can be lower from the channel estimation point of view also.

3.5.2.2.2 Normal configuration with less than 4 TX antennasIf the above allocation would be used for less than 4 antennas (2 and 1 antenna) there would be some positions which are never used. In order to gain throughout these positions will be used for data symbols again.

3.5.2.2.3 Extended configuration with 15 kHz subcarrier spacingHere the difference is that there are only 6 OFDM symbols instead of the 7 symbols shown in the picture. The change here is that the symbols with the number 2 or 3 in the normal configuration is omitted.

3.5.2.2.4 Extended configuration with 15 kHz subcarrier spacing for MBSFNThis configuration is used for MBMS transmission combined with SFN only. Here the channel impulse responses can be very long. This is the reason why the pilots a more dense in the frequency domain. Since the MBMS services are expected to be associated with less mobility for the UE there are more OFDM symbols as for the other configurations.

3.5.2.2.5 Extended configuration with 7.5 kHz subcarrier spacing for MBSFNThis configuration is existing only in the DL – thus for broadcast operation.

As shown in the lower part of the picture, optionally the channel impulse response can be interpolated in-between the pilot symbols for equalizing the data symbols.

[3GTS 36.211 (6.10)]




DL Downlink TX Transmit


UE User Equipment

MBSFN MBMS Single Frequency Network kHz Kilo Hertz (103 Hertz)



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3.5.3 Power Control Principle (PUSCH)

The objective of this section is to show the principle operation of UL power control in LTE.

Key point of this section is that in LTE there is no clear distinction in-between open loop and closed loop power control. It is rather a matter of parameterization and implementation what scheme is followed.

Image description• This picture is visualizing the most likely setup of power control.Since the details of the PC standardization are not settled, this description is only of preliminary nature.

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The PC mechanism will be a mixture in-between open loop and closed loop power control. It will take both advantage of scheduling grants or corrections being sent on PDCCH (closed loop power control) and adjustment of the TX power according to a measured path loss in-between eNB and the UE (open loop power control). From time to time the eNB will adjust the parameters for the PUSCH power control.For a FDD system this scheme will result in a rather slow power control compared to UMTS because

1. Since UL and DL are different the path loss has to be averaged in order to get a reliable figure. This will make the algorithms slow.

2. Due to the packet nature of the complete traffic there will be a delay for the UL transmissions needed for the eNB to correct the UL power and the DL signals communicating the new power.

Since UL and DL are reciprocal in TDD it can be expected that PC control will happen faster than in FDD. In TDD for slow UE mobility there is no averaging for the path loss needed.

[3GTR 25.814 (7.1.2.5, 9.1.2.4), 3GTS 36.213 (5)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel


TB Transport Block

BCH Broadcast Channel TDD Time Division Duplex

DL Downlink TX Transmit

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel UE User Equipment



MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme eNB Enhanced Node B

PC Power Control


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3.5.4 Antenna Processing

3.5.4.1 The Transmission Diversity Problem

The objective of this section is to show the essential problem to be solved for successfully applying transmission diversity.

Key point of this section is the problem to be overcome by transmission diversity is that uncontrolled superimposition of the signals in the mobile radio channel leads to destructive superimposition at the receiver antennas.

Image description• The left side of the picture is showing the receive diversity case: one transmission

antenna is received by two receive antennas. It is shown how the mobile radio channels are altering the pilot signals.

• The right side of the picture is showing a bad example for transmit diversity: two transmission antennas are received by a single receive antenna. It is shown how the mobile radio channels are altering the pilot signals.

3.5.4.1.1 Receive diversityWith receive diversity the not modulated carrier (pilot) is altered in amplitude and rotated differently by the two mobile radio channels. Since two signals are arriving at the receiver the receiver can rotate them back and add them up such that they superimpose constructively in the receiver. Here the receiver has to control about the superimposition. This controlled superimposition is also called maximum ration combining.

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3.5.4.1.2 Unsuccessful transmit diversityOnce the transmitter is just plainly transmitting the same signal on two antennas, there are two mobile radio channels towards the same receive antenna. Once this scheme would be applied the receiver would not know how the mobile radio channels have alerted the amplitude and rotated the phase. The data subcarrier will arrive with an uncontrolled superimposition created at the received antenna. Here it is not possible for the receiver to intervene. This random superimposition is of same nature as the fading in the fading channel. Effectively this scheme would create very unpleasant fast fading even for a LoS channel.

Consequently the key problem with transmit diversity is how to deal with the controlled superimposition on the mobile radio channel.

Room for your Notes


RX Recieve


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3.5.4.2 AAS in LTE

The objective of this section is to how the transmission diversity problem is solved by AAS.

Key point of this section is that the UE is measuring the responses of the mobile radio channel and is informing the eNB. Then the eNB can exploit this knowledge.

Image description• The picture is showing the AAS case: two transmission antennas are received by

one receive antenna. It is shown how the mobile radio channels are altering the pilot signals.

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Here the eNB is transmitting pilot subcarriers. These pilots are analyzed by the UE. The key issue here is that one antennas is transmitting its pilot subcarriers where the other antenna is silent. Then the UE can determine each antennas mobile radio channel exactly. Then the UE determines how the data signal should be rotated in the transmitter such that they are superimposing constructively at the antenna of the receiver. This knowledge is signaled in FDD systems to the eNB. Then the eNB can apply the beamforming weights to the data subcarriers whilst leaving the pilot subcarriers unchanged.

For TDD systems no signaling is necessary the eNB can just analyze the uplink signal and apply the reciprocity of the mobile radio channel in order to get the right beamforming coefficients.

Once the UE moved too fast (10 – 20 km/h) then the signaling is too slow to follow the changes of the mobile radio channel. Then AAS will not work with high performance in the DL any more. UL AAS will still be possible.

Since the transmit antennas are only half a wavelength apart from each other they are not independent form each other. Consequently only beamforming gain but no diversity gain can be exploited.

[3GTS 36.211 (6.3.4)]

Room for your Notes



FDD Frequency Division Duplex eNB Enhanced Node B



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3.5.4.2.1 Practical Exercise: Draw the Antenna Diagram of AAS

The objective of this section is to enable the students to understand how the directional antenna diagram of AAS works.

Image Description• This picture shows the situation that 2 antennas are spaced with a distance d

being half a wavelength.

• The top part of the picture shows the geometry of the antenna system. It shows how to calculate for a direction α the difference in path length of the two antennas (Δp). Once the path length is differing by a wavelength then the phase difference β in-between two paths is 360 degree. The table next to the top drawing leads to the phase differences β fitting to some directions α.

• The middle section of the picture is adding up the 2 antennas’ phasors such that amplitude and power of the sum-phasor can be determined and filled into the table next to the middle picture.

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• The lower part of the picture gives the antenna diagram of the two antennas together. On the lobes we can see later on from the distance to the origin of the coordinate system how much power is radiated in what direction α. This picture is using polar coordinates.

Your tasks:

1. At first the vector addition of the two antenna phasors is performed inside the middle drawing. In order to do this it is assumed that the antenna weights are 1 for both antennas. The path of the antenna two can be longer than the path of antenna 1. This leads to the fact that both antenna phasors do not add up with the same phase. The first phasor (belonging to the first antenna) is always the same. Whilst the second phasor has to be added up with the angle β calculated before. For each angle b draw a second phasor and connect beginning of the first phase with the end of the second phasor. This is already done for β equals 0 degree.

2. Measure the lengths of the sum vectors with a ruler and enter the measured amplitude in cm in the table next to the drawing.

3. Square the amplitude value and enter the resulting power in the power column of the table.

4. For the lower drawing there are already rays with the angle α given in 15 degree grid. For each of the rays with angle α draw a vector on the ray having the length of the power (in cm) calculated before. If you like calculate the value for 15 degree. Finally connect the tips of the vectors to a lobe.

5. Think about how the antenna diagram will look like for a complete 360 degree circle of α.

6. How many lobes the antenna diagram would have for a distance of d = 10 λ.

Answer: __ lobes.

Room for your Notes


AAS Adaptive Antenna Systems


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3.5.4.3 CDD

The objective of this section is to how the transmission diversity problem is solved by CDD.

Key points of this section are that the two antennas signals can be resolved once they are transmitted with a delay against each other and that this is enabling MIMO to work in an open loop fashion.

Image description• The picture is showing the CDD case: two transmission antennas are received by

one receive antenna. It is shown how the UE can resolve the two signals.

3.5.4.3.1 Delay diversityFor UMTS the Node B is transmitting the two antennas signals with a delay which could last for several samples. For the UE this seems like it received two independent paths which can be resolved by the rake receiver. In a way the space diversity at the individual antennas is transformed into multiple path diversity in the receiver.

3.5.4.3.2 Cyclic delay diversityIn OFDM systems CDD is used. Before the CP is applied the useful part of the symbol is cyclically shifted. This means the parts of the delayed signal which would be outside the useful symbol will be reintroduced at the beginning. Finally the CP is applied.

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With CDD a very big shift can be implemented such that the performance can almost reach the performance of 2 way diversity with receive diversity. In a way the space diversity at the individual antennas is transformed into frequency diversity in the receiver. However, since multiple path propagation on its own is leading to inter symbol interference and frequency selective fading there are performance penalties.

3.5.4.3.3 Cyclic delay diversity and MIMOThe key application area of CDD is that it can be used once close loop MIMO is not working any more. Then MIMO work with less performance in an open loop fashion. This will enable to provide a big throughput gain wherever there is a strong channel with a bad condition of the channel matrix.

[3GTS 36.211 (6.3.4.2.1, 6.3.4.2.2)]

Room for your Notes



RF Radio Frequency

CDD Cyclic Delay Diversity UE User Equipment

CP Cyclic Prefix UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System



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3.5.4.4 SFBC

The objective of this section is to how the transmission diversity problem is solved by SFBC.

Key point of this section is that the eNB is transmitting 2 subcarriers with different order and according to a different code on the 2 transmit antennas.

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Image description• The picture is showing the SFBC case: two transmission antennas are received

by one receive antenna. It is shown how the mobile radio channels and the SFBC are altering the constellation diagrams of BPSK modulated signals.

3.5.4.4.1 Space Frequency Block CodesWith SFBC the signals on two subcarriers from the same OFDM symbol are transmitted with different orders and altered differently on the different transmission antennas. The result is that the two symbols look like a higher order modulation scheme at each of the receive antennas.The SFBC decoder is able to reconstruct the two subcarrier signals completely regardless how they superimposed on the mobile radio channel.[3GTS 36.211 (6.3.3.3, 6.3.4.3)]

3.5.4.4.2 Space Time Block CodesSTBC are applying the same codes by to symbols at different times instead of subcarriers on different frequencies. STBC’s are not used in LTE. However STBC is used in UMTS for BCCH transmission.

STBC and SFBC for two antennas can apply 2-way transmit diversity. They are existing only since 1998. There is no SFBC (STBC) for N>2 antennas which is able to provide N-way diversity.

SFBC and STBC on their own are not suitable to double the peak throughput. They only improve the receiver performance.



SFBC Space Frequency Block Codes

BPSK Binary or Bipolar Phase Shift Keying STBC Space Time Block Coding




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3.5.4.5 MIMO

The objective of this section is to how the MIMO signals are propagating through the system.

Key point of this section is that the data rate can be enhanced by using multiple antennas in the eNB and in the UE.

Image description• The picture is showing the MIMO case: two transmission antennas are received

by two receive antennas. It is shown how the mobile radio channels are altering the signals and how the equalizer in the UE is able to separate the signals again. For an easier understanding this picture assumes that the mobile radio channels which go over cross are much weaker than the direct mobile radio channels.

MIMO is applying different data streams on different transmission antennas. Once the UE is having multiple antennas to receive these signals then the UE is able to separate the data stream again by using an equalizer. In order to increase the data rate by N times both the eNB and the UE need to have at least N antennas.

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In order to prepare the equalizer the UE needs to estimate all the mobile radio channels created by every combination of TX and RX antenna. In this example this would be 4 channel estimations. [3GTS 36.211 (6.3.3.2, 6.3.4)]

3.5.4.5.1 MIMO and AAS combined = multiple rank beamformingLTE is combining MIMO with AAS then each data stream can be beamformed using all TX antennas. Since for MIMO the TX antennas are very distant form each other in order give good performance no distinct beans as in the original AAS will be formed. The rank of the transmission describes how many data streams are transmitted together. If multiple rank beamforming is applied the UE has to feedback to the eNB what set of beamforming weights has to be applied.

3.5.4.5.2 When MIMO failsThe performance of MIMO is strongly dependent on the instantaneous combination of the mobile radio channels. It could be that the individual mobile radio channels are excellent but that MIMO fails nevertheless. In this case the equalizer is not able to process ambiguous signals and is creating a lot of noise. The following measures are used in order to reduce the probability of failure:

1. The TX and RX antennas are placed far enough to create a decorrelated behavior: eNB several wave lengths and UE about half a wavelength.

2. MIMO should be applied in the presence of multiple path propagation.3. The UE is giving feedback to the eNB that the rank of the MIMO

transmission has to be reduced. In the extreme case the eNB is switching back to simple AAS or SBFC.

Room for your Notes



RX Receive

AAS Adaptive Antenna Systems TX Transmit



eNB Enhanced Node B


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3.5.4.6 The Codebook

The objective of this section is to how the UE and eNB are communicating about the best set of beamforming weights for AAS and MIMO.

Key point of this section is that the UE is just providing the number of to be transmitted streams and the number of the set of beamforming weights according to a codebook.

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Image description• The picture is showing basic use of the codebook for LTE and the codebook

entries for simple AAS in detail.

3.5.4.6.1 Optimum beamforming weightsThe optimum set of beamforming weights for the case that the receiver has just 1 antenna is a set of weights which is maximizing the SIR at this receive antenna. Mathematically speaking this is the solution of a generalized Eigenvalue problem. Once for MIMO multiple data streams are transmitted each received antenna will have a set of optimum weights which is applicable to all the data streams. The task here is that the best combination of weight sets has to be found which is separating as much as possible the different data streams at the receive antennas already. This is leading to a generalized Eigenvalue problem taking the transmission of the other data stream as interference. The exact treatment of these problems would go far beyond the scope of this training. The reason why the mathematical terms are mentioned here is to illustrate two problems:

1. It will take a very big computational effort to determine the optimum sets of beamforming weights for each data stream

2. To signal these sets will consume a very big data rate.

3.5.4.6.2 Signaling of sub-optimum beamforming weightsFor this reasons both eNB and UE have a codebook which will contain the codes to be used during the AAS and the MIMO operation. Then the UE only needs to signal the code number and the number of data streams it can take. This is reducing the signaling load.Another advantage is that now the UE does not need to calculate (backward) the optimum sets of beamforming weights. It will just take the entries of the codebook to calculate (forward) the SIR’s of the codebook entries and the different numbers of dada streams. This is requiring a lot less computational effort.Then the UE will select the number of data streams and the number of the codebook entry and transmit it to the eNB. Of course the result will be not optimum but it is a good compromise in-between good performance, high data rate, and low signaling effort.

[3GTS 36.211 (6.3.4.2.3)]



SIR Signal to Interference Ratio





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3.5.5 Initial Cell Search

3.5.5.1 Primary and Secondary Synchronization Signals

The objective of this section this section is to provide the details and the function of the primary sand secondary synchronization signals.

Key point of this section is primary and secondary synchronization signals are used similar to UMTS but the details are differing a lot.

Image description• This picture is showing how the primary and secondary synchronization signals

are fitted on the DL carrier and on the DL frame together with the PBCH. As well their structure inside their OFDM symbol is shown.

The primary and secondary synchronization signals a located together with the PBCH (carriers the BCH) on the 72 subcarriers around the DC subcarrier of every LTE carrier. Thus they occupy a bandwidth of 1080 kHz.On the 72 carrier the normal 10 ms radio frame with its 20 slots is mapped. The primary synchronization signal is the last OFDM symbol on slot 0 and on slot 10. The secondary synchronization signal is located on the same slots as the primary synchronization signal but is transmitted one symbol earlier.

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Presumably the rest of the symbols of these 72 subcarriers are occupied by the PBCH with holds the BCH and thus partly the BCCH.The Primary and Secondary Synchronization signal are governing the synchronization process.The time grid of modulation on these signals is 0.52 s which is 16 times the LTE sampling frequency. This grid is the same as for the TA algorithm.Sequences and codes for these signals are still discussed in the standardization bodies. The primary synchronization sequence will have 3 sequences and it is likely that the secondary synchronization signal will have 336 different sequences.There are 504 = 3 * 168 L1 cell ID’s in the LTE system they are grouped in 168 groups of 3 ID’s each. The members of the group are distinguished by the P-SCH and the groups are distinguished by the Secondary Synchronization Signal. The Secondary Synchronization Signal is transmitted twice per radio frame 336 = 2 * 168 sequences are needed in order to distinguish finally the radio frame and the L1 cell ID’s.

[3GTR 25.814 (7.1.2.4), 3GTS 36.211 (6.11), 3GTS 36.213 (4)]

Room for your Notes





BCCH Broadcast Control Channel PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel


CP Cyclic Prefix PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel


DL Downlink TA Timing Advance

ID Identity UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) kHz Kilo Hertz (103 Hertz)


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3.5.5.2 Procedure

The objective of this section is to show how primary and secondary synchronization signal are used together with the BCH in order to achieve perform initial cell search.

Key point of this section is that the sequence of events for the initial cell search is exactly the same as for UMTS.

Image description• On the boxes of this picture the flow of events is shown.

• The right of the boxes there is a description of what information the UE knows once it has completed the individual steps successfully.

The initial cell search begins with the UE being switched on. Soon after that the USIM card will issue a cell search request. At this time the UE does not know anything about the cells around it and it begins to look for strong cells in the DL band. Once it has found a good candidate with strong 72 carriers looking like they might carry the synchronization sequences and the BCH it has performed rough frequency synchronization already.The UE will look for the Primary Synchronization Signal. Once it has found it, it knows the exact carrier frequency and the timing of the slot 0 or 10. At this point the UE might already have a few hints regarding the CP configuration. It will also have performed the first step to find the L1 cell ID of that cell. Each of the 3 Primary Synchronization Signal sequences is linked to one group member of the 168 different L1 cell ID groups.

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The next step would be to detect the Secondary Synchronization Signal. The Secondary Synchronization Signal is transmitted 1 OFDM symbol before the Primary Synchronization Signal. Once the Secondary Synchronization Signal is detected the radio frame and the L1 cell ID are perfectly known. As well the UE now knows the CP configuration exactly.Then the UE is ready to read the BCH to get the master information block. This will inform the UE about the SFN, the antenna configuration and the DL bandwidth of that cell. Then the UE will read the SIB 1 and will know the PLMN ID and other valuable system information on the BCCH.Once the PLMN ID is suiting the USIM cards needs the UE will register in the cell.[3GTR 25.814 (7.1.2.4), 3GTS 36.211 (6.11), 3GTS 36.213 (4)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)



BCCH Broadcast Control Channel PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

BCH Broadcast Channel SFN System Frame Number

CP Cyclic Prefix SIB System Information Block


DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

ID Identity USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module


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3.5.6 Random Access

3.5.6.1 PRACH Structure Format 0

The objective of this section is to introduce the structure of the PRACH.

Key point of this section is the PRACH can be configured freely on frequency and subframe in the UL carrier and in the UL frame structure.

Image description• This picture is showing how the PRACH is fitted on the UL carrier and on the UL

frame. As well the PRACH structure inside the subframe is shown.72 consecutive subcarriers (1080 kHz) are used for the PRACH. This means that the PRACH is fitting on the smallest discussed bandwidth for LTE.The PRACH can be configured any of the 10 subframes on the given 72 subcarriers.

Inside the PRACH there is a long Zadoff-Chu sequence which is occupying 800 s of the PRACH subframe. This RACH preamble is created in the frequency domain. In the time domain then a cyclic shift may be applied and a CP is added.The detection grid of the PRACH is 16 T(sample) being the same grid applied for the TA control algorithm.The UE is transmitting the PRACH with 0 TA.The guard time at the end of the PRACH is allowing for an interference free reception of the PRACH at the eNB up to a cell radius of 14.6 km. Once the distance in-between the UE and the eNB is exceeding that distance interference in the following subframe has to be expected. However since the PRACH preamble is very long and the interference is the lower the bigger the cells become the inference is tolerable.[3GTS 36.211 (5.7), 3GTS 36.213 (6), 3GTS 36.300 (10.1.5)]

There are other PRACH structure formats defined for bigger cells and for TD-SCDMA harmonized LTE. Those are not discussed in the LTE from A-Z scope.

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Room for your Notes



TA Terminal Adapter (ISDN)

CP Cyclic Prefix TD-SCDMA

Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access


PRACH Physical Random Access Channel UL Uplink

RACH Random Access Channel eNB Enhanced Node B


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3.5.6.2 Random Access Procedure

The objective of this section is to how the PRACH is used in the random access procedure.

Key point of this section is that the random access response and the random access message are transmitted on ordinary physical channels.

Image description• This picture is visualizing the random access procedure.At the beginning of the random access procedure the UE has to be informed about the parameters and the location of the PRACH. Then – like in UMTS – it will choose randomly in-between the root sequences and their cyclically shifted versions and will transmit each time according to a power ramping procedure until it gets a response from the eNB. Unlike in UMTS the eNB does not have an AICH. It will respond on the DL-SCH (on PDSCH) using a RA-RNTI and will provide sequence number, TA and the allocated resources on the PUSCH and the UE will respond on the ordinary PUSCH with the random access message. Consequently the RACH messages are scheduled almost like the normal UL packets and no special physical channels are used for the RACH messaging.

[3GTS 36.213 (6)]

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Room for your Notes




AICH Acquisition Indicator Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)



RA Routing Area

CCCH Common Control Channel RA-RNTI Random Access - Radio Network Temporary Identifier

DL Downlink RACH Random Access Channel

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

eNB Enhanced Node B TA Timing Advance


L2 Layer 2 (data link layer) UL Uplink

L3 Layer 3 (network layer) UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel ZC Zadoff-Chu


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3.5.7 Inter Cell Interference Mitigation

3.5.7.1 Traditional frequency reuse in LTE

The objective of this section is to show what are the potential problems with traditional frequency reuse schemes in LTE.

Key point of this section is that with traditional frequency reuse schemes the network performance is either lower because a high frequency reuse has to be applied or lower than it could be once a frequency reuse of 1 is applied.

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Image description• This picture is visualizing the concept and performance for various frequency

reuse situations.

• The pictures show TX power levels, load, IoT and TX power for the different cells the UE’s are shown in form of dots with colors depending on their frequencies.

• Only two cells and two frequencies are shown only in order to ease the understanding.

3.5.7.1.1 Frequency reuse bigger than 1This case is the most traditional frequency reuse scheme. In this case there are some carriers which are not used within a given cell. By means of not using these carriers in some cells and using them in some other cells interference in-between the different cells is avoided. However the utilization of the carriers is restricted and the spectrum efficiency is low. In OFDM systems there is the possibility to apply this reuse not only on the OFDM carriers but also on the OFDM subcarriers.

3.5.7.1.2 Frequency reuse 1 with low initial loadWith a frequency reuse of 1 it is possible to reuse all the OFDM carriers (subcarriers) within all cells. Once the load of the cells is low there is no interference problem.

3.5.7.1.3 Frequency reuse 1 strongly increased loadOnce suddenly the load of the network is increased the interference (IoT) rises beyond the critical level. As a consequence there is a very high TX power in the cells in order to compensate for this high IoT. This behavior is called party.

3.5.7.1.4 Frequency reuse 1 after “the party”Only a few UE’s can transmit strong enough to combat the interference. The others will lose their radio link. Finally the IoT level normalizes but there are only very few UE’s left. This behavior is very unfavorable and needs to be combated with a strict limitation of the cells load towards a comparatively low level.In the OFDM case no CDMA technology available on the subcarriers. The subcarriers will interfere amongst each other in the same way as narrowband systems will do. Consequently a high reuse factor should be applied. To solve this dilemma interference coordination is the method of choice for LTE.


CDMA Code Division Multiple Access OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

IoT Interference over Thermal noise TX Transmit



3


3.5.7.2 Fractional Frequency Reuse with Intercell Interference Coordination.

The objective of this section is to show how a tight frequency reuse can be achieved with intercell interference coordination.

Key point of this section is that intercell interference coordination the LTE system is exchanging load and interference levels and is coordinating the TX power in the network and can thus avoid from bad interference scenarios to happen.

Image description• This picture is visualizing the concept and performance of intercell interference

coordination.

• The pictures show TX power levels, load, IoT and TX power for the different cells the UE’s are shown in form of dots with colors depending on their frequencies.

• Two cells and two frequencies are shown only in order to ease the understanding.Compared to the situation in the last section the two cells are using the X2 interface in order to exchange the load and the IoT values for the two sections of their OFDM carrier they are using. The orange and green subcarriers of their OFDM carrier are used in a fractional frequency reuse. This fractional frequency reuse is using sections with a lower TX power than other sections. This has the consequences that this lower TX power section can only be used for UE’s which are close to the eNB. Since there should always be UE’s being closer and more far from the eNB this is not a big restriction.

3



Thus, the coordination of the TX power in-between the eNB’s such that adjacent cells are not using the same subcarriers with high TX power is allowing both cells to use the complete OFDM carrier and enjoy a high spectral efficiency at the same time.This system is especially advantageous for the UE’s at the cell boundaries. The fractional frequency reuse is allowing them to have both a more secure radio link and a higher throughput at the same time.

[3GTR 25.814 (7.1.2.6.3, 9.1.2.7.1), 3GTS 36.300 (16.1.5)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing


TX Transmit

IoT Interference over Thermal noise UE User Equipment



3


3.6 UE Classes3.6.1 Overview

The objective of this section is to give an overview of the UE classes used in LTE.

Key point of this section is that LTE is using significantly less UE classes than HSPA.

Table description• This tables relates the UE classed to the number of MIMO stream, the number of

RB’s and the peak data rates in UL and DL.

3.6.1.1 Classes 1-4UE class 1 is the basic UE class. Here the data rates are comparable with typical HSPA UE’s. On contrast to the UE classes 2-4 the codes rate never reaches 1 for UE class 1. UE class 5 is limited to 5 MHz and this class is not capable to perform MIMO. UE classes 2-4 are able process 2 MIMO streams this is the expected limit for the first implementations.

3



Please keep in mind that even though some UE categories do not support a 20 MHz allocation all the UE categories have to have a RF frontend of 20 MHz in order to receive their allocation anywhere the eNB would like to schedule it.

3.6.1.2 UE class 5For later implementations there is a UE class defined to have up to 4 MIMO streams and which is also using 64-QAM in the UL.

Room for your Notes




DL Downlink QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

eNB Enhanced Node B RB Resource Block


RF Radio Frequency


MHz Mega Hertz (106 Hertz) UL Uplink


3


3.6.2 Calculation of the DL Peak Throughput for LTE UE Class 5

The objective of this section is to give the detailed calculation of the UE class 5’s DL max. throughput.

Key point of this section is that all UE categories have to assume 4 TX antennas to be used..

Detailed Version:According the previous section the max throughput for UE classes 4 is 299.6 Mbit/s in the DL. This is assuming 4 data streams used with 4x4 antennas on 100 resource blocks.

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Since for all UE categories 4 TX antennas have to be assumed pilot sub carriers for 4 antennas have to be assumed. The normal CP configuration is assumed such that there are 14 OFDM symbols in a subframe. A resource block (RB) has 12 subcarriers as shown.

Now the number of data symbols on a RB for a complete subframe has to be calculated.There are 6 OFDM symbols with 8 data subcarriers (these carry pilot subcarriers on 4 subcarriers) and 8 OFDM symbols with 12 data subcarriers (these carry no pilot subcarriers).

So the number of data symbols is 8x12 + 6x8 = 144. If it is assumed that in each subframe the first OFDM symbol (8 data subcarriers) is used for signaling, 136 data symbols are left.

With 64-QAM there are 6 bit per symbol: This provides 6x136 bit = 816 bit per subframe.

For 100 RB’s each TB can have 100x816 = 81600 bit on L1. For these bits turbo coding with a max code rate of 92 % is assumed. This gives 74888 bit.

Please note that no UE is obliged to be able to decode a TB once the code rate is bigger than 92%. in tis case the outcome is undefined!

Once 2 data streams per TB are assumed 149776 bit per transport block are available. There are 1000 subframes per second with 2 TB's in parallel such that the throughput can be calculated as:

149776 bit x2x 1000/s = 299.6 Mbit/s

Please note that up to 110 RB's can be assigned to ease the the channel decoding at a lower code rate. These 10 access RB's cannot be used to increase the throughput beyond 299.6 Mbit/s.




BCCH Broadcast Control Channel OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

CP Cyclic Prefix RB Resource Block




3



3



Chapter 4:The Higher Layers of E-UTRAN


• What are the tasks of the higher layer protocol entities and functions of the enhanced node B: MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC?

• What is the structure of the protocol entities PDU’s?

• What are the used concepts for mobility in LTE?

• What is changing for QoS and security in LTE?

The Higher Layers of E-UTRAN

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4.1 Overview4.1.1 E-UTRAN Architecture Control Plane

The objectives of this section are to show the evolution of the UTRAN architecture to the E-UTRAN architecture and to highlight the degree of protocol modifications for the control plane.

Key point of this section is that quite significant parts of the protocols and concepts in the higher layer domain are retained for LTE.

Image description• This picture is visualizing the degree of change in-between UMTS and LTE on the

control plane. The stronger red the items are the stronger the change.The NAS signaling new because of the new core in LTE.

For the RRC both the new air interface and the new network architecture have to be supported. This is why most of it is new even though vital concepts are taken over from UMTS.

The PDCP is new for the control plane. This change is due to the introduction of ciphering in the PDCP.


4


RLC is staying mostly intact even though some functionality like ciphering is elsewhere now. The most significant change the of the RLC is the RLC PDU size is variable.The MAC has changed a lot because with the new air interface the chance has taken to tailor the MAC from the start to the needs of a PS-only environment.

L1 and transport channels used are totally new.

On the transport plane the S1-AP is new. The other parts of the transport plane are also run like this in UMTS.

[3GTR 25.813, 3GTS 36.300]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PS Packet Switched

3GTS 3rd Generation Technical Specification RLC Radio Link Control



IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) RRM Radio Resource Management

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) S1-AP S1 Application Part

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol (RFC 2960)

MAC Medium Access Control SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy



NAS Non-Access-Stratum UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

PDH Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy eNB Enhanced Node B


4


4.1.2 E-UTRAN Architecture User Plane

The objectives of this section are to show the evolution of the UTRAN architecture to the E-UTRAN architecture and to highlight the degree of protocol modifications for the user plane.

Key point of this section is that quite significant part of the protocols and concepts in the higher layer domain are retained for LTE.

Image description• This picture is visualizing the degree of change in-between UMTS and LTE on the

user plane. The stronger red the items are the stronger the change.For the user plane there is the same picture as in the control plane with the following exemptions:

The PDCP has been included in the user plane already in UMTS - even though the ciphering is changing from the RLC/MAC to the PDCP.

It is new that the GTP-U is terminated in the eNB.

[3GTR 25.813, 3GTS 36.300]


4


Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PDP Packet Data Protocol




DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel RLC Radio Link Control



GTP-U GTP User Plane SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

GW Gateway UDP User Datagram Protocol (RFC 768)


UL Uplink

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel


MAC Medium Access Control UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network




4


4.2 Features of MAC4.2.1 Overview

The objective of this section is to introduce the key features of the medium access control layer.

Key point of this section is that for the MAC the chance has been taken to tune many concepts such that they fit to PS services from the start.

4.2.1.1 Data transfer logical channels ←→ transport channelsThis function is similar to HSPA. The big difference it that two TB’s per UE can be transferred at the same time. It is FFS whether this is also the case for more than two TB’s.

4.2.1.2 Radio resource allocationFor the radio resource allocation there is a very significant change for the RACH. Here there is not the possibility to map user plane data on the RACH.For HARQ the basic concepts of HSPA are retained – however the HARQ is a lot faster then in HSPA. Also the parameters and implementation details will differ.For the priority concept a quite similar approach than in HSPA will be taken. However detains are not specified yet.

[3GTR 25.813 (5.3.1), 3GTS 36.300 (6.1), 3GTS 36.321 (4.4)]


4


Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report MAC Medium Access Control


PS Packet Switched

FFS For Further Study QoS Quality of Service

HARQ Hybrid ARQ RACH Random Access Channel


TB Transport Block


4


4.2.2 MAC Random Access Procedure

The objective of this section is to show the random access procedure from the MAC perspective.

Key point of this section is that for the random access procedure there are two versions: the contention based (collisions are possible and have to be resolved) and non-contention based (collisions are not possible.)

Image description• This picture is visualizing the contention based random access procedure the

non-contention based random access procedure with two different colors. Common elements are shown in black color.

4.2.2.1 Contention based random access procedureHere collisions are possible because the UE decides when exactly a random access is initiated. Then it is possible that two UE’s transmit the same preamble at the same time. The chosen preamble is 1 out of 64 preambles and is thus encoding 6 bits. 5 bits are for the ID and one other bit (group of random access preambles) signals the length of the following scheduled transmission in the UL.


4


The UE has to wait with the transmission of the random access message until it has received the random access response on the DL-SCH. The response is using the RA-RNTI. This response identifies the random access preamble, gives a TA value and the UL grant for the UL scheduled transmission which is following then. Once the eNB discovers a collision on the random access preambles it will not respond to either of the preambles. However once the two same preambles arrive so close to each other that hat a collision is not detected the eNB will grant the preambles and two UE’s will transmit on the same UL resources at the same time.With the UL scheduled transmission the UE will provide its NAS UE ID (IMSI or S-TMSI), an AS message, and possibly a NAS message (e.g. TA update etc.)At last the eNB is answering with the contention resolution message giving the ID of the UE it would like to address. Here any collision will be finally resolved. The UE not getting this response with its ID will start the random access procedure again.

4.2.2.2 Non-contention based random access procedureThe difference to the non-contention based random access procedure is that the UE gets assigned a specific random access preamble for a random access window (e.g. during handover, etc.). Then the UE will use the preamble assigned and will get an UL grant related to its service directly together with its TA. Here, of course, a contention resolution is not necessary. The UE will have a C-RNTI already.

[3GTS 36.300 (10.1.5), 3GTS 36.321 (5.1)]



RA-RNTI Random Access - Radio Network Temporary Identifier

AS Access Stratum (UMTS) RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier


S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity


DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel TA Tracking Area

eNB Enhanced Node B TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

ID Identity TX Transmit


UE User Equipment

MAC Medium Access Control UL Uplink

NAS Non-Access-Stratum UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel


4


4.2.3 Structure of MAC-PDU

The objective of this section is to provide the structure of the MAC PDU.

Key point of this section is that the LTE MAC PDU does usually only contain 1 SDU per logical channel.

Image description• This picture is visualizing the structure of the header and the sequence of SDU’s

in the MAC PDU.The MAC PDU is transmitting with its SDU’s one or several RLC-PDU’s at a time. Unlike in UMTS standards (prior to R7) the size of the RLC PDU is flexible such that it can fit the size of the MAC PDU it is mapped to.Since both MAC and RLC are located in the eNB, the MAC knows the size of the TB it can transmit (transmission opportunity). In case there are more than one logical channel active for the corresponding user, the MAC has to multiplex the different logical channels on the TB. Most likely it could e.g. map the highest priority logical channel’s SDU on the TB. For this it will ask for an SDU with fitting size such that no or only minimum padding is necessary. In case the RLC cannot fill the TB fully the MAC will add the next lower priority logical channel on the TB and so forth until the TB is full.


4


The structure of the MAC PDU and its header are accomplishing this function. First the MAC header is structured in sub headers in order to indicate several MAC SDU’s. Since MAC in LTE is also fulfilling control functions there are two sub-header formats and SDU structures:

4.2.3.1 MAC control elementSome LCID’s are reserved for control elements and 1 LCID is indicating padding. The MAC control elements are explained in the next section. None and more then 1 MAC Control field are also possible.

4.2.3.2 Normal MAC SDUIn order to do transport normal MAC PDU’s the MAC sub header has triplets of information elements:

1. The LCID (Logical Channel ID) which is indicating the logical channel used in a similar fashion than the C/T field in UMTS (4 bits).

2. There are two reserved bits.3. The F field is indicating the length of the following length field (7 or 15

bit)4. The L (Length) field indicating the length of the corresponding SDU. F

and L field are very close to RLC PDU in UMTS.5. The E (End) field which is indicating the end of the MAC header (1) or

more triplets following (0).Padding will only be used if no further SDU can be filled in or if no more RLC data is ready to be transmitted and there is still space in the TB. In order to avoid unnecessary extensive padding MAC may reduce the TB size in order to reduce interference in the network.

[3GTS 36.321 (6)]




LCID Logical Channel ID SDU Service Data Unit (the payload of a PDU)

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) TB Transport Block

MAC Medium Access Control UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System


eNB Enhanced Node B


4


4.2.4 MAC Control Elements

The objective of this section is to provide different kinds of MAC control elements.

Key point of this section is functions like RACH response, buffer status report and timing advance are dealt with in MAC control elements.


4


Image description• These two tables are showing the MAC control elements in UL and DL.Part of the LCID’s are reserved for MAC control elements which are serving physical layer or MAC functions. The length of some MAC control elements is still under discussion but the purpose is quite clear. Please keep in mid that some LCID’s are to be reserved for yet unknown MAC control elements.

4.2.4.1 Contention resolution IDThis is the response of the Random Access Burst sent by the UE. It contains the NAS ID of the UE.

4.2.4.2 Timing AdvanceThis MAC control element is used for timing advance updates.

4.2.4.3 DRXWith this MAC control element the DRX is configured similar like in the HS-DSCH orders in UMTS R7. Since only DRX is to be commanded here this MAC control element contains no data. Just a header field is used here.

4.2.4.4 PaddingPadding is no MAC control element but is also indicated with a special LCID value.

4.2.4.5 Short, long and truncated buffer status reportsHere the UE can report the occupancy of its UL buffer. There are two formats long and short buffer reports. With the long buffer report multiple logical channel group’s buffer status is reported.

[3GTS 36.321 (6)]



MAC Medium Access Control

DL Downlink RACH Random Access Channel

DRX Discontinuous Reception UE User Equipment

HS-DSCH High Speed Downlink Shared Transport Channel (3GTS 25.211, 25.212, 25.308)

UL Uplink

ID Identity UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel

LCID Logical Channel ID UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System


4


4.3 Features of RLC4.3.1 Overview

The objective of this section is to introduce the key features of the radio link control layer.

Key point of this section is the RLC stays intact to the most part once it is compared to HSPA operation.

4.3.1.1 Data transferAt the first glance the RLC is only not altered very significantly. However that the second glace it could be noticed that for RLC the ciphering is missing and that compared the HSPA LTE can provide TM data transmission again. Another special point is the duplicate deletion in case of a handover. During the handover the received buffer is exchanged in-between source and target eNB (AM only). In HSPA duplicates for the UL are deleted in MAC-es whereas the duplicates are deleted as well in the RLC for the legacy UMTS traffic. The variable RLC PDU size has to be mentioned here again.

4.3.1.2 Error detection and recoveryThere is nothing to be added to what is stated in the picture.


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4.3.1.3 ResetThere is nothing to be added to what is stated in the picture.

[3GTR 25.813 (5.3.2), 3GTS 36.300 (6.2), 3GTS 36.322 (4.4)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol



AM Acknowledged Mode operation TM Transparent Mode operation

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request UL Uplink


UM Unacknowledged Mode operation


MAC Medium Access Control eNB Enhanced Node B

MAC-es MAC-E-DCH SRNC (3GTS 25.321)


4


4.3.2 Structure of RLC PDU

The objective of this section is to provide the structure of the RLC PDU.

Key points of this section are that the LTE RLC PDU can contain segmented PDCP PDU’s and that the RLC PDU size fits to the individual TB size to be transmitted.


in the RLC PDU.Like in UMTS there are 3 transmission modes for the RLC: TM, UM, and AM. For the TM the structure of the RLC PDU is simple: It is transparent for the PDCP data.For the UM and AM mode there is a header and one or more PDCP PDU’s being the RLC SDU’s. Note here that the PDCP PDU’s can be segmented in the RLC. Optionally, like in UMTS for AM only, a Status PDU can be at the end of the RLC PDU.


4


The header comprises the following information elements:1. The D/C field is a reserved bit in UM. In AM it is indicating the presence of a

RLC control PDU (status report). A status report might also be piggy backed at the end of the RLC PDU. Then the D/C field will indicate data. The presence of the piggy packed status PDU is indirectly indicated by header and SDU not completely filling out the length of the RLC PDU.

2. The RF field is a reserved bit in UM. In AM it is indicating the presence of re-segmentation. This occurs once an already segmented PDCP PDU is in need to be retransmitted and further segmented.

3. The polling flag is a reserved bit in UM. In AM it is encouraging the RLC of the receiver side to sent status PDU’s.

4. In case of a 5 bit SN version UM PDU the first 3 fields are missing.5. The FI filed exists in both AM and UM. It is indicating the presence of PDCP

PDU segment in the RLC PDU. In case of the presence of segments and AM the header is extended by two bytes as described in the next section.

6. The SN (Sequence Number) which is indicating the RLC sequence number of the RLC PDU. The length of this field can be the same in AM and UM. However there is also an UM mode with 1 byte header and 5 bit SN filed and no reserved bits.

7. An E field (Extension) which is indicating with (0) that data is following and with (1) that an extension of LI (Length Indicator) and another E filed is following.

8. The LI field (Length Indicator) of yet unknown length is indicating the length of the PDCP PDU. Please note since there is also a length indication in the MAC PDU one LI field in the RLC PDU is redundant.

9. Padding in the header is necessary since the E and LI field to not fill two bytes. In case of an even number of RLC SDU’s 4 bit padding is needed to fill up the RLC header to the byte boundary.

[3GTS 36.322 (6)]



RF Radio Frequency

AM Acknowledged Mode operation RLC Radio Link Control

FI Framing Info SDU Service Data Unit (the payload of a PDU)

LI Length Indicator SN Sequence Number


MAC Medium Access Control TM Transparent Mode operation



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4.3.3 Structure of RLC AM with PDCP PDU Segments

The objective of this section is to provide the structure of the RLC AM PDU segment.

Key point of this section is that only for PDU segments the header is extended for carrying the additional information about RLC PDU segments.

Image description• This picture is visualizing the structure of the header and SDU in the RLC AM

PDU segment PDU.Since the sequence numbers of RLC and PDCP are different the RLC AM needs means to identify details about the PDCP PDU segments for correct ARQ.In this case the RLC AM PDU is containing two additional header information elements:

1. The LSF (Last Segment Flag) is set once the PDCP PDU segment is the last segment of the PDCP PDU.

2. The SO (Segment Offset) is determining the offset in the PDCP PDU segment inside the PDCP PDU.

[3GTS 36.322 (6)]

Room for your Notes


4


Room for your Notes




AM Acknowledged Mode operation RLC Radio Link Control

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request SN Sequence Number

LSF Last Segment Flag SDU Service Data Unit (the payload of a PDU)

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) SO Segment Offset

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol


4


4.4 Features of PDCP4.4.1 Overview

The objective of this section is to introduce the key features of the packet data convergence protocol.

Key point of this section is that encryption and PDCP for the control plane are the functions which have been added to the PDCP compared to UMTS.

4.4.1.1 RoHCIt is still for further study whether to take RoHC or another scheme.

4.4.1.2 Numbering of PDCP PDU’sThe numbering of the PDCP PDU’s is very important because during the handover it is the PDCP which will forward the data in the buffer to the target eNB.

4.4.1.3 In-sequence delivery of PDU’sOnce the data is forwarded during handover it can happen that data is coming in already in the target eNB and there might still come some data in form the source eNB. The data is then not in sequence and there might be some duplicates in the buffer of the PDCP.

4.4.1.4 Duplicate deletionSee above.


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4.4.1.5 EncryptionThe encryption algorithms have been located in the MAC and in the RLC for UMTS and HSPA operation. In LTE they are transferred to the PDCP. This is due to the fact that every eNB is equipped with its own keys and that the PDCP has to combine the packets coming in from the other eNB’s during handover.

4.4.1.6 Integrity ProtectionThis is a feature only valid for the control plane in UTRA this was in the RRC layer. This involves to calculate the MAC according the same principle but possibly with a different algorithm.[3GTR 25.813 (5.3.3), 3GTS 36.300 (6.3), 3GTS 36.323 (4.4)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report RLC Radio Link Control




RoHC Robust Header Compression


MAC Message Authentication Code UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access




4


4.4.2 Structure of PDCP PDU

The objective of this section is to provide the structure of the PDCP PDU.

Key point of this section is that the LTE PDCP PDU can also carry control plane information.


in the PDCP PDU.In contrast to UMTS the PDCP is also existing in the control plane. Consequently also for control plane the PDCP PDU has to be defined.For both control plane and user plane the PDCP PDU is exhibiting a SN (Sequence Number) and an SDU field. For the user plane there can be optionally a RoHC (Robust Header Compression) which is compressing the e.g. 40 byte header to a 2-3 byte compressed header. In order to control RoHC in the user plane, user plane PDCP PDU contain a D/C field indicating control or data.


4


For the control plane for integrity protection purposes the MAC field might be added at the end. The MAC field is calculated according to similar guidelines as the MAC in UMTS.[3GTS 36.323 (6)]

Room for your Notes




LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) SDU Service Data Unit (the payload of a PDU)

MAC Message Authentication Code SN Sequence Number

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System



4


4.5 Features of RRC4.5.1 Overview

The objective of this section is to introduce the key features of the radio resource control layer.

Key point of this section is that the tasks of the RRC stay mostly the same as UMTS and HSPA, but since the air interface is different there are significant changes in the implementation.


4


4.5.1.1 Transmission of broadcast informationHere is it very important to know that only the MIB is transmitted on the BCH. All the other SIB’s are grouped in SU’s according to their transmission periodicity and are transmitted on the DL-SCH.

4.5.1.2 Establish and maintain servicesHere the basic concepts are very different. The RRC connection setup procedure has been extended to the initial context setup procedure. RRC and NAS link are established in parallel. Moreover since there is a new air interface technology (OFDMA and SC-FDMA) used the message contents are different. Another very significant change is the drastic reduction of RRC states mentioned earlier.

4.5.1.3 QoS controlNothing to add to what is stated in the picture.

4.5.1.4 Transfer of dedicated control informationNothing to add to what is stated in the picture.

[3GTR 25.813 (5.4), 3GTS 36.300 (7), 3GTS 36.331 (4.4)]


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report NAS Non-Access-Stratum



BCH Broadcast Channel QoS Quality of Service


DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access


SIB System Information Block

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access SU Scheduling Unit


UE User Equipment

MIB Master Information Block UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System


4


4.5.2 State Characteristics of RRC

The objective of this section is to introduce the key features of the radio resource control states.

Key point of this section is that there are only 2 (3) RRC states in LTE.

Image description• The picture is shows the RRC states in LTE and their main characteristics. It

focuses on the processes of the E-UTRAN.

4.5.2.1 RRC_IDLEDuring RRC_IDLE the UE can be paged and will listen to the PCH and the BCH, but it is not known by the eNB it will perform cell reselections. Keep also in mind that this state will also assumed once the UE is switched on and will perform initial cell search.

4.5.2.2 RRC_CONNECTEDHere the UE is fully connected to the eNB. That means it has a C-RNTI and it is known on cell level. It will do neighbor cell measurements and handover. This state is also assumed to be used for MBMS services.

[3GTR 25.813 (5.4.2), 3GTS 36.300 (7.2)]


4


Room for your Note


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report RACH Random Access Channel


RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel RRC Radio Resource Control

BCH Broadcast Channel RRC_CONNECTED

RRC state in E-UTRA


RRC_IDLE

RRC state

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) RRC_MBMS_CONNECTED

RRC state in E-UTRA for UEs with MBMS service only


UE User Equipment

NAS Non-Access-Stratum UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

PCH Paging Channel eNB Enhanced Node B


4


4.6 NAS Protocol States and Transitions

The objective of this section is to provide an overview about the functionality supported in the different LTE-states.

Key point of this section is that there is a one to one relationship in-between the RRC states and the NAS states.

Image description• The picture is shows the NAS states in LTE and their main characteristics. It

focuses on the processes in the EPC.

4.6.1 EMM-DEREGISTERED & ECM-IDLEHere the UE has only its IMSI and it is not known by the network all. Once it selects the PLMN it will go to EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTED during registration.

4.6.2 EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLEHere is UE has the full set of ID’s: S-TMSI, TAI and an IP address. Its position is known on TA level and has a context prepared in the EPC which can be activated very fast. The UE has to perform TA updates.


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4.6.3 EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTEDIn this state the UE has a full context for data transmission and data reception. It is known by the EPC on eNB level. In case there in an inter MME handover the EPC will be involved in this handover.

[3GTR 25.813 (5.5.2), 3GTS 36.300 A.2)]





DL Downlink PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

DRX Discontinuous Reception RRC Radio Resource Control



RRC_CONNECTED

RRC state in E-UTRA

EMM-DEREGISTERED & ECM-IDLE

Enhanced Mobility Management state for UE not being registered in the network

RRC_IDLE

RRC state





TA Tracking Area

ID Identity UE User Equipment


UL Uplink

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) eNB Enhanced Node B



4


4.7 Mobility4.7.1 Mobility Management in the EMM-DEREGISTERED & ECM-IDLE State

The objective of this section is to give the characteristics of the mobility management procedure in the EMM-DEREGISTERED & ECM-IDLE state with special emphasis of what changes with respect to UTRAN.

Key point of this section is that the cell selection is basically following the same principle as in UTRA.

Image description• The picture is visualizing the steps and the decisions taken for the cell selection

process.Like in UTRA the cell selection process is running in two steps:


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The first step the UE is looking for a suitable cell. A suitable cell fulfills the cell selection criteria is not barred and belongs to the selected PLMN. The selected PLMN is given by the SIM card which is initiating the cell selection procedure.Once there is no suitable cell found the UE is looking for acceptable cells. These cells belong to another PLMN and fulfill the cell selection criteria and are not barred.Barred cells are in the list “forbidden tracking areas for roaming”. These might be trail networks of the related operators.[3GTR 25.813 (9.1.2), 3GTS 36.300 10.1.1.1]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PLMN Public Land Mobile Network


SIM Subscriber Identity Module

BCH Broadcast Channel UE User Equipment

EMM-DEREGISTERED & ECM-IDLE

Enhanced Mobility Management state for UE not being registered in the network


FFS For Further Study UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network



4


4.7.2 Mobility Management in the EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE State

The objective of this section is to give the characteristics of the mobility management procedure in the EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE state with special emphasis of what changes with respect to UTRAN.

Key point of this section is that for the cell reselection procedure in contrast to UTRA the neighbor cells are only given by their carrier frequency (band). The UE will look for the neighbor cells on it own.


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Image description• The picture is visualizing the steps and the decisions taken for the cell reselection

process.For the cell reselection process there are quite a few changes compared to UTRA:

1. The UE can omit to do neighbor cell measurements once the selected cells can be received with very high quality. This will prolongate the battery lifetime of the UE’s being close to the eNB.

2. The neighbor cells are only given by their frequency or frequency bands. This is also applying for other RAT systems. This has the consequence that the UE needs to look for the neighbor cells on its own and will not get cell specific reselection criteria from the old cell but has to read the BCCH (MIB) of the neighbor cells for this information. However, optionally a neighbor cell list can be transmitted.

3. The Location Area updates, Routing Area updates and the URA updates are now all covered by the TA updates. As in UTRA periodical updates and updates relating to the change of the TA can be performed.

[3GTR 25.813 (9.1.3), 3GTS 36.300 10.1.1.2)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report RAT Radio Access Technology (e.g. GERAN, UTRAN, ...)


TA Tracking Area

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel UE User Equipment




FFS For Further Study UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access

ID Identity UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network

MIB Master Information Block eNB Enhanced Node B


4


4.7.3 Mobility Management in the EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTED State

The objective of this section is to give the characteristics of the mobility management procedure in the EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTED state with special emphasis of what changes with respect to UTRAN.

Key point of this section is that the key difference to UTRA is that most handovers are negotiated in-between the eNB’s directly.

Image description• The picture is visualizing the steps and the decisions taken for the handover

process.For the neighbor cell measurements the same changes apply as in the idle mode. However here the neighbor cells measurement need to be performed according to the measurement control messages of the eNB. Since the RNC does not exist in LTE the source eNB decides whether a handover is required.


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Then the source eNB will coordinate the handover with the target eNB (or the EPC). In case of success the handover command will be sent to the UE and another new concept of LTE will be used: DL data forwarding. Since the core network does not now about the handover yet it will still send the user plane data to the source eNB. Since for a handover there should not be data loss or delay, the source eNB will forward the DL data to the target eNB whilst keeping the UL user plane to the core. After the handover command the UE will be busy to synchronize) with the target eNB (using a contention free random access procedure and will get some DL data from it immediately.Once the UE is synchronized the target eNB will redirect the user plane to itself and will stop the data forwarding. Then the source eNB will flush its buffers to the target eNB and will also provide the UL TB’s which cannot be transmitted to the core because of retransmissions are blocking an in sequence delivery of these TB’s to the core directly.

In case of an inter MME handover the eNB’s do not coordinate the handover directly. Instead the coordination is done using the MME’s.

[3GTR 25.813 (9.1.5), 3GTS 36.300 10.1.2.1)]



QoS Quality of Service


RACH Random Access Channel

BCH Broadcast Channel RNC Radio Network Controller




TX Transmit


UE User Equipment

FFS For Further Study UL Uplink

HO Handover UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access



eNB Enhanced Node B


4


4.7.4 Inter RAT Mobility Management

The objective of this section is to give the characteristics of the mobility management procedures for inter-RAT mobility.

Key point of this section is even though the neighbor cell information is also minimized for inter RAT mobility the basic concepts have been taken from UTRA.


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4.7.4.1 Cell Reselection (EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE)Here as well the neighbor cell information is kept to a minimum. Once the LTE cell is received very good then all the neighbor cells measurements can be omitted.

4.7.4.2 Handover (EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-CONNECTED)As in UTRA the handovers are backward handovers. That means the handovers are negotiated with the target network before they are communicated to the UE. Like this unnecessary call drops and delays in the user plane are avoided.There is a similar procedure for an inter MME handover. For the inter RAT handover like in UTRAN the handover messages sent to the UE will encapsulate the handover messages from the target network.

[3GTR 25.813 (9.2 3GTS 36.300 10.2)]











E_UTRA Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Access UE User Equipment

FFS For Further Study UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access

HO Handover UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network


4


4.8 QoS in LTE4.8.1 Bearer Architecture

The objective of this section is to provide bearer structure of LTE.

Key point of this section is that the UMTS bearer architecture has been generalized to the EPS bearer architecture.

Image description• The picture shows how the different bearer services used in LTE or better said

SAE.The bearer architecture looks similar to the UMTS bearer architecture. Due to the changes of the SAE architecture, i.e. new network elements the structure of the bearer architecture is different. As well there are new SAE related bearers. Since services are a core network issue the naming is coming from the core network (SAE) and not from the cases network (LTE or E-UTRAN).

[3GTR 25.813 (8), 3GTS 36.300 (13), 3GTS 23.401 (4.6)]


4


Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report GW Gateway







EPS Evolved Packet System eNB Enhanced Node B


4


4.8.2 QoS Parameters

The objective of this section is to provide the procedures how QoS is handled in LTE.

Key point of this section is that the basic QoS concept is the same as in UTRAN however there are some optimizations done.


4


4.8.2.1 ARPThis concept is like in UTRAN.

4.8.2.2 LabelTo differentiate different QoS profiles with labels is new for LTE and it is easing the setup of a service.

4.8.2.3 GBRSame as in UTRAN.

4.8.2.4 MBRSame as in UTRAN.

4.8.2.5 AMBRMultiple services together cannot surpass the AMBR.

[3GTR 25.813 (8), 3GTS 36.300 (13), 3GTS 23.401 (4.7)]

Room for your Notes




MBR Maximum Bit Rate

AMBR Aggregated Maximum Bit Rate PDB Packet Delay Budget

ARP Allocation and Retention Priority PLR Packet Loss Rate

GBR Guaranteed Bit Rate QoS Quality of Service

L2 Layer 2 (data link layer) UTRAN UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network


4


4.8.3 QoS Classes Identifier

The objective of this section is to provide an overview of the QCI indicated by the labels in LTE.

Key point of this section is that the QCI are replacing the QoS classes used previously.

Table description• The table is relating the different QCI characteristics to L2 packet delay budget,

L2 packet loss rates and gives examples for the services.The QCI’s can be grouped into two groups the GBR and the non-GBR QCI’s. Both groups lave low, medium, and high L2 packet delay budgets.

[3GTS 23.203 (6.1.7)]

Room for your Notes


4


Room for your Notes


GBR Guaranteed Bit Rate QoS Quality of Service


TCP Transmission Control Protocol

L2 Layer 2 (data link layer) UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) VoIMS Voice over IMS



4


4.9 Security in LTE

The objective of this section is to describe to different security procedures and their location in LTE.

Key point of this section is that the security algorithms are the same as for UTRAN. However the EPC transforms the keys such that different keys are applied for encryption and integrity protection and for the different individual network elements.

Image description• The picture shows how the different security keys in LTE are derived from one

another.As it can be seen in the picture there is still an USIM used in LTE. This USIM is generating the keys in the same way as in UTRAN. The authentication is following the same procedure as in UTRAN. For the encryption and the integrity protection the HSS will create a new key – KASME. This key will be used by the EPC to create 3 specific keys for the MME: once key for encryption of NAS messages and another key for integrity protection for the NAS messages. Each individual eNB will also get its own master key KeNB. How the network entity specific keys are created exactly is FFS.


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The eNB will then create 3 different keys from its master keys: 1. An encryption key for the RRC messages2. An integrity protection key for the RRC messages3. An encryption key for the user plane messages (integrity protection for the

user plane is not necessary)The UE is aware of all theses keys and will change the eNB specific keys upon handover or cell change.The usage of the integrity protection and ciphering keys will most likely be the same as in UTRAN again.

[3GTR 25.813 (10), 3GTS 36.300 (14)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report MAC Medium Access Control



AK Anonymity Key (3GTS 33.102) NAS Non-Access-Stratum

AMF Authentication management field (3GTS 33.102)

RAND Random Number

AuC Authentication Center RRC Radio Resource Control

CK Ciphering Key (3GTS 33.102) SQN Sequence number (used in UMTS-security architecture / 3GTS 33.102)


UE User Equipment

FFS For Further Study USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module



IK Integrity Key (3GTS 33.102) XRES Expected Response (3GTS 33.102)



4




4


Chapter 5:Selected E-UTRAN Scenarios


• How an initial context setup is performed?

• How the UE is performing a tracking area update?

• How a PDP context is established?

• How an intra MME handover works in the LTE network?

• How an inter MME handover works in the LTE network?

• How in detail the TCP packets travel to the UE?

Selected E-UTRAN Scenarios

5


5.1 Initial Context Setup Procedure

The objective of this section is to show the information flow during initial context setup procedure.

Key point of this section is that for the initial context setup procedure the UTRA RRC connection establishment procedure and the initial NAS messages have been merged on order to save setup time.

In LTE there is no RRC connection establishment procedure. The reason is that there is no RNC any more and in order to save time the RRC establishment procedure has been merged with the initial NAS messaging and the S1 resource establishment.


5


As shown in the picture there id the random access procedure which can together with the RRC connection request also sent a NAS message. What is send depends on what the mobile station wants: TA updates, service request, attachment etc.In the next step the eNB is initializing with the INITIAL UE MESSAGE the establishment of the S1 connection for the UE.The MME is answering with the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST which is also carrying already the NAS response messages being the reaction to whatever the UE requested from the core before. The eNB reacts with packing the whole NAS information inside the RRC radio bearer setup message.The response of the UE the RRC Radio Bearer Setup Complete is containing again some NAS messages. The reaction of the eNB is the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP COMPLETE message which will forward the UE’s NAS messages to the MME and will terminate the initial context setup procedure.From then on the communication with the core is handled by UPLINK NAS TRANSPORT and DOWNLINK NAS TRANSPORT messages on the S1-MME interface.

[3GTS 36.300 (19.2.2.3)]




AP Access Preamble RACH Random Access Channel



CCCH Common Control Channel RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel RRC Radio Resource Control

DL Downlink S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel S1-AP S1 Application Part

ID Identity TA Timing Advance


UE User Equipment




NAS Non-Access-Stratum UTRA UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel eNB Enhanced Node B



5


5.2 Tracking Area Update

The objective of this section is to show the information flow for a TA update of a UE.

Key point of this section is that for a TA update quite similar procedures are used as for the RA updates in UMTS and GPRS networks.

5.1.1 Inter MME tracking area updateThe first step of the tracking area update is that a UE has selected a new cell found a new cell with a different TAI. Then it will initiate the TA update procedure and will send a tracking area registration message. This message will contain the old S-TMSI and the old TAI. For the inter MME TA update procedure the MME which is connected to the eNB will find out that it has not administered the UE before and will contact the old MME which has previously administered that UE. This will be done by means of a request for transfer of the contexts which is accompanied by the old S-TMSI. By means of the old S-TMSI the old MME will initiate the transfer of the UE’s contexts to the new MME and the new Serving GW. Since old and new Serving GW are not logically interconnected the relaying of Serving GW’s part of the UE context will involve S11 messaging on both sides. Once the new MME has received the UE’s contexts it might ask for UE authentication and for ciphering of the remaining procedure. Then it will register as the MME responsible for the UE with the UE’s HSS. The HSS will initiate the de-registration of the UE’s contexts with the old MME and will then confirm the registration with the new MME.Then the UE is informed that the TA registration is complete.Finally the Serving GW will perform the user plane rout update with the PDN GW.[3GTS 23.882 (7.7.2.3)]


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5.1.2 Intra MME tracking area updateOnce the TA update is necessary within the service area of the MME the TA update procedure become quite simple. Only the two MM messages indicated in the picture will be exchanged.[3GTS 23.882 (7.7.2.2)]

Room for your Notes



RA Routing Area

EMM Evolved Mobility Management SAE System Architecture Evolution

GPRS General Packet Radio Service S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

GW Gateway TA Tracking Area


UE User Equipment

ID Identity UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System


eNB Enhanced Node B



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5.3 PDP Context Establishment

The objective of this section is to show the information flow during a PDP context establishment of an UE.

Key points of this section are that the PDP context establishment is embedded in the initial context setup procedure and that for LTE the Serving GW starts already to forward data to the eNB even though the PDP context establishment procedure has not finished.

Precondition for the PDP context establishment procedure is that the UE is in EMM-REGISTERED & ECM-IDLE and default IP-connectivity has already been established.In this example the PDP context is establishment is initiated by the network the difference to the UE initiated PDP context establishment procedure is that paging is used in order to reach the UE and that the UE might be requested to perform a non-contention based random access procedure. In case of a UE initiated initial context procedure the random access is always contention based.The first step of the network initiated PDP context establishment procedure is that the PDN GW has data for the UE. By means the default IP connectivity already established it knows which Serving GW is responsible for that UE and it will send the data to the Serving GW. The Serving GW will discover that it has no S1-U resources for that UE and it will request the MME to get these resources established. The MME will then issue a paging message to the eNB’s responsible for the UE’s TA. Optionally the eNB can assign RA resources being non-contention based to the UE and will indicate this by the RA preamble to be used.


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The next step is the RA procedure initiated by the UE. With the CCCH it will transmit the RRC connection request containing the service request. This service request will be forwarded with the INITIAL UE MESSAGE to the MME. The MME – knowing that it relates to the paging it has initiated before - will trigger the Serving GW to start to transmit data to the eNB.[3GTR 23.882 (7.14), 3GTS 36.300 (19.2.2.3)]

Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PDP Packet Data Protocol


RA Routing Area

CCCH Common Control Channel RACH Random Access Channel




GW Gateway S1-AP S1 Application Part

ID Identity SAE System Architecture Evolution

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791) TA Timing Advance

LTE Long Term Evolution (of UMTS) TX Transmit


UE User Equipment

NAS Non-Access-Stratum UL Uplink

PCCH Paging Control Channel UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel

PCH Paging Channel eNB Enhanced Node B



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5.3 PDP Context Establishment

Key point of this section is that while the PDP context establishment procedure continues with the Serving GW is already transmitting data to the eNB.

The steps taken on this picture are that in order to save time many NAS messages are issued at the same time such as the SAE bearer setup, the security context setup, the service accept and the PDP context activation message. The eNB will process these messages and translate/forward them to the UE with the RRC radio bearer setup message.The UE will accept the PDP context and will signal to the eNB that it also completes the security mode command (ciphering) and the RAB assignment. The eNB will then inform the MME that the PDP context has been accepted and confirm the SAE bearer setup whilst it will start already to transmit ciphered data to the UE.

[3GTR 23.882 (7.14), 3GTS 36.300 (19.2.2.3)]

Room for your Notes


5


Room for your Notes





ACK Acknowledgement PDP Packet Data Protocol

AS Access Stratum (UMTS) RAB Radio Access Bearer

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel RB Radio Bearer


DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel S1-AP S1 Application Part

DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel SAE System Architecture Evolution

FSS For Further Study UE User Equipment

GW Gateway eNB Enhanced Node B

ID Identity


5


5.4 Intra MME Handover

The objective of this section is to show the information flow for an intra MME handover.

Key points of this section are that the eNB’s are “finalizing” the intra MME handover by themselves before they inform the MME and that data forwarding like in the core is introduced in-between the eNB’s.

The precondition of this procedure is that the source eNB is informed about the area restrictions that means to which eNB it can handover through the intra MME handover.In order to prepare possible handovers the eNB is issuing measurement control messages to the UE and the UE is providing measurement reports back. Once the source eNB has come to the conclusion that a handover is necessary it will issue a handover request on the X2 interface to the target eNB. This handover request is negotiating the handover in-between the two eNB’s. The target eNB will verify whether a handover can be supported and will give back a handover request ACK in case it will support the inter eNB handover. With this acknowledgement the target eNB will also give some parameters e.g. the C-RNTI, and the preamble it would like to the UE to use.The source eNB is then transmitting the handover command to the UE and starts to forward the DL data it receives from the Serving GW to the target eNB.


5


The eNB’s are arranging the handover in-between themselves and the MME or the Serving GW does not know about the handover. They expect that the source eNB still receives the DL data and that it still transmits UL data to them. Data forwarding is necessary to keep delay sensitive services alive and to prevent data loss. UL data forwarding is not necessary at this point. The eNB will send the UL data to the Serving GW as normal.

According to the opinion of the author the source eNB keeps the data it has forwarded in the buffer. In case the handover is not successful the UE will come back to the source eNB.From the time of the handover command onwards the UE will only communicate with the target eNB. It will only come back to the source eNB in case the handover is not successful. The UE will send its assigned preamble in a non-contention based random access procedure and will get new TA and an UL grant in response. Then it can transmit the HANDOVER NOTIFY message to the target eNB. After that it will address the target eNB with the UL data and the target eNB will request that the data path is switched to it. It is unclear to the author whether the HANDOVER NOTIFY message is then still necessary.

Now the target eNB will inform the MME about the handover being successful already in the RAN. This is done in order to initiate that the MME and the Serving GW send their messages and the data to the target eNB from then on. The MME will initiate a user plane update together with the Serving GW.

[3GTS 36.300 (10.1.2.1.1)]




ACK Acknowledgement RRC Radio Resource Control


S1-AP S1 Application Part

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel SAE System Architecture Evolution



GW Gateway UL Uplink



PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel X2-AP X2 Application Part

RACH Random Access Channel eNB Enhanced Node B



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5.4 Intra MME Handover

Key point of this section is that the UL data is only forwarded in the last step of the handover from the source to the target eNB.

Once the target eNB will receive the HANDOVER COMPLETE ACK form the MME then it will initiate to empty its DL buffer complete and also forward the UL data still being in the buffer and waiting of successful transmission of earlier TB’s to the target eNB. The other UL data it will forward to the Serving GW.

Then the Handover will be complete and the UE will communicate with the new MME and the new Serving GW.

[3GTS 36.300 (10.1.2.1.1)]

Room for your Notes


5


Room for your Notes




ACK Acknowledgement TB Transport Block




X2-AP X2 Application Part

S1-AP S1 Application Part eNB Enhanced Node B


5


5.4.1 Practical Exercise: Intra eNB Handover

The objective of this section is to let the students develop the flow for the intra eNB handover.

Image Description• The picture shows the to be completed flow for the intra eNB handover.

Your tasks:

1. Complete the flow with the communication in-between source cell, target cell and UE.

Room for your Notes


5


Room for your Notes


DCCH Dedicated Control Channel S1-AP S1 Application Part

GW Gateway SAE System Architecture Evolution


UE User Equipment


UL Uplink

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel eNB Enhanced Node B



5


5.5 Inter MME Handover

The objective of this section is to show the information flow for an inter MME handover.

Key point of this section is that for the inter MME handover there is no data forwarding in-between the eNB’s but inside the core.

Here the procedure is exactly the same as the intra MME handover until the source eNB decided to ask for a handover. Since this is an inter MME handover the source eNB will not address the target eNB directly but it will address its MME and will inform it that it should prepare a handover together with the target MME.The source MME will then contact the target MME with the hand over request. Then the target MME will first clarify with the target eNB whether a handover is possible. Once this is successful the target MME will inform the target Serving GW about the handover. Once all that is successful the target MME will inform the source MME that the handover can commence now. The source MME will then trigger the data forwarding in-between the source Serving GW and the target Serving GW. Instead of a data forward also bicasting is possible for the core.

Since there is no interface in-between the Serving GW’s it is unclear to the author how exactly the data forward will be done. Whether there will be an interface in-between the Serving GW’s or whether the forwarding will take place using the S11 and S10 interfaces.

[3GTR 23.882 (7.15.2.2), 3GTS 36.300 (19.2.2)]


5


Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel



ACK Acknowledgement S1-AP S1 Application Part


GW Gateway SM Session Management (3GTS 23.060, 3GTS 24.008)

ID Identity UE User Equipment

MM Mobility Management UL Uplink


eNB Enhanced Node B



5


5.5 Inter MME Handover

Key point of this section is for the second part of the handover in the inter MME handover the route update is also involving the PDN GW.

Once the source MME is informed that the rest of the network is prepared for the inter MME handover it will issue the handover command to the source eNB which will then issue the handover command to the UE. For then on the procedure will be the same as for the intra MME handover until the handover complete will be issued to the target MME. There is one exemption: the source eNB will not forward any data to the target eNB. This is already done in the core.The target MME will then trigger a route update with the target Serving GW and the PDN GW. Once this is done the target MME will trigger the source MME to stop the data forwarding to release the resources.

The discussion for the inter MME handover is not finished. Other possibilities in the discussion are to do mobility management like in the idle mode (TA updates and cell updates) for low delay constraint data services or having overlapping coverage areas for the MME’s.

[3GTR 23.882 (7.15.2.2), 3GTS 36.300 (19.2.2)]


5


Room for your Notes


3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report RACH Random Access Channel











PDN Packet Data Network eNB Enhanced Node B


5


5.6 How a TCP/IP MTU is reaching the UE / the Internet

The objective of this section is to show the stations and the transformations of a TCP/IP MTU in the LTE network until it reaches the UE.

Key point of this section is that with respect to the very high data rate for LTE and the protocol development from the scratch there are a few differences to HSPA.

Image description• The picture is showing the CDD case: two transmission antennas are received by

one receive antenna. It is shown how the UE can resolve the two signals.

5.6.1 TCP/IP layerA TCP/IP MTU can have up to 1500 byte including 40 byte header.

5.6.2 PDCP layerIn the PDCP first RoHC can be applied this would reduce 40 byte TCP/IP header to typically 3 byte header. In the user plane PDCP needs 2 byte own header.

5.6.3 RLC layerAccording to the transport block size the RLC can assume variable RLC PDU size. Either the TB is so small that the PDCP PDU needs to be segmented or it is that big that multiple PDCP PDU’s fir in. For the RLC header it can be configured to have 1 or 2 byte in UM.


5


For AM and 1 RLC SDU the header size is 2 byte in case of no segmentation and 4 byte in case of segmentation. For RLC AM each additional RLC SDU will add 1.5 byte header. In case a byte header is not filled completely 4 bit header padding has to be added. Flexible RLC PDU’s and multiple RLC SDU’s are new to LTE and are not used in UMTS RLC until. R7

5.6.4 MAC layerIn case the MAC is transporting only 1 MAC SDU the header length will be 1 byte only in case more MAC SDU’s are transmitted the header will increase by 2-3 byte. Please also take into account that padding and MAC Control Elements will be unavoidable. The use of MAC control elements is new in LTE.

5.6.5 PHY layerThe physical layer has to deal with very huge TB’s. TB’s of 150000 bit cannot be protected with a single CRC check any more. This is why there is a own 3 byte CRC foreseen for every of the up to 6144 bit long Code Block Segments.

Room for your Notes


AM Acknowledged Mode operation PHY Physical Layer

CDD Cyclic Delay Diversity RLC Radio Link Control

CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check RoHC Robust Header Compression


SDU Service Data Unit (the payload of a PDU)


MAC Medium Access Control TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol over IP

MTU Maximum Transmit Unit (IP) UE User Equipment





5




5


SolutionsSolutions for Practical Exercises

Solutions for Practical Exercises

6


Chapter 2 / Section 2.1.2: Physical Basics of OFDM

• Your way to the resolution:

Question No 3:We know that the throughput rate is R = 6bit/s which means that each subcarrier transmits 2 bits per second.This provides us the response for question No 3:2 x T(b) = 1 s and therefore T(b) = 500 ms. Another way to view this is to take into account the number of subcarriers. Consider we would have used six subcarriers. In this case T(b) = 1 s.This relationship between number of subcarriers and symbol duration is inherent to OFDM.

Question No 4:When you look at your own drawing, it becomes obvious that the BPSK-signal needs to complete a full period (2 PI) during T(b) on the lowest numbered subcarrier 0 which also uses the lowest frequency.Consequentially, f(0) = 1/T(b) = 2 Hz

Question No 5:Since in OFDM-systems all subcarriers are harmonics (integer multiples of the base frequency f(0)) the response is obvious: f(1) = 2 x f(0), f(2) = 3 x f(0) and therefore:Δf = f(0) = 2 Hz.

LTE from A-Z

6


This relationship between base frequency f(0), subcarrier spacing Δf and symbol duration T(b) is crucial for OFDM.


6


Chapter 2 / Section 2.1.3: Scaling Issues of OFDM-Systems

• Remarks on the Resolution:

Question No 1:• Option 1: no remarks

• Option 2: please refer to question No 2.

Question No 2:• LTE might later operate at frequencies of about 2 – 3.5 GHz. At 3.5 GHz the

wavelength is LAMBDA = 8.6 cm. Deep fading effects known as Rayleigh fading (see image on next page) will impact the related signal at distances of app. LAMBDA / 2 = 4.3 cm along the path of the mobile station.

LTE from A-Z

6


⇒ At 3.5 GHz the radio channel changes its conditions quite rapidly within very small distances of only a few centimeters (app. 4.3 cm).

⇒ Mobile receivers shall be simple and shall assume equal radio conditions during one symbol duration (even while moving).

⇒ Therefore, the maximum moving distance of a mobile station during one symbol duration must be much shorter than this LAMBDA/2.

⇒ Consequentially, the symbol duration must be short enough to accommodate these fading conditions.

Accordingly:• If the subcarrier spacing is selected with Δf = 1 kHz we get a symbol duration of 1

ms (T(b) = 1 / Δf).

• At a speed of 120 km/h, the mobile station will move 3.3 cm within this 1 ms which is obviously too far to maintain an equal channel condition during one symbol duration.

• Much better is a subcarrier spacing of Δf = 10 kHz with a symbol duration of 0.1 ms and a moving distance of only 3.3 mm at 120 km/h.


6


Chapter 3 / Section 3.5.4.2.1: Draw the Antenna Diagram of AAS


Question No 1 - 4:Strictly follow the instruction.

LTE from A-Z

6


Question No 5:For the angles ́α ranging from 0 to -90 degree the angles β will be negative all amplitudes and power have the same value as for the positive α angles. Consequently the lobe has to be mirrored on the I-axis. Angles being bigger than 90 degree the circle in the middle drawing is continued. Again mirror the lobe already got on the Q-axis to get the two lobe picture being typical for the two antenna AAS case. All in all the circle is gone though two times and two lobes are generated.

Question No 6:For a distance of 10 λ (20 x 0.5 λ) in-between the two antennas the circle is gone through for 40 times. Consequently 40 lobes are constructed. This is typical for the antenna diagram for antenna diversity use. This is the reason why the antennas as always spaced multiple of 0.5 λ to form a single distinct beam in the AAS approach.


6


Chapter 5 / Section 5.4.1: Intra eNB Handover


Question No 1:Basically the intra eNB handover is looking like the inter eNB handover. The difference is that the X2 interface communication and the data forwarding is not necessary because this is handled by the eNB internally.

LTE from A-Z

6


List of Acronyms

Term Explanation

(V)ASSI Visited Alias Short Subscriber Identity

16-APK 16 symbols Amplitude Phase Keying


16VSB 16-level vestigial sideband modulation

1xEV-DO One Carrier (1.25 MHz) Evolution - Data Only (cdma2000)

1xEV-DV One Carrier (1.25 MHz) Evolution - Data and Voice

2B1Q Two Binary One Quaternary (Line Coding used on the ISDN U-Interface)

3G ... 3rd Generation ...


3GPP2 Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (similar to 3GPP, but consisting of ANSI, TIA and EIA-41, responsible for cdma2000, EvDO and EVDV)

3GTR 3rd Generation Technical Report


4-PAM 4 symbols Pulse Amplitude Modulation

4G 4th Generation ...


8-PSK 8 Symbol Phase Shift Keying

8VSB 8-level Vestigial Sideband Modulation (ATSC)

A&S Applications & Services domain or server

A-Bit Acknowledgement Request Bit (used in LLC-protocol Logical Link Control)

A/V Audio / Video

AA Anonymous Access

AAA Authentication, Authorization and Accounting

AAA Authorize Authenticate Answer (DIAMETER message type)

AACH Access Assignment CHannel

AACH-Q Access Assignment CHannel, QAM

AAL ATM-Adaption Layer

AAL-2 ATM Adaptation Layer 2 (for real-time services) (ITU-T I.363.2)

AAL-5 ATM-Adaptation Layer 5 (non-real time) (ITU-T I.363.5)

List of Acronyms


AAR Authorize Authenticate Request (DIAMETER message type)

AAS Adaptive Antenna Systems

ABM Asynchronous Balanced Mode

ABNF Augmented Backus Naur Form (RFC 2234)

AC Alternate Current

ACC Access Control Class (3GTS 22.011)

ACCH Associated Control Channel (GSM / can be an SACCH or an FACCH)

ACELP Algebraic Codebook Excited Linear Prediction

ACK Acknowledgement

ACM Address Complete Message (ISUP-message type)

ACS Active Codec Set

ADCH Associated Dedicated Channel (3GTS 45.902)

ADM Asynchronous Disconnected Mode

ADPCM Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation

ADSL2 Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line 2 (ITU-T G.992.3)

AES Advanced Encryption Standard / Cipher Key Lengths: 128 bit, 192 bit or 256 bit

AESA ATM End System Address

AF Assured Forwarding (DiffServ Term)

AG Absolute Grant (3GTS 25.309)

AGA Air - Ground - Air service

AGCH Access Grant Channel (GSM)

AGS Absolute Grant Scope ('All' or 'Single' HARQ process)

AGV Absolute Grant Value (INACTIVE or Zero_Grant or E-DPDCH/DPCCH power ratio)

AH Authentication Header (RFC 4302)

AI Acquisition Indicator

AI Air Interface

AICH Acquisition Indicator Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)

AIPN All IP Network

AJAX Asynchronous Javascript and XML

AK Anonymity Key (3GTS 33.102)

AK Authentication Key (IEEE 802.16)

AKA Authentication and key agreement (3GTS 33.102)

AKD Authentication Key Distribution

AL Advanced Link



AL Ambience Listening

ALC Asynchronous Layered Coding

ALCAP Access Link Control Application Part (ITU-T Q.2630.1 / Q.2630.2)

ALG Application Layer Gateway

AM Acknowledged Mode operation

AM Amplitude Modulation

AMBR Aggregated Maximum Bit Rate

AMC Adaptive Modulation and Coding

AMD Acknowledged Mode Data (UMTS RLC PDU-type)

AMF Authentication management field (3GTS 33.102)

AMI Alternate Mark Inversion (Line Coding)

AMPS Advanced Mobile Phone System

AMR Adaptive Multirate Encoding (3GTS 26.090)

AMR-WB Adaptive Multi-Rate - WideBand speech codec (3GTS 26.273, ITU-T G.722.2)

AMR-WB+ Extended Adaptive Multi-Rate - WideBand speech codec (3GTS 26.304, 26.410, ITU-T G.722.1)

AMR_HR Adaptive Multi Rate with Half-Rate Codec

ANSI American National Standards Institute

AP Access Point (IEEE 802.11, 802.16)

AP Access Preamble

AP-AICH CPCH Access Preamble Acquisition Indicator Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)

APCO Association of Police Communications Officers

API Access Preamble Acquisition Indicator

API Application Programming Interface

APK Amplitude Phase Keying

APN Access Point Name (Reference to a GGSN)

APP A Posteriori Probability (Turbo Decoding)

AR Assured Rate PDB (DiffServ Term)

ARFCN Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number

ARIB Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (Japanese)

ARP Address Resolution Protocol (RFC 826)

ARP Allocation and Retention Priority

ARPU Average Revenue Per User

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

AS Access Stratum (UMTS)

List of Acronyms


AS Application Server

AS application specific (within SDP-bandwidth specification / b-line)

AS-ILCM Application Server - Incoming Leg Control Model

AS-OLCM Application Server - Outgoing Leg Control Model

ASC Access Service Class

ASCA Adjacent Subcarrier Allocation

ASCI Advanced Speech Call Items (GSM-R)

ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ANSI X3.4-1986)

ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit

ASN Access Service Network

ASN-GW Access Service Network-Gateway

ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation 1 (ITU-T X.680 / X.681)

ASP Application Server Process

ASSI Alias Short Subscriber Identity

AT-Command Attention-Command

ATCA Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture

ATID Address Type Identifier in Demand

ATIS Alliance of Telecommunications Industry Solutions

ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ITU-T I.361)

ATSC Advanced Television System Committee

ATSI Alias TETRA Subscriber Identity

AT_MAC Message Authentication Code

AUTN Authentication Token (3GTS 33.102)

AV Authentication Vector (3GTS 33.102)

AVC Advanced Video Coding

AVL Automatic Vehicle Location

AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

AoD Audio on Demand

AuC Authentication Center

B2BUA Back-to-Back User Agent (SIP term / RFC 3261, RFC 3725)

B2DA Back-to-Back Dynamic Allocation

B8ZS Bipolar with Eight-Zero Substitution (Line Code used at the T1-Rate (1.544 Mbit/s))

BAS Basic rate access ISDN-user interface for single lines (2 B-channels plus one D-Channel with 16 kbit/s)

BAT Bouquet Association Table (MPEG, DVB-SI)



BB Base Band module

BBK Broadcast BlocK

BC Broadcast

BCAST Broadcast

BCC Base Station Color Code

BCC Broadcast Call Control (3GTS 44.069)

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

BCCH-Q Broadcast Control CHannel, QAM

BCD Binary Coded Decimal

BCH Broadcast Channel

BCMCS Broadcast and Multicast Services (CDMA-2000 Rev. D)

BCTP Bearer Control Tunneling Protocol (ITU-T Q.1990)

BE Best Effort

BEC Backward Error Correction

BEG BEGin Message (TCAP)

BER Bit Error Rate

BFCP Binary Floor Control Protocol (draft-ietf-xcon-bfcp-05)

BFI Bad Frame Indication

BG Border Gateway

BGCF Breakout Gateway Control Function

BIB Backward Indicator Bit

BIC Blind Interference Cancellation

BICC Bearer Independent Call Control (ITU-T Q.1902.1 - Q.1902.6)

BKN1 Broadcast blocK 1

BKN2 Broadcast blocK 2

BL Basic Link

BLCH Base station Linearization CHannel

BLER Block Error Rate

BM-IWF Broadcast Multicast Interworking Function

BM-SC Broadcast Multicast Service Center (3GTS 23.346)

BMC Broadcast / Multicast Control (3GTS 25.324)

BN Bit Number

BNCH Broadcast Network CHannel

BNCH-Q Broadcast Network CHannel, QAM

BNF Backus Naur Form (RFC 2234)

BPSK Binary or Bipolar Phase Shift Keying

List of Acronyms


BQA Bluetooth Qualification Administer

BQB Bluetooth Qualification Body

BQRB Bluetooth Qualification Review Board

BQTF Bluetooth Qualification Test Facility

BR Bandwidth Request (WiMAX Term)

BRA Bit Rate Adaptation

BRAN Broadband Radio Access Network

BS Base Station (IEEE 802.16)

BSC Base Station Controller

BSCH Broadcast Synchronization CHannel

BSD Berkeley Software Distribution

BSIC Base Station Identity Code

BSN Block Sequence Number (RLC) / Backward Sequence Number (SS7)

BSS Base Station Subsystem

BSSAP Base Station Subsystem Application Part

BSSAP-LE Base Station System Application Part - Location Based Services Extension

BSSGP Base Station System GPRS Protocol

BSSMAP Base Station Subsystem Mobile Application Part (3GTS 48.008)

BS_CV_MAX Maximum Countdown Value to be used by the mobile station (Countdown Procedure)

BS_EIRP Base Station Effective Isotropic Radiated Power

BTAB Bluetooth Technical Advisory Board

BTC Block Turbo Coding

BTS Base Transceiver Station

BTTI Basic Transmission Time Interval

BU Bad Urban

BVCI BSSGP Virtual Connection Identifier

BW Bandwidth


C-SAP Control Service Access Point

C/I Carrier-to-Interference Ratio (like SNR)

C/N Carrier/Noise power ratio

C/R-Bit Command / Response Bit

C/T-Field logical Channel / Transport channel identification Field

CAI Channel Assignment Indicator



CAMEL Customized Applications for Mobile network Enhanced Logic

CAN Connectivity Access Network

CAP CAMEL Application Part (CCS7)

CAPEX Capital Expenditure

CAT Conditional Access Table (MPEG2-TS PSI)

CATV Cable TV

CAZAC Constant Amplitude Zero Autocorrelation Code

CB Control uplink Burst

CBC Cell Broadcast Center

CBC Cipher Block Chaining (DES-Operation Mode)

CBC Committed Burst Size

CBCH Cell Broadcast Channel (GSM)

CBMS Convergence of Broadcast and Mobile Services

CC Call Control

CC Convolutional Coding

CCC CPCH Control Command

CCCH Common Control Channel

CCF Charging Collection Function

CCH Control Channel

CCH-Q Control CHannel, QAM

CCIR601 Comit consultatif international pour la radio, a forerunner of the ITU-R, specification 601

CCITT Comitéonsultatif International Tégraphique et Téphonique (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee)

CCK Common Cipher Key

CCM Common Channel Management (Protocol Part on the GSM Abis-Interface / 3GTS 48.058)

CCM-Mode Counter with CBC-MAC (RFC 3610) Combined Authentication and Encryption with AES-Algorithm

CCN Cell Change Notification (related to Network Assisted Cell Change / 3GTS 44.060)

CCPCH Common Control Physical Channel (see also P-CCPCH and S-CCPCH)

CCS7 Common Channel Signaling System No. 7 (ITU-T Q-series of specifications, in particular Q.700 - Q.703)

CCTrCH Coded Composite Transport Channel (UMTS)

CCU Channel Codec Unit

CD Compact Disc

List of Acronyms


CD/CA-ICH Collision Detection / Channel Assignment Indicator Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)

CDCH Control-plane Dedicated Channel (3GTS 45.902)

CDD Cyclic Delay Diversity

CDI Collision Detection Indicator

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

CDMA2000 The 3G Standard 3GPP2

CDR Call Detail Record

CELL_DCH RRC Dedicated State

CELL_FACH RRC FACH State in UTRA

CELL_PCH RRC PCH State in UTRA

CEO Chief Executive Officer

CEPT Conférence Européne des Postes et Técommunications

CESoP Circuit Emulation Services over Packet

CFI Control Format Indicator

CFN Connection Frame Number

CG Charging Gateway

CGF Charging Gateway Function

CGI Cell Global Identification

CHAP Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (RFC 1334)

CI Cell Identity

CIC Call Instance Code (BICC)

CIC Circuit Identity Code (ISUP)

CID Channel Identity (ATM)

CID Connection Identifier (WiMAX)

CIDR Classless Inter-Domain Routing (RFC 1519)

CIF Common Intermediate Format (352 x 240 pixels / ITU-T H261 / H263)


CIO Cell Individual Offset (3GTS 25.331)

CIR Carrier-to-Interference Ratio

CIR Channel Impulse Response

CIR Committed Information Rate

CK Ciphering Key (3GTS 33.102)

CKSN Ciphering Key Sequence Number

CLCH Common Linearization CHannel



CLCH-Q Common Linearization CHannel, QAM

CMC Codec Mode Command

CMC Connection Mobility Control

CMCE Circuit Mode Control Entity

CMD Circuit Mode Data

CMI Codec Mode Indication

CMIP Client Mobile IP

CMIS/P Common Management Information System/Protocol

CMR Codec Mode Request

CMTS Cable Modem Termination System

CN Core Network

CNM Central Network Management

CNMI Central Network Management Interface

CNR Carrier to Noise Ratio

COA Change Over Acknowledge message (CCS7)

CODEC Coder-decoder

COFDM Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

COMSEC Communications Security

CON CONtinue Message (TCAP)

CONS Connection Orientated Network Service

COO Change Over Order message (CCS7)

COPS Common Open Policy Service Protocol (RFC 2748)

CORBA Common Object Request Broker

CP Control Physical channel

CP Cyclic Prefix

CPC Continuous Packet Connectivity

CPCH Common Packet Channel (UMTS Transport Channel) FDD only

CPCS Common Part Convergence Sublayer

CPE Customer Premises Equipment

CPICH Common Pilot Channel (UMTS Physical Channel / see also P-CPICH and S-CPICH)

CPICH_Ec/No Common Pilot Channel Energy per Chip to Noise Radio

CPIM Common Presence and Instant Messaging (RFC 3862)

CPS Coding and Puncturing Scheme

CPS Common Part Sublayer

CPTI Calling Party Type Identifier

CPU Central Processing Unit

List of Acronyms


CQI Channel Quality Indicator

CQICH Channel Quality Indicator Channel

CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check

CRC_HS CRC of High Speed Channel (HS-DSCH)

CRNC Controlling RNC

CRSC Contributing Source

CS Circuit Switched

CS Class Selector (DiffServ Term / RFC 2474)

CS Coding Scheme

CS Convergence Sublayer

CS-X Coding Scheme (1 - 4)

CSCF Call Session Control Function (SIP)

CSD Circuit Switched Data

CSI Channel State Information

CSICH CPCH Status Indicator Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)

CSMA-CA Carrier-Sense Multiple Access - Collision Avoidance

CSN Connectivity Service Network

CSN.1 Code Syntax Notation 1 (3GTS 24.007)

CSPDN Circuit Switched Public Data Network

CSRC Synchronisation Source (RTP)

CSS Carrier Specific Signalling

CT Core Network and Terminal (Technical Specification Group within 3GPP)

CTC Convolutional Turbo Coding

CTCH Common Traffic Channel (Logical) PTM

CTFC Calculated Transport Format Combination (3GTS 25.331)

CUB Control Uplink Burst

CV Constellation Version

CV Countdown Value

CVO Clear Voice Override

CW Code Word

CmCH-PI Common Channel Priority Indicator

CoA Care of Address (MIP)

CoU Class of Usage

D-CT Downlink-Continuous Transmission

D-CTT Downlink-Carrier Timesharing Transmission

D-MCCTT Downlink - Main Control Channel Timesharing Transmission



D-TxAA Double Transmit Antenna Array

DAB Digital Audio Broadcasting

DARP Downlink Advanced Receiver Performance (3GTS 45.015, 3GTS 24.008)

DAS-X egprs2 Downlink level A modulation and coding Scheme (x = 5..12)

DASS Digital Access Signaling System

DBC Dynamic Bearer Control

DBP Diameter Base Protocol (RFC 3588)

DBPSCH Dedicated Basic Physical SubCHannel

DBS-X egprs2 Downlink level B modulation and coding Scheme (x = 5..12)

DC Direct Current

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel

DCD Downlink Channel Descriptor (WiMAX Message)

DCF DRM Content Format

DCH Dedicated Channel (Transport)

DCI Downlink Control Indicator

DCK Derived Cipher Key

DCM Dedicated Channel Management (Protocol Part on the GSM Abis-Interface / 3GTS 48.058)

DCOMP Data COMpression Protocol

DCS Digital Communication System

DDDS Dynamic Delegation Discovery System (RFC 3401 - RFC 3404)

DDI Data Description Indicator (3GTS 25.309, 25.331, 25.321)

DEC Decision (COPS message type)

DEMUX De-Multiplexer

DES Data Encryption Standard

DF Default Forwarding (DiffServ Term / RFC 2474)

DF Do not Fragment (bit in IPv4 header)

DFT Discrete Fourier Transformation

DGNA Dynamic Group Number Assignment

DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (RFC 2131)



DIA Diameter Protocol (RFC 3588, RFC 3589)

DIUC Downlink Interval Usage Code (WiMAX Term)

DL Downlink

List of Acronyms


DL-MAP Downlink-Medium Access Protocol (MAC-Message in WiMAX / IEEE 802.16)

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel

DLCI Data Link Connection Identifier

DLFP Downlink Frame Prefix

DLL Data Link Layer

DLR Destination Local Reference (SCCP term)

DLS Downloadable Sounds

DMA Division Multiple Access

DMB Digital Multimedia Broadcasting

DMO Direct Mode Operation

DMR Digital Mobile Radio

DNS Domain Name System

DOCSIS Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (defined by CableLabs)

DPC Destination Point Code


DPCH Dedicated Physical Channel (UMTS / Term to combine DPDCH and DPCCH)

DPDCH Dedicated Physical Data Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)

DPDCH_P DPDCH_Power or DPDCH_Pwr: Transmit power of DPDCH

DPNSS Digital Private Network Signaling System

DPSK Differential Phase Shift Keying

DQPSK Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

DRA Dynamic Resource Allocation

DRM Digital Rights Management

DRNC Drift Radio Network Controller

DRX Discontinuous Reception

DS-CDMA Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access

DSCA Diversity / Distributed Subcarrier Allocation

DSCH Downlink Shared Channel (UMTS Transport Channel)

DSCP Differentiated Services Code Pointer

DSL Digital Subscriber Line

DSLAM Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer

DSM-CC Digital Storage Media Call Control

DSN Digital Switching Network

DSP Digital Signal Processor



DSR Dual Symbol Rate

DSS Downlink sync Sequence Set

DSS1 Digital Subscriber Signaling System No.1 (also referred to as LAPD-signaling / ITU-T Q.931)

DSSS Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum

DT1 Data Form 1 (SCCP message type)

DTAP Direct Transfer Application Part

DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel

DTM Dual Transfer Mode [3GTS 43.055]

DTMB Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcast

DTMF Dual Tone Multiple Frequency

DTS Decode Time Stamp

DTX Discontinuous Transmission

DUA DPNSS 1 / DASS 2 User Adaptation Layer (RFC 4129)

DVB Digital Video Broadcasting

DVB-C Digital Video Broadcasting - Cable TV

DVB-H Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld

DVB-S Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite

DVB-T Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial

Digit 4 bit

DoS Denial of Service attack

E-AGCH E-DCH Absolute Grant Channel

E-DCH Enhanced Uplink Dedicated Transport Channel (3GTS 25.211, 25.309)

E-DCH-FP E-DCH Frame Protocol (Enhanced Dedicated Channel)

E-DPCCH Enhanced Uplink Dedicated Physical Control Channel (3GTS 25.211)

E-DPDCH Enhanced Uplink Dedicated Physical Data Channel (3GTS 25.211)

E-GSM Extended GSM (GSM 900 in the Extended Band)


E-OTD Enhanced Observed Time Difference


E-RNTI E-DCH Radio Network Temporary Identifier (3GTS 25.401)

E-TFC E-DCH Transport Format Combination (3GTS 25.309)

E-TFCI E-DCH Transport Format Combination Identifier (Enhanced Dedicated Channel)


List of Acronyms



EAP Extensible Authentication Protocol (RFC 3748)

EAP-AKA Extensible Authentication Protocol method for 3rd generation Authentication and Key Agreement (RFC 4187)

EAP-SIM Extensible Authentication Protocol method for gsm Subscriber Identity Module (RFC 4186)

EAP-TLS Extensible Authentication Protocol - Transport Layer Security (RFC 2716)

EAP-TTLS Extensible Authentication Protocol - Transport Layer Security (draft-funk-eap-ttls-v0-01.txt)

EAPOL EAP encapsulation Over Lan or wlan (IEEE 802.1X)

ECC Electronic Communications Committee

ECCH Extended Control CHannel

ECN Explicit Congestion Notification

ECSD Enhanced Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD + EDGE)

EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution

EDR Enhanced Data Rate (more speed with Bluetooth 2.0 (2.0 - 3.0 Mbit/s)

EF Expedite Forwarding (DiffServ Term)

EFR Enhanced Full Rate speech codec

EGAN Evolved Generic Access Network

EGPRS Enhanced General Packet Radio Service

EGPRS2 Enhanced GPRS phase 2 [3GTS 43.064]

EGPRS2-A Enhanced GPRS Phase 2 Level A [3GTS 43.064, 3GTS 44.060]

EGPRS2-B Enhanced GPRS Phase 2 Level B [3GTS 43.064, 3GTS 44.060]

EIA Electronic Industries Alliance (US-organization to support US industry)

EIR Equipment Identity Register

EIRENE European Integrated Railway Radio Enhanced Network (GSM-R)

EIRP Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power

EIT Event Information Table (MPEG, DVB-SI)

EMSK Extended Master Session Key

EN European Norm

END END Message (TCAP)

ENUM E.164-telephone number to URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) translation (RFC 3761)




EPS Evolved Packet Switched

EPT ETSI Project TETRA

EQ200 Equalizer Test 200 km/h

ERO European Radiocommunications Office

ES Elementary Stream

ES-Id Encoding Symbol-Id

ESCR Elementary Stream Clock Reference

ESG Electronic Service Guide

ESN Electronic Serial Number (North American Market)

ESP Encapsulating Security Payload (RFC 4303)

ETS European Telecommunication Standard

ETSI European Telecommunications Standard Institute

EUL Enhanced Uplink

EV-DO Evolution Data Only or Evolution Data Optimized (cdma2000)

EV-DV Evolution Data/Voice (cdma2000)

EVM Error Vector Magnitude

E_UTRA Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Access

Ec/No Received energy per chip / power density in the band

Es/No Energy per symbol / Noise power spectral density

Ethernet Layer 2 Protocol for IP (IEEE 802.3)

F-DPCH Fractional Dedicated Physical Channel (3GTS 25.211)

FA Foreign Agent (Mobile IP / RFC 3344)

FACCH Fast Associated Control Channel (GSM)

FACH Forward Access Channel (UMTS Transport Channel)

FANR Fast Ack/Nack Reporting

FBI Feedback Information (UMTS)

FBI Final Block Indicator

FBSS Fast Base Station Switching

FCB Frequency Correction downlink burst

FCC Federal Communications Commission

FCCH Frequency Correction Channel (GSM)

FCH Frame Control Header

FCS Frame Check Sequence (CRC-Check)

FDD Frequency Division Duplex

FDDI Fiber Distributed Data Interconnect (optical Layer 2)

FDM Frequency Division Multiplexing

List of Acronyms


FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access

FDPS Full-slot Downlink Pilots Set

FDT File Delivery Table

FEC Forward Error Correction

FER Frame Error Rate

FFH Fast Frequency Hopping

FFRS Fractional Frequency Reuse Scheme

FFS For Further Study

FFT Fast Fourier Transformation

FH-CDMA Frequency Hopping Code Division Multiple Access

FIB Forward Indicator Bit

FIPS Federal Information Processing Standard

FISU Fill In Signal Unit

FLO Flexible Layer 1 (3GTS 45.902)

FLUTE File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport (RFC 3926)

FM Frequency Modulation

FMC Fixed Mobile Convergence

FN Frame Number

FP Frame Protocol

FPB First Partial Bitmap

FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name. Fully qualified domain names consist of a host and a domain name whereas the domain name needs to include a top-level domain (e.g. 'de' or 'org'). Examples: 'www.inacon.de' and 'PC10.inacon.com' are fully qualified domain names. 'www' and 'PC10' represent the host, 'inacon' is the second-level domain, 'de' and 'com' are the top level domain.

FR Fullrate or Frame Relay

FRMR Frame Reject

FRS Frequency Reuse Scheme

FSN Forward Sequence Number

FTP File Transfer Protocol (RFC 959)

FUPS Full-slot Uplink Pilots Set

FUSC Full Usage of Subchannels

FWA Fixed Wireless Access

FiSA Filler Set A

FiSB Filler Set B

FrCS Frequency Correction Set

G-MSC Gateway MSC



G-PDU T-PDU + GTP-Header

G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identifier

GA Generic Access (3GTS 43.318)

GA-CSR Generic Access - Circuit-Switched Resources (3GTS 43.318)

GA-PSR Generic Access - Packet-Switched Resources (3GTS 43.318)

GA-RC Generic Access - Resource Control (3GTS 43.318)

GAA Generic Authentication Architecture (3GTS 33.220)

GAN Generic Access Network

GANC Generic Access Network Controller (3GTS 43.318)

GBA Generic Bootstraping Architecture (3GTS 33.220)

GBR Guaranteed Bit Rate

GCC Generic Call Control

GCF General Certification Forum

GCK Group Cipher Key

GEA GPRS Encryption Algorithm

GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network

GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

GHz Giga Hertz (109 Hertz)

GIAT Group Identity Address Type

GIF Graphics Interchange Format

GITI Group Identify Type Identifier

GK Gatekeeper

GMLC Gateway Mobile Location Center

GMM GPRS Mobility Management

GMSC Gateway MSC

GMSC-S Gateway MSC Server

GMSK Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying

GNU recursive acronym for GNU is Not Unix. Today a synonym for free Sourcecode Software.

GOP Group of Pictures

GPCS Generic Packet Convergence Sublayer (IEEE 802.16)

GPRS General Packet Radio Service

GPRS-CSI GPRS CAMEL Subscription Information

GPRS-SSF GPRS Service Switching Function (CAMEL)

GPS Global Positioning System

GRA GERAN Registration Area

List of Acronyms


GRE Generic Routing Encapsulation (RFC 2784)

GRX GPRS Roaming Exchange (GSM-Association IR.34)


GSM-R GSM for Railways

GSMS GPRS Short Message Service

GSN GPRS Support Node

GSSI Group Short Subscriber Identity


GTP-C GTP Control Plane

GTP-U GTP User Plane

GTSI Group TETRA Subscriber Identity

GTT Global Title Translation (ITU-T Q.714 (2.4))

GTTP GPRS Transparent Transport Protocol (3GTS 44.018)

GUMMEI Global Unique MME Identity

GUP Generic User Profile

GUTI Global Unique Terminal Identity

GW Gateway

GZIP GNU ZIP (compression format)

GoS Grade of Service

H-PLMN Home PLMN

H-RNTI HS-DSCH Radio Network Transaction Identifier (3GTS 25.331, 25.433)

HA Home Agent (Mobile IP / RFC 3344)

HARQ Hybrid ARQ

HB Heartbeat

HBDC Happy Bit Delay Condition (3GTS 25.309)

HC-SDMA High Capacity - Spatial Division Multiple Access

HCS Hierarchical Cell Structure

HDB3 High Density Bipolar Three (Line Coding used for E1 (PCM 30)

HDLC High level Data Link Control

HDTV High Definition Television

HE Header Extension Field

HFC Hxbrid Fiber Cable (relates to the layer 1 of CableTV-operators)

HFC-Network Hybrid Fiber- / Coaxial-cable

HI HARQ Indicator

HIPERLAN/2 High Performance Radio Local Area Network type 2



HLR Home Location Register

HMAC Keyed Hashing for Message Authentication (RFC 2104)

HO Handover

HOM Higher Order Modulation

HOMTC Higher Order Modulation and Turbo Coding

HOT Higher Order modulation and Turbo coding for downlink

HP High Priority Path (MPEG, DVB)

HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile radio Network

HR Halfrate

HS High Speed

HS-DPCCH High Speed Dedicated Physical Control Channel (3GTS 25.211)

HS-DSCH High Speed Downlink Shared Transport Channel (3GTS 25.211, 25.212, 25.308)

HS-HARQ High Speed Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

HS-PDSCH High Speed Physical Downlink Shared Channel (3GTS 25.211)


HSCSD High Speed Circuit Switched Data



HSPA+ Enhanced High Speed Packet Access (operation of enhanced HSDPA and enhanced HSUPA)

HSR Higher Symbol Rate

HSS Home Subscriber Server [3GTS 23.002]. HSS replaces the HLR with 3GPP Rel. 5


HT200 Hilly Terrain 200 km/h

HTML Hypertext Markup Language

HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol (RFC 2616)

HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure

HUGE Higher Uplink performance for Geran Evolution

HUMAN High-speed Unlicensed Metropolitan Area Network

HUPS Half-slot Uplink Pilots Set

HW Hardware

HiperMAN High Performance Radio Metropolitan Area Network

HoA Home Address

I+S Information + Supervisory

List of Acronyms


I-CSCF Interrogating Call Session Control Function (SIP)

I-WLAN Interworking WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) (3GTS 23.234)

IAM Initial Address Message (ISUP ISDN User Part)

IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

IBS Integrated Base Station

IC Interference Cancellation

ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

ICH Indicator Channel (UMTS Physical Channel / see also PICH, AICH, CD/CA-ICH)

ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination

ICM Initial Codec Mode

ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol (RFC 792)

ICS Implementation Conformance Statement

ID Identity

IDEA International Data Encryption Algorithm

IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transformation

IDNNS Intra-Domain NAS Node Selector

IE Information Element

IEC International Electrotechnical Commission

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IETF Internet Engineering Task Force (www.ietf.org)

IFFT Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation

IGMP Internet Group Multicast Protocol (RFC 1112, RFC 2236)

IHOSS Internet Hosted Octet Stream Service

IIR-Filter Infinite Impulse Response Filter

IK Integrity Key (3GTS 33.102)

IKE Internet Key Exchange (RFC 2409)

IKEv2 Internet Key Exchange protocol / version 2 (RFC 4306)

IKMP Internet Key Management Protocol

ILCM Incoming Leg Control Model

IM Instant Messaging


IMEISV International Mobile Equipment Identity - amended by Software Version number

IMM IMMediate access parameter

IMPI IP Multimedia Private Identity; the private user identity of an IMS-subscriber, formatted as an NAI (3GTS 33.203)



IMPU IP Multimedia Public Identity; the public user identity of an IMS-subscriber, formatted as SIP-URI or TEL-URI (3GTS 33.203)


IMS-AG IMS-Access Gateway

IMS-SSF IP Multimedia Subsystem - Service Switching Function


IMT International Mobile Telecommunications

IMT-2000 International Mobile Telecommunications for the year 2000

IN Intelligent Networking

INAP Intelligent Network Application Part (CCS7)

INT IP-MAC Notification Table (DVB-H SI)

IOP Interoperability (of TETRA equipment)

IOV Input / Offset Variable [3GTS 44.064]

IOV-I / IOV-UI Input Offset Variable for I+S and UI-Frames (for ciphering in GPRS)

IP Internet Protocol (RFC 791)

IP-CAN Internet Protocol - Connectivity Access Network (e.g. DSL, TV-Cable, WiMAX, UMTS)

IP-CS IP-Convergence Sublayer

IPBCP IP Bearer Control Protocol (ITU-T Q.1970)

IPCP Internet Protocol Control Protocol (RFC 1332)

IPDC IP Datacast

IPDV IP-packet delay variation (ITU-T Y.1540)

IPER IP-packet error ratio (ITU-T Y.1540)

IPLR IP-packet loss ratio (ITU-T Y.1540)

IPR Intellectual Property Rights

IPTD IP-packet transfer delay (ITU-T Y.1540)

IPTV Internet Protocol Television

IPsec Internet Protocol / secure (RFC 4301)

IPv4 Internet Protocol (version 4)

IPv6 Internet Protocol (version 6)

IQ Inphase and Quadrature

IR Incremental Redundancy (ARQ II)

IS Interim Standard (ANSI Standard)


ISAKMP Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol

List of Acronyms


(RFC 2408)

ISBN International Standard Book Number

ISC IP multimedia subsystem Service Control-Interface

ISCP Interference Signal Code Power (3GTS 25.215 / 3GTS 25.102)

ISCTI Istituto Superiore delle Comunicazioni e delle Tecnologie dell'Informazione

ISDB Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

ISI Inter-Symbol Interference

ISI Inter-System Interface

ISIM IMS capable Subscriber Identity Module

ISM Industrial, Scientific and Medical (term for license-free frequencies)

ISO International Standardization Organization

ISP Internet Service Provider

ISPC International Signaling Point Code (ITU-T Q.708)

ISSI Individual Short Subscriber Identity

ISUA ISDN User Adaptation Layer

ISUP ISDN User Part (ITU-T Q.761 - Q.765)

IT Information Technology

ITSI Individual TETRA Subscriber Identity

ITU International Telecommunication Union

ITU-R International Telecommunication Union - Radiocommunications

ITU-T International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Sector

IUA ISDN Q.921 User Adaptation Layer (RFC 4233)

IUT Implementation under Test

IoT Interference over Thermal noise

Iu-FP Iu-Frame Protocol (3GTS 25.415)

Iub-FP Iub-Frame Protocol (3GTS 25.427 / 25.435)

Iub_HS Iub Interface with High Speed connection

Iur-FP Iur-Frame Protocol (3GTS 25.424, 3GTS 25.425, 25.426, 25.435)

JD Joint Detection

JPEG Joint Picture Expert Group

KEK Key Encryption Key (IEEE 802.16)

KMC Key Management Centres



KSG Key Stream Generator

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)

L2 Layer 2 (data link layer)

L2TP Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (RFC 2661)

L3 Layer 3 (network layer)

LA Link Adaptation

LA Location Area

LAC Location Area Code

LACC Location Area Country Code

LAI Location Area Identification (LAI = MCC + MNC + LAC) [3GTS 23.003]

LAN Local Area Network

LANC Location Area Network Code

LAPB Link Access Procedure Balanced

LAPD Link Access Protocol for the ISDN D-Channel

LAPDm Link Access Protocol for the D-Channel / modified for the GSM air interface (3GTS 44.006)

LAPV5 Link Access Protocol for V5-interface

LATRED Latency Reduction (Work item within GERAN-Evolution)

LB Linearization Burst

LB Load Balancing

LBS Location Based Service

LCH Logical Channel (3GTS 25.321 MAC-ehs)

LCH-Q Linearization CHannel, QAM

LCID Logical Channel ID

LCMC-SAP Link entity Circuit Mode Control entity - Service Access Point

LCP Link Control Protocol (PPP)

LCR Low Chip Rate TDD

LCS LoCation Service

LCT Layered Coding Transport

LDAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (RFC 3928)

LDB Linearization Downlink Burst

LDPC Low Density Parity Check

LE Lower Effort PDB (DiffServ Term)

LER Label Edge Router (MPLS)

LEX Local Exchange Carrier

LI Length Indicator

List of Acronyms


LIP Location Information Protocol

LIP-SAP Location Information Protocol - Service Access Point

LLC Logical Link Control-Protocol

LLME Lower Layer Management Entity

LMDS Local Multipoint Distribution Services

LMM-SAP Link entity Mobility Management - Service Access Point

LMMSE Linear Minimum Mean Square Error receiver

LMU Location Measurement Unit

LNET ORF ATM Network

LNM Local Network Management

LOG10 Logarithm of basis 10

LOS Line Of Sight

LP Low Priority Path (MPEG, DVB)

LPC Linear Predictive Coding

LPD Link Protocol Discriminator

LR Location Register

LS Line Station

LSB Least Significant Bit

LSF Last Segment Flag

LSI Line Station Interface

LSP Label Switched Path (MPLS)

LSR Label Switch Router (MPLS)

LSSU Link Status Signal Unit


LTE_ACTIVE LTE State for active packet transmission

LTE_DETACHED LTE State for UE not being registered in the network

LTE_IDLE LTE State for non active packet transmission

LTPD-SAP Link entity TETRA Packet Data - Service Access Point

LUPR Last User Power Ratio

LZS Linearisation downlink Zeroed Set


M-bit More bit

M2PA MTP-2 user Peer-to-Peer Adaptation Layer (RFC 4165)

M2UA MTP-2 User Adaptation Layer (RFC 3331)

M3UA MTP-3 User Adaptation Layer (RFC 4666)

MAC Medium Access Control



MAC Message Authentication Code

MAC-d Medium Access Control for the Dedicated Transport Channel (3GTS 25.321)

MAC-e MAC-E-DCH (3GTS 25.321)

MAC-ehs MAC-Evolved High Speed

MAC-es MAC-E-DCH SRNC (3GTS 25.321)

MAC-hs MAC-High Speed (3GTS 25.321)

MAN Metropolitan Area Network

MAP Mobile Application Part (3GTS 29.002)

MAP-B Mobile Application Part - B-interface protocol between MSC and VLR

MAP-X Mobile Application Part - various interface protocols like B-, C-, D-, E-, F- or G-interface

MAR Minimum to Average power Ratio

MASF Minimum Available Spreading Factor

MBMS Multimedia Broadcast / Multicast Service (3GTS 23.246, 3GTS 43.846)

MBMS_RRC_CONNECTED

RRC state for E-MBMS in LTE

MBR Maximum Bit Rate

MBS Multicast Broadcast Services

MBSAT Mobile Broadcast Satellite

MBSFN MBMS Single Frequency Network

MBWA Mobile Broadband Wireless Access [IEEE 802.20]

MBZ Must Be Zero

MBit Mega Bit

MCC Mobile Country Code [ITU-T E.212]

MCCH MBMS point-to-multipoint Control Channel

MCCH Main Control CHannel

MCH Multicast Channel

MCM Minimum Control Mode

MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme

MCS-X Modulation and Coding Scheme (1 - 9) and for HSDPA / HSUPA

MCU Multipoint Control Unit (H.323 equipment)

MD Message Digest algorithm (e.g. MD-5)

MD-X Message Digest Algorithm (MD-2, 4, 5 are defined) (MD-5 RFC 1321)

MDHO Macro-Diversity Handover

List of Acronyms


MDSR Modified Dual Symbol Rate

ME Mobile Equipment (ME + SIM = MS)

MEGACO Media Gateway Control Protocol (ITU-T H.248 incl. Annex F - H and IETF RFC 3015)

MELPe Mixed Excitation Linear Predictive

MER Message Erasure Rate

MEX Multimedia Exchange Layer

MExE Mobile Station Application Execution Environment

MGC Media Gateway Controller

MGCF Media Gateway Control Function

MGCK Modified Group Cipher key

MGCP Media Gateway Control Protocol (RFC 2705)

MGT MPEG PSI tables for ARIB

MGW Media Gateway

MHP Multimedia Home Platform


MIB Management Information Base

MIB Master Information Block

MICH MBMS Notification Indicator Channel

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface

MIH Media Independent Handover (IEEE 802.21)

MII Ministry of Information Industry

MIKEY Multimedia Internet KEYing (RFC 3830)

MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions


MIN Mobile Identity Number (North American Market)

MINA Mobile Internet Network Architecture

MIP Mobile IP (RFC 2002, 3344, 3775)

MIPv4 Mobile IP Version 4

MISO Multiple In / Single Out (antenna system)

MLD Multicast Listener Discovery (RFC 2710)

MLE Mobile Link Entity

MLP MAC Logical Channel Priority

MLPP Multi-Level Precedence and Pre-emption (ITU-T Q.85 / Clause 3)

MM Mobility Management

MMCC Multimedia Call Control



MMD IP Multimedia Domain (name of the IMS in 3GPP2)

MMDS Multipoint Microwave Distribution System or Multi-channel Multi-point Distribution System


MMEC MME Code

MMEGI MME Group Identity

MMEI MME Identity

MMI Man-Machine-Interface

MMS Multimedia Messaging Service (3GTS 22.140, 3GTS 23.140)

MN Multiframe Number


MNI Mobile Network Identity

MNRG Mobile Not Reachable for GPRS flag

MO Mobile station Originating

MOBIKE IKEv2 Mobility and Multihoming Protocol (RFC 4555)

MOC Mobile Originating Call

MOPS Million Operations Per second

MORE Modulation Order and symbol Rate Enhancement

MOS Mean Opinion Score

MP3 MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3

MPCC Multiparty Call Control

MPE Multi Protocol Encapsulation (DVB-H)

MPEG Motion Picture Expert Group

MPEG2-TS MPEG-2 Transport Stream (DVB)

MPLS Multi Protocol Label Switching

MPN Monitoring Pattern Number

MPRACH MBMS Packet Random Access Channel ((E)GPRS)

MRC Maximum Ratio Combining

MRF Multimedia Resource Function

MRFC Multimedia Resource Function Controller

MRFP Multimedia Resource Function Processor

MRU Maximum Receive Unit (PPP)

MRW Move Receiving Window

MS Mobile Station

MS Mobile Subscriber Station [IEEE 802.16]

MS-ISDN Mobile Subscriber - International Service Directory Number

MS-PD Multislot Packet Data

List of Acronyms


MSB Most Significant Bit

MSC Mobile Services Switching Center

MSC-S MSC-Server

MSCH MBMS point-to-multipoint Scheduling Channel

MSK Master Session Key

MSRD Mobile Station Receive Diversity

MSRN Mobile Station Roaming Number

MSRP Message Session Relay Protocol (draft-ietf-simple-message-sessions-XX)

MSS Maximum Segment Size (TCP)

MST Multiple Slot Transmission

MSU Message Signal Unit

MT Mobile Terminal or Mobile Terminating

MT0 Mobile station Termination type 0

MT2 Mobile station Termination type 2

MTBF Mean Time Between Failure

MTC Mobile Terminating Call

MTCH MBMS point-to-multipoint Traffic Channel

MTK MBMS Traffic Key

MTP Message Transfer Part (ITU-T Q.701 - Q.709)

MTP-3b Message Transfer Part level 3 / broadband (ITU-T Q.2210)

MTTR Mean Time To Repair

MTU Maximum Transmit Unit (IP)

MUD Multi-User-Detection unit

MUX Multiplex

MVNO Mobile Virtual Network Operator

Max [X, Y] The value shall be the maximum of X or Y, which ever is bigger

Mcps Mega Chip Per Second

Min [X, Y] The value shall be the minimum of X or Y, which ever is smaller

MitM Man in the Middle (attack)

N(R) Received SDU (TL-SDU) Number

N(S) Sent SDU (TL-SDU) Number

N-PDU Network-Protocol Data Unit (IP-Packet, X.25-Frame)

N-SAW N-Channel Stop and Wait (3GTS 25.309, 3GTR 25.848)

NACC Network Assisted Cell Change (3GTS 44.060)




NAF Network Application Function (part of the Generic Authentication Architecture (GAA))

NAI Network Access Identifier (RFC 2486)

NAP Network Access Provider

NAPT Network Address Port Translation (RFC 3022)

NAPTR Naming Authority Pointer (RFC 2915)


NASS Network Attachment SubSystem (part of the TISPAN NGN-architecture)

NAT Network Address Translation (RFC 1631)

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

NBAP NodeB Application Part (3GTS 25.433)

NBNS NetBios Name Service

NC Neighbor Cell

NC Network Connection

NCC Network Color Code

NCM Normal Control Mode

NCP Network Control Protocol (PPP)

NDB Normal Downlink Burst

NDI New Data Indicator

NGMN Next Generation Mobile Networks

NGN Next Generation Networks

NI Network Indicator

NIC Network Interface Card

NIT Network Information Table (MPEG2-TS PSI, DVB-SI)

NLOS Non Line Of Sight

NMS Network Management Subsystem

NMT Nordic Mobile Telephone (analog cellular standard, mainly used in Scandinavia)

NNI Network-to-Network Interface

NOM Network Operation Mode [3GTS 23.060]

NPB Next Partial Bitmap

NPM Non-Persistent Mode

NRA National Regulatory Administration

NRI Network Resource Identifier

NS Network Service

List of Acronyms


NS-VC Network Service - Virtual Connection

NS-VCG Network Service - Virtual Connection Group

NS-VL Network Service - Virtual Link

NSAP Network Service Access Point

NSAPI Network Service Access Point Identifier

NSE Network Service Entity

NSF NAS Node Selection function

NSIS Next Steps in Signaling (RFC 4080)

NSLP NSIS Signaling Layer Protocol (e.g. for resource reservation)

NSP Network Service Provider

NSPC National Signaling Point Code

NSR Normal Symbol Rate

NSS Network Switching Subsystem

NT Network Termination

NTSC National Television System Committee (video standard for North America)

NUB Normal Uplink Burst

NWG Network Working Group (WiMAX Forum)

O&M Operation and Maintenance

O-bit Optional bit

OCNS Orthogonal Channel Noise Simulator



OFUSC Optional FUSC (Full Usage of Subchannels)

OLCM Outgoing Leg Control Model

OMA Open Mobile Alliance (http://www.openmobilealliance.org/)

OMAC One-Key CBC-MAC (NIST standard: SP 800-38B and http://csrc.nist.gov/CryptoToolkit/modes/proposedmodes/)

OMAP Operation & Maintenance Application Part

OMC Operation and Maintenance Center

OOK On OFF Keying

OP Optional

OPC Originating Point Code

OPEX Operational Expenditure

OPUSC Optional PUSC (Partial Usage of Subchannels)

OPWA One Pass With Advertising (Term in RSVP)

ORF Oesterreichischer Rundfunk



OSA Open Service Access

OSA-SCS Open Service Access - Service Capability Server

OSCP Online Certificate Status Protocol (RFC 2560)

OSI Open System Interconnection

OSP Octet Stream Protocol

OTAR Over The Air Re-keying

OTDOA Observed Time Difference Of Arrival

OVSF Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factor

Octet 8 bit

OoBTC Out of Band Transcoder Control (3GTS 23.153)

P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel (UMTS / used as bearer for the BCH TrCH)

P-CPICH Primary Common Pilot Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)

P-CSCF Proxy Call Session Control Function (SIP)

P-SCH Primary Synchronization Channel

P-TMSI Packet TMSI

P/F-Bit Polling/Final - Bit

P/S Parallel to Serial

PA Pedestrian A mobile radio channel

PA Power Amplifier

PA Presence Agent (RFC 3856)

PABX Private Automatic Branch Exchange

PACCH Packet Associated Control Channel ((E)GPRS)

PACQ Probability of synchronization burst ACQuisition

PACS Personal Access Communication System

PAD Packet Assembly Disassembly

PAGCH Packet Access Grant Channel ((E)GPRS)

PAL Phase Alternating Line (TV Norm)

PAMR Public Access Mobile Radio

PAN Piggybacked Ack/Nack

PAP Password Authentication Protocol (RFC 1334)

PAPR Peak-to-Average Power Ratio

PAR Peak to Average power Ratio

PAT Program Assocation Table (MPEG2-TS)

PB Pedestrian B mobile radio channel

PBCCH Packet Broadcast Control Channel ((E)GPRS)


List of Acronyms


PBS Peak Burst Size

PC Paging Controller

PC Power Control

PC Protocol Class (SCCP)

PC Protocol Control

PCCC Parallel Concatenated Convolutional Code (possible Turbo Coding Scheme)

PCCCH Packet Common Control Channel ((E)GPRS)

PCCH Paging Control Channel


PCH Paging Channel

PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect (computer bus standard to interconnect peripherals to the CPU)

PCI Precoding Control Indication

PCM Pulse Code Modulation

PCN Personal Communication Network

PCOMP Protocol COMpression Protocol

PCPCH Physical Common Packet Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)

PCR Program Clock Reference (MPEG)

PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (3GTS 23.203) (Rel. 7 onwards)

PCS Personal Communication System

PCU Packet Control Unit

PD Packet Data

PD Protocol Discriminator

PDA Personal Digital Assistant

PDB Packet Delay Budget

PDB Per Domain Behavior (DiffServ Term)

PDBF Profile DataBase Function (TISPAN term / ETSI ES 282 004)

PDC Personal Digital Communication (ARIB-Standard)


PDCH Packet Data Channel

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

PDF Policy Decision Function (Part of the IP Multimedia Subsystem)

PDF Probability Density Function

PDG Packet Data Gateway





PDO Packet Data Optimised

PDP Packet Data Protocol

PDS Packet Data Subsystem (3GPP2)

PDS Power Density Spectrum


PDSN Packet Data Support Node (the SGSN in 3GPP2)

PDTCH Packet Data Traffic Channel ((E)GPRS)


PEAP Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol

PEI Peripheral Equipment Interface

PEP Policy Enforcement Point (3GTS 23.209)

PER Packed Encoding Rules (ITU-T X.691)

PES PSTN/ISDN Emulation Subsystem (part of the TISPAN NGN-architecture)

PES Packetised Elementary Stream (DVB)

PFC Packet Flow Context

PFI Packet Flow Identifier

PG Processing Gain: 10 * LOG10 (3.84 Mcps / user_data_rate)

PHB Per Hop Behavior (DiffServ Term)


PHS Payload Header Suppression (IEEE 802.16)

PHS Personal Handy phone System

PHY Physical Layer

PHz Peta Hertz (1015 Hertz)

PI Paging Indicator

PI Priority Indicator

PICH Page Indicator Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)

PICMG PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (http://www.picmg.org/)

PICS Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement

PID Packet Identifier (MPEG2-TS)

PIDF Presence Information Data Format (RFC 3863)

PIR Peak Information Rate

PIXIT Protocol Implementation Extra Information for Testing

PKCS Public Key Cryptography Standard

PKMv2 Privacy Key Management Version 2

List of Acronyms


PL Physical Layer

PL Puncturing Limit (3GTS 25.212)

PL-SAP Packet link Layer Service Access Point

PLC Power Line Communications


PLR Packet Loss Rate

PLmax E-DCH maximum Puncturing Limit (3GTS 25.212)

PLnon-max Puncturing Limit not requiring maximum physical channels (3GTS 25.212)


PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator

PMIP Proxy Mobile IP

PMM Packet Mobility Management

PMR Private Mobile Radio

PMT Program Map Table (MPEG2-TS)

PMTU Path MTU

PN Pseudo Noise

PNCH Packet Notification Channel ((E)GPRS)

PNG Portable Network Graphics

PO Power Offset

POP Post Office Protocol (RFC 1939)

POP3 Post Office Protocol version 3

POTS Plain Old Telephone Service

PPCH Packet Paging Channel ((E)GPRS)

PPP Point-to-Point Protocol (RFC 1661)

PRA PCPCH Resource Availability

PRACH Packet Random Access Channel


PRACK Provisional Response Acknowledgement (SIP-method type)

PRD Bluetooth Qualification Program Reference Document

PRF Pseudo Random Function

PRI Primary rate access ISDN-user interface for PABX's (23 or 30 B-channels plus one D-Channel)

PS Packet Switched

PS Physical Slot (IEEE 802.16)

PS Program Stream

PS Puncturing Scheme



PSC Primary Synchronization Code or Primary Scrambling Code (both used in UMTS)

PSD Power Spectral Density (3GTS 25.215 / 3GTS 25.102)

PSI Program Specific Information (MPEG2-TS)

PSIP MPEG PSI tables for ARIB, similar to DVB-PSI

PSK Phase Shift Keying

PSPDN Packet Switched Public Data Network

PSS 1 Private integrated Signalling System No. 1

PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

PT Protocol Type (GTP or GTP')

PTCCH Packet Timing Advance Control Channel ((E)GPRS)

PTCCH/D Packet Timing Advance Control Channel / Downlink Direction ((E)GPRS)

PTCCH/U Packet Timing Advance Control Channel / Uplink Direction ((E)GPRS)

PTM Point to Multipoint

PTP Point to Point

PTS Presentation Time Stamp

PTT Post, Telephone & Telegraph (abbreviation for the former government owned organizations that were responsible for all three services)

PUA Presence User Agent (RFC 3856)


PUEM Probability of Undetected Erroneous Message

PUSC Partial Usage of Subchannels


PVC Permanent Virtual Circuit

PhCH Physical Channel

PoC Push to talk over Cellular (3GTR 29.979 and various OMA-specifications)

PoE Power over Ethernet

QAM n symbols Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (n = 16, 32, 64, ...)


QCIF Quarter Common Intermediate Format (176 x 144 pixels ITU-T H261 / H263)

QE Quality Estimate


QSIG Q-interface signaling protocol

List of Acronyms



R-GSM Railways-GSM

RA Registered Area

RA Routing Area


RAA RE-Auth-Answer command (Diameter BASE, RFC 3588)

RAB Radio Access Bearer

RAB Random Access uplink Burst

RAC Radio Admission Control

RAC Routing Area Code

RACC Routing Area Color Code [3GTS 44.018 (10.5.2.34)]

RACH Random Access Channel

RACS Resource and Admission Control Subsystem (part of the TISPAN NGN-architecture)

RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RFC 2865)

RAI Routing Area Identification

RAM Random Access Memory


RANAP Radio Access Network Application Part (3GTS 25.413)

RAND Random Number

RAR RE-Auth-Request command (Diameter BASE, RFC 3588)


RATSCCH Robust AMR Traffic Synchronized Control CHannel

RB Radio Bearer

RB Receive Block Bitmap (EGPRS)

RB Resource Block

RBB Receive Block Bitmap (GPRS)

RBC Radio Bearer Control

RBPSCH Shared Basic Physical SubCHannel

RCPC Rate Compatible Punctured Convolutional

RDC Radio Downlink Counter

RDC-NC Radio Downlink Counter - Non Conforming channel

RDC-Q Radio Downlink Counter, QAM

RED REduced symbol Duration

RED Random Early Detection

REJ Reject

REQ Request (COPS message type)



RES Response

RF Radio Frequency

RFC Request for Comments (Internet Standards)

RFID Radio Frequency Identification

RG Relative Grant (3GTS 25.309)

RL Radio Link (3GTS 25.433)

RL-TBF Reduced Latency Temporary Block Flow [3GTS 43.064]


RLM Radio Link Management (Protocol Part on the GSM Abis-Interface / 3GTS 48.058)

RLP Radio Link Protocol (3GTS 24.022)

RLS Radio Link Set (3GTS 25.309, 25.433)

RM Rate Matching

RM Reed-Muller

RMS Root Mean Square


RNL Radio Network Layer

RNR Receive Not Ready

RNS Radio Network Subsystem

RNSAP Radio Network Subsystem Application Part (3GTS 25.423)

RNSN Radio Network Serving Node


ROHC Robust Header Compression

ROI Return On Invest

RPE/LTP Regular Pulse Excitation / Long Term Prediction (Speech Codec)

RPID Rich Presence Information Data

RPLMN Registered PLMN

RPR Resilient Packet Ring (IEEE 802.17)

RR Radio Resource Management

RR Receive Ready (LAPD/LLC/RLP-Frame Type)

RRA Radio Resource Agent

RRBP Relative Reserved Block Period


RRC-Filter Root Raised Cosine Filter

RRC_CONNECTED RRC state in E-UTRA

RRC_IDLE RRC state

List of Acronyms


RRC_MBMS_CONNECTED

RRC state in E-UTRA for UEs with MBMS service only

RRLP Radio Resource LCS Protocol


RS Reference Signal

RSA Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman-algorithm (Public Key Encryption / PKCS #1)

RSADP RSA-Decryption Primitive (RFC 3447 (5.1.2) or PKCS #1 (5.1.2); PKCS = Public Key Cryptography Standard)

RSAEP RSA-Encryption Primitive (RFC 3447 (5.1.1) or PKCS #1 (5.1.1); PKCS = Public Key Cryptography Standard)

RSAES-OAEP RSA Encryption Scheme - Optimal Asymmetric Encryption Padding (PKCS #1 / RFC 3447)

RSC Recursive Systematic Convolutional Coder (Turbo Coding, 25.212)

RSCP Received Signal Code Power (3GTS 25.215)

RSN Retransmission Sequence Number (3GTS 25.309, 25.212)

RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

RST Running Status Table (DVB-SI)

RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

RSVP Resource Reservation Protocol (RFC 2205)

RT Real Time

RTCM Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services

RTCP Real-time Transport Control Protocol

RTG Receive transmit Transition Gap (IEEE 802.16 (3.45)) the time between an uplink subframe and the subsequent downlink subframe in a TDD-system

RTO Retransmission Time Out

RTP Real-time Transport Protocol (RFC 3550, RFC 3551)

RTP/AVP Real-time Transport Protocol / Audio Video Profile (RFC 3551) (used in SDP-descriptions)

RTP/AVPF Real-time Transport Protocol / extended Audio Video Profile for rtcp Feedback (used in SDP-descriptions)(draft-ietf-avt-rtcp-feedback-11.txt)

RTP/SAVP Real-time Transport Protocol / Secure Audio Video Profile (RFC 3711) (used in SDP-descriptions)

RTSP Real Time Streaming Protocol (RFC 2326)

RTT Round Trip Time

RTTI Reduced Transmission Time Interval



RTTVAR Round Trip Time Variation

RTWP Received Total Wideband Power

RUIM Removable User Identity Module

RV Redundancy and Constellation Version (3GTS 25.212)

RX Receive


RoT Rise over Thermal (interference rise relative to zero load)

Roope53vISO International Organization for Standardization

Rx Receive(r)

S(R) Received segment Sequence number

S(S) Sent segment Sequence number

S-CCPCH Secondary Common Control Physical Channel (used as bearer for the FACH and PCH TrCH's / UMTS Physical Channel)

S-CPICH Secondary Common Pilot Channel (UMTS Physical Channel)

S-CSCF Serving Call Session Control Function (SIP)

S-SCH Secondary Synchronization Channel (physical)


S/P Serial to Parallel


SA Security Association

SA Service Area

SA System Architecture

SAAL-NNI Signaling ATM Adaptation Layer - Network Node Interface

SAB Service Area Broadcast

SABM(E) Set Asynchronous Balanced Mode (Extended for Modulo 128 operation) (LAPD/LLC/RLP-Frame Type)

SABP Service Area Broadcast Protocol (3GTS 25.419)

SACCH Slow Associated Control Channel (GSM)

SACCH/MD SACCH Multislot Downlink (related control channel of TCH/FD/GSM)

SACK Selective Acknowledgement


SAI Service Area Identifier

SAIC Single Antenna Interference Cancellation

SANC Signaling Area Network Code (ITU-T Q.708)

SAP Service Access Point

SAPI Service Access Point Identifier

List of Acronyms


SAR Segmentation And Reassembly (ATM-sublayer)

SAR Specific Absorption Rate

SAT Satellite

SAW Stop and Wait Machine

SB Scheduling Block

SB Synchronization downlink Burst

SBC Session Border Controller (SIP term, usually a B2BUA with NAT-function and media gateway)

SBN Source Block Number

SBPSCH Shared Basic Physical SubCHannel

SC Serving Cell

SC Subcarrier


SCCH Secondary Control CHannel

SCCP Signaling Connection Control Part (ITU-T Q.711 - Q.714)

SCF Service Control Function (CAMEL)

SCH Signalling CHannel


SCH-P8/F Signalling CHannel, p/8-D8PSK, Full size

SCH-P8/HD Signalling CHannel, p/8-D8PSK, Half size Downlink

SCH-P8/HU Signalling CHannel, p/8-D8PSK, Half size Uplink

SCH-Q Signalling CHannel, QAM

SCH-Q/D Signalling CHannel, QAM Full size Downlink

SCH-Q/HU Signalling CHannel, QAM Half size Uplink

SCH-Q/RA Signalling CHannel, QAM Random Access Uplink

SCH-Q/U Signalling CHannel, QAM Full size Uplink

SCH/F Signalling CHannel, Full size

SCH/HD Signalling CHannel, Half size Downlink

SCH/HU Signalling CHannel, Half size Uplink

SCK Static Cipher Key

SCLNS Specific ConnectionLess Network Service

SCN Switching Control Node

SCP Service Control Point (IN)

SCR Source Controlled Rate

SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol (RFC 2960)

SD Sample Duration

SDCCH Stand Alone Dedicated Control Channel



SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

SDK Software Development Kit

SDMA Space Division Multiple Access

SDP Session Description Protocol (RFC 2327, RFC 3266, RFC 3264)

SDS Short Data Service

SDT Service Description Table (DVB-SI)

SDTI Short Date Type Identifier

SDTV Standard Definition TV

SDU Service Data Unit (the payload of a PDU)

SEG Security Gateway

SEP Signaling End Point (CCS7)

SF Slot Flag

SF Spreading Factor

SFBC Space Frequency Block Codes

SFH Slow Frequency Hopping

SFID Service Flow Identity


SFN System Frame Number

SFPG Security and Fraud Prevention Group

SG Security Gateway (IPsec / RFC 2401)

SG Serving Grant respectively Power Grant (3GTS 25.213, 25.309, 25.321)

SGLUPR Last Used Power Ratio according to SG table index (3GTS 25.321)


SGW Signaling Gateway


SHA Secure Hash Algorithm

SHCCH Shared Channel Control Channel (UMTS Logical Channel / TDD only)

SHO Soft Handover (UE is having more than one radio link at the same time and combines them)

SI Scheduling Info

SI Segment Indicator

SI Service Indicator

SI Service Information

SIB LSSU with status indication busy

SIB System Information Block

List of Acronyms


SIC Serial Interference Cancellation

SICH-Q Slot Information CHannel, QAM

SICH-Q/D Slot Information CHannel, QAM Downlink

SICH-Q/U Slot Information CHannel, QAM Uplink

SID Silence Insertion Descriptor

SID Size InDex (3GPP 25.321)

SIE LSSU with status indication emergency alignment

SIF Signaling Information Field

SIG Special Interest Group (e.g. Bluetooth)

SIGTRAN Signaling Transport (RFC 2719)

SIM Subscriber Identity Module


SIN LSSU with status indication normal alignment

SIO LSSU with status indication out of alignment

SIO Service Information Octet

SIOS LSSU with status indication out of service

SIP Session Initiation Protocol (RFC 3261)

SIP-AS SIP-Application Server

SIP-B SIP for Businesses (abbreviation for a set of PABX-specific SIP-extensions)

SIP-I SIP with encapsulated ISUP (ITU-T Q.1912.5)

SIP-T SIP for Telephones (RFC 3372, RFC 3398)

SIPO LSSU with status indication processor outage

SIQ Service Information Query

SIR Signal to Interference Ratio

SISO Single In / Single Out (antenna system)

SLA Service Level Agreement

SLC Signaling Link Code

SLF Subscriber Locator Function

SLR Source Local Reference

SLS Signaling Link Selection

SLTA Signaling Link Test Acknowledge

SLTM Signaling Link Test Message

SM Session Management (3GTS 23.060, 3GTS 24.008)

SM-SC Short Message Service Center

SME Small and Medium size Enterprises (Type of Business)

SMG Special Mobile Group



SMI Short Management Identity

SMIL Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language

SMLC Gateway Mobile Location Center

SMS Short Message Service (3GTS 24.011, 3GTS 23.040)

SMS-G-MSC SMS Gateway MSC (for Short Messages destined to Mobile Station)

SMS-IW-MSC SMS Interworking MSC (for Short Messages coming from Mobile Station)

SMSCB Short Message Services Cell Broadcast

SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (RFC 2821)

SN Sequence Number

SN Symbol Number or SNDCP

SN-PDU Segmented N-PDU (SN-PDU is the payload of SNDCP)

SN-Q Symbol Number in QAM

SN-SAP SNDCP-Service Access Point

SNA Short Number Address

SND Sequence Number Downlink (GTP)

SNDCP Subnetwork Dependent Convergence Protocol

SNEI SNDCP Network Endpoint Identifier

SNIR Signal to Noise and Interference Ratio

SNM Signaling Network Management Protocol (ITU-T Q.704 (3))

SNN SNDCP N-PDU Number Flag

SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

SNTM Signaling Network Test & Maintenance (ITU-T Q.707)

SNTP Simple Network Time Protocol (RFC 2030)

SNU Sequence Number Uplink (GTP)

SO Segment Offset

SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol (http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/NOTE-SOAP-20000508)

SOHO Small Office Home Office (Type of Business)

SP Signaling Point

SPC Signaling Point Code

SPI Security Parameter Index (RFC 2401)

SQCIF Semi Quarter Common Intermediate Format (128 x 96 pixels ITU-T H261 / H263)

SQN Sequence number (used in UMTS-security architecture / 3GTS 33.102)

SRB Signaling Radio Bearer

List of Acronyms


SRES Signed Response

SRF Service Resource Function (CAMEL)

SRNC Serving Radio Network Controller

SRNS Serving Radio Network Subsystem

SRS Sounding Reference Symbol

SRTP Secure RTP (RFC 3711)

SRTT Smoothed RoundTrip Time

SRV Service Location (DNS-related / RFC 2782)

SS Subscriber Station (IEEE 802.16)

SS Supplementary Service

SS7 Signaling System No 7

SSC Secondary Synchronization Code

SSCF Service Specific Co-ordination Function

SSCF/NNI Service Specific Coordination Function - Network Node Interface Protocol (ITU-T Q.2140)

SSCF/UNI Service Specific Coordination Function - User Network Interface Protocol (ITU-T Q.2130)

SSCOP Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (ITU-T Q.2110)

SSCOPMCE Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol in a Multi-link or Connectionless Environment (ITU-T Q.2111)

SSCS Service Specific Convergence Sublayer

SSDT Site Selection Diversity Transmission

SSF Service Switching Function (CAMEL)

SSI Short Subscriber Identity

SSID Service Set Identifier (IEEE 802.11)

SSN Send Sequence Number (GSM MM and CC-Protocols)

SSN Start Sequence Number (related to ARQ-Bitmap in GPRS / EGPRS) or Send Sequence Number (GSM MM and CC-Protocols) or Sub-System Number (SCCP)

SSN SubSlot Number

SSP Service Switching Point (IN)

SSRC Contributing Source (RTP)

SSRTG Subscriber Station Receive to transmit Turnaround Gap (IEEE 802.16 (3.53)) Time that the SS needs to switch from receive to transmit.

SSS Secondary sync Sequence Set

SSSAR Service Specific Segmentation And Reassembly (ITU-T I.366.1)

SSTTG Subscriber Station Transmit to receive Turnaround Gap (IEEE 802.16 (3.54)) Time that the SS needs to switch from transmit



to receive.

SSVE Sum Square Vector Error

ST Stuffing Table (DVB-SI)

STANAG Standardisation Agreement (NATO)

STBC Space Time Block Coding

STC Signaling Transport Converter on MTP-3 and MTP-3b (ITU-T Q.2150.1) / Signaling Transport Converter on SSCOP and SSCOPMCE (ITU-T Q.2150.2)

STC Space Time Coding

STCH STealing CHannel

STP Signaling Transfer Point

STTD Space Time block coding based Transmission Diversity

STUN Simple Traversal of UDP through Network Address Translators (RFC 3489)

SU Scheduling Unit

SUA SCCP User Adaptation Layer (RFC 3868)

SUERM Signal Unit Error Rate Monitor (ITU-T Q.703 (10))

SUFI Super Field (RLC-Protocol)

SUN Originally stood for Stanford University Network

SVC Switched Virtual Circuit

SVG Scalable Vector Graphics

SWAP Shared Wireless Access Protocol (Home RF)

SYNC Synchronization protocol in LTE for E-MBMS

SwMI Switching and Management Infrastructure

T-PDU Payload of a G-PDU which can be user data, i.e. possibly segmented IP-frames, or GTP signaling information (GTP)

T.38 Fax Specification

TA Terminal Adapter (ISDN)

TA Timing Advance

TA Tracking Area

TAC Tracking Area Code

TACS Total Access Communication System

TAF Terminal Adopter Function (3GTS 27.001)


TB Transport Block

TBCP Talk Burst Control Protocol

TBF Temporary Block Flow

TBS Transport Block Set

List of Acronyms


TC Technical Committee

TC Turbo Coding (3GTS 25.212)

TCAP Transaction Capabilities Application Part (Q.771 - Q.773)

TCB Transmission Control Block

TCH Traffic Channel

TCH-AFS Traffic CHannel Adaptive Full rate Speech

TCH-AHS Traffic Channel Adaptive Half rate Speech

TCH-P8/10,8 Traffic CHannel, p/8-D8PSK, net rate = 10,8 kbit/s

TCH/2,4 Traffic CHannel, net rate = 2,4 kbit/s



TCH/FD Traffic Channel / Fullrate Downlink

TCH/S Speech Traffic CHannel

TCP Transmission Control Protocol

TCP/BFCP Transmission Control Protocol / Binary Floor Control Protocol (draft-ietf-xcon-bfcp-05.txt)

TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol over IP

TCP/RTP/AVP Real-time Transport Protocol / Audio Video Profile over TCP (used in SDP-descriptions)(draft-ietf-avt-rtp-framing-contrans-06.txt)

TCP/TLS/BFCP Transmission Control Protocol / Transport Layer Security / Binary Floor Control Protocol (draft-ietf-xcon-bfcp-05.txt)

TCTF Target Channel Type Field

TCTV Transport Channel Traffic Volume


TDM Time Division Multiplexing

TDMA Time Division Multiple Access

TDOA Time Difference of Arrival

TDT Time and Date Table (DVB-SI)

TE Terminal Equipment

TE2 TE presenting a TETRA interface

TEA1/2/3/4 TETRA Encryption Algorithm(s) 1,2,3 and 4

TEBS Total E-DCH Buffer Status

TEDS TETRA Enhanced Data Service

TEI Terminal Equipment Identity

TEID Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (GTP / 3GTS 29.060)

TEK Traffic Encryption Key (IEEE 802.16)

TETRA Terrestrial Trunked Radio



TETRA V+D TETRA Voice + Data

TF Transport Format

TFC Transport Format Combination

TFCI Transport Format Combination Identifier

TFCS Transport Format Combination Set

TFI Temporary Flow Identity ((E)GPRS)

TFI Transport Format Indication (UMTS)

TFO Tandem Free Operation (3GTS 22.053)

TFRC Transport Format and Resource Combination (3GTS 25.308)

TFRI Transport Format and Resource Indicator (3GTS 25.308, 25.321)

TFS Transport Format Set

TFT Traffic Flow Template

TFTP Trivial File Transfer Protocol (RFC 1350)

TGD Transmission Gap start Distance (3GTS 25.215)

TGL Transmission Gap Length (3GTS 25.215)

TGPRC Transmission Gap Pattern Repetition Count (3GTS 25.215)

TGSN Transmission Gap Starting Slot Number (3GTS 25.215)

TH-CDMA Time Hopping Code Division Multiple Access

THIG Topology Hiding Inter Network Gateway

THP Traffic Handling Priority (DiffServ Term)

THz Tera Hertz (1012 Hertz)

TI Transaction Identifier

TIA Telecommunications Industry Association

TID Tunnel Identifier

TIP TETRA Interoperability Profile

TIPHON Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization Over Networks (ETSI Project)

TISPAN Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks (ETSI Working Group to define IMS for fixed broadband access networks)

TL TETRA LLC

TLA-SAP TETRA LLC Service Access Point A

TLB-SAP TETRA LLC Service Access Point B

TLC-SAP TETRA LLC Service Access Point C

TLE-SAP TETRA LLC Service Access Point E

TLLI Temporary Logical Link Identifier

TLS Transport Layer Security (RFC 2246 / RFC 3546 / formerly

List of Acronyms


known as SSL or Secure Socket Layer)

TLV Tag / Length / Value Notation

TM TETRA MAC

TM Transmission Modules

TM Transparent Mode operation

TM Trunked Mode

TMA-SAP TETRA MAC Service Access Point A

TMB-SAP TETRA MAC Service Access Point B

TMC-SAP TETRA MAC Service Aaccess Point C

TMD Transparent Mode Data (UMTS RLC PDU-type)

TMD-SAP TETRA MAC Service Aaccess Point D

TMGI Temporary Mobile Group Identity (3GTS 23.003 (15.2))

TMN Telecommunication Management Network

TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

TMV-SAP TETRA MAC Virtual SAP

TN Timeslot Number

TNCC-SAP TETRA Network layer Call Control - Service Access Point

TNL Transport Network Layer (3GTS 25.401)

TNMM TETRA Network Mobility Management

TNP TETRA Network Protocol

TNSDS-SAP TETRA Network layer Short Data Service - Service Access Point

TNSS-SAP TETRA Network layer Supplementary Services - Service Access Point

TOI Transport Object Identifier

TOM Tunneling Of Messages [3GTS 44.064]

TOM2 Tunneling Of Messages over LLC-SAPI 2 (for high priority signaling messages)[3GTS 44.064]

TOM8 Tunneling Of Messages over LLC-SAPI 8 (for low priority signaling messages)[3GTS 44.064]

TOS Type of Service

TOT Time Offset Table

TP Traffic Physical channel

TP-UD Transfer Protocol - User Data (in GSM)

TPC Transmit Power Command

TPS Transmission Parameter Signaling (DVB-H)

TPTI Transmitting Party Type Identifier

TQI Temporary Queuing Identifier



TRAU Transcoder and Rate Adaption Unit

TRX Transmitter / Receiver

TS Time Sharing

TS Timeslot

TS Transport Stream

TSC Training Sequence Code

TSI TETRA Subscriber Identity

TSN Transmission Sequence Number

TSTD Time Switched Transmit Diversity

TTA Telecommunications Technology Association (South Korean standards organization)

TTG Transmit receive Transition Gap (IEEE 802.16 (3.63)) the time between a downlink subframe and the subsequent uplink subframe in a TDD-system

TTG Tunnel Termination Gateway

TTI Transmission Time Interval

TTL Time To Live (IP-Header / RFC 791)

TTR TETRA Association Technical Report

TU50 Typical Urban 50 km/h

TUA TCAP User Adaptation Layer

TUP Telephone User Part

TUSC Tile Use of Subchannels

TV Television

TX Transmit

Term Explanation

ToIP Text over IP


TrFO Transcoder Free Operation

TrGw Transition Gateway (IPv4 IPv6) (3GTS 23.228 (5.18))

Tx Transmit(ter)

TxAA Transmit Adaptive Arrays

U-MST Uplink Multiple Slot Transmission

U-SAP User Service Access Point

UA Unnumbered Acknowledgement (LAPD/LLC/RLP-Frame Type)

UA User Agent (SIP-Term / RFC 3261)

UAC User Agent Client (SIP-Term / RFC 3261)

UARFCN UMTS Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number

List of Acronyms


UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter

UAS User Agent Server (SIP-Term / RFC 3261)

UAS-X egprs2 Uplink level A modulation and coding Scheme (x = 7..11)

UBS-X egprs2 Uplink level B modulation and coding Scheme (x = 5..12)

UCD Uplink Channel Descriptor (WiMAX Message)

UCI Uplink Control Indicator

UCS Universal Character Set

UCS-2 Universal Character Set coded in 2 octets

UDCH User-plane Dedicated Channel (3GTS 45.902)

UDH User Data Header

UDP User Datagram Protocol (RFC 768)

UDPTL UDP Transport Layer (used in SDP-description for T.38 fax-applications)

UE User Equipment

UEA UMTS Encryption Algorithm (3GTS 33.102)

UGS Unsolicited Grant Service (IEEE 802.16 Traffic Class)

UHF Ultra High Frequency

UI Unnumbered Information (LAPD) / Unconfirmed Information (LLC) / Frame Type

UIA UMTS Integrity Algorithm (3GTS 33.102)

UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card (3GTS 22.101 / Bearer card of SIM / USIM)

UIUC Uplink Interval Usage Code (WiMAX Term)

UL Uplink

UL-MAP Uplink-Medium Access Protocol (MAC-Message in WiMAX / IEEE 802.16)


UL_DTX Uplink Discontinuous Transmission

UM Unacknowledged Mode operation

UMA Unlicensed Mobile Access (3GTS 43.318)

UMAN Unlicensed Mobile Access Network

UMB Ultra Mobile Broadband (3GPP2's EV-DO Rev C)

UMD Unacknowledged Mode Data (UMTS RLC PDU-type)

UMS User Mobility Server (HSS = HLR + UMS)


UNC UMA Network Controller

UNC-SGW UMA Network Controller Security Gateway



UNI User-to-Network Interface

UP Unallocated Physical channel


URA_PCH RRC URA State in UTRA

URB User Radio Bearer

URI Uniform Resource Identifier

URL Uniform Resource Locator (RFC 1738)

US United States

USA United States of America

USAT USIM Application Toolkit

USB Universal Serial Bus

USCH Uplink Shared Channel (UMTS Transport Channel TDD only)

USD User Service Description

USF Uplink State Flag

USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

USS Uplink sync Sequence Set

USSI Unexchanged Short Subscriber Identity

UTF-16BE Unicode Transformation Format serialized as two bytes in Big-Endian format

UTF-8 Unicode Transformation Format-X (Is an X-bit) lossless encoding of Unicode characters



UUI User to User Information

UUS User-User-Signaling (3GTS 23.087)

UV Ultra Violet

UWB Ultra-Wide Band (IEEE 802.15.3)

UWC Universal Wireless Convergence (Merge IS-136 with GSM)

V+D Voice plus Data

V-PLMN Visited PLMN

V5UA V5.2-User Adaptation Layer (RFC 3807)

VA Vehicular A mobile radio channel

VAD Voice Activity Detector

VBS Voice Broadcast Service (GSM-R)

VC Virtual Circuit

List of Acronyms


VCI Virtual Circuit Identifier (ATM)

VCO Voltage Controlled Oscillator

VCT MPEG PSI tables for ARIB

VDSL Very high data rate Digital Subscriber Line (ITU-T G.993.1)

VE Virtual Engine

VGCS Voice Group Call Service (GSM-R)

VHE Virtual Home Environment (3GTS 22.121, 3GTS 23.127)

VHF Very High Frequency

VLAN Virtual LAN

VLR Visitor Location Register

VPI Virtual Path Identifier (ATM)

VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile radio Network

VPN Virtual Private Network

VSRB Variable Sized Radio Blocks

VW Virtual Wire PDB (DiffServ Term)

VoD Video on Demand

VoIMS Voice over IMS

VoIP Voice over IP

W-AMR Wideband AMR-Codec (Adaptive Multirate) (3GTS 26.190)

W-AMR+ Extended Wideband AMR-Codec (Adaptive Multirate) (3GTS 26.290)

W-APN WLAN-APN (Wireless Local Area Network - Access Point Name) (3GTS 23.234)

WAG WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) Access Gateway

WAN Wide Area Network

WAP Wireless Application Protocol

WCDMA Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access

WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy

WG Working Group

WI Work Item

WINS Windows Internet Name Service

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network (IEEE 802.11)

WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

WMAX Alliance of IEEE-802.11-Standard Manufacturers

WPA WiFi Protected Access

WRED Weighted Random Early Detection

WS Window Size



WSN Window Size Number

WWW World Wide Web

WiBro Wireless Broadband, Korean WiMAX Version

WiFi Wireless Fidelity (www.wi-fi.org)

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (IEEE 802.16)

X-CSCF Call Session Control Function (any, there is I-CSCF, P-CSCF and X-CSCF)

X2-AP X2 Application Part

XHTML Extensible Hypertext Markup Language

XID Exchange Identification (LAPD/LLC-Frame Type)

XMAC Expected Message Authentication Code

XMF Extensible Music Format

XOR Exclusive-Or Logical Combination

XRES Expected Response (3GTS 33.102)

XUA Any User Adaptation Layer (M2UA, M3UA, SUA)

XXX_PCH RRC States: CELL_PCH or URA_PCH

ZF Zero Forcing

cwnd Congestion window

dBm The unit dBm measures a power. The conversion of a power value from Watt [W] to dBm is done in the following way:X [dBm] = 10 x log10(X [W] / 0.001 [W])

e2e End-to-End

eBM-SC Enhanced Broadcast and Multicast Service Center

eHSPA Evolved HSPA

eMLPP enhanced Multi-Level Precedence and Pre-emption (3GTS 23.067)

eNB Enhanced Node B

ert-PS Extended Real-Time Polling Service (WiMAX Traffic Class)

ertPS Extended Real-Time Polling Service (IEEE 802.16 Traffic Class)

iBurst Data Communication Standards

iLBC Internet Low Bitrate Codec (RFC 3951 / RFC 3952)

kHz Kilo Hertz (103 Hertz)

kbps kilo-bits per second

mod modulo (base for counting)

p/4-DQPSK p/4-shifted Differential Quaternary Phase Shift Keying

p/8-D8PSK p/8-shifted Differential 8 Phase Shift Keying

ssthresh Slow start threshold (RFC 2001, RFC 2960)

List of Acronyms


Index16-QAM....................................................................................................................1703G.................................................................................................................................24G.................................................................................................................................264-QAM....................................................................................................................170ACK..........................................................................................................................158Adaptive antenna systems.................................................................................22, 190AIPN.................................................................................................................8, 32, 80AM............................................................................................................................232AMC............................................................................................................................14bandwidth...................................................................................................................13Bandwidth...................................................................................................................28BCCH.................................................................................................................66, 205BCH....................................................................................................................68, 205Broadcast information...............................................................................................243CAZAC sequences...................................................................................................162CCCH.........................................................................................................................66CDMA.......................................................................................................................116Cell ID.........................................................................................................................50Cell reselection.................................................................................................251, 255Channel estimation...................................................................................................180Channel mapping.......................................................................................................74Codebook.................................................................................................................200CQI...........................................................................................................................164Cyclic prefix..............................................................................................110, 152, 167DC-subcarrier...........................................................................................................113DCCH.........................................................................................................................67Delay diversity..........................................................................................................194Delay spread............................................................................................................108DFT...........................................................................................................................166Different....................................................................................................................262Direct Tunnel..............................................................................................................36DL-SCH......................................................................................................................69Downlink processing chain.......................................................................................150Downlink reference signal..................................................................................72, 142DTCH..........................................................................................................................67E-UTRAN....................................................................................................................54ECM-CONNECTED..................................................................................................246EMM.........................................................................................................................246EMM-DEREGISTERED............................................................................................246EMM-IDLE................................................................................................................246EMM-REGISTERED.................................................................................................246eNB.............................................................................................................................38eNB ID........................................................................................................................50eNB S1-AP UE ID.......................................................................................................52EPC............................................................................................................................34EPS bearer ID............................................................................................................50Extended configuration.............................................................................................128fast scheduling............................................................................................................14FDD..........................................................................................................134, 136, 138FDMA.......................................................................................................................116FFT ..........................................................................................................................102

Index


FMC..............................................................................................................................4Fractional frequency reuse.......................................................................................212Frame structure................................................................................................126, 140Frequency reuse.......................................................................................................210GTP-U......................................................................................................................222GUMMEI.....................................................................................................................50GUTI...........................................................................................................................52Handover..........................................................................................252, 255, 274, 280HARQ.......................................................................................................................224I / Q plane.................................................................................................................100IFFT..........................................................................................................102, 152, 167IMEI............................................................................................................................52IMSI............................................................................................................................52Initial cell search.......................................................................................................204Initial context setup procedure..................................................................................266Intercell interference coordination............................................................................212interference coordination............................................................................................14ISI.............................................................................................................................108Latency.................................................................................................................82, 84Layer mapper...........................................................................................................152LMMSE.....................................................................................................................123Logical channel...........................................................................................................66LTE...............................................................................................................................8MAC..........................................................................................................................224MAC control element................................................................................................230MAC PDU.................................................................................................................228MBMS.........................................................................................................................24MCCH.........................................................................................................................66MCH...........................................................................................................................69MIMO................................................................................19f., 114, 122, 143, 198, 201MISO..........................................................................................................................19MME...........................................................................................................................42MME S1-AP UE ID.....................................................................................................52MMEGI.......................................................................................................................50MMEI..........................................................................................................................50Mobility management.......................................................................248, 250, 252, 254Modulation........................................................................................104, 106, 152, 166MTCH.........................................................................................................................67Multiple rank beamforming.......................................................................................199NACK........................................................................................................................158Normal configuration................................................................................................128OFDM...........................................................................................................16, 90, 112OFDMA.......................................................................................................16, 112, 130Orthogonality..............................................................................................................90PBCH............................................................................................29, 70, 142, 144, 169PCCH.........................................................................................................................66PCFICH......................................................................................................71, 146, 170PCH............................................................................................................................68PDCCH...............................................................................................70, 142, 146, 170PDCP........................................................................................................................238PDCP PDU...............................................................................................................240PDN GW.....................................................................................................................46PDP context establishment......................................................................................270PDSCH...............................................................................................72, 142, 144, 170



PHICH........................................................................................................72, 142, 146Physical channel.........................................................................................................70PLMN ID.............................................................................................................50, 205PMCH.........................................................................................................72, 142, 170Power control............................................................................................................186PRACH.......................................................................................................71, 206, 208Precoding.................................................................................................................152Protocol stack.............................................................................................................54PUCCH.....................................................................................................71, 155f., 170PUCCH format........................................................................................................164f.PUCCH format .........................................................................................................160PUSCH...............................................................................................................72, 170QCI...........................................................................................................................260QoS..........................................................................................................................258QPSK........................................................................................................................170Quadruple play services.............................................................................................10RA-RNTI.............................................................................................................50, 227RACH.........................................................................................................................68Random access preamble..........................................................................................72Random access procedure.......................................................................................226Random access response........................................................................................208Receive diversity......................................................................................................188Resource block.........................................................................................................130Resource element....................................................................................................130Resource element mapper.......................................................................................167RLC..........................................................................................................................232RLC AM PDU segment.............................................................................................236RLC PDU..................................................................................................................234RNC............................................................................................................................32RNTI...........................................................................................................................50Roaming.....................................................................................................................36RRC....................................................................................................................32, 242RRC_CONNECTED.................................................................................................244RRC_IDLE ...............................................................................................................244S-TMSI.......................................................................................................................52S1-AP.......................................................................................................................221S1-flex........................................................................................................................36SAE............................................................................................................................34SC-FDMA.........................................................................................................130, 132Scheduling..................................................................................................................76Scrambling........................................................................................................150, 166SDMA.......................................................................................................................116Serving GW................................................................................................................44SIM card...................................................................................................................205SIMO..........................................................................................................................18Single frequency network...........................................................................................24SISO...........................................................................................................................18Smart antenna technology..........................................................................................18Smart Antenna Technology........................................................................................14soft handover..............................................................................................................14Sounding reference signal........................................................................................170Sounding reference symbol......................................................................................155Space frequency block code....................................................................................196Space time block code.............................................................................................197

Index


Spectral efficiency........................................................................................................6Subchannel...............................................................................................................130Subframe..................................................................................................................130Synchronization signal........................................................................................72, 202Synchronization Signal.............................................................................................142Synchronization signals..............................................................................................29TAI..............................................................................................................................50TCP/IP......................................................................................................................284TDD..........................................................................................................134, 136, 138TDMA...............................................................................................................116, 174Timing advance control............................................................................................174TM............................................................................................................................232Tracking area update................................................................................................268Transmission diversity..............................................................................................188Transport channel.......................................................................................................68Turbo coding.............................................................................................................170UE class...................................................................................................................214UL-SCH......................................................................................................................68UM............................................................................................................................232Uplink reference signal...............................................................................................72Uplink sounding signal................................................................................................72UTRAN.......................................................................................................................36WiMAX....................................................................................................................8, 27X2...............................................................................................................................60Zadoff-Chu sequence...............................................................................................162 .....................................................................................................................................8 bearer......................................................................................................................256



Index


inacon lte from a-z

Documents

employees of inacon

inacon publications

different color codes

frame formats

training document

mobile communications

mobile radio

practical exercises