LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

14
 IN BULLETS

2.1 INTRODUCTION
* Long Term Evo lu tion (L TE) sta1is from 3GPP release 8
* 3GPP Techni cal Report 25.913 defi nes the key objecti ves of LTEas :
o support for a fl ex ibl e transmi ssion bandwidth up to 20 MHz
o peak down link data rate of I 00 Mbps when using 2 rece ive anten na at the UE
o peak uplink data rate of 50 Mbps when using I tran smi t antenna at the U E
o round trip ti me of less than I0 ms
o downlink average spectrum effi ciency improved 3 to 4 times relative to release 6 HSDPA
o uplink ave rage spectrum effici ency im proved 2 to 3 times re lat ive to release 6 HSUPA
* LTE has a flat arch itectu re which minimi ses the nlllnber of network elements
* LT'E is optimised for Packet Sw itched (PS) services but includes funct ionality to handle Circuit Sw itched (CS) services, e.g. CS
fallback to UMTS
* LTE supports the speech service using Vo ice over IP. Otherw ise, the speech service can be supported by all ow ing the UE to fa llback to
UMTS. GSM or CDMA2000
* LTE supports Mu ltimedi a Broadcast Mu lticast Services (MBMS) for the tran smi ssion of' mobile TV
* Frequency Division Dup lex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) ve rsions of LTE have been standardi sed. Both allow channe l
bandwidths of up to 20 MH z
* LTE all ows inter-wo rkin g with ex isting GSM , UMTS and CDMA2000 technologi es
* LTE uses QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM modulation schemes with OFDMA (downlink) and SC-FDMA (uplink) multiple access
technologies
* LTE supports Mu lti ple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna technology in the do wnlin k direction. 3GPP releases 8 and 9 do not
support MIMO in the uplink direction
* Ex isting spectrum all ocations can be re-farmed for the introduction of LTE
* LTE simplifi es network planning by minimi sing the requirement for manually planned neighbour li sts
* LTE includes Self Organising Netwo rk (SON) functionality to help autom ate netwo rk configuration, opti mi sation, fau lt findin g and
fault hand ling
* LTE Advanced starts fro m 3G PP release I0
* LTE Advanced introduces Carri er Aggregation to provide wider efTectivc channe l band width s. It also introduces MIMO in the uplink
direct ion, as we ll as increas ing the number of antenna elements whi ch can be used for MIMO in the do wnlin k di rection
* Other technologies continue to deve lop in parall el to LTE. e.g. UMTS introduces HSPA+ with MIMO, 64QAM and Multi-Carrier
Transmi ssion all ow ing effe cti ve chan nel bandwidths of I0, 20 and 40 MI-Iz

15
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2.2 ARCHITECTURE
* LTE refers to the Evolved UMTS Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), whereas System Architecture Evo luti on (SAE) refers to the
Evo lved Packet Core (EPC). Figure I illu strates this divi sion between radio access and core networks
* LTE uses a n at architecture without a Rad io Netwo rk Co ntro ll er (RNC), nor Base Station Co ntroll er (BSC)
* The LTE equ ivale nt of a UMTS Node B is an 'evolved' Node BoreN ode B. An eN ode B is the Base T ransce iver Stati on (8TS) fo r
LTE. Radio resource man agement is comp leted by the eN ode 8
* eN ode 8 are connected to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) using a Mobi li ty Management Entity (MME) for con trol plane signallin g,
and a Servi ng Gateway for user plane data
* The Serving Gateway is co nn ected to a Packet Data Netwo rk (PDN) Gateway for conn ectiv ity to externa l networks including the
public internet

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Radio Access Network- E-UTRAN

--------------- ------ --------------------------------------------- ---- -----------------'

Figure I -Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture

* Figure 2 illustrates a rad io access network which includes macro, micro, pico and femto BTS, as we ll as re lays and repeaters. T his type
of radio access network is known as a heterogeneous network because it includes a range of different 8TS types
* The most common 8TS type is the macro 8TS, w hich 3GPP catego ri ses as a ' wide area 8TS' . 3GPP categori ses pico 8TS as ' local
area BTS ' and femto 8TS as ' home BTS '. 3GPP does not spec ify a separate power class for micro BTS but a w ide area BTS w ith
red uced transmit power cou ld be designed and used as a micro BTS . 3GPP also specifies se parate requirements for repeaters and relays
* Macro 8TS are characterised by having their antenna above roof-top level so their coverage area is relative ly large. Their transmit
power is ty pically 20, 40 or 60 Watts, and they normall y have more than a single sector
* Micro BTS are characterised by havin g their antenna below roof-to p level so their coverage tends to be limited by the nei ghbourin g
buildings. The ir transmit power is ty pi cally 5 or I 0 W, and they ofte n have on ly a si ngle sector
* Pico 8TS are designed to provide coverage and capacity across small areas. T heir transmi t power does not exceed 0.25 W so their
antenna needs to be c lose to the so urce of traffic
* Femto BTS are in te nd ed for use at home, or in small offices. The ir tran smit power does not exceed 0.1 W so they need to be used in
areas whe re coverage from other BTS types is relati ve ly weak, e.g. indoors. In co ntrast to other BTS types, th e location of Femto BTS
is not usua ll y controlled by the network operator. End-users are free to place their Femto BTS wherever they li ke. The network
architecture for Femto 8TS also differs from other BTS types. Femto BTS are connected to th e Evolved Packet Co re usin g a Home
eNode 8 Gateway (also known as a Femto Gateway). The co nnection between the Femto BTS and Fem to Gateway typicall y uses a
hom e broadband con nection, e.g. ADSL
* Repeaters can be used to ex tend th e coverage of an existing BTS. They re-tran smit the uplink and downlink signa ls w ithout hav ing to
decod e any of the content. Repeaters have one anten na direc ted towards the donor ce ll, and a seco nd antenna directed toward s th e
target coverage area. The target coverage area co uld be an indoor location so the second anten na co uld be indoors
* Re lays also re ly upon an RF connection to a donor ceiL but Re lays differ from Repeaters because Re lays have th e ir own cells and the ir
ow n protoco l stack, i.e. a Re lay is similar to a normal BTS but w ithout a fi xed transport connection. Relays decode signals and make
radio reso urce management decisions

16
 IN BULLETS

,~ PDN
Gateway Home eNode B
Gateway

Evolved Packet Core

Repeater

Local Area eN ode B Wide Area eN ode B

(Pico) with reduced transmit power Home eNode B
(Micro) (Femto)
Radio Access Network - E-UTRAN
------------------------------- ----- ---------------------- ------------ --- --- ---------------------------------- --- --------------------------------------------

Figure 2- Heterogeneous networl< for LTE

* The vari ous BTS types typ icall y share the same channel bandwidth, so heterogeneous network s generate challenges in term s of co-
channel interference and RF planning to ach ieve the intended coverage from each site. Traffic management can also be challenging
when C losed Subscriber Groups (CSG) are used to ensure that only authorised subscribers can use certain BTS, e.g. only the fami ly
owning a Femto BTS can use that BTS. T hat BTS then appears as a so urce of interference to other subscribers

17
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

INTERFACES
* Fig ure 3 illustrates the most impotiant interface s fo r th e radi o access netwo rk
* The air-interfa ce connecti on between th e User Equipm ent (UE) and th e eNode B is known as th e Uu. The UE and eN ode B make use of
th e Uu interface w henever they transmi t or rece ive across the LTE a ir-interface

* The X2 interface connects one eNode B to another eN ode B. T hi s allows both sig nallin g and data to be trans ferred betwee n ne ighbouring
eNode B
o the contro l pl ane of the X2 (X2-CP) interface all ows signalling betwee n eN ode B

o the user plane of th e X2 (X2- UP) interface a llows th e transfer of applicati o n data betwee n eNode B

* T he S I interface connects an eN ode B to th e Evo lved Packet Co re (EPC). T hi s all ows both s ig na lling and data to be transferred between
th e Evo lved Packet Core (EPC) and Evo lved UM TS Radi o Access Netwo rk (E-UTRAN)

o th e control plane o f the S I (S 1-M ME) in terface all ows signalling with the MME

o th e use r plane of th e S I (S I- UP) interface a llows appli cation data transfe r throug h the Servin g Gateway

* A pplicati on Protocol s have been specifi ed to defin e the signa lling procedures and message types which can be sent ac ross the X2 and
S l in terfaces, i. e. X2-AP and S l -AP

Evolved Packet Core

PDN
Gateway

MME

- ------ -- ------------------- ----- ------------ ----

,----------------------------------------- -------- -----------------------------------------!

'\uu
t \
eNode B ( \\
UE

Radio Access Network - E-UTRAN

Figure 3 - Key interfaces for LTE (log ical representation)

* Both the X2 and S I interface s are based upon IP

* Fig ure 3 illustrates a logical represe ntation of th e interface s w ithin E-UTRAN. In practi ce, the X2 and S I are li ke ly to use a sin gle
phys ica l connection at the eNode B, i. e. a sin gle Ethernet cabl e can be used for both th e X2 and S I interfaces

* Fig ure 4 illustrates an example phys ical representati on o f the X2 and S I inte rfaces . The eN ode Bare connected to an IP backh aul
transpo rt netwo rk using a sing le Ethernet cabl e. T hi s cable tra nsfers informati o n for both the X2 an d S I interfaces

* In the case of th e X2 in terface , th e IP ro uters w ithin the tran sport network rece ive data from one eN ode Band di rect it towa rds another
eN ode B. In th e case of the S I interface, th e IP ro uters prov ide co nnectivity between th e eN ode Band the Evo lved Packet Core

* T he Eth ern et co nn ec ti on betwee n th e eNode Band transport netwo rk could be based upo n either an electri cal o r optica l Gi gabit
Eth ernet cable

* IP Q uali ty o f Serv ice (QoS) can be used to differenti ate and pri ori tise packets transferred across the IP backhaul

* T iming ove r Packet (ToP) ca n be used to prov ide the eNode B w ith sy nchroni sation in fo rm at io n. To P is specified within IEE E 1588.
A ltern ative ly, G lobal Positio ning System (G PS) satellites ca n be used, or a sy nchroni sation sig na l can be prov ided by a co-sited BTS

18
 IN BULLETS

IP Backhaul
Transport
Network

Figure 4- Key interfaces for LTE (physica)rcprcsentation)

* A more complete set of interfaces associated with LTE and the Evolved Packet Core is shown in Figure 5. Only a si ngle eN ode B is
shown in thi s figure so the X2 interface does not appear. The control plane of the S I interface is shown as the S 1-MME, whil e the user
plane is shown as the S I-UP
* The S II interface connects the MME to the Serving Gateway. Thi s allows signalling information for mobility and bearer management
to be transferred. Application data does not use the S II interface
* The S5 interface connects the Serv ing Gateway to the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway. Both control plane signalling and user
plane data use the S5 interface. The PDN Gateway provides connectivity to the set of IP serv ices so the S5 represents the main
connection for app lication data across the Evo lved Packet Core
* The SS interface is similar to the S5 interface but it terminates at a PDN Gateway belonging to a different PLMN. This interface is used
by end-users who are roaming away from their home PLMN
* The S6a interface connects the MME to the Home Subscriber Server (HSS). The HSS hosts a database containing subscription related
information for the population of end-users. The HSS represents an evolution of the Home Location Register (I-ILR) used by earl ier
network architectures
* The Sl3 interface connects the MME to the Equipment Identity Register (EIR). The EIR stores the International Mob il e Equ ipment
Identities (I MEl) of the end-user devices used within the network. These IMEl can be white li sted'. grey listed ' or "black li sted' to
control access to the network
* The Gx interface connects the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) within the PDN Gateway to the Policy and Charging
Ru les Function (PCRF). The PCRF provides QoS and charging information to the PDN Gateway. The Gx interface is also known as
the S7 interface in some references
* The SG i interface provides connectivity between the PDN Gateway and a packet data network. The packet data network could be an
externa l network (either public or private), or could belong to the operator. The SG i interface corresponds to the Gi interface in earlier
network architectures
* The S3 interface allows the transfer of contro l plane signalling between the MME and an SGSN. The SGSN co uld belong to either a
UMTS or GPRS network. The main purpose of the signalling is to allow mobility between the various access tec hnologies
* The S4 interface all ows the transfer of application data between the Serving Gateway and SGSN when a Di rect Tunnel' is not
estab li shed between the RNC and Serving Gateway. Thi s interface may be used when a UE roam s from the LTE network across to a
UMTS netwo rk
* The S2a interface provides connect ivity betwee n the PDN Gateway and a non-3GPP access technology. Figure 5 illustrates the non-
3GPP technology as a wireless L/\N. WiMax is a non-3GPP access tech nology whi ch could be connected using the S2a interface

19
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

Evolved Packet Core lnter-PLMN EPC

(EPC) IP Services

IP Services

i . ~~ON
.
~- f" """ ~ Gateway

RNC

Node B

E-UTRAN WLAN UTRAN

------------ -- ------ -- --- ----------- -------------' ---------------------- -------- __ _, ,_ -----------------------------------

Figure 5- Additional interfaces for LTE and the Evolved Packet Core

* The S 12 interface allows the transfer of app lication data between the Serving Gateway and RNC when a ' Direct Tunne l' is establi shed.
The S4 interface represents the alternative when a ' Direct Tunnel' is not estab li shed. Both the S 12 and S4 interfaces are applicable
when a UE roams from the LTE network across to a UMTS network
* 3GPP References: TS 36.410, TS 36.420, TS 23.002, TS 23.402

20
 IN BULLETS

CHANNEL BANDWIDTHS
* 3GPP has spec ifi ed a set of 6 channel bandwidths, ranging from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. These are presented in Table I

Channel Bandwidth
1.4 MHz 3 MHz 5 MHz IOMHz 15 MHz 20 MHz
Number of Resource Blocks 6 15 25 50 75 100
Number of Subcarricrs 72 180 300 600 900 1200
Uplink Subcarrier Bandwidth (MI-Iz) 108 2.7 45 9.0 13.5 18.0
Downlink Subcarrier Band wi dth (MHz) 1.095 2.715 4.5 15 9.0 15 13.5 15 18.015

Table I- Channel bandwidths for LTE

* A Reso urce Block represents the bas ic unit of resource for the LTE air-interface. The eN ode B sched uler allocates Resource Blocks to
UE when allo wing data transfer
* The subcarriers belong to the Orthogo nal Frequency Division Multipl e Access (OFDMA) technology in the do wnlink, and the Single
Carri er Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) technology in th e uplink
* There are 12 subcarriers per Resource Block so the number of su bcarri ers equals 12 x number of Resource Blocks
* Each subcarri er occupi es 15 kl-lz so the total subcarri er bandwidth eq uals 15 kl-l z x number of subcarriers
* The downlink subcarri er bandwidth includes an additional 15 kl-l z to accommodate a null subcarri er at the center of all other
subcarri ers. The null subcarrier provides 15 kl-lz of empty spectrum within whi ch nothing is transmitted
* The total subcarri er bandwidth is less than the channel bandwidth to allow for the roll-off of emi ss ions and to provide some guard band
* The larger channel bandwidths provide support for the higher throughputs. Smaller channel bandwidth s provide support for lower
throughputs but are easier to accommodate within ex isting spectrum allocations
* 3GPP al so specifies a subcarri er spac ing of7.5 kH z (in addition to the subcarrier spacing of 15 kl-lz). The subcarrier spac ing of7.5 kHz
is only used in cell s which are ded icated to Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS). There are 24 rather than 12 subcarriers
per Resource Block when using the 7.5 kH z subcarrier spacing so the total band width of a Resource Block remains the same
* LTE Advanced provides support for Carrier Aggregation which allows multipl e 'Component Carri ers' to be used in parall el. Thi s
effecti vely increases th e channel band width to the sum of the indi vidual Component Carri ers
* 3G PP References: TS 36. I 0 I, TS 36. I04, TS 36.21 I

21
LONG T ERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2.5 FREQUENCY AND TIME DIVISION DUPLEXING

* LTE has been specified to support both Frequ ency Divisio n Dupl exi ng (FDD) and T im e Di vision Duplex in g (TOO)
* T he concepts of FDD and TOO are illustrated in Fig ure 6

Frequency Division Time Division

Duplex ing (FDD) Duplexing (TDD)
.-~-~ --------------------------------------------------------, ,------------------------------------------ -
Downlink Common
BTS transmit
Frequency Uplink &
Downlink D & UE receive
Uplink Frequency time
UE transmit
Frequency
time D & BTS receive

------------------------------------------ ------ ------------

Figure 6 - FDD and TDD co ncepts

* FDD is based upon using two separate RF carri ers for uplink and downlink tran smi ss ion, i.e. th e UE tran smits usin g one RF carri er
(uplink), w hile the BTS transmits us ing a d iffe rent RF carrier (downlink)

* TOO is based upon using th e same RF carrier fo r both the uplink and dow nlin k transmi ssions. T he UE and BTS cannot transmit
simultaneous ly in the case ofTDD becau se th ey share the sa me RF carri er

* FDD uses frame structure ' type I ', whereas TOO uses frame structure 'ty pe 2 ' . T hese frame structures are prese nted in section 3.2

* TOO is attractive for systems where th e data transfer is hi ghly asym metri c because th e ratio between the uplink and downlink
transmi ssions can be adjusted appropriate ly and the RF carri er remains full y utili sed. In the case of FDD, o ne of the RF carri ers wo uld
be under utili sed w hen the data transfer is hi ghly asymmetric

* TOO devices benefit from not req uirin g a duplexer. Thi s he lps to reduce th e cost of the dev ice. A duplexer is required by FDD devices
to extract the uplink s ignal from the antenna, w hile at th e same time inse1ting the downlink signal into th e antenna. Duplexers tend to
increase th e receiver noise figure in the receive direction and generate an add itional loss in the transmit direction

* FDD is attracti ve for systems where the requirement for uplin k and downlink capacity is re lative ly sy mmetric. FDD can offer hi gher
throughputs because data transfer can be continuous in both directions. The capacity associated w ith a pair of FDD carriers is greate r
than the capacity associated w ith a sing le TOO carrier, but a greate r quanti ty of spectrum is req ui red

* FDD can be simpler to deploy in term s of sy nchroni sation requirements. In gene ral, it is not necessary for neighbouring FDD BTS to
be time sy nchroni sed . Ne ighbouring TOO BTS require time sy nchroni sation to limit leve ls of interfere nce between uplink and
downlink transmissions

* LTE also supports a third duplexing technology known as half duplex FDD. T he concept of half duplex FDD is illustrated in Figure 7

Half Duplex FDD- high level perspective Half Duplex FDD- single UE perspective
,------------- --- --------------------- ----- ----------------

Downlink Downlink llJE1l

Frequen cy
UE 1 UE 2 UE 3 UE4
Frequency ~
D BTS transmit
& UE receive

Uplink UE 1 Uplink UE transmit

UE 3 UE4 UE2
Frequency
time
Frequency
time
D & BTS receive

---------------- -- --- --------------------------------------------------- ~----- -------------------------------- ----------------------- _:

Figure 7- Half duplex FDD concept

* In the case of half dupl ex FDD, the BTS is ab le to tran smit and rece ive simul taneous ly, but the UE is not a ble to transm it and receive
simultaneo usly . Both uplink and downlink RF carriers can be fully utili sed by time multipl ex in g different U E

* Half duplex FDD uses fra me structure ' type I ', i. e. the same frame structure as FDD. T hi s frame structure is prese nted in section 3.2

* The BTS scheduler is responsible for prov idin g half dup lex operation by ensuring that UE do not need to tran smit uplink data at the
same tim e as recei vin g downlink data. T hi s has to account for the requirements to send and rece ive acknow ledge ments after data has
been tran s ferred

* S imilar to TOO, hal f duplex FDD ca n be an attracti ve solution because it avo ids the requirement for a dupl exe r w ithin th e UE so helps
to red uce th e cost of dev ices. Thi s argume nt is especiall y va li d for operating bands whi ch have small dupl ex se parations (frequency
separation between th e uplink and do wnli nk RF carriers). Dup lexe r de sign beco mes more challeng in g and more expens ive whe n th e
uplink and down lin k operating bands are re lat ive ly c lose to eac h other

22
 IN BULLETS

2.6 OPERATING BANDS

2 .6. 1 FDD
* The LTE operating bands specified by 3GPP for Frequency Division Dup lex (FDD) are shown in Tab le 2
* The majority of these operati ng bands have also been specified for use by UMTS. This allows UMTS spectrum to be re-farmed for
LTE. or for LTE and UMTS to share the same operating bands
* LTE and UMTS share the same operating band numbering schem e, e.g. LTE operating band I is the same as UMTS operating band I
* Some LTE operating bands arc the same as those used by GSM, e.g. operating band 8 corresponds to the E-GSM operating band. Th is
al lows GSM spectrum to be 1-e-farmed for LTE, or for LTE and GSM to share the same operating bands

Operating Uplink Band Downlink Band Duplex Spacing Bandwidth

(MHz) Other Uses
Band (MIIz) (Mllz) (Mllz)
I 1920 - 1980 2 11 0 - 2170 190 2 X 60 UMTS
2 1850-1910 1930-1990 80 2 X 60 UMTS, PCS 1900
3 1710 - 1785 1805 - 1880 95 2 X 75 UMTS, DCS 1800
4 1710 -1755 2110-2155 400 2 X 45 UMTS
5 824-849 869-894 45 2 X 25 UMTS, GSM 850
6 830-840 875 - 885 45 2 X JO UMTS
7 2500-2570 2620-2690 120 2 X 70 UMTS
8 880 - 915 925 - 960 45 2 X 35 UMTS, E-GSM 900
9 1749.9- 1784.9 1844.9-1879.9 95 2 X 35 UMTS
10 1710 - 1770 2110-2170 400 2 X 60 UMTS
11 1427.9-1447.9 1475.9 1495.9 48 2 X 20 UMTS
12 699-716 729- 746 30 2 X J7 UMTS , GSM 710
13 777 787 746-756 -31 2 X JO UMTS
14 788-798 758 - 768 -30 2 X JO UMTS
17 704-716 734-746 30 2 X 12 -

18 815 - 830 860 - 875 45 2 X ]5 -

19 830-845 875 - 890 45 2 X 15 UMTS
20 832-862 791-82 1 -41 2 X 30 UMTS
21 1447.9 - 1462.9 1495.9 - 1510.9 48 2 X J5 UMTS
22 34 10-3490 35 10-3590 100 2 X 90 UMTS
?"
_.) 2000 - 2020 2180-2200 180 2 X 20 -
24 1626.5- 1660.5 1525- 1559 -1015 2 X 34 -
25 1850 - 1915 1930- 1995 80 2 X 65 LJMTS

Table 2- FDD opcntting bands 1(,.. LTE

* The majority of operating bands ha ve their uplink frequenc ies below the ir down li nk frequenc ies. This approach helps to conserve UE
battery power by all owing UE to tran smit within the band which has the bet1er rad io propagation performance, i.e. rad io propagation
tends to be better at lower f'requencies. Operating bands 13, 14, 20 and 24 have uplink bands whi ch are higher than th eir down lin k
bands
* The re lease 9 and 10 ve rsions of the 3GPP spec ificat ions for LTE include a note to state that operating band 6 is not app li cable.
Operat in g band 6 rema in s app licabl e to UMTS but is superseded by operat ing bands 17 and 18 for LTE
* Operating bands 15 and 16 are excluded from the 3GPP spec ification s for LTE. These operating bands are shown in Table 3. and have
been defined by ETS I for use within Europe, Midd le East and Af'r ica. They are speci fi ed for UMTS within ETS I TS I 02 735

Operating Uplink Band Downlink Band Duplex Spacing Bandwidth

Band (MHz) (MHz) (MI-Iz) (MI-Iz)
15 1900- 1920 2600-2620 700 2 X 20
16 2010 - 2025 2585 - 2600 575 2 X 15

Table 3- FDD operating bands 15 and 16 specified by ETSI

23
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2 .6.2 TDD
* The LTE operating bands spec ified by 3GPP for Time Di vision Duplex (TOO) are shown in Table 4

* The majority of these operati ng bands have a lso been specifi ed for use by UMTS. This allows UMTS spectrum to be re-farmed for
LTE, or for LTE and UMTS to share the same operating bands

* In the case of TOO, sharing the sa:me operating band is more challenging due to both the BTS and UE tran smittin g and receiving on the
sa me RF carrier. For examp le, if LTE and UMTS are a ll ocated adjacent channels, a UMTS BTS could experience interference from an
LTE BTS if the LTE BTS tran smits whi le the UMTS BTS rece ives. In the case of FDD, the two BTS would be protected by the duplex
spacing, i.e. there is a re lat ive ly large frequency se paration between the tran smit and receive channels
* Coexistence of the two techno logies is made simp ler if they are synchron ised so both sets of BTS transm it at the same time, and both
popu lations of UE tran smit at the same time. The transm it and receive pattern s for LTE TOO ha ve been spec ified to account for the
coex istence requirements w ith other technologies
* LTE and UMTS do not share the same operating band numbering scheme. LTE numbers its TOO operating bands from 33 upward s,
whereas UMTS references its TOO operating bands as a, b, c, d, e and f

Operating Uplink I Downlink Band Bandwidth

Other Uses
Band (MI-lz) (MHz)
33 1900 - 1920 I X 20 UMTS
34 2010 -2025 I X 15 UMTS
35 1850 - 19 10 ) X 60 UMTS
36 1930 - 1990 I X 60 UMTS
37 1910-1930 I X 20 UMTS
38 2570 - 2620 I X 50 UMTS
39 1880- 1920 I X 40 UMTS
40 2300-2400 I X 100 UMTS
41 2496 - 2690 I X 194 -
42 3400-3600 ) X 200 -
43 3600-3800 I x 200 -
Table 4- TOO operating bands for LTE

* Operating bands 33 to 40 were introduced withi n the re lease 8 vers ion of the 3GPP specification s. Operating bands 41 to 43 were
introduced with in the re lease I 0 vers ion of the 3GPP specificat ions

* 3GPP References: TS 36.10 I, TS 36.104

24
 IN BULLETS

BEARER TYPES
* LTE pro vid es an e nd- to-end service usin g the hi erarchy of bearers show n in Fig ure 8

* An Evo lved Packet System (EPS) bea rer prov ides user plane con necti vity between th e UE an d a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway

* An initi a l EPS bearer is estab li shed when the UE registe rs w ith the network usin g th e Attach procedure. This EPS bearer is known as
the de fa ult" EPS bea rer and is used to prov ide always-on con nectivity

* Other EPS bearers ca n be establi shed to co nn ect to oth er PDN Gateways, o r to pro vide d iffe re nt Q ua lity of Se rvice (QoS) to th e same
PDN Gateway . These EPS bearers a re known as ded icated' EPS beare rs

* A ll use r plane data tran sferred usin g the sa me EPS Bearer has th e same QoS

* An EPS Bearer is generated from a co mbin at ion of E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) and S5/S8 Beare r

* T he SS inte rface provides con necti vity betwee n a home Servin g Gateway a nd a hom e PDN Gateway . T he SS interface provides
ro amin g connectivity between a visited Serv in g Gateway and a hom e PDN Gateway

E-UTRAN EPC Internet

,-------
UE eNB Serving PDN Peer
Gateway Gateway

( End-to-End Service
()
I I I j_ j_

( EPS Bearer ( ( External Bearer ( )

i I I I
( E-RAB ( ( S5/S8 Bearer (

I J
( Radio Bearer (( S1 Bearer (
Radio S1 S5/S8 Gi

Figu re 8- Bearers for LTE

* A n E-RAB is generated from a combin ation of Radio Bearer and S I Bearer. Radio bearers provide the connection across th e a ir-
interface, w hereas S I bearers provide th e co nn ection across th e transport network

* 3GPP Refe re nc es : TS 36.300

25
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2.8 RADIO RESOURCE CONTROL STATES

* The Radio Re source Control (RRC) state machine for LT E inc ludes on ly 2 states: RRC Id le and RRC Conn ected. These 2 states are
illustrated in Figure 9

* RRC Idl e is characterised by:

o acquiring system information from the Broadcast Contro l C hann e l (BCC H)
o UE controll ed mobility based upon cell reselection
o using a DRX cycle to monitor for pag ing messages whi ch can be used to indicate:
incom ing calls
system information changes
Earth quake and T sun ami Warning System (ETWS) notifications (if supported by the UE)
Comm erc ial Mob ile Alert Service (CMAS) notifi cations (if supported by the UE)
o logging of measurements, location and time for UE configured to do so
* RRC Co nnected is characteri sed by:
o the ab ility to transfer data to and from the UE
o using contro l chan nel s to signal resource allocations
o the UE reporting chan ne l quality and other feedback infor mation to the eN ode B
o network controlled mob ility based upon handovers and cell change ord ers
o using a UE specific DRX cycle at the lower layers if configured to do so
o monitoring paging messages and/or System Information Block I (SIB I) to detect
sy stem informat ion changes
Earthquake and Tsun ami Warnin g System (ETWS) notifications (if supported by the UE)
Co mm erci al Mobile A lert Service (CMAS) notifi cations (ifsuppor1ed by the UE)
o acquiring system information from the Broadcast Control C hannel (BCCf-1)
* The RRC connection establi shm ent procedure allows the UE to make the tran sition from RRC Idle mod e to RRC Connected mode
* Figure 9 a lso illustrates mobility betwee n LTE and UMTS, and mobili ty between LTE and GSM/GPRS
o mobility between LTE and UMTS is based upon cell rese lection and handove rs
o mobility between LT E and GSM/GPRS is based upon cell reselection, handovers, Ce ll Change Orders (CCO) and CCO w ith
Network Ass isted Cell Change (NACC)

UMTS LTE GSM!GPRS

~-C-EL_L___o_c_H_
Handover E-UTRA Handover ( ]
GSM CONNECTED
_,] " RRC CONNECTED

I...__. GPRS Packet

CLL_FACH J Transfer Mode
~-

CELL_PCH
ceo with
optio nal Reselection,
URA_PCH Reselectio n NAC C ceo

UTRA
l
~-R_R_C_I_D_LE_~
]
Reselection ' - - -R
E-UTRA
_R_C
_ ID_L_E_ ____,
Res election (
Res election,
GSM/GPRS
~---ID_L_E_ _~
Cell Change Order

Figure 9 - RRC states for LTE and their interaction with UMTS and GSM/GPRS

* Figure I 0 illustrates mobility between LT E and CDMA2000 I x RTT (I times Rad io Transmi ssion Techno logy ), and mobi lity betwee n
LT E and CDMA2000 I-IRPD (Hi gh Rate Packet Data) . Mob ili ty is based upon handovers and ce ll rese lections

26
 IN BULLETS

CDMA2000 LTE CDMA2000

1xRTT HRPD
t r L_ HandOV:!.__
l 1xRTT
CS Active
~----~----_J
Ha ndover E-UTRA
jl<l----------1l RRC CONNECTED j
[
1>- .
HRPDACTIVE
------~----~

1xRTT ] Rese/ection [ E- UTRA Reselection HRPD

DORMANT RRC IDLE IDLE
------------~ ------------
Figuc 10- RRC states for LTE and their interaction with CDMA2000

* In add ition to the state tran sit ions illustrated in Figure 9 and Figure I0. LTE supports connection re lease with re-direction from E-
UTRA RRC Connected mode to UMTS, GSM/GPRS and CD MA2000. Re-direction information is signa lled to the UE within the RRC
Connection Release message
* 3G PP References: TS 36.33 1

27
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2.9 SIGNALLING RADIO BEARERS

* Signalling Radio Bearers (SRB) are used to transfer RRC and Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signalling messages
o RRC messages are used for s igna lling between the UE and eNode B
o NAS messages are used for s ignallin g between the UE and MME
* RRC messages can be used to encapsu late NAS messages for their transfer between UE and eN ode B. The S I Application Protocol
(Sl-AP) is used to transfer NAS messages between the eN ode and MME

* 3 types ofSRB have been defined for LTE :

o SRB 0 transfers RRC messages which use the Common Control Channe l (CCCH) log ical channel
o SRB I transfers RRC messages which use the Dedicated Control Channel (DCC H) logical channel
primarily allows RRC s ignalling between the UE and eNode B
messages may include a piggybacked NAS message
messages may be dedicated to transferring NAS messages if SRB 2 has not yet been configured
o SRB 2 transfers RRC messages which use the DCCH logical channel
primarily allows NAS s ignalling between the UE and eN ode B
messages may be dedicated to transferring NAS messages
messages may be used to transfer logged measureme nt information, e.g. recorded signa l strength measurements
* The messages tran sferred by SRB I may include a piggybacked NAS message. This means that the message includes some RRC
signalling content but also encapsulates a NAS message, e.g. the RRC Co nn ection Setup Complete message includes a NAS message
for the MME
* The Uplink Information Transfer and Downlink Information Transfer messages are dedicated to sending NAS messages and do not
include any RRC signalling content. These messages are tran sfe rred using SRB 2 unless SRB2 has not yet been configured
* SRB 2 has lower priority than SRB I and is always configured after sec urity activation
* After security activation, all messages transferred by SRB I and SRB 2 are integrity protected and ciphered by the Packet Data
Convergence Protocol (PDCP) laye r
* The set of SRB and their associated RRC messages are prese nted in Table 5
* SRB 0 uses transparent mode RLC while SRB I and 2 use acknowledged mode RLC
* SRB 0 transfers messages associated with RRC connection estab li shm ent and re-establi shment. The UE is allocated a DCCH log ical
channel once an RRC connection has been established so SRB I and 2 are ab le to transfer subsequent messages
* Table 6 presents 2 additional RRC messages transferred by SRB I. These messages have been separated because they are transferred
between an eN ode Band Relay Node (RN) rather than between an eNode Band UE. Relays are desc ribed in greater detail in section
30.7
* 3GPP References: TS 36.33 1

28
 IN BULLETS

SRB Direction RRC Message RLC Mode

SRB 0 Downlink RRC Connection Setup Transparent
(CCCII) RRC Connection Reject
RRC Connection Re-establishment
RRC Connection Re-establishment Reject
Uplink RRC Connection Request
RRC Con nection Re-establi shment Request
SRB 1 Downlink RRC Connection Reconfiguration Acknowledged
(DCCH) RRC Connection Release
Security Mode Command
UE Capability Enquiry
UE Information Request
DL Information Transfer (if no SRB 2)
Mobility from EUTRA Command
Handover from EUTRA Preparation Request
CS Fallback Parameter Response CDMA2000
Counter Check
Logged Measurement Configuration
Uplink RRC Connection Setup Complete
Security Mode Complete
Security Mode Failure
RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete
RRC Connection Re-establishment Complete
Measurement Report
Inter-frequency RSTD Measurement Indication
UE Capability Informatio n
UE Information Response
UL Information Transfer (if no SRB 2)
UL Han dover Preparation Transfer
CS Fallback Parameters Request CDMA2000
Proximity Indication
Cou nter Check Response
MBMS Counti ng Response
SRB 2 Downlink DL Information Transfer
(DCCH) Uplink UL Information Transfer
UE lllformation Response (when logged
measurement iriformation is included)

Table 5- RRC messages transferred by each SRB (between eN ode Band liE)

SR!3 Directi.on RRC Message RLC Mode

SRB I Downlink RN Rcconfiguration Acknowledged
(DCCH) Uplink RN Rcconfiguration Complete

Table 6- RRC messages transferTed by SRB I (between eN ode Band Relay Node)

29
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2.10 QUALI'IY OF SERVICE

* Quali ty of Service (QoS) al lows both subscribers and serv ices to be differentiated . Premium subscribers can be prioritised over basic
subscribers, while real time services can be prioritised over non-real time services
* The importance ofQoS increases dur ing periods of congestion. An unloaded network is ab le to satisfy al l subscribers and all services.
As the network load increases, prioritisation determines which subscribers and services are ab le to maintain their performance, and
which experience a loss in performance
* QoS impacts admission contro l deci sions. Connections with a guaranteed QoS are li kely to require larger reso urce reservations during
ad mission control. These connections may be blocked if insufficient reso urces are available, i.e. to protect ex isting connection s with a
guaranteed QoS. Connections without a guaranteed QoS are more likely to be admitted without considering the availabi lity of
reso urces, i.e. allowing them to use reso urces on a best-effort basis
* QoS is appl ied between the UE and the PDN Gateway with in the LTE network, i.e. it is app li cable to an EPS bearer generated from a
comb in ation of an E-RAB and S5/S8 bearer
* EPS bearers and E-RAB can be categorised as Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) or non-Guaranteed Bit Rate (non-GBR). Table 7 presents
the QoS parameters associated with each bearer type

GBR Non-GBR
QoS Class Identifier (QCI) ./ ,;'

Allocation and Retention Priority ..r ..r

Guaranteed Bit Rate ..r
Maximum Bit Rate ,;'

APN Aggregate Ma;ximum Bit Rate ,;'

UE Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate ,;'

Table 7- QoS parameters associated with GBR and non-GBR bearers

* The QoS Class Identifier (QCI) represents a pointer to a set of standard ised QoS characteristics. 3GPP has adopted this approach to
reduce both the signall ing requirement and the maximum number of possible parameter combinations. Table 8 presents the relationship
between QCI and the associated set of QoS characteristics

Resource Packet Delay Packet Error

QCI Priority Example Services
Type Budget Loss Rate
I GBR 2 100 ms 10"2 Conversational Voice
2 4 150ms 10"' Conversational Video (live streaming)
3 3 50 IllS Real Time Gaming
4 5 300 ms 10"(> Non-Conversational Video (bu!Tered streaming)
5 Non-GBR I 100 IllS IMS Signall ing
6 6 300ms Video (buffered streaming), TCP based applications
7 7 1001115 10"3 Voice, Video (live streaming), Interactive Gaming
8 8 300 ms 10-6 Video (buffered streaming), TCP based applications
9 9

Table 8- Standardised QoS characteristics associated with each QCI

* The QCI determines which bearers are categorised as GBR and wh ich are categorised as non-GBR
* The priority associated with each QCI is applied when forwarding packets across the network. High priority packets are transferred
before low priority packets. A priority of I corresponds to the highest priority
* The packet delay budget assoc iated with each QCI defines an upper bound for the packet delay between the UE and the Policy and
Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) within the PDN Gateway. The delay budget figure is app licable to both the uplink and
down link with a 98% confidence leve l. It is assumed that the average delay between the eNode Band PCEF is 20 ms so the remaining
de lay budget is availab le to the radio access network
* The packet error loss rate defines the percentage of higher laye r packets, e.g. IP packets, which are lost during periods that th e network
is not congested. The loss rate between the eNode Band PCEF is ass um ed to be negligible when the network is not congested so the
requirement applies to the radio access network. Retransmi ssions at th e MAC and RLC layers help to achieve the packet error loss rate
requirements

30
 IN BULLETS

* The A llocati on and Retenti on Pri ori ty (AR P) presented in Table 7 defin es :
o Pre-emption Capab ili ty (s hall not tri gge r pre-emption. may tri gge r pre-emptio n). Thi s characte ri stic determin es whether or no t a
new connection request is allowed to pre-empt an ex isting connectio n
o Pre-emption Vuln erab ility (not pre-emptabl e, pre-emptabl e). Thi s characteri stic determines whether or not an ex istin g connecti on
is all owed to be pre-empted by a new connection request
o Pri ori ty (I to 15 ) where 15 co rres ponds to no priority, 14 corres ponds to the lo west pri ority and I corresponds to the hi ghest
pri ority. Thi s charac teri sti c can be used to identify whi ch of the ex isting pre-emptabl e co nnecti ons should be targeted for pre-
empti on. If the co nnecti on req uest has re lati vely low pri ori ty then it may not be abl e to pre-empt any of the ex istin g connections.
Thi s pri ority is independent ofthe pri ority de fined in Table 8 whi ch is associated with packet handling o f ex istin g connectio ns
* The Gua ranteed Bit Ra te (GBR) in Ta bl e 7 defi nes the minimum bit rate whic h can be ex pected to be made ava il abl e to the bearer
when required. It can be config ured with va lues betwee n 0 and I 0 000 Mbps. The GB R can be specified independentl y fo r the upl ink
and dow nlink
* The Max imum Bit Rate (MBR) in Tab le 7 defines the max imum bit rate which can be expected to be made ava ilable to the bearer
when required. It can be configured with valu es betwee n 0 and I 0 000 Mbps. The MBR can be spec ifi ed independentl y for the uplink
and dow nlink
* The APN Aggregate Max imum Bit Rate (A PN-AMBR) in Table 7 defin es the maximum allowed throughput for an indi vidual UE
based upon th e sum of its non-GBR bearers to a specifi c APN, i. e. the total non-GBR throughput generated by a UE to a spec ifi c APN
is not all owed to exceed thi s limit. It can be configured with values between I kbps and 65 280 Mbps. and can be spec ifi ed
independentl y for the uplink and dow nlin k
* The UE Aggregate Maximu m Bit Rate (UE-AMB R) in Ta bl e 7 defin es the max imum all owed throughput for a UE based upon the sum
of all its non-GBR bea rers. It can be viewed as a limit pl aced upon the sum of all APN-AMB R belonging to a specifi c UE. The MME
sets the UE-AM BR to the sum of the APN-A MBR of all acti ve APN up to the va lue of the subscri bed UE-AMB R. It can be configured
with values between 0 and 10 000 Mbps, and can be spec ifi ed independentl y for the uplink and downlink
* 3GPP References : TS 36.300. TS 23.401. TS 23.203

31
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2.11 MOBILI1Y MANAGEMENT STATES

* EPS Mobility Management (EMM) states are maintained by the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layers within the UE and MME. These
states determine whether or not a UE is reachable, and whether or not a UE can receive services

* The main two EMM states are:

o EMM-DEREGISTERED

o EMM-REG ISTER ED
These states are introduced within 3GPP TS 23.40 I. Additional EMM states and sub- states are described w ithin 3GPP TS 24.30 I. The
main two EMM states are illustrated in Figure II

Attach

[,_D_E_R_E_~_7s_~_E_R_E_D_~]~~-----f~[~__R_E_G_~_s~_~_R_E_D_~]
- Detach -

Figure II- Main EPS mobility management states

* A UE is in the EMM-DEREGISTERED state when it is first sw itched on. The MME does not have knowledge of the UE location so
the UE cannot be paged. In addition, the UE cannot have any user plane bearers while in the EMM-DEREG ISTERED state
* UE attempt to move into the EMM -REG ISTERED state whenever poss ible. This is achieved by completing the attach procedure. This
procedure regi ste rs the UE with th e MME and establishes a default bearer for application data transfer. UE can also move into the
EMM-REG ISTERED state by completing a Tracking Area Update after an incoming inter-system transition
* The location ofUE in the EMM -REG ISTERED state is known by the MME to at least an accuracy of the Tracking Area li st allocated
to the UE, i.e. the set of Tracking Areas with which the UE is reg istered. If the Tracking Area li st includes only a single Tracking Area
then the location of the UE is known to be within that Tracking Area. Depending upon the EPS Connection Management (ECM) state,
the location of a UE can also be known by the MME to the accuracy of a single eN ode B
* The UE always has at least one active Packet Data Network (PDN) connection when in the EMM-REGISTERED state (the default
bearer is established during the Attach procedure) . De-activating all PDN connections causes the UE to move back to the EMM-
DEREGISTERED state

* UE can also make the tran sition from the EMM-REGISTERED state to the EMM-DEREGISTERED state by completing the Detach
procedure, or by having a Tracking Area update rejected

* 3GPP References: TS 23.40 I, TS 24 .30 I

32
 IN BULLETS

2.12 CONNECTION M.AN.A.GEMENT STATES

* EPS Co nnection Ma nageme nt (ECM) states are maintained by the No n-Access Stratum (NAS) laye rs within the UE and MME. These
states determine the signalling connecti vity between the UE and Evo lved Packet Core (EPC)
* The two EC M states are:
o ECM -IDL E
o ECM -CONNECTED
These states are in trod uced within 3GPP TS 23.40 I. Procedures associated with these states are described in 3GPP TS 24 .30 I. Thi s
specification refers to the same two states as EMM -ID LE and EMM-CONNECTED, i. e. different te rmino logy is used in diffe rent
specifications. The two ECM sta tes are illustrated in Figure 12

UEview RRC MMEview S1

ECM ECM ECM ECM

IDLE CONNECTED IDLE CONNECTED

Connection Connection
Released Released

Figure 12- EJ>S co nn ection ma nage ment s tates

* A UE in ECM -IDL E state does not have a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signalling connecti on to the MME
* UE compl ete cell se lecti on and ce ll reselection when in the ECM -1 DLE state
* The location of UE in the ECM -IDL E state is kno wn by the MME to an accuracy of the Trac kin g Area li st all ocated to the UE, i.e. the
set of Tracking Areas with whi ch the UE is registered
* When a UE is in both the EMM-R EG ISTERED and ECM -I DLE states then typi cal procedures include:
o Tracking Area Upd ates (TAU) tri gge red by mobility and the peri od ic TAU timer (T3 4 12)
o TAU tri ggered for MME load balancing. i.e. relocating the UE 's signalling connecti on to a di ffe rent MME
o TAU tri ggered for the UE to signal a change of its Core Netwo rk Capab ility or its UE specific DRX cycle
o responding to pag ing messages by perfo rming a Service Request procedure
o perfo rmin g the Service Req uest procedure when uplink user plane data is to be sent
* The UE and MM E enter the ECM -CONNECTE D state after a NAS signalling connection has been estab li shed. From the UE
perspecti ve, thi s corresponds to establi shin g an RRC connecti on between the UE and eN ode B, whil e from the MME perspective, thi s
corres pond s to establi shing an S I co nnecti on between the eN ode Band MME
* Initi al NAS messages whi ch can be used to initi ate a transiti on from EC M-ID LE to EC M-CONNECTED are Attach Request, Track ing
Area Update Request. Service Re quest and Detac h Request. i.e. the Attac h, Trac kin g Area Update, Service Request and Detac h
procedures all req uire the UE to be in RRC connected mode
* The locati on of UE in th e ECM-CONNECTED state is known by the MME to an acc uracy of the serving eNode B
* UE mob ility is hand led using handu' <: rs rather than cell rcsdcction when UE are in the ECM-CONN ECTED stale
* UE continue to complete Track ing Area Updates (TAU) cl ue to mob ili ty when in the ECM -CONNECTED state. i. e. when the UE
mo ves into a ce ll whi ch does not be long to a Track ing Area within the UE's li st of registered Tracking Areas
* UE make the transition from ECM -CONNECTED to ECM -ID LE when their signalling connecti on is re leased, or when their signalling
co nnecti on fail s
* 3GPP References: TS 23 .40 1. TS 24.30 1

33
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2.13 EVOLUTION OF 3GPP SPECIFICATIONS

* The capabilities of Long Term Evo lution (L TE) are enhanced with each vers ion of the 3GPP specification s
* The main capabilities associated with rel eases 8, 9 and I 0 are presented in Figure 13

3GPP Release 8
Long Term Evolution (LTE) Carrier Aggregation for L TE Advanced
Repeaters for LTE 8x8 MIMO in the Downlink for LTE Advanced
HomeeNode B 4x4 MIMO in the Uplink for LTE Advanced
Inter Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) Relays for LTE Advanced
SON - Self-Establishment of eNode B Enhanced Inter Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC)
SON - Automatic Neighbour Relations Minimisation of Drive Tests (MDT)
Enhanced Home eNode B Mobility
MBMS enhancements
3GPP Release 9 SON Enhancements
Local Area Base Stations for LTE
Enhanced Dual Layer Transmission
Enhanced Home eNode B
Positioning Support for LTE
MBMS Support
SON - Mobility Load Balancing
SON - Mobility Robustness Optimisation
SON- RACH Optimisation
SON - Energy Saving

Figure 13 - Main capabilities of LTE associated with 3GPP releases 8, 9 and 10

* The following capabilities were introduced within the release 8 version of the 3GPP specifications:
o LTE itself was introduced, including the specification of its physical layer, layers 2 and 3 and its various interfaces. Both RF and
conformance testing requirements were specified. LTE was specified with a maximum downlink capability based upon a 20 MHz
channel bandwidth with 4x4 MIMO and 64QAM. The uplink did not support multi antenna transmission but supported 64QAM
o LTE Repeaters were introduced for FDD using the same se t of operating bands and channel bandwidths as an eN ode B. Repeaters
were specified within 3GPP TS 36.106 while their conformance testing was specified within TS 36.143
o Home eN ode B (also known as Femto cells) were first introduced. Home eN ode Bare small cells typically used in domestic or
small office environments. They connect to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) via a Home eNode B gateway . The connection
between the Home eNode Band gateway is typ ically a fi xed broadband connection, e.g. DSL or cable. C losed Subscriber Groups
(CSG) were specified to control access to Home eN ode B
o support for Inter Cell Interfe rence Coord ination (ICIC) was introduced . IC IC allows neighbouring eNode B to exchange load
information to help co-ordinate the use of both uplink and downlink reso urces, e.g. one eN ode B uses resources at the top of the
channel bandwidth while a seco nd eN ode Buses reso urces at the bottom of the channel bandwidth. Thi s creates a trade-off
between improving the signa l to noise ratio and reducing the quantity of reso urces available to each eN ode B
o the Self-Establishment of eN ode B component of Self Organising Networks (SON) was introduced. This capability allows the
eNode B to have plug-and-play functionality. After physically connecting the eNode Band sw itching on, it is able to
automatically connect to the element manager and download software, as well as radio and transport configuration data. It may
also be capable of establishing X2 and S I interfaces
o the A utomatic Ne ighbour Relations (ANR) component of SON was introduced. This capability allows the eNode B to
automaticall y upd ate its neighbour database based upon the mobility of UE within its cells, i.e. neighbour relations are added as
th ey are used for the first time. Support is included for intra-frequency, inter-frequency and inter-system ne ighbour relations
* The following capabilities were introd uced wi thin the release 9 version of the 3GPP spec ifications:
o Local Area Base Stations (al so known as pico cells) were introduced . These eNode B have lower tran smit power capabilities than
the standard Wide Area Base Stat ion s (also known as macro cell s). Local Area Base Stations provide coverage across relativel y
sma ll areas but can be used to increase network capacity at traflic hotspots
o En hanced Dual Layer Transm ission refers to user specifi c beam forming comb ined w ith 2x2 MIMO (allowing the transmission of
2 parallel stream s of data) . The release 8 vers ion of th e specifications introduced user specific beam forming but it was limited to
the tran smi ssion of a single stream of data
o the specification of Home eN ode B continued w ithin the re lease 9 vers ion of the 3GPP specifications. The concept of a 'whiteli st'
was introduced to help ensu re that UE belonging to a Closed Subscriber Gro up (CSG), i.e. registered to use a Home eNode B,
always camp on their Home eN ode B rather than remai nin g camped on anot her RF carrier. The release 9 vers ion of the
specifications also added enhanced connected mod e mobility for inbound handovers onto Home eNode B
o Positioning Reference Signa ls (PRS) were introduced to allow the UE to compl ete Observed Time Difference of Arri val
(OTDOA) measurements. These meas urements are completed from multiple eN ode B to improve th e accuracy of the location
estimate. T he release 9 version of the spec ifications al so introduced Enhanced Ce ll Identity positioning. This approach combines

34
 IN BULLETS

the location of the serving cell with measurements such as timing advance and receive- transm it tim e differences at the UE and
eNode B
o Mu ltimedia Broadcast Mu lticast Services (MBMS) were in troduced . Some aspects of MBMS were already defined within the
release 8 ve rsion of the specifications, e.g. the PMCI-1 physical chann el was defined. However. complete support for MBMS was
prov ided by the re lease 9 version of the specification s. M BMS can be used to transmit down !ink video services to gro ups of UE
o the Mob ility Load Ba lanci ng component of SON was in trod uced . Mobility load ba lancing is used to tri gger handovers from
loaded cel ls towards less loaded cell s with the objective of maximi sing the overal l system capac ity. It can also be used to optimise
the handover parameter set
o the Mobil ity Robustness Optimi sati on co mponent of SON was introduced. This all ows the UE to report information regarding
rad io link fai lures. Thi s information can be sent to the cell at whi ch the rad io link fa il ure occurred and used to optimi se the
relevant param eter set
o the RACH Optimisation component of SON was introduced . Th is provides support for tuning the configu ration and resources
used by the random access procedure. The UE can be requested to report the number of preambles used to ga in access, and
whether or not contention was detected
o the Energy Savi ng component of SON was introduced . This all ows capacity layers to be placed in a do rm ant state to conserve
power consumption. Ne ighbouring eNode Bare informed of any action s to all ow handovers and neighbour li st manageme nt to be
handl ed appropri ate ly
* The release I0 version of the specificat ions introduces components of LTE Advanced . These are described in greater deta il in section
2.1 4. Overall. the following capabilities were introduced within the release I0 version of the 3GPP specifi cations:
o Carrier Aggregation all ows a single connection to use multiple RF carriers, known as Co mponent Carri ers. Signalling is defined to
support the aggregation of up to 5 Component Carri ers. RF capabi li ties are initiall y defin ed to sup port the aggregation of up to 2
Component Carriers prov iding an effective chann el bandwidth of up to 40 Ml-lz. Th is capab ili ty helps LTE Advanced to ac hie ve
both its peak and average throughput req uirements
o 8x8 MIMO in the down link al lows the tra nsmi ss ion of 8 parallel streams of data towards a sing le UE. Th is capabi lity helps LTE
Advanced to achieve its down link peak spectral effi ciency target, i.e. it increases the bits per second per Hz performance. This
comp lements the ex isting 4x4 MIMO, 2x2 MIMO, transm it di ve rsity and single antenna transmission schemes
o 4x4 MIMO in the uplink all ows the transm ission of 4 parallel streams of data towards an eN ode B. Thi s capabi li ty helps LTE
Advanced to ach ieve its upl ink peak spectral ef'flciency target, i.e. it increases the bits per second per Hz performance. The release
I0 version of the specifications also includes 2x2 MIMO in the upl ink. Prior to the release I 0 version of the spec ifications, on ly
single antenna tran smi ss ion was poss ible in the uplink
o Re lays are intended to provide ex tend ed LTE coverage and capac ity with relatively low cost. They difTer from Repeaters because
a Repeater simply re-tran smits the uplink and down lin k RF signals to extend the coverage of a donor ce ll. A Relay has its own
ce ll s and is able to decode messages before forwa rdin g them, i.e. a re lay has its own MAC, RLC. PDCP and RRC laye rs. The cells
provided by a Re lay ha ve their own Physical layer Ce ll Identities, Synchronisation Signals and Reference Signals
o Enhanced Inter Cell Interference Coordi nation (ICIC) bui lds upon the capabili ties of ICIC introduced within the release 8 ve rsion
of the specifications. The concept of Alm ost Blank Sub frames (ABS) is introduced to all ow eN ode to red uce their transmi ss ions
durin g certain time intervals. This helps to improve the signal to no ise ratio conditi ons for neighbouring eN ode B, but red uces the
total resources available for tran smi ssion
o Min im isation of Drive Tests (MDT) provides so lutions fo r recordi ng measurements from the UE perspective without the
requirement for relat ively expens ive and time consuming drive testing. Measurements are co llected from the population of
subscribers which have provided their consent. Measurements can target individua l UE. or groups of UE within a specific area.
' '::<;m '"'dl1s can be rc'H:l:.kd in !I P. C Idle mode or RRC Connected mode

o lnhanced Home cNode l3 mobility within the release 10 version of the specifications focuses upon mobility from one !lome
eN ode B to another Home eNodc 13. Thi s scenario is viewed as being particularly important fo r office envi ronments where
multiple Home eNode B may be used to provide coverage and capacity
o MBMS Enhancements prov ide additional capabilities such as UE counti ng to he lp opt imi se the tran smi ssion of down li nk services.
e.g. services can be di sabled if there are no UE. se nt using point-to-point tran smi ss ions if there is a sma ll numbe r ofUE. and sent
as broadcast transmi ss ions if there is an increased number of U E. All ocat ion and Retention Priority (ARP) fo r MBMS was also
introduced within the re lease 10 ve rsion of the spec ifications
o SON Enhancements define improvements for Mob il ity Robustness Opti mi sation and Mobility Load Ba lancing. In ter-system
support was added for Mobility Robustness Optimi sati on. wh ile inter-system support was enhanced for Mobility Load Ba lanc ing

35
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2.14 LTEADVANCED
* LTE Advanced is an evolved version of LTE with increased capabilities and improved performance. It is introduced within the release
I0 version of the 3GPP specification s, in contrast to LTE whi ch was introduced within the release 8 version of the specifications
* The requirements for LTE-Advanced are specified within 3GPP TR 36.9 13, whereas the original requirements for LTEare specifi ed
within 3GPP TR 25.913. The requirements for LTE-Advanced have been defined to satisfy the requirements of IMT-Advanced
specified by the Radiocommunications division of the Intern ational Telecommunication Un ion (ITU-R)
* Tab le 9 compares some of the key requirements for LTE-Advanced with those for LTE

LTE Advanced LTE

Requirements Requirements
Peak Throughput Uplink 500 Mbps 50 Mbps
Downlink I Ubps 100 Mbps
Peak Spectrum Uplink 15 bps/Hz 2.5 bps/Hz
Efficiency
Downlink 30 bps/Hz 5.0 bps/J-Iz
Average Spectrum Uplink 2.0 bps/Hz/cell 0.7 bps/Hz/cell
Efficiency
Downlink 3. 7 bps/Hz/cell l.7 bps/Hz/cell
Control Plane Latency From Idle Mode 50 ms 1001115
From Connected Mode D~'< 10 1115 50 ms
User Plane Latency < 5 IllS <5 IllS

Table 9- Comparison of requirements for LTE and LTE-Advanced

* Peak throughput requirements for LTE Advanced are I 0 times greater than those for LTE. These improvements are fundamentally
ach ieved using a combination of increased bandwidth and increased multiple antenna transmission capab ility
o the maximum bandwidth of20 Ml-lz in LTE, evolves to a maximum bandwidth of up to I 00 MHz in LTE Advanced
o in the downlink direction, 4x4 MIMO in LTE evolves to 8x8 MIMO in LTE Advanced (although the I 00 Mbps peak throughput
requirement for LTE was based upon the assumption of2 rather than 4 receive antenna at the UE)
o in the uplink direction, single antenna transmission in LTE evolves to 4x4 MIMO in LTE Advanced
* Peak spectrum efficiency requirements for LTE Advanced are 6 times greater than those for LTE. Spectrum efficiency is a measure of
throughput per unit of bandwidth (measured in terms of bps/l-Iz) . Increasing throughput by simply increasing the quantity of spectrum
does not improve the spectrum efficiency. The spectrum efficiency requirements for LTE Advanced are primarily achieved using the
increased multiple antenna tran smission capability
* Average spectrum efficiency represents the total throughput of all users, divided by the total bandwidth, divided by the number of cells.
It is then expressed in units ofbps/1-I z/ce ll . 3GPP TR 36.913 spec ifies a range of average spectrum efficiency requirements for a range
of antenna configurations. The figures in Table 9 are applicable to 2x4 transmission in the uplink (2 transmit antenna at the UE and 4
receive antenna at the eN ode B), and to 4x4 transmission in the downlink. These figures are also specified to be appl icab le when using
a I 0 Ml-lz channel bandwidth and a 500 m inter-site distance
* In the case of LTE, the average spectrum efficiency requirements were not specified using absolute values, but were specified in terms
of a relative improvement when compared to the release 6 version of UMTS
o in the uplink direction, it was assumed that both UMTS and LTE used a single transm it antenna at the UE and 2 receive antenna at
the BTS. The uplink LTE average spectrum efficiency was then spec ified to be 2 to 3 times greater than the UMTS average
spectrum efficiency
o in the downlink direction, it was assumed that UMTS used a single transmit antenna at the Node B with 2 receive antenna at the
UE, while LTE used 2 tran smit anten na at the eN ode B wi th 2 rece ive ante nna at the UE. The downlink LTE ave rage spectrum
efficiency was then specifi ed to be 3 to 4 times greater than the UMTS average spectrum efficiency
The LTE average spectrum efficiency fi gures presented in Table 9 represent typical results which fit the req uirements defined by 3GPP
TR 25.913
* LTE Advanced is spec ified to have reduced control plane latencies re lati ve to LTE. Control plane latenc ies represent the delay in
moving the UE into a state where it is ready to transfer data with a user plane connection. Control plane latencies are defined for initial
cond iti ons of RRC Idle mode, and the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) substate of RRC Connected mode
* The user plane latency represents the one-way delay between the IP layer in the UE and the IP layer in the eNode B. The latency
requirement is applicable to both the uplink and downlink direction s so the effective round trip time requirement is< 10 ms. The user
plane latency for LTE Advanced was specified to be better than LTE but without defining a specific value
 IN BULLETS

* The main so luti ons for LTE-Advanced are:

o Carri er Aggregation
o 8x8 MIMO in the down lin k
o 4x4 MIMO in the uplin k
o Enh anced uplin k transmi ss ion
o Relays
o Heterogeneou s networks
o Co-ordinated Mul ti-Point transmiss ion (CoM P)
* Carrier Aggregation increases th e channel bandw idth by combining mul tipl e RF carriers. Each indi vidual RF carri er is known as a
Component Carri er. The release 10 version of the 3G PP spec ifi cati ons defin es signalling to support up to 5 Co mponen t Carriers, i. e. a
max imum combined channel bandw idth of 100 Ml-l z. From the RF perspecti ve. a max imum of 2 Component Ca rri ers have been
defin ed initi all y. Component Carriers do not need to be adjacent and can be located in different operating bands. The release 10 ve rsion
of the 3GPP spec ifi cati ons defin es individual Component Carri ers to be backwa rds compatibl e so they can be used by release 8 and
release 9 dev ices. Carri er Aggregation is described in secti on 18
* 8x8 MIMO in the downlink req uires 8 transmit antenna at the eNode Band 8 rece ive anten na at the UE. It prov ides support for the
simultaneous transmi ssion of 8 parall el strea ms of data. These streams of data are ge nerated from 2transporl bl ocks which are
processed by the phys ical laye r before a seri al to parall el conve rsion ge nerates 4 streams from each bl ock. 2 rather than 8 transport
bl ocks are used to help keep the signalling overhead to a minimu m. 8x8 MIMO for the downlink is described in section 4.5 .1
* 4x4 MIMO in the uplink req uires 4 transmit antenna at the UE and 4 receive ante nna at the eNode B. It prov ides support fo r the
simultaneous transmi ss ion of 4 parallel streams of data. These streams of data are generated flom 2 transport bl ocks which are
processed by the physical laye r before a serial to parall el conve rsion generates 2 streams from each bl ock. 4x4 MIM O for the uplink is
descri bed in section 12.4.1
* Enhanced uplink transmi ssion refers to the support for non-con tiguous Resource Block allocation s. The rel ease 8 and 9 ve rsions of the
3G PP specification s onl y support conti guous Resource Block all ocations to help minimi se the requirement for power amplifier back-
off. Minimi sing the requirement for back-off improves amplifier effic iency and all ows the UE to transmit with greater power
o LTE Advan ced prov ides the opti on to all ocate non-contiguous Resource Blocks. All ocating non-contiguous Resource Blocks
prov ides the eN ode B schedul er with greater fl ex ibility and increases th e potential for a frequency selecti ve scheduling gain.
These benefits prov ide potential for improved throughputs and spectrum efficien cy
o in addition. the release 8 and 9 ve rsions of the 3G PP specifi cations do not sup port simultaneous transmission of the PUCC I-I and
PUSC H physica l channel because it wo uld result in the transmission of non-conti guous Resource Blocks. LTE Advanced provides
the option for simultaneous PUCC I-I and PUSCH transmiss ion
The allocati on of non-conti guous Resource Blocks in the uplink is described in section 9.5
* Relays use a don or ce ll belonging to an eN ode B to prov ide connecti vity towards the core network. They prov ide coverage and
capacity at locati ons whi ch do not have transport conn ect ions. A Relay has its own ce ll s. Physica l laye r Ce ll Identiti es, Synchroni sation
Signals and Reference Signals. From the UE perspecti ve. a re lay appears to be the same as an eNode B. Relay s are described in secti on
30.7
* A netwo rk composed of' multi ple site types (mac ro. mi cro. pico. femto. relay s and repeaters) is kn own as a heterogeneous network.
Heterogeneous networks prov ide increased dep loy ment flex ibility. Microcell s and picoccll s can be used when site acq ui sition fo r
macrocc ll s is diffi cult. The capac ity gain from increasing the density of macrocell s tends to saturate as levels of' intcrccll interfe rence
increase. Microce ll s and picoce ll s can be dep loyed with greater densities to further increase netwo rk capac ity. Repeaters and relays ca n
prov ide coverage and capac ity all ocati ons without a transport network connecti on. Femto can prov ide coverage at locati ons outside the
reac h of th e main netwo rk. Heterogeneous networks are desc ri bed in secti on 30
* Coordinated Mu lti- Po int (CoMP) transmiss ion in the downlin k and rece ption in the upli nk are LTE-Adva nced soluti ons to help
improve the ce ll edge throughput and spectrum e ffi ciency performance. 3G PP progressed CoM P as a study item during th e timesca les
of release 10 deve lopment but the resultant wo rk item aims to inc lude CoMP within the release II vers ion of the spec ificat ions. CoMP
is described in section 29
* The release I0 version of the 3GPP spec ifica ti ons introduces additional UE categories to provide sup po rt fo r LTE Adva nced . UE
category 8 is ab le to support up to 5 Co mponent Carri ers. 8x8 MIMO in the dow nlink directi on and4 x4 MI MO in the uplin k directi on.
UE categori es I to 5 were introd uced withi n the release 8 version of the spec ifi cati ons. Neve rth eless. 3G PP re lease I0 UE which arc
category I to 5 may still suppo rt Carrier Aggregat ion. UE categories are descri bed in secti ons 18.3 and 19. 1

37
LONG TERM EVOLUTION (LTE)

2.15 3GPP SPECIFICATIONS LIST

* The '36' se ri es of 3GPP tec hnical spec ifications focuses upon LTE radio tec hnology
* Many of the spec ification s have simi lar titles to the equ ivalent '25' se ri es for UMTS

* Other series of specificati ons also inclu de re levant information, e.g. TS 24.30 I specifi es the No n-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol
* A sampl e of the 3GPP specifications applicable to L TE is presented in Table I 0

Number Title Number Title

36. 101 UE radio transmission and reception 36.422 X2 signalling transpot1
36. 104 BS radio transmission and reception 36.423 X2 application protocol
36106 FDD repeater radio transmission 36.424 X2 data transport
36.116 Relay radio transmission and reception 36.440 Aspects and principles for interfaces for MBMS
36.133 Requirements for support ofRRM 36.44 1 Layer I for interfaces suppotting MBMS
36.201 LTE physical layer, general description 36.442 Signalling transport for interfaces for MBMS
36.21 1 Physical channels ru1d modulation 36.443 M2 application protocol
36.212 Multiplexing and channel coding 36.444 M3 application protocol
36.213 Physical layer procedures 36.445 Ml data transport
36.214 Physical layer measurements 36.446 MI use r plane protocol
36.216 Physical layer for relaying 23.002 Network architecture
36300 E-UTRAN overall description 23.003 Numbering, addressing and identitlcation
36.302 Services provided by the physical layer 23.041 Technical realisation of Cell Broadcast Service
36.304 UE procedures in idle mode 23.122 NAS functions forMS in idle mode
36.306 UE radio access capabilities 23.203 Policy and chruging control architecture
36.321 MAC protocol specification 23.206 Voice ca\1 continuity between CS and IMS
36.322 RLC protocol specification 23.216 Single radio voice call continuity
36.323 Packet data convergence protocol 23.272 CS fallback in EPS
36.33 1 RRC protocol specification 23.401 GPRS enhancements for E-UTRAN access
36.401 Architecture description 24.301 NAS protocol for evolved packet system
36.410 S I layer l general aspects and principles 29.118 MME to VLR SGs interface specification
36.4 11 SJ layer 1 29.272 MME and SGSN Diruneter protoco l
36.412 S I signalling transport 29.274 Evolved GPRS tunnell ing protocol
36.413 S I application protocol 29.280 Sv interface for SRVCC
36.4 14 S1 data transport 29.281 GPRS hmnclling protocol user plane
36.420 X2 general aspects and principles 32.422 Trace control and configuration management
36.421 X2 layer l 37.320 Radio mcasttrcment collection 1or MDT

Table 10- Sample of3GPP specifications appl icable to LTE

* These spec ifications are availabl e to download from the 3GPP in ternet site : www.3gp p.org

* Versions are avai Iable for each release of the 3G PP specifications, e.g. releases 8, 9 and I 0