Mobile Communications

1. Basic concepts 2. GSM/GPRS radio access 3. GSM/GPRS architecture and protocols 4. Universal Mobile Telecommunications System radio access 5. UMTS radio resource management 6. UMTS architecture and protocols 7. High Speed Down Link Packet Access 8 LTE 9. LTE ADVANCED 10. Mobile Network Engineering
1

Mobile Communications
2. GSM/GPRS radio access 2.1 Physical layer 2.2 Radio resource management

2. GSM/GPRS radio access

2.1 Physical layer
frequencies and access TDMA and GSM; physical and logical channels in GSM and GPRS coding modulation techniques GPRS physical layer

extensions: e2.1 frames, super-frames, hyper-frames

e2.2 modulation technique e2.3 acquisition

3

GPRS timing advance e2.4 and power control

SCPC / FDMA
single channel per carrier/frequency division multiple access

FREQUENCY

SYSTEM BANDWIDTH

TIME

TDMA
Time Division Multiple Access

FREQUENCY

TIME
FRAME INTERVAL

DS-CDMA
Direct Sequence - Code Division Multiple Access

FREQUENCY

CODE

TIME

Space Division Multiple Access

.other words for frequency re-use 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3 2 1 3 2 1 7 6 5 7 6 4 2 1 5 3 4 7 6 5 4

bandwidth

Theoretical Cluster
7

Duplex operation
f

f-up

f-down

Frequency Division Duplex mode

system bandwidth

Rx

Tx

Rx

Tx

Time Division Duplex mode

frame

GSM: the available bandwidth

Uplink (MHz) P-GSM 900 GSM 900 DCS 1800 PCS 1900 GSM 450 GSM 400 GSM 700 GSM 850 GSM 480 GSM 750 E-GSM 900 R-GSM 900 890 915 880 915 876 915 1710 1785 1850 1910 478,8 486 747 762 824 849 Downlink (MHz) 935 960 925 960 921 960 1805 1880 1930 1990 488,8 496 777 792 869 894 Duplex spacing (MHz) DL=UL+45 DL=UL+45 DL=UL+45 DL=UL+95 DL=UL+80 DL=UL+10 DL=UL+10 DL=UL+30 DL=UL+45 Bandwidth (MHz) 25 35 39 75 60 7,2 7,2 15 25

450,4 457,6 460,4 467,6

GSM frequencies @ 900 MHz in Italy

01.11.1998
TACS
880,0 925,0 chan. 12-67 15 chann 16 cities TIM WIND 900,5 945,5 905,5 950,5 OPI chan. 69-118 9 channels

GSM TIM
892,0 892,3 41 channels 937,0 937,3

GSM OPI
41 channels 913,7 958,7

Other Italy (chan. 54-76) outside the 16 towns

01.03.1999
TACS
880,0 925,0 891,8 892,1 936,8 937,1

chan. 11-66 15 channels 16 citt TIM WIND 900,3 905,5 OPI

chan. 68-118 10 channels

GSM TIM
41 channels

GSM OPI
41 channels 913,7 958,7

945,3 950,5 Other Italy (chan. 53-76) outside the 16 towns

10

900 MHz frequencies - evolution

01.07.1999
TACS
880,0 925,0 891,4 891,7 936,4 936,7 57 channels 16 towns TIM OPI WIND 900,1 905,3 52 channels

GSM TIM
42 channels

GSM OPI
42 channels 913,7 958,7

CTI
915 960

945,1 950,3 Other Italy 24 channels outside the 16 towns

15.09.1999
TACS
880,0 925,0 891,2 891,5 936,2 936,5

57 channels

GSM TIM
43 channels *

16 towns TIM OPI WIND 900,1 905,3

53 channels

GSM OPI
42 channels 913,7 958,7

CTI
915 960

945,1 950,3 Other Italy 24 channels outside the 16 towns

11

Frequencies @ 1800 MHz

24 channels

50 channels

50 channels

24 channels

TIM
1755 1850 1760 1855

WIND
1770 1865

4th Operator
1780 1875

OPI
1780 1880

from 01.01.99 in 8 towns: RM, MI, NA, TO, BO, PA, FI, GE from 01.07.99 over the whole national territory
12

GSM 1800: the compatibility value

BTS

900 MHz

BSC MSC

900 MHz

BTS BTS

BSC BSC

1800 MHz

1800 MHz

BTS

13

GSM functions - TDMA access technique

BURST TRANSMITTED BY MOBILE 1 TDMA FRAME (4.6 ms)

MOBILE 2

MOBILE 8

TIME

TIME-SLOT: 577 s
14

SIGNAL BURST: 543 s

Time and power control

Timing advance t TS TS t p BTS tr, pr

MS

d power control

tr: time of arrival of the MS burst pr: received power

......

TS 2dB granularity

TS

15

Time and power control (II)

power (dB) +4 -6 28 s to rump-up and 28 s to switch-off max dynamic range of 70 dB 542 s to transmit information

-30

-70 10 8 10 s 542.8 s 148 bit

16

10 8 10 s

Burst structure
normal burst

Tail bits (guard bits)

Stealing flag

Guard Time

Type Number of Bits

T Coded Data 3 57

S Training Seq. S Coded Data 1 26 1 57 148 Bit = 546.12 s

1 GP 3 8.25

17

Burst structure (II)

random access burst
Tails Training

Guard Period

Type Number of Bits

T 8

Synchr. Seq. 41

Coded Data 36

T 3

GP 68.25

88 Bit = 324.72 s

Guard Period limiting the max cell radius

18

Burst structure (III)

frequency correction and synchronisation burst
Guard Period as for the Normal Burst T GP 3 8.25

Tails

Type Number of Bits

T 3

Fixed bit sequence 142 148 Bit = 546.12 s

Guard Period limiting the max cell radius

Found syncr.

19

GSM traffic channels

TCH/FS: Traffic Channel Full rate Speech

Speech transmission at a net bit rate of 13 Kbit/s (up and down link) Speech transmission at half bit rate (up and down link) Data transmission at 9.6/4.8/2.4 Kbit/s (with different coding schemes) Data transmission at halved speed (with different coding schemes)

TCH/HS: Traffic Channel Half rate Speech

TCH/F: Traffic Channel for Data transmission

TCH/H: Traffic Channel for Data transmission

20

GSM signalling channels

BCCH: Broadcast Control Channel

point-to-multipoint unidirectional control channel broadcasting system information to MS up-link: down-link: RACH (Random Access CHannel) PCH (Paging Channel) AGCH (Access Grant CHannel)

CCCH: Common Control Channel

DCCH: Dedicated Control CHannel

point-to-point bidirectional control channel SACCH (Slow Associated Control CHannel) FACCH (Fast Associated Control CHannel) SDCCH (Stand Alone Dedicated Control CHannel)
21

..some other broadcast channels

FCCH: the Frequency Correction Channel

Gives the mobile station the reference frequency of the system Gives the mobile station the training sequence for demodulate the down-link information

SCH: the Synchronisation Channel

22

GSM - logical and physical channels

51 frames BCCH + CCCH (downlink) BCCH + CCCH (uplink) F S B C F S C C F S C 235.38 ms C F S C C F S C C I

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

8 SDCCH/8 (downlink)

D0 D0

D1 D1

D2 D2

D3 D3

D4 D4

D5 D5

D6 D6

D7 D7

A0 A4

A1 A5

A2 A6

A3 A7

I I I I I I

8 SDCCH/8 (uplink)

A5 A1

A6 A2

A7 A3

I I I I I I

D0 D0

D1 D1

D2 D2

D3 D3

D4 D4

D5 D5

D6 D6

D7 D7

A0 A4

F: TDMA frame for frequency correction burst B: TDMA frame for BCCH D: TDMA frame for SDCCH R: TDMA frame for RACH

S: TDMA frame for synchronization burst C: TDMA frame for CCCH A: TDMA frame for SACCH/C

23

GSM - logical and physical channels

51 frames FS FS B B C C FS FS C C C C FS FS D0 D0

235.38 ms D1 D1 FS FS D2 D2 D3 D3 FS FS A0 A2 A1 I A3 I

BCCH + CCCH + 4 SDCCH/4 (downlink)

BCCH + CCCH + 4 SDCCH/4 (uplink)

D3 D3

R R A2 R R A0

A3 A1

RR R R R R R R R R R R RR R R R R RRR R R RR R R R R R R R R R R RR R R R R RR R R R

D0 D0

D1 D1

R R D2 R R D2

F: TDMA frame for frequency correction burst B: TDMA frame for BCCH D: TDMA frame for SDCCH R: TDMA frame for RACH

S: TDMA frame for synchronization burst C: TDMA frame for CCCH A: TDMA frame for SACCH/C

24

GSM - associated channels

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 70 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

TDMA Frame

T T T T T T T T T T T T AT T T T T T T T T T T T I 120 ms T: Traffic Channel (TCH) A: Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH) T T T T T T T T T T T T AT T T T T T T T T T T T A 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 120 ms

Full Rate Channel

Half Rate Channels

25

GSM radio transmission and reception chain

a conceptual scheme
Source data Channel encoder ordering partitioning inter leaving burst format GSM modulator

ciphering

Tx

Propagation channel

filters, coherent demodulat.

synchronisation Viterbi equaliser BB demodulation

burst de-mux de-format

deciphering

de-interleaving channel decoder

Output bits

26

Speech coding
analogue sampled

coded 1111 1110 1101 1100

t microphone bandpass 300 Hz 3.4 KHz loud speaker D A speech decoder channel decoder A D speech encoder channel coder

213 coding levels

low pass 4 KHz

27

Channel coding
and other protection mechanisms

Block codes Convolutional codes

Distinction between:
Speech data Data services Signalling data

Detection Correction
28

Interleaving Retransmission

Channel coding
speech data
voice coding 13 Kbit/s 260 bit 20 ms 132 (1b) block code 50 (53, 50) (1a) Reordering (185) 78 (2) convolutional encoding (1/2; L=5) 189 4 tail bits 456 bit (20 ms) 22.8 kbit/s

Global bit rate needed

Channel encoding multiframe inefficiency for associated channel

22.8 Kbit / s 156.25 / 114 8 13 / 12 = 270.833kbit / s

# of bits transmitted per normal burst 29 information bits per normal burst

Reordering and Interleaving

speech data
Voice sub-frames (reordering) 1 0+i8 2 1+i8 3 2+i8 4 3+i8 i = 0, 1, 2, . 5 4+i8 6 5+i8 7 6+i8 8 7+i8

114 bits transmitted in each burst

Interleaving depth = 8 bursts

even odd burst 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

30

10

11

12

13

14

15

Channel coding and interleaving

data streams
terminal coding data stream 9.6 kbit/s data stream 12 kbit/s

22 blocks from the 456 data frame: 16 x 24 bit 2 x 18 bit 2 x 12 bit 2 x 6 bit

240 bit (12 kbit/s) Convolutional encoding R=1/2; L=5 488 bit Puncturing of 32 bit 456 bit

6 0

12 1

18 24 24 2 3 4 6 5 6 7 8 9

24 10 11 12 13

24 24 18 12 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21

12 18 24 24
31

Channel coding
signaling streams
Block code (224, 1840) signaling info 184 bit Convolutional encoding R=1/2; L=5 456 bit parity 40 4 signaling info 184 bit

Spreading of the signaling block over 4 consecutive bursts

even odd burst 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

32

10

11

12

13

14

15

Base band frequency hopping

original allocation of the connection in progress

TDMA frame new frequency allocation through a frequency hopping mechanism

carriers assigned to the cell

fi fj fk
network assigned jumping scheme
33

Base band frequency hopping (I)

MS receiving

fi(r) fj(r) fk(r) fl(r) fi(t) fj(t) fk(t) fl(t)

TDMA frame TDMA frame

MS transmitting measuring windows

34

Modulation techniques
Q 10 Binary Phase Shift Keying I 00

11

01

1 I Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

35

GPRS - the physical layer

sharing resources and functions with GSM

GPRS service Radio resource sharing with GSM voice and data services Dynamic & static allocation of the physical channels One or more slots to a single GPRS user One or more GPRS users on a single slot Radio-frequency part unchanged

Voice service

data 1 slot sharing

data 2

TDMA frame dynamic border variation

priority to voice services

36

GPRS data flow

Packet (N-PDU)

PH

User Data
Compression/Decompression Segmentation/Re-assembly (not shown)

Network layer

SN-PDU Frame (LL-PDU) Blocks

SH FH

Information Field Information Field FCS

SNDCP layer LLC layer

BH Info Field
Primary Block

BH Info Field
Following Blocks ...
Channel coding Reordering & Partitioning Interleaving Burst formatting

BH Info Field BH
RLC/MAC layer

Normal Burst

Normal Burst

Normal Burst

Normal Burst

Physical layer

PH = Packet Header SH = SN-PDU Header

FH = Frame Header FCS = Frame Check Sequence

37

BH = Block Header

Radio block coding

normal burst

stealing flags

CS1 CS2 CS3 CS4

USF

Payload USF pre-coding 4 tail bits rate 1/2 convolutional coding puncturing

BCS

456 bits
38

Coding parameters

Scheme

Code Payload BCS Pre-coded Tail Coded rate (bits) (bits) USF (bits) bits bits

Punctured bits

Data rate (kbps)

CS-1 CS-2 CS-3 CS-4

1/2 ~ 2/3 ~ 3/4 1

181 268 312 428

40 16 16 16

3 6 6 12

4 4 4 -

456 588 676 456

0 132 220 -

9.05 13.4 15.6 21.4

39

Data rates
Scheme Maximum net Maximum net payload RLC/MAC data (bytes) rate (kbit/s) 20 30 36 50 8 12 14.4 20 Nominal data rate (kbit/s) 9.05 13.4 15.6 21.4 Application data rate (kbit/s) 7.7 11.5 13.8 19.2

CS-1 CS-2 CS-3 CS-4

Application data rate (kbit/s) @ IP packet size (bytes) Coding scheme

576 7.3 11 13.2 18.3

1200 7.7 11.5 13.8 19.2

1500 7.7 11.6 13.9 19.4

CS-1 CS-2 CS-3 CS-4

40

Time Slot Utilisation - simplex Terminal

Rx 0 1 Rx 0 1 Tx Tt Rx 0 Rx 0 1 Tx Tra
41

Tra 7 7 0 1 Symmetric service half-duplex terminal

Tx Tta 7 0 1 7 0 1 Asymmetric service half-duplex terminal

Tta : time to Tx Tra: time to Rx

Ttb : time to Tx, no measures Trb: time to Rx, no measures

GPRS: physical layer performance (II)

GSM @ 900 MHz (05.05) Propagat. Charact.: static TU50 noFH TU50 RA250 HT100 ideal no FH no FH FH -104 -90 -103 -104 -104 ---103 -103 -103 ---101 -103 RA250 no FH
PDCH BLER 10% USF BLER 1% PRACH BLER 15%

PDTCH/CS1 PDTCH/CS4 USF/CS1 PRACH/11 bit

(dBm) (dBm) (dBm) (dBm)

-104 -101 -104 -104 TU3 no FH

-104 -90 -101 -104 TU3 ideal FH 9 23 10 8

sensitivity levels

Propagat. Charact.:

TU50 TU50 no FH ideal FH 10 24 12 8

42

propagation

PDTCH/CS1 PDTCH/CS4 USF/CS1 PRACH/11 bit

(dB) (dB) (dB) (dB)

13 21 19 8

9 24 10 8

9 --10 10

C/I levels

Reordering and interleaving

Interleaving depth 8: minimising the BER (after decoding) increasing the probability of block re-transmission or erasure

456 bit (8x57bit) 4 bursts for transmission rectangular interleaving

Interleaving depth 4: increasing the BER decreasing the probability of block retransmission or erasure

even odd burst 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

43

10

11

12

13

14

15

GPRS channels - general

GPRS dedicated broadcast and Common Control channels Broadcast and Common Control Channels shared with GSM

PBCCH (PCCCH)

BTS

BCCH (CCCH)

radio packet system broadcasting

GPRS specific system data + GSM system data Only PCCCH has to be tracked by MS
44

Packet Data Logical Channels (I)

Packet Common Control Channel (PCCCH):
PRACH: random access (uplink) PPCH: paging (downlink) PAGCH: access grant (downlink) PNCH: PTM-M notification (downlink)

Packet Broadcast Control Channel (PBCCH) (downlink) Packet Traffic Channels:

PDTCH: data traffic (up and down link)

Packet Dedicated Control Channels:

PACCH: associated control (up and down link) PTCCH/U: timing advance estimation (uplink)) PTCCH/D: timing advance information (downlink)

45

Packet Data Logical Channels (II)

The radio blocks are transmitted over 4 bursts belonging to 4 consecutive TDMA frames Transmission on a Packet Data CHannel (PDCH): transmission on PRACH and PTCCH/U is performed by sending an access burst transmission on all the other packet data logical channels is performed by sending radio blocks constituted by four consecutive normal bursts a Packet Control Acknowledgement can be sent via 4 access bursts, if required by the network

46

Packet Data Logical Channels (III)

PBCCH is mapped on one physical channel PCCCH is mapped on one or several physical channels, following a 52multiframe PRACH is determined by Uplink State Flag (USF) set FREE and broadcast on the downlink or by a fixed allocation

A given PDTCH is mapped on one physical channel An MS can use up to 8 PDTCHs on the same carrier A given PACCH is mapped on one physical channel and is allocated dynamically on a block basis PTCCH/U is mapped on one of the PDCHs where PDTCHs are allocated to the MS; PTCCH/D is associated to several PTCCH/Us sharing the same PDCH

47

Multiframe Structure
BCCH 52 TDMA frames divided in: 12 radio blocks B0-B11 (of 4 consecutive frames) 2 frames used for PTCCH (T) 2 idle frames (X) PDCH on which PBCCH and PCCCH are mapped
MS

Frames for PTCCH

TDMA Frame Block
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Idle frames

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

B0

B1

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

B7

B8

B9

B10

B11

Radio Blocks
48

A single multiframe - advantages

26 frame voice, data

51 frame signaling

GSM multi-frames: 26 TDMA frames for voice/data 51 TDMA frames for BCCH, CCCH, SDCCH

Key elements for a choice: statistical behaviour of data services need for higher degree of flexibility
52 frame for signaling and traffic

GPRS multi-frame: 52 TDMA frames for data and signaling

49

Mobile Communications
2. GSM/GPRS radio access 2.1 Physical layer 2.2 Radio resource management

50

2. GSM/GPRS radio access

2.2 Radio resource management
GPRS radio resource management static and dynamic channel allocation

51

GPRS Downlink Radio Blocks

Radio block

Data Block

MAC Hdr

RLC Header

RLC Data RLC Data Block

MAC Header
USF S/P RRBP Payload Type Spare bits (if any)

Radio block

Control Block

MAC Hdr

Control Header (optional)

RLC/MAC Signaling RLC/MAC Control Block

52

GPRS Downlink Radio Blocks

The radio blocks adopt different configurations in function of the transmission direction (up or down link). Moreover, their configuration depends on the role they are assigned to: data or control transport. The radio block is subject to retransmission for error protection. The retransmission does not take place for a single radio block but for a group of radio blocks: those contained in the retransmission window, concerning 64 radio blocks (both in the up and in the down link). The retransmission involves then more than one GPRS users: those who can share the same time slot. The MAC layer contains the header of the upper layer frames (RLC). As for the MAC header, it contains some data range driving the retransmission mode. The Up Link State Flag (USF) transmitted on the down link, is composed of 3 bits. It specifies the MS which is allowed to transmit on the up link along the 4 subsequent time slots (1 block) and, set to 0, the presence of a Packet Random Access Channel (PRACH) always on the up link. Hence, the maximum user multiplexing level on the up link over the same time slot is 7. Often on the up link, some signalling messages associated to the traffic received on the down link are to be transmitted: another USF value has then to be reserved. This reduces to 6 the maximum multiplexing degree on the up link. The supplementary/polling (S/P) range contains1 bit; it states the presence (or the absence) of the subsequent range. The Relative Reserved Block Period (RRBP) is composed of 2 bits specifying the radio block period when the MS must transmit a control packet which may be for instance a Packet Control Acknowledgement (PACK) transmitted over a Packet Associated Control Channel (PACCH). The MS that has to transmit is the one identified by the Temporary Flow Identity (TFI) specified in the RLC header. The Payload Type (2 bits) specifies the kind of information transported by the radio block (Data or Control) and, whenever the block is a control block, it specifies if the subsequent range (RLC header) present or not present.

53

GPRS Uplink Radio Blocks

Radio block

Data Block

MAC Hdr

RLC Header

RLC Data RLC Data Block

MAC Header
R SI Countdown value Payload Type Spare bits (if any)

Radio block

Control Block

MAC Hdr

RLC/MAC Signaling RLC/MAC Control Block MAC Header

spare

Payload Type

54

GPRS Uplink Radio Blocks

On the up link the following ranges are present:
The Retry (R) (1 bit) designates if the MS has sent the Packet Channel Request at least one time within the Temporary Block Flow (TBF). The TBF defines a physical connection utilised for one or more LL-PDU over one or more PDCH in a point-to-point mode between the MS and the Network. The Stall Indicator (SI) is composed by 1 bit. It establishes if the counter of the transmission window at the RLC level can be either increased or not. The Countdown Value bears 4 bits specifying how many RLC data blocks are still to be transmitted within the current Temporary Block Flow. The Spare range (5 bit) are not utilised by teh network. The Payload Type (2 bits) specifies as for the down link, the kind of information carried by the radio block (Data or Control) and, whenever the block is a control block, it specifies if the subsequent range (RLC header) is either present or not.

55

RLC header and data - data block

Radio block

Data Block up and down link)

MAC Hdr

RLC Header

RLC Data RLC Data Block

RLC Header 2 byte Radio block

Spare bits (if any)

Control Block (down link)

MAC Hdr

Control Header (optional)

RLC/MAC Signaling RLC/MAC Control Block

RLC Header 2 byte

56

RLC header and signaling - control block

Radio block

Data Block up and down link)

MAC Hdr

RLC Header

RLC Data RLC Data Block

RLC Header 2 byte Radio block

Spare bits (if any)

Control Block (down link)

MAC Hdr

Control Header (optional)

RLC/MAC Signaling RLC/MAC Control Block

RLC Header 2 byte

57

Uplink Transmission and contention resolution

Packet Channel Req. Access
MS Network
Packet Channel Request Packet Uplink Assignment (Optional) (Optional) Packet Resource Request PACCH Packet Uplink Assignment PACCH PRACH or RACH PAGCH or AGCH

PRACH Packet uplink assig. PAGCH MS

1-phase

network
2-phases

physical channels assigned (PDCH)

PRACH

1 physical channel assigned (PDCH) Packet resource req. MS>netw. over PDCH Packet uplink assign. (USF, TFI)

USF for each PDCH assigned TFI (TBF) established

58

retransmission MS random choice

Contention resolution and resource allocation

Resource allocation
Uplink data transfer
MS
Access and Assignment Data Block Data Block Data Block Data Block (last in send window) Packet Uplink Ack/Nack Data Block Data Block Data Block Packet Uplink Assignment Packet Control Acknowledgement Data Block Data Block (last) Packet Uplink Ack/Nack (final)

Network

Possible limitations (network side) on the number of transmitted blocks Selective retransmission required through Packet uplink Ack/Nack Resource re-assignment along the packet transfer: packet uplink assign. (over PACCH and bearing the RRBP for answer) packet control acknowledgment via PACCH reserved through RRBP Resource release started by MS through count/down procedure. Packet uplink final ACK (netw.) and Packet control ack (MS) are sent

PDTCH PDTCH PDTCH PDTCH PACCH PDTCH PDTCH PDTCH PACCH PACCH PDTCH PDTCH PACCH

59

Uplink transfer channel allocation Dynamic Allocation:

the MS transmits its radio blocks on the assigned time slots with the assigned USF fixed uplink resource allocation to the MS based on a bitmap indicating the assigned blocks per time slot No need to monitor the downlink for the USF monitoring of the USF without transmitting and receiving simultaneously
60

Fixed Allocation:

Extended Dynamic Allocation: