LTE PRACH Channel-Physical Random Access Channel

This page on LTE PRACH describes LTE Physical Random Access Channel(PRACH).It
mentions links for WCDMA PRACH and GSM RACH channel basics.
This channel is used to carry random access preambles used for initiation of random access
procedure. The basic structure is mentioned in the figure. As shown a random access preamble
includes a CP, a sequence and a guard time.
This carries the random access preamble. The RACH transport channel is mapped to this.
Carries the random access preamble a UE sends to access the network
It consists of 72 sub-carriers in the frequency domain
There are 4 different RA(random access) preamble formats defined in LTE FDD
specifications. The same have been mentioned in the table-1 below. It consists of different
preamble and CP duration to accommodate different cell sizes.

LTE PRACH Preamble

Format
0
1
2
3

CP
Length
0.10ms
0.68ms
0.2ms
0.68ms

Sequence Guard
length
0.8ms
0.8ms
1.6ms
1.6ms

Total
Length

Time
0.10ms 1ms
0.52ms 2ms
0.2ms 2ms
0.72ms 3ms

Guard time

Typical
Max.
equiv.dist. cell range
30Km
15Km
156km
78km
60Km
30Km
216Km
108Km

The preamble format to be used in a specific cell is informed to the UE using PRACH
configuration index. This is broadcasted in SIB-2. PRACH configuration index also indicates
SFN and subframes. This gives the exact position of random access preamble. Table-2 beloe
mentions LTE PRACH channel configuration index, preamble format, allowed SFN and allowed
subframes.
Preamble
Format

PRACHConfiguration Index
0
1
2
3
4
5

0
0
0
0
0
0

SFN
Even
Even
Even
Any
Any
Any

Subframe number
1
4
7
1
4
7

6
7
8
9
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

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Even
Even
Even
Even
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Even
Even
Even
Even
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Even

1,6
2,7
3,8
1,4,7
2,5,8
3,6,9
0,2,4,6,8
1,3,5,7,9
0 to 9
9
1
4
7
1
4
7
1,6
2,7
3,8
1,4,7
2,5,8
3,6,9
0,2,4,6,8
1,3,5,7,9
0
1
4
7
1
4
7
1,6
2,7
3,8
1,4,7
2,5,8
3,6,9
0,2,4,6,8
1,3,5,7,9
9

48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

Even
Even
Even
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Any
Even

1
4
7
1
4
7
1,6
2,7
3,8
1,4,7
2,5,8
3,6,9
9

The preamble uses subcarrier spacing of 1.25KHz instead of 15KHz. The random access
preamble occupies 1,2 or 3 subframes in the time domain(1,2,3ms) and 839 subcarriers in
frequency domain(1.05MHz) . There will be 15KHz guard band on both the sides and hence it
uses total of 1.08MHz (equal to 6 RBs). The position of LTE random access preamble is defined
by PRACH frequency offset parameter carried in SIB-2.

There is a max. of 1 random access preamble in a subframe but more than one UEs can use it.
Multiple UEs using same preamble resource allocations are differentiated by their unique
preamble sequences.
As mentioned in table-2 max. of 64 preamble sequences are divided into group-A and group-B.
LTE UE selects the sequence from these two groups based on size of uplink packet and radio
conditions. This helps eNodeB to calculate PUSCH resources needed for UE uplink transfer.
Sequences in Group-A are used for smaller size packets or larger size packets in poor radio
conditions. Sequences in Group-B are used for larger size packets in good radio conditions.
LTE PRACH channel reference: 3GPP TS 36.211

PRACH RELATED LINKS

WCDMA PRACH channel GSM RACH channel UE RACH not reaching to the GSM network

LTE RELATED LINKS

Difference between SC-FDMA and OFDMA
LTE Cyclic Delay Diversity
LTE eNodeB Physical Layer Measurements
LTE EPC Network Inerfaces
LTE UE Physical Layer Measurements

LTE Bearer types

LTE UE Event Measurement Reporting
LTE RSRP vs RSRQ
LTE Signalling radio bearers
LTE QoS
LTE EPS mobility management states
LTE EPS connection management states
LTE UE cell selection
LTE UE PLMN selection
LTE UE Paging Procedure

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