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ASSET v8 LTE Application Notes 2 0 PDF
ASSET v8 LTE Application Notes 2 0 PDF
Copyright 2012 AIRCOM International - All rights reserved. No part of this work, which is protected by copyright, may be
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Contents
1
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4.6
Services ................................................................................................................................. 29
4.7
eNodeB and Cell parameters ................................................................................................. 32
4.8
LTE Planners ........................................................................................................................ 32
4.8.1 Physical Cell ID Planner ................................................................................................... 32
4.8.2 LTE Frequency Planner .................................................................................................... 33
4.9
Terminal Types ..................................................................................................................... 33
4.9.1 Creating a Traffic Raster .................................................................................................. 34
5
LTE Network Performance- Coverage and Capacity Predictions .................................................. 35
5.1
Basic Coverage (RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ) ................................................................................. 37
5.2
MIMO Schemes .................................................................................................................... 39
5.2.1 SU-MIMO Diversity ...................................................................................................... 40
5.2.2 SU-MIMO Spatial Multiplexing .................................................................................... 41
5.2.3 SU-MIMO Adaptive Switching ..................................................................................... 43
5.2.4 MU-MIMO ....................................................................................................................... 47
5.2.5 SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO .............................................................................................. 49
5.3
ICIC ...................................................................................................................................... 52
5.3.1 Reuse 1 (Prioritisation) ..................................................................................................... 53
5.3.2 Soft Frequency Reuse and Reuse Partitioning .................................................................. 56
5.4
Schedulers ............................................................................................................................. 62
1
1.1
Document Control
Revision History
Revision
Number
1.0
2.0
Date
Name
Revision
05/07/2010
12/03/2012
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Introduction
This document describes a brief overview of how to model, plan and simulate LTE radio networks with
the use of AIRCOMs radio network planning tools, specifically with ASSET. This version of the LTE
application notes has been written to be used alongside V8.0 of the ENTERPRISE suite.
2.1
The main objective behind LTE is the Evolution of the 3GPP radio-access technologies towards highdata-rate, low-latency and packet-optimised radio-access networks. The performance requirements for
the first phase of LTE deployment include:
2.2
Peak Data Rates (for 20MHz Spectrum), DL: 300 Mbps, UL: 75 Mbps
Mobility Support, Up to 500km/h and also optimised for low speeds (0-15km/h)
Reduced Latency with quick response time, <100 ms Control plane , <5ms User plane
The Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) consists of eNodeBs
providing the E-UTRA User Plane and Control Plane protocol terminations towards the User
Equipment (UE). The eNodeBs are interconnected with each other by means of the X2 interface. The
eNodeBs are also connected by means of the S1 interface to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), more
specifically to the Mobility Management Entity (MME) by means of the S1-MME and to the Serving
Gateway (S-GW) by means of the S1-U. The S1 interface supports a many-to-many relation between
MMEs / S-GWs and eNodeBs. The E-UTRAN architecture is illustrated in
Figure 2-1 and can be summarised as follows:
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MME: responsible for idle mode UE tracking and paging procedure including retransmissions
S-GW: Routes and forwards user data packets, acts as Mobility Anchor during inter-eNodeB
handovers and between LTE and 3GPP technologies
LTE architecture enables Network Sharing solutions by allowing the service providers to have a
separate CN (MME, S-GW, Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN-GW)) while the E-UTRAN
(eNodeBs) is jointly shared. This is achieved by the S1-flex Mechanism that has the following
characteristics:
S1-flex Mechanism:
Allows separate CN (MME, S-GW, PDN-GW) and creates pools of MMEs and S-GWs
Allows each eNodeB to be connected to multiple MMEs and SGWs in a pool
Provides support for network redundancy
Facilitates load sharing of traffic across network in the CN, the MME and the S-GW
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This Chapter provides a brief overview on LTE Technology and it will be used as reference in Chapter
4 where the information presented here is used to model an LTE network in ASSET.
3.1
3.1.1
E-UTRA (or LTE as it is commercially marketed) will support operation in a wide range of spectrum
allocations, achieved by the flexible transmission bandwidths that are part of the LTE specifications.
The main reason for this is that the amount of spectrum available for LTE may significantly vary
between different frequency bands and operators. Furthermore, the possibility to operate in different
spectrum allocations gives the opportunity for gradual migration of the spectrum from other radio
access technologies to LTE. Operation mode can be either Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) or Time
Division Duplex (TDD).
The LTE physical-layer specifications are bandwidth-agnostic and do not make any particular
assumption on the supported transmission bandwidths beyond a minimum value. The basic radioaccess specification, including the physical-layer and protocol specifications, allows for any
transmission bandwidth ranging from around 1MHz up to beyond 20MHz in steps of 180 kHz. At the
same time, radio-frequency requirements are only specified for a limited subset of transmission
bandwidths, corresponding to what is predicted to be relevant spectrum-allocation sizes and relevant
migration scenarios. Thus, in practice, LTE radio access supports a limited set of transmission
bandwidths, but additional transmission bandwidths could be easily supported by simply updating the
RF specifications.
The following frequency spectrum related terminologies and definitions have been used in 3GPP and
will be used throughout this document.
Channel bandwidth: The RF bandwidth supporting a single E-UTRA RF carrier with the transmission
bandwidth configured in the uplink or/and downlink of a cell. The channel bandwidth is measured in
MHz and is used as a reference for the transmitter and receiver RF requirements.
Transmission bandwidth: Bandwidth of an instantaneous transmission from a UE or eNodeB,
measured in Resource Block units.
Transmission bandwidth configuration: The highest transmission bandwidth allowed for uplink or
downlink in a given Channel Bandwidth, measured in Resource Block (RB) units.
NDL
NOffs-DL
NOffs-UL
NRB
NUL
BWChannel
BWConfig
Figure 3-1 shows the relation between the Channel Bandwidth (BWChannel) and the Transmission
Bandwidth Configuration (NRB). The channel edges are defined as the lowest and highest frequencies
of the carrier separated by the channel bandwidth, i.e. at FC +/- BWChannel /2, where FC is the centre
frequency. Also, Table 3-1 summarises the currently supported transmission bandwidth configurations
for the defined Channel Bandwidths.
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1.4
10
15
20
15
25
50
75
100
Channel edge
Resource block
Channel edge
Transmission
Bandwidth [RB]
Uplink
FUL_low FUL_high
1920 MHz
1980 MHz
1850 MHz
1910 MHz
1710 MHz
1785 MHz
1710 MHz
1755 MHz
824 MHz
849 MHz
830 MHz
840 MHz
2500 MHz
2570 MHz
880 MHz
915 MHz
1749.9 MHz
1784.9 MHz
1710 MHz
1770 MHz
1427.9 MHz
1452.9 MHz
698 MHz
716 MHz
777 MHz
787 MHz
788 MHz
798 MHz
1900 MHz
2010 MHz
1850 MHz
1930 MHz
1910 MHz
2570 MHz
1880 MHz
2300 MHz
1920 MHz
2025 MHz
1910 MHz
1990 MHz
1930 MHz
2620 MHz
1920 MHz
2400 MHz
Downlink
FDL_low FDL_high
2110 MHz
2170 MHz
1930 MHz
1990 MHz
1805 MHz
1880 MHz
2110 MHz
2155 MHz
869 MHz
894MHz
875 MHz
885 MHz
2620 MHz
2690 MHz
925 MHz
960 MHz
1844.9 MHz
1879.9 MHz
2110 MHz
2170 MHz
1475.9 MHz
1500.9 MHz
728 MHz
746 MHz
746 MHz
756 MHz
758 MHz
768 MHz
1900 MHz
2010 MHz
1850 MHz
1930 MHz
1910 MHz
2570 MHz
1880 MHz
2300 MHz
1920 MHz
2025 MHz
1910 MHz
1990 MHz
1930 MHz
2620 MHz
1920 MHz
2400 MHz
Duplex Mode
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
Channel Arrangement
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E-UTRA
Band
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
FDL_low [MHz]
2110
1930
1805
2110
869
875
2620
925
1844.9
2110
1475.9
728
746
758
1900
2010
1850
1930
1910
2570
1880
2300
Downlink
NOffs-DL
0
600
1200
1950
2400
2650
2750
3450
3800
4150
4750
5000
5180
5280
26000
26200
26350
26950
27550
27750
28250
28650
Range of NDL
0 599
600 1199
1200 1949
1950 2399
2400 2649
2650 2749
2750 3449
3450 3799
3800 4149
4150 4749
4750 4999
5000 5179
5180 5279
5280 5379
26000 26199
26200 26349
26350 26949
26950 27549
27550 27749
27750 28249
28250 28649
28650 29649
FUL_low [MHz]
1920
1850
1710
1710
824
830
2500
880
1749.9
1710
1427.9
698
777
788
1900
2010
1850
1930
1910
2570
1880
2300
Uplink
NOffs-UL
13000
13600
14200
14950
15400
15650
15750
16450
16800
17150
17750
18000
18180
18280
26000
26200
26350
26950
27550
27750
28250
28650
Range of NUL
13000 13599
13600 14199
14200 14949
14950 15399
15400 15649
15650 15749
15750 16449
16450 16799
16800 17149
17150 17749
17750 17999
18000 18179
18180 18279
18280 18379
26000 26199
26200 26349
26350 26949
26950 27549
27550 27749
27750 28249
28250 28649
28650 29649
3.2
Frame Structure
Downlink and uplink transmissions are organised into radio frames with frame duration of
Tf = 307200 Ts = 10 ms , where Tf is the frame duration and the size of various fields in the time
domain is expressed as a number of time units Ts = 1 (15000 2048) seconds. This Base time-unit is
explained later in this section. There are two main radio frame structures:
In addition, there is a slightly different frame structure for Multi-Media Broadcast over a Single
Frequency Network (MBSFN) support.
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3.2.1
Type 1- FDD
Frame structure Type 1 is applicable to both full duplex and half duplex FDD.
Each radio frame is Tf = 307200 Ts = 10 ms long and consists of 20 slots of length
Tslot = 15360 Ts = 0.5 ms , numbered from 0 to 19. A subframe is defined as two consecutive slots
where subframe i consists of slots 2i and 2i + 1 . For FDD, 10 subframes are available for downlink
transmission and 10 subframes are available for uplink transmissions in each 10 ms interval. Uplink
and downlink transmissions are separated in the frequency domain. In half-duplex FDD operation, the
UE cannot transmit and receive at the same time while there are no such restrictions in full-duplex
FDD.
Type 2- TDD
153600 Ts = 5 ms each. Each half-frame consists of eight slots of length Tslot = 15360 Ts = 0.5 ms and
three special fields, Downlink Pilot Time Slot (DwPTS), Guard Period (GP), and Uplink Pilot Time
Slot (UpPTS).
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Special-subframe Configuration
GP
6592 Ts
DwPTS
GP
21936 Ts
7680 Ts
20480 Ts
19760 Ts
8768 Ts
20480 Ts
7680 Ts
21952 Ts
6576 Ts
23040 Ts
5120 Ts
24144 Ts
4384 Ts
25600 Ts
2560 Ts
26336 Ts
2192 Ts
7680 Ts
17920 Ts
6592 Ts
19744 Ts
20480 Ts
5120 Ts
19760 Ts
6576 Ts
23040 Ts
2560 Ts
21952 Ts
4384 Ts
24144 Ts
2192 Ts
2192 Ts
4384 Ts
UpPTS
2560 Ts
5120 Ts
Downlink-to-Uplink
Switch-point periodicity
Subframe number
5 ms
0
D
1
S
2
U
3
U
4
U
5
D
6
S
7
U
8
U
9
U
5 ms
5 ms
10 ms
10 ms
10 ms
10 ms
To provide consistent and exact timing definitions, different time intervals within the LTE radio access
specification can be expressed as multiple of a basic time unit
Ts = 1/ 30720000.
Hence, it
Tslot =
30720
.Ts
2
Subframe Duration: Two slots make one subframe of duration 1ms calculated as
T frame = 307200 .T s
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3.2.4
Subcarrier Spacing
Currently, LTE employs a fixed subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz. However, there is also a reduced
subcarrier spacing of 7.5 kHz. This reduced subcarrier spacing specifically targets MBSFN- based
multicast/broadcast transmissions. Table 3-6 summarises the frame related parameters.
Transmission BW (MHz)
Slot duration (ms)
Sub-carrier spacing (kHz)
Sampling frequency (MHz)
OFDM symbol length
(in
time units* and excluding
cyclic prefix,1 time unit =
1/30.72 MHz)
OFDM symbol length (micro
sec)
Number of occupied resource
blocks
Occupied sub-carriers
Normal
OFDM symbols CP
per
slot
Extended
CP
1.4
0.5
15
30.72
/1.92
3.0
0.5
15
30.72
/3.84
5
0.5
15
10
0.5
15
30.72
/15.36
15
0.5
15
30.72
/23.04
20
0.5
15
30.72
/30.72
2048/128
2048/256
2048/512
2048/1024
2048/1536
2048/2048
66.67
66.67
66.67
66.67
66.67
66.67
15
25
50
75
100
73
181
301
601
901
1201
30.72/7.68
Cyclic
Prefix
160, A = 0 160, A= 0 160,A
= 0 160,A = 0 160,A= 0
Normal CP
(CP)
length
144, A=1-6 144, A=1-6 144, A=1-6
144, A=1-6 144,A=1-6
where A is the
symbol position Extended 512,A= 0-5 512,A= 0-5 512,A= 0-5
512,A= 0-5 512,A=0-5
CP
in a slot
Cyclic
Prefix Normal CP
(CP)
length (time)micro
where A is the sec
symbol position Extended
in a slot
CP
160,A= 0
144,A=1-6
512,A=0-5
5.21, A = 0
5.21, A = 0 5.21, A = 0 5.21, A = 0 5.21, A = 0 5.21, A = 0
4.69, A=14.69, A=1-6 4.69, A=1-6 4.69, A=1-6 4.69, A=1-6 4.69, A=1-6
6
16.67,A=
0-5
3.3
3.3.1
Transport Channels
Downlink Transport Channels
BCH (Broadcast Channel): It has a fixed transport format, provided by the specifications. It is used
for transmission of the information on the BCCH logical channel. It can be characterised by fixed, predefined transport format and the requirement to be broadcast in the entire coverage area of the cell
DLSCH(Downlink Shared Channel): DL-SCH is the transport channel used for transmission of
downlink data in LTE. It supports LTE features such as dynamic rate adaptation and channeldependent scheduling in the time and frequency domain, hybrid ARQ, and spatial multiplexing. It also
supports discontinuous reception (DRX) to reduce mobile-terminal power consumption while still
providing an always on experience, similar to the Continuous Packet Connectivity (CPC) mechanism in
HSPA.
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PCH(Paging Channel): It is used for transmission of paging information on the PCCH logical
channel. The PCH supports DRX to allow the mobile terminal to save battery power by sleeping and
waking up to receive the PCH only at predefined time instants.
MCH (Multicast Channel): It is used to support MBMS. It is characterised by a semi-static transport
format and semi-static scheduling. In case of multi-cell transmission using MBSFN, the scheduling and
transport format configuration is coordinated among the cells involved in the MBSFN transmission
3.3.2
UL-SCH (Uplink Shared Channel): It is characterised by the possibility to use beamforming; support
for HARQ, dynamic link adaptation by varying the transmit power and potentially modulation and
coding and also for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation.
RACH (Random Access Channel(s)): It is characterised by limited control information and collision
risk. The possibility of using open loop power control depends on the physical layer solution.
3.4
Physical Channels
Physical Channels carry information from higher layers including user data and control information.
3.4.1
PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel): The coded BCH transport block is mapped to four subframes
within a 40 ms interval. This 40 ms timing is blindly detected, i.e. there is no explicit signalling
indicating 40 ms timing. Each subframe is assumed to be self-decodable, i.e. the BCH can be decoded
from a single reception, assuming sufficiently good channel conditions.
PCFICH (Physical Control Format Indicator Channel): Informs the UE about the number of
OFDM symbols used for the PDCCHs. It is transmitted in every subframe
PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel): Informs the UE about the resource allocation of
PCH and DL-SCH, and Hybrid ARQ information related to DL-SCH. It also carries the uplink
scheduling grant. The downlink control signalling (PDCCH) is located in the first n OFDM symbols
where n 3 and consists of:
Transport format, resource allocation, and hybrid-ARQ information related to DL-SCH, and
PCH;
Transport format, resource allocation, and hybrid-ARQ information related to UL-SCH;
QPSK modulation is used for all control channels
PHICH (Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel): Carries Hybrid ARQ ACK/NAKs in response to
uplink transmissions
PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel): Carries the DL-SCH and PCH
PMCH (Physical Multicast Channel): Carries the MCH
3.4.2
PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel): Carries Hybrid ARQ ACK/NAKs in response to
downlink transmission. It also carriers Scheduling Request (SR) and CQI reports.
PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel): Carries the UL-SCH
PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel): Carries the random access preamble. Used for Call
setup
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3.4.3
Figure 3-4 below depicts the mapping between the downlink transport and physical channels
Figure 3-5 below depicts the mapping between the uplink transport and physical channels
3.5
Physical Signals
P-SCH (Downlink Primary Synchronisation Channel): Used for cell search and identification by
the UE. Carries part of the cell ID (one of 3 orthogonal sequences).
S-SCH (Downlink Secondary Synchronisation Channel): Used for cell search and identification by
the UE. It carries the remainder of the cell ID (one of 168 binary sequences).
DL RS (Downlink Reference Signal): To carry out downlink coherent demodulation, the mobile
terminal needs estimates of the downlink channel. A straightforward way to enable channel estimation
in case of OFDM transmission is to insert known reference symbols into the OFDM time-frequency
grid. In LTE, these cell specific reference symbols are jointly referred to as the LTE Downlink
Reference Signals (DL RSs). These downlink reference symbols are inserted within the first and the
third last OFDM symbols of each slot and with a frequency-domain spacing of six subcarriers.
Furthermore, there is a frequency-domain staggering of three subcarriers between the first and second
reference symbols. Thus within each resource block, consisting of 12 subcarriers, there are four
reference symbols. This is true for all subframes except subframes used for MBSFN-based
transmission.
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In case of multi antenna transmission, there is one reference signal transmitted per downlink antenna
port. The number of downlink antenna ports is equal to 1, 2 or 4. The two-dimensional reference signal
sequence is generated as the symbol-by-symbol product of a two-dimensional orthogonal sequence and
a two-dimensional pseudo-random sequence. There are 3 different two-dimensional orthogonal
sequences and 168 different two-dimensional pseudo-random sequences. Each cell identity (ID)
corresponds to a unique combination of one orthogonal sequence and one pseudo-random sequence,
thus allowing for 504 unique cell identities. In the reference-signal structure, the frequency-domain
positions of the reference symbols are the same between consecutive subframes. However, the
frequency-domain positions of the reference symbols may also vary between consecutive subframes,
also referred to as reference-symbol frequency hopping. Thus, the frequency hopping can be described
as adding a sequence of frequency offsets, to the basic reference-symbol pattern, with the offset being
the same for all reference symbols within a subframe, but varying between consecutive subframes. The
reference-symbol positions p in subframe k can thus be expressed as
First reference symbols: p(k) = (p0 + 6 i + offset(k)) mod 6
Second reference symbols: p(k) = (p0 + 6 i + 3 + offset(k)) mod 6
where, i is an integer. The sequence of frequency offsets or the frequency-hopping pattern has a period
of length 10, i.e. the frequency-hopping pattern is repeated between consecutive frames. There are 168
different frequency-hopping patterns defined, where each pattern corresponds to one cell-identity
group. By applying different frequency-hopping patterns to neighbour cells, the risk that reference
symbols of neighbour cells are continuously colliding can be avoided. This is especially of interest
if/when reference symbols are transmitted with higher energy compared to the remaining resource
elements, also referred to as reference signal energy boosting.
3.5.2
DM-RS (Uplink Demodulation Reference Signal): It is used for synchronisation to the UE and UL
channel estimation and is associated with transmission of PUSCH or PUCCH
S-RS (Uplink Sounding Reference Signal): It is used to monitor propagation conditions with UE,
however it is not associated with transmission of PUSCH or PUCCH
In Table 3-7 all uplink and downlink Channels and Signals are presented along with their allowable
Modulation options.
Channels
Link
Modulation
Signals
Link
Modulation
PBCH
DL
QPSK
P-SCH
DL
PDCCH
DL
QPSK
S-SCH
DL
PDSCH
DL
QPSK, 16QAM,
64QAM
PMCH
DL
QPSK, 16QAM,
64QAM
RS
DL
PCFICH
DL
QPSK
PHICH
DL
BPSK
DM-RS
UL
PRACH
UL
QPSK
S-RS
UL
Zadoff-Chu
PUCCH
UL
BPSK, QPSK
PUSCH
UL
QPSK, 16QAM,
64QAM
Table 3-7 Supported modulations for all Physical Channels and Signals
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3.6
Multi-Antenna Transmission
3.6.1
General on MIMO
LTE supports downlink transmission on 1, 2 or 4 cell specific antenna ports corresponding either to 1,
2 or 4 cell-specific reference signals. On their turn each one of the RS corresponds to one antenna port.
The following DL transmission modes are defined for PDSCH
3.6.2
For the LTE downlink, the following multiple antenna schemes are supported:
Tx diversity: The first and simplest downlink LTE multiple antenna scheme is open-loop Tx diversity.
It is identical in concept to the scheme introduced in UMTS Release 99. The more complex, closedloop Tx diversity techniques from UMTS have not been adopted in LTE, which instead uses the more
advanced MIMO, which was not part of Release 99. LTE supports either two or four antennas for Tx
diversity. Space-Frequency Block Coding (SFBC) is used for two antennas while a combination of
SFBC and Frequency Switching Transmit Diversity (FSTD) is employed for four transmit antennas.
Rx diversity: The second downlink scheme, Rx diversity, is mandatory for the UE. It is the baseline
receiver capability for which performance requirements will be defined. A typical use of Rx diversity is
maximum ratio combining of the received streams to improve the SNR in poor conditions. Rx diversity
provides little gain in good conditions
Spatial Multiplexing and SU-MIMO: SU-MIMO (Figure 3-6) includes conventional techniques such
as Delay (cyclic for OFDM) Diversity, Transmit \ Receive (spatial) diversity and Spatial Multiplexing
and Precoded Spatial Multiplexing. It can be implemented as Open (without feedback) and Closed
Loop (with feedback). Diversity techniques improve the signal to interference ratio by transmitting the
same stream of single user data from multiple antennas. On the other hand, Spatial Multiplexing
increases the per-user data rate or throughput by transmitting multiple streams of data dedicated to for a
single user.
Spatial multiplexing and MIMO are supported for two and four antenna configurations. Assuming a
two-channel UE receiver, this scheme allows for 2x2 or 4x2 MIMO. A four-channel UE receiver,
which is required for a 4x4 configuration, has been defined but is not likely to be implemented in the
near future. The most common configuration will be 2x2 SU-MIMO. In this case the payload data will
be divided into the two code-word streams CW0 and CW1 and processed accordingly. Depending on
the pre-coding used, each code word is represented at different powers and phases on both antennas. In
addition, each antenna is uniquely identified by the position of the reference signals within the frame
structure.
Cyclic Delay Diversity: In addition to MIMO pre-coding there is an additional option called cyclic
delay diversity (CDD). This technique adds antenna-specific cyclic time shifts to artificially create
multi-path on the received signal and prevents signal cancellation caused by the close spacing of the
transmit antennas. The CDD system works by adding the delay only to the data subcarriers while
leaving the RS subcarriers alone.
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3.6.3
Uplink
The baseline configuration of the UE has one transmitter. This configuration was chosen to save cost
and battery power, and with this configuration the system can support MU-MIMO (Figure 3-6), i.e.,
two different UE transmitting in the same frequency and time to the eNodeB. This configuration has
the potential to double uplink capacity (in ideal conditions) without incurring extra cost to the UE. MUMIMO scheme consists of multiple users separated in spatial domain in both UL and DL sharing the
same time-frequency resources. It uses multiple narrow beams to separate users in the spatial domain
and can be considered as a hybrid of beamforming and spatial multiplexing. It can ultimately serve
more terminals by scheduling multiple terminals using the same resources. This increases the overall
cell capacity and the number of simultaneously served terminals. It is suitable for highly loaded cells
and for scenarios where the number of served terminals is more important than the peak user data rates.
An optional configuration of the UE is a second transmit antenna, which allows the possibility of
uplink Tx diversity and SU-MIMO. The latter offers the possibility of increased data rates depending
on the channel conditions. For the eNodeB, receive diversity is a baseline capability and the system
will support either two or four receive antennas.
3.6.4
MBSFN Transmission
MBSFN is supported for the MCH transport channel. Multiplexing of transport channels using MBSFN
and non-MBSFN transmission is done on a per-sub-frame basis. Additional reference symbols,
transmitted using MBSFN are transmitted within MBSFN subframes.
3.7
3.7.1
Link adaptation (AMC: Adaptive Modulation and Coding) with various modulation schemes and
channel coding rates is applied to the shared data channel. The same coding and modulation is applied
to all groups of resource blocks belonging to the same Layer 2 Protocol Data Unit (PDU) scheduled to
one user within one TTI and within a single stream.
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3.7.2
Cell search
Cell search is the procedure by which a UE acquires time and frequency synchronisation with a cell
and detects the Cell ID of that cell. LTE cell search supports a scalable overall transmission bandwidth
corresponding to 72 sub-carriers and upwards. LTE cell search is based on the primary and secondary
synchronisation signals (see chapter 3.5.1 Downlink Physical Signals), the downlink reference signals
transmitted in the downlink. The primary and secondary synchronisation signals are transmitted over
the central 72 sub-carriers in the first and sixth subframe of each frame. Neighbour-cell search is based
on the same downlink signals as the initial cell search.
3.8
3.8.1
Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), is determined for a considered cell as the linear average
over the power contributions (in [W]) of the resource elements that carry cell-specific reference signals
within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth. For RSRP determination the cell-specific
reference signals R0 and if available R1 can be used. If receiver diversity is in use by the UE, the
reported value shall not be lower than the corresponding RSRP of any of the individual diversity
branches.
3.8.2
E-UTRA Carrier Received Signal Strength Indicator, comprises the total received wideband power
observed by the UE from all sources, including co-channel serving and non-serving cells, adjacent
channel interference, thermal noise etc.
3.8.3
RSRQ is defined as the ratio NRSRP / (E-UTRA carrier RSSI), where N is the number of RBs of the
E-UTRA carrier RSSI measurement bandwidth. The measurements in the numerator and denominator
shall be made over the same set of resource blocks.
3.8.4
DLRS TX Power
Downlink Reference Signal transmit power is determined for a considered cell as the linear average
over the power contributions (in [W]) of the resource elements that carry cell-specific reference signals
which are transmitted by the eNodeB within its operating system bandwidth. For DL RS TX power
determination the cell-specific reference signals R0 and if available R1 can be used. The reference point
for the DL RS TX power measurement shall be the TX antenna connector.
3.8.5
Received Interference Power is the uplink received interference power, including thermal noise, within
RB
one physical resource blocks bandwidth of N sc resource elements. The reported value shall contain a
set of Received Interference Powers of physical resource blocks. The reference point for the
measurement shall be the RX antenna connector. In case of receiver diversity, the reported value shall
be the linear average of the power in the diversity branches.
3.8.6
The uplink thermal noise power within the UL system bandwidth consisting of N UL
RB resource blocks is
defined as (No x W), where No denotes the white noise power spectral density on the uplink carrier
RB
frequency and W = N UL
RB N sc f denotes the UL system bandwidth. The measurement is optionally
reported together with the Received Interference Power measurement, it shall be determined over the
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same time period as the Received Interference Power measurement. The reference point for the
measurement shall be the RX antenna connector. In case of receiver diversity, the reported value shall
be the linear average of the power in the diversity branches.
3.8.7
Required SINR
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
QPSK
QPSK
QPSK
QPSK
QPSK
QPSK
16QAM
16QAM
16QAM
64QAM
64QAM
64QAM
64QAM
64QAM
64QAM
-4.46
-3.75
-2.55
-1.15
1.75
3.65
5.2
6.1
7.55
10.85
11.55
12.75
14.55
18.15
19.25
0.1523
0.07618
0.2344
0.11719
0.3770
0.18848
0.6016
308/1024
0.8770
449/1024
1.1758
602/1024
1.4766
378/1024
1.9141
490/1024
2.4063
616/1024
2.7305
466/1024
3.3223
567/1024
3.9023
666/1024
4.5234
772/1024
5.1152
873/1024
5.5547
948/1024
Table 3-8 CQI Table
PMI (Precoding Matrix Indicator): PMI ensures that the correct spatial domain precoding matrix is
applied by the eNodeB so that the transmitted signal matches with the spatial channel experienced by
the UE. It is denoted by the Transmit Precoding Matrix Indicator (TPMI) that consists of 3 bit or 6 bit
information field for 2 or 4 transmit antennas, respectively. It is compulsory for closed loop spatial
multiplexing.
RI (Rank Indicator): RI indicates the number of spatial layers that can be supported by the UE based
on the channel conditions. The transmission rank selected to be used is dependent on RI as well as
other factors (depending on the vendor) such as traffic pattern, available transmission bandwidth etc. RI
is compulsory for both open and closed loop spatial multiplexing.
3.9
There are two schedulers in the eNodeB allocating physical resources, one for uplink and one for
downlink. The schedulers grant the right to transmit on a per UE basis. The resource assignment
consists of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) and a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS). The
resources are allocated for one or multiple TTIs. A PRB consists of certain subcarriers in the frequency
domain and one TTI in the time domain as explained in LTE Frame Structure section. The baseline for
both uplink and downlink is dynamic scheduling where the PRBs and MCSs can be scheduled for each
TTI via a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) on the L1/L2 control channels. The UE
always monitor the control channels in order to find any allocation of uplink or downlink resources
when downlink reception is enabled.
Predefined resources can also be allocated which the UE can use if no C-RNTI is found on the control
channels. In downlink this means the UE does blind decoding of the predefined resources unless a C-
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RNTI is found in which case it overrides the predefined allocations for the TTI. In the downlink case
the network decodes the resources predefined to the UEs unless the C-RNTI is present. The scheduler
should consider a number of factors when taking scheduling decisions. These factors include transport
volume, QoS and measurements of the UE radio environment. In both uplink and downlink,
measurement reports need to be reported to the eNodeB.
3.9.1
In downlink, the eNodeB enforces the Maximum Bit Rate (MBR) of radio bearers with a Guaranteed
Bit Rate (GBR) and the Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (AMBR) of groups of Non-GBR bearers. In the
uplink, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) entity controls the uplink rate by giving each bearer a
priority and a Prioritised Bit Rate (PBR). For radio bearers with GBR, a MBR is also provided. The
radio bearers are served in decreasing priority order up to their PBR. For any remaining resources the
bearers are served again in decreasing priority order ensuring that the MBR is not exceeded. If all
bearers have a PBR of 0, the first step is skipped and the bearers are served in strict priority order. The
eNodeB ensures that the AMBR in uplink is not exceeded, by limiting the total amount of granted
resources.
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Parameters
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Category 4
Category 5
10 Mbps
5 Mbps
10296
5160
64QAM
16QAM
20 MHz
1-4 Tx
Yes
Optional
No
Optional
Optional
50 Mbps
25 Mbps
51024
25456
64QAM
16QAM
20 MHz
1-4 Tx
Yes
2X2
No
Optional
Optional
100 Mbps
50 Mbps
102048
51024
64QAM
16QAM
20 MHz
1-4 Tx
Yes
2X2
No
Optional
Optional
150 Mbps
50 Mbps
149776
51024
64QAM
16QAM
20 MHz
1-4 Tx
Yes
2X2
No
Optional
Optional
300 Mbps
75 Mbps
299552
75376
64QAM
64QAM
20 MHz
1-4 Tx
Yes
4X4
No
Optional
Optional
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4.1
Introduction
This chapter presents how LTE technology is modelled in ASSET. The relevant Graphical User
Interfaces (GUIs) are explained and suggestions are made on the values to be entered in the various
fields to properly design an LTE network depending on planners objectives. The logical order in
which the LTE elements are presented is as follows:
Frequency
Bands
Frame Structure
Carriers
Setup
dependencies
Bearers
Services
Terminal Types
Traffic Raster
Results
Capacity Predictions
Coverage
RSRQ)
Predictions
(RSRP,
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4.2
Frequency bands
An LTE network can consist of eNodeBs with cells configured with same or different carrier
bandwidths (with overlapping start and end frequencies). In addition, FDD and TDD might co-exist.
This overlapping of carriers between different cells can result in co-channel and adjacent-channel
interference. The ASSET GUI for defining and selecting the LTE frequency bands is presented below.
The 3GPP standard E-UTRA bands are already set up for you; these are not modifiable, but you can
rename them. If necessary, you can add customised bands.
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E-UTRA
Band
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
...
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Bandwidth
UL (MHz)
1920-1980
1850-1910
1710-1785
1710-1755
824-849
830-840
2500-2570
880-915
1749.9-1784.9
1710-1770
1427.9-1452.9
698-716
777-787
788-798
1900-1920
2010-2025
1850-1910
1930-1990
1910-1930
2570-2620
1880-1920
2300-2400
E-ARFCN
UL
13000 13599
13600 14199
14200 14949
14950 15399
15400 15649
15650 15749
15750 16449
16450 16799
16800 17149
17150 17749
17750 17999
18000 18179
18180 18279
18280 18379
26000 26199
26200 26349
26350 26949
26950 27549
27550 27749
27750 28249
28250 28649
28650 29649
Bandwidth
DL (MHz)
2110-2170
1930-1990
1805-1880
2110-2155
869-894
875-885
2620-2690
925-960
1844.9-1879.9
2110-2170
1475.9-1500.9
728-746
746-756
758-768
1900-1920
2010-2025
1850-1910
1930-1990
1910-1930
2570-2620
1880-1920
2300-2400
E-ARFCN
DL
0 599
600 - 1199
1200 1949
1950 2399
2400 2649
2650 2749
2750 3449
3450 3799
3800 4149
4150 4749
4750 4999
5000 5179
5180 5279
5280 5379
26000 26199
26200 26349
26350 26949
26950 27549
27550 27749
27750 28249
28250 28649
28650 29649
Duplex
Mode
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
FDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
TDD
Downlink
Bandwidth
1.4
3
5
1
60
12
2
60
42
20
12
3
75
53
23
15
4
45
32
15
9
5
25
17
8
5
6
10
2
7
70
14
8
35
25
11
7
9
35
7
10
60
12
11
25
5
12
18
12
6
3*
13
10
7
3
2*
14
10
7
3
2*
...
33
20
4
34
15
3
35
60
42
20
12
36
60
42
20
12
37
20
4
38
50
10
39
40
8
40
100
* UE receiver sensitivity can be relaxed
X
Channel bandwidth too wide for the band
Not supported
10
6
6
7
4
2*
1*
7
3*
3
6
2*
1*
1*
1*
15
4
4*
5*
3
X
4
2*
4
1*
X
X
20
3
3*
3*
2
X
3*
1*
3
1*
X
X
X
2
1
6
6
2
5
4
10
1
1
4
4
1
3
6
1
X
3
3
1
2
5
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1.4
10
15
20
1.08
2.7
4.5
13.5
18
15
25
50
75
100
77
90
90
90
90
90
4.3
The following figure shows the LTE Frame Structures dialog box:
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Figure 4-5 Definition of the Resource Element and the Resource Block
The standardized RB configurations are given in Table 4-4. Firstly they are separated in three main
types, namely Type-1 which is Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Type-2 which is Time Division
Duplex (TDD) and Type-3 that is Multi-Media Broadcast over a Single Frequency Network (MBSFN).
Types 1 and 2 can be implemented either with Normal Cyclic Prefix or Extended Cyclic Prefix with a
subcarrier spacing of 15\7.5 kHz while Type 3 is implemented only with Extended Cyclic Prefix with a
reduced subcarrier spacing of 7.5 kHz. In an OFDM symbol the cyclic prefix is a repeat of the end of
the symbol at the beginning. The purpose is to allow multipath to settle before the main data arrives at
the receiver. The receiver is arranged to decode the signal after it has settled because this is when the
frequencies become orthogonal to one another thus CP acts as a guard interval.
Frame
Type
Cyclic Prefix
Subcarrier
Spacing (kHz)
Link
Direction
# of Subcarriers
# of
Symbols
Normal
15
DL
12
Extended
15
DL
12
Normal
15
UL
12
Extended
7.5
DL
24
Extended
15
UL
12
Type 1 FDD
Type 2 TDD
Type 3 MBSFN
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Type3-MBSFN
Duplex mode
FDD
FDD
TDD
TDD
FDD
Configuration
LTE Standards
LTE Standards
LTE Standards
LTE Standards
LTE Standards
Frame duration
10
10
10
10
10
Slots/ subframe
Subframes
10
10
10
10
10
Cyclic Prefix
Normal
Extended
Normal
Extended
Extended
Subcarrier spacing
15
15
15
15
7.5
Greyed-Out
Greyed-Out
Greyed-Out
RB Symbols DL
RB Symbols UL
Subcarriers DL
12
12
12
12
24
Subcarriers UL
12
12
12
12
12
RS Subcarriers
12
Table 4-5 Parameter settings for the Default Frame structures in ASSET
4.4
Carriers
Since the appropriate LTE Frequency Band and LTE Frame Structure have been selected or defined (in
case the default ones are not the appropriate) then the Carriers can be defined. Figure 4-6 and Figure
4-7 show the ASSET GUI for defining LTE Carriers.
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# of Resource Blocks
FFT Size
1.4
128
15
256
25
512
10
50
1024
15
75
1536
20
100
2048
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4.5
Bearers
Bearers represent the air interface connections, performing the task of transporting voice and data
information between cells and terminal types. After bearers have been defined, you can then decide
which ones will be supported by your different services. The following figure presents the ASSET GUI
for the definition of LTE Bearers.
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Code Rate
0.1171875
0.15332031
0.18847656
0.24511719
0.30078125
0.37011719
0.43847656
0.51367188
0.58789063
0.66308594
0.33203125
0.36914063
0.42382813
0.47851563
0.54003906
0.6015625
0.64257813
0.42773438
0.45507813
0.50488281
0.55371094
0.6015625
0.65039063
0.70214844
0.75390625
0.80273438
0.85253906
0.88867188
0.92578125
4.6
Services
To account for the different services offered to the subscriber, you can set up your own services and
then allocate the services to terminal types. For example, services might have different costs, data rates,
and other requirements such as quality of service (QoS). Some of these factors are determined by the
bearers that you assign to a service. The parameters that you specify will influence how the simulation
(Chapter 5) behaves and will enable you to examine coverage and service quality for individual types
of services.
The standard LTE services correspond to QoS Class Identifier (QCI) values of 1 to 9 and are available
in ASSET by default. The following figure presents the ASSET GUI for the definition of LTE
Services.
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Transfer Delay: This represents how delay sensitive the traffic is. For example, the VoIP
class is meant for very delay sensitive traffic while the P2P File Sharing class is delay
insensitive.
Guaranteed Bit rate: Delay sensitive QoS Classes have guaranteed bit rate requirements.
This defines the minimum bearer bit rate that the E-UTRAN must provide and it can be used
in admission control and in resource allocation. Each guaranteed bit rate service also has a
maximum bit rate demand, i.e. it can't exceed this limit.
Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP): Within each QoS class there are different
allocation and retention priorities. The primary purpose of ARP is to decide whether a bearer
establishment / modification request can be accepted or needs to be rejected in case of
resource limitations (typically available radio capacity in case of GBR bearers). In addition,
the ARP can be used (e.g. by the eNodeB) to decide which bearer(s) to drop during
exceptional resource limitations (e.g. at handover).
It is important to remember that pure prioritisation in packet scheduling alone is not enough to provide
full QoS differentiation gains. Users within the same QoS class and ARP class will share the available
capacity. If the number of users is simply too high, then they will suffer from bad quality. In that case it
is better to block a few users to guarantee the quality of existing connections, like streaming videos.
The radio network can estimate the available radio capacity and block an incoming user if there is no
room to provide the required bandwidth without sacrificing the quality of existing connections.
Table 4-8 presents the standard LTE Services per QCI. Gaming, VoIP, Signalling and Web Browsing
are treated as the most delay sensitive Classes while Streaming, E-mail, P2P File Sharing and Chat are
not that delay sensitive. Highest Priority in terms of ARP is given to Signalling followed by VoIP and
lowest to Chat. Packet Error Loss Rate (PELR) requirements vary with values starting from 10-2 down
to 10-6. The loosest PELR requirements hold for VoIP at 10-2.
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Name
VoIP
QCI-1
Video Call
QCI-2
Gaming
QCI-3
Streaming
QCI-4
Signalling
QCI-5
Priority
Packet
Delay
Budget
Example Services
100 ms
10-2
Conversational Voice
150 ms
10-3
50 ms
10-3
300 ms
10-6
Non-Conversational Video
(Buffered Streaming)
100 ms
10-6
IMS Signalling
Resource
Type
QCI
1
2
E-mail
QCI-6
Web browsing
QCI-7
P2P File
Sharing
QCI-8
Chat
QCI-9
GBR
Non-GBR
300 ms
10-6
100 ms
10-3
300 ms
-6
10
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4.7
The LTE Radio Access Network consists of eNodeBs. In ASSET eNodeBs can be defined on the GIS
or imported from a spreadsheet using the xml editor. Cell and eNodeB templates may be used to speed
up this procedure. The configuration values for the eNodeBs should normally be taken from vendor
specifications. As a sort check list the following should be set accordingly:
4.8
4.8.1
LTE Planners
Physical Cell ID Planner
In LTE, the Primary and Secondary Synchronisation (P-SCH and S-SCH) signals are employed for
initial cell search and detection of Physical Cell Identities (Physical Cell IDs). The LTE Physical Cell
ID Planner in ASSET is designed to assign these Physical Cell IDs automatically to each sector with a
sophisticated (fixed\automatic) reuse distance algorithm, using multiple filters and schemas and
Neighbour relations.
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4.8.2
ASSET incorporates an Automatic Frequency Planner (AFP) for the optimum assignment of carriers
(Channel Bandwidths) to LTE sectors. In addition to a simple distance based algorithm, AFP uses the
Interference matrix for minimizing inter-cell interference. Carrier assignments and conflicts can be
visualised and further analysed in an enhanced reporting engine to determine the quality of produced
frequency plans.
4.9
Terminal Types
The following figure presents the ASSET GUI for the definition of LTE Terminal Types.
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The purpose of master and slave terminal types is so that you can specify geographical distribution
settings on a 'master' terminal type, and then experiment with various scaling factors when you spread
traffic. If you want to do this, you can define separate 'slave' terminal types with appropriate scaling
percentages. Each slave must always be associated with a 'master' terminal type.
4.9.1
This is usually done per clutter type by assigning a terminal density or a relative weight to each one of
the clutters. It is also possible to spread traffic on user defined points, polygons and inside polygons.
The percentage of in-building traffic per clutter type can also be specified.
For in-building terminals a different fading standard deviation, indoor loss and angular spread will be
applied as defined in LTE Clutter Parameters. It is also possible to define the terminals Mean Speed,
Speeds Standard deviation, Minimum and Maximum Speed per clutter type.
To complete the traffic modelling the Traffic Wizard is run to spread the actual terminals in the area
under examination. The Resolution Option for the outcome array should be in alignment with the
lowest resolution of the propagation models in use.
There is an option to Restrict Traffic to Coverage that ensures that traffic will be spread only in areas
where there is coverage. This option should not be used if only initial estimates of the site locations,
equipment and configuration needed for a new or expanding network are required.
The option to Restrict Traffic to Coverage should be used when the 3G available coverage is required
to match that of the LTE network under planning. Having already a set of 2G and 3G sites/cells and
assuming that they have been finely optimised over years to cover and serve all wanted areas and
traffic it may be required that LTE coverage matches the coverage provided by the old technologies. In
this case the coverage predictions for the 2G and 3G cells should be created and the LTE traffic should
be restricted to the contour created by them.
The actual number of terminals to be served should come from the operators OSS statistics and traffic
forecasts also taking into account the churn rates and the 2G/3G to LTE customer conversion predicted
rates.
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LTE network performance using the Monte-Carlo simulator can be performed in two different manners
with regards to how the cell load levels are specified. In the first case they are specified in the Site
Database and specifically under the LTE Parameters tab in the fields of Downlink Load (as a
percentage) and Mean UL Interference Level (in dB). The second option is to create a traffic raster
spreading the defined LTE Terminal Type(s) and then the cell load levels get calculated by running
Simulator Snapshots. In both cases a reference terminal type has to be specified for the calculation
process.
The decision on what resolution should be used for the simulations is based on what propagation
models are assigned to the cell antennas.
Firstly, it is suggested to use a propagation model at the resolution it has been tuned for.
Secondly, it is suggested to use two propagation models.
o The first one (Primary) should be calculated at high resolution (2-20 meters) and for
a relatively small radius (1-3 km).
o The second one (Secondary) should be calculated at relatively lower resolution (20100 meters) and for a larger radius (3-30km).
This setup will provide high accuracy at the expected serving area of the cell which usually doesnt
span farther than 3km (for urban type of environment). It will also provide good enough accuracy for
the calculation of interference caused by the bespoken cell far away from it but and at the same time it
will be computationally effective (relatively fast to calculate as the resolution is low). The number of
covering cells mainly affects the accuracy of the interference based calculations. The more cells taken
into account, the more accurate the interference values are. A typical value would be 6 to 10. The
typical values for Fading Correlation Coefficients are 0.8 for Intra-Site antennas and 0.5 for Inter-Site
antennas.
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It is also important to consider cells with prediction area within the specified region (2D View) as those
cells will possibly pick up some of the traffic in the specified area and also increase interference.
The Line of Sight Settings allow deactivating certain MIMO schemes based on LOS information.
MIMO schemes rely on a low correlation between the signal paths to the transmit elements of an
antenna; locations that have LOS to an antenna are more likely to have a high correlation, therefore
MIMO gains should not be considered for such locations.
Following, a comprehensive presentation and discussion of the ASSET LTE module is presented. It
will focus on four main areas, namely basic coverage (RSRP, RSSI and RSRQ), MIMO schemes, InterCell Interference Coordination (ICIC) schemes and Schedulers. An urban area was chosen expanding
6.4 by 4.8 km and covered by 78 eNodeBs bearing 224 cells.
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5.1
RSRP, RSSI and RSRQ are defined in detail chapter 3.8. An informal definition of these quantities is
given hereby:
Received Signal Reference Power (RSRP) is the indicator of the signal strength coming
from the serving cell experienced by a UE at a certain point and time.
Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) is the indicator of how much power is received
by the UE over its operating bandwidth. The sources of this power include co-channel serving
and non-serving cells, adjacent channel interference, thermal noise and so on.
Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) is the indicator of the quality of the signal. In
this context, quality is expressing how stronger the signal is compared to noise and
interference. It is thereafter proportional to RSRP and diversely proportional to RSSI, however
it is not a ratio of RSRP over RSSI.
From a terminal point of view a pixel is covered if the required RSRP, RSRQ and BCH/SCH SINR are
met.
Well examine how cell load levels affect the satisfaction of these requirements. Cell Load Setting live
on the Cell Params. To start with, SU-MIMO as well as MU-MIMO was disabled on both uplink and
downlink at the Cell Params as well as at the Terminal Type.
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RSRP (Figure 5-8) is not affected by cell loads. This is the reason why a network is usually firstly
dimensioned to provide adequate signal strength at the desired areas.
Unloaded Network
Loaded Network
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Finally, the third requirement for BCH/SCH SINR (Figure 5-10) is not affected by the cell load.
Although BCH/SCH SINR includes the term I for interference it is not affected by load as the BCH and
SCH channels are positioned in the 6 central RBs of the BandWidth and dont get interference from
RBs carrying traffic.
Loaded Network
5.2
MIMO Schemes
The SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO modes need to be enabled on the Cell, Bearer and Terminal Type. To
demonstrate the use of MIMO we will assess the network without MIMO, then with Diversity Only,
Spatial Multiplexing (SM) Only, Adaptive Switching (Diversity-SM) and finally MU-MIMO.
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Roughly speaking Diversity is used to improve coverage, SM is used to increase single users
throughput and MU-MIMO is used to improve the network throughput or to serve more simultaneous
users. We will elaborate on each of schemes in more detail.
5.2.1
SU-MIMO Diversity
As shown in the LTE AAS Parameters look-up table (Figure 5-12) the effect of having 1 TX antenna at
the eNodeB and 2 RX antennae at the UE is equivalent to having 2 TX antennae on the eNodeB and
one RX antenna on the UE. We will take the simple example of 2 RX elements and 1 TX. Note that we
are now examining downlink and the number of RX elements is defined on the Terminal Type.
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Figure 5-14 Achievable DL Bearer without and with Diversity Coverage Improvement
50% Loaded Network without MIMO
Spatial Multiplexing (SM) targets increasing users throughput. Depending on the number of TX and
RX antennae the user experiences a Rate Gain as shown below:
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Figure 5-19 Achievable DL Bearer without and with SM Minor Coverage Change
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5.2.3
As shown in the previous two subchapters Diversity and Spatial Multiplexing provide significant gains
to the network. Both of them can be deployed at the same time in Adaptive Switching mode by
eNodeBs so as to provide higher throughput to users close to the cell and extended coverage to users
further away at the cell edge.
Observing how the Achievable DL bearer changes with Adaptive Switching (Figure 5-21) there is an
obvious difference compared to operating the network without SU-MIMO. Take for example eNodeB
032451 at South-West of the map. Starting from the vicinity of the cell and moving further away the
following bearers are deployed DL-CQI-15, DL-CQI-14, DL-CQI-13, DL-CQI-12, DL-CQI-15, DLCQI-14, DL-CQI-13. The switch from DL-CQI-12 to DL-CQI-15 is the point where Diversity takes
over Spatial Multiplexing.
50% Loaded Network without MIMO
Figure 5-21 Achievable DL Bearer without and with SU-MIMO (2TX by 2RX)
The DL Transmission array (Figure 5-22) is more indicative of the type of SU-MIMO that is selected
for every pixel. The aim is always to provide the higher possible data rate at every pixel. This aim
governs the decision of whether to choose SM or diversity and which specific bearer to deploy for
every pixel.
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Figure 5-22 Transmission Modes with adaptive switching (no user defined thresholds)
Examining the DL Data Rate (Figure 5-23) and comparing against the cases when either Diversity or
SM is deployed we can convey that adaptive switching is, as expected, combining the gains from both
types of MIMO by deploying the most appropriate one for every pixel.
No MIMO
Spatial Multiplexing
Diversity
Figure 5-23 DL Data Rate with Adaptive Switching (no user defined thresholds)
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The user can set specific thresholds per cell to govern the switch between Diversity and SM depending
on DL Reference Signal SNR. In this case the Transmission-Modes-plot changes as shown in Figure
5-25 and the achievable bearer plot changes similarly as indicated in Figure 5-26.
Figure 5-25 Transmission Modes with adaptive switching (with user defined thresholds)
Automatic Adaptive Mode
Figure 5-26 Achievable DL Bearer without and with SU-MIMO with user defined thresholds
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Figure 5-27 is the comparing all different options for SU-MIMO and how they affect Data Rates.
No MIMO
Spatial Multiplexing
Diversity
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5.2.4
MU-MIMO
MU-MIMO is used to increase the cells throughput. This is achieved by co-scheduling terminals on
the same Resource Blocks. Applying MU-MIMO will make no obvious changes to a network unless it
is overloaded. To demonstrate the use of MU-MIMO we will spread terminals and run the SIM in
snapshot mode. The density of terminals will be high enough for many of them to fail due to
insufficient capacity. Then we will enable MU-MIMO and observe how the network is now capable to
serve more of the terminals that were previously dropped because of the eNodeBs resources maxing
out.
In order for MU-MIMO to be used there is a higher Traffic & Control SINR requirement defined
.
Figure 5-28 Bearers - MU-MIMO SINR Delta
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without MIMO
With MU-MIMO
Mean Attempted
4930.286
4889.714
Mean Served
2743.857
55.65%
3484.929
71.27%
Mean Failed
2186.429
44.35%
1404.786
28.73%
Contributions to Failure
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DL RSRP
0.37%
0.47%
RSRQ
0.16%
0.15%
DL BCH/SCH SINR
0.00%
0.00%
UL SINR
0.00%
0.00%
DL SINR
1.88%
1.89%
UL Capacity
0.00%
0.00%
DL Capacity
97.62%
97.51%
0.00%
0.00%
No covering cells
0.00%
0.00%
Note: Terminals can fail to connect for multiple reasons so the failure reason
percentages can sum to more than 100%.
Table 5-1 Composite failure report with and without MU-MIMO.
Doing some further analysis to these results we observe that the MU-MIMO provides great gains to
heavily loaded cells and relatively smaller gains to lightly loaded cells. Moreover, from Figure 5-31 we
observe that this improvement in is mainly coming from the cell edge rather than the cell centre.
Figure 5-33 Comparative Cell Throughput Improvement with MU-MIMO versus Cell Load
5.2.5
We will now enable SU-MIMO (Diversity and Spatial Multiplexing) and MU-MIMO at the same time.
Our strategy will be to use SM close to the eNodeBs to increase data rates, Diversity further away from
the eNodeBs to increase coverage and MU-MIMO for heavily loaded cells to reduce the number of
failures due to capacity.
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In this chapter the advantage of SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO over single antenna transmission were
demonstrated. For the trial area examined, the deployment of MU-MIMO increased the number of
served terminals by 15% and the combined deployment of SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO increased the
number of served terminals by 33%.
Without MIMO
With MU-MIMO
Mean Attempted
4930
4889
Mean Served
2743
55.6%
3484
71.27%
4350
88.01%
Mean Failed
2186
44.3%
1404
28.73%
592
11.99%
Contributions to Failure
DL RSRP
0.37%
0.47%
1.20%
RSRQ
0.16%
0.15%
0.11%
DL BCH/SCH SINR
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
UL SINR
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
DL SINR
1.88%
1.89%
1.64%
UL Capacity
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
DL Capacity
97.62%
97.51%
97.08%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
No covering cells
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
Note: Terminals can fail to connect for multiple reasons so the failure reason percentages can sum
to more than 100%.
Table 5-2 Composite failure report with SU and MU-MIMO.
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5.3
ICIC
Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) schemes aim to maximize spectral efficiency of LTE
systems by re-using the available resource blocks (RBs) as often and in as many cells as possible while
keeping the overall ICI in the system to an acceptable level. There are various schemes that are
designed to mitigate ICI, and their implementation in the live network scenario is largely governed by
the equipment vendors. The following ICIC schemes are supported in ASSET:
Reuse 1 (Prioritisation)
Soft Frequency Reuse
Reuse Partitioning
They are defined on the carrier layer (Figure 5-38). Fundamental to each of these methods is a division
of the network into two areas in relation to the cell coverage, i.e. Cell Centre Users (CCUs) and Cell
Edge Users (CEUs). This spatial separation of cell service area is controlled in ASSET by the Cell
Edge Thresholds defined per cell in the Site Database. The available thresholds are RSRP and
Relative RSRP. RSRP is self-explanatory while the latter is defined in dBs and can be expressed as
the difference between the RSRPs of the serving and the strongest interfering cell.
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5.3.1
Reuse 1 (Prioritisation)
Reuse-1 is implemented by splitting the total bandwidth in partitions and prioritising their use to
different cells in a coordinated format. ICIC schemes target the improvement of Traffic and Control
SINR. This will affect positively the achievable bearers and subsequently the number of served
terminals and network throughput.
Without ICIC
Figure 5-41 Traffic & Control SINR without and with ICIC (Reuse-1, Prioritisation)
The main factor improved by ICIC is Traffic & Control SINR which is shown in Figure 5-41. This
improvement allows for a more favourable allocation of bearers (Figure 5-42) and consequently higher
data rates (Figure 5-43).
Without ICIC
Figure 5-42 Achievable DL bearer without and with ICIC (Reuse-1, Prioritisation)
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Without ICIC
Figure 5-43 DL Data Rate without and with ICIC (Reuse-1, Prioritisation)
The improvement of Traffic & Control SINR with the deployment of Prioritisation is dependent on the
Cell Loading and on the Coordination factor (Figure 5-44). The Coordination Factor takes into
account that the modelling is probabilistic and scales the maximum theoretical gains accordingly. A
coordination factor of 1 means perfect coordination and a coordination factor of 0 assumes no
coordination at all. For the purpose of this trial a value of 0.7 is used.
Figure 5-44 Average Traffic&Control SINR Improvement with Prioritisation as a function of Cellss
Load Level and the Coordination Factor (CF)
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As shown in Figure 5-44, irrespective of the Coordination Factor, if a Network is heavily loaded (over
70%) then gains are negligible.
The gains of Prioritisation diminish as if the network load is high. To explain this, we will take the
example of a 3sectored network. If the cell load is more than 1/3 or 33% then the prioritised recourses
for each one of the cells is not enough to serve the load and overlapping (thus interference) is
unavoidable. For an 80% loaded network the use of prioritisation doesnt provide any gains as shown
in Figure 5-45.
DL
Traffic/Ctrl
(Prioritisation)
SINR
With
Figure 5-45 Highly Loaded (80%) Network without and with Prioritisation Same Performance
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Reuse-1
5.3.2
Split the carrier bandwidth (RBs) into two dedicated portions or zones, i.e. CC zone and CE
zone, one for CCUs and the other for CEUs, using the Soft Bandwidth Ratio parameter.
Specify a Coordination Factor. The Reuse-1 (Prioritisation) scheme (as described in the
previous section) is implemented within both zones; each sector has a prioritised partition in
each zone, which it tries to use before the non-prioritised partitions in that zone. The
Coordination Factor can be used to adjust the calculated probability of collision.
Specify a power difference between the DL RBs of the CEUs and CCUs, using the Power
Ratio parameter. The concept is that the CCUs can be reached with the reduced power
whereas the CEUs need the higher power level for successful transmission. This results in a
possible performance gain for the CEUs.
Figure 5-46 Soft Frequency Reuse Scheme (Power Ratio 50%, Bandwidth Ratio 50%)
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Reuse Partitioning
In addition to the prioritisation of RBs and different DL power levels, this scheme also divides the
available spectrum into multiple partitions. Reuse Partitioning is similar to Soft Frequency Reuse,
because it divides the available carrier bandwidth (RBs) into two dedicated zones, one for CCUs, the
other for CEUs. As in Soft Frequency Reuse, the CC zone uses Reuse 1 (Prioritisation). However,
unlike Soft Frequency Reuse, the CE zone does not use Reuse 1 (Prioritisation), but instead employs
the traditional frequency reuse of N, where N is the number of sectors on the eNodeB. Each sector can
only consume CE resources from its own dedicated CE partition. Restricting each sector to its own
dedicated CE partition results in power concentration for the CE partition, which means that the
spectral density of the power transmitted over a fraction of the CE RBs is higher than the spectral
density of the same power transmitted over the entire RBs.
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No ICIC
Reuse Partitioning
Figure 5-50 DL Traffic & Control SINR without and with ICIC
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No ICIC
Reuse Partitioning
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No ICIC
Reuse Partitioning
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Taking a closer look at the results, we have created the following graphs to prove the superiority of the
aforementioned ICIC schemes:
Figure 5-53 Traffic & Control SINR without and with ICIC
The above figure demonstrates how the ICIC schemes improve the SINR Cumulative distribution.
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Figure 5-55 DL Data Rates without and with ICIC Cumulative Distribution
Without any ICIC scheme only 67% of the covered area can support speeds up to 40Mbps. The
deployment of Soft Frequency Reuse increases this figure by 5%, up to 72% and the deployment of
Reuse Partitioning improves it by 24%, up to 91%.
5.4
Schedulers
LTE services consist of two traffic types Real Time and Non-Real Time. Real Time services have an
associated Maximum Bit Rate (MBR) demand in addition to the (minimum) Guaranteed Bit Rate
(GBR), whereas Non-Real Time services have only a GBR demand.
When running a simulation, ASSET first attempts to serve the GBR demands of both Real Time and
Non-Real Time services, taking into account the Priority values of the different services. Resources are
first allocated to the service with the highest priority, and then to the next highest priority service, and
so on. Terminals are only served if there are enough resources available to satisfy their GBR demand.
In the event that there are not enough resources to fulfil the GBR demand of all Real Time and NonReal Time services, then only the Priority values of the services determine the precedence of resource
allocation.
If resources are still available after the GBR demands have been met, then different scheduling
algorithms can be employed to attempt to serve the MBR of Real Time services. To satisfy the
Maximum bit rate of Real Time services (RT-MBR), there are four different scheduling algorithms
available:
On the General LTE Parameters Page, at the Cell layer, there exists an option of four different
schedulers to select from:
Max SINR
Proportional Demand
Proportional Fair
Round Robin
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RT_S_GBR
RT_S_MBR
NRT_S_GBR
Now lets assume a cell is serving five RT_S1 users and four NonRT_S1 users with that much RBs
available:
RT_S_GBR -1
NRT_S_GBR-2
RT_S_GBR -3
NRT_S_GBR -4
NRT_S_GBR -1
RT_S_GBR -2
NRT_S_GBR -3
RT_S_GBR -4
Round Robin
The aim of this scheduler is to share the available/unused resources equally among the RT terminals
(i.e. the terminals requesting RT services) in order to satisfy their RT-MBR demand. This is a recursive
algorithm and continues to share resources equally among RT terminals, until all RT-MBR demands
have been met or there are no more resources left to allocate.
Proportional Fair
The aim of this Scheduler is to allocate the available/unused resources as fairly as possible in such a
way that, on average, each terminal gets the highest possible throughput achievable under the channel
conditions.
This is a recursive algorithm. The remaining resources are shared between the RT terminals in
proportion to their bearer data rates. Terminals with higher data rates get a larger share of the available
resources. Each terminal gets either the resources it needs to satisfy its RT-MBR demand, or its
weighted portion of the available/unused resources, whichever is smaller. This recursive allocation
process continues until all RT-MBR demands have been met or there are no more resources left to
allocate.
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Proportional Demand
The aim of this scheduler is to allocate the remaining unused resources to RT terminals in proportion to
their additional resource demands. This is a non-recursive allocation process and results in either
satisfying the RT-MBR demands of all terminals or the consumption of all of the resources,.
Max SINR
The aim of this Scheduler is to maximise the terminal throughput and in turn the average cell
throughput. This is a non-recursive resource allocation process where terminals with higher bearer rates
(and consequently higher SINR) are preferred over terminals with lower bearer rates (and consequently
lower SINR). This means that resources are allocated first to those terminals with better SINR/channel
conditions, thereby maximising the throughput.
Service
RT_S1
RT_S2
NonRT_S1
Average
Users/ GBR MBR
Cell
64
11
19
16
154
121
Max SINR
Proportional Fair
Round Robin
Proportional Demand
Average
Average
Average
Average
Av. Cell
Av. Cell
Av. Cell
Av. Cell
Users Av. Cell
Users Av. Cell
Users Av. Cell
Users Av. Cell
Throughput
Throughput
Throughp
Throughput
Served
Served
Load
Load
Served Load
Served
Load
(kbps)
(kbps)
ut (kbps)
(kbps)
per cell
per cell
per cell
per cell
28 99.70%
1708 99.70%
1750 99.70%
1750 99.70%
1690
49.93%
49.93%
49.93%
720 99.64% 49.93%
7257 99.62%
7170 99.62%
7128 99.62%
7017
X 98.39%
2243 98.30%
2241 98.30%
2241 98.30%
2241
Sum:
11208
Sum:
11161
Sum:
11119
Sum:
10948
Service
RT_S1
RT_S2
NonRT_S1
Average
Users/ GBR MBR
Cell
64
11
19
16
154
121
Max SINR
Proportional Fair
Average
Average
Av. Cell
Users
Users
Av. Cell Load Throughpu
Served
Served
t (kbps)
per cell
per cell
28 98.74%
2004 98.77%
97.45%
720 98.28%
7130 97.92%
X 87.27%
3066 86.98%
Sum:
12200
Av. Cell
Load
97.67%
Sum:
Round Robin
Proportional Demand
Average
Average
Av. Cell
Av. Cell
Users Av. Cell
Users Av. Cell
Throughpu
Throughpu
Served
Load
Served
Load
t (kbps)
t (kbps)
per cell
per cell
2240 98.72%
2262 98.70%
1851
97.44%
97.61%
6562 98.05%
6083 98.03%
5549
3058 87.33%
3050 87.34%
3030
11860
Sum:
11395
Sum:
10430
Av. Cell
Throughput
(kbps)
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