Department of Computer Science Institute for System Architecture, Chair for Computer Networks

LTE, WiMAX and 4G

Mobile Communication and Mobile Computing

Prof. Dr. Alexander Schill
http://www.rn.inf.tu-dresden.de

LTE: Characteristics
LTE = Long Term Evolution
European implementation of IMT (International Mobile
Telecommunications) by ETSI (European Telecommunication
Standards Institute)
Packet oriented propagation only
High data rates
Up to 300 Mbit/s Downlink
Up to 75 Mbit/s Uplink

Flexible frequency assignment

About 40 frequency ranges
Varying frequency blocks (1.4, 3, 5, 10 and 20 MHz)

small latency of 5ms between mobile phone and conventional

telephone network
optimized for travelling speeds of up to 15 km/h (up to
500km/h possible)
2

LTE Reference Architecture

S6a

HSS

MME
S1-MME

UE

LTE - Uu

eNodeB

eUTRAN

PCRF
S11

S1-U

S-GW

Gx

S5/S8

P-GW

SGi

PSTN

Core Network

NodeB + RNC (3G) merged into evolved NodeB (eNodeB)

Core network

Serving Gateway (S-GW)

Mobility Management Entity (MME)
PDN Gateway (P-GW)
Home Subscriber Server (HSS)
Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (PCRF)

LTE User Equipment

Examples of LTE-enabled devices
iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE,
Samsung LTE Stick

Five device categories

Category

Peak data rate DL

Mbit/s
UL

10

50

100

150

300

25

50

50

75

RF bandwidth
Modulation

20 MHz
QPSK, 16QAM

QPSK, 16QAM,
64QAM

2 Rx diversity

Assumed in performance requirements

2x2 MIMO

Not
supported

4x4 MIMO

Not supported

Mandatory
Mandatory

LTE: Frequency bands

Germany (currently)
5 bands: 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2000 MHz, 2600MHz
Rural Areas
800 MHz (Vodafone and Telecom)

Urban Areas
800 MHz (Vodafone)
1800 MHz (Telecom) -> reassignment from GSM

2600 MHz planned for crowded areas in cities (stations,

shopping malls, etc.)
O2 and E-Plus cover currently only few areas

USA: 700MHz, 1700MHz and 2100 MHz

Europe: 800 MHz
Bands 700, 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz will potentially
allow world wide roaming in the future
5

LTE: German frequency bands

frequency spectrum of the digital dividend:
better building penetration & propagation features > higher range
790 MHz
5 MHz
frequency
block

862 MHz

(72 Mhz)
Duplex gap*
820 MHz 12 MHz 832 MHz

* The Duplex gap is meant as a fallback position for wireless production technology.

frequency spectrum of the IMT extension band:

Enough blocks for 20 MHz bandwidth > Higher data rate
2500
MHz
5 MHz
frequency
block

2690
MHz

(190 Mhz)
2570
MHz

10 x 5 MHz
blocks uncoupled

2620
MHz

LTE: TDD and FDD

subframe = 1 millisecond
0

Uplink (UL)

FDD

Downlink (DL)
Special
Frame
0

UpPTS
2

Uplink (UL)

TDD

Downlink (DL)
DwPTS

Guard Period

two versions of LTE provide solutions for coupled/uncoupled frequency

blocks
transmitted signals divided into subframes (time units of 1 ms)
FDD (Frequency division duplex) -separated frequency blocks for UL/DL
TDD (Time division duplex) one frequency block alternately used for
UL/DL: - Downlink subframes, Uplink subframes and Special Frames
Special Frame = one subframe for each switching from down to up
link; contains DwPTS (Downlink Pilot Timeslot), GP (Guard Period
avoids overlay of sent and received messages) and UpPTS (Uplink
Pilot Timeslot)
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LTE: Modulation basics OFDM

LTE Modulation techniques are based on OFDM (Orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing)
in OFDM data is distributed over a large number of closely spaced
orthogonal subcarriers
(two subcarriers are orthogonal if the maximum amplitude of one
subcarrier is reached while the other subcarriers amplitude is zero)
Subcarriers modulated with conventional modulation scheme (QAM)
Pro: robust against interference because interference on subcarrier does
not influence the whole frequency band, Improved spectrum efficiency
and lower bandwidth demand W with OFDM
Con: expense for coding and decoding and therefore the power
consumption increases with the number of subcarriers
OFDM with 3 subcarriers

FDM with 3 subcarriers

LTE: Modulation techniques

LTEs modulation techniques used for Downlink and Uplink
are based on OFDM with a special focus on simultaneous
access of multiple users
*OFDMA (Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access)
for Down Link
subsets of subcarriers are assigned to individual users >
simultaneous (low data rate) transmission for several
users
*SC-FDMA (Single Carrier FDMA) for Up Link
multiple access realized by insertion of coefficients on the
transmitter side before Fourier transformation, and
removing on the receiver side. Different users are
assigned to different coefficients (subcarriers). More
energy-efficient for battery-driven mobile devices.
9

LTE E-UTRAN Architecture

Flat architecture:
eNodeBs form E-UTRAN
NodeB + RNC (3G)
merged into evolved
NodeB (eNodeB)

MME

S-GW

MME

eNodeB manages one or

several cells

S-GW

Core Network

Responsibilities
IP header compression
Encryption
Radio resource
management
Connectivity to core
network
Bearer management
UE mobility

eNodeB

eNodeB

eNodeB
comm. between
eNodeBs

signaling to
MMEs

E-UTRAN
bearer path

10

LTE Bearer
Application/service layer

DL-TFT

UL-TFT
RB-ID <--> S1-TEID

S1-TEID <--> S5/S8-TEID

DL-TFT

UL-TFT

UE

eNodeB
Radio bearer

S-GW
S1 bearer

P-GW
S5/S8 bearer

Different QoS requirements of applications (VoIP, browsing, file

download) are mapped to bearers
Bearers cross multiple interfaces, each part is individually mapped to
lower layer bearer with own bearer id
Each node manages binding between bearer ids
Packet filters (Traffic Flow Templates (TFT)) assign IP packets to bearers
11
(e.g. based on IP header information and TCP port numbers)

Standardized QoS class identifier for LTE

QCI

Resource
Type

Priority

Packet Delay
Budget(ms)

Packet Error
Loss Rate

Example Service

GBR

100

10-2

Conversational voice

GBR

150

10-3

Conversational video (live streaming)

GBR

300

10-6

Non-conversational video (buffered

streaming)

GBR

50

10-3

Real-time gaming

Non-GBR

100

10-6

IMS signaling

Non-GBR

100

10-3

Voice, video (live streaming), interactive

gaming

Non-GBR

300

10-6

Video (buffered streaming)

Non-GBR

300

10-6

TCP-based (for example, WWW, e-mail),

chat, FTP, p2p file sharing, progressive video
and others

Non-GBR

300

10-6

GBR guarantied bit rate, IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem

12

LTE Interworking
UTRAN
(GSM, UMTS)

3G-SGSN

S3

S4

MME
S1-MME

UE

LTE - Uu

E-UTRAN

S11

S1-U

S-GW

S5/S8

P-GW

non-3GPP networks
(CDMA2000, WiMAX,)

Interworking and mobility with other 3GPP defined networks as

well as non-3GPP defined networks
Service Gateway (S-GW) is mobility anchor for other 3GPP
networks

13

LTE Advanced
Specified as LTE Release 10
Improved performance
Data rate up to 1 GBit/s
End-to-end delay 20 30 ms

Enhancements
Carrier aggregation
up to 5 * 20 MHz -> 100MHz
Possible in contiguous and non-contiguous spectrum allocations

Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO)

Up to 4 LTE antennas in LTE devices to use MIMO also for Uplink
Base stations can be equipped with up to 8 antennas

Support for relay node base stations

Connected to base station only
Improve signal quality at cell borders

Support of low power nodes such as picocells and femtocells

for crowded areas

14

WiMAX / IEEE802.16
WiMAX: Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access, standardized by IEEE 802.16 and WiMAX-Forum
(more than 230 members, including AOL, Deutsche
Telekom, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia)
IEEE 802.16 FBWA (Fixed Broadband Wireless Access) is
an alternative for broadband cable services like DSL;
frequency range: initially 10-66 GHz, in assumption of
LOS (line of sight)
Enhancement IEEE 802.16a; frequency band: 2-11 GHz,
NLOS (non line of sight)
Enhancement IEEE 802.16e for MBWA (Mobile
Broadband Wireless Access); frequency band: 2-6 GHz,
NLOS
15

WiMAX/IEEE 802.16: overview

Standard

802.16

802.16a

802.16e

Spectrum, GHz

10-66

2-11

2-6

LOS-condition

LOS

NLOS

NLOS

Bit rate, MBit/s

32-134

<75 (extensions
up to 365)

15 (with further
extensions)

Range, km

2-5

7-10
max. 50 (cellular)

2-5

Channel bandwith,
MHz
Modulation

approved

20, 25 and 28
QPSK, 16QAM,
64QAM
2001

Variable: 1,520

1,5 -20

OFDM, QPSK,
16QAM, 64QAM

OFDM, QPSK,
16QAM, 64QAM

2004

2006

(N)LOS (Non) Line-of-Sight

16

WiMAX: Frequencies worldwide

For Germany especially: 3,41-3,452 GHz and 3,51-3,552 GHz

17

802.16 Physical Layer

Specification

Frequency
band

Channel
bandwidth

Duplex
method

Modulatio
n

Line-ofSight

WirelessMAN-SC

10-66 GHz
Licensed
bandwidth

20, 25,
28 MHz

TDD, FDD

Single
carrier

LOS

WirelessMANSCa

2-11 GHz
Licensed
bandwidth

3,5, 7, 10,
20 MHz

TDD, FDD

Single
carrier

NLOS

WirelessMANOFDM

2-11 GHz
Licensed
bandwidth

variable
1,25-20
MHz

TDD, FDD

OFDM

NLOS

WirelessMANOFDMA

2-11 GHz
Licensed
bandwidth

variable
1,25-28
MHz

TDD, FDD

OFDMA
(multiple
access)

NLOS

WirelessHUMAN

2-11 GHz
Licensefree

10, 20 MHz

TDD

OFDM,
OFDMA

NLOS

18

WiMAX: Modulation
WiMAX: strong dependency
of effective channel
capacity, spectrum
efficiency, range, signalnoise-ratio etc. on used
modulation method:
BPSK Binary Phase Shift
Keying
QPSK Quadrature Phase
Shift Keying
16QAM Quadrature
Amplitude Modulation
64QAM Quadrature
Amplitude Modulation

(typical example distribution (percentage)

of users in different coverage areas)
19

802.16 Medium Access

TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)
Each communication channel gets fixed slot for data
transmission
DAMA (Demand Assigned Multiple Access)
2 Phases:
Reservation: every station tries to acquire slot for
each transmission phase (collision possible)
Data transmission: within reserved slot guaranteed
collision free transmission
Duplex connection
FDD (Frequency Division Duplex): simultaneous use of
different frequencies
TDD (Time Division Duplex): Switching between upand downlink on the same frequency
20

WiMAX: Cellular backbone

Network

802.16
PHY

e.g Gigabit
Ethernet

802.16
OFDMPHY

UMTS cell
WiMAX cell
Point to Point
Backbone

Point to Multipoint

21

802.16 Network topologies (1&2)

1) Last Mile or
2) Point to Multipoint (PMP) network (see bellow)

Base Station (BS) is the central point for the

Mobile Stations (MS)
Sending in Downlink-direction: Broad-, Multi-, Unicast
Connection of a MS to BS is characterized via Channel ID (CID),
Channel id gives the possibility for the BS to receive multicast
messages

Network
BS

MS/BS
MS
MS/BS
MS

MS

MS

22

802.16 Network topologies (3)

3) Mesh network

MS can communicate directly

Mesh BS: connected with a network outside the mesh
other differentiation
neighbor: direct connection to a node
neighborhood: all other neighbors
extended neighborhood: remote neighborhoods

Network
Mesh MS

Mesh MS

Mesh MS

Mesh MS

Mesh MS

Mesh BS

Mesh MS

23

MBWA (Mobile Broadband Wireless Access);

802.20 (1)
Working Group 802.20 originated from 802.16
goal: Specification of PHY and MAC for Packet-based MBWASystem
Should close the gap between WLAN and slower but highly
mobile networks (UMTS)

features

variable cell size

Handover- and Roaming-mechanism
Velocity up to 250 km/h
Transport of IP-data traffic
QoS on transport layer
Licensed bands below 3,5 GHz, variable bandwidth
NLOS, for in- and outdoor
TDD, FDD, Half-Duplex FDD
More than 100 simultaneous sessions per cell
End to End Security, AES
24

802.20 (2)
Goals
characteristic

goal

User data rate Downlink

> 1 MBit/s

User data rate Uplink

> 300 KBit/s

Data rate Downlink per cell

> 4 MBit/s

Data rate Uplink per cell

> 800 KBit/s

Cell size

Correspond. to all modern MANs, with ability to

use the existing infrastructure

Peak data rates

Data rates
Peak data rate
per user

1.25 MHz

5 MHz

Downlink

Uplink

Downlink

Uplink

4.5 MBit/s

2.25
MBit/s

18 MBit/s

9 MBit/s

25

Technology comparison pre-4G

UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+ WiMAX

Mobility Handover, Roaming

Max Speed 300 km/h
Switching type circuit and packet
Peak data
2/14,4/28 Mbit/s
rates Down
(5MHz channel)
Link
pico(1)-, micro(2)-,
Cell sizes
macro(3)-cells

End-to-end QoS
QoS
Different classes

MBWA

LTE

---------------- Handover, Roaming, Mobile IP --120 km/h

250 km/h

500 km/h

---------------- Packet switching ---------------365 Mbit/s

(2x 20MHz
channel,
variations)
variable
End-to-end
QoS
Different
classes

100 - 300 Mbit/s

(1.4-20 MHz
channel)

pico(1)-,
pico(1)-, micro(2)-,
micro(2)-,
macro(3)-cells
macro(3)-cells

End-to-end
QoS

End-to-end QoS
Different classes

Scalability ---------------- variable data rate ~ Multiple users per BS -------------OFDM(A),

CDMA
adaptive
Air Interface adaptive Modulation
Modulation
MIMO
MIMO

Security AES
(1)<100m, (2)~500m, (3)>1km

AES, X.509

OFDM
Adaptive
Modulation

OFDM, SC-FDMA
adaptive
Modulation
MIMO

AES

SNOW 3G
26

4G requirements
high mobility Handover, Roaming,
velocity up to 300 km/h
switching technique pure packet switching
integrated multi-media-services VoIP, TVoIP, VoD,
Streaming
high data rate (1Gbit/s) even at high mobility should
be like DSL
Size of cell variable and scalable
QoS prioritization of specific data packages
scalability available and reliable with many users
air interface OFDM (better spectrum efficiency)
security up to date standards (e.g. AES)
Extension / integration of UMTS and WLAN approaches
27

Technology comparison 3G to 4G
LTE (3G)

LTE Advanced (4G)

Peak data rate

Down Link (DL)

300 Mbit/s

1 Gbit/s

Peak data rate

Up Link (UL)

75 Mbit/s

500 Mbit/s

Transmission
bandwidth DL

20 Mhz (max.)

100 Mhz

20 Mhz (max.)

40 Mhz (requirements as
defined by ITU)

Transmission
bandwidth UL
Coverage

Full performance up to
5km

Same as LTE requirement.

Should be optimized or
deployed in local areas/micro
cell environments.

Scalable
bandwidths

1.4, 3, 5, 10 and 20 MHz

20-100 MHz

Scalability

variable data rate

Multiple users per BS

variable data rate

Multiple users per BS

Capacity

200 active participants

per cell at 5 MHz

3 times higher than that in

LTE

28

Summary: Data rates and mobility

High-speed

Mobility

/Wide-area

Medium-speed
/Urban area

Walking

2G

/Local area

Standing
/Indoors
0.1
Source: www.3g.co.uk

10

100

200

1000
Bitrate, MBit/s
29

Some further readings

Eds.: Sesia, S., Toufik, I., Baker, M.: LTE The UMTS
Long Term Evolution From Theory to Practice, Whiley,
2009
LTE:
www.gsmworld.com
www.ltemobile.de
www.apwpt.org
WiMAX technology:
www.wimaxforum.org
IEEE web sites for 802.16 and 802.20:
grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/16/ and /802/20

30