The coexistence Study of LTE Band 8

and eTag System

HY Lin, Ph. D.
Executive Summary
1. Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system is one of the national critical infrastructures, where
RFID-based system (hereafter “eTag system”) was selected by Taiwan to be the most cost-
effective and easily implemented system. National Communications Commission (hereafter
“NCC”, the communication-sector regulator in Taiwan) decided to allocate the specific
license (the designated frequencies and the maximum allowable radiated power are given)
to the eTag system.
2. For understanding the potential interference of eTag system to IMT mobile systems and the
maximum power impacting the high-speed detecting capability, NCC assigned its technical
arm, Telecom Technology Center (TTC), to study the coexistence of eTag and IMT mobile
systems around 900 MHz.
3. Comprehensive scenarios including in-Lab testing, field testing, and statistic analysis were
studied. After conducting the testing and analysis, the probability eTag system with ERIP 48
dBm for multi-lane free flow (MLFF) interfering IMT Mobile systems is extremely low.
4. LTE allocated in 930~960 MHz was launched since 2014 in Taiwan, there is no any operator
reporting the interference from eTag system . TTC keeps tracking the interference issues by
performing the drive-test each year. We find that LTE services are not affected obviously.
5. eTag system (with EIRP 33dBm complied with the regulations of the unlicensed band ) is
also successfully extended to the IoT (Internet of things) applications under the static or
slow speed cases, e.g, smart parking and smart traffic systems in Taiwan.
Research Plan and Flow Chart
In-Lab
• Confirm research topics and methodologies.
Methodology
• “Noise Floor Elevation Model” is selected to study the coexistence issue.
Validation
Setup Real eTag System
eTag System at Field
for Various Test
Wuyang Overpass Measurement
Scenarios
Field
Measurement Validate the measured Measure Noise Rise
Data in Detection Area

Statistic Analysis of
Noise Rise
Data Analysis
Analysis of Coverage
impacted by Noise Rise

Lower the Power of RFID Minimum Required Install BPF for RFID
Reader? LTE Signal Strength Reader?
Coexistence
Proposals

• . -
Conclusion
• -
The Coexistent Scenario in Taiwan

eTag Reader:

925 MHz
922.75MHz
924.25MHz 3GPP LTE Band 8 DL

Uplink Downlink
E-UTRA Band 8 E-UTRA Band 8
880 MHz

915 MHz

920 MHz

928 MHz
930 MHz

960 MHz
LTE Band 8 UL in Taiwan Unlicensed Band LTE Band 8 DL in Taiwan
in Taiwan

The EIRP of eTag Reader used for evaluation is 48dBm

Why We Focus on Downlink Band?

LTE eNodeB

Wanted LTE Signal eTag System

RFID Reader Signal

Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI)

Real Transmitter of Real Receiver of

Adjacent Channel Wanted Channel

ACI from Non-

ACI from Non-
ideal Transmitter
ideal Receiver
Noise Floor Elevation Model (NFEM)

Minimum wanted signal level (S)

S: N (Minimum)
Receiver noise floor (KTBF)

N
Receiver noise figure (F)
N0
Thermal noise (KTB)
Unwanted interference (I)
dB(W/120kHz)
I

MHz
Noise Floor Elevation Model (NFEM)

S
Threshold degradation
S: N+I Minimum wanted signal level (S)
Elevated Receiver noise floor
( KTBF + I )
N+I
Noise Rise
N
Receiver noise figure (F)
N0
Thermal noise (KTB)
Unwanted interference (I)
dB(W/120kHz)
I

MHz
In-Lab Study with Fully Anechoic
Chamber
Receiver Antenna
Reader Antenna

3m
 Measurement Results in Lab

3
10
Attenation=0dB
Attenation=7dB
Attenation=10dB
2
10
(dB)
Noise Rise(dB)

1
10

0
10

-1
10
880 915 924.25 928 930 933 935 938 940
UHF (MHz)
Frequency (MHz)
Spectrum Analyzer is not properly used
TestasReceiver
it’s limited linear range. In this project, test
receiver is better one.
Set up Real eTag System for Study
2 reader antennas
Angle : 10 degree

& 3
1
5.6 m
922.75 MHz & 924.25MHz ( at the same time)
& 1 2

28.5 degree 28.5 degree /

Distance (meter)

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 3 /
-1.87 4.46

21
# 3
Filter Reader
Controller
/
Receiver

Controller
Filter Reader

1 reader antenna
#
Angle : 10 degree

922.75 MHz & 924.25MHz ( alternative )

5.6 m

Receiving antenna
28.5 degree 28.5 degree
e-tag 1.2 m
82.5cm
Distance (meter)

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
-1.87 4.46

Controller
Reader
Receiver
 Measurement Results : Scenario #1
2
10

880 MHz
915 MHz
8HAA:
10
1 924.25 MHz 0 BG 1 H B (43
928 MHz
930 MHz
C 9
933 MHz .BG BB: 2:@B ( @
(dB)

5C@F 7@F -(4 0 9 )

Noise Rise (dB)

935 MHz
0 938MHz
10
940 MHz 5C@F 7@F - 40 9
. : @B G G G@CB . :
A GC A
-1
10

5M CBW: 930~935MHz
10M CBW: 930~940MHz
-2
10
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Measured Point (m)
( )
1.6

1.4
BW=5M (930-935MHz)
BW=10M (930-940MHz)
1.2
(dB)(dB)

1
Noise Rise

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Measured Point
( (m))
 Measurement Results : Scenario #1
2
10

880 MHz
915 MHz
1 924.25 MHz F 8C
10
928 MHz
930 MHz
. @ C C BF @9 ) 21
AH C 7
(dB)

933 MHz

@ @@8 08 @ :-
Noise Rise(dB)

935 MHz
938MHz
A 5 2 .-7 :-
0
10
940 MHz

A 5 2.-7 :-
G C8 @ : 9 A@ C 8
-1
10 A(

5M CBW: 930~935MHz
-2
10
10M CBW: 930~940MHz
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Measured Point (m)
( )
1

0.9
BW=5M (930-935MHz)
0.8 BW=10M (930-940MHz)

0.7
(dB)

0.6
Noise Rise(dB)

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Measured Point (m)
( )
 Measurement Results : Scenario #2
2
10

880 MHz
915 MHz
924.25 MHz
8HAA:
10
1 928 MHz 0 BG 1 H B (4 (3
6C 9
930 MHz
933 MHz
935 MHz
.BG BB: 2:@B ( /@
Noise Rise (dB)
(dB)

938MHz
10
0 940 MHz 5C@F @F (4 0/9 /
5C@F @F 40/9 ) /
. : @B G G G@CB . : A GC
10
-1 A

5M CBW: 930~935MHz
10
-2
10M CBW: 930~940MHz
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Measured Point ((m) )

2.5 2 reader antennas

Angle : 10 degree

BW=5M (930-935MHz) 922.75 MHz & 924.25MHz ( at the same time)

2 BW=10M (930-940MHz)

5.6 m
28.5 degree 28.5 degree
1.5
(dB)
Noise Rise (dB)

Distance (meter)

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
-1.87 4.46

Controller
Filter Reader
Receiver
0.5 Controller
Filter Reader

0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Measured Point
(
(m))
 Measurement Results : Scenario #3
2
10

880 MHz
915 MHz
924.25 MHz
F 8C
10
1 928 MHz . @ C C BF @9 ) 1
930 MHz
933 MHz
4AH C
935 MHz @ @@8 08 @ :
Noise Rise (dB)(dB)

0
938MHz
940 MHz
3A 5 2. :
3A 5 2. ):
10

G C8 @ : 9 A@ C 8 A
(
-1
10

5M CBW: 930~935MHz
10M CBW: 930~940MHz
-2
10
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Measured Point (m)
( )
10

1 reader antenna
9
Angle : 10 degree

8
BW=5M (930-935MHz)
922.75 MHz & 924.25MHz ( alternative )
BW=10M (930-940MHz)
7

5.6 m
Noise Rise (dB)

6
(dB)

Receiving antenna
5 28.5 degree 28.5 degree
e-tag 1.2 m
82.5cm
Distance (meter)
4
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
-1.87 4.46
3

2
Controller
Reader
1
Receiver

0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Measured Point ((m) )
 Measurement Results : Scenario #3
2
10

880 MHz
915 MHz
924.25 MHz 5 BH)
: :B .B:A : 8H) ( 10
1
10 928 MHz

3@G:B )
930 MHz
933 MHz
935 MHz
: ) 9
(dB)
Noise Rise (dB)

938MHz
0
10 940 MHz 2@ C: C: 1 ) ( 9
2@ C: C: 1 ) 9
F:B : : 9: :8 @ B: ) @
-1
10

5M CBW: 930~935MHz
-2
10
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
10M CBW: 930~940MHz
Measured Point( (m) )

10

9 BW=5M (930-935MHz)
1 reader antenna
BW=10M (930-940MHz) Angle : 10 degree
8

922.75 MHz & 924.25MHz ( alternative )

7

5.6 m
6
Noise Rise (dB)
(dB)

Receiving antenna
5 28.5 degree 28.5 degree
e-tag 1.2 m
82.5cm
Distance (meter)
4
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
-1.87 4.46

2 Controller
Reader
Receiver
1

0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Measured Point (m)
( )
eTag System of Wuyang Overpass

Inner Line Outer Line Shoulder

Illustration of Field Measurement
5 reader antennas

Angle : 10 degree

Ant.2 Ant.1

Receiving Antenna
1.2 m

5.6 m
Test Receiver

5.6 m
e-tag
28.5 degree 28.5 degree
+8

0.825m
0

-2

3.75 m
-2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8
Distance (meter)

Received Antenna is located at

head position of driver seat.

16.5cm Test Receiver

Measured points are separated with 16.5 cm spacing, and each measurement takes 90
seconds for collecting enough data.
Noise Rise of Field Measurement
• The noise rise of each measured point is the average of data collected during
90 seconds
• The maximum noise rise of 930MHz~935MHz and 930MHz~940MHz are
1.65dB and 1.2dB, respectively
2

BW=5M (930-935MHz)
BW=5M (935-940MHz)
1.5 BW=10M (930-940MHz)

1
Noise Rise (dB)
(dB)

0.5

-0.5
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Measured (Point (m)
)
Statistical Characteristic of Background Noise
• The worst case which measures in the area -33cm to
198cm with 930-935 MHz is selected to emulate the
scenario of traffic jam.

• The PDF of background noise with RFID Reader on/off can modeled as
Normal Distribution with mean/Std= -93.56dBm/ 0.59dB and-
95.14dBm/0.47dB, respectively.
0.1
1
Normal Distribution (µ=-93.56dBm; s =0.59dB)
RFID Reader 0.09 Snapshots w/ Reader on at 0m 0.9 Normal Distribution (µ=-93.5631dBm; s =0.59223dB)
Snapshots w/ Reader on at 0m

ON
0.08 0.8

0.07 0.7

Probability < Abscissa (%)

0.06 0.6
PDf (%)

0.5
0.05
0.4
0.04
0.3
0.03
0.2
0.02
0.1
0.01
0
-95.5 -95 -94.5 -94 -93.5 -93 -92.5 -92 -91.5
0 Received Level (dBm)
-95.5 -95 -94.5 -94 -93.5 -93 -92.5 -92 -91.5
Received Level (dBm)
1

RFID Reader
0.1
Normal Distribution (µ=-95.1445dBm; s =0.46563dB)
Normal Distribution (µ=-95.14dBm; s =0.47dB) 0.9
0.09 Snapshots w/ Reader off at 0m Snapshots w/ Reader off at 0m

Off 0.08

0.07
0.8

0.7

0.06 0.6
PDf (%)
PDf (%)

0.05 0.5

0.04 0.4

0.03
0.3
0.02
0.2
0.01
0.1
0
-97 -96.5 -96 -95.5 -95 -94.5 -94 -93.5 -93 0
Received Level (dBm) -97 -96.5 -96 -95.5 -95 -94.5 -94 -93.5 -93
Received Level (dBm)
Statistical Characteristic of Noise Rise

• The PDF of noise rise resulted from RFID can modeled as Normal Distribution
with mean/Std= 0.5 dB/ 0.78 dB .

0.06
Normal Distribution (µ=0.50dB;s =0.78dB)
Distribution of Noise Rise
0.05
Noise Power(dBm)

0.04

PDf (%)
0.03

0.02

0.01

Measured Point (cm)

0
-2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Noise Rise within-33~198 cm (dB)

• In the area -33cm~198cm, it is given that the probability with P(X>μ+σ=1.28dB) and
P(X>μ+2σ=2.06dB) are 16% and 2.5%, respectively
Numerical Analysis of LTE Coverage
Impact due to Noise Rise
LTE Coverage

LTE eNB

RFID Reader
LTE impacted area

Eq (1):

LP(R)[dB]= 69.55 +26.16*log10(f)–13.82log10(Hb)+[44.9-

6.55log10(Hb)]log(R)-4.78*(Log10 (f))2+18.33* log10* (f) -40.94 …

Hata model is used for the prediction of LTE coverage.

Parameters Used in Numerical Analysis

E-UTRA Band 8
Carrier Bandwith 1.4 MHz 3MHz 5MHz 10MHz
Number of PRB 6 15 25 50

Symbol Description Value Remark

Pmax eNode B Maximum Transmitted Power 43 dBm
LC Cable Loss (icl. Jumper, Combiners) 3 dB
LCP Cyclic Prefix Loss 1 dB
GBS eNode B Antenna Gain 18 dB
LP(R) Path Loss Ref. last slide
GUE UE Antenna Gain 0 dB
Nf Noise Figure 9 dB
K: Boltzmann constant; T:
N0 (Noise Power KTB temperature in K; B:
Channel Bandwith
Shadowing fading margin 8 dB
Fast fading margin 10 dB
Im Multi-cell interference 5 dB
Li In-car Loss 6 dB
Lb Body Loss 2 dB
Eq(2):
SINR=Pmax+GBS -LC -LCP-LP(R)+GUE-Nf-N0-Im-Li-Lb
Required SINR for Each CQI in
LTE System
CQI Index Modulation Required min.
SINR
0 Out of Range
1 QPSK -6.15 dB
2 QPSK -4.37 dB
1 BW=5MHz
3 QPSK -2.37 dB
15 12.00 2 BW=10MHz
4 QPSK -0.42 dB 10.00
5 QPSK 1.53 dB 14 8.00 3

6 QPSK 3.43 dB 6.00

7 16QAM 5.46 dB 13 4.00 4

8 16QAM 2.00
7.25 dB
0.00
9 16QAM 9.28 dB 12 5
10 64QAM 11.11 dB
11 64QAM 13.00 dB 11 6
12 64QAM 14.90 dB
13 64QAM 16.64 dB 10 7
14 64QAM 18.41 dB 9 8
15 64QAM 20.54 dB
LTE Coverage of Each CQI v.s. Noise Rise

Coverage Coverage
Required SINR w/ 10MHz (km) NR=0 dB NR=1 dB NR=3 dB NR=5 dB NR=7 dB
w/ 5MHz (km)

-6.15 dB 10.54 8.60 1 0 0 0 0

-4.37 dB 9.35 7.63 2 1 0 0 0

-2.37 dB 8.17 6.67 3 2 1 0 0

-0.42 dB 7.16 5.84 4 3 1 1 0

1.53 dB 6.28 5.12 5 4 3 2 1

3.43 dB 5.52 4.51 6 5 4 3 2
5.46 dB 4.81 3.93 7 6 4 4 3
7.25 dB 4.27 3.48 8 7 6 5 4
9.28 dB 3.72 3.04 9 8 7 6 5
11.11 dB 3.29 2.68 10 9 8 7 6
13.00 dB 2.89 2.36 11 10 9 8 7
14.90 dB 2.55 2.08 12 11 10 9 8
16.64 dB 2.26 1.85 13 12 11 10 9
18.41 dB 2.01 1.64 14 13 12 11 10
20.54 dB 1.74 1.42 15 14 13 12 11
Impacted Analysis Due to eTag System

• As CQI=1 is minimum requirement for LTE services, we take CQI=1 into

consideration as coverage impacted by eTag system. Based on the statistical
analysis, the average noise rise is 0.5 dB, which leads to 3.3% coverage reduction
of LTE with CQI=1.

5MHz w/o NR
43 dBm 5MHz w/ NR =0.5 dB
12
10
24 dBm 8 39 dBm
6
4
2
0

27 dBm 36 dBm

30 dBm 33 dBm
Impacted Analysis Due to eTag System
(Conti.)
Due to noise rise modeled as Normal Distribution, it’s easy to derive the
probability of noise rise caused and its corresponding coverage.

11.00 80.0%
10.54 10.37
10.19
10.02 70.0%
10.00 9.86 9.69
73.9% 9.53 9.37 9.21
60.0%

Caused
9.06
62.6% 8.91
9.00
(km)%

50.0%

% Noise Rise
50.0%

(
LTE Coverage

8.00 40.0%
)

LTE)Coverage
37.4%
% Noise(Rise 30.0%
7.00
Caused
26.1% 20.0%
6.00
16.8% 10.0%
5.5%
2.7%
8.9% 1.2%
0.5%
5.00 0.0%
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.55 1.75 2 2.25 2.5

Noise Rise (dB)

Consider The REAL Planning in LTE
Network
• LTE is one of the mobile cellular systems, which provides continuous service
across different base station via handover mechanism. For seamless handover, LTE
has designed 10%-20% overlapping area between adjacent base station.
• Assume that 10%-20% of handover overlapping area is randomly and uniformly
distributed and eTag system happens to be located at the overlapping area of the
two base stations. LTE with CQI=1 service only drops when the percentage of
coverage reduction(Rshrink )is larger than 10%. That means that noise rise is equal
to 1.55 dB.

The LTE drop call only occurs when an eTag system

located at the overlapping area of both BS A and B,
and the coverage reduction caused by NR is larger
than the reduction of the overlapping area.

A
B
Drop Call Probability of LTE CQI=1
1.20%

1.00%
Probability of Out-of-service
0.80%

0.60%

0.40%

0.20%

0.00%
1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3
NR (dB)

0, 23 !45%)*6 < 10%, 2. ;. , <! < 1.5 >?

,-%"( =/
, <! @ , !"#$%&'(()*+ < !45%)*6 , 23 <! ≥ 1.5 >?

The precondition is that eTag is located at the overlapping area of base station.
!"#$%&'(()*+ is the overlapping percentage between two Base Stations
Signal Strength Distribution of RFID
Reader in Detection Area
In eTag detecting area, the signal strength of RFID Reader ranges from-10.5~-34.7dBm and
the strongest one is -10.5 dBm located at 0 m.
0

-5 Reader Power (924.25MHz)

-10

-15
Receiver Power (dBm)

-20

-25

-30

-35

-40

-45

-50
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Measured Point (m) )
(

Measured by Test Receiver with RBW=1MHz

Signal Attenuation of RFID Reader in
LTE Band 8
• The following table lists the signal attenuation of RFID Reader in LTE Band 8, which are
measured in Lab. As we can see that the attenuation is larger than 86 dB (with
RBW=1MHz) in LTE Band 8 System.
• The strongest signal of RFID Reader is -10.5 dBm (located at 0 m), therefore the
maximum signal strength of RFID reader perceived by LTE Band 8 ranged from -96.5
dBm (at 0m)~-120.7 dBm (at 7m).

Signal Strength Fc= Fa= Fa= Fa=

(dBm) 924.25 MHz 932.5MHz 935MHz 937.5MHz
RBW=1MHz 30.66 -55.64 -56.48 -56.9

RBW=120kHz 28.71 -64.2 -65.23 -65.7

• In LTE System, SINR of Reference Signal (RS) is used to decide the available CQI. The
signal strength of RFID Reader is measured with RBW=1MHz, however, the bandwith of
RS only occupies 15 KHz. Therefore, the noise floor for RS has to be revised as

NRS=-96.5dBm+10*log(15KHz/1000KHz)=-114.73dBm
Required RSRP of LTE Overcoming
the Impact of eTag System

Required RSRP=SINR+NRS+NF

Parameters Used: Required RSRP:

SINR=-6.15 dB for CQI=1 -111.88 dBm
NRS=-114.73 dBm
NF=9 dB for LTE UE

For GSM, Required RSSI will be around -94 dBm with C/I=9 dB.
LTE and GSM Coverage for
Freeway #1 in Taiwan
LTE
GSM

Operator A Operator B Operator A Operator B

Operator C Operator C

The routes are the same but shifted for good representation of each operator.
Conclusions
1. Because eTag RFID Reader radiates its signal into the pavement of freeway, it means that
the potentially influenced area is only limited in 10m detection area, not open-area case.
2. In normal case, the cars with the speed of 90 km/h only take around 0.4 second to drive
through the 10 m detection area of eTag system. Such a short duration never leads to out-
of-service for any mobile system based on 3GPP specifications.
3. In the case of people staying in the detection area because of traffic jams or accidents,
numerical analysis and field measurement show that the probability of out-of-service is
extremely low even the eTag system is located the overlapping area of two base station.
4. As long as LTE RSRP in the detection area of eTag system is higher than the certain
threshold, LTE doesn’t experience any possibility of out-of-service. It is easy to achieve by
the deployment of a real network.
5. LTE was launched over 4 years in Taiwan, and none of any operator reports the interference
resulted by eTag system . In addition, based on TTC’s flowing drive-test, the impact of LTE
services are very limited in Live networks.
6. Spectrum sharing and coexistence of wireless systems are the main stream considered by
the worldwide regulators. eTag with EIRP 48 dBm (2W Reader Power + 15dBi Antenna Gain)
has been proved that it can coexist with IMT Band 8 LTE.
Thank for Your Attention!