CARRIER AGGREGATION

* L TE-Advanced has peak data rate requirements of 1 Gbps in the downlink, and
500 Mbps in the uplink
* These requirements can be achieved by increasing the channel bandwidth.
* Carrier Aggregation (CA) increases the channel bandwidth by combining
multiple RF carriers. Application data can then be sent and
received using multiple RF carriers rather than a single RF carrier. Each individual
RF carrier is known as a Component Carrier (CC)
* Carrier Aggregation is applicable to both the uplink and downlink directions. A
Component Carrier can be either uplink and downlink,
or downlink only, but cannot be uplink only. UE signal their support for Carrier
Aggregation independently for each direction, i.e.
some UE may support Carrier Aggregation in the downlink only, while other UE
may support Carrier Aggregation in both the uplink
and downlink
* Carrier Aggregation is applicable to both FDD and TDD. In the case ofTDD, the
uplink-downlink subframe configuration must be the
same for all Component Carriers.

* 3 general types of Carrier Aggregation scenario have been defined by 3GPP:

> intra-band contiguous
> intra-band non-contiguous
> inter-band non-contiguous
* The intra-band scenarios provide benefits in terms of implementation effort. A
single transceiver can transmit and receive multiple RF
carriers when they are positioned within the same operating band
* The inter-band scenario provides benefits in terms of spectrum availability. An
operator's spectrum is likely to be distributed across
multiple operating bands rather than located within a single band
* The release 10 version of the 3GPP specifications has initially focused upon
introducing the intra-band contiguous and inter-band noncontiguous
scenarios
* The 3GPP release 10 version of Carrier Aggregation has been specified such that
Component Carriers are backwards compatible for
release 8 and release 9 devices, i.e. older devices can use individual Component
Carriers in the normal way.

* The release I 0 version of the 3GPP specifications defines signalling to support

up to 5 Component Carriers, i.e. a maximum combined
channel bandwidth of 100 MHz (RRC signalling is specified in 3GPP TS 36.331).
From the RF perspective, a maximum of2
Component Carriers have been defined initially within the release 10 version of the
specifications (Component Carrier combinations
are specified in 3GPP TS 36.101)
* Carrier Aggregation categorises cells as:
o Primary Cell:
• the cell upon which the UE performs initial connection establishment
• the primary cell can be changed during the hand over procedure
• each connection has a single primary cell
• the primary cell uses the primary RF carrier
• a PDCCH order to initiate the random access procedure can only be received on
the primary cell
• PRACH preambles can only be sent on the primary cell
• the primary cell is used to generate inputs during security procedures
• the primary cell is used to define NAS mobility information, e.g. Tracking Area
Identity
o Secondary Cell:
• a cell which has been configured to provide additional radio resources after
connection establishment
• a secondary cell uses a secondary RF carrier
• each connection can have multiple secondary cells
o Serving Cell:
• both primary and secondary cells are categorised as serving cells
• there is one HARQ entity per serving cell at the UE.
* Component Carriers belonging to a specific eN ode B may have different
coverage, e.g. a Component Carrier in the 900 MHz
operating band may have greater coverage than a Component Carrier in the 2.6
GHz operating band. The eN ode B can use
measurement reporting events to trigger the release of a specific Component
Carrier as its coverage becomes weak, e.g. measurement
reporting event A2 (serving cell becomes worse than a threshold) can be
configured to trigger separately for each Component Carrier.
* Uplink power control is applied independently for each Component Carrier. The
path loss estimate used within the open loop section
of the power control calculation can be derived from the relevant Component
Carrier. Alternatively, the path loss estimate can be
derived from a 'reference' Component Carrier but the 'reference' Component
Carrier should always be within the same operating
band. Inner loop power control commands are signalled for each Component
Carrier.
* The PUSCH and Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) can be transmitted on each
serving cell with an uplink (both primary and
secondary), but the PUCCH can only be transmitted on the primary serving cell.
* The Carrier Indicator Field (CIF) can be included as part of the PDCCH
Downlink Control Information (DCI) within the UE specific
search space. The CIF can be used for cross carrier scheduling, i.e. allocating
resources on serving cell 'x' by sending the PDCCH
DCI on serving cell 'y'. The CIF is not included within DCI when using the
common search space
* The increased number of transport blocks transferred when using Carrier
Aggregation require an increased number ofHARQ
acknowledgements. Acknowledgements for the PUSCH are sent on the PHICH
using the Component Carrier which allocated the
PUSCH resources. Acknowledgements for the PDSCH are either sent on the
PUCCH belonging to the primary serving cell, or on the
PUSCH belonging to either the primary or a secondary serving cell
* MAC control elements can be used for fast activation and deactivation of
secondary cells after they have been configured by the RRC
layer. The primary cell is always activated and cannot be deactivated.
MEASUREMENTS

* In the case of reporting events A 1 and A2, the serving cell is the primary or
secondary cell on the RF carrier specified by the
Measurement Object (there can be a single Measurement Object per RF carrier)
* Reporting events A3 and AS have been re-worded for the release 10 version
ofthe specifications to indicate that the serving cell to be
considered is the primary cell
* The neighbouring cell associated with reporting events A3, A4 and AS must be
on the RF carrier specified by the Measurement Object
* Reporting event A6 was introduced for Carrier Aggregation within the release 10
version of the 3GPP specifications. It is triggered by
a neighbouring cell on the same RF carrier as the secondary cell. The secondary
cell is identified by the RF carrier specified within the
Measurement Object
* Reporting events B1 and B2 are triggered by a neighbouring cell on the RF
carrier specified within the Measurement Object. In the
case of GERAN, the Measurement Object can define a group of RF carriers and
reporting events B 1 and B2 can be triggered by any of
the RF carriers within that group
* Reporting event B2 has been re-worded for the release I 0 version of the
specifications to indicate that the serving cell to be considered
is the primary cell.
UPLINK POWER CONTROL
*provides a description of uplink power control for the PUSCH, PUCCH and
Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). The
PUSCH and SRS are power controlled on each Component Carrier. The PUCCH is
only transmitted on the primary cell and its power
control is handled in the same way as without Carrier Aggregation.
*when Carrier Aggregation is configured. These equations are
applied separately for each Component Carrier, so each Component Carrier has its
own independent power control.
*Uplink power control uses a combination of open loop and inner loop
components. The open loop component includes an estimate of
the path loss, whereas the inner loop component is derived from eN ode B power
control commands
> path loss estimates can be based upon either the downlink of the primary serving
cell, or the downlink of the secondary serving
cell to which the power control is being applied
> power control commands for the PUSCH and SRS are received within the
PDCCH Downlink Control Information (DCI)
• commands received on DCI formats 3 and 3A are applicable to the uplink of the
cell from which they were received
• commands received on DCI formats 0 and 4 are applicable to cell where the
uplink resources are being allocated (can be
different to the cell from which they were received if cross carrier scheduling is
configured).