UPLINIK AIR-INTERFACE

FRAME STRUCTURE AND TIMING

* In the case ofFDD, the uplink radio frame structure

is the same as the downlink radio frame structure
> frame structure type 1 is applicable to FDD (both full
duplex and half duplex)
* In the case ofTDD, the uplink and downlink share
the same radio frame structure
> frame structure type 2 is applicable to TDD
* The uplinkradio frame timing precedes the downlink
radio frame timing at the UE to allow for the round
trip time propagation delay. The uplink
and downlink are then synchronised at the eN ode B
In the case of FDD, the start of an uplink subframe
transmission can overlap with the end of a previous
downlink subframe
transmission. This is not an issue for full duplex FDD
because UE can transmit and receive simultaneously.
In the case of half duplex
  FDD, the UE prioritises transmission over
reception and does not receive the end of the
downlink subframe (this assumes that the
eN ode B scheduler has allocated an uplink subframe
directly after an allocated downlink subframe)
 In the case ofTDD, the Guard Period within the
special subframe avoids any overlap between
downlink reception and uplink transmission
 NTA can range from 0 to 20512 and is multiplied
by Ts = 1/30.72 microts. This provides a maximum
timing advance of0.67 ms, which is equivalent to
200 km. This represents the round trip distance
so the maximum cell range is 100 km.
 The TDD case includes a fixed additional624 Ts
which is equivalent to 20 micro sec.
 The eN ode B generates timing advance
instructions for each UE such that all uplink
transmissions are synchronous when they arrive
at the eN ode B. UE towards the cell edge are
instructed to use a large timing advance while UE
close to the eN ode Bare instructed touse a small
timing advance.
 Timing advance is initialised during the random
access procedure. The MAC payload belonging to
 the Random Access Response includes an 11 bit
Timing Advance Command which corresponds to
T A within the equation:
 NTA=TAxl6
 The set of 11 bits allows a range ofT A from 0 to
1282. The maximum value of 1282 does not fully
utilise the complete range offered by 11 bits but
corresponds to the maximum value ofN1A, i.e.
1282 x 16 = 20512.
 * Subsequent to the random access procedure,
timing advance changes are signalled using the
Timing Advance Command MAC Control Element.
The Timing Advance Command MAC Control
Element forms part of the MAC PDU payload. It
has a size of 1 bytefrom which 6 bits are used to
signal the timing advance command, i.e. a range
from 0 to 63
* The timing advance command within the MAC
Control Element corresponds to T A within the
equation:
NTAnew = NTAold + (TA- 31) X 16
  Subtracting 31 from TA allows the eN ode B to
shift the timing advance in both positive and
negative directions
RESOURCE BLOCKS
The eN ode B scheduler allocates Resource Blocks to UE when
allowing data transfer. Uplink Resource Blocks have the same
structure as downlink Resource Blocks using the 15 kHz subcarrier
spacing
 a single 0.5 ms slot in the time domain
> 12 x 15kHz subcarriers in the frequency domain, i.e. 180kHz
> The 7.5 kHz subcarrier spacing is not applicable to the uplink
direction
> Uplink Resource Blocks are also the same as downlink Resource
Blocks in terms of using either the normal or extended cyclic prefix,
i.e. providing support for either 7 or 6 time domain symbols per
Resource Block respectively.
> The uplink differs from the downlink in terms of mapping the
modulation symbols onto Resource Elements.
  In the downlink, a single modulation symbol (QPSK, 16QAM,
64QAM) is mapped directly onto each Resource Element prior
to generating the OFDMA signal.
 In the uplink, a set of modulation symbols are processed by
taking their Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) prior to mapping
onto a set of Resource Elements. The combination ofFFT
precoding with the subsequent IFFT generates a Single
Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-
FDMA)signal.
 Multiple antenna transmission adds the layer mapping and
precoding procedures. Multiple antenna transmission for the
uplink was introduced within the release 10 version of the
3GPPspecifications

MULTIPLE ACCESS
 Multiple access techniques allow resources to be shared
between a group of users.
 A drawback of OFDMA is its relatively high Peak to Average
Power Ratio (PAPR), generated by summing large numbers of
subcarriers. High PAPR means that power amplifiers have to
operate with increased back-off to remain within the linear
section of theamplifier characteristic and to avoid clipping.
This leads to reduced efficiency of the amplifier.
 A drawback of OFDMA is its relatively high Peak to Average
Power Ratio (PAPR), generated by summing large numbers of
subcarriers. High PAPR means that power amplifiers have to
operate with increased back-off to remain within the linear section
of the amplifier characteristic and to avoid clipping. This leads to
reduced efficiency of the amplifier.
> Reduced power efficiency has an impact upon battery powered
handheld devices. 3GPP selected a different multiple access
schemefor the uplink of L TE to help avoid the negative impacts
upon power efficiency and battery life.
* The uplink of L TE uses a multiple access scheme known as
Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA)
* SC-FDM/, reduces the Peak to Average Power Ratio associated
with OFDMA but requires additional baseband processing. As
illustrated in Figure 130, SC-FDMA requires an FFT Precoding
stage prior to mapping the modulation symbols onto the set of
Resou,. .::e Elements
* Onc:e the FFT Precoding has been completed, the processing for
SC-FDMA is similar to that of OFDMA. The similarity with
Or'DMA allows the benefits of OFDMA to be retained, e.g. SC-
FDMA is also resilient to delay spread
* Both OFDMA and SC-FDMA are tolerant to delay spread
because their time domain symbols have relatively long durations.
The reduced impact of delay spread means that fading is flat in the
frequency domain and receiver equalization becomes simpler.

> This is in contrast to the downlink, in which case the allocated

Resource Blocks do not need to be contiguous.
> The release 10 version of the 3GPP specifications introduced
uplink resource allocation type I (described in section 9.5) which
can be used to allocate non-contiguous Resource Blocks. Allocating
non-contiguous Resource Blocks provides the eN ode B scheduler
with greater flexibility and increases the potential for a frequency
selective scheduling gain. The drawback of a non-contiguous
ResourceBlock allocation is an increase in the Peak to Average
Power Ratio which leads to reduced efficiency and a reduced
maximum transmit power.
> SC-FDMA is applied to the PUSCH physical channel but not to
the PRACH and PUCCH physical channels. Neither the PRACH
norPUCCH physical channels have FFT Precoding completed prior
to mapping onto Resource Elements.
>The PUSCH represents the main uplink physical channel so it is
reasonable to state that the uplink of L TE uses SC-FDMA.
* When using the release 8 and 9 versions of the 3GPP
specifications, the PUCCH physical channel is only transmitted if
the UE needs to transfer physical layer control information (HARQ
acknowledgements, CQI or a scheduling request) when there is
nothing else to transfer. Physical layer control information is
transferred on the PUSCH if there is also RRC signalling or
application data to transfer.This means that from the perspective of
a single UE, the PUCCH is time multiplexed with the PUSCH
* The release 8 and 9 versions of the 3GPP specifications do not
support simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and PUSCH to
avoid non-contiguous transmissions in the frequency domain (the
PUCCH is allocated Resource Blocks towards each edge of the
channel bandwidth, whereas the PUSCH is allocated Resource
Blocks towards the center of the channel bandwidth). Non-
contiguous transmissions in the frequency domain would result in
an increased Peak to Average Power Ratio
* The release 10 version of the specifications introduces support for
the simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and PUSCH, i.e. non-
contiguous transmissions in the frequency domain are allowed. This
is consistent with the introduction of uplink resource allocation type
1 which allows non-contiguous Resource Block allocations for the
PUSCH.

> MODULATION

* The PRACH is not associated with a modulation scheme because it

is only responsible for transmitting the random access preambles
which are represented by a sequence of complex numbers, i.e. there
are no binary information bits to modulate.
* PUCCH format 1 does not use a modulation scheme. Information is
transferred by the presence/absence of the PUCCH. When PUCCH
format 1 is present, a value of' 1' is provided as an input to generate
the complex sequence to be transmitted.
* PUCCH format la transfers a single BPSK symbol, while format lb
transfers a single QPSK symbol. The single modulation symbol is
provided as an input to generate the complex sequence to be
transmitted
* PUCCH formats 2, 2a and 2b transfer 10 QPSK symbols which are
channel coded prior to mapping onto Resource Elements.Format 2a
transfers an additional BPSK symbol, while format 2b transfers an
additional QPSK symbol.These additional symbols are used when
generating the PUCCH Demodulation Reference Signal.
* PUUCH format 3 was introduced within the release 10 version of
the 3GPP specifications to support the increased number of HARQ
acknowledgements associated with Carrier Aggregation. It allows the
transfer of24 QPSK symbols which are channel coded prior to
mapping onto Resource Elements.
* The PUSCH supports QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM. The modulation
scheme selected depends upon the RF channel conditions and the
quantity of data to be transferred.
* In the case of the PUSCH, the transmitter combines the FFT
Precoding function with the IFFT to generate the SC-FDMA symbols.
The PUSCH receiver combines the FFT function with IFFT Decoding
to extract the stream of modulation symbols. A cyclic prefix is
added at the transmitter and removed at the receiver.
* The transmitter includes a Power Amplifier (PA) to increase the
signal strength to a level which can be transmitted across the target
coverage area. The receiver includes a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) to
help improve the signal to noise ratio.

ANTENNA PORTS
* 3GPP uses the concept of 'antenna ports'. It is important to
differentiate between the concept of 'antenna ports' and physical
antenna elements. Antenna ports map onto physical antenna elements.
* Prior to the release 10 version of the 3GPP specifications, it was not
necessary to specify antenna ports in the uplink direction because
only single antenna port transmission was used.
* The release 10 version of the specifications requires multiple
antenna ports to provide support for:
> spatial multiplexing for the PUSCH (2x2 or 4x4 MIMO)
> transmit diversity for the PUCCH (dual antenna port).

TRANSMISSION MODES
* The release 8 and 9 versions ofthe 3GPP specifications do not
specify a set of uplink transmission modes because only single
antenna port transmission is supported
* The release 10 version of the specifications introduces
transmission modes 1 and 2 to differentiate between single
antenna port transmission and closed loop spatial multiplexing
* The eN ode B signals the uplink transmission mode to the UE
within an RRC Connection Setup, RRC Connection
Reconfiguration or RRC Connection Re-establishment message
* Transmission mode 2 allows dynamic switching between single
antenna port transmission and closed loop spatial multiplexing.
This switching can be completed without any RRC signalling.
> These are applicable when the UE is addressed by its C-RNTI.
Closed loop spatial multiplexing is not supported whenaddressing
the UE by an SPS-RNTI.
> The Search Space defines the set of PDCCH within which the
UE checks for a resource allocation. This avoids the UE having to
decode all PDCCH.
The Downlink Control Information (DCI) format defines the
structure and content of the resource allocation on the PDCCH.

> Transmission mode 1 provides support for single antenna port

transmission. DCI format 0 provides support for either
contiguous Resource Block allocations (resource allocation type 0)
or non-contiguous Resource Block allocations (resource allocation
type 1).Neither layer mapping nor precoding are applied at the
UE
* Transmission mode 2 provides support for both 2x2 and 4x4
closed loop spatial multiplexing. DCI format 4 provides support
for signalling the use of either 1 or 2 transport blocks. It also
provides support for signalling the number of layers and the
precoding to be applied by the UE. Similar to DCI format 0, DCI
format 4 provides support for either contiguous Resource Block
allocations (resource allocation type 0) or non-contiguous
Resource Block Allocations (resource allocation type 1
MULTI-USER MIMO
Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) refers to the eN ode B allocating
the same time and frequency resources to more than a single UE,
i.e.multiple UE are allocated the same Resource Blocks during the
same subframe. The general concept of uplink multi-user MIMO
is

* The general concept is similar to Single User MIMO (SU-

MIMO) except that each layer of transmission originates from a
different UE. Only a single transmit antenna is required at each
UE so there is no impact upon UE implementation complexity
* Uplink multi-user MIMO is transparent to the UE. None of the
UE are aware that any other UE has been allocated the same set
ofResource Blocks
* The network vendor is responsible for implementing
functionality for multi-user MIMO within the eN ode B:
o selecting the UE to share the same Resource Block allocation
o making the uplink resource allocations on the PDCCH
o separating and decoding the uplink transmissions from each UE
* Each multi-user MIMO UE is allocated a different cyclic shift
for its Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS). This cyclic shift
is allocated with the Resource Block allocation within either DCI
format 0 or DCI format 4
* The use of different cyclic shifts provides orthogonality between
the UE and helps the eN ode B to separate them. Larger cyclic
shiftsprovide greater orthogonality. Orthogonality is achieved
when each UE is allocated the same number of Resource Blocks.
Orthogonality is lost if each UE is allocated a different number of
Resource Blocks. This constraint reduces the flexibility of
Resource Block scheduling
* The release 8 and 9 versions of the 3GPP specifications defme
only a cyclic shift to differentiate between Demodulation
Reference Signals. The release 10 version ofthe specifications
introduces the use of an Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) to allow
an additional dimension of differentiation. The OCC allows
orthogonality to be maintained when multi-user MIMO UE are
allocated different numbers of Resource Blocks.

LTEADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES
* LTE Advanced has an objective to increase the peak uplink
spectrum efficiency to 15 bps/Hz. Carrier Aggregation has limited
impact upon spectrum efficiency because increased throughputs
are achieved by increasing the bandwidth. Multiple antenna
transmission technologies allow the throughput to increase
without increasing the bandwidth
* The release 8 and 9 versions of the 3GPP specifications do not
support spatial multiplexing in the uplink.
* The release 10 version of the 3GPP specifications introduces the
concept of transmission modes for the uplink. Transmission mode
2 is introduced to support the requirements of multiple antenna
transmission for L TE Advanced. Transmission mode 2 supports:
> spatial multiplexing with 4 layers of parallel data transfer
which allows a single UE to benefit from 4x4 MIMO. Antenna
ports 40,41, 42 and 43 are used to transfer these 4 layers
> spatial multiplexing with 2layers of parallel data transfer which
allows a single UE to benefit from 2x2 MIMO. Antenna ports 20
and 21 are used to transfer these 2 layers
> dynamic switching between single antenna port transmission
and either 4x4 MIMO or 2x2 MIMO. This switching can be
completed without any RRC signalling.
* The introduction of spatial multiplexing in the uplink direction
generates the requirement for Demodulation Reference Signals
(DM-RS) for each transmission layer
>Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) for each antenna port
* DM-RS are generated for each transmission layer. The UE
applies the same precoding to both the DM-RS and the PUSCH to
generate the signals to transmit from each antenna port. The eN
ode B can then use the DM-RS to estimate the channel response
associated with each layer and consequently help to decode the
uplink data
* The DM-RS belonging to each layer is differentiated by its
cyclic shift. Orthogonal Covering Codes (OCC) can also be
applied to provide additional differentiation.
* The release 8 and 9 versions of the 3GPP specifications are
limited to SRS transmission using a single antenna port. 4x4
MIMO
requires transmission of the SRS on 4 antenna ports. Likewise,
2x2 MIMO requires transmission of the SRS on 2 antenna ports.
The
release 10 version of the specifications allows the SRS to be
transmitted on the same antenna ports as the PUSCH
* Triggering SRS transmission is also made more flexible in the
release 10 version of the specifications. Rather than relying upon
configuring SRS transmissions with RRC signalling, the release
10 version of the specifications also allows SRS transmissions to
be triggered using flags within Downlink Control Information
(DCI)
o trigger type 0: SRS transmission triggered by RRC signalling
configuration
o trigger type 1: SRS transmissions triggered by a DCI flag
* The following DCI provide support for SRS transmissions using
trigger type 1:
o DCI Format 0: single bit flag
o DCI Format 1A: single bit flag
o DCI Format 2B: single bit flag for TDD only
o DCI Format 2C: single bit flag for TDD only
o DCI Format 4: 2 bits used to select between SRS parameter sets
configured by RRC signalling.
* Uplink Multi-User MIMO is enhanced by the release 10 version
of the specifications by defining Orthogonal Cover Codes (OCC)
as an additional method to differentiate between the uplink DM-
RS transmitted by each co-scheduled UE. These OCC allow the
DM-RS to remain orthogonal when different but overlapping
bandwidths are allocated to each UE. The release 8 and 9 versions
of the specifications define cyclic shifts to differentiate between
DM-RS. These only remain orthogonal when equal bandwidths
are allocated to each of the co-scheduled UE
CLOSED LOOP SPATIAL MULTIPLEXING