 The air interface is named Uu interface, where U means User to Network interface and u

means universal.

 Multiple bandwidth configurations from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz are supported.

 E-UTRAN (Evolved-Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network)

 The UE communicates with the EUTRAN over the air interface. Data exchanged between
them can be classified into two types: user-plane data and control-plane data.

 User-plane data is the user service data, such as data flows for internet access, and
multimedia data packets for such services as voice and video services.

 Control-plane data refers to RRC messages, such as the access, handover, broadcast,
and paging messages, through which the radio access network (RAN) can exert
effective control on the UEs.

User plane

User service data

RRC control message

UE eNodeB

Control plane
 The overall air interface consists of three layers, where Layer 1 and Layer 2 provide services for Layer
3.
 Layer 3 carries final information to be exchanged over the air interface, including RRC signaling and
service data, and implements some important radio management functions, such as handover,
access, and security negotiation.
 Layer 2 marks and distinguishes Layer 3 data and applies different processing mechanism and
resource allocation mechanism to ensure high quality.
 On the control plane, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) is responsible for
encryption/decryption and integrity check of RRC and NAS signaling. On the user plane,
PDCP performs only encryption/decryption, but not integrity check. In addition, in order to
improve air-interface efficiency, the PDCP layer performs header compression on the user-
plane IP data packets.
 Radio Link Control (RLC) provides the radio link control function. The RLC layer performs size
adaptation for upper-layer data packets and ensures reliable transmission by using the
acknowledged mode (AM). There are three transmission modes at the RLC layer: transparent
transmission (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and AM. They apply to different services.
The RLC layer also provides the segmentation, cascading, and reassembly function.
 The Medium Access Control (MAC) layer is responsible for allocating, and scheduling radio
resources, that is, coordinating limited radio resources. Based on requirements of the upper
layer (RLC) and available resources of the lower layer (physical layer), the MAC adaptively
allocates resources.
 Layer 1 provides physical resources and physical processing (such as modulation and coding, and
OFDM) for upper-layer data.
 FDD requires two center frequencies, one in the uplink and the other in the downlink.
Each uplink and downlink carrier frequencies are assigned one E-UTRA Absolute Radio
Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN). In TDD, one EARFCN is assigned.

 For all frequency bands, the channel frequency grids for eLTE are 100 kHz. Therefore, the
center frequency must be an integer multiple of 100 kHz, as represented by 0.1 in the
equation.

 Use the equation shown in the preceding figure and values given in the following table to
calculate the EARFCN.

E-UTRA Downlink Uplink

Operating
Band F DL_low (MHz) NOffs-DL F UL_low (MHz) NOffs-UL
1 2110 0 1920 18000
17 734 5730 704 23730
20 791 6150 832 24150
60 380 18360 380 18360
61 1437 64436 1437 64436
62 1785 64736 1785 64736
40 2300 38650 2300 38650
42 3400 41590 3400 41590
43 3600 43590 3600 43590
 Usually, the uplink carriers operate at relatively low frequency bands. This is because high-
frequency signals experience larger attenuation than low-frequency signals. By doing so,
UEs can adopt low transmit power, thereby reducing complexity and costs of UEs.
 The eLTE system can be designed to work in the two duplex modes: FDD and TDD.
 Multiplexing (DM): essentially a modulation technology used to multiplex several data, no
matter whether the multiplexed data is used for multiple users or a user

 Multiple access (DMA): used to distinguish different users in the system

Time
Code Time Code
Data stream 2

Data stream 10
Data stream 11
Data stream 12
Data stream 1

Data stream 4
Data stream 3

Data stream 5
Data stream 6
Data stream 7
Data stream 8
Data stream 9

User 10
User 11
User 12
User 1
User 2
User 3
User 4
User 5
User 6
User 7
User 8
User 9

Frequency Frequency
OFDM OFDMA
 Used to distinguish different users in the system, multiple access techniques include
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code
Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and orthogonal frequency division multiple access
(OFDMA).

 FDMA: used by the first-generation mobile communication system, frequency-based

user differentiation, easy to implement, but limited system capacity due to limited
frequency resources.

 TDMA: divides resources in the frequency domain (based on FDMA) and then in the
time domain, thereby increasing system capacity and improving the spectral
efficiency.

 CDMA: distinguishes users by code to improve the system capacity. The

disadvantage is that it is an interference-limited system that requires high anti-
interference performance.

 OFDMA: based on time-frequency resources, no interval between orthogonal

subcarriers in the frequency domain, high spectral efficiency.
 Traditional FDM requires a wide guard band between adjacent subcarriers, leading to low
spectral efficiency.
 Based on FDM, OFDM is essentially a frequency division system, but it uses fast Fourier
transformation (FFT) to allow subcarriers to be mutually orthogonal and overlapped.

 OFDM can use inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) for modulation.

 IFFT generates a waveform at the transmit end. Before modulation and processing
by IFFT, encoded data is first mapped to concurrent streams.

Subcarrier
modulation Inverse fast
Fourier
transform

Code bit Serial

to IFFT RF
Parallel

Complex
wave form
 With traditional frequency division multiple access, the frequency band is divided into
several irrelevant subbands to transmit data streams in parallel, and a group of filters is
used at the receive end to separate subchannels. The advantage of this method is that it is
simple and direct. The disadvantages include low spectral efficiency because sufficient
guard bands must be reserved between subchannels, and difficulty in deploying multiple
filters.

 Orthogonality of subcarriers in the OFDM system allows spectrum overlapping of

subchannels. Compared with a conventional frequency reuse system, OFDM can maximize
the use of spectrum resources.
 In FDD mode, in the length of a radio frame, 10 subframes are used for downlink
transmission and 10 subframes for uplink transmission simultaneously. The uplink and
downlink transmissions are separate from each other in the frequency domain.
 The radio frame structure type 2 is used for TDD. Each frame has a length of 10 ms and is
made of total 20 timeslots, each of 0.5 ms. A subframe consists of two consecutive
timeslots and has a length of 1 ms.

 TDD introduces the concept of special subframe. A special subframe carries downlink pilot
timeslot (DwPTS), guard period (GP), and uplink timeslot (UpPTS). The length of each part
can be configured, but the total length is fixed at 1 ms.
 In TDD mode, uplink and downlink share 10 subframes. The subframes switch between
uplink and downlink at an interval of 5 ms or 10 ms, but subframes 0 and 5 must be
allocated to the downlink. This is because the two subframes contain the primary
synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and subframe 0
also contains the broadcast information.

 TDD supports multiple uplink-downlink subframe configurations, as shown in the

preceding table. In configurations 0, 1, 2, and 6, a subframe switches between uplink and
downlink at an interval of 5 ms, and therefore two special subframes must be configured.
In configurations 3, 4, and 5, the interval is 10 ms. Letter D in the table indicates a
subframe for downlink transmission, U indicates a subframe for uplink transmission, and S
represents a special subframe. A special subframe S carries three fields: DwPTS, GP, and
UpPTS.

 The uplink-downlink subframe configuration can be adjusted based on different service

categories to meet the requirements of uplink-downlink asymmetric services and
maximally increase the spectral efficiency.

 In order to save the network overhead, DwPTS can be used to carry the PCFICH, PDCCH,
PHICH, PDSCH, and P-SCH. UpPTS can be used to carry the Sounding RS and PRACH
preambles.
 A special subframe carries downlink pilot timeslot (DwPTS), guard period (GP), and uplink
timeslot (UpPTS). The length of each part can be configured, but the total length is fixed at
1 ms.

 DwPTS can be considered as a special downlink subframe with 3–12 symbols. It can
be used to transmit downlink data and signaling.

 The length of the UpPTS can be two symbols used for short-RACH or SRS or one
symbol used for SRS only. UpPTS does not send any control signaling or data.

 GP is used to mitigate interference between adjacent eNodeBs. Specifically, GP

prevents the delayed arrival of downlink signals of a remote eNodeB (A) from
interfering with uplink signals of a local eNodeB (B).

 There is transmission delay from A to B over a long distance. When the transmission delay
is greater than GP, downlink signals of A arrive at the same time as the uplink reception of
B, which causes interference to the uplink reception of B.
 In TDD, subframes switch between uplink and downlink at an interval carried in the special
subframe. A special subframe consists of three fields: DwPTS, GP, and UpPTS, with a total
length of 1 ms.

 The DwPTS has the same function as downlink subframes. It transmits downlink
signals and carries data of the upper layer. A DwPTS consists of 3 to 12 orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals, depending on the special subframe
configuration.

 The UpPTS transmits uplink signals and can be used as a random access channel or
transmit sounding reference signals (SRSs). The UpPTS cannot carry data of the
upper layer. An UpPTS consists of one or two OFDM signals, depending on the
special subframe configuration.

 The length of a GP depends on the transmitter transient period (TTP) and the round-
trip delay (RTD). The required GP depends on the coverage distance. A larger GP
indicates a larger cell radius supported.

 Based on the above factors, select different special subframe configurations based on
network requirements.
 In the time domain, eLTE needs to overcome delay spread, that is multipath interference.

 Delayed signals cause inter-symbol interference (ISI) to the primary path. The OFDM
system adopts cyclic prefix (CP) to avoid this problem.
 In the OFDM system, a guard interval or CP is added between OFDM symbols, thereby
eliminating inter-symbol interference (ISI) caused by multipath effects. CP can effectively
resist multipath effects on the prerequisite that the multipath delay is within the range of
the CP.

 During system design, the CP length must be greater than the maximum delay spread of
multipath channels. However, if the CP is extremely large, system resources are occupied,
increasing system overheads and affecting the system capacity.
 The eLTE system has two types of cyclic prefixes: normal CP and extended CP. They are
distinguished by timeslot format. The preceding figure shows one timeslot of 7 OFDM
symbols and another of 6 OFDM symbols.
 The timeslot with the extended CP requires fewer symbols, thereby reducing the symbol
rate, that is, reducing the system throughput. An extended CP is used in long-distance
coverage scenarios.
 An RB is the basic unit of scheduling. Scheduling cannot be performed on a per subcarrier
basis.

 The number of subcarriers varies with carrier bandwidth.

 A 20 MHz bandwidth spans 1200 subcarriers, that is 100 RBs.

 A 15 MHz bandwidth spans 900 subcarriers, that is 75 RBs.

 A 10 MHz bandwidth spans 600 subcarriers, that is 50 RBs.

 A 5 MHz bandwidth spans 300 subcarriers, that is 25 RBs.

 A 3 MHz bandwidth spans 120 subcarriers, that is 15 RBs.

 A 1.4 MHz bandwidth includes 72 subcarriers, that is 6 RBs.

 eLTE physical resources are defined in two dimensions: time domain and frequency
domain. Therefore, the concept of physical resource block (PRB) arises: Each PRB consists
of 12 consecutive subcarriers, and occupies one timeslot of 0.5 ms.

 NRB indicates the total number of RBs, which depends on the configured channel
bandwidth. Each RB includes 12 subcarriers.

 PRBs are used for resource allocation. Each PRB includes 6 or 7 symbols, depending on
whether normal or extended CP is in use.

 In addition, given that some physical control channels and indicator channels as well as
some physical signals only occupy few resources, eLTE also defines concept of resource
element (RE). RE refers to one symbol period on one subcarrier. RE can be used to carry
modulation information and reference information.
 After being processed at the RLC layer in the downlink, different types of data are carried
on different logical channels.

 After data arrives at the MAC layer over logical channels, different transmission formats
are assigned. Each transmission format is defined as a transport channel.

 Physical resource division is relatively fixed. Physical resources (eLTE time-frequency

resources) are divided into different physical channels in accordance with 3GPP
specifications.
 Located between the RLC layer and the MAC layer, logical channels are categorized into
control logical channels and service logic channels.

 Control logical channels include the following types:

 Broadcast control channel (BCCH): downlink channel on which the eNodeB sends
system information.

 Paging control channel (PCCH): downlink channel on which the eNodeB sends
paging information.

 Common control channel (CCCH): used for establishing a Radio Resource Control
(RRC) connection.

 Dedicated control channel (DCCH): bi-directional channel carrying signaling radio

bearer (SRB) information.

 The service logical channel is Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH), a bidirectional channel
that carries dedicated radio bearer (DRB) information, that is, IP data packets.
 eLTE transport channels are categorized as common channels and shared channels.

 Broadcast channel (BCH): carries Master Information Block (MIB) in system

information. The BCH has a fix format. Each frame has one BCH.

 Paging channel (PCH): carries the PCCH, that is, paging messages. The PCH uses
discontinuous reception (DRX) to prolong the battery standby time.

 Random access channel (RACH): completes the conflict resolution process jointly
with the physical channel and preamble information.

 Downlink shared channel (DL-SCH): the main channel that carries downlink data and
signaling.

 Uplink shared channel (UL-SCH): the main channel that carries uplink data and
signaling.
 Uplink Physical channel Function
Physical random access
PRACH Carries user random access requests.
channel
Physical uplink control Carries control signaling such as HARQ ACKs, CQI
PUCCH
channel ACKs, and scheduling request indication.
Physical uplink shared
PUSCH Carries uplink user data.
data channel
Demodulation reference Used for uplink data demodulation and time-
DMRS
signal frequency synchronization.
Sounding reference Used for uplink channel measurement and time-
SRS
signal frequency synchronization.
 Receive diversity allows the receiver to receive signals by using multiple antennas. With
receive diversity, the UE uses one transmit antenna to transmit signals, the eNodeB uses
multiple antennas to receive signals and combines the signals, maximizing the SINR and
obtaining diversity gains.

 Transmit diversity uses multiple antennas to transmit the same signals. Two transmitters
send the same data streams, improving the anti-fading robustness and the SINR
performance.

 MIMO is a mode in which both the transmitter and the receiver use multiple antennas.

 MIMO uses multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver. It is usually
referred to as MxN MIMO, which uses M transmit (TX) antennas and N receive (RX)
antennas.

 By adopting specific signal processing techniques, MIMO improves radio link

reliability and signal quality.
 In spatial multiplexing mode, the number of spatial channels is greater than that in single-
antenna mode, thereby increasing system capacity and bringing multiplexing gains.
 The radio channel from the transmitter to the receiver may experience time-varying deep
fading of 10–20 dB due to its fading characteristics, which will lead to SINR fluctuations at
the receiver.

 If the receiver uses multiple antennas for data reception, the combined signals
experience a lower probability of deep fading than the signals received by a single
antenna.

 Using multiple antennas to transmit the same data can improve the receive signal
quality when the signal strength is weak.