Channel Element at R99 - HSDPA - HSUPA

9/21/21, 8:34 AM Channel Element at R99/HSDPA/HSUPA
Mohamed Abdel Monem
Channel Element at R99/HSDPA/HSUPA

Mohamed Abdel Monem
5G & Open RAN Researcher and Trainer, Telecom Industry Analyst,
Technical Telecom Strategy, 5G RAN, Open RAN, Training & Development, + Follow
Technical…
Published Dec 5, 2016
Channel Element
Channel Element (CE) describes the SW licensed capacity resources required for a
dedicated channel (DCH or E-DCH). The number of channel elements required in a
RBS is based on the traffic type, and is dependent on the radio bearers to be used, as
well as on the number of simultaneous users for each specific radio bearer.
Hardware
Each time a dedicated channel is allocated, channel elements will be consumed in UL

and DL. The consumption can be described as a cost, and depends on the type of radio
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bearer for the dedicated channel. The channel element cost can be expressed with
Mohamed Abdel Monem
weighting factors for the various radio bearers.
If there is an insufficient amount of channel elements available, blocking might occur.

If possible, to avoid blocking, a best effort user will be switched down to a lower rate
to make channel elements available for the requested dedicated channel.
Channel Element (CE) Resource
CE resources are a type of NodeB hardware resource. The number of CEs supported

by single NodeB indicates the channel demodulation capabilities resource of the
NodeB. The more CEs a NodeB supports, the more powerful the channel demodulation
and service processing capabilities for serving the customers. Services at different rates
require different numbers of CEs to ensure proper channel demodulation.
In a RAN, CE resources are managed by both the RNC and NodeB. The NodeB reports
its CE capacity to the RNC. The RNC determines whether to admit a new service
based on the number of CEs that need to be consumed and controls CE resources
during CE congestion. This ensures the proper use of CE resources. The NodeB
dynamically manages CE resources and rapidly adjusts the number of CEs that can be
consumed based on the actual service rate. This increases CE resource usage.
Mohamed Abdel Monem
Basic Channel Element Concepts
CE is a basic unit that measures the channel demodulation capabilities of a NodeB.

CEs are classified into uplink (UL) CEs and downlink (DL) CEs.
One UL CE needs to be consumed by a UL 12.2 kbit/s voice service (SF = 64) plus 3.
kbit/s signaling.
One DL CE needs to be consumed by a DL 12.2 kbit/s voice service (SF = 128) plus
3.4 kbit/s signaling.
If only 3.4 kbit/s signaling traffic is carried on a DCH or HSPA channel, one CE still
needs to be consumed. The number of CEs that need to be consumed by services of
other types can be calculated by analogy.
The number of UL and DL CEs supported by a NodeB is determined by the NodeB

Mohamed Abdel Monem
hardware capabilities and the licensed CE capacity. The number of UL
and DL CEs supported by the NodeB hardware is called the physical CE capacity.
The licensed CE capacity may differ from the physical CE capacity. The smaller
determines the number of CEs that can be used by an operator.
CE is a concept of the NodeB side. On the RNC side, it is called NodeB credit. The
RNC performs admission and congestion control based on the NodeB credit. In the
UL, the number of Node credit resources is twice that of CEs. In the DL, the number of
NodeB credit resources equals that of CEs.
Rules for Calculating CE Consumption
The RNC determines the number of CEs required for a service based on the SF that
matches the service rate. When an RAB connection is set up or released for a service,
CE resources must be allocated or taken back and the number of CEs must be deducted
or added accordingly. Different rules for calculating CE resource consumption apply to
channels or services of different types.
CE resources reserved by the NodeB for common and HSDPA channels are shown in
gray.
CE resources that need to be consumed by R99 and HSUPA services are shown in
pink.
Mohamed Abdel Monem
Common Channels CE Consumption
CE resources required on the UL and DL common channels are reserved by the

NodeB. Therefore, they do not occupy the licensed CE capacity. These CEs do not
need to be considered in the calculation of CE consumption.
HSDPA Channels CE Consumption
Similarly, the NodeB reserves CE resources for the high-speed downlink shared
channel (HS-DSCH) and the related control channels if HSDPA is used. These CEs
also do not need to be considered in the calculation of CE consumption.
Note that the signaling of an HSDPA UE that is not performing an R99 service
occupies one DCH and needs to consume one DL CE. If the SRB over HSDPA
function is enabled, the signaling of an HSDPA service does not consume additional
CE resources. For an HSDPA UE that is performing an R99 service, its signaling and
the R99 service occupy the same DCH. Therefore, only the CEs consumed on R99
traffic channels need to be calculated.
Traffic on the HS-DSCH will not consume channel elements. However, every HSDPA
connection will require A-DCHs for UL/DL signaling and UL traffic. A‑DCHs are
dedicated channels, which consume channel elements. Dimensioning of DL resources

Mohamed Abdel Monem
for A-DCH is not needed since DL A-DCHs do not consume resources from the
normal pool of SW licensed channel elements. However, resources for UL A-DCH
have to be considered since they consume channels elements from the normal SW
licensed pool.
R99 Service CE Consumption
For an R99 service, the RNC determines the number of CEs and NodeB credit
resources that need to be consumed based on the SF that matches the maximum bit rate
(MBR) of the service.
Enhanced Uplink (EUL)
Mohamed Abdel Monem
EUL can only be used for connections that use HS-DSCH in the DL. Each admitted
EUL user will carry traffic and signaling on an E-DCH. Similar to HSDPA, the E-DCH
user has one serving cell. The E-DCH serving cell is always equal to the HS-DSCH
serving cell for the connection. If the terminal is in soft or softer handover there is
always at least one non-serving E-DCH cell.
E-DCH users consume channel elements from the SW licensed CE pool, but the
resources for E-DCH are handled in a different way compared to A-DCH and DCH.
The resources for E-DCH are controlled by the EUL scheduler located in the RBS and
resources for A-DCH and DCH are controlled by the RNC.
Each admitted E-DCH user will have a minimum amount of channel elements
allocated. The minimum amount of channel elements depends on licensing.Those
channel elements are reserved to the E-DCH user as long as the user is active in the
cell. The minimum channel element allocation can be used for non-scheduled data
(signaling) and scheduled data to a certain rate (user data). The channel elements
represented by the minimum CE allocation are guaranteed and are not affected by
Mohamed Abdel Monem
Enhanced Soft Congestion or re-scheduling in the RBS. As a result, an admitted E-
DCH user has the possibility to reach a minimum rate supported by the minimum CE
allocation.
If an E-DCH user requests rates higher than the rates supported by the minimum CE
allocation, additional channel elements will be needed. These are handled by the EUL
scheduler only and are not seen by the Admission Control function. The EUL
scheduler will grant an E-DCH user a higher rate if it is possible to allocate more CEs
in addition to the other two required UL resource types (air interface interference and
Iub bandwidth [2]). The additional CEs for an E-DCH user might be affected by
Enhanced Soft Congestion or re-scheduling in the RBS.
If the minimum amount of channel elements is not available at the E-DCH

establishment attempt it will not be possible to admit a new E-DCH user.
Notes
It is not necessary to dimension for common channels, since common channels do not
consume channel elements.
Allocation of channel elements due to compressed mode has not been considered, since
there is no additional channel element cost for connections in compressed mode.
This article is based on search at different documents for different vendors and 3GPP
TS 36.213.
For more articles, you can visit my blog and for video tutorial
153 ·
24 Comments
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Mohamed Abdel Monem

Ahmed ayenew
2y
AhmedThank you sir for your sharing. Is there any possibility to forcast CE consumption of a NodeB?
ayenew
Like
Reply
Ashish Shrivastava
3y
Ashish
Good description of Channel Element resource concept. Do you know similar hardware re‐
Shrivastava
source concept in LTE's eNodeB?
Like
Reply
Mohammed Amer
3y
Mohammed
I've found this article through google, then noticed that it's written by you, well done :)
Amer Like
Reply
1 Like
Mohamed Abdel Monem
3y
Mohamed
You’re welcome any time :))))
AbdelLike
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Monem
Debashis Dalai
3y
Debashis
Thank you Mahamed! You have helped me clear many of my doubts! Thanks again! God Bless
Dalai you!
Like
Reply
1 Like
Mohamed Abdel Monem
3y
Mohamed
Welcome ;)
AbdelLike
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Monem
Mohamed Abdel Monem
3y
Mohamed
Welcome ;)
AbdelLike
Reply
Monem
Muhammad Nur
4y
Muhammad
Very Helpfull document....
Nur Like
Reply
1 Like
Mohamed Abdel Monem
4y
Mohamed
Thanks mohamed :)
AbdelLike
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Monem
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9/21/21, 8:34 AM Channel Element at R99/HSDPA/HSUPA

Mohamed Abdel Monem