5G RAN Optimization

5G RAN OPTIMIZATION
WWW.APISTRAINING.COM
June 14, 2022 Copyright @ MCNS – services (mcns5g.com) 1
Course content
1. 5G NR Review
2. 5G NSA Dual Connectivity Optimization
3. 5G Accessibility Optimization
4. 5G Retainability Optimization
5. 5G Throughput performance Optimization

1. 5G NR Review

Most Common 5G NR Architectures
3GPP Option 3
(Non Stand Alone - NSA)
EPC
NSA Optimization is related to NSA SN

B B addition/release, mobility and throughput
eNB gNB
LTE Cell 5G NR Cell

Most Common 5G NR Architectures
3GPP Option 2
(Stand Alone - SA)
5GC
SA Optimization is related to Accessibility,

retainability, Throughput and mobility
B
gNB
5G NR Cell

Beamforming 5G Design
• LTE used CRS for all control channels
– range was limited since beam forming was not possible
Range of Data and

Range of Data Control Channels
Channels
Range of Control Major impact
Channels
 beam sweeping of
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sync signal and
broadcast channel
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 beam forming for

random access
 closed loop
beamforming for
PDCCH control
• 5G uses beamforming for all channels (also control)

• use of dedicated (and pre-coded) reference symbols
• improved quality and link adaptation if channel is known
• hierarchical beam access and tracking, on demand system information
• TDD centric design with new measurement and feedback mechanisms

Beam Management
• Beam
– Rel.15 UE can only receive a single beam at a time
– Identified by a beam identity
Other
– Beam specific reference signals individual
beams
• Serving set of beams
–
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Configured for the UE X
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Set mobility is handled by MAC X
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– Also used for mobility measurements Serving set

of beams
• Serving cell
– Identified by a cell identity
– UE can differentiate beams from different cells
– UE mobility between cells is handled by RRM

Beam Sweeping
• Full coverage required without closed loop beamforming
• Analog beam forming transmits one beam at a time

– Beam sweeping required for control channels
– Sync. signal, broadcast channel, random access, paging etc. Range of Data and
Control Channels
• UE may also support beam forming as well in future

 the best beam combination needs to be found X
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Transmission of uplink sounding signals from different beams X

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5G Beam Configurations
• Flexible configurations of beam number and widths
Broad beams (< 3 GHz)

 Self-decodable repetitions
 NR PBCH has default periodicity 20 ms
 LTE PBCH has 4 repetitions in 80 ms
Few beams (3 - 6 GHz)

 Transmission bursts (set of beams
with different directions)
 Repetition of bursts
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Many narrow beams (6- 52.6 GHz) X

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 Subset of the beams per set

 Repetition of multiple burst sets

UE Beam Selection
1. UE receives sync signal of one of multiple DL beams
– Beam selection for RACH based on best the downlink beam
2. RACH resource for linked to specific DL beams
– TDD system with channel reciprocity uses the same DL beam
– RACH optionally repeated using multiple uplink beams
3. UE specific beam forming based on measurements
– Beam refinement once data transmission starts
– Fast and transparent beam switching at PHY/MAC
PSS/SSS/PBCH
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RACH X X X X X X X X
CSI-RS
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SRS

NR Flexible TDD Slot Formats
 Flexible allocation within slot !
 symbol wise UL / DL allocation
 very dynamic adaptation possible
 NEW: Slot Format Indicator
signaling via PDCCH control
 All kind of configurations incl.
 downlink only D
 uplink only U
 flexible symbol X
 Allows for many configurations

 FDD, TDD and half-duplex
 UL/DL switching on subframe,
slot or even symbols level
 support regulatory requirements
 reserve resources for other use
 override periodic transmissions

TDD Configurations
• Slot or subframe based TDD switching possible
– incl. slots/subframes for switching
...
...
• Switching time could be optimized on symbol level
– saves resources and minimizes TDD guard period
Time
• Static RRC configuration or dynamic slot format indicator

TDD configurations
Bi-directional Slots Supported
• Bi-directional transmission within slot possible
– Very accurate adaptation to instantaneous UL/DL traffic
– Allows fast transmission of signalling information (e.g. HARQ)
– Leverage TDD channel reciprocity for beam forming
• Example: eMBB downlink traffic with beam forming
– slower or faster switching between up- and downlink
• switching ones per slot
• switching twice per slot
• Combination of slot formats also possible

• switching by a new dynamic slot format indicator at PHY

LTE Reference Numerology
 Reuse of LTE numerology as reference numerology
– 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, 1 ms subframe size with 14 symbols
 Backwards compatibility improves coexistence and implementation

– speeds up cell search, single clock implementation, common synchronization
Radio Frame 10 ms
Subframe 1 ms
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
First half Second half

subframe subframe
0 1

5G NR Scalable Numerology
• General agreement
– subcarrier spacing is based on 15 kHz * 2
– configurable scaling factor  {0, 1, ..., 5}
Reference
Numerology
= 0 1 2 3 4
Subcarrier spacing [kHz] 15 30 60 120 240
– With an increase in subcarrier spacing the symbol size decreases

5G NR Flexible Subframe Structure
Radio Frame 10 ms
Subframe 1 ms Fixed Size
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
LTE
Slot Subframes = {1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32} Slots
0 1 2 3
Symbol Slot = 14 Symbols

Size depends
on subcarrier
spacing
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Numerologies Overview
– Normal cyclic prefix
= 0 1 2 3 4
Subcarrier Spacing [kHz] 15 30 60 120 240
Symbol Duration [s] 66.7 33.3 16.6 8.33 4.17
Cyclic Prefix Length [s] 4.7 2.41 1.205 0.60 0.30
Max. Carrier Bandwidth [MHz] 49.5 99 198 396 -
Slot Size = TTI [Symbols] 14 14 14 14 -
Slot Size = TTI [ms] 1 0.5 0.25 0.125 -
Slots per ms Subframe 1 2 4 8 16
 240 kHz SCS used only for

synchronisation signal
 all numerologies require FFT
size of 4.096
Source: 3GPP TS38.211

5G NR Scalable Numerology details

Example Deployment Scenarios
Outdoor and Subcarrier Spacing
macro coverage e.g. 15 KHz
FDD/TDD < 3 GHz ...
Bandwidth
e.g. 1, 5, 10, 20 MHz
Subcarrier Spacing
Outdoor and e.g. 30 KHz
small cell ...
TDD > 3 GHz Bandwidth
e.g. 80, 100 MHz
Subcarrier Spacing
Indoor e.g. 60 KHz
wideband ...
TDD e.g. 5 GHz Bandwidth
Unlicensed e.g. 160 MHz
Subcarrier Spacing
mmWave e.g. 120 KHz
...
e.g. TDD 28 GHz Bandwidth Source: Qualcomm „Making 5G NR a reality“
e.g. 400 MHz CTIA 5G Technology Workshop, Sept 2016
19
NR Physical Layer Design
Bandwidths and Resource Blocks

5G Flexible Transmission Bandwidths
• Maximum transmission bandwidths (TS38.101)
– Frequency range 1
100
SCS 5MHz 10MHz 15MHz 20 MHz 25 MHz 30 MHz 40 MHz 50MHz 60 MHz 80 MHz
MHz
(kHz)
NRB NRB NRB NRB NRB NRB NRB NRB NRB NRB NRB
15 25 52 79 106 133 160 216 270 N/A N/A N/A
30 11 24 38 51 65 78 106 133 162 217 273
60 N/A 11 18 24 31 38 51 65 79 107 135
– Frequency range 2 SCS (kHz) 50MHz 100MHz 200MHz 400 MHz
NRB NRB NRB NRB
•
60 66 132 264 N.A
Observations 120 32 66 132 264
– Larger sub-carrier spacing  less PRBs ... clear
– Number of PRBs somewhat larger than in LTE
• better filtering techniques, allow narrow band systems in the guardband
– Larger bandwidth  increased utilization (more PRBs/MHz)
• 11PRBs *12 SCs * 30 kHz SCS  79.2% of 5MHz up to 98.3% (100MHz)

2. 5G NSA Dual Connectivity

NSA Functionality
• Terminal connected to NR and LTE layers
LTE anchor carrier NR extension carrier

 low rate/high reliability  “high rate/low reliability
 LTE backwards compatible  limited to NR terminals
 system information, RRC  mostly data (limited overhead)
signaling and always on and possible on/off switching
 robust mobility/fall back carrier (power and interference saving)
 local access assistance 1. macro extension with critical
information for measurements uplink coverage
 traditional network planning 2. small cell coverage layer
 central backhaul link w/wo local user plane breakout
System Information System Information
Zzz..

Dual Connectivity Details
• Master Node and Secondary Node defined
– a dual connectivity UE is connected to one MgNB and one SgNB
• Carrier Aggregation possible at both sites

– Master Cell Group (MCG) – group of serving cells at MeNB
– Secondary Cell Group (SCG) – group of serving cells at SeNB
Master Secondary
eNB eNB
Master Secondary
Cell Cell
Group Group

EN-DC split Bearer establishment
» A suitable EN-DC band combination can be selected (depends on UE capabilities and NW
configuration licenses):
Compulsory: X2 connection is established to a neighboring gNB supporting the target NR band
and neighboring NR cells are defined for this gNB.
NW band support: Dual UL Tx is possible on both LTE Pcell anchor band and the target NR
band
UE band support: UE supports simultaneous Rx and Tx transmission for the band combination
NR DRB Setup
Initial Context Setup
(NR coverage-event B1)
MN terminated SN terminated
MCG DRB Split DRB
Operator based split bearer configuration:

User plane Downlink: successful NR Random Access + NR DRB setup
User plane Uplink: operator configuration for LTE only or NR only
- This depends on vendor implementation and parameters
EN-DC split Bearer release
MCG DRB Split DRB
NR DRB Release
Release to Idle mode
(leaving NR coverage)
— NR DRB Release
— Mostly triggered by
— NR Radio Link Failure,
— NR manual or auto Cell locking,
— LTE based handover

EN-DC split Bearer release, con’t
SN terminated
Split DRB Release to Idle mode
— NR Release to Idle mode

– UE is released to IDLE mode
– Resources for the Split DRB in the eNB and the gNB are released

EN-DC Call Setup
Step 1 EN-DC call setup:
- Initial Context Setup  DRBs are setup as a MN terminated
MCG DRB.
— Important: EN-DC specific UE capabilities are either
fetched or received from core network
UE MeNB SgNB EPC
Step 2 EN-DC call setup:
- DRB split bearer reconfiguration is decided (NR DRB):
— If B1 measurement is started (operator configuration Initial Context Setup
measurement based stup) and B1 measurement • Fetch EN-DC specific UE
report is reported to LTE capabilities
• Start B1 measurements (optional)
or
— after Initial Context Setup procedure is completed with B1 Measurement Report
blind reconfiguration (configuration based setup)
Step 3 EN-DC call setup: NR DRB reconfiguration (eNB to gNB)
- The LTE DRB bearer is reconfigured to an EN-DC Split bearer
and the NR link is added

Part 1 - 5G NSA Dual Connectivity
ENDC High Level Overview

LTE - NR Dual Connectivity High Level Approach
• Procedure is mostly part of LTE specification
• UE is connected to LTE eNB
1. UE reads System Information that eNB is LTE-NR DC capable
2. UE sends its capabilities to the network after initial attach
NR gNB
LTE eNB UE
(LTE/NR)
• Both eNB and UE know its capabilities

- NR Measurements
3. UE is configured to measure the NR carrier
• measurement object is part of the RRC reconfiguration message (TS36.331)
• for eNB/gNB collocation a blind SgNB configuration is also possible
4. UE measures SS Block of gNB at respective frequency band

• signal quality measurement are SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, SS-SINR (TS36.214)
• default subcarrier spacing defined per frequency band
PBCH
PBCH
PSS
SSS
NR gNB
LTE eNB UE
(LTE/NR)

- UE Reporting and SgNB Setup Request
5. UE sends measurement report with requested quantities
• measurement triggered by certain thresholds (TS36.331)
• list of strongest cells with Physical Cell Identities about certain threshold
6. gNB makes decision to setup SgNB and sends request via X2/Xn IF
• admission control by NR gNB and decision about its configuration
(e.g. configured SCells based on measurements provided by eNB)
• response by NR gNB contains configuration as RRC message
SgNB Setup Request via X2/Xn

Response with SgNB configuration

- RRC Reconfiguration and RACH
7. LTE eNB configures UE based in X2/Xn configuration data
• bearer configuration with LTE PDCP (EPC) or with NR PDCP (5GC)
• supplementary uplink can be configured by TDM pattern

- RRC Reconfiguration and RACH, con’t
7. UE reads all NR system information and performs RACH procedure
• 4-step RACH procedure with Handover Completed message
• non-contention based RACH resources possible if configuration is provided
After procedure, PCell is configured and activated for data transmission.

SCells are configured, but not yet activated.
On/off switching by PDCCH and/or MAC CE.

ENDC capabilities, requirements and optimization root causes

5G NR NSA Network Access Issues
5G services using NSA mode with Option 3.x high level issues classification
• Access Issue with LTE Procedure

– LTE cell access failures
– B1 Event configuration to UE via LTE cell
– UE not reporting B1 Measurement Reports (MR)
• Access preparation phase

– LTE cell does not initiate SgNB Add Request
– 5G NR Cell rejects SgNB Add request
– LTE cell does not respond with SgNB Reconfig Complete
• 5G NR Cell Synchronization
– The UE does not initiate random access
– RAR Access over the air interface times out.
– UE MSG3 Failure
5G services using NSA mode with Option 3.x high level issues classification
• Access Issue with LTE Procedure

– LTE cell access failures
– B1 Event configuration to UE via LTE cell
– UE not reporting B1 Measurement Reports (MR)
• Access preparation phase

– LTE cell does not initiate SgNB Add Request
– 5G NR Cell rejects SgNB Add request
– LTE cell does not respond with SgNB Reconfig Complete
• 5G NR Cell Synchronization
– The UE does not initiate random access
– RAR Access over the air interface times out.
– UE MSG3 Failure
LTE Capability information for 5G NR ENDC support

EN-DC Requirements
EUTRA-NR (MRDC) & NR UE capabilities are requested when:
— EN-DC license is activated (i.e. in LTE BBU activate Ericsson Basic Intelligent Connectivity)
and
— Neighbor NR cells are configured in eNB.
 UE reports the ENDC support and first registers for service with the 4G EPC.
 UE also starts reporting measurements on 5G frequencies.
If the signal quality for the UE will support a 5G service, the LTE eNB communicates with the 5G-NR gNB to
assign resources for a 5G bearer (Admission Control).
The 5G-NR resource assignment is then signaled to the UE via an LTE RRC Connection Reconfiguration
message.
Once the RRC Connection Reconfiguration procedure is completed (both RACH procedure on NR cell and
reading of CORESET0), UE simultaneously connects to both 4G and 5G networks.

UE SIB and SSB acquisition in NSA mode

UE SSB reading in NSA mode

UE Frequency sync in NSA mode

UE NR PCI id in NSA mode

UE SSB beam sweeping review

LTE Capability information for 5G NR ENDC support

NR DRB Setup - eNB to gNB Reference for signaling extracts: eventhelix
UE MeNB  LTE SIB2 broadcast from the eNB signals the presence of 5G-NR PLMNs via the PLMN-InfoList-r15.
including the content upperLayerIndication-r15
4G-LTE attach procedure  This parameter is activated with the i.e. Ericsson feature Basic Intelligent Connectivity
LTE SIB2 System Info - BCCH
Presence of PLMN-InfoList-r15 signals that

PLMNs supporting 5G-NR services are available.

NR DRB Setup - eNB to gNB, con’t Reference for signaling extracts: eventhelix
UE MeNB
4G-LTE attach procedure
UE picks up a random preamble (Zadoff-Chu sequence) from total #64 – #CFRA reserved).
PRACH to LTE eNodeB  The preamble is referenced with the Random Access Preamble Id (RAPID). UE expects RA-RNTI id in RAR response
 For further reading please refer to TS 36.213, TS 36.321, TS 36.211  The RA-RNTI is associated with the PRACH in which
the Random Access Preamble is transmitted,
 It is computed as:
PDCCH DCI Format 1A
TS 36.212 RA-RNTI= 1 + t_id + 10 × f_id
UE attempts to detect a DCI Format 1A with PDCCH CRC
scrambled by the RA-RNTI corresponding to the RACH
RAR
transmission, during a configured window of length ra- index of the first subframe of
TS 36.213, TS 36.321
ResponseWindow, as indicated in SIB2  See next slide !!! the specified PRACH (0≤ t_id
<10)
index of the specified PRACH within that
subframe, in ascending order of frequency domain
(0≤ f_id< 6)

LTE SIB2 http://telecompedia.net/sib2-in-lte/
 number of non-dedicated random access

preambles in Random Acces Preambles group
A.
i.e. numberOfRA-Preambles : n52
 duration of RA response window

i.e. ra-ResponseWindowSize : sf10

Access Issue with LTE Procedure
UEs fail to access the LTE Cell

To get access to 5G NR in NSA mode UE first needs to attach to 4G LTE cell
Possible root cause

• The UE does not initiate access on the LTE network.
– Check if cell is barred,
– RF transmission with necessary Tx power
• The UE initiates an attach procedure on the LTE network and is rejected by the
core network.
– Could be an issue with IMSI configuration at Core HSS node.


Possible root cause

• LTE RACH Ghost

LTE Random Access KPIs
Attention
 The RACH Success Rate can be much lower than expected (i.e. sometimes in the
range of 20% which is not uncommon).
Reason: This is due to

 Either eNodeB or UE couldn’t complete the process  Planning Issues.
 Ghost RACH.
What is Ghost RACH: Due to the wide band nature of LTE the eNodeB may sometimes
detect false RACH (white noise, interference etc.)  node increments the attempt counter
(PmRaAttCbra) every time it believes it has received RACH message when in reality the
RACH message was possibly never sent by any real UE  SINR dependent.
 In Interference limited scenarios RACH Attempt counter value is much higher than RACH
Success counter and produce somewhat misleading results.

Ghost RACH  This is problem is not affecting user perception and therefore low success rate
doesn't necessarily mean any real accessibility issues !!!
Following mathematical analysis (omitted here  outside the scope of this course) check
planning against following graphs:
RACH Detection Failure Probability Pmiss= 1 – (RACH success rate)
Simulation parameters

RACH Detection Failure Probability Pmiss= 1 – (RACH success rate)
ETU70
channel

False Alarm Probability vs. vendor specific threshold level
Pedestrian scenario
relative threshold increases while the false alarm
probability decreases.
 This is because the relative threshold is the
ratio of the absolute threshold and the noise
level.
 When the ratio is higher, the noise is rarer to
exceeding the threshold to form a false alarm.

How then to detect RACH performance???
 Check False preamble probability  And that should be lower than 0.001 for all preambles.
 Follow extensively real drive tests
Ericsson Specific
False Preamble probability:
ROP Ericsson PMI system period (15 minutes period),
PmRaAttCbra-PmRaSuccCbra  RA preamble opportunities would be 64*100*60*15= 5760000
< 0.001
5760000
64 is the number of preambles per cell,
100 is RA ransmissions within 1 second
60 is number of seconds per minute.

Optimization hints
Random Access issues are generally related to:
• Unbalanced Link Budget;
• VSWR, Hardware Faults;
• Interference;
• Excessive or poor coverage.
FIRST ANALYZE issues related to Random Access KPIs when analyzing Accessibility
Further Optimization hints

Important to notice
excessive coverage issue can be identified by studying the value of the Ericsson counter ‘pmRaSuccTa’  gives the distribution of the
measured Timing Advance value at Random Access.
Optimizing: When counter shows a value that does not matches the expected cell coverage, corrective actions (i.e. downtilting /
azimuth changes) should be performed in order to correct the coverage.
Ericsson Specific

NR DRB Setup - eNB to gNB, con’t 1
UE MeNB
PRACH to LTE eNodeB
PDCCH DCI Format 1A

TS 36.212
RAR
TS 36.213, TS 36.321
RRC Connection Request

TS 36.331
RRC Connection Setup

TS 36.212
RRC Connection Setup Complete

TS 36.331
Authentication & NAS security To MME/core
UL/DL NAS messages

Reference for signaling extracts: eventhelix

UE Indication for 5G NR ENDC support

NR DRB Setup - eNB to gNB, con’t 2 Reference for signaling extracts: eventhelix
UE MeNB
4G-LTE attach procedure UE capability is divided into Network capability and Radio
LTE SIB2 System Info - BCCH capability:
PRACH to LTE eNodeB
 Network Capability : UE proactively send its network
PDCCH DCI Format 1A capabilities over “RRC Connection Setup Complete” within
TS 36.212
the NAS message: Attach Request to Core Network
RAR
TS 36.213, TS 36.321

TS 36.331

TS 36.212

TS 36.331
UL/DL NAS messages

UE MeNB

UE capability is divided into Network capability and Radio capability:
 Network Capability : UE proactively send its network capabilities over “RRC
Connection Setup Complete” within the NAS message: Attach Request to Core
PRACH to LTE eNodeB
Network
PDCCH DCI Format 1A
UE network capability includes:
TS 36.212
 supported algorithm for encryption and integrity (EEA, EIA),
RAR  support of features like CIoT, ProSe (D2D), DCNR, V2X etc.
TS 36.213, TS 36.321

TS 36.331

TS 36.212

TS 36.331
UL/DL NAS messages

UE Capability details
 Network Capability : UE proactively send its network capabilities over NAS message: Attach
Request to Core Network
Dual connectivity with NR (DCNR) support (9th Octet, 5th bit)
 This bit indicates the capability for dual connectivity with NR.
 DCNR = 0  dual connectivity with NR not supported
 DCNR = 1  dual connectivity with NR supported
N1 mode supported (N1mode) (9th Octet, 6th bit)

 This bit indicates the capability for N1 mode.
 N1mode = 0  N1 mode not supported
 N1mode = 1  N1 mode supported
Reference for signaling extracts: https://www.techplayon.com/5g-nr-nsa-mode-ue-network-and-radio-capability-enquiry/

UE MeNB
MME responds back to the eNodeB with the message “Initial Context Setup Request”, where the message contents are:
MME response  S1AP Initial Context Setup Request,
Initial Context Setup Request  NAS Attach Accept
 Activate Default Bearer Request.
UE Capability Enquiry  For 5G downlink and uplink data rates, Extended UE-AMBR Downlink and Uplink Information Elements are signaled.
TS 36.413
TS 36.331
MME has not sent UE capabilities so

UE Capability Information eNodeB Is forced to ask UE for "UE
Capabilities".
TS 36.331
UE capabilities are requested for:
 4G-LTE (utra),
 EN-DC (eutra-nr)
 5G (nr)

UE Capability details, con’t Reference for signaling extracts: http://www.sharetechnote.com/
 Radio Capability: eNodeB enquires about UE’s radio capabilities involving following two processes:
 UE Capability request and UE Capability report.
 When the base station needs to ask UE Capability, the base station send a UECapabilityEnquiry to the
UE and UE responds with UECapabilityInformation.
Each UE can have different capabilities applicable to all UE supported carriers and carrier combinations.
 UE Capability Band Combinations : Each Band Combination can have different capabilities.
 For e.g. Band3+Band77 Combination supported by UE while Band1+Band78 may not be supported .
 UE Band Capability: Each Band can have different capabilities. For example, Band 77 supports a certain UE
capability, but Band 78 may not support the UE capability. Another method of UE capability classification is to
classify according to the protocol stack. When the UE Capability is actually reported, it is also reported hierarchically
according to the protocol stack.
UE radio capability includes specific UE Capability, i.e.
 UE-EUTRA Capabilities,
 UE-MRDC capabilities For more details please refer to:
 UE-NR capabilities http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/5G/5G_UE_Capability.html

UE MeNB
UE Capability Enquiry
TS 36.331
MME has not sent UE capabilities so

UE Capability Information eNodeB Is forced to ask UE for "UE
Capabilities".
TS 36.331
UE capabilities are requested for:
 4G-LTE (utra),
 EN-DC (eutra-nr)
 5G (nr)
used to indicate the radio access technology (RAT), including E

UTRA, of the requested/ transferred UE capabilities.

UE MeNB message contains:

 UECapabilityInformation-r8-IEs
 UE-CapabilityRAT-ContainerList
TS 36.331
UE Capability Information
TS 36.331
Security mode Command
Security mode Complete


 UE-MRDC-Capability: TS 38.331 Signals that the UE supports EN-DC and NR can simultaneously connect to a 4G as well as 5G
base station  see next slide !!!!!
TS 36.331
TS 36.331
UE-MRDC-Capability
 rf-ParametersMRDC
 featureSetCombinations

UE-NR-Capability Reference for signaling extracts: eventhelix
UE-NR-Capability
 pdcp-Parameters
 rlc-Parameters
 mac-Parameters
 phy-Parameters
 rf-Parameters
 measAndMobParameters
 fr1-Add-UE-NR-Capabilities
 fr2-Add-UE-NR-Capabilities
 featureSets


 UE-MRDC-Capability: TS 38.331 Signals that the UE supports EN-DC and NR can simultaneously connect to a 4G as well as 5G
base station  see next slide !!!!!
TS 36.331
TS 36.331


 UE-EUTRA-Capability-v15 Ies (TS 36.331)
TS 36.331
TS 36.331

UE-EUTRA-Capability Reference for signaling extracts: http://www.sharetechnote.com/
UE-EUTRA-Capability
 accessStratumRelease rel15,
 ue-Category
 pdcp-Parameters
 phyLayerParameters
 rf-Parameters
 measParameters
 featureGroupIndicators

UE MeNB
message contains:
 IRAT-ParametersNR-r15 (TS 36.331)

UE Capability Enquiry  SupportedBandListNR-r15 (TS 36.331)
TS 36.331
TS 36.331

EN-DC MR-DC

NR measurements configuration Reference for signaling extracts: eventhelix
UE MeNB
Message to activate the default radio bearer, carrying also the Attach Accept message as NAS Payload.
 Important for NSA EN_DC  The message includes measurement objects for 5G NR frequencies.
RRC Connection Reconfiguration
TS 36.331

NR measurements configuration, con’t Reference for signaling extracts: eventhelix
UE MeNB
TS 36.331

NR measurements configuration, con’t 1 Reference for signaling extracts: eventhelix
UE MeNB
TS 36.331

NR measurements configuration, con’t 2 Reference for signaling extracts: eventhelix
UE MeNB
TS 36.331

NR measurements configuration, con’t 3
UE MeNB
TS 36.331

B1 measurement is not delivered after the UE accesses the LTE network

When an NSA UE accesses the LTE network, 5G B1 measurement control message is
normally delivered to UE through RRC connection reconfiguration
Possible root cause

• After a UE attached to LTE cell, the eNodeB can deliver 5G B1 measurement control
messages only when the following conditions are met:
– UE capability report contains the UE capability of the Release 15
– NSA capability of the UE is not prohibited on the core network
– The QCI of the default bearer of the UE does not occupy the dedicated QCI (QCI 1-5, QCI
65/66) of the LTE network  i.e. QCI1/QCI2 is not allowed to be configured as split bearer
– The NSA and NR neighboring frequencies are correctly configured on the LTE
– LTE cell NSA capability is enabled

NR measurements configuration complete
UE MeNB
TS 36.331
RRC Connection Reconfiguration complete What if it is missing from logfile?

TS 36.331

Attach Request / Accept over LTE

Attach Accept and Network IEs for ENDC support


Possible root cause

• The UE does not initiate access on the LTE network.
– Check if cell is barred,
– RF transmission with necessary Tx power
• The UE initiates an attach procedure on the LTE network and is rejected by the core
network.
– Could be an issue with IMSI configuration at Core HSS node or core does not support ENDC

Exercises with logfiles

ENDC High Level Signaling Flow Overview

EN-DC call Setup (Establishment)
EUTRA-NR (MRDC) & NR UE capabilities are requested when:
— Basic Intelligent Connectivity license is activated and
— neighboring NR cells are configured in eNB.
 Request only NR/E-UTRAN band combinations for
supported LTE and NR bands to limit the size of the
containers.
 All requested capability containers are uploaded to UE MeNB SgNB EPC
MME and transferred to target eNB at handover.
Used by MeNB (LTE eNB) only:
Initial Context Setup
— EUTRA capabilities (36.331) • Fetch EN-DC specific UE
• EN-DC support capabilities
• Supported NR bands • Start B1 measurements (optional)
Used by MeNB and SgNB: B1 Measurement Report

— MRDC capabilities (38.331)
• EN-DC band combinations for dual connectivity and carrier NR DRB reconfiguration (eNB to gNB)
aggregation
Used by SgNB only
— NR capabilities (38.331)
• NR RAT specific capabilities and NR CA band combinations
EN-DC call Setup Example Overview
NR DRB Setup - eNB to gNB with LTE UL (legacy)
UE MeNB SgNB SGW MME
LTE DRB established
NR DRB Setup
RRC: B1 Measurement Report
Preparing for DRB MeNB to SgNB reconfiguration

X2: SgNB Addition Request (RRC: CG-ConfigInfo) MCG DRB Split DRB
Prepare the NR PDCP and SCG resources.
X2: SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge (RRC: CG-Config) SGW

Suspend DRB
S1-U User-plane
X2: SN Status Transfer S1-U
RRC Reconfiguration (“Add SCG” stop B1)
Prepared for UL data LTE PDCP NR PDCP
LTE Random Access
X2-U
UL User data in LTE (new ciphering key)
RRC Reconfiguration Complete LTE RLC LTE RLC NR RLC
X2: SgNB Reconfiguration Complete
NR Random Access
S1-AP: E-RAB Modification Indication
LTE MAC LTE MAC NR MAC
Bearer
End marker packet
Modification
RA RA
Resume DRB
DL User data in NR (new ciphering)
New path
S1-AP: E-RAB Modification Confirm MeNB SgNB

EN-DC call Setup Example Overview
NR DRB Setup - eNB to gNB with UL in NR
UE MeNB SgNB SGW MME NR DRB Setup
LTE DRB established

MCG DRB Split DRB
X2: SgNB Addition Request (RRC: CG-ConfigInfo)
Prepare the NR PDCP and SCG resources.

SGW
X2: SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge (RRC: CG-Config)
Suspend DRB S1-U User-plane

S1-U
X2: SN Status Transfer
RRC Reconfiguration (“Add SCG” stop B1) LTE PDCP NR PDCP
Prepared for UL data X2-U
LTE Random Access
RRC Reconfiguration Complete LTE RLC LTE RLC

NR RLC
NR Random Access
UL User data in NR(new ciphering key) LTE MAC LTE MAC NR MAC
Bearer RA RA
End marker packet Modification
Resume DRB
New path MeNB SgNB
S1-AP: E-RAB Modification Confirm

ENDC SCG connection optimization with Signaling Flow

NR measurements configuration complete
UE MeNB
TS 36.331
RRC Connection Reconfiguration complete
TS 36.331
UL/DL MCG DRB established

Time to transfer the MCG DRB to SCG DRB (split bearer) on NSA Architecture

UE MeNB SgNB
5G measurements
 UE starts measurements of 5G NR channels specified in the
UE follows 5G SSB
Measurement Objects received in the RRC Connection
UE follows 5G SSB PSS/SSS
Reconfiguration.
 These measurements are scheduled during measurement gaps
 UE acquires the 5G-NR Primary Synchronization Signal and the 5G-

NR Secondary Synchronization Signal and measures from SSS the
5G NR Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) channel (i.e. SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, SS-SINR)
TS 36.331
5G NR PSS
 If conditions are met the measurements are reported back to the
5G NR SSS MeNB

NR measurement report
UE MeNB SgNB
5G measurements Initiate measurement of 5G NR channels specified in the Measurement Objects

received in the RRC Connection Reconfiguration.
UE follows 5G SSB
Measurement report
TS 36.331
Next slide

NR measurement report, con’t
UE MeNB SgNB
Initiate measurement of 5G NR channels specified in the Measurement Objects
received in the RRC Connection Reconfiguration.
5G measurements
UE follows 5G SSB
Measurement report
TS 36.331
??????

UE does not report the B1 measurement report

When the NSA UE reports the B1 measurement, the RRC MEAS REPORT message
carries the measResultCell-r15 of the 5G to notify the LTE network
Possible root cause

• The frequency (NR-ARFCNs) contained in the B1 measurement control message
is incorrect.
• 5G The cell status is abnormal (not operation/crashed state) or the RRU transmit
power is abnormal (no transmission), as a result, UEs cannot find 5G cell
• SSB decode failure due to high SSB interference

UE MeNB SgNB
 Check if the user's throughput requirements warrant
5G measurements
UE follows 5G SSB
a 5G connection (UE capability check)

 Check user's signal quality from the 5G base station
Measurement report to determine if 5G coverage is feasible
TS 36.331
X2AP sgnB addition request
TS 36.423
 LTE eNodeB decides to add the 5G-NR base station
as a secondary node.
E-RAB Parameters, Tunnel address (IP address, TEID), UE
Security Capabilities, S-NG-RAN node Security Key, S-NG-RAN
 The eNodeB sends a Secondary Node Addition Request to the gNodeB.
node UE Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate, M-NG-RAN node to S-  The message carries:
NG-RAN node Container (CG-Config):,  RRC and Radio Bearer configuration.
scg-CellGroupConfig = RRCReconfiguration,  UE capabilities and security information
scg-RB-Config = RadioBearerConfig,  LTE MeNB is askling for CG-config info (????? What is this???)
measuredFrequenciesSN [List of frequencies], fr-InfoListSCG [List
of serving cells], SN-gNB Measurement, SCG configuration {UE
capability and coordination result}, Security Information for SRB3
Allocate PDCP and SCG resources (CG-Config).
X2AP sgnB addition request Acknowledge
TS 36.423

CG Config
CG-Config
This message is used to transfer the SCG radio configuration as generated by the SgNB.
Direction: Secondary gNB to eNB
3GPP TS 38.331

CG Config, con’t
CG-Config
This message is used to transfer the SCG radio configuration as generated by the SgNB.
Direction: Secondary gNB to eNB
3GPP TS 38.331

Access preparation phase
Upon Receiving the B1 event, LTE cell does not initiate the SgNB ADD Request
• On the air interface, after receiving measurement report LTE cell should initiate
SgNB ADD Request over the X2 interface toward the measurement 5G NR Cell.
Possible root cause

• Neighboring Relation Table (NRT) cell configuration is wrong (missing or PCI
conflict)
• The X2 link to the target 5G cell is not establishment or faces abnormalities

SgNB ADD Request is rejected by 5G NR Cell

• After receiving the SgNB Add Request message, NR Cell send SgNB Add Reject message over
X2 interface
Possible root cause

The SgNB Add Reject message shall contains the cause value for reject. Typical reasons are:
• Cause values as “Transport resource not available”: Issue at 5G NR side as transport
resource not available
– these transport resource includes availability of X2-U link between eNB and gNB and S1-U link availability
between gNB and 4G Core
• Cause values as “No radio resource available”: 5G The number of users in the cell is
insufficient.
– The gNB ID is duplicate or other resources of the 5G are abnormal (for example, no available SRS
resources are available).

UE MeNB SgNB

TS 36.331 assigns 5G radio resources to UE
Reference for signaling extracts: Sharetechnote

UE MeNB SgNB


UE MeNB SgNB


UE MeNB SgNB


UE MeNB SgNB

Extract the 5G NR RACH information parameters needed
to access the 5G network . Check next slide
Extract the C-RNTI assigned for 5G access

NR DRB Setup - eNB to gNB, con’t 18 Reference for signaling flow: eventhelix
UE MeNB SgNB

Reference for signaling extracts: Sharetechnote 5G/NR interworking with LTE

UE MeNB SgNB

RRC Reconfiguration Complete

LTE network does not reply with a SgNB Reconfiguration Complete message
• This issue can be traced with verifying X2 signaling tracing on the NR cell side. In such situation.
Possible root cause

• It can found that the 5G does not receive the SgNB Reconfiguration Complete message after sending the
SgNB ADD Request response message.
– As a result of this, the timer expires and the 5G initiates a release procedure
• Check the X2 signaling trace (wire-shark or internal logs) on the NR side.
– It should be found that the 5G does not receive the SgNB Reconfiguration Complete message. It could be be due to
following:
• UE receives the reconfiguration message to add 5G NR cell, but the decoding is a failure.
• The UE does not respond to the reconfiguration complete message.
– The eNodeB does not send a reconfiguration complete message

UE MeNB SgNB

NR P-SS, S-SS & PBCH MIB
Why reading MIB ??? How starting RACH ???

NR Random Access
 UE is is synchronized with the NR downlink frame boundary by acquiring the

5G-NR Primary Synchronization Signal
 UE is synchronized with the NR downlink subframe boundary by acquiring the
5G-NR Secondary Synchronization Signal.
 UE derives the NR PCI from NR PSS and NR SSS
 UE acquires the 5G-NR Broadcast Channel.

5G NR Cell Synchronization
UE does not initiate RACH over the air interface

• In UE air interface logs, we can find it is sending SCG Fail Info message to the LTE Cell
immediately after receiving the RRC reconfiguration message
Possible root cause

• The 5G cell search fails because accessed cell is not the strongest cell
• high inter-cell interference
• The parameters in the SCG reconfiguration message fail to be verified on the UE side.
Check next section slides


3. 5G NSA NR Accessibility

Part 1 - 5G NSA NR Accessibility
NSA NR RACH procedure

Non-Standalone Accessibility Overview 3GPP TS 37.340
•In NR NSA scenario (with 5G coverage): EPC

– RRC establishment and signalling are performed in 4G network through the anchor cell S1-C
in eNB 1
S1-U
– RAB is established in both, first in 4G (Initial E-RAB Establishment) and then in NR cells
(EN-DC Setup)
DRB
LTE NR
SRB
• Accessibility KPI (session setup success rate) can be described as a combination
of different network access procedures:
– Control plane (RRC & S1 Signaling) in LTE MeNodeB UE
EPC 2
– User plane (RAB) establishment processes in LTE MeNodeB
S1-C S1-U
– NR leg setup (successful establishment) in NR SN gNodeB sector
X2-C
•So the Accessibility KPIs: X2-U

DRB
– Initial E-RAB Establishment Success Rate in LTE can be seen as main Accessibility LTE NR
SRB DRB
KPI also for NR NSA
– EN-DC Setup Success Rate can be seen as a secondary Accessibility KPI for NR NSA.
UE

NR Bearer Setup - eNB to gNB
UE MeNB
TS 36.331
RRC Connection Reconfiguration complete
TS 36.331
Time to transfer the MCG DRB to SCG DRB

UL/DL MCG DRB established
(split bearer) on NSA Architecture

UE MeNB SgNB
 No PDSCH (carrying Contention Resolution MAC CE) is needed for Msg4.
 A UL Grant(DCI/PDCCH) for PUSCH functions as a kind of CR(Contention Resolution).
 3GPP TS 38-213 "8.4 PDSCH with UE contention resolution identity“:
NR Random Access "In response to an Msg3 PUSCH transmission when a UE has not been provided with a C-
RNTI, the UE attempts to detect a PDCCH with a corresponding TC-RNTI scheduling a
PDSCH that includes a UE contention resolution identity." => it imply that CBRA for ENDC
do not require PDSCH carrying CR MAC CE because C-RNTI has already beed
provided to UE via newUE-Identity in SpCellConfig.ReconfigurationWithSync.
 38.321-"5.1.5 Contention Resolution" states
 Contention Resolution is based on either C-RNTI on PDCCH of the SpCell or UE
Contention Resolution Identity on DL-SCH.
CBRA  Once Msg3 is transmitted, the MAC entity shall:
 1> if notification of a reception of a PDCCH transmission is received from lower layers:
UE eNB  2> if the C-RNTI MAC CE was included in Msg3:
 3> if the Random Access procedure was initiated by the MAC sublayer itself or
Random Access Preamble
1. by the RRC sublayer and the PDCCH transmission is addressed to the C-RNTI
(Randomly selected Preamble Id) and contains a UL grant for a new transmission
 4> consider this Contention Resolution successful;
Random Access Response 2.
3. RRC Connection Request
RRC Connection Setup 4.
Reference for signaling extracts: Share technote

NR Bearer Setup - eNB to gNB Ericsson ALEX specific
UE MeNB SgNB
NR Random Access
CBRA
UE eNB
1.
Random Access Preamble
(Randomly selected Preamble Id) Power ramping
Random Access Response 2.
3. RRC Connection Request
RRC Connection Setup 4.
Reference for signaling extracts: Share technote

NSA RACH parameters

RACH procedure overview

RACH msg1 overview

RACH msg1 parameters

RACH FDM parameters

RACH Occasion to SSB mapping

PRACH Preamble Format – Configuration Index

PRACH Preamble Format – Configuration Index

PRACH Preamble Format – Preamble Sequence

PRACH Received Traget Power

PRACH msg1 Transmitted power – PL estimation

PRACH msg1 Initial Preamble Transmitted power

RACH procedure parameters


NSA NR RACH procedure analysis


Initial successful RACH procedure


Retransmission RACH msg1 procedure

NSA NR RACH Optimization using KPIs

Vendor Specific analysis
Follow examples

NSA Accessibility Optimization Hints

NSA NR in FR1 Low Band
Quite often EN-DC Setup Success Rate is low due to LTE/NR coverage differences
This is more severe in Rural areas or in Dense Urban areas
Solution proposed is the LTE/NR similar band planning

Next slide

NSA NR in FR1 Low Band
– Vendor Specific Solution, provides support for NR physical layer in FDD bands below 3 GHz
• An initiator for LTE/NR Spectrum Sharing Solution
– 15 kHz subcarrier spacing is used
– Availability for 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz carrier bandwidths
– i.e. Ericsson specific RRU/BBU sw release supports for 4 DL MIMO layers, 1 UL Layer
• License based: HOM 256 QAM in DL and 64 QAM in UL
— i.e. Ericsson Supported NR TDD patterns:

 3:1 (DDSU)
 4:1 (DDDSU)
 7:3 (DDDSUDDSUU)

Adjacent Channel Interference
- Matching NR and/or LTE TDD Frame Structures
– TDD systems potentially experience adjacent channel interference
 This occurs if adjacent TDD systems, operating within adjacent bands, are
unsynchronized
 The problem is encountered when using similar RRU units with adjacent bands  the
filters allow in the passband the interference from adjacent bands, specifically in TDD
when DL and UL are mixed
– This type of interference is not experienced within the same

spectrum channel bands in FDD
 FDD problems can occur ONLY in overlapping adjacent FDD bands,
such as 850 MHz DL and 900 MHz UL
– The TDD problem is typically solved using channel specific filters

 If not available from vendors then use external third party EMI filters
 In this case please remember to calculate in the link budget analysis the expected extra
insertion losses !!!
– mMIMO antenna (AAU/AAS) systems may not be able to

implement channel specific filters within the available space
 Then what is the solution???
Next slide

Matching TDD Frame Structures
- Example of Matching LTE and NR
5 msec
TDD LTE
Frame Config. 2
UL
DL
2 msec
NR LTE – 30 kHz SCS
3:1 Frame Structure
– Interference occurs when one system, i.e. LTE TDD, is transmitting (DL) and an
adjacent system, i.e. NR is receiving (UL)
– Interference will occur when the BTS are adjacent in frequency (same front end filter
passband) and located within the same geographic area
 Specially in LTE/NR collocation for EN-DC architecture

TDD Frame configurations & UL/DL Patterns
Ericsson Specific
Ericsson is fully aligned with 3GPP TDD frames and patterns

Slot number
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
3DL+1UL (DDSU) DL DL S UL DL DL S UL DL DL S UL DL DL S UL DL DL S UL
TDD_ULDL_PATTERN_00
2ms
Slot number
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
4DL+2UL+4DL (DDDSUUDDDD) DL DL DL S UL UL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL S UL UL DL DL DL DL
(LTE TDD* Coexistence)
TDD_ULDL_PATTERN_01 5ms
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
DL DL DL S UL DL DL DL S UL DL DL DL S UL DL DL DL S UL
4DL+1UL (DDDSU)
TDD_ULDL_PATTERN_02
2.5ms
4DL+1UL+3DL+2UL (DDDSUDDSUU)
TDD_ULDL_PATTERN_03
8DL+2UL (DDDDDDDSUU)
(LTE Coexistence)
TDD_ULDL_PATTERN_04

TDD Special Slot Patterns
Ericsson Specific
— Ericsson Supported Special Slot patterns
— The pattern defines DL, UL and guard symbols in the special slot(s)
11DL+3G (in 18.Q4) 3DL+8G+3UL 10DL+2G+2UL

TDD_SPECIAL_SLOT_PATTERN_00 TDD_SPECIAL_SLOT_PATTERN_01 TDD_SPECIAL_SLOT_PATTERN_02
Symbol Symbol Symbol
0 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL UL UL UL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL DL UL UL
6DL+4G+4UL 4DL+6G+4UL 6DL+8G+0UL 0DL+10G+4UL

TDD_SPECIAL_SLOT_PATTERN_03 TDD_SPECIAL_SLOT_PATTERN_04

TDD frames vs. special slot combinations Ericsson Specific
– The following combinations of TDD pattern and

special slot configurations are supported in this DDSU 11:3:0
feature:
– The blue boxes indicate the TDD pattern and DDDSUUDDDD 3:8:3
the yellow boxes are the special slot
configuration
DDDSU 10:2:2
– The green line indicates the default
combination, whereas the black lines indicate
the possible combinations supported DDDSUDDSUU 6:4:4
– Note that the DDDSUUDDDD has three default

DDDDDDDSUU 4:6:4
combinations, these are for three different
customers.

Practical Exercises
RACH Preambles vs. Coverage Planning

Practical Exercises
RACH Preambles vs. Capacity (Blocking probability) Planning

Practical Exercises
RACH Preambles vs. TDD Frame and Interference

4. Retainability

Part 1 - 5G NSA Retainability
NSA Retainability review

NR NSA Retainability - Overview 3GPP TS 37.340
• NSA establishment in two phases:
 Control plane is established in LTE cell / eNodeB EPC

S1-C S1-U
X2-C
 User plane is established in gNodeB
X2-U
DRB
LTE NR
SRB DRB
UE

NR Bearer Reconfiguration
- Release back to LTE
— There are many reasons to release the DRB split Bearer back to LTE MeNB.
— According to 3GPP triggering could be initiated:

 either by LTE MeNB
 or by NR SgNB
— Remember: All Signaling is through LTE RRC

SN (EN-DC connection) Bearer Release 3GPP TS 37.340, 8.3
MN Terminated SN Terminated
1 MCG Bearer Split Bearer
Initial Context Setup / LTE (MN) NR (SN) LTE (MN) NR (SN)
2
Incoming Handover /
RRC Re-establishment PDCP SN Addition PDCP
2 At reception of a B1 measurement report RLC RLC RLC
or after the Initial Context Setup
procedure is completed (configuration MAC MAC MAC
based) 5
L1 L1 L1
3 When a bearer is set up that prevents other bearers being SN Release
configured as SN Terminated Split Bearers, for example at VoLTE call
setup
3 4
4 At reception of a B1 measurement. The B1 measurement is started when the
bearer – that prevents other bearers to be configured as SN terminated Split DRBs SCG Release SCG Addition
– is released, for example at VoLTE call release. (SN Modification) (SN Modification)
5 Triggered by NR RLF or by LTE or NR mobility events. SN Terminated

 transition from the SN Terminated MCG Bearer state is triggered only by LTE MCG Bearer
mobility events (as there are no SCG resources in this case).
5 LTE (MN) NR (SN)
SN Release PDCP
MN: Master Node
SN: Secondary Node RLC
MCG: Master Cell Group
SCG: Secondary Cell Group MAC
DRB: Data Radio Bearer
SRB: Signaling Radio Bearer L1

MeNB-initiated SN Bearer Release Overview 3GPP TS 37.340, 10.4.1

UL DRB in LTE (configurable)
DL DRB in NR (split bearer) MCG Bearer Split Bearer
Trigger NR Leg Release
NR Bearer Release
Preparing for DRB SgNB to MeNB reconfiguration
SgNB Release Request User-plane
SgNB Release Request Ack
SGW
Suspend DRB
S1-U
SN Status Transfer
S1-U
RRC Reconfiguration (release SCG + start B1)
LTE Random Access LTE PDCP NR PDCP

UL User data in LTE (new ciphering)
X2-U
E-RAB Modification Indication LTE RLC LTE RLC NR RLC
Bearer
New path Modification
Resume DRB LTE MAC LTE MAC NR MAC
DL User data in LTE
(new ciphering) E-RAB Modification Confirm
UE Context Release RA
Release resources Release resources
3GPP TS 37.340, 10.2.1 MeNB SgNB

NR NSA Retainability - Overview 3GPP TS 37.340, 10.4.1
 Retainability Degradation scenarios EPC

S1-C S1-U
 LTE Radio Link Failure (RLF) detection i.e. In Ericsson System this is handled as
X2-C
E-RAB Retainability KPI
 LTE leg is dropped
X2-U
• Then NR leg is also dropped DRB
LTE NR
SRB DRB
 The user will perceive it as an overall drop
UE
 Only NR leg RLF
EPC
 NR leg re-establishment:
S1-C S1-U
 The time to re-establish the NR RAB either will be
X2-C
perceived as a degradation in integrity KPIs (lower
throughput or higher delay) X2-U
DRB
 NR leg is dropped LTE NR
SRB DRB
 The user will perceive it as a NR leg drop
i.e. In Ericsson System this is handled as
 Attention: The loss of the NR link does not imply SCG radio resource Retainability KPI
the loss of the control plane in LTE MN !!! UE

SCG Failure - Radio Link Failure Analysis

MeNB Initiated SN Bearer Release 3GPP TS 38.331v15.4, 5.7.3.3
Various type of failure can happen

during NR addition after UE receives UE MeNB SgNB
RRC Connection Reconfiguration.
When this happens, UE send SCG X2AP:
SGNB RELEASE REQUEST
Failure Information message with X2AP:

RRC:
various failure cause as listed below RRCConnectionReconfiguration
SGNB RELEASE REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE
RRC:
RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete
X2AP:
SN STATUS TRANSFER
X2AP:
UE CONTEXT RELEASE

SN Release Overview (EN-DC) 3GPP TS 37.340, 8.3
MCG DRB Split DRB
3GPP TS 37.340, 7.7 LTE (MN) NR (SN) LTE (MN) NR (SN)
PDCP PDCP
MeNB initiated SN Release triggered at: RLC
SN Release
RLC RLC
MAC MAC MAC
— UE detected RLF L1 L1 L1
 Failed random access √

 RLC UL delivery failure EPC
UE MeNB SgNB
 Out of synchronization
— LTE handover MeNB initiated SN Release
RLF, suspend SCG

SCG Failure Indication NR
SgNB initiated SN Release triggered at:
— gNB detected RLF SgNB initiated SN Release
RLF, NR Cell Lock
 RLC DL delivery failure
— O&M scheduled work orders (cell lock)

SN Release + Start B1 measurement

NR Bearer Release back to LTE
— There are many reasons to release the DRB split MN terminated SN terminated
Bearer back to LTE MeNB. MCG Bearer Split Bearer
— According to 3GPP triggering could be initiated NR Bearer Release
either by LTE MeNB or by NR SgNB

UE MeNB SgNB EPC
— Case 1: MeNB initiated NR DRB Release triggered MeNB initiated NR Leg Release
— Scenario 1: Radio Link Failure (RLF),

 Reason: Random Access Failure
— UE UL detected Radio Link Failure  suspend SCG
— Reason: Random Access Failure SCG Failure Indication NR
— HOW????  timer T304

NR Bearer Release (gNB to eNB relocation)
 Start B1 measurement

NR Radio Link Failure (in EN-DC)
— UE detected NR RLF: UE MeNB SgNB EPC
— Not possible to synch to NR cell (scg-ChangeFailure)
— T304 is started at reception of SCG configuration at EN-DC Setup UE detected RLF
— T304 is stopped at successful random access.
— T304 expiry -> radio link failure Suspend SCG
— RLC UL delivery failure (RLC-MaxNumRetx)
— Number of UL RLC retransmissions in NR leg exceeds a threshold
(ulMaxRetxThreshold)
— Out of synchronization (t310-Expiry)
MeNB initiated NR Leg Release
— UE monitors SSB and counts “in-synch” and “out-of-synch” indications.
— N310 consecutive “out-of-synch” indications starts timer T310
— N311 consecutive “in-synch” indication stops timer T310
— T310 expiry -> radio link failure Network detected RLF
— Network detected NR RLF
— RLC DL delivery failure SgNB initiated NR Leg Release
— Number of DL RLC retransmissions in NR leg exceeds a threshold
(dlMaxRetxThreshold)

EN-DC Setup Example Overview 3GPP TS 37.340, 10.2.1
LTE DRB established
X2: SgNB Addition Request (RRC: CG-ConfigInfo)  Timer T304:

Prepare the NR PDCP and SCG resources.  starts upon reception
X2: SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge (RRC: CG-Config) of RRCReconfiguration message
Suspend DRB
including reconfigurationWithSync
 stops upon successful completion of random
X2: SN Status Transfer
access on the corresponding SpCell
Prepared for UL data
T304 LTE Random Access
T304 expiry -> radio link failure
UL User data in LTE (new ciphering key)
NR Random Access
Bearer
End marker packet
Modification
Resume DRB
New path
S1-AP: E-RAB Modification Confirm

EN-DC Setup Example Overview
NR Bearer Setup - eNB to gNB with UL in NR

T304 starts upon reception of reconfiguration message

RRC Connection Reconfiguration T304 starts upon reception of reconfiguration message
t304=1000 {50, 100, 150, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 10000} [1 msec]
Waiting time for successful completion of random access.
For EN-DC, provided to UE by SCG radio configuration.

MCG DRB Split DRB
PDCP PDCP
SN Release
RLC RLC
MAC MAC MAC
 Failed random access

 RLC UL delivery failure
UE MeNB SgNB EPC
RLF, suspend SCG

 RLC DL delivery failure RLF, NR Cell Lock



NR Bearer Release

UE MeNB SgNB EPC

— Case 1: MeNB initiated NR DRB Release triggered Radio Link Failure (RLF),
— Scenario 1:  Reason: RLC UL failure
 suspend SCG
— UE UL detected Radio Link Failure SCG Failure Indication NR
— Reason: RLC UL failure
— HOW???  parameter RLC-MaxRetxThreshold NR DRB Release (gNB to eNB relocation)
- Normally takes place in bad coverage !!!!  Start B1 measurement

Network (DL) RLF detection
gNodeB D/C P SI R R SN Oct 1
SN Oct 2
SN Oct 3
SO Oct 4
SO Oct 5
Data Oct 6
...
User data (RLC PDU) Oct N
Poll request = 1
No Ack
Poll request = 1
tPollRetransmitDl Waiting for RLC Status PDU
...
Non-Standalone NR MeNB
Poll request = 1
S1-U
No Ack tPollRetransmitDl X2-U X2-C

Poll request = 1
SGW S1-U
1. DL NR Radio
Link Failure
Max number of DL RLC Transmission reached SgNB
2. SN Initiated
for DRB or SRB (dlMaxRetxThreshold) SN Release

5G NR Retainability – RLC RLF
Practical Exercise
5G NR RLC RLF failure

RRC Connection Reconfiguration maximum RLC retransmissions before failure

32 times
Suppose k2 DCI to PUSCH scheduling delay is 4 slots
Expected time before declaring RLC failure:

4 slots x 0.5 ms (SCS = 30 kHz) x 32 x 100 ms= 6.4 sec

MCG DRB Split DRB
PDCP PDCP
SN Release
RLC RLC
MAC MAC MAC
 Failed random access

 RLC UL delivery failure
UE MeNB SgNB EPC
RLF, suspend SCG

 RLC DL delivery failure RLF, NR Cell Lock


NR Bearer Release

UE MeNB SgNB EPC
— Case 1: MeNB initiated NR DRB Release triggered MeNB initiated NR Leg Release
— Scenario 1: Radio Link Failure (RLF),
— UE UL detected Radio Link Failure  Reason: synchronization (RCS)
 suspend SCG
— Reason: synchronization (RCS) SCG Failure Indication NR
NR DRB Release (gNB to eNB relocation)

 Start B1 measurement


Radio Link Monitoring by lower layers
• The thresholds Qout and Qin are defined as the levels at which the downlink radio link
cannot/can be reliably received and shall correspond to the BLERout and BLERin as
defined in Table 8.1.1-1.
• BLERout and BLERin can also be determined from rlmInSyncOutOfSyncThreshold
signalled by higher layers. If not, the UE shall use table 8.1.1-1:
Table 8.1.1-1: Out-of-sync and in-sync block error rates
Configuration BLERout BLERin
0 10% 2%
Table 8.1.1-2: Maximum number of RLM-RS resources NRLM

Carrier frequency range of Maximum number of RLM-RS
PCell/PSCell Lm ax resources, NRLM
FR1, ≤ 3 GHzNote 4 2
FR1, > 3 GHzNote 8 4
FR2 64 8
NOTE: For unpaired spectrum operation with Case C - 30 kHz SCS, 3GHz is replaced by 2.4GHz, as specified in
clause 4.1 in TS 38.213 [3].

Requirements for SSB based monitoring
• Qout_SSB and Qin_SSB are derived based on the hypothetical PDCCH transmission
parameters listed here.
Table 8.1.2.1-1: PDCCH transmission parameters for out-of-sync evaluation Table 8.1.2.1-2: PDCCH transmission parameters for in-sync evaluation
Attribute Value for BLER Configuration #0 Attribute Value for BLER Configuration #0
DCI format 1-0 DCI payload size 1-0
Number of control OFDM Number of control OFDM
2 2
symbols symbols
Aggregation level (CCE) 8 Aggregation level (CCE) 4
Ratio of hypothetical PDCCH Ratio of hypothetical PDCCH
RE energy to average SSS 4dB RE energy to average SSS 0dB
RE energy RE energy
Ratio of hypothetical PDCCH Ratio of hypothetical PDCCH
DMRS energy to average 4dB DMRS energy to average 0dB
SSS RE energy SSS RE energy
Bandwidth (PRBs) 24 Bandwidth (PRBs) 24
Sub-carrier spacing (kHz) SCS of the active DL BWP Sub-carrier spacing (kHz) SCS of the active DL BWP
DMRS precoder granularity REG bundle size DMRS precoder granularity REG bundle size
REG bundle size 6 REG bundle size 6
CP length Normal CP length Normal
Mapping from REG to CCE Distributed Mapping from REG to CCE Distributed

Minimum requirements for SSB based monitoring
• UE shall evaluate if quality becomes worse than the threshold Qout_SSB within TEvaluate_out_SSB [ms]
• UE shall evaluate if quality becomes better than the threshold Qin_SSB within TEvaluate_in_SSB [ms]
• For FR1, P = 1 when in the monitored cell there are no measurement gaps overlapping with any occasion of the SSB. Otherwise, and
for FR2, see 38.133
• For FR2, N=8
Table 8.1.2.2-1: Evaluation period TEvaluate_out_SSB and TEvaluate_in_SSB for FR1

Configuration TEvaluate_out_SSB (ms) TEvaluate_in_SSB (ms)
no DRX Max(200, Ceil(10  P)  TSSB) Max(100, Ceil(5  P)  TSSB)
DRX cycle≤320ms Max(200, Ceil(15  P)  Max(100, Ceil(7.5  P)  Max(TDRX,TSSB))
Max(TDRX,TSSB))
DRX cycle>320ms Ceil(10  P)  TDRX Ceil(5  P)  TDRX
NOTE: TSSB is the periodicity of the SSB configured for RLM. T DRX is the DRX cycle length.
Table 8.1.2.2-2: Evaluation period TEvaluate_out_SSB and TEvaluate_in_SSB for FR2

Configuration TEvaluate_out_SSB (ms) TEvaluate_in_SSB (ms)
no DRX Max(200, Ceil(10  P  N)  TSSB) Max(100, Ceil(5  P  N)  TSSB)
DRX cycle≤320ms Max(200, Ceil(15  P  N)  Max(100, Ceil(7.5  P  N)  Max(TDRX,TSSB))
Max(TDRX,TSSB))
DRX cycle>320ms Ceil(10  P  N)  TDRX Ceil(5  P  N)  TDRX
NOTE: TSSB is the periodicity of the SSB configured for RLM. TDRX is the DRX cycle length.

Radio Link Failure RCS procedure in the UE
First Phase Second Phase
Radio no recovery during no recovery during

Normal operation problem Return to idle
T310 T311
detection
RRC_Connected RRC_IDLE -> New RRC

Setup Request
Radio Link Failure-> RRC Re-establishment Request*

*not supported in all cases
n310 N311
Maximum number of consecutive out of sync indications received from lower Maximum number of consecutive in-sync indications received from lower layers.
layers
T310 T311.
Waiting time for radio link failure. UE timer triggered at radio link failure. UE tries to re-establish radio connection with one
Provided to UE by SIB1. Values 4000 and 6000 are not supported in SIB1. of the following options:
For EN-DC, provided to UE by SCG radio configuration. All values are relevant - Performing RRC Connection Reestablishment.
for EN-DC. - Finding a suitable cell on another RAT.
UE returns to idle mode and optionally starts reconnect over NAS when timer expires.
Provided to the UE by SIB1.

Practical Exercises
RCS unsynchronization failure

SgNB-initiated NR Bearer Release Overview 3GPP TS 37.340, 10.4.1

UL DRB in LTE (configurable) MN terminated SN terminated
DL DRB in NR (split bearer) MCG Bearer Split Bearer
Trigger NR Leg Release NR Bearer Release

SgNB Release Required
Prepare for DRB reconfiguration User-plane

SgNB Release Confirm
SGW
Suspend DRB
S1-U
SN Status Transfer
S1-U
RRC Reconfiguration (release SCG + start B1)
LTE NR PDCP
LTE Random Access
PDCP
UL User data in LTE (new ciphering) X2-U
RRC Reconfiguration Complete LTE RLC LTE RLC NR RLC
E-RAB Modification Indication
Bearer
New path Modification
LTE MAC LTE MAC NR MAC
Resume
DL User data in DRB RA
E-RAB Modification Confirm
LTE (new
ciphering) UE Context Release
Release resources Release resources

MeNB SgNB

NR Bearer Release

UE MeNB SgNB EPC
— Case 2: SgNB initiated NR DRB Release triggered
— Scenario 1: SgNB initiated NR Leg Release
— Radio Link Failure detected in NR cell Radio Link Failure (RLF),

 Reason: RLC DL failure
— Reason: RLC DL failure  suspend SCG
Failure Indication NR to LTE
LTE initiates NR DRB Release (gNB to eNB

relocation)
 Start B1 measurement on serving LTE cell

NR Bearer Release, con’t

UE MeNB SgNB EPC
— Case 2: SgNB initiated NR DRB Release triggered SgNB initiated NR Leg Release
— Scenario 2: NR cell blocked

 suspend SCG
— NR cell manually or auto blocked
Failure Indication NR to LTE
LTE initiate NR DRB Release (gNB to eNB

relocation)
 Start B1 measurement on serving LTE
cell

SCG Release - NSA LTE Mobility overview

NR Bearer Release
- return to LTE

UE MeNB SgNB EPC
— Case 1: MeNB initiated NR DRB Release triggered
— Scenario 2:
— LTE handover (under the condition that the LTE Handover triggered
 suspend SCG
vendor does not support LTE mobility with SN leg
connected) SCG Failure Indication NR
NR DRB Release (gNB to eNB relocation)

 Execute Handover
 Start B1 measurement on new LTE
target cell

LTE Handover Review
 UE establishes EN_DC connectivity

SRB eMBB
LTE PDCP NR PDCP
LTE RLC LTE RLC NR RLC
NR MAC & L1
LTE MAC & L1
MN SN
 During NSA, UE continues to measure LTE neighbors for all type of events (i.e. A2, A3)
Measurement based or
Blind condition

LTE Handover Review, con’t
 When LTE event is triggered then: Handover triggered and Decision
 EN_DC split bearer is released and reconfigured back to LTE bearer

SRB eMBB
LTE PDCP LTE PDCP
LTE RLC LTE RLC
LTE MAC & L1
MN SN
 LTE proceeds with legacy handover SGW Path reconfiguration

 UE is transferred to the target cell

LTE Handover Review, con’t 1
 On new target cell UE starts NR measurements IF target cell has r-15 parameters and
NR neighbors configured
 Should radio conditions are met EN_DC split bearer is reconfigured back
SRB eMBB
LTE PDCP NR PDCP
LTE RLC LTE RLC NR RLC
LTE MAC & L1 NR MAC & L1
MN SN

Example 1: Intra-cell Handover
UE MeNB SgNB MME
• Key change on the fly (S1 UE Context Trigger for intra-cell handover
Modification Request)
X2AP:
• Radio bearer ID re-use (key change needed at SGNB RELEASE REQUEST
E-RAB setup for MN bearer) MN Initiated SN
X2AP: Release
• Activation of TTI bundling
Suspend user data
RRCConnectionReconfiguration
- MobilityControlInfo, full Configuration X2AP:
SN STATUS TRANSFER
S1AP:
E-RAB MODIFICATION INDICATION
S1AP:
E-RAB MODIFICATION CONFIRM
X2AP:
RRCConnectionReconfiguration UE CONTEXT RELEASE
RRCMeasurementReport (B1 measurement)

Initiate SgNB Addition with stored NR Cell
SgNB addition • Key change on the fly
• Radio bearer ID re-use

Example 2: Intra-eNB Handover
UE MeNB SgNB MME
RRC:
1st Event A3 MeasurementReport
RRC:
X2AP:
- MobilityControlInfo, fullConfig
SGNB RELEASE REQUEST
MN Initiated SN Release
X2AP:
Suspend user data

X2AP:
RRC: SN STATUS TRANSFER
RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete S1AP:
E-RAB MODIFICATION INDICATION
S1AP:
E-RAB MODIFICATION CONFIRM
X2AP:
RRC: UE CONTEXT RELEASE
RRC:
RRC:
RRCMeasurementReport (B1 measurement)
SgNB addition

Part 4- 5G NSA Retainability
SCG Release - NSA LTE Mobility analysis

Intra gNB PSCell Change 3GPP TS 38.331
- Event A3
• It is triggered when a neighbor cell becomes better than a special cell (SpCell) by an offset.
– A special cell is the primary serving cell of either the Master Cell Group (MCG) or Secondary Cell
Group (SCG))
• The offset can be either positive or negative
• Event A3 is typically used for intra-frequency or inter-frequency handover procedures

– When Event A2 is triggered the UE may be configured with measurement gaps to measure the inter
frequency objects and Event A3 for inter-frequency handover

Intra gNB PSCell Change
- Event A3 3GPP TS 38.331
• Event A3 provides a handover triggering mechanism based upon relative measurement

results
– e.g. it can be configured to be triggered when the RSRP of a neighbor cell is stronger than the
RSRP of special cell
Triggering condition
Mn + Ofn + Ocn – Hys > Mp + Ofp + Ocp + Off
Cancellation condition
Mn + Ofn + Ocn + Hys < Mp + Ofp + Ocp + Off

Intra gNB PSCell Change 3GPP TS 38.401 -8.2.2.1
- intra frequency
This procedure is used in case UE moves from one gNB-DU to another gNB-DU
(TRxP point change) within the same gNB-CU when only MCG SRB is
available during EN-DC operation
Intra-gNB PSCell Change
MeNB
NR Cell A NR Cell B
LTE Cell B
S1-U
UE mobility
X2-U X2-C
SGW Event A3
S1-U (NR)
SgNB
3GPP TR 38.804 –
TRxP definition

Intra gNB PSCell Change 3GPP TR 38.913
- definition of TRxP
Transmission Reception Point (TRxP) definition: Antenna array with one or
more antenna elements available to the network located at a specific
geographical location for a specific area

Inter gNB PSCell Change 3GPP TS 38.401 -8.2.2.1
- intra frequency with X2/Xn involved
Inter-gNB PSCell Change

NR Cell A NR Cell B
LTE Cell B
UE mobility

Intra-gNB PSCell Change
- Intra frequency MN initiated 3GPP TS 7.340v15.3.0, 10.5.1
The Secondary Node Change

procedure is initiated either by Source
secondary
Target
secondary
MN or SN and used to transfer node SN node SN
a UE context from a source SN

to a target SN and to change
the SCG configuration in UE
from one SN to another SN
Figure 10.5.1-1

NSA Retainability Optimization

NR leg abnormal drop analysis
• The main reasons for abnormal disconnection:
— Bad call quality:
• Mainly manifested in poor SINR.
— Poor Coverage Call Drop:
• Mainly manifested in RLF with poor RSRP
— Call drop:
• Due to a switching or handover issue
— Solution:
• Coverage and quality optimization
• LTE handover relationship optimization
• NR handover relationship optimization
• Optimization of DL/UL leg switch parameters of LTE and NR

NR Mobility Tuning
• Verification of :
– Idle Mode Mobility for SA X2 connections to 256
gNB and eNB respectively
– NR LEG Setup (addition release for NSA)
– Mobility using LTE Handover for EN-DC
X2
UE(Master cell handover for NSA)
LTE (eNB) X2 NR (gNB)

User
plane
Contr
ol NR leg release based on
plane A2 measurement

Idle Mode Mobility
- Cell Selection parameter for SA
3GPP Name 3GPP description Parameter mapping and notes
Srxlev Cell selection RX level value (dB) (UE calculated)
Squal Cell selection quality value (dB) (UE calculated)
• Cell Selection criterion S fulfilled when: Qoffsettemp

Qrxlevmeas
Offset temporarily applied to a cell
Measured cell RX level value (RSRP)
(Not used)
(UE measured)
Qqualmeas Measured cell quality value (RSRQ) (UE measured)
NRCellDU::qRxLevMin (serving cell)

Srxlev > 0 Qrxlevmin Minimum required cell RX level (dBm) NRFreqRelation::qRxLevMin (Intra/Inter-Freq reselection)
EUtranFreqRelation::qRxLevMin (IRAT reselection)
AND
Squal > 0
NRCellDU::qQualMin (serving cell)
Qqualmin Minimum required cell quality level (dB) NRFreqRelation::qQualMin (Intra/Inter-Freq reselection)
Srxlev EUtranFreqRelation::qQualMin (IRAT reselection)
Qrxlevmeas – (Qrxlevmin + Qrxlevminoffset) – Qrxlevminoffset

Offset for periodic search of higher
NRCellDU::qRxLevMinOffset (serving cell)
Pcompensation – Qoffsettemp priority PLMN when camped in a VPLMN
Offset for periodic search of higher
Qqualminoffset priority PLMN when camped in a VPLMN
NRCellDU::qQualMinOffset (serving cell)
Pcompensation max(PEMAX1 –PPowerClass, 0) (dB) Max usable PEMAX1 = 23 dBm

Squal
Qqualmeas – (Qqualmin + Qqualminoffset) – NRCellDU::pMax (serving cell)
Qoffsettemp PEMAX1 Maximum TX power level of a UE NRFreqRelation::pMax (Intra/Inter-Freq reselection)
EUtranFreqRelation::pMaxEUtra (IRAT reselection)

Maximum RF output power of the UE
PPowerClass (dBm)

5. 5G Throughput performance

Part 1- 5G NSA & SA Throughput Optimization
External Interference Estimation

External Interference
Can be NR with LTE or NR with NR. RBS to RBS

interference and RBS to UE interference:
• Out of Band Emissions

• Spurious Emissions
• Receiver Blocking
• Passive Intermodulation Products
• The near-far problem
• Unsynchronized Networks
UE to UE interference is not described in this course
• Cross-link Interference
Discussions and exercises from realistic network case studies

Practical Exercises
Performance degradation vs. Isolation

Solutions To Interference Issues
 Alignments of frame structures
 Synchronization of TDD patterns
 Cross-link interference
 Adjustment of time offset
 Increasing isolation between systems

 Guard bands
 Filters
 Solutions for planning(Colocated systems and Coexisting system)

Synchronization of TDD patterns
• When TDD patterns for

deployment in same operating
band.
• Frames starts at same time
• Cells/service providers have the
same frame structure(NR TDD
patterns)
One radio frame = 10 ms
Example of TDD patterns combination for LTE and NR

Carrier Aggregation

LTE - NR Downlink Aggregation
• Enables increased DL user peak bitrates and app

coverage by combining up to 6 LTE carriers (up to 20
MIMO layers) with up to 2 NR carriers (up to 8 MIMO Peak Rate Evolution
layers) in low band and mid band or with up to 4 NR
carriers in high band*
• Benefit
• Allow users to experience higher speeds everywhere in
the network LTE
• Helps operators to make sure that user bit-rates are
always better for a 5G user compared to a 4G user NR
*) Up to 6CC is supported on LTE side. The actual configuration of number of CC’s is dependent on
UE capabilities. Maximum single user peak rates is stated in Capacity roadmap

LTE Carrier Aggregation + 4 NR CC (50/100MHz)
• EN-DC capable UE with Split DRB:

– Up to 6CC LTE CA + 4 NR CC supported in DL NSA High band
• Executed via Intra-cell handover
– Reusing the Intra-cell handover with CA for TTI
bundling case. NR 4CC Aggregation
• NR capabilities prioritized. (100 MHZ / 2, Layers
64 QAM, 120 kHz
• Number of LTE CCs depend on UE BW and CC SCS)
capabilities for the target LTE + NR frequency band

combination.
• LTE intra band and inter band CA supported.
• Separate CA thresholds used for UEs with Split DRBs
LTE 6CC Aggregation,
to speed up configuration and activation of LTE CCs 256 QAM, 16 to 20
after SCG Setup/Release and leg switching. Layers
– One LTE CC and one NR CC supported in UL.

Throughput

Tuning for Coverage
– serving cell SS-RSRP or
path loss is used as the
primary metrics
– Rectification of issues:
– Antenna azimuth adjustment
– Antenna tilt adjustment
– LTE anchor cell check
– In some instances, the

antenna cannot be adjusted
due to the potential
detrimental impacts of the
change within other areas
covered by the cells.

Tuning for Quality/SINR
• Major contributors:
— Interference from other external sources
in spectrum
— Poor coverage for NR frequencies due to
the higher frequency band
— Overlapping coverage areas with PCI
conflicts
— Overshooting coverage from distant
areas
— Disturbances caused by synchronization
issues.

Expected DL Throughput vs DL SINR curve
Radio
Condition SINR DL throughput
Close to the maximum
very high possible throughput of
Excellent (> 25 dB) the channel.
between lower than that of the
10 to 15 excellent radio
Medium dB conditions.
Very Low, depending
upon the RF pathloss
differences between the
NR leg and the LTE leg,
between 0 UE operating on LTE
Poor and 5 dB only

5G NR Frame Structure
One Radio Frame (10 msec) = 10 Subframes
Subframe 0 Subframe 1 Subframe 2 Subframe 3 Subframe 4 Subframe 5 Subframe 6 Subframe 7 Subframe 8 Subframe 9
μ=0 Slot = 14 OFDM Symbols
The calculations in this

μ=1 = 14 OFDM Symbols chapter assume mid-band
operation with μ = 1
(30 kHz subcarrier
spacing)
μ=2 = 14 OFDM Symbols
1 RB = 12 subcarriers
RB Bandwidth (μ = 0) = 12 X 15 kHz = 180 kHz
μ = 3 = 14 OFDM Symbols RB Bandwidth (μ = 1) = 12 X 30 kHz = 360 kHz
μ = 4 = 14 OFDM Symbols

5G NR Resource Block Peak Bit Rate
*Only applicable in the downlink
QPSK 16 QAM 64 QAM 256 QAM*
2 bits/symbol 4 bits/symbol 6 bits/symbol 8 bits/symbol

Modulation Scheme
μ = 0 => 1 slot/subframe = 14 symbols/msec
μ = 1 => 2 slots/subframe = 28 symbols/msec
μ = 4 => 16 slots/subframe = 224
symbols/msec
1 RB Subframe
(12 subcarriers) Subframe n-1 Subframe n
n+1
MIMO Layers (1, 2*,3* or 4*)
*Only applicable in the downlink

3GPP 5G NR Frequency Bands (TS 38.104 V15.4.0)
All Time Division

Duplex (TDD)
millimeter waves
A mix of Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)

and Time Division Duplex (TDD)
The calculations in this chapter assume 3.5 GHz (n77/n78)
Supplementary Uplink (SUL)

Practical Exercises
Peak SA & NSA Throughput performance

Practical Exercises
Cell average Throughput performance

Case Study
Field Service measurements for Throughput optimization

5G RAN Optimization

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5G RAN OPTIMIZATION

2. 5G NSA Dual Connectivity Optimization

5. 5G Throughput performance Optimization

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NSA Optimization is related to NSA SN

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SA Optimization is related to Accessibility,

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Range of Data and

 beam forming for

• 5G uses beamforming for all channels (also control)

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– Also used for mobility measurements Serving set

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• Analog beam forming transmits one beam at a time

• UE may also support beam forming as well in future

Transmission of uplink sounding signals from different beams X

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Broad beams (< 3 GHz)

Few beams (3 - 6 GHz)

Many narrow beams (6- 52.6 GHz) X

 Subset of the beams per set

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 Allows for many configurations

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• Static RRC configuration or dynamic slot format indicator

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• switching twice per slot

• Combination of slot formats also possible

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 Backwards compatibility improves coexistence and implementation

First half Second half

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– With an increase in subcarrier spacing the symbol size decreases

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Subframe 1 ms Fixed Size

Symbol Slot = 14 Symbols

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 240 kHz SCS used only for

Source: 3GPP TS38.211

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30 11 24 38 51 65 78 106 133 162 217 273

60 N/A 11 18 24 31 38 51 65 79 107 135

– Frequency range 2 SCS (kHz) 50MHz 100MHz 200MHz 400 MHz

NRB NRB NRB NRB

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LTE anchor carrier NR extension carrier

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• Carrier Aggregation possible at both sites

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Operator based split bearer configuration:

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— NR Release to Idle mode

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• Both eNB and UE know its capabilities

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4. UE measures SS Block of gNB at respective frequency band