LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
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LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 Cellular mobile networks have been evolving for many years. The initial networks are
referred to as “First Generation”. These have now been replaced with “Second Generation”
and “Third Generation” networks. It is only now that 4G or “Fourth Generation” systems
are being deployed.

LTE Air Interface
 The 1G (First Generation) mobile systems were not digital, i.e. they utilized analogue
modulation techniques. The main systems included:
 AMPS (Advanced Mobile Telephone System) - This first appeared in 1976 in the
United States. It was mainly implemented in the Americas, Russia and Asia. Various
issues including weak security features made the system prone to hacking and
handset cloning.
 TACS (Total Access Communications System) - This was the European version of
AMPS with slight modifications, as well as operating in different frequency bands.
It was mainly used in the United Kingdom, as well as parts of Asia.
 ETACS (Extended Total Access Communication System) - This provided an
improved version of TACS. It enabled a greater number of channels and therefore
facilitated more users.
 These analogue systems were all proprietary based FM (Frequency Modulation) systems
and therefore they all lacked security, any meaningful data service and international
roaming capability.

LTE Air Interface
 2G (Second Generation) systems utilize digital multiple access technology, such as TDMA
(Time Division Multiple Access) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). The figure
illustrates some of the different 2G mobile systems, these include:
 GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) - this is the most successful of all
2G technologies. It was initially developed by ETSI (European Telecommunications
Standards Institute) for Europe and designed to operate in the 900MHz and
1800MHz frequency bands. It now has world-wide support and is available for
deployment on many other frequency bands, such as 850MHz and 1900MHz. A
mobile described as tri-band or quad-band indicates support for multiple frequency
bands on the same device. GSM is TDMA, such that it employs 8 timeslots on a
200kHz radio carrier.
 cdmaOne - this is a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) system based on IS-95
(Interim Standard 95). It uses a spread spectrum technique and utilizes a mixture of
codes and timing to identify cells and channels. The system bandwidth is 1.25MHz.
 D-AMPS (Digital - Advanced Mobile Phone System) - this is based on IS-136
(Interim Standard 136) and is effectively an enhancement to AMPS which provides
a TDMA access technique. It has been primarily used on the North American
continent, as well as in New Zealand and parts of Asia-Pacific.

LTE Air Interface
 Most 2G systems are being evolved. For example, GSM was extended with GPRS (General
Packet Radio System) to support efficient packet data services, as well as increasing the
data rates.
 As this feature does not meet 3G requirements, GRPS is often referred to as 2.5G. A
comparison between 2G and 2.5G systems is illustrated in table.
 GSM/GPRS systems also added EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution). This
nearly quadruples the throughput of GPRS. The theoretical data rate of 473.6kbit/s
enables service providers to efficiently offer multimedia services. Like GPRS, since it does
not comply with all the features of a 3G system, EDGE is usually categorized as 2.75G.

LTE Air Interface
 3G (Third Generation) systems are defined by IMT2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications -

2000). IMT2000 defines that a 3G system should provide higher transmission rates, for example:
2Mbit/s for stationary or nomadic use and 348kbit/s in a moving vehicle.
 The main 3G technologies are illustrated in figure. These include:
 WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) - This was developed by the 3GPP (Third Generation
Partnership Project). There are numerous variations on this standard, including TD-CDMA
and TD-SCDMA. WCDMA is the main evolutionary path from GSM/GPRS networks. It is a
FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) based system and occupies a 5MHz carrier. Current
deployments are mainly at 2.1GHz, however deployments at lower frequencies are also
being seen, e.g. UMTS1900, UMTS850, UMTS900 etc. WCDMA supports voice and
multimedia services with an initial theoretical rate of 2Mbit/s, with most service providers
initially offering 384kbit/s per user. However, this technology is continuing to evolve and
later 3GPP releases have increased the rates to in excess of 40Mbit/s.
 TD-CDMA (Time Division CDMA) - This is typically referred to as UMTS TDD (Time Division
Duplex) and is part of the UMTS specifications, however it has only limited support. The
system utilizes a combination of CDMA and TDMA to enable efficient allocation of
resources.
 TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous CDMA) - This was jointly developed by Siemens and
the CATT (China Academy of Telecommunications Technology). TD-SCDMA has links to the
UMTS specifications and is often identified as UMTS-TDD LCR (Low Chip Rate). Like TD-
CDMA, it is also best suited to low mobility scenarios in micro or pico cells.
 CDMA2000 - This is a multi-carrier technology standard which uses CDMA. CDMA2000 is
actually a set of standards including CDMA2000 EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) which
has various “revisions”. It is worth noting that CDMA2000 is backward compatible with
cdmaOne.
 WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) - This is another wireless
technology which satisfies IMT2000 3G requirements. The air interface is part of the IEEE
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.16 standard which originally defined
PTP (Point-To-Point) and PTM (Point-To-Multipoint) systems. This was later enhanced to
provide mobility and greater flexibility. The success of WiMAX is mainly down to the
“WiMAX Forum”, which is an organization formed to promote conformity and
interoperability between vendors.

LTE Air Interface
 4G (Fourth Generation) cellular wireless systems need to meet the requirements set by the
ITU (International Telecommunication Union) as part of IMT Advanced (International
Mobile Telecommunications Advanced). These features are illustrated in table and enable
IMT Advanced to address evolving user needs.

LTE Air Interface
 The main three 4G systems include:

 LTE Advanced - LTE (Long Term Evolution) is part of 3GPP, however it does not
meet all IMT Advanced features, as such it is sometimes referred to as 3.99G. In
contrast, LTE Advanced is part of a later 3GPP Release and has been designed
specifically to meet 4G requirements.
 WiMAX 802.16m - The IEEE and the WiMAX Forum have identified 802.16m as
their offering for a 4G system.
 UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband) - This is identified as EV-DO Rev C. It is part of
3GPP2 however most vendors and service providers have decided to promote LTE
instead.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The development of GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA and LTE is in stages known as 3GPP
releases. Hardware vendors and software developers use these releases as part of their
development roadmap.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 In wireless cellular systems, mobiles have to share a common medium for transmission.
There are various categories of assignment, the main four include: FDMA (Frequency
Division Multiple Access), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), CDMA (Code Division
Multiple Access) and OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access).

LTE Air Interface
 In order to accommodate various devices on the same wireless network, FDMA divides the
available spectrum into sub-bands or channels. Using this technique a dedicated channel
can be allocated to a user, whilst other users occupy other channels, i.e. frequencies.
 In a cellular system mobiles typically occupy multiple channels; one for the downlink and
one for the uplink. This does however make FDMA less efficient since most data
applications are downlink intensive.

LTE Air Interface
 In TDMA systems the channel bandwidth is shared in the time domain. It shows how each
device is allocated a time on the channel, known as a “timeslot”. These are then grouped
into a TDMA frame. The number of timeslots in a TDMA frame is dependent on the
system, for example GSM utilizes 8 timeslots.
 Devices must be allocated a timeslot; therefore it is usual to have one or more timeslots
reserved for common control and system access.
 TDMA systems are normally digital and therefore offer additional features such as
ciphering and integrity. In addition, they can employ enhanced error detection and
correction schemes including FEC (Forward Error Correction). This enables the system to be
more resilient to noise and interference and therefore they have a greater spectral
efficiency when compared to FDMA systems.

LTE Air Interface
 The concept of CDMA is slightly different to that of FDMA and TDMA. Instead of sharing
resources in the time or frequency domain, the devices are able to use the system at the
same time and using the same frequency/bandwidth. This is possible due to the fact that
each transmission is separated using a unique code.
 There are two main types of CDMA, FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) and DSSS
(Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum), with all the current cellular systems utilizing DSSS.
 The figure illustrates the basic concept of CDMA. The narrowband signals are spread with
a wideband code and then transmitted. The receivers are designed to extract the encoded
signal (with the correct code) and reject everything else as noise.
 UMTS, cdmaOne and CDMA2000 all use CDMA. However the implementation of the
codes and the bandwidths used is different. For example UMTS utilizes a 5MHz channel
bandwidth, whereas cdmaOne uses only 1.25MHz.

LTE Air Interface
 OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) is the latest addition to cellular
systems. It provides a multiple access technique based on OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency
Division Multiplexing). It can be seen that the bandwidth is broken down to smaller units
known as “subcarriers”. These are grouped together and allocated as a resource to a
device. It can also be seen that a device can be allocated different resources in both the
time and frequency domain.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 A separate uplink and downlink channel are utilized, enabling a device to transmit and
receive data at the same time (assuming the device incorporates a duplexer). The spacing
between the uplink and downlink channel is referred to as the duplex spacing.
 Normally the uplink channel (mobile transmit) operates on the lower frequency. This is
done because higher frequencies suffer greater attenuation than lower frequencies and
therefore it enables the mobile to utilize lower transmit levels.
 Some systems also offer half-duplex FDD mode, where two frequencies are utilized,
however the mobile can only transmit or receive, i.e. not transmit and receive at the same
time. This allows for reduced mobile complexity since no duplex filter is required.

LTE Air Interface
 TDD mode enables full duplex operation using a single frequency band and time division
multiplexing the uplink and downlink signals. One advantage of TDD is its ability to
provide asymmetrical uplink and downlink allocation. Depending on the system, other
advantages include dynamic allocation, increased spectral efficiency, as well as the
improved use of beamforming techniques - this is due to having the same uplink and
downlink frequency characteristics.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The table illustrates the main frequency bands defined for GSM. However, this does not
guarantee that the spectrum is available since there may be regulatory issues, as well as
limitations in some handsets and base stations.
 The initial GSM band was referred to as P-GSM (Primary GSM). This was mainly defined to
replace the TACS system which was also in the 900MHz band. Other 900MHz bands
which were added include E-GSM (Extended GSM) and R-GSM (Railways GSM) bands,
providing more channels and support of a railway based variant. Finally, other bands away
from the 900MHz band are also available; however the support for 450MHz and 480MHz
is limited. The terms DCS (Digital Cellular Service) and PCS (Personal Communications
Service) are typically used in Europe and North America respectively to identify the higher
frequency deployment options. It was expected that these frequencies would offer a
better re-use in built up areas and therefore provide additional capacity.

LTE Air Interface
 UMTS, like GSM, has a number of frequency bands defined. These are identified by an
“Operating Band” number which is illustrated in table, along with the associated Uplink
and downlink frequency ranges.
 In addition to the previous UMTS FDD bands, various UMTS TDD bands are also defined.
The table illustrates the main TDD bands, however the majority of these have never been
implemented.

LTE Air Interface
 It can be seen that GSM 900 and GSM 1800 are used in most parts of the world, i.e.
Europe, Middle East, Africa and most of Asia/Pacific. In contrast, GSM 850 and GSM 1900
are mainly used in North America and Canada, as well as many other locations. Finally, the
lower frequency bands, i.e. GSM 400/450 has limited support.

LTE Air Interface
 The main UMTS deployment bands are illustrated in figure, these include:
 Band I (WCDMA 2100) - This is mainly used in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New
Zealand and Brazil.
 Band II (WCDMA 1900) - This is used in North and South America.
 Band IV (WCDMA 1700) - This is typically referred to as the AWS (Advanced
Wireless Services) band. Certain service providers in North America and Canada
have access to this band.
 Band V (WCDMA 850) - This is found mainly in North and South America, as well
as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, Poland and Asia.
 Band VIII (WCDMA 900) - This is now being found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New
Zealand and Venezuela.

LTE Air Interface
 The LTE Radio interface, namely the E-UTRA (Evolved - Universal Terrestrial Radio Access),
is able to operate in many different radio bands. The table illustrates the Release 10
frequency bands as well as other parameters which are used to identify centre frequencies.
FDD requires two centre frequencies, one for the downlink and one for the uplink. These
carrier frequencies are each given an EARFCN (E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel
Number) which ranges from 0 to 65535. In contrast, TDD only has one EARFCN.

LTE Air Interface
 The parameters required to calculate the EARFCN(s) include:

 FDL_low - This is the lower frequency of the downlink band.
 FDL_high - This is the higher frequency of the downlink band.
 NOffs-DL - This is a parameter used as part of the downlink EARFCN calculation.
 NDL - This is the actual downlink EARFCN number.
 FUL_low - This is the lower frequency of the uplink band.
 FUL_high - This is the higher frequency of the uplink band.
 NOffs-UL - This is a parameter used as part of the uplink EARFCN calculation.
 NUL - This is the actual uplink EARFCN number.
 The channel raster for LTE is 100kHz for all bands, i.e. the carrier centre frequency must be
an integer multiple of 100kHz. This is represented in the equation by the “0.1” value.

LTE Air Interface
 It is possible to utilize the previous equations to calculate the frequency for a given
EARFCN. In addition, it is possible to calculate the EARFCN for a given frequency. The
figure illustrates an example with a defined uplink and downlink frequency. The calculation
shown in the figure translates a downlink frequency of 2127.4MHz to an EARFCN equal to
174.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The term “channel coding” can be used to describe the overall coding for the LTE channel.
It can also be used to describe one of the individual stages.
 LTE channel coding is typically focused on a TB (Transport Block). This is a block of
information which is provided by the upper layer, i.e. MAC (Medium Access Control). The
figure summarizes the typical processes performed by the PHY (Physical Layer), these
include:
 CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) attachment for the Transport Block.
 Code block segmentation and CRC attachment.
 Channel Coding.
 Rate Matching.
 Code Block Concatenation.

LTE Air Interface
 The error detection method across the air interface is based on the addition of a CRC
(Cyclic Redundancy Check). The figure illustrates the basic concept of attaching a CRC to
the Transport Block. The purpose of the CRC is to detect errors which may have occurred
when the data was being sent. In LTE the CRC is based on complex parity checking.

LTE Air Interface
 The LTE transport block is used to calculate the CRC parity bits. The size of the CRC is set
to 24bits, 16bits or 8bits. This is typically indicated by higher layer signaling, i.e. RRC
(Radio Resource Control). The figure illustrates the CRC parity bits, where A is the size of
the transport block and L is the number of parity bits. In addition, the lowest order
information bit a0 is mapped to the most significant bit of the transport block.
 The parity bits are generated by one of the following cyclic generator polynomials:
 gCRC24A(D) = D24 + D23 + D18 + D17 + D14 +D11 + D10 + D7 + D6 + D5 + D4 + D3 + D + 1
 gCRC16(D) = D16 + D12 + D5 + 1
 gCRC8(D) = D8 + D7 + D4 + D3 + D + 1

LTE Air Interface
 The next stage in the processing of the transport block is code block segmentation and
CRC attachment. The figure illustrates the concept of code block segmentation. This
process ensures that the size of each block is compatible with later stages of processing,
i.e. the turbo interleaver. In addition, each code bock (segment) has a CRC included for the
turbo coding.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates an example for segmentation when B=8000. In this instance the initial
segment size is 4200bits (including the 24bit transport block CRC) which gets a 24bit code
block CRC. The remaining 3800bits also get a 24bit code block CRC, however an
additional 16bits of filler is required to ensure that the segments meet a valid turbo coding
code block size.
 In this example the total number of bits sent is 8064bits, thus an extra 64bits are sent
(24bits +24bits +16bits).

LTE Air Interface
 Channel coding in LTE facilitates FEC (Forward Error Correction) across the air interface.
There are four main types:
 Repetition Coding
 Block Coding.
 Tail Biting Convolutional Coding.
 Turbo Coding.
 The actual method used is linked to the type of LTE transport channel or the control
information type.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 Repetition coding is used for coding the HI (HARQ Indicator) bit. The HI bit set to “1” is
termed an ACK (Acknowledgement) and the HI bit set to “0” is a NACK (Negative
Acknowledgement). The process of repetition coding is applied to increase the channel
robustness. As such, for one initial bit, three bits are generated. These three bits are then
map to an orthogonal sequence.

LTE Air Interface
 The main utilization of block coding in LTE is for the CFI (Control Format Indicator). This
parameter is used to convey vital information about the size of the downlink control
region. The table illustrates how the CFI values are encoded into a 32bit CFI codeword.

LTE Air Interface
 Prior to detailing the operation of tail biting convolutional coding and turbo coding in LTE
it is worth examining the basics of a CC (Convolutional Coder) and the decoding process.
 The figure illustrates a basic convolutional ½ rate coder, i.e. for 1bit input, 2bits are
generated. It also has a constraint value of 3, meaning that three consecutive bits are used
to calculate the output. For standard convolutional coders, before any information is sent,
the registers are set to zero. This ensures that the initial information sent in the channel is
at a known state at the receiver. For each subsequent input bit the previous input bit is
used to load the registers S1 and S2 in turn.

LTE Air Interface
 It can be seen in this simple coder that the output is dependent on the input and the state
of the registers at any given time. What is also important is to understand how the output
will change for any given input. For example, if the first input bit is “0” (bit A) and S1 and
S2 are both at “0”, both outputs will be “0”. As the next bit arrives (bit B) it affects the
output, such that G0 and G1 are both set to “1”. The table illustrates bit B (in bold)
clocking through the shift registers, as well as the output for the given sequence.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates these, as well as the relationship for an input of 0 or 1.

LTE Air Interface
 The Viterbi algorithm is one of the main methods for decoding standard convolutional
coded signals and it provides a valuable insight to how similar encoded signals can be
decoded. The Viterbi method is based on a concept of maximum-likelihood decoding. The
figure illustrates the concept of trellis decoding by mapping the encoded data and current
state to one of two outputs.
 For example, when the first bit “0” is encoded the output is “00”. If this is received
without error then from the initiating state (00) there are only two possibilities:
 “0” was sent - This is the example shown, therefore there are “0” errors indicated
on the initial input=0 line.
 “1” was sent - This is not the example shown, however the “2” on the input=1 line
illustrates 2 errors, i.e. if the original input sequence was a 1, i.e. coded as “11”
two errors must have happened on the air interface.
 In order for the Viterbi decoding trellis to work all possible states are considered for the
sequence of bits. If errors did occur, it is the “maximum-likelihood” path which is chosen,
i.e. the one with the least amount of errors.

LTE Air Interface
 As previously mentioned, LTE utilizes tail biting convolutional coding for the downlink BCH
(Broadcast Channel) and DCI (Downlink Control Information), as well as possibly for the
UCI (Uplink Control Information).
 The table illustrates the main difference between the tail biting convolutional coding and
standard convolutional coding.

LTE Air Interface
 The initial value of the shift registers are set to the values corresponding to the last 6
information bits in the input stream as illustrated in the figure. This ensures that the initial
and final states of the shift registers are the same for the decoding process.

LTE Air Interface
 The actual LTE tail biting convolutional coder is shown in the figure. There are six shift
registers and hence 6bits are required to initialize the coder. The input bit stream is
identified by ck, dk(0), dk(1) and dk(2) correspond to the first, second and third parity streams,
respectively.

LTE Air Interface
 Turbo coding defines a high-performance FEC mechanism. The term “Turbo coding” can
be used to describe many different types of encoders. For example, in LTE the turbo
encoder is known as a PCCC (Parallel Concatenated Convolutional Code) and it has two 8
state constituent encoders and one contention-free QPP (Quadratic Permutation
Polynomial) turbo code internal interleaver. As previously mentioned, the coding rate of
the LTE turbo encoder is 1/3, i.e. for each input bit, three bits are produced. The structure
of a turbo encoder is illustrated in the figure.
 The LTE turbo encoder employs two recursive convolutional encoders connected in parallel,
with the QPP turbo interleaver preceding the second encoder. The outputs of the
constituent encoders are punctured and repeated to achieve the correct output. It can be
seen that the turbo coder encodes the input block twice, i.e. with and without interleaving,
to generate two distinct sets of parity bits.

LTE Air Interface
 The rate matching for turbo coded transport channels is defined per coded block and
consists of interleaving the three information bit streams dk(0), dk(1) and dk(2), followed by
the collection of bits and the generation of a circular buffer as illustrated in the figure.

LTE Air Interface
 The sub-block interleaver is a row-column interleaver with 32 columns. The table illustrates
the column permutations.
 The sub-block interlearver works by writing each stream of bits row-by-row into a matrix
with 32 columns. In so doing, the number of rows is based on the stream size. In addition,
padding is added to the front of each stream so that the matrix is complete.
 The output of the sub-block interleaver consists of the columns read out in the
permutation order, i.e. 0, 16, 8 etc.
 The bit collection block provides a circular buffer which can be read during “bit selection
and pruning”. The circular buffer is formed by concatenating the rearranged systematic
bits with the two rearranged/interlaced parity bit streams.
 Finally, the bit selection and pruning block performs a very important function. It provides
a rate matching output, ek, of the correct length and utilizing the correct RV (Redundancy
Version). The redundancy version is identified by the parameter rvidx and can have the
values 0, 1, 2 or 3. As such, this value impacts the HARQ (Hybrid ARQ) operation, enabling
the system to select and prune different sets of bits.

LTE Air Interface
 Code block concatenation effectively concatenates the previously segmented code blocks.

LTE Air Interface

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 The LTE air interface utilizes two different multiple access techniques both based on OFDM
(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing):
 OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) used on the downlink.
 SC-FDMA (Single Carrier - Frequency Division Multiple Access) used on the uplink.
 The concept of OFDM is not new and is currently being used on various systems such as
Wi-Fi and WiMAX. In addition, it was even considered for UMTS back in 1998. One of the
main reasons why it was not chosen at the time was the handset’s limited processing
power and poor battery capabilities.
 LTE was able to choose OFDM based access due to the fact mobile handset processing
capabilities and battery performance have both improved. In addition, there is continual
pressure to produce more spectrally efficient systems.

LTE Air Interface
 OFDM is based on FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing) and is a method whereby

multiple frequencies are used to simultaneously transmit information. The figure illustrates
an example of FDM with four subcarriers. These can be used to carry different information
and to ensure that each subcarrier does not interfere with the adjacent subcarrier, a guard
band is utilized. In addition, each subcarrier has slightly different radio characteristics and
this may be used to provide diversity.
 FDM systems are not that spectrally efficient (when compared to other systems) since
multiple subcarrier guard bands are required.

LTE Air Interface
 OFDM follows the same concept as FDM but it drastically increases spectral efficiency by
reducing the spacing between the subcarriers. The figure illustrates how the subcarriers
can overlap due to their orthogonality with the other subcarriers, i.e. the subcarriers are
mathematically perpendicular to each other. As such, when a subcarrier is at its maximum
the two adjacent subcarriers are passing through zero. In addition, OFDM systems still
employ guard bands. These are located at the upper and lower parts of the channel and
reduce adjacent channel interference.

LTE Air Interface
 OFDM subcarriers are generated and decoded using mathematical functions called FFT
(Fast Fourier Transform) and IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform). The IFFT is used in the
transmitter to generate the waveform. The figure illustrates how the coded data is first
mapped to parallel streams before being modulated and processed by the IFFT.

LTE Air Interface
 At the receiver side, this signal is passed to the FFT which analyses the complex/combined
waveform into the original streams. The figure illustrates the FFT process.

LTE Air Interface
 The mapping of OFDM symbols to subcarriers is dependent on the system design. The
figure illustrates an example of OFDM mapping. The first 12 modulated OFDM symbols are
mapped to 12 subcarriers, i.e. they are transmitted at the same time but using different
subcarriers. The next 12 subcarriers are mapped to the next OFDM symbol period. In
addition, a CP (Cyclic Prefix) is added between the symbols.

LTE Air Interface
 In the previous example 12 different modulated OFDM symbols are transmitted

simultaneously. The figure illustrates how the combined energy from this will result in
either constructive peaks (when the symbols are the same) or destructive nulls (when the
symbols are different). This means that OFDM systems have a high PAPR (Peak to Average
Power Ratio).

LTE Air Interface
 The OFDM signal provides some protection in the frequency domain due to the
orthogonality of the subcarriers. The main issue is with delay spread, i.e. multipath
interference.
 The figure illustrates two of the main multipath effects, namely delay and attenuation.

LTE Air Interface
 The delayed signal can manifest itself as ISI (Inter Symbol Interference), whereby one
symbol impacts the next.
 ISI (Inter Symbol Interference) is typically reduced with “equalizers”. However, for the
equalizer to be effective a known bit pattern or “training sequence” is required. However,
this reduces the system capacity, as well as impacts processing on a device. Instead, OFDM
systems employ a CP (Cyclic Prefix).

LTE Air Interface
 A CP (Cyclic Prefix) is utilized in most OFDM systems to combat multipath delays. It

effectively provides a guard period for each OFDM symbol. The figure illustrates the Cyclic
Prefix and its location in the OFDM Symbol. Notice that the Cyclic Prefix is effectively a
copy taken from the back of the original symbol which is then placed in front of the
symbol to make the OFDM symbol (Ts).
 The size of the Cyclic Prefix relates to the maximum delay spread the system can tolerate.
As such, systems designed for macro coverage, i.e. large cells, should have a large CP. This
does however impact the system capacity since the number of symbols per second is
reduced.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

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 The LTE air interface is identified as the E-UTRA (Evolved - Universal Terrestrial Radio
Access) and can support varying bandwidth options ranging from 1.4MHz to 20MHz. The
interface is identified as “Uu”, with the capital “U” indicating the “User to Network”
interface and the lower case “u” indicating Universal. The UE (User Equipment) will utilize a
channel bandwidth based on the configuration of the eNB (Evolved Node B). However, the
eNB may implement multiple channels to improve capacity or as part of a frequency reuse
mechanism.

LTE Air Interface
 The E-UTRA interface provides connectivity between the User Equipment and the eNB. It
can be logically split into a control plane and a user plane. There are effectively two
control planes, the first is provided by RRC (Radio Resource Control) and carries signaling
between the User Equipment and the eNB. The second carries NAS (Non Access Stratum)
signaling messages to the MME (Mobility Management Entity), which are carried by RRC.
The figure illustrates the RRC and NAS control planes, as well as the user plane which
focuses on the delivery of IP datagrams to and from the EPC (Evolved Packet Core), namely
the S-GW (Serving Gateway) and PDN-GW (Packet Data Network - Gateway).

LTE Air Interface
 The control and user plane lower layer protocols are the same. As such, they both utilize
the services of PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol), RLC (Radio Link Control) and
MAC (Medium Access Control), as well as the PHY (Physical Layer). The figure illustrates
the radio interface protocol stacks. It can be seen that the NAS signaling uses the services
of RRC, which is then mapped into PDCP. On the user plane IP datagrams are also mapped
into PDCP.

LTE Air Interface
 In terms of NAS signaling, messages pass between the User Equipment and the MME.

LTE Air Interface
 Two categories of NAS signaling exist:

 EMM (EPS Mobility Management).
 ESM (EPS Session Management).

LTE Air Interface
 The main air interface control protocol is RRC (Radio Resource Control). For RRC messages
to be transferred between the UE and the eNB it uses the services of PDCP, RLC, MAC and
PHY. The figure identifies the main RRC functions. In summary, RRC handles all the
signaling between the UE and the E-UTRAN, with signaling between the UE and Core
Network, i.e. NAS (Non Access Stratum) signaling, being carried by dedicated RRC
messages. When carrying NAS signaling, RRC does not alter the information but instead,
provides the delivery mechanism.

LTE Air Interface
 LTE implements PDCP in both the user plane and control plane. This is unlike UMTS, where
PDCP was only found in the user plane. The main reason for the difference is that PDCP in
LTE takes on the role of security, i.e. encryption and integrity. In addition, The figure
illustrates some of the other functions performed by PDCP.
 In the control plane, PDCP facilitates encryption and integrity checking of signaling
messages, i.e. RRC and NAS. The user plane is slightly different since only encryption is
performed. In addition, the user plane IP datagrams can also be subjected to IP header
compression techniques in order to improve the system’s performance and efficiency.
Finally, PDCP also facilitates sequencing and duplication detection.

LTE Air Interface
 The RLC (Radio Link Control) protocol exists in the UE and the eNB. As its name suggests it
provides “radio link” control, if required. In essence, RLC supports three delivery services to
the higher layers:
 TM (Transparent Mode) - This is utilized for some of the air interface channels, e.g.
broadcast and paging. It provides a connectionless service for signaling.
 UM (Unacknowledged Mode) - This is like Transparent Mode, in that it is a
connectionless service; however it has the additional features of sequencing,
segmentation and concatenation.
 AM (Acknowledged Mode) - This offers an ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request)
service. As such, retransmissions can be used.
 These modes, as well as the other RLC features are illustrated in figure. In addition to ARQ,
RLC offers segmentation, re-assembly and concatenation of information.

LTE Air Interface
 MAC (Medium Access Control) provides the interface between the E-UTRA protocols and
the E-UTRA Physical Layer. In doing this it provides the following services:
 Mapping - MAC maps the information received on the LTE Logical Channels into
the LTE transport channels.
 Multiplexing - The information provided to MAC will come from a RB (Radio
Bearer) or multiple Radio Bearers. The MAC layer is able to multiplex different
bearers into the same TB (Transport Block), thus increasing efficiency.
 HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) - MAC utilizes HARQ to provide error
correction services across the air. HARQ is a feature which requires the MAC and
Physical Layers to work closely together.
 Radio Resource Allocation - QoS (Quality of Service) based scheduling of traffic and
signaling to users is provided by MAC.
 In order to support these features the MAC and Physical layers need to pass various
indications on the radio link quality, as well as the feedback from HARQ operation.

LTE Air Interface
 The PHY (Physical Layer) in LTE provides a new and flexible channel. It does however utilize
features and mechanisms defined in earlier systems, i.e. UMTS. The figure illustrates the
main functions provided by the Physical Layer.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The concept of “channels” is not new. Both GSM and UMTS defined various channel
categories, however LTE terminology is closer to UMTS. Broadly there are four categories
of channel.

LTE Air Interface
 In order to describe Logical Channels it is best to identify where Logical Channels are
located in relation to the LTE protocols and the other channel types. The figure shows
Logical Channels located between the RLC and the MAC layers.

LTE Air Interface
 The various forms of these Control Logical Channels include:

 BCCH (Broadcast Control Channel) - This is a downlink channel used to send SI
(System Information) messages from the eNB. These are defined by RRC.
 PCCH (Paging Control Channel) - This downlink channel is used by the eNB to send
paging information.

LTE Air Interface
 CCCH (Common Control Channel) - This is used to establish a RRC (Radio Resource
Control) connection, also known as a SRB (Signaling Radio Bearer). The SRB is also
used for re-establishment procedures. SRB 0 maps to the CCCH.
 DCCH (Dedicated Control Channel) - This provides a bidirectional channel for
signaling. Logically there are two DCCH activated:
 SRB 1 - This is used for RRC messages, as well as RRC messages carrying
high priority NAS signaling.
 SRB 2 - This is used for RRC carrying low priority NAS signaling. Prior to its
establishment low priority signaling is sent on SRB1.

LTE Air Interface
 Release 8 LTE has one type of Logical Channel carrying traffic, namely the DTCH
(Dedicated Traffic Channel). This is used to carry DRB (Dedicated Radio Bearer)
information, i.e. IP datagrams.
 The DTCH is a bidirectional channel that can operate in either RLC AM or UM mode. This is
configured by RRC and is based on the QoS (Quality of Service) of the E-RAB (EPS Radio
Access Bearer).

LTE Air Interface
 Historically, Transport Channels were split between common and dedicated channels.
However, LTE has moved away from dedicated channels in favor of the common/shared
channels and the associated efficiencies provided. The main Release 8 Transport Channels
include:
 BCH (Broadcast Channel) - This is a fixed format channel which occurs once per
frame and carries the MIB (Master Information Block). Note that the majority of
System Information messages are carries on the DL-SCH (Downlink - Shared
Channel).
 PCH (Paging Channel) - This channel is used to carry the PCCH, i.e. paging
messages. It also utilizes DRX (Discontinuous Reception) to improve UE battery life.
 DL-SCH (Downlink - Shared Channel) - This is the main downlink channel for data
and signaling. It supports dynamic scheduling, as well as dynamic link adaptation.
In addition, it supports HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) operation to
improve performance. As previously mentioned it also facilitates the sending of
System Information messages.
 RACH (Random Access Channel) - This channel carries limited information and is
used in conjunction with Physical Channels and preambles to provide contention
resolution procedures.
 UL-SCH (Uplink Shared Channel) - Similar to the DL-SCH, this channel supports
dynamic scheduling (eNB controlled) and dynamic link adaptation by varying the
modulation and coding. In addition, it too supports HARQ (Hybrid Automatic
Repeat Request) operation to improve performance.

LTE Air Interface
 There are a number of downlink Physical Channels in LTE. These include:

 PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) - This channel carries the BCH.
 PCFICH (Physical Control Format Indicator Channel) - This is used to indicate the
number of OFDM symbols used for the PDCCH.
 PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) - This channel is used for resource
allocation.
 PHICH (Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel) - This channel is part of the HARQ
process.
 PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) - This channel carries the DL-SCH.

LTE Air Interface
 There are a number of Uplink Physical Channels in LTE. These include:

 PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) - This channel carries the Random
Access Preamble. The location of the PRACH is defined by higher layer signaling,
i.e. RRC signaling.
 PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) - This channel carries uplink control and
feedback. It can also carry scheduling requests to the eNB.
 PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) - This is the main uplink channel and is
used to carry the UL-SCH (Uplink Shared Channel) Transport Channel. It carries
both signaling and user data, in addition to uplink control. It is worth noting that
the UE is not allowed to transmit the PUCCH and PUSCH at the same time.

LTE Air Interface
 The term “Radio Channel” is typically used to describe the overall channel, i.e. the
downlink and uplink carrier for FDD or the single carrier for TDD.

LTE Air Interface
 There are various options for multiplexing multiple bearers together, such that Logical
Channels may be mapped to one or more Transport Channels. These in turn are mapped
into Physical Channels.
 In order to facilitate the multiplexing from Logical Channels to Transport Channels, the
MAC Layer typically adds a LCID (Logical Channel Identifier).

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The type 1 radio frame structure is used for FDD and is 10ms in duration. It consists of 20
slots, each lasting 0.5ms. Two adjacent slots form one subframe of length 1ms. For FDD
operation 10 subframes are available for downlink transmission and 10 subframes are
available for uplink transmission, with each transmission separated in the frequency
domain.
 The figure illustrates the FDD frame structure, as well as highlighting the slots and
subframe concept. In addition, it illustrates how the slots are numbered 0 to 19.

LTE Air Interface
 In LTE, it was chosen to have two different cyclic prefix sizes, namely “Normal” and
“Extended”. In order to facilitate these, two different slot formats are available. The figure
illustrates the 7 and 6 ODFM symbol options. Obviously, to facilitate a larger cyclic prefix
one of the symbols is sacrificed, thus the symbol rate is reduced.
 The use of the extended cyclic prefix is intended for scenarios when the range of the cell
needs to be extended, e.g. for planning purposes.

LTE Air Interface
 The table illustrates the sizes of the cyclic prefix for different configurations. It can be seen
that the CP size can vary during a slot, such that the first CP is larger than the rest when
the normal CP size is chosen.
 The symbol (Ts) consists of a guard period, i.e. the cyclic prefix, and the T b data duration
which is 2048 LTE time units for both the normal and extended 15kHz option. The figure
illustrates an example of the normal cyclic prefix configuration for a slot.

LTE Air Interface
 The type 2 radio frame structure is used for TDD. One key addition to the TDD frame
structure is the concept of “special subframes”. This includes a DwPTS (Downlink Pilot
Time Slot), GP (Guard Period) and UpPTS (Uplink Pilot Time Slot). These have configurable
individual lengths and a combined total length of 1ms.
 For TDD operation the 10 subframes are shared between the uplink and the downlink. A
5ms and 10ms switch-point periodicity is supported however subframes 0 and 5 must be
allocated to the downlink as these contain the PSS (Primary Synchronization Signal) and
SSS (Secondary Synchronization Signal), as well as the broadcast information in subframe
0.
 There are various frame configuration options supported for TDD. The table illustrates the
different options. Configuration options 0, 1, 2 and 6 have a 5ms switching point and
therefore require 2 special subframes, whereas the rest are based on a 10ms switching
point. In the table, the letter “D” is reserved for downlink transmissions, “U” denotes
subframes reserved for uplink transmissions and “S” denotes a special subframe with the
three fields DwPTS, GP and UpPTS.

LTE SAE System Overview
 DL/UL Subframe Allocation Item

 Subframe 1 in all configurations and subframe 6 in configuration with 5ms switch-
point periodicity consist of DwPTS, GP and UpPTS. Subframe 6 in configuration
with 10ms switch-point periodicity consists of DwPTS only. All other subframes
consist of two equally sized slots.
 Subframes 0 and 5 and DwPTS are always reserved for DL transmission.
90
LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 There are various Physical Layer stages involved in the generation of the downlink and
uplink signals. The figure illustrates the possible stages for a PDSCH.

LTE Air Interface
 The initial stage of the Physical Layer processing is “scrambling”. This stage is applied to
the signal in order to provide interference rejection properties. Scrambling effectively
randomizes interfering signals using a pseudo-random scrambling process. The figure
illustrates the concept of scrambling, showing a Physical Resource Block on each of the
cells using the same frequency.

LTE Air Interface
 The modulation mapper converts the scrambled bits to complex-valued modulation

symbols (BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM or 64QAM).

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 Prior to identifying the various stages it is worth clarifying the concept of codewords,
layers and antenna ports. The use of layers and multiple antenna ports is related to
diversity and MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). In addition, the term “rank” is
typically applied to the number of layers.
 In LTE, when discussing the Physical Layer processing, a “codeword” corresponds to a TB
(Transport Block). One or two codewords can be used and these are mapped onto layers.
The number of layers can vary from one up to a maximum which is equal to the number of
antenna ports. When there is one codeword, i.e. one transport block, a single layer is
used. In contrast, two codewords, i.e. two transport blocks, can be used with two or more
layers.
 It is important to note that the number of modulation symbols on each layer needs to be
the same. As such, when operating with three layers, the second codeword is twice as
large as the first. This can be achieved due to the supported TB sizes and the other Physical
Layer stages.

LTE Air Interface
 The layer mapper effectively maps the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or
several transmission layers, thus splitting the data into a number of layers. Depending on
the transmission mode, various options are available.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The next stage is precoding the complex-valued modulation symbols on each layer for
transmission. The figure illustrates the different precoding options:
 Single Antenna Port.
 Transmit Diversity.
 Spatial Multiplexing - This includes two options, i.e. with CDD (Cyclic Delay
Diversity) and without.

LTE Air Interface
 Following on from the precoding stage the resource element mapper maps the complex-
valued symbols to the allocated resources.

LTE Air Interface
 The final Physical Layer processing stage is the actual OFDM signal generation, i.e. the
generation of time-domain signals for each antenna. This is a purely mathematical process
with various equations and parameters being used. The figure illustrates the downlink
equation; however the detail is not discussed as part of this course.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The E-UTRA downlink is based on OFDMA. As such, it enables multiple devices to receive
information at the same time but on different parts of the radio channel. In most OFDMA
systems this is referred to as a “Subchannel”, i.e. a collection of subcarriers. However, in E-
UTRA, the term subchannel is replaced with the term PRB (Physical Resource Block).
 The figure illustrates the concept of OFDMA, whereby different users are allocated one or
more resource blocks in the time and frequency domain, thus enabling efficient scheduling
of the available resources.
 It is also worth noting that a device is typically allocated 1ms of time, i.e. a subframe, and
not an individual PRB.

LTE Air Interface
 A PRB (Physical Resource Block) consists of 12 consecutive subcarriers and lasts for one
slot, i.e. 0.5ms. The figure illustrates the size of a PRB.
 The NRBDL parameter is used to define the number of RB (Resource Blocks) used in the DL
(Downlink). This is dependent on the channel bandwidth. In contrast, N RBUL is used to
identify the number of resource blocks in the uplink. Each RB (Resource Block) consists of
NSCRB subcarriers, which for standard operation is set to 12. In addition, another
configuration is available when using MBSFN and a 7.5kHz subcarrier spacing.
 The PRB is used to identify an allocation. It typically includes 6 or 7 symbols, depending on
whether an extended or normal cyclic prefix is configured.
 The term RE (Resource Element) is used to describe one subcarrier lasting one symbol. This
can then be assigned to carry modulated information, reference information or nothing.

LTE Air Interface
 The different configurations for the downlink E-UTRA PRB are illustrated in table.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 In order to acquire the system, the eNB must broadcast various downlink signals. In
addition, since the downlink is scalable from 1.4MHz to 20MHz and the device may not be
aware of the eNB configuration, the method of finding the system needs to be consistent.
Consequently, synchronization and cell identity information must appear on the downlink
in a fixed place irrespective of the radio spectrum configuration. The figure illustrates the
structure of the NIDcell (Physical Cell Identity).

LTE Air Interface
 In LTE there are two synchronization sequences, known as the PSS (Primary
Synchronization Signal) and the SSS (Secondary Synchronization Signal). The location of
these is dependent on the transmission mode, i.e. FDD or TDD, as well as the use of the
normal or extended cyclic prefix.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The SSS is generated from the interleaved concatenation of two length-31 binary
sequences which are cyclic shifted based on the value of N ID(1). The table illustrates the
indices generated from NID(1). It is worth noting that additional algorithms are used, as well
as a different combination for subframe 0 and subframe 10.

LTE Air Interface
 The secondary synchronization sequence is an interleaving of two length-31 sequences

s0(m0) and s1(m1) scrambled with sequences c0 and c1, which are based on NID(2), as well as
scrambled with a z sequence. The figure illustrates the concept mapping the sequences to
the 62 subcarriers in subframes 0 and 5.
 The concatenated sequence is scrambled with a scrambling sequence given by the primary
synchronization signal.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 Unlike other systems, the LTE air interface does not employ a frame preamble. Instead it
utilizes various RS (Reference Signals) to facilitate coherent demodulation, channel
estimation, channel quality measurements and timing synchronization etc. Fundamentally
there are three types of downlink reference signals:
 Cell Specific (non-MBSFN).
 MBSFN (MBMS over Single Frequency Network).
 UE Specific.

LTE Air Interface
 In LTE, the cell specific reference signals are arranged in a two dimensional lattice of time
and frequency. This has been done so that they are equidistant and therefore provides a
minimum mean squared error estimate for the channel. In addition, the spacing in time
between the Reference Symbols is an important factor for channel estimation and relates
to the maximum Doppler spread supported, i.e. speed. In LTE, this works out at 2
Reference symbols per slot.
 The spacing in the frequency domain is also an important factor, as this relates to the
expected coherent bandwidth and delay spread of the channel. In LTE there is a 6
subcarrier separation of reference signals, however these are staggered in time such that
they appear every 3 subcarriers.
 The location of the RSs is dependent on the number of antennas and use of a Normal CP
or Extended CP. The figure illustrates the two options.

LTE Air Interface
 It is worth noting that the position of the reference signals is dependent on the value of
the Physical Cell ID. As such, the system performs a calculation (Physical Cell ID mod 6) to
determine the correct offset. The figure illustrates two cells, each producing a different
offset.

LTE Air Interface
 LTE is designed to operate with multiple transmit antennas for MIMO, or Transmit Diversity.
The concept of reference signals is used to define different patterns for multiple antenna
ports. The figure illustrates the concept for two antennas. The RS pattern corresponding to
a given antenna port enables the device to derive channel estimation.

LTE Air Interface
 LTE supports up to four cell-specific antenna ports (0 to 3). As such, the device is required
to derive up to four separate channel estimates. The figure illustrates the configuration for
four antenna ports.
 Antenna port “2” and antenna port “3” both have a reduced number of reference symbols.
This is to reduce the reference signal overhead. It does also have a negative impact on the
system since the lack of reference signals will mean that in high mobility, i.e. fast channel
variations, the channel estimation will not be as accurate. This however can be offset by
the fact that spatial multiplexing MIMO with 4 antennas will mostly be performed in low
mobility scenarios. In addition, like the single antenna port configuration the location of
the reference signals is offset based on the Physical Cell ID.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The LTE system also defines a set of reference signal for MBSFN. This is referred to as
“antenna port 4”. The figure illustrates the two MBSFN reference signal configurations,
one for 15kHz and one for 7.5kHz.

LTE Air Interface
 UE specific reference signals are supported for single antenna port transmission on the
PDSCH and are transmitted on antenna port 5. It is typically used for beamforming when
non-codebook based precoding is applied.
 Since the device has no information on the beamforming attributes applied by the eNB it
needs to estimate these as part of the channel estimation process.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 Along with synchronization information the eNB also schedules a MIB (Master Information
Block) over the logical BCCH (Broadcast Control Channel). This is mapped into the
transport BCH (Broadcast Channel) and ultimately into the PBCH (Physical Broadcast
Channel).

LTE Air Interface
 The coded BCH TB (Transport Block) is mapped into four subframes within a 40ms interval.
This 40ms timing is blindly detected by the UE and the information within the subframe is
assumed to be self decodable. This means that it is not dependent on information in
subsequent transmissions of Transport Blocks on the PBCH. The PBCH is located in 4
symbols of slot 1 only (symbols 0, 1, 2 and 3).

LTE Air Interface
 The PCFICH (Physical Control Format Indicator Channel) is used to inform the UE about the
number of OFDM symbols used for the PDCCH in a subframe. This channel consists of
32bits which are cell-specific and scrambled prior to modulation and mapping.

LTE Air Interface
 The control area within a PRB is grouped into multiple REG (Resource Element Group),
with one REG containing four Resource Elements. It is worth noting that the REG does not
use Resource Elements assigned to Reference Signals.
 The PCFICH requires four REGs, i.e. 16 Resource Elements, which are distributed over the
channel bandwidth. The location of these varies depending on the system bandwidth
(NSCRB) and the NIDcell. The figure illustrates the processes involved in mapping the CFI
(Control Format Indicator) to the correct REGs.

LTE Air Interface
 The table illustrates the CFI codewords which are mapped to the PCFICH. These can
change every subframe, i.e. 1ms.
 Since there are 2bits, i.e. four combinations, coded to 32bits the result is 1/16 Block
Coding.

LTE Air Interface
 The PDCCH control area size is defined by the PCFICH, i.e. 1, 2 or 3 OFDM symbols. The
PDCCH carries scheduling assignments and other control information. The figure illustrates
the downlink control region. In addition, it shows how the size of the region can vary per
subframe.

LTE Air Interface
 The PDCCH is transmitted on an aggregation of one or several consecutive CCE (Control

Channel Element), where a CCE corresponds to nine REGs. The number of REGs not
assigned to PCFICH or PHICH (Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel) is NREG. The CCEs
available in the system are numbered from 0 and NCCE -1, where NCCE = NREG / 9. The
PDCCH supports multiple formats, these include:
 PDCCH Format 0 - This consist of one CCE.
 PDCCH Format 1 - This consist of two CCE.
 PDCCH Format 2 - This consist of four CCE.
 PDCCH Format 3 - This consist of eight CCE.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates the concept of mapping the PDCCH to REGs. It assumes that the
PCFICH indicated 2 symbols, as well as two antennas and one PHICH. The numbers in the
control region relate to the grouping of REs into a REG.
 Each control channel carries downlink or uplink scheduling information for one MAC
identity, namely a C-RNTI (Cell - Radio Network Temporary Identifier). This is implicitly
encoded in the CRC.

LTE Air Interface
 There are various rules governing when a PDCCH can start in a subframe. Effectively there
is a tree based method to the aggregation of CCE, these include:
 1 - CCE - these start on any CCE position (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ...).
 2 - CCE - these start every second location (0, 2, 4, 6, ...).
 4 - CCE - these start on every fourth (0, 4, 8, ...).
 8 - CCE - these start on every eighth position (0, 8, ...).
 The figure illustrates how CCEs could be mapped.

LTE Air Interface
 The set of PDCCH candidates to monitor are defined in terms of search spaces. The
diagram illustrates the concept of search spaces and the relationship to the CCEs.
 There are two types of search spaces, namely common and UE specific. The common
search space corresponds to CCEs 0-15 at two levels:
 4-CCE - CCEs 0-3, 4-7, 8-11, 12-15.
 8-CCE - CCEs 0-7, 8-15.
 These are monitored by all UEs in the cell and can be used for any PDCCH signaling. In
addition, a UE must monitor one UE specific search space at each of the aggregation levels
1, 2, 4 and 8. This may overlap with the common control search space. The location of the
UE-specific search space is based on the C-RNTI (Cell - Radio Network Temporary Identity).
 The number of available CCEs in a cell is dependent on a number of attributes including:
 Bandwidth.
 Number of antenna ports.
 PHICH configuration.
 PCFICH value (1, 2 or 3).

LTE Air Interface
 The PHICH carries HARQ (Hybrid ARQ) ACK/NAKs and is transmitted in PHICH groups. A
PHICH group consists of up to eight ACK/NACK processes and requires three REGs for
transmission. Each PHICH within the same PHICH group is separated through different
orthogonal sequences.
 There are two PHICH frame formats:
 Frame structure type 1 - the number of PHICH groups remains constant.
 Frame structure type 2 (TDD) - the number of PHICH groups may vary between
downlink subframes; this is achieved through different configuration formats.

LTE Air Interface
 The amount of PHICH resources (Ng) is signaled on the PBCH, as part of the MIB. The
figure illustrates how the number of PHICH groups is calculated using this parameter.

LTE Air Interface
 It is worth noting that the different REGs belonging to a PHICH group may be transmitted
on different symbols.

LTE Air Interface
 The PDSCH is used to send various Transport Channels, such as the PCH and DL-SCH. The
figure illustrates PDSCH mapping for one subframe. In this example the PDSCH symbols
are mapped, avoiding the control region and symbols reserved for reference signals.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The LTE system uses a set of DCI (Downlink Control Information) messages to convey
control and scheduling information to devices. The set of Downlink Control Information
messages is defined LTE Release 8. Note that future releases could include additional
formats. The table illustrates the DCI Formats.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 It is important that the size of a DCI format 1 message does not match other DCI messages.
If the number of information bits in DCI format 1 is equal to that for format 0/1A, one
zero is added.

LTE Air Interface
 This is used for compact scheduling of one PDSCH codeword and random access
procedure initiated by a PDCCH order.

LTE Air Interface
 Like format 0, various rules apply to the size of the message, such that zeros may need to
be inserted. In addition, depending on the channel usage, i.e. the CRC is scrambled with
random access, paging or system information RNTIs, certain fields may be reserved.

LTE Air Interface
 This is used for compact scheduling of one PDSCH codeword with precoding information
(Rank-1 transmission).

LTE Air Interface
 This is used for very compact scheduling of one PDSCH codeword.

LTE Air Interface
 This is used for compact scheduling of one PDSCH codeword with precoding and power
offset information.

LTE Air Interface
 This is used for scheduling PDSCH to UEs configured in closed-loop SM (Spatial

Multiplexing).

LTE Air Interface
 This is for scheduling PDSCH to UEs configured in open-loop spatial multiplexing MIMO, i.e.
without PMI feedback. The format of DCI format 2A is the same as format 2, except that
the precoding information parameter is not used for 2 antenna ports (0 bits) and carries
transmission rank information (2bits) if 4 antenna ports are used.

LTE Air Interface
 DCI format 3 is for the transmission of TPC (Transmit Power Control) commands for
PUCCH and PUSCH with 2-bit power adjustments.
 The parameter Lformat0 is equal to the payload size of format 0 before CRC attachment.
 A power control parameter, namely tpc-Index, is provided by higher layers. This is utilized
by the mobile to determine the index to the TPC command for a given UE.

LTE Air Interface
 Transmission of TPC (Transmit Power Control) commands for PUCCH and PUSCH with 1-bit
power adjustments. The following information is transmitted by means of the DCI format
3A:

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The LTE device needs to perform an LTE Attach procedure, i.e. transition from the LTE
Detached to LTE Active State, to connect to the EPC (Evolved Packet Core) and ultimately
services.
 In order to access a cell the device must find and synchronize to the cell. It is then able to
decode the System Information messages and perform PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network)
and Cell Selection. Once this has been completed, the device is in a position to access the
cell and establish a RRC connection, i.e. a SRB (Signaling Radio Bearer).

LTE Air Interface
 The downlink in LTE is based on scalable OFDMA with channels ranging from 1.4MHz to
20MHz (Note that not all bandwidths are available at the different frequency bands).
Initially the UE is unaware of the downlink configuration of the cell, unless it has stored
information from when it was previously attached. Assuming no information, the
synchronization process must be quick and concise. The figure illustrates the location of
the PSS and SSS.
 In order for the UE to identify the cell and synchronize with the downlink transmission, the
eNB sends synchronization signals over the centre 72 sub-carriers. For FDD mode (using a
normal CP) this is in the first and sixth subframes of each downlink frame.

LTE Air Interface
 These synchronization signals comprise of the PSS (Primary Synchronization Signal) and SSS
(Secondary Synchronization Signal). Together they enable the UE to become downlink
synchronized and identify the Physical Cell Identity. There are 504 unique physical cell
identities, divided into 168 cell identity groups each containing three cell identities
(sectors).

LTE Air Interface
 The device cross correlates 3 possible PSSs with the received signal. The figure illustrates
the cross correlation results. In this example PSS1 is found.
 At this stage the cell identity within the group is known. In addition, the location of the
SSS is also known because it occupies the previous OFDM symbol (FDD mode). However,
at this stage the frame synchronization is not known since subframe 0 and 5 both utilize
the same PSS sequence.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates the correlation of the SSS. Note that the device is
monitoring/processing a number of different SSS possibilities, i.e. more than the two
shown.

LTE Air Interface
 Once the device has decoded the PSS and SSS it is able to:
 Decode cell specific Reference Signals (since their location is based on the Physical
Cell ID).
 Perform channel estimation procedures.
 Decode the PBCH which carries the MIB (Master Information Block).
 The MIB repeats every 40ms and uses a 40ms TTI (Time Transmission Interval), i.e. the
message is interleaved over 4 frames. The MIB transmission is aligned to the SFN (System
Frame Number) such that it starts when SFN mod 4 = 0.
 The MIB is always transmitted in subframe 0. The MIB carries three very important bits of
information. It indicates the downlink bandwidth, i.e. 6, 15, 25, 50, 75 or 100 Resource
Blocks. This enables the device to know where it should be looking (subcarriers) for the
downlink control information. In addition, the PHICH configuration parameter is included.
This indicates that Ng is equal to 1/6, 1/2, 1 or 2 and whether “Normal” or “Extended”
PHICH mode is being used. These are used by the device to determine the number of
PHICH groups configured on the cell and their location. Finally, the SFN is also included.
 In addition, the PBCH is layer mapped and precoded. As such, the PBCH can employ
transmit diversity over multiple antennas ports.
 Based on the MIB the UE is able to decode the PCFICH. This identifies the number of
OFDM symbols assigned to the downlink control region in the subframe.

LTE Air Interface
 System Information Block Type 1 contains key information about the cell and network. In
addition, it defines the scheduling window for the other System Information messages.
SIB1 is transmitted on subframe 5 when SFN mod 8=0. It is also repeated in subframe 5
when SFN mod 2=0. This is illustrated in the figure.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 When acquiring an SI message, the UE performs various calculations to determine the start
of the SI-window for the concerned SI message:
 For the concerned SI message, determine the number n which corresponds to the
order of entry in the list of SI messages configured by “schedulingInfoList” in
SystemInformationBlockType1.
 Determine the integer value x = (n – 1)*w, where w is the si-WindowLength.
 The SI-window starts at the subframe #a, where a = x mod 10, in the radio frame
for which SFN mod T = FLOOR(x/10), where T is the si-Periodicity of the concerned
SI message.
 In order to identify the scheduling of SI messages the UE looks for the SI-RNTI (System
Information - Radio Network Temporary Identifier) on the PDCCH.

LTE Air Interface
 System Information Block Type 2 contains radio resource configuration information that is
common for all UEs. This includes detailed information on the access channels and paging
channels.
 System Information Block Type 3 contains cell reselection information common for intra-
frequency, inter-frequency and/or inter-RAT cell reselection (i.e. applicable for more than
one type of cell reselection but not necessarily all), as well as intra-frequency cell
reselection information other than that which is neighbor cell related.

LTE Air Interface
 System Information Block Type 4 contains neighboring cell related information relevant
only for intra-frequency cell reselection. It includes cells with specific reselection
parameters and blacklisted cells.
 System Information Block Type 5 contains information relevant only for inter-frequency cell
reselection i.e. information about other E-UTRA frequencies and inter-frequency
neighboring cells relevant for cell reselection. It includes cell reselection parameters
common for a frequency as well as cell specific reselection parameters.
 System Information Block Type 6 contains information relevant only for inter-RAT cell
reselection i.e. information about UTRA frequencies and UTRA neighboring cells relevant
for cell reselection. It includes cell reselection parameters common for a frequency as well
as cell specific reselection parameters.
 The System Information Block Type 7 contains information relevant only for inter-RAT cell
reselection i.e. information about GERAN frequencies relevant for cell reselection. It
includes cell reselection parameters for each frequency.
 The System Information Block Type 8 contains information relevant only for inter-RAT cell
reselection i.e. information about CDMA2000 frequencies and CDMA2000 neighboring
cells relevant for cell reselection. It includes cell reselection parameters common for a
frequency as well as cell specific reselection parameters.
 The System Information Block Type 9 contains a HeNB (Home eNB) name.

LTE Air Interface
 The transition from LTE Detached to LTE Active can be used to describe the processes
through which the UE must progress in order to establish a point of attachment within the
Evolved Packet Core and ultimately connect to services. The initial processes including
scanning for downlink and uplink channels and synchronization are passive in that the
information required to achieve this is broadcast from the eNB within the relevant E-
UTRAN.
 Before the UE can access the network it must first select a suitable PLMN (Public Land
Mobile Network) and then a suitable cell. Services may be available to the user through a
choice of several serving networks in a given location, possibly using different types of
Radio Access Network.

LTE Air Interface
 For LTE there are two cell selection procedures supported:

 Initial Cell Selection - This is when the UE has no prior knowledge of the cell.
 Stored Information Cell Selection - This is when the UE has stored information
which is used to optimize the selection process, i.e. it stored information before it
was switched off.
 Once a UE has synchronized with the cell and decoded the necessary System Information
messages, it must camp on it; or one of the surrounding cells. This is achieved through the
cell selection process. The UE is aiming to find the cell which will provide the best quality
radio link between it and the network. The figure illustrates the S (Cell Selection)
calculation.
 A UE considers an E-UTRAN cell as a suitable cell only when the measured RSRP and
reference signal received quality (RSRQ) values of the cell are greater than the receive (RX)
level threshold (Qrxlevmin) and the RX signal quality threshold (QQualMin) for the cell,
respectively.

LTE Air Interface
 The table identifies the parameters used as part of the Cell Selection process.
 In terms of the radio channel, the UE measures the RSRP (Reference Signal Received
Power). The LTE downlink contains cell specific RS (Reference Signals) which are used for
channel equalization and determining the RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power).
 The device calculates the Qrxlevmeas for each cell. It then gathers the related Qrxlevmin
and other parameters from the SI messages (each cell may provide different parameters).
Once it has gathered all the information it is able to calculate Srxlev for each cell.
 All cells that return a value of Srxlev greater than zero are considered candidates for
selection. The cell with the most positive value is selected and becomes the camped on
cell.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The basic transmitter and receiver architecture is very similar (nearly identical) to OFDM,
and it offers the same degree of multipath protection. Importantly, because the underlying
waveform is essentially single carrier, the PAPR is lower. It is quite difficult to visually
represent SC-FDMA in the time and frequency domain. This section aims to illustrate the
concept. The figure illustrates the basic structure of the SC-FDMA process.
 In Figure the SC-FDMA signal generation process starts by creating a time domain
waveform of the data symbols to be transmitted. This is then converted into the frequency
domain, using a DFT (Discrete Fourier Transform). DFT length and sampling rate are
chosen so that the signal is fully represented, as well as being spaced 15kHz apart. Each
bin (subcarrier) will have its own fixed amplitude and phase for the duration of the SC-
FDMA symbol. Next the signal is shifted to the desired place in the channel bandwidth
using the zero insertion concept, i.e. subcarrier mapping. Finally, the signal is converted to
a single carrier waveform using an IDFT (Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform) and other
functions. Finally a cyclic prefix can be added. Note that additional functions such as S-P
(Serial to Parallel) and P-S (Parallel to Serial) converters are also required as part of a
detailed functional description.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates the concept of the DFT, such that a group of N symbols map to N
subcarriers. However depending on the combination of N symbols into the DFT the output
will vary. As such, the actual amplitude and phase of the N subcarriers is like a “code
word”. For example the first combination represents the first set of symbols. Since the
second set of symbols is different the amplitude and phase of the N subcarriers would
then be different.

LTE Air Interface
 The process at the eNB receiver takes the N subcarriers and reverses the process. This is
achieved using an IDFT (Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform) which effectively reproduces
the original N symbols.
 The figure illustrates the basic view of how the subcarriers received at the eNB are
converted back into the original signals.
 Note that the SC-FDMA symbols have a constant amplitude and phase and like ODFMA, a
CP (Cyclic Prefix) is still required.

LTE Air Interface
 The previous diagrams go some way to visualizing the concept of SC-FDMA. However the
true time-continuous signal in SC-FDMA symbol in an uplink slot is defined by the
equation in the figure.

LTE Air Interface
 The main reason SC-FDMA was specified for the uplink was because of its PA (Power
Amplifier) characteristics. Typically, the SC-FDMA signal will operate with a 2-3dB lower
PAPR (Peak-to-Average Power Ratio). This makes the system more efficient, thus increasing
the battery life for mobile users. SC-FDMA is also better when it comes to larger cell
coverage.
 It must be noted that OFDMA is better in a number of areas, such as Inter-symbol
orthogonality and the ability to provide a more flexible frequency domain scheduling
mechanism. This increases the system performance. In addition, OFDMA is more suitable
for uplink MIMO operation and associated high date rate services.
 The table highlights three main features and indicates which technology is best suited.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 There are a number of Uplink Physical Channels in LTE. These include:

 PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) - This channel carries the Random
Access Preamble. The location of the PRACH is defined by higher layer signaling.
 PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) - This channel carries UCI (Uplink Control
Information) such as ACK/NAKs in response to downlink transmission, as well as
CQI (Channel Quality Indicator) reports. It also carries scheduling request indicators
and MIMO codeword feedback.
 PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) - This is the main uplink channel and is
used to carry the UL-SCH (Uplink Shared Channel) Transport Channel. It carries
both signaling and user data, in addition to UCI.

LTE Air Interface
 The random access procedure is used in various scenarios, including initial access,
handover, or re-establishment. Like other 3GPP systems the random access procedure
provides a method for contention and non-contention based access. The PRACH (Physical
Random Access Channel) includes RA (Random Access) preambles generated from ZC
(Zadoff-Chu) sequences. The figure illustrates the basic structure of the PRACH preamble.
This is effectively an OFDM symbol.

LTE Air Interface
 The Guard Period is required since the eNB does not know when the preambles will arrive.
The figure illustrates an example with two UEs. The first is next to the eNB therefore there
is very little delay. In contrast UE “B” is some distance from the eNB, as such the initial
access preamble is delayed, i.e. there is a round trip delay. The eNB must allocate a large
enough window such that the preambles from UE at the edge of the cell don’t arrive
outside of this window.

LTE Air Interface
 As well as the position of the PRACH, four PRACH frame formats for FDD are also defined.
These contain a CP (Cyclic Prefix) and Zadoff Chu sequence. The formats are designed to
enable efficient operation in different scenarios. For example, the varying length of CP can
be employed to counter either small or large delay spread effects due to the mobile’s
position.

LTE Air Interface
 For FDD format 0, 1 2 or 3 can be configured. The figure visualizes the different formats. It
is worth noting that they can occupy more than a subframe and in addition the guard
period is not specified.

LTE Air Interface
 The actual PRACH channel utilizes 6 PRBs, i.e. it occupies 1.4MHz of uplink channel
capacity.
 For FDD the subcarrier spacing is 1.25kHz and there are 839 subcarriers, whilst TDD
utilizes a 7.5kHz subcarrier spacing and 139 carriers. As such for FDD the duration is 1/T =
1/1.25kHz = 0.8ms.

LTE Air Interface
 The exact position of the PRACH is defined in the SI (System Information) messages by
using the PRACH Configuration Index. This is based on a table and can vary from 0 to 63.
The table illustrates the first part of the table.
 For frame structure type 1 with preamble format 0-3, there is at most one random access
resource per subframe. Table in the slide lists the preamble formats and the subframes in
which random access preamble transmission is allowed for a given configuration in frame
structure type 1. The parameter prach-ConfigurationIndex is given by higher layers. For
PRACH configurations 0, 1, 2, 15, 16, 17, 18, 31, 32, 33, 34, 47, 48, 49, 50 and 63 the
UE may for handover purposes assume an absolute value of the relative time difference
between radio frame i in the current cell and the target cell of less than 153600  Ts . The
first physical resource block nPRBRA
allocated to the PRACH opportunity considered for
preamble formats 0, 1, 2 and 3 is defined as nPRB RA
 nPRB
RA
offset , where the parameter prach-
RA
FrequencyOffset, nPRBoffset is expressed as a physical resource block number configured by
higher layers and fulfilling 0  nPRBoffset
RA
 N RB
UL
6 .

rDRA
RA
LTE Air Interface
 For frame structure type 2 with preamble formats 0-4, there might be multiple random
access resources in an UL subframe (or UpPTS for preamble format 4) depending on the
UL/DL configuration. The following table lists PRACH configurations allowed for frame
structure type 2 where the configuration index corresponds to a certain combination of
preamble format, PRACH density value, DRA and version index, rRA . The parameter prach-
ConfigurationIndex is given by higher layers. For frame structure type 2 with PRACH
configuration 0, 1, 2, 20, 21, 22, 30, 31, 32, 40, 41, 42, 48, 49 or 50, the UE may for
handover purposes assume an absolute value of the relative time difference between radio
frame in the current cell and the target cell is less than 153600  Ts .
PRACH PRACH
Preamble Density Preamble Density
configurati Version configurati Version
Format Per 10 ms Format Per 10 ms
on Index on Index
0 0 0.5 0 32 2 0.5 2
1 0 0.5 1 33 2 1 0
2 0 0.5 2 34 2 1 1
3 0 1 0 35 2 2 0
4 0 1 1 36 2 3 0
5 0 1 2 37 2 4 0
6 0 2 0 38 2 5 0
7 0 2 1 39 2 6 0
8 0 2 2 40 3 0.5 0
9 0 3 0 41 3 0.5 1
10 0 3 1 42 3 0.5 2
11 0 3 2 43 3 1 0
12 0 4 0 44 3 1 1
13 0 4 1 45 3 2 0
14 0 4 2 46 3 3 0
15 0 5 0 47 3 4 0
16 0 5 1 48 4 0.5 0
17 0 5 2 49 4 0.5 1
18 0 6 0 50 4 0.5 2
19 0 6 1 51 4 1 0
20 1 0.5 0 52 4 1 1
21 1 0.5 1 53 4 2 0
22 1 0.5 2 54 4 3 0
23 1 1 0 55 4 4 0
24 1 1 1 56 4 5 0
25 1 2 0 57 4 6 0
26 1 3 0 58 N/A N/A N/A
27 1 4 0 59 N/A N/A N/A
28 1 5 0 60 N/A N/A N/A
29 1 6 0 61 N/A N/A N/A
30 2 0.5 0 62 N/A N/A N/A
31 2 0.5 1 63 N/A N/A N/A

LTE Air Interface
 The following table lists the mapping to physical resources for the different random access
opportunities needed for a certain PRACH density value, DRA . Each quadruple of the
format ( f RA , t RA , t RA , t RA ) indicates the location of a specific random access resource,
(0) (1) ( 2)
where f RA is a frequency resource index within the considered time instance, t RA  0,1,2
( 0)
indicates whether the resource is reoccurring in all radio frames, in even radio frames, or in
odd radio frames, respectively, t RA (1)
 0,1 indicates whether the random access resource is
located in first half frame or in second half frame, respectively, and where t RA ( 2)
is the
uplink subframe number where the preamble starts, counting from 0 at the first uplink
subframe between 2 consecutive downlink-to-uplink switch points, with the exception of
preamble format 4 where t RA ( 2)
is denoted as (*). The start of the random access preamble
formats 0-3 shall be aligned with the start of the corresponding uplink subframe at the UE
assuming N TA  0 and the random access preamble format 4 shall start 4832  Ts before
the end of the UpPTS at the UE, where the UpPTS is referenced to the UE’s uplink frame
timing assuming N TA  0 .
 The random access opportunities for each PRACH configuration shall be allocated in time
first and then in frequency if and only if time multiplexing is not sufficient to hold all
opportunities of a PRACH configuration needed for a certain density value DRA without
overlap in time. For preamble format 0-3, the frequency multiplexing shall be done
according to
 RA  f RA 
nPRB offset  6 2 , if f RA mod 2  0
  
RA
nPRB 
 N RB  f RA 
UL
 6  nPRB
RA
offset  6  , otherwise
  2 
 where N RBUL
is the number of uplink resource blocks, nPRB RA is the first physical resource
block allocated to the PRACH opportunity considered and where the parameter prach-
RA
FrequencyOffset, nPRB offset is the first physical resource block available for PRACH expressed
as a physical resource block number configured by higher layers and fulfilling
0  nPRBoffset
RA
 N RB
UL
6 .
For preamble format 4, the frequency multiplexing shall be done according to
RA
nPRB

6 f RA ,
  UL

if (nf mod 2)  (2  N SP )  t RA
(1)
mod 2  0

 RB
N  6( f RA  1), otherwise
 where nf is the system frame number and where N SP is the number of DL to UL switch
points within the radio frame.
 Each random access preamble occupies a bandwidth corresponding to 6 consecutive
resource blocks for both frame structures.

LTE Air Interface
 Table : Frame structure type 2 random access preamble mapping in time and frequency.
PRACH UL/DL configuration
configuration
Index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 (0,1,0,2) (0,1,0,1) (0,1,0,0) (0,1,0,2) (0,1,0,1) (0,1,0,0) (0,1,0,2)
1 (0,2,0,2) (0,2,0,1) (0,2,0,0) (0,2,0,2) (0,2,0,1) (0,2,0,0) (0,2,0,2)
2 (0,1,1,2) (0,1,1,1) (0,1,1,0) (0,1,0,1) (0,1,0,0) N/A (0,1,1,1)
3 (0,0,0,2) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2)
4 (0,0,1,2) (0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,1,1)
5 (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,1)
(0,0,0,2) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2)
6
(0,0,1,2) (0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,2) (0,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,1,1)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,1)
7
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,2) (0,0,1,0)
(0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0)
8
(0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,1,1)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1)
9 (0,0,0,2) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2)
(0,0,1,2) (0,0,1,1) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2) (1,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (0,0,1,1)
(0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,0,0)
10 (0,0,1,0) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,2)
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,1) (1,0,1,0) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,1,0)
N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A N/A N/A (0,0,0,1)
11 (0,0,0,1) (0,0,1,0)
(0,0,1,0) (0,0,1,1)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1)
(0,0,0,2) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2)
12
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2) (1,0,0,0) (2,0,0,0) (0,0,1,0)
(0,0,1,2) (0,0,1,1) (1,0,1,0) (1,0,0,2) (1,0,0,1) (3,0,0,0) (0,0,1,1)
(0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0)
(0,0,0,2) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1)
13
(0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,2) (0,0,0,2)
(0,0,1,2) (1,0,0,1) (0,0,1,1)
(0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,2)
14
(0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,2) (0,0,1,0)
(0,0,1,1) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,1,1)
(0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1)
15 (0,0,0,2) (0,0,1,0) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2) (1,0,0,0) (2,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2)
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,1) (1,0,1,0) (1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,1) (3,0,0,0) (0,0,1,0)
(0,0,1,2) (1,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (1,0,0,2) (2,0,0,1) (4,0,0,0) (0,0,1,1)
LTE Air Interface

configuration
Index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A
(0,0,0,2) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1)
16 (0,0,1,0) (0,0,1,0) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2) (1,0,0,0)
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,1) (1,0,1,0) (1,0,0,0) (1,0,0,1)
(0,0,1,2) (1,0,1,1) (2,0,1,0) (1,0,0,2) (2,0,0,0)
(0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A N/A
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1)
17 (0,0,0,2) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,2)
(0,0,1,0) (0,0,1,1) (1,0,0,0)
(0,0,1,2) (1,0,0,0) (1,0,0,1)
(0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1)
(0,0,0,2) (0,0,1,0) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2) (1,0,0,0) (2,0,0,0) (0,0,0,2)
18
(0,0,1,0) (0,0,1,1) (1,0,1,0) (1,0,0,0) (1,0,0,1) (3,0,0,0) (0,0,1,0)
(0,0,1,1) (1,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (1,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (4,0,0,0) (0,0,1,1)
(0,0,1,2) (1,0,1,1) (2,0,1,0) (1,0,0,2) (2,0,0,1) (5,0,0,0) (1,0,0,2)
N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A N/A N/A (0,0,0,0)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,1)
(0,0,1,0) (0,0,0,2)
19
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0)
(1,0,0,0) (0,0,1,1)
(1,0,1,0) (1,0,1,1)
20 / 30 (0,1,0,1) (0,1,0,0) N/A (0,1,0,1) (0,1,0,0) N/A (0,1,0,1)
21 / 31 (0,2,0,1) (0,2,0,0) N/A (0,2,0,1) (0,2,0,0) N/A (0,2,0,1)
22 / 32 (0,1,1,1) (0,1,1,0) N/A N/A N/A N/A (0,1,1,0)
23 / 33 (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,0,1)
24 / 34 (0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) N/A N/A N/A N/A (0,0,1,0)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,0,1)
25 / 35
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) (1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (0,0,1,0)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1)
26 / 36 (0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) N/A (1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,1,0)
(1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (2,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (1,0,0,1)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1)
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) N/A (1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,1,0)
27 / 37
(1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (2,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (1,0,0,1)
(1,0,1,1) (1,0,1,0) (3,0,0,1) (3,0,0,0) (1,0,1,0)

LTE Air Interface

configuration
Index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1)
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) N/A (1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,1,0)
28 / 38 (1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (2,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (1,0,0,1)
(1,0,1,1) (1,0,1,0) (3,0,0,1) (3,0,0,0) (1,0,1,0)
(2,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (4,0,0,1) (4,0,0,0) (2,0,0,1)
(0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,1)
(0,0,1,1) (0,0,1,0) N/A (1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) N/A (0,0,1,0)
(1,0,0,1) (1,0,0,0) (2,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (1,0,0,1)
29 /39
(1,0,1,1) (1,0,1,0) (3,0,0,1) (3,0,0,0) (1,0,1,0)
(2,0,0,1) (2,0,0,0) (4,0,0,1) (4,0,0,0) (2,0,0,1)
(2,0,1,1) (2,0,1,0) (5,0,0,1) (5,0,0,0) (2,0,1,0)
40 (0,1,0,0) N/A N/A (0,1,0,0) N/A N/A (0,1,0,0)
41 (0,2,0,0) N/A N/A (0,2,0,0) N/A N/A (0,2,0,0)
42 (0,1,1,0) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
43 (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0)
44 (0,0,1,0) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
(0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0) N/A N/A (0,0,0,0)
45
(0,0,1,0) (1,0,0,0) (1,0,0,0)
(0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0)
46 (0,0,1,0) N/A N/A (1,0,0,0) N/A N/A (1,0,0,0)
(1,0,0,0) (2,0,0,0) (2,0,0,0)
(0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0) (0,0,0,0)
(0,0,1,0) N/A N/A (1,0,0,0) N/A N/A (1,0,0,0)
47
(1,0,0,0) (2,0,0,0) (2,0,0,0)
(1,0,1,0) (3,0,0,0) (3,0,0,0)
48 (0,1,0,*) (0,1,0,*) (0,1,0,*) (0,1,0,*) (0,1,0,*) (0,1,0,*) (0,1,0,*)
49 (0,2,0,*) (0,2,0,*) (0,2,0,*) (0,2,0,*) (0,2,0,*) (0,2,0,*) (0,2,0,*)
50 (0,1,1,*) (0,1,1,*) (0,1,1,*) N/A N/A N/A (0,1,1,*)
51 (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*)
52 (0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) N/A N/A N/A (0,0,1,*)
(0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*)
53
(0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (0,0,1,*)
(0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*)
54 (0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (0,0,1,*)
(1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*)
(0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*)
(0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (0,0,1,*)
55
(1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*)
(1,0,1,*) (1,0,1,*) (1,0,1,*) (3,0,0,*) (3,0,0,*) (3,0,0,*) (1,0,1,*)

LTE Air Interface

configuration
Index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
(0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*)
(0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (0,0,1,*)
56 (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*)
(1,0,1,*) (1,0,1,*) (1,0,1,*) (3,0,0,*) (3,0,0,*) (3,0,0,*) (1,0,1,*)
(2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (4,0,0,*) (4,0,0,*) (4,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*)
(0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*) (0,0,0,*)
(0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (0,0,1,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (0,0,1,*)
(1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (1,0,0,*)
57
(1,0,1,*) (1,0,1,*) (1,0,1,*) (3,0,0,*) (3,0,0,*) (3,0,0,*) (1,0,1,*)
(2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*) (4,0,0,*) (4,0,0,*) (4,0,0,*) (2,0,0,*)
(2,0,1,*) (2,0,1,*) (2,0,1,*) (5,0,0,*) (5,0,0,*) (5,0,0,*) (2,0,1,*)
58 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

LTE Air Interface
 The network configures the set of preamble sequences the UE is allowed to use. There are 64
preamble sequences per cell.
 The random access preamble is generated from Zadoff-Chu sequences. These have key properties:
 Constant Amplitude - This improves the PARP and increases the amplifier efficiency.
 Autocorrelation - This enables the eNB to provide accurate timing.
 Cross Correlation - This enables different base sequence cyclic shifts to be used. Additional
mechanisms are required when the cyclic shift is greater than the time expected for round
trip propagation and signal delay spread.
 The set of 64 preamble sequences in a cell is found by including first, in the order of increasing
cyclic shift, all the available cyclic shifts of a root Zadoff-Chu sequence with the logical index
RACH_ROOT_SEQUENCE, where RACH_ROOT_SEQUENCE is broadcasted as part of the System
Information.
 Additional preamble sequences, in case 64 preambles cannot be generated from a single root
Zadoff-Chu sequence, are obtained from the root sequences with the consecutive logical indexes
until all the 64 sequences are found.
 The relation between a logical root sequence index and physical root sequence index “u” is defined
by various tables and calculations in the 3GPP 36.211 specification - Physical Channels and
Modulation.
 The u th root Zadoff-Chu sequence is defined by:
un( n 1)
j
xu n   e N ZC
, 0  n  N ZC  1
 where the length N ZC of the Zadoff-Chu sequence, e.g. 829 for Format 0. Various rules apply to
identify the chosen set. In addition, the parameter “Highspeed-flag” is provided by higher layers and
determines if “unrestricted set” or “restricted set” is used. The restricted set adds additional rules on
the cyclic shifts that can be used as preambles, i.e. taking Doppler spread into account.

LTE Air Interface
 Uplink resource scheduling is performed by the eNB. The eNB utilizes information, e.g.
QoS parameters, buffer status, UE capabilities, CQI (Channel Quality Indicator)
measurements, to identify the best scheduling of resources. Like the downlink, the uplink
allocation is multiples of Resource Blocks, each consisting of 12 subcarriers.
 The Physical Uplink Shared Channel is the main delivery mechanism for higher layer
Transport Channels. The figure illustrates an example of the mapping of PUSCH symbols to
the Resource Elements. Like the downlink, the uplink also has resource elements reserved
for Reference Signals and control.

LTE Air Interface
 There are various types of control signaling which may need to be sent in the same
subframe as the allocated PUSCH. A device is not allowed to transmit the PUCCH and
PUSCH in the same subframe; therefore the control information needs to be multiplexed
with the UL-SCH Transport Channel before the DFT process.
 The figure illustrates an example of control signaling to the PUSCH. In this example, three
additional types of signaling are added:
 ACK/NACK - These are part of the HARQ process and are located next to the RS.
This ensures that they benefit from the best possible channel estimation. The
information is punctured to make way for the ACK/NACK information.
 CQI/PMI - The CQI (Channel Quality Information) and PMI (Precoding Matrix
Indicator) can also be multiplexed onto the PUSCH. These are rate matched with
the UL-SCH. The mapping of these is sequential on one subcarrier before
continuing on the next.
 RI - RI (Rank Indication) - These are placed next to the ACK/NACK.
 Various rules on the mapping and coding of control information exist. In addition, it is also
possible to send control information on the PUSCH without data, i.e. not the UL-SCH.

LTE Air Interface
 The PUCCH carries UCI (Uplink Control Information); examples include: ACK/NAKs in
response to downlink transmission, CQI (Channel Quality Indicator) reports, SR (Scheduling
Requests) and MIMO feedback such as PMI (Precoding Matrix Indicator) and RI (Rank
Indication).
 The PUCCH is transmitted on a reserved frequency region. This is configured by the higher
layer. The figure illustrates an example of this mapping. It is worth noting that the number
of control regions is variable.
 The PUCCH resource blocks are located at both edges of the uplink bandwidth. It uses
inter-slot hopping to improve frequency diversity. Note that a UE only uses the PUCCH
when it does not have any data to transmit on the PUSCH, i.e. no allocated resources.
 There are various types of PUCCH formats associated with uplink control.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The PUCCH supports multiple formats; these are illustrated in the table.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 In addition to the higher layer control and data being sent on the uplink, lower layer
Reference Signals are also required. Like other Reference Signals these require good auto
correlation and cross correlation properties. In addition, there needs to be a sufficient
number of sequences to minimize interference.
 There are two variants of uplink Reference Signal supported:
 DRS (Demodulation Reference Signal) - This is associated with transmission of
PUSCH or PUCCH.
 SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) - This is not associated with transmission of
PUSCH or PUCCH.

LTE Air Interface
 The DRS (Demodulation Reference Signal) is used for channel estimation to help the
demodulation of the control and data channels in the eNB. There are two different
demodulation Reference Signals; these are used for the PUSCH and PUCCH respectively.
 There are various RS sequences defined, as well as different lengths. As a result, the DRS is
defined using four parameters:
 Sequence length - This is part of the uplink allocation.
 Sequence Groups (0-29) - This is cell specific.
 Sequence - Each group contains one sequence for each length up to 5PRB, and
two sequences for each length from 6PRB.
 12 Cyclic Shift options

LTE Air Interface
 In any given slot, the reference sequences used within a cell are from the same group.
However the group assignment may change. There are two group assignment methods.
 When using a fixed group, i.e. not group hopping, the same group is used for all slots.
However, the group number to use is dependent on the channel type. As such, the PUCCH
group number is based on the cell identity and the PUSCH group number is influenced by
a higher layer parameter.
 If using group hopping, the group number changes with slots based on an equation. There
are 17 different hopping patterns and 30 different sequence-shift patterns. As such, the
PUCCH and PUSCH have the same hopping pattern but may have different sequence-shift
patterns.

LTE Air Interface
 The DRS varies in its location depending on a number of attributes, such as the use of a
normal or extended cyclic prefix. The figure illustrates the DRS location for the PUSCH and
a normal CP. In this case the DRS is located on the 4th symbol in each slot and uses the
same transmission bandwidth allocated to the UEs in the uplink. Reference Signals for
different UEs are derived by different cyclic shifts from the same base sequence.

LTE Air Interface
 In contrast, if the system is utilizing an extended CP then the DRS is located in a different
OFDM symbol.

LTE Air Interface
 The SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) provides the eNB with uplink channel quality
information which can be used for scheduling. The UE sends a Sounding Reference Signal
in different parts of the allocated bandwidth where no uplink data transmission is
available.
 The figure illustrates an example whereby a UE has been allocated resources in the uplink.
The eNB is able to use the DRS to provide channel estimation in this sub-band. However
the eNB does not know how the UE will perform in the other bands. As such, if the eNB
was to allocate resources in these other bands, the conditions may not be “favorable” and
additional errors could be introduced.
 Effectively there are two modes for transmitting SRS, either wideband mode or frequency
hopping mode. In wideband mode, the SRS occupies the bandwidth required. This could
however lead to poor channel quality estimates. In contrast, frequency hopping mode
sends multiple SRS signals using a narrowband transmission. This will, over time, cover the
same bandwidth.

LTE Air Interface
 The configuration of the sounding signal, e.g. bandwidth, duration and periodicity, are
given by higher layers. The SRS is transmitted in the last symbol of the subframe. The
figure illustrates an example, whereby the eNB has configured the mobile to send SRS over
a desired portion of the band.
 Since the SRS can be sent when the UE has no current PUSCH or PUCCH assignment,
mechanisms must exist to stop the UE interfering with other users’ PUSCHs. This is done
by making sure all UEs know when the SRS are transmitted, such that the last symbol of
the subframe where SRS is transmitted is not used by any mobiles for their PUSCH.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates an example of multiplexing the SRS from different users. Notice that
multiple UEs can send the SRS at the same time, using different resources as well as a
different cyclic shift.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 Prior to registering on the network the UE must first establish a SRB (Signaling Radio
Bearer) to the eNB that it has “camped on” during the cell selection process. The figure
illustrates the overall processes required, typically termed the RACH (Random Access
Channel) process.

LTE Air Interface
 The SRB is also termed the “RRC Connection”, i.e. the UE has moved into the RRC-
Connected State. In order to achieve this signaling between the eNB and the UE is
required. The figure illustrates the main signaling messages to establish a SRB. Note: some
of these are messages or indicators at the PHY or MAC layer.
 The sequence starts with the probing of the network on the PRACH. Once the UE has
successfully probed for uplink resources and has been allocated these on the UL-SCH, the
RRC Connection is established through a three way signaling handshake on the UL-SCH
and the DL-SCH respectively.

LTE Air Interface
 In this example the initial probe is below the noise/interference level and thus is not heard.
The UE increases its power based on a step size until a response is heard on the PDCCH.

LTE Air Interface
 The Random Access procedure is initiated by the MAC sublayer or by a PDCCH Order. The
UE is required to gather various parameters before it can initiate the random access
procedure. The table lists the main parameters.

LTE Air Interface
 The LTE random access procedure can group the access preambles into one of two
groups. In so doing, it enables the UE to indicate power or payload size requirements to
the eNB for the initial UL-SCH allocation.
 The figure illustrates how the random access preambles are grouped into group A and
group B. Two key parameters are required to make the groups: numberOfRA-Preambles
and sizeOfRA-PreamblesGroupA. The preambles in random access preamble group A are
the preambles 0 to sizeOfRA-PreamblesGroupA - 1 and, if it exists, the preambles in
random access preamble group B are the preambles sizeOfRA-PreamblesGroupA to
numberOfRA-Preambles - 1 from the set of 64 preambles.

LTE Air Interface
 Once the UE has transmitted the randomly selected preamble from the appropriate group,
it monitors the PDCCH for Random Access Response(s) identified by the RA-RNTI (Random
Access - RNTI) in the RA Response window. This starts at the subframe that contains the
end of the preamble transmission plus three subframes and has length ra-
ResponseWindowSize subframes.
 The RA-RNTI is calculated using the formula: 1 + t_id+10*f_id, where t_id is the index of
the first subframe of the specified PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) resource and
f_id is the index of the specified PRACH resource within that subframe.

LTE Air Interface
 On receiving the preamble, the eNB sends a Random Access Response on the DL-SCH. This
is addressed to the RA-RNTI on the PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel). It includes
the RAPID (Random Access Preamble Identifier), TA (Timing Alignment) information, initial
UL (Uplink) grant and assignment of a Temporary C-RNTI.
 The UL grant contains 20bits of information, including:
 Hopping flag - 1bit.
 Fixed size resource block assignment - 10bits.
 Truncated modulation and coding scheme - 4bits.
 TPC command for scheduled PUSCH - 3bits.
 UL delay - 1bit.
 CQI request - 1bit.
 The UE utilizes these parameters to access the resource.

LTE Air Interface
 If the UE decodes a PDCCH with the correct RA-RNTI identified, it decodes the DL-SCH
transport block to check if the RAPID is included. If so, it transmits an UL-SCH transport
block in the first subframe n+k1, where k1 ≥ 6.
 If no random access response is received in the RA response window, the UE is able to
transmit a new preamble sequence. This should happen no later than 4 subframes after
the end of the RA response window.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates the MAC contention resolution process. This is achieved by the UE
sending its identity to the eNB in the first UL-SCH message. Granted, this resource could
be contention based, i.e. another UE sent the same access preambles in the same
subframe. Consequently, each would include their own higher layer identity.
 The eNB then adds the UE identity in the MAC header. Other UEs with different identifiers
realize that a collision has taken place and then re-access the system, i.e. they send a new
preamble.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The E-UTRA, like most cellular systems, requires power control to be implemented. This
reduces interference and enables it to be managed/optimized by the eNB. Uplink power
control determines the average power over a SC-FDMA symbol in which the Physical
Channel is transmitted.

LTE Air Interface
 PCMAX - This is the configured UE transmitter power. It relates to either the maximum
allowed by the eNB or the UE power class.
 M PUSCH (i ) - This is related to the bandwidth of the PUSCH resource assignment expressed
in number of resource blocks.
 PO_PUSCH ( j ) - This parameter is the sum of various cell and UE specific parameters. It is also
based on retransmission and scheduling options.
  - This is a 3bit cell specific parameter provided by higher layers (0, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6,….1).
 PL (Pathloss) - This is the downlink pathloss estimate calculated in the UE. Note pathloss is
calculated based on the reference signal power and other higher layer filter configurations.
 ΔTF - This is a UE specific parameter which relates to the MCS (Modulation and Coding
Scheme) and TF (Transport Format), i.e. TBS (Transport Blok Size).
 F - This enables UE specific power control, i.e. TPC (Transmit Power Control). Different
options can be configured, e.g. accumulation or current absolute power.
 PO_PUCCH - This is a parameter is the sum of cell specific and UE specific parameters.
 hn  - This is a PUCCH format dependent value, where nCQI relates to the number of CQI
bits and nHARQ is the number of HARQ bits.
 F_PUCCH ( F ) - This is provided by higher layers and provides a frame format dB offset.
 g (i ) - This is the current PUCCH power control and enables UE specific power control, i.e.
TPC (Transmit Power Control).
 PREAMBLE_RECEIVED_TARGET_POWER - This is set to the
preambleInitialReceivedTargetPower + DELTA_PREAMBLE +
(PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER – 1) * powerRampingStep.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 In LTE there are various rules associated with timing between the downlink and uplink
transmissions. The timing for FDD is illustrated in the figure. If a UE detects a PDCCH with
DCI format 0 and/or a PHICH transmission in subframe n intended for the UE, it will adjust
the corresponding PUSCH transmission in subframe n+4 according to the PDCCH and
PHICH information. This offset is identified as K, such that K=4 for FDD.

LTE Air Interface
 For TDD the timing relationship is more complex. As such, it now depends on the UL/DL
TDD configurations, namely 0 to 6. The table illustrates the different K values for TDD.
 The UE, upon detection of a PDCCH with DCI format 0 and/or a PHICH transmission in
subframe n intended for the UE, adjusts the corresponding PUSCH transmission in
subframe n+k, with k given in the table.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates an example of frame configuration 2. In this configuration, K=4 in

subframes 3 and 8. This relates to transmission being scheduled for subframes 7 and 2
respectively.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 A UE in the Idle State is required to listen for paging messages. However, if left
unmanaged the UE would potentially have to look at every subframe for a possible paging
message. The figure illustrates the issue this would cause, i.e. a reduction in battery
performance.

LTE Air Interface
 To combat this, LTE supports DRX (Discontinuous Reception) of paging messages. The
figure illustrates the concept, whereby a UE looks at pre-determined times.
 The eNB may have to buffer the paging message until a UE’s paging occasion occurs. The
UE is given various parameters which enable it to identify a time when it should listen. This
is termed a PO (Paging Occasion) and relates to a subframe. In addition, the DRX
parameters also define a PF (Paging Frame), i.e. Radio Frame, which may contain one or
multiple Paging Occasion(s). The system information messages provide the necessary DRX
parameters to enable a UE to calculate listening times. Alternatively they can be sent to a
specific UE as part of higher layer signaling.

LTE Air Interface
 The PF is given by the following equation: SFN mod T= (T div N)*(UE_ID mod N).
 This indicates the frames in which the PO (Paging Occasion) could occur. In addition, to
derive the PO, a subframe pattern table and calculation is used to derive the i_s (Index).
The calculation is defined as: i_s = floor(UE_ID/N) mod Ns.
 The following Parameters are used for the calculation of the PF and i_s:
 T - This is a range of DRX values: 32, 64, 128, 256 radio frames. Note that shorter
UE specific values override T.
 N - This is calculated as: min(T,nB).
 nB -This is defined as: 4T, 2T, T, T/2, T/4, T/8, T/16, T/32.
 Ns - This is calculated as: max(1,nB/T).
 UE_ID - This is calculated as: IMSI mod 1024.
 The i_s and Ns parameters are used to identify the PO pattern from the pattern tables.
Table illustrates the subframe patterns for FDD.

LTE Air Interface
 The table illustrates the subframe patterns for TDD.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 There are two types of retransmissions, namely ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) and
HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request). The ARQ is performed by RLC (Radio Link
Control), whereas the HARQ is part of the MAC (Medium Access Control) and Physical
Layer. The figure illustrates some of the features/issues of ARQ, as well the benefits of
HARQ.

LTE Air Interface
 HARQ provides a Physical Layer retransmission function that significantly improves

performance and adds robustness. The retransmission protocol selected in LTE is SAW
(Stop And Wait) due to the simplicity of this form of ARQ. In SAW, the transmitter persists
on the transmission of the current transport block until it has been successfully received,
before initiating the transmission of the next one. The figure illustrates the basic concept
of SAW. It also highlights a possible issue associated with sending more packets between
each transmission.

LTE Air Interface
 The mechanism for sending more packets between each transmission is relatively simple;
have a number of HARQ processes that can run in parallel. The figure illustrates the
concept of the HARQ processes. In LTE there are various rules and options for how many
HARQ processes are configured, i.e. it depends on downlink, uplink, FDD or TDD. This
example illustrates the downlink FDD frame where 8 HARQ processes are used. It also
highlights one of these processes, namely process “3”, being sent by the eNB and initially
acknowledged by the UE. Whilst the eNB is awaiting the ACK (Acknowledgement) for this,
the additional processes can be utilized to ensure the UE can receive a stream of packets.

LTE Air Interface
 If the mobile identified an error in the transmission it is able to send a NACK (Negative
Acknowledgement) to the eNB. The eNB is then able to quickly re-schedule the data.
 There are two main concepts of HARQ, namely CC (Chase Combining) and IR (Incremental
Redundancy).

LTE Air Interface
 The IR (Incremental Redundancy) method ensures that retransmissions include additional

redundant information that is incrementally transmitted if the decoding fails on the first
attempt. This causes the effective coding rate to increase based on the number of
retransmissions sent. Incremental Redundancy can be further classified in Partial IR and Full
IR. Partial IR includes the systematic bits in every coded word, which implies that every
retransmission is self-decodable, whereas Full IR only includes parity bits, and therefore its
retransmissions are not self-decodable.
 The figure illustrates an example showing how rate matching and redundancy versions are
used for retransmission. In addition, it highlights the concept of the “effective” code rate.

LTE Air Interface
 The HARQ within the MAC sublayer is designed to transmit and retransmit transport
blocks.
 For FDD, there are 8 HARQ processes in the downlink. In contrast the uplink has 8 HARQ
processes for non-subframe bundling operation, i.e. normal HARQ operation, and 4 HARQ
processes in the uplink for subframe bundling operation.
 Various HARQ scheduling parameters are required, such as NDI (New Data Indicator) and
TB (Transport Block) size. In addition, the DL-DSCH HARQ information also includes the
HARQ process ID. For UL-SCH transmission the HARQ info also includes RV (Redundancy
Version). In case of spatial multiplexing, i.e. MIMO, on the DL-SCH the HARQ information
comprises a set of NDI and TB size for each transport block.

LTE Air Interface
 The number of HARQ processes for TDD is related to the frame configuration and varies
between 4 and 15.
 The table illustrates the different TDD HARQ configurations.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 HARQ operation in uplink is governed by the following principles:

 Regardless of the content of the HARQ feedback (ACK or NACK), when a PDCCH
for the UE is correctly received, the UE follows what the PDCCH asks the UE to do
i.e. perform a transmission or a retransmission (referred to as adaptive
retransmission).
 When no PDCCH addressed to the C-RNTI of the UE is detected, the HARQ
feedback dictates how the UE performs retransmissions:
 NACK - the UE performs a non-adaptive retransmission i.e. a retransmission
on the same uplink resource as previously used by the same process.
 ACK - the UE does not perform any uplink (re)transmission and keeps the
data in the HARQ buffer. A PDCCH is then required to perform a
retransmission i.e. a non-adaptive retransmission cannot follow.
 Measurement gaps (part of the measurements for mobility) are of higher priority
than HARQ retransmissions: whenever an HARQ retransmission collides with a
measurement gap, the HARQ retransmission does not take place.
 The sequence of redundancy versions is 0, 2, 3, 1.

LTE Air Interface
 In FDD mode, when data is sent on the PDSCH for a UE, the DCI scheduling messages
provide the UE with the necessary information to decode the message. Based on the
validation of a CRC the UE then sends an ACK or NACK to the eNB. The figure illustrates
the ACK/NACK in the transmission in subframe i+4, where subframe i is associated with
the PDSCH.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates an ACK/NACK received on the PHICH assigned to a UE in subframe i,

where the associated PUSCH was in transmission subframe i-4.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 MIMO relates to the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter (multiple input) and
receiver (multiple output). The terminology and methods used in MIMO can differ from
system to system, however most fall into one of two categories:
 SU-MIMO (Single User - MIMO) - this utilizes MIMO technology to improve the
performance towards a single user.
 MU-MIMO (Multi User - MIMO) - this enables multiple users to be served through
the use of spatial multiplexing techniques.

LTE Air Interface
 In the downlink, the method of transmission is sent when a mobile is semi-statically

configured via higher layer signaling to receive PDSCH data.

LTE Air Interface
 The most common MIMO category is referred to as SM (Spatial Multiplexing). This

allocates multiple modulation symbol streams to a single UE using the same
time/frequency. The differentiation of signals is achieved by the different Reference Signals
which were sent as part of the PRB (Physical Resource Block). The figure illustrates the
concept of Spatial Multiplexing using a 2x2 MIMO system.

LTE Air Interface
 The main issue with Spatial Multiplexing in a cellular system is associated with high levels
of interference, especially at the cell edge. Unfortunately, this can affect both spatial
streams and, as such, twice as many errors could be introduced. Hence, SM is typically
used close to the eNB, i.e. not at the cell edge.

LTE Air Interface
 If a UE was at the cell edge it could still benefit from MIMO. However it would rely on
different implementations, such as using a single stream precoding. The figure illustrates
the basic concept of precoding using STC (Space Time Coding) as a visual example. Note
that precoding is more involved.

LTE Air Interface
 To truly optimize the channel efficiency, some systems offer the ability to support AMS
(Adaptive MIMO Switching). The figure illustrates how a system could utilize a mixture of
Spatial Multiplexing and other methods, such as Space Time Coding, to optimize the eNB
performance.

LTE Air Interface
 In order to optimize the system’s performance, the UE can provide various feedback
information about the radio channel environment. LTE has various feedback reporting
options which depend on the MIMO and eNB configuration. The reporting may consist of
the following elements.

LTE Air Interface
 This provides an indication of the downlink channel quality and effectively identifies an
optimum modulation and coding scheme for the eNB to use. There are various coding
options for the CQI; the figure illustrates the main CQI index.
 The system defines multiple types of CQI, whereby the term “wideband CQI” relates to the
entire system bandwidth. In contrast, “sub-band CQI” relates to a value per sub-band. This
is defined and configured by the higher layers and relates to the number of resource
blocks. It is also worth noting that a CQI per codeword is reported for MIMO spatial
multiplexing.
 Depending on the scheduling mode, Periodic and Aperiodic CQI reporting can be used. In
“Frequency Non-selective” and “Frequency selective” mode the PUCCH is used to carry
periodic CQI reports. In contrast, for “Frequency selective” mode, the PUSCH is used to
carry aperiodic CQI reports.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 LTE air interface scheduling is the responsibility of the eNB, however additional scheduling
and QoS (Quality of Service) handling could take place in the EPC (Evolved Packet Core).
 Typically, the main goal of scheduling is to meet the different users’ expectations.
Historically the radio interface is the “weak link” or “bottle neck” in the overall end-to-end
service. This is typically due to limited physical resources, i.e. limited bandwidth or
channels. The scheduling in previous systems, such as GSM and UMTS, was easier. This
was due to the fact that voice was the main service and required a dedicated channel. As
such, the number of channels (or elements) on the base station limited the number of
simultaneous calls.
 Systems are now evolving, e.g. UMTS has evolved into HSPA and HSPA+, towards packet
based services. LTE is the same, such that it is a pure packet based system. In so doing, all
services utilize IP (Internet Protocol).

LTE Air Interface
 Since LTE is 100% packet based it makes the system design easier. This is because the eNB
does not have to “interwork” its scheduling algorithms with dedicated functions.
 The figure illustrates the basic scheduling concept. In this example three users, each with a
defined QoS, have data to send.
 This is a simple example but it does highlight some of the fundamental concepts:
 Multiple users can have different amounts of data in the eNB buffers, as well as in
their uplink buffers.
 UEs could be in different locations and hence features such as MIMO may or may
not be available.
 Users and specifically the services (QoS) supported could have different priorities,
thus requiring the eNB to prioritize traffic. In the previous example, User B’s data
was scheduled, however User A’s data was delayed until the next subframe. This
could have been based on the service, e.g. a guaranteed service.
 The eNB only has a finite amount of resources. This can vary based on a number of
factors. One such factor is the location of users, whereby if they were all close to
the eNB, the scheduler could allocate SM MIMO resources.

LTE Air Interface
 Packet switched technologies are designed to provide enhance network utilization and
converge multiple data types (multimedia). Unfortunately, services such as voice and
multimedia have various issues associated with delay and jitter. To combat this, the LTE
packet switches / bearer managers are QoS aware, in that they are able to classify packets,
as well as enforce forwarding characteristics. The eNB (Evolved Node B), S-GW (Serving
Gateway) and PDN-GW (Packet Data Network - Gateway) all get involved in the managing
of QoS. The figure illustrates the concept of packet classifiers and packet schedulers. Note
that most of the packets have already been classified by the time they reach the eNB.

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates a number of factors which influence the scheduling process. This is
not a complete list and some of the factors may contain a lot of other aspects. For
example, “eNB configuration” could relate to:
 Frequency planning.
 Cell size.
 Power limitations.
 MIMO feature support.
 Etc.

LTE Air Interface
 One of the other big influences in the performance of the eNB and the scheduler is the
actual algorithm used and its associated efficiency for the type(s) of traffic being scheduled.
Broadly speaking, there is a handful of basic scheduling methods, which are then
customized into proprietary scheduling algorithms. Most schedulers use QoS classes of the
services for radio resource allocation.

LTE Air Interface
 One of the key parameters in the DCI messages is the MCS Index Parameter. The table
illustrates the mapping of the MCS index to the modulation and TBS (Transport Block Set)
Index.

LTE Air Interface
 The modulation order parameter indicates whether the scheduled transmission is QPSK (2
bits), 16QAM (4bits) or 64QAM (6bits). The UE is able to use this information, in
conjunction with the physical number of Resource Blocks, i.e. symbols, to receive all the
bits. The figure illustrates an example of a scheduled message. As previously mentioned
the resource allocation, modulation order and precoding information enables the UE to
determine the number and location of the physical bits. The TBS (Transport Block Set)
parameter in the previous table enables the UE to identify the size of the transport block(s)
using a mixture of a table and equation. Since the coding is all predefined, the UE is able
to replicate the number of coded bits (pre puncturing) and therefore, using the RV
(Redundancy Version) parameter, identify which bits the eNB would have punctured/rate
matched. Using this it can now attempt to decoded the transport block and verify the
CRC.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates the concept of dynamic scheduling, whereby an individual scheduling
message allocates a resource. Note that in the uplink TTI bundling could also be used.

LTE Air Interface
 After a Semi-Persistent downlink assignment is configured, the UE considers that the

assignment recurs in each subframe for which:
 (10 * SFN + subframe) = [(10 * SFNstart time + subframestart time) + N *
semiPersistSchedIntervalDL] modulo 10240, for all N>0.
 Where SFNstart time and subframestart time are the SFN (System Frame Number) and subframe,
respectively, at the time the configured downlink assignment were (re-)initialised. The
figure illlustrates the basic concept of uplink Semi-Persistent Scheduling.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 Intra-LTE mobility can be split into Idle State mobility and Active State mobility.
 A UE in the Idle State has previously registered on the network and is performing two
main procedures, namely cell reselection and listening to paging messages.

LTE Air Interface
 The E-UTRA cell reselection process is similar (not identical) to the one used in UMTS. In
addition, various parameters are used to define if intra and inter frequency measurements
should be taken. The figure illustrates the concept of intra-frequency and inter-frequency.

LTE Air Interface
 Criteria to perform intra-frequency measurements are as follows.

 If Squal > Sintrasearch - the UE may choose not to perform intra-frequency
measurements.
 If Squal <= Sintrasearch - the UE performs intra-frequency measurements.
 If Sintrasearch is not sent for the serving cell then the UE performs intra-frequency
measurements.

LTE Air Interface
 In addition to the normal mobility state, a High-mobility and a Medium-mobility state are
also configurable in the E-UTRA. The presence of valid hysteresis values, counters and
timers sent in the system information broadcast messages activates this feature.
 The parameters (TCRmax, NCR_H, NCR_M and TCRmaxHyst) are sent in the System Information
broadcast of the serving cell. In so doing the criteria for mobility state can be checked:
 Medium-mobility state criteria - This is met if the number of cell reselections during
time period TCRmax exceeds NCR_M and does not exceed NCR_H.
 High-mobility state criteria - This is met if the number of cell reselections during
time period TCRmax exceeds NCR_H.
 If High-mobility state is detected the UE:
 Adds the “sf-High” parameter (from Speed dependent ScalingFactor for Qhyst) to
Qhyst.
 Multiplies the TreselectionEUTRA by the “sf-High” (from Speed dependent
ScalingFactor for TreselectionEUTRA).
 If Medium-mobility state is detected the UE:
 Adds the “sf-Medium” parameter (from Speed dependent ScalingFactor for Qhyst)
to Qhyst.
 Multiplies the TreselectionEUTRA by the “sf-Medium” (from Speed dependent
ScalingFactor for TreselectionEUTRA).
 The Qhyst parameter is used as part of the ranking / reselection equations. The
TreselectionEUTRA parameter (with possible scaling) is used to identify the time duration a
cell must meet the criteria before reselection can take place.

LTE Air Interface
 The cell reselection evaluation process is known as R (Cell Ranking). The calculations for
the Rs (serving cell) and Rn (neighbouring cells) are illustrated in the figure.
 Where:
 Qmeas - This is the RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) measurement quantity
used in cell reselections.
 QHyst - This the hysteresis to apply to the servingcell. It may have had some scaling
applied due to mobility.
 Qoffset - For intra-frequency cells this is equal to the Qoffsets,n parameter (if sent).
For inter-frequency cells this equals Qoffsets,n + Qoffsetfrequency.

LTE Air Interface
 When the UE is in the LTE Active State, i.e. RRC Connected, the eNB performs network
controlled UE assisted handovers. This process may be divided into three distinct phases.
These are:
 Measurement and Reporting - In this phase the UE takes measurements of
neighbor cells and reports these measurements to the serving eNB.
 Handover Preparation Phase - Once the serving eNB has identified that various
criteria for handover have been met it can select the target eNB. This could trigger
signaling directy between eNBs (across the X2 interface) or if that is not available
the MME (Mobility Management Entity) will get involved.
 Perform Handover - The UE will be informed when to handover. It will also be
provided with sufficient information to access the target cell. The Random Access
process will be utilized since the UE and target eNB are not synchronized.

LTE Air Interface
 There are various messages included in a LTE handover, the figure illustrates the main
message which trigger the handover on the air interface, as well as the additional signaling
required in the e-UTRAN.
 Initially the measurement reports need to be configured. This could be a mixture of fixed
configuration triggers, as well as some triggers which are dynamically provisioned.

 In the “standard handover”, the mobile is configured to send MR (Measurement Reports)

based on the measurement configuration information in RRC signaling. These
measurement reports (discussed later in the section) form the basis for most handovers.
 The actual handover process is initiated by the source eNB when it sends the Handover
Request message to the target eNB (assuming the X2 interface is present). This message
provides the target eNB with the necessary information, e.g. the target cell ID, security
keys, UE and RRC Context information, including the E-RAB (EPS Radio Access Bearer)
information and associated QoS.
 The target eNB may then perform Admission Control based on the QoS requirements.
Assuming that the handover can be supported the target eNB allocates a C-RNTI and
optionally a RACH preamble. These are sent back in the Handover Request Acknowledge
message to the source eNB.
 The UE receives a RRC Connection Reconfiguration message (with handover information)
from the source eNB. Using the information included it is then able to access the new cell
and complete the procedure.
 Like UMTS, various timers are used in the event that the UE cannot access the target eNB.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 In summary “MeasConfig” includes the following parameters:

 measObjectToRemoveList - This is a list of measurement objects to remove.
 measObjectId - This is used to identify a measurement object configuration.
 measObject - Specifies measurement object configurations for E-UTRA, UTRA,
GERAN, or CDMA2000 measurements.
 reportConfigToRemoveList - This is a list of measurement reporting configurations
to remove.
 reportConfigId - This is used to identify a measurement reporting configuration.
 reportConfig - This specifies measurement reporting configurations for E-UTRA,
UTRA, GERAN, or CDMA2000 measurements.
 measIdToRemoveList - This is a list of measurement identities to remove.
 measGapConfig - This is used to setup and release measurement gaps.
 s-Measure - This identifies the Serving cell quality threshold and controls whether
or not the UE is required to perform measurements of intrafrequency, inter-
frequency and inter-RAT neighboring cells. Value “0” indicates to disable s-
Measure.
 timeToTrigger-SF - This is the timeToTrigger which is multiplied with the scaling
factor applicable for the UE’s speed state.

LTE Air Interface
 The IE ReportConfigEUTRA specifies criteria for the triggering of an E-UTRA measurement

reporting event. The E-UTRA measurement reporting events are labeled AN with N equal
to 1, 2 and so on.
 Event A1: Serving becomes better than the absolute threshold.
 Event A2: Serving becomes worse than the absolute threshold.
 Event A3: Neighbor becomes the amount of offset better than the serving.
 Event A4: Neighbor becomes better than the absolute threshold.
 Event A5: Serving becomes worse than the absolute threshold1 AND neighbor
becomes better than the another absolute threshold2.
 The figure illustrates the “reportConfig” parameter as part of the Measurement
Configuration parameter .

LTE Air Interface
 The figure illustrates the difference between a periodic and event based reporting
mechanism.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 Time may need to be allocated to measure neighbor cells. This depends on whether they
utilize the same frequency (Intra-Frequency) or a different frequency (Inter-Frequency).
 Typically when cells are on different frequencies they require “gap assisted” (the serving
eNB allocates time to take measurements) mode.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface
 The measurement gap configuration parameter is sent in the RRC Connection

Reconfiguration message as part of the Measurement Configuration. This indicates the gap
pattern(s) in accordance with the received gapOffset parameter. Each gap starts at an SFN
(System Frame Number) and subframe, meeting the equations in the figure.
 Two Gap Patterns, with associated TGRP (Transmission Gap Repetition Period), are
defined. These indicate either 40ms or 80ms.

LTE Air Interface

LTE Air Interface

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LTE Air Interface

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 3G (Third Generation) systems are defined by IMT2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications -

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 The main three 4G systems include:

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 The parameters required to calculate the EARFCN(s) include:

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 The figure illustrates these, as well as the relationship for an input of 0 or 1.

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 OFDM is based on FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing) and is a method whereby

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