LTE and LTE advanced technology is fast evolving in cellular arena and demand in the industries have been

increased for LTE skilled engineers. These top 12 LTE interview questions and answers help engineers
seeking LTE technology job to crack the interview with ease. One can refer page links mentioned on left side
panel to learn more about LTE. These questions are very useful as viva questions also.

Question-1: What is the difference between LTE FDD and LTE TDD?
Answer-1:The difference lies in the LTE frame structure in both the FDD and TDD versions of the LTE. In
FDD there will be pair of frequencies assigned in the downlink and uplink directions and hence transmissions
from multiple subscribes can happen at the same time but on different frequencies as mentioned. In TDD, one
single frequency will be used at different time instants by multiple subscriber terminals (UEs). Both frame
versions of LTE will have 1 ms sub-frame duration and 0.5 ms slot duration.

DD and FDD are two topologies by which critical resources time and frequency are shared among mobile
subscribers or terminals. LTE uses both of these flavors to provide facility for the mobile subscribers or UEs
to utilize the scarse resource efficiently based on the need. To know more about TDD vs FDD refer our
article on Difference between TDD and FDD topologies.

Let us understand LTE FDD and TDD LTE versions with figures and band example below. LTE has radio
frame of duration 10ms consisting of 10 subframes. Each subframe has two slots. The slot is of 0.5ms
duration.Hence there are total 20 slots in a radio frame.

LTE FDD

In LTE base station is referred as eNodeB and mobile subscriber is referred as UE. The figure-1 describes
LTE FDD scenario. As shown in the figure f1 and f2 are one pair of frequencies allocated separately for both
the uplink and downlink direction.

Figure mentions LTE band-13 with uplink frequency of range 777 to 787MHz and downlink frequency of
range 746 to 756 MHz. Hence f1 is allocated from uplink band and f2 is allocated from downlink frequency
band. The entire radio frame of 10ms is used simultaneously over downlink and uplink directions.

Pls. note that downlink always refers to transmission from LTE eNodeB to UEs and uplink refers to
transmission from UEs to eNodeB. Both uplink and downlink will have 10MHz bandwidth each on which
entire frame will be used.

TDD LTE
The figure-2 describes TDD LTE scenario.As shown in the figure both uplink and downlink has been
allocated same frequency f1 and but both uses different time slots for mapping their information data.

Figure mentions LTE band-33 which is from frequency 1900 to 1920MHz. Entire bandwidth of 20MHz is
used for both eNodeB and UEs. Figure mentions configuration of radio frame time slots 0 to 9 for UL/DL
configuration of zero and 5ms DL/UL switch point periodicity. It is D,S,U,U,U,D,S,U,U,U. Here D stands for
downlink and U stands for uplink.Hence the subframes of the entire radio frame is divided and used for both
the uplink and downlink direction.

Leading chipset manufacturers such as Ericsson,Altair semiconductor,Qualcomm support both TDD and
FDD versions of LTE on a single chip.

Following table summarizes LTE FDD and TDD versions.It compares both with respect to application,frame
structure, Guard period,frequency band,interference,data rate and interoperability with other RATs.
Both LTE FDD and TDD versions have their own applications and the same can be exploited by telecom
operators based on traffic and other requirements.

Question-2: What is resource block in LTE?

Answer-2:LTE frame is divided based on time slots on time axis and frequency subcarrier on frequency axis. Resource
block is the smallest unit of resource allocation in LTE system. It is of about 0.5ms duration and composed of 12
subcarriers in 1 OFDM symbol. One time slot is equal to 7 OFDM symbols in normal cyclic prefix and 6 OFDM symbols
in extended cyclic prefix. One full resource block is equal to 12 subcarriers by 7 symbols in normal CP. Hence it
consists of total 84 time/frequency elements referred as resource elements in LTE network. Refer LTE Terminology

This page on LTE terminology covers LTE and LTE advanced technology related terms. It include terms
eNB,eNodeB,UE,OFDMA,SC-FDMA,LTE frame,Resource block(RB), Resource Element(RE),Slot,sub
frame,reference signal, synchronization signal,S-GW,MME,X2 interface, S1 interface, Uu interface, Control
channel, data channel,LTE channel types,logical channel, transport channel, physical channel, P-SS,S-
SS,PBCH,PDSCH,PDCCH,PCFICH,PCH,RS,SRS,DMRS,PRACH, PUSCH,PUCCH, carrier
aggregation,voice over LTE etc.

eNB or eNodeB It is similar to Base station which is used in GSM networks. Also called as eNodeB.

UE: It is similar to mobile subscriber.

OFDMA: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access, used in physical layer of LTE Downlink.

SC-FDMA: Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access, used in physical layer of LTE Uplink.

LTE Frame: LTE frame are of 2 types TDD and FDD. In both the cases, frame is composed of 10 sub
frames and each sub frame is made of 2 slots. Frame size is 10ms.

Resource Block (RB): It is the smallest block of resource that can be allocated to UE by eNB; it is 12
subcarriers for 7 symbols.

Resource Element (RE): The smallest unit of radio resources, one subcarrier for one symbol.

Slot: 7 consecutive symbols for short Cyclic Prefix, 6 symbols for long cyclic prefix.

Sub frame: 2 consecutive timeslots.

Reference Signal: Similar to pilot carrier and is used for channel estimation at the receiver.

Synchronization signal: There are two synchronization signals, Primary and secondary. Both are transmitted
in slot 0 and slot 10 in all the frames. It is same as preamble used in earlier systems and used for time,
frequency synchronization purpose.

S-GW: Serving Gateway

MME: Mobility Management Entity

X2 interface: Interface used between eNodeB and eNodeB.

S1 interface: Interface used between eNodeB and core network interface (MME/S-GW).

Uu interface: This is the air interface used between eNodeB and UE.
Control channel: This channel carry control information used to make, maintain and terminate the
connection. Used for the transfer of control plane information in LTE.

Data channel: This channel carry traffic information. Used for the transfer of user plane information.

Channel structure in LTE:

LTE adopts a hierarchical channel structure. LTE defined three channel types i.e. logical,transport and
physical channels. Each associats with a service access point (SAP). (SAP) between different layers. These
channels are used by lower layers to provide services to the upper layers.

Logical Channels: What to Transmit.

They are used by MAC layer to provide services to RLC layer. Each logical channel is defined as per type of
information it carries. In LTE, there are two categories of logical channels depending on the service they
provide: control channels and traffic channels.

Transport Channels: How to Transmit.

PHY uses transport channel to offer services to the MAC layer. It is characterized by how and with what
characteristics data is transferred over the air.

Physical Channels: Actual Transmission

Each physical channel maps to a set of resource elements in the time frequency grid that carry information
from upper layers. The basic entities that make a physical channel are REs and RBs. A resource element is
one subcarrier by one OFDM symbol and typically this could carry one (or two with spatial multiplexing)
modulated symbol(s). A resource block is a collection of resource elements and in the frequency domain this
represents the smallest quanta of resources that can be allocated.

P-SS: Primary synchronization signal

S-SS: secondary synchronization signal
PBCH: Physical Broadcast Channel
PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel
PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel
PCFICH: Physical Control Format Indicator Channel
PHICH: Physical Hybrid ARQ Indication Channel
PCH: Paging channel
RS: Reference Signal, used both in uplink and downlink
SRS: Sounding reference signal, used in uplink
DMRS: Demodulation Reference Signal
PRACH: Physical Random Access Channel used in uplink
PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel
PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel

Question-3: What are the LTE logical, transport and physical channels?
Answer-3:All these channels help LTE UE establish the connection with the eNodeB, maintain the connection and
terminate the same. Logical channels are characterized by the information that is transferred. Transport channels are
characterized by how the data are transferred over the radio interface. Physical channel corresponds to a set of
resource elements used by the physical layer. Channels are further divided into control channel and traffic channel at
logical channel stage. Read more.

LTE technology works based on three channel types viz. logical channel,transport channel and physical
channels. These channels are used by lower layers to provide services to the upper layers.
The access points to the Layer L2/L3 are transport channels. They get mapped to physical channels. These
physical channels will have different modulation-code rate as mentioned below and are exclusively used by
LTE PHYSICAL Layer to carry upper layer information.

LTE Logical,Transport and Physical channels

Following figure mentions LTE logical channels,transport channels and physical channels and mapping
between them.

As shown logical channels are of two types; one carrying control information and the other carrying traffic
informtion. These gets mapped to transport channels as depicted in the figure. The left side is downlink
channel mapping and right side is uplink channel mapping.

Physical Channels

PDSCH - Stands for Physical Downlink Shared Channel, mainly used to carry high speed data/multimedia
information. Can be either QPSK/16QAM/64QAM.

PDCCH - Stands for Physical Downlink Control Channel, mainly used to carry UE specific control
information. It will have QPSK modulation used.It is mapped on resource elements(REs) in first 3 OFDM
syms(symbols) in first slot of subframe.

CCPCH - Stands for Common Control Physical Channel, carries cell-wide control information. QPSK is
used. CCPCH is transmitted exclusively on 72 subcarriers centered around DC carrier.

Physical Signals

Physical signals do not convey L2/L3 layer information, but mainly used for synchronization and channel
estimation purpose. RS is used for estimating channel response. P-SS and S-SS synchronization signals used
for determining network frame timing information i.e. start of the information.

Transport Channels

• Downlink and Uplink transport channels carry L2/L3 information.

• It also configures LTE PHY layer.
• It sends status information such as packet error and CQI to upper layers.
• Also supports peer-peer signaling between higher layers.
Based on broadcast,unicast or multicast concept different transport channels exist. Downlink channels include
BCH(broadcast channel),DL-SCH(downlink shared channel, to multiple mobile subscribers or
UEs),PCH(paging channel, used for UE DRX and broadcasted over entire cell ),MCH(multicast channel,
transmitted over entire cell). Uplink channels include RACH(Random Access Channel), UL-SCH(Uplink
Shared Channel).

Uplink PRBs(Physical Resource Blocks) are assigned to UE by eNodeB scheduler. PUSCH is used and
shared by multiple UEs to carry upper layer information towards eNodeB. It will employ
QPSK/16QAM/64QAM modulation types.

Question-4: Explain the difference between Reference signal (RS) and synchronization signal (SS) in
the LTE? Also mention types of RS and SS.
Answer-4:Reference signal (RS) is used as pilot subcarrier in LTE similar to other broadband wireless
technologies such as WLAN, WIMAX etc. Synchronization signal is used as preamble sequence in LTE for
synchronization purpose. RS is used for channel estimation and tracking. SS are of two types viz. P-SS and S-
SS. P-SS is used for initial synchronization. S-SS is used for frame boundary determination. RS are of two
types viz. Demodulation RS (DRS) and Sounding RS (SRS). DRS is used for sync and channel estimation
purpose. SRS is used for channel quality estimation purpose. DRS is used in both the uplink and downlink,
while SRS is used only in the uplink. Refer LTE PSS SSS
and LTE RS DMRS SRS
pages to know insight concepts of synchronization signal and reference signal.

Primary Synchronization Signal (P-SS) Sequences

• Three PSS sequences are used in LTE, corresponding to the three physical layer identities within each
group of cells.
• The PSS is constructed from a frequency-domain ZC sequence of length 63.
• Transmitted on 6th symbol of slot 0 and slot10 of each radio frame on 72 subcarriers centered around DC.
Secondary Synchronization Signal (S-SS) Sequences

• SSC1 and SSC2 are two codes are two different cyclic shifts of a single length-31 M sequence.
• Each SSS sequence is constructed by interleaving, in the frequency-domain, two length-31 BPSK-
modulated secondary synchronization codes
• Two codes are alternated between the first and second SSS transmissions in each radio frame
• This enables the UE to determine the 10 ms radio frame timing from a single observation of a SSS
• Transmitted on 5th symbol of slot 0 and slot10 of each radio frame on 72 subcarriers centered around DC.

PSS carries physical layer identity (NID)(2)

SSS carries physical layer cell identity group (NID)(1)
Cell identity is computed using (NID)cell = 3*NID(1) + NID (2) ,
Where (NID)(1) = 0,1,.....,167 and (NID)(2) = 0,1,2
P-SS constellation diagram

As shown in the figure P-SS constellation plots frequency domain view of zadoff chu sequences.
S-SS constellation diagram

As shown in the figure S-SS constellation plots BPSK M sequence signals.

describes LTE downlink reference Signal(RS),uplink reference signals viz. sounding reference signal(S-RS)
and Demodulation reference signal(DM-RS) used in LTE.

Downlink Reference Signal

The downlink reference signal in LTE corresponds to a set of resource elements used by the physical layer
but does not carry any higher layer's information.

To allow for coherent demodulation at the user equipment, reference symbols (or pilot symbols) are inserted
in the OFDM time-frequency grid to allow for channel estimation.
Two downlink RSs are inserted within the first and third from last OFDM symbol of each slot. Both of them
will have frequency domain spacing of six sub carriers within the same symbol as shown in the figure. This is
with LTE system having one antenna in normal CP mode. Furthermore, there is a frequency domain
staggering of 3 subcarriers between the first and second RSs(reference symbols).

In total, there are four RSs(reference symbols)in each Resource Block. UE interpolatea over multiple
reference symbols to estimate the channel.

For 2 transmit antenna system, RSs are inserted from each antenna where the RSs on the second antenna are
offset in the frequency domain by 3 subcarriers. To allow the UE to accurately estimate the channel
coefficients, nothing is transmitted on the other antenna port at the same time & frequency location of RSs.

There are total 510 RS sequences which corresponds to 510 different and unique cell identities. The RSs are
derived from the product of a two-dimensional pseudo-random sequence and a two-dimensional orthogonal
sequence.

170-pseudo-random sequences corresponding to cell-identity groups

3-orthogonal sequences each corresponding to a specific cell identity within the cell identity group.

Uplink Physical Reference Signals

Uplink physical reference signals are used within the PHY layer and do not convey information from higher
layers. There are two main types sounding reference signal abd demodulation reference signal as mentioned
below.

Demodulation reference signal :

This facilitates coherent demodulation and associated with transmission of PUSCH or PUCCH. It is
transmitted in the fourth SC-FDMA symbol of the slot and is the same size as the assigned resource.

Sounding reference signal :

This is used to facilitate frequency dependent scheduling and not associated with transmission of PUSCH or
PUCCH. Both variants of the UL reference signal are based on Zadhoff Chu sequences.

SRS are of two types based on periodicity.The min. periodicity of SRS is 2ms and the max. about 320ms.
The similarity between SRS and DMRS is that both of them use CAZAC sequences(Constant Amplitude
Zero Autocorrelation sequences).

Question-5: Explain LTE cell search procedure followed by UE.

Answer-5:LTE cell search procedure is used by UE to camp onto the LTE cell i.e. eNodeB. Refer LTE UE cell search
procedure and network entry procedure.

LTE Cell Search Procedure used by UE.

A cell search procedure is used by the UE to acquire time and frequency synchronization with a LTE cell and
UE detects the physical layer Cell ID (PCI) of that cell. Two cell search procedures in LTE: initial
synchronization and detecting neighbor cells in preparation for handover LTE uses a hierarchical cell search
scheme similar to WCDMA

Step-1: After being powered on, UE tunes the RF and attempts to measure the wideband received power
(RSSI) for specific frequencies (channels as commanded by higher layer) over a set of supported frequency
bands one after another and ranks those cells based on signal strength.

Step-2: Then it uses downlink synchronization channels i.e. locally stored P-SS and S-SS to correlate with
received one. UE first finds the primary synchronization signal (PSS) which is located in the last OFDM
symbol of first time slot of the first and 5th sub-frames This enables UE to be synchronized on sub-frame
level.Primary Synchronization Signal helps for Slot Timing Detection and Physical Layer ID (0,1,2)
detection.

Step-3:: secondary synchronization symbols are also located in the same sub-frame of P-SS but in the symbol
before P-SS. From secondary SS, UE is able to obtain physical layer cell identity group number (0 to 167) It
helps for Radio Frame Timing detection, find Physical Layer Cell ID, cyclic prefix length detection, FDD or
TDD detection. The same is depicted in the LTE cell search procedure figure below.
Step-4: Once UE knows the PCI for a given cell, it also knows the location of cell Reference signals - which
are used for channel estimation, cell selection / reselection and handover procedures. After channel estimation
using RS(reference signal), MMSE equalization is performed to remove the effect of channel impairment
from the received symbols.

LTE UE network entry procedure which covers cell search procedure, system information decoding and
random access procedure as required for LTE UE to complete network entry with eNB.
The figure depicts all the process as required for LTE UE to camp on to LTE compliant eNB or LTE cell.
Step 1: LTE UE uses PSS and SSS to determine physical layer cell identity (PCI) (1 out of 504).
For more visit our page on LTE UE cell search procedure.

Step 2: After cell search procedure is completed, LTE UE decodes following using PBCH channel.
Master Information Block which is transmitted on BCH at the periodicity of 40ms, which is carrying system
bandwidth, PHICH configuration, SFN number of transmit antennas.

System Information Block Type 1 which is transmitted on DL-SCH at the periodicity of 80ms, which is
carrying PLMN IDs, tracking area code, cell identity, access restrictions, scheduling information and more.
SI-RNTI is used on PDCCH to address System Information Block Type 1 and SI Messages.

Step 3 (a) : Random access procedure is intiated by UE by sending random access preamble on PRACH. eNB
responds with random access response on PDSCH.

Step 3 (b) : The data transmission is scheduled on PUSCH. The contention resolution is taken care by MAC
and the same is intimated to UE by eNB on DL-SCH.

Question-6: What is the function of LTE physical broadcast channel i.e. PBCH?
Answer-6: After initial cell synchronization is completed, UE reads MIB (Master information block) on PBCH (Physical
channel). Broadcast channel is referred as BCH at transport level and BCCH at logical level. MIB composed of downlink
channel bandwidth in units of RBs, PHICH duration, PHICH resource and system frame number.

LTE PBCH or LTE Physical Broadcast Channel with respect to LTE system. It is used to broadcast MIB
using BCH as transport and BCCH as logical channel.

The PBCH broadcasts a limited number of parameters essential for initial access of the cell such as downlink
system bandwidth, the Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel structure, and the most significant eight-bits
of the System Frame Number.
As shown in the figure, PBCH is downlink only channel. It occupies 72 subcarriers belong to first 4 OFDMA
symbols of second slot of every 10ms radio frame. Pls. note that reference signal resource elements(REs) are
excluded from the PBCH allocation. Hence PBCH will occupy about (72 x 4) - 48 = 240 REs. As PBCH uses
QPSK modulation, it leads to about 480bits per 240 REs.

• These parameters are carried in - a Master Information Block (MIB) (14 bits long). This information is
required to decode other physical channels.

• The PBCH is designed to be detectable without prior knowledge of system bandwidth and to be accessible
at the cell edge also.

• The MIB is coded at a very low coding rate and mapped to the 72 center sub-carriers (6 RBs, each RBs =
12 sub carriers, so 6x12 = 72 subcarriers) of the OFDM structure.

• PBCH transmission is spread over four 10 ms frames (over subframe 0) to span a 40 ms period.

• Each subframe is self decodable which reduces latency and UE battery drain in case of good signal quality,
otherwise, the UE would soft-combine multiple transmissions until the PBCH is decoded.

After the successful execution of the cell-search procedure, UE decodes the PBCH (MIB/SIBs).

Overhead Generated by LTE PBCH channel

LTE PBCH represents an overhead which reduces the number of REs available for user plane data. Overhead
is less for larger bandwidth and more for extended CP(cyclic prefix). As mentioned in the table below LTE
PBCH overhead is in-significant for larger channel BW and significant for small channel BW.
LTE PBCH channel REFERENCE: document 3GPP TS 36.211

Question-7: What is the advantage of using SC-FDMA in the LTE uplink?

Answer-7: The main advantage of SC-FDMA is low PAPR compare to OFDMA used in LTE downlink. This increases the
efficiency of power amplifier and hence increases the battery life.

Difference between SC-FDMA and OFDM

This page describes difference between SC-FDMA and OFDM modulation techniques.

SC-FDMA means Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access and OFDM means Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiplexing.

As shown in the figure in SC-FDMA one extra module DFT is added before IFFT module in the transmitter
chain and IDFT is added in the receiver chain. This converts OFDM chain into SC-FDMA chain. Without
this two modules the chain is referred as OFDM transmit and receive chain.

SC-FDMA system usually will have low PAPR compare to OFDM system.

SC-FDMA system is less sensitive to frequency offset compare to OFDM system.

SC-FDMA is widely used in LTE subscriber terminals in the transmit path and its variant OFDMA is used in
the eNodeB downlink(or receive path of LTE subscribers). While OFDM is used in many broadband
technologies such as wimax-16d/16e, WLAN-11a/11n/11ac.
OFDM is referred as multicarrier modulation. It uses multiple rf carrier signals at different frequencies which
sends some of the bits on each of the assigned channels. This seems to be similar to FDM but in the case of
OFDM, total subcarriers are divided into subchannels and these subchannels are mapped to one single
data/traffic source.

Merits of OFDM

SC-FDMA has merits as mentioned above. OFDM also has many advantages compare to SC-FDMA.
• Frequency selective fading will be able to affect few of the subchannels/subcarriers and not entire band.
• OFDM overcomes effect of ISI occuring mostly in multipath channel environment.

Question-8: What is RSSI?

Answer-8: RSSI stands for Received Signal Strength Indication. It is used almost in all the RATs to identify power
received from the cell in idle as well as connected/dedicated modes. This helps UE always camped on to the best cell
all the time. In case of drop in power measured using RSSI, either UE or network initiates the handover or cell re-
selection is carried out.

RSSI-Received Signal Strength Indication

This page describes RSSI i.e. Received Signal Strength Indication. It mentions RSSI calculation in WLAN
and WiMAX OFDM based systems.

The term used to measure the received signal power/strength of the input signal to RF receiver is called
RSSI(Received signal strength Indication).

It is measured at the following places in the wireless receiver:

• before IF amplifier in the case of dual conversion receiver
• at baseband stage in the case of zero IF receiver after ADC using I/Q signals
• before ADC (measured as DC voltage)

At Baseband Stage it is measured using following equation:

RSSI = I2 + Q2
The calculation varies based on number of OFDM symbols as per IEEE Standard i.e. 802.11 or 802.16. It is
averaged over one OFDM symbol as per requirement.

RSSI in WLAN device as per IEEE 802.11

The RSSI is measurement of RF signal energy received by the 802.11 OFDM Physical layer. RSSI is
represented by 8 bits(256 levels). It is measured by the the Station(STA) during the reception of the PLCP
preamble which is transmitted by Access Point(AP).

RSSI in WiMAX device as per IEEE 802.16

When RSSI measurement is desired by BS(Base Station), it will request SS to provide the same. SS upon
request measure RSSI using OFDM downlink preamble. These measured mean and standard deviation of
RSSI is reported back via REP-RSP message. Measured in dBm and range from -40dBm(0x53) to -
123dBm(0x00).
Question-9: Explain Circuit Switch Fall Back i.e. CSFB with respect to LTE and GSM.
Answer-9: Framework allowing the provisioning of voice services by reuse of legacy GSM served CS
infrastructure when the UE is served by E-UTRAN (LTE).To provide voice call support, Circuit Switch Fall
Back is carried out to GSM RAT from LTE RAT to facilitate the voice over LTE (VoLTE) feature.

This VoLTE tutorial covers VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) basics, types of VoLTE which include VoLTE using
IMS(VOIP) and VoLTE using CSFB(SRVCC).

LTE is all IP based network and mainly designed for internet/data applications. Hence to support voice over
LTE there are two options. The first is using VOIP(voice vover IP) with the help of IMS(IP Multimedia
system) and the the second one is using legacy 2G/3G Circuit Switched Fall Back(CSFB) with the concept
called SRVCC. We will see below how these works.

VoLTE using IMS(VOIP)

As shown in the figure above in LTE called EUTRAN comprised of more than one eNodeB. eNodeB in LTE
has functionalities of RNC and NodeB of 3G. MME,S-GW,HSS and P-GW will form EPC(Evolved Packet
Core). eNodeBs and EPC form EPS(Evolved Packet System). LTE supports voice call using VOIP using
IMS. If it is VOIP to VOIP call, it will remain within LTE network and supported using VOIP protocols. But
if it is VOIP to CS call for GSM/WCDMA network, IMS with the help of application servers and legacy
MSC transfers the PS call to legacy networks (2G-GERAN/3G-UTRAN). If it is VOIP to PSTN call, IMS
directs through PSTN interface to respective exchanges.
VoLTE using 2G/3G CSFB(using SRVCC)

When UE moves from LTE network to say legacy networks (GSM/WCDMA), based on measurement report
submitted by UE handover is performed and transfer of Voice over IP call to legacy voice call is performed.
This to happen UE should support SRVCC. SRVCC stands for Single Radio Voice Call Continuity. It means
UE will be connected with single radio at a time and hence one single RAT (either LTE or GSM or
WCDMA). Hence battery life becomes longer here with SRVCC capable UE.

Question-10: Explain LTE network architecture and various interfaces.

Answer-10:There are various entities forming the LTE network architecture, the main interfaces are U u between UE
and eNB, X2 interface between eNBs and S1 interface between eNB and EPC(Evolved Packet Core).

LTE system overview, LTE air interface,LTE SAE and provide link for LTE Frame structure, LTE physical
layer,LTE protocol stack,LTE terminologies,LTE advanced,LTE vendors etc. This tutorial is ideal for
begineer to learn basic knowledge on LTE and LTE advanced technologies.

LTE Overview

LTE standard has been published by 3GPP as an extension of UMTS(based on 3GPP standard) and 1xEV-
DO(base on 3GPP2 standard) technologies. LTE is mainly designed for high speed data applications both in
the uplink and downlink. LTE network offers about 300Mbps data rate in the downlink and about 75 Mbps in
the uplink. There is possibility of supporting voice over LTE(VoLTE) in the future. There are various
methods under progress to support VoLTE some of them includes VOIP, legacy fallback to previous existing
wireless networks.

This tutorial on LTE covers following in addition to LTE air interface and LTE system architecture:

LTE Air interface

The Air interface between LTE network and UE supports high data rate owing to OFDM and Multiple
antenna techniques employed. OFDMA is used from network to UE air interface and SC-FDMA is used from
UE to network air interface. Refer following links to know OFDMA basics.
OFDMA Types OFDM versus OFDMA OFDMA Physical layer

LTE System Architecture Evolution

As shown in the figure LTE SAE(System Architecture Evolution) consists UE,eNodeB and EPC(evolved
packet core). Various interfaces are designed between these entities which include Uu between UE and
eNodeB, X2 between two eNodeB, S1 between EPC and eNodeB. eNodeB has functionalities of both RNC
and NodeB as per previous UMTS architecture.LTE is completely IP based network.

The basic architecture contains the following network elements.

1. LTE EUTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio)
2. LTE Evolved Packet Core.

LTE EUTRAN

It is a radio access network standard meant to be a replacement of the UMTS, HSDPA and HSUPA . Unlike
HSPA, LTE's E-UTRA is an entirely new air interface system. It provides higher data rates, lower latency and
is optimized for packet data. EUTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio) consists of eNB (Base station).
EUTRAN is responsible for complete radio management in LTE. When UE powered is on, eNB is
responsible for Radio Resource Management, i.e. it shall do the radio bearer control, radio admission control,
allocation of uplink and downlink to UE etc. When a packet from UE arrives to eNB, eNB shall compress the
IP header and encrypt the data stream. It is also responsible for adding a GTP-U header to the payload and
sending it to the SGW. Before the data is actually transmitted the control plane has to be established. eNB is
responsible for choosing a MME using MME selection function. The QoS is taken care by eNB as the eNB is
only entity on radio. Other functionalities include scheduling and transmission of paging messages, broadcast
messages, and bearer level rate enforcements also done by eNB.

LTE Evolved Packet Core (EPC)

The LTE EPC consists of MME, SGW, PGW, HSS and PCRF.

Mobility Management Entity (MME):

The MME is a control entity. It is responsible for all the control plane operations. All the NAS signaling
originates at UE and terminates in MME. MME is also responsible for tracking area list management,
selection of PGW/SGW and also selection of other MME during handovers. MME is also responsible for
SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) selection during LTE to 2G/3G handovers. The UE is also
authenticated by MME.MME is also responsible for bearer management functions including establishment of
dedicated bearers for all signaling traffic flow.

Serving Gateway (SGW):

Serving gateway terminates the interface towards EUTRAN. For each UE there is a single Serving GW
associated with EPS at a given point of time. SGW acts as a local mobility entity for inter eNB handovers. It
also acts a mobility anchor for inter 3GPP mobility. SGW is responsible for packet routing and forwarding,
buffering the downlink packets. As eNB is responsible for uplink packet marking, SGW is responsible for
downlink packet marking.

PDN Gateway (PGW):

PGW terminates SGi interface towards the PDN. PGW is responsible for all the IP packet based operations
such as deep packet inspection, UE IP address allocation, Transport level packet marking in uplink and
downlink, accounting etc. PGW contacts PCRF to determine the QoS for bearers. It is also responsible for UL
and DL rate enforcement.

Home Subscriber Server (HSS):

The HSS is a central database that contains user-related and subscription-related information. The functions
of the HSS include functionalities such as mobility management, call and session establishment support, user
authentication and access authorization. It also holds information about the PDNs to which the user can
connect. In addition the HSS holds dynamic information such as the identity of the MME to which the user is
currently attached or registered. The HSS may also integrate the authentication center (AUC), which
generates the vectors for authentication and security keys.

Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (PCRF):

The PCRF is responsible for policy control decision-making as well as for controlling the flow-based
charging functionalities in the Policy Control Enforcement Function (PCEF), which resides in the P-GW. The
PCRF provides the QoS authorization (QoS class identifier [QCI] and bit rates) that decides how a certain
data flow will be treated in the PCEF and ensures that this is in accordance with the user's subscription
profile.
Refer LTE PCRF vs PCEF➤.

PCRF and PCEF in LTE | Functions of PCRF and PCEF in LTE

This page compares PCRF vs PCEF and mentions functional difference between PCRF and PCEF. PCRF
stands for Policy and Charging Rules Function and PCEF stands for Policy and Charging Enforcement
Function.

The Policy management is big market and will estimated to hit $2.5B by the year 2018.
The policy is evolving which enables new models for the telecom carriers.
The virtualization of policy related functions will help in opex savings.
The private clouds are used as appropriate solution for virtualized billing.
Since operators are fast deploying cellular networks e.g. 2G, 3G and 4G. Subscribers travel between different
networks during the call and they use voice as well as data services. In this scenario, PCRF is introduced to
help in billing/charging and to maintain session visibility across vivid wireless/wired networks.

Definition: PCRF stands for Policy and Charging Rules Function. It is node which operates in real time in
order to determine policy rules in multimedia network. It operates at core of the network and have accesses to
subscriber databases and other specialized functions e.g. charging system.

The figure-1 depicts PCRF, PCEF and their interfaces with other modules as defined in 3GPP TS 23.203. In
the figure, TDF stands for Traffic Detection Function, AF stands for Application Function and BBERF stands
for Bearer Binding and Event Reporting Function.

PCRF consists of following subsystems:

• One or more policy servers which provides policy and charging management functions.
• SPR which refers to subscriber profile repositories
• A configuration central management subsystems used for centralized provisioning and management of
policy servers.

LTE PCRF | Policy and Charging Rules Function

The figure-2 depicts PCRF and PCEF position in the LTE system architecture.

Following are the functions of PCRF:

• It provides network agnostic solution.
• It can be integrated on various platforms e.g. billing, charging, rating, subscriber databases.
• It can be deployed as standalone system entity.
• It provides capability to manage network as well as subscriber related polocies in real time.
• It has ability to route and prioritize traffic efficiently and dynamically.
• It provides unified view of subscriber context based on device/network/location/billing data.
• It provides key inputs for bandwidth management.
• It provides inputs for revenue assurance.

PCRF Server supports following external interfaces.

• Gx interface: located between PCRF and PCEF, Gx interface is used to provision service data flow as per
charging rules.
• Gy interface: PCRF server does support this interface. Gy interface functions as DCCA proxy between the
PCEF and Online Charging System (OCS). It allows online credit control.
• Gz interface: It is used as offline charging interface between OFCS (Offline Charging System) and
PCEF/PDN GW.
• Rx interface: This reference point is used in order to exchange application level session and media related
informations between PCRF and Application server.
• Sy interface: It is used in between PCRF and OCS. It is used for sending limits reports.
• Sp interface: PCRF server supports this interface between PCRF and SPR. It allows PCRF to request
subscription informations such as transport level policies from SPR as per subscriber ID, PDN ID & IP CAN
session attributes. It helps SPR to notify PCRF about any changes in subscriber informations as per request
from PCRF. It stops sending this when it receives cancellation notification request from PCRF.
• Ud interface: PCRF server does support this interface between PCRF and UDR. This Ud interface allows
PCRF to create, to read, to modify and to delete user data stored in UDR using access interface. It is located
in LDAP. It is based on LDAP protocol.
• RADIUS interface: PCRF service supports RADIUS based AAA interface. It is connected with external
AAA server. It works in tandem with AAA management in order to help manage and provide mapping
between MSISDN and IP address.
• RADIUS CoA (Change of Authorization) interface: It provides mechanism to change the attribtes of
authentication, authorization and accounting session after it has already been authenticated.
• Gxx interface: This reference point is located between PCRF and BBERF. It enables PCRF to gain dynamic
control over BBERF behaviour. BBERF resides in SGW.

LTE PCEF | Policy and Charging Enforcement Function

PCEF system is part of PCRF which is shown in the figure-1 and figure-2. PCEF is situated inside PDN GW
(Packet Data Network Gateway) or in short PGW.

The major difference between PCRF and PCEF is that PCEF does support offline and online charging
interactions while PCRF does not support these.

LTE Advanced Architecture

LTE Advanced architecture for E-UTRAN consists of P-GW, S-GW, MME, S1-MME, eNB, HeNB, HeNB-
GW, Relay Node etc. LTE Advanced protocol stack consists of user plane and control plane for AS and NAS.

Refer LTE Advanced Architecture and Stack➤.

LTE Advanced Architecture and LTE Advanced Protocol Stack.It mentions LTE Advanced architecture for
E-UTRAN. LTE Advanced protocol stack consists of user plane and control plane for AS and NAS.

LTE Advanced Architecture-P-GW, S-GW, MME, S1-MME, eNB, HeNB, HeNB-GW,

Relay Node
The figure-1 depicts LTE Advanced (LTE-A) Architecture for E-UTRAN. It consists of P-GW, S-GW,
MME, S1-MME, eNB, HeNB, HeNB-GW and Relay Node etc. Following are the functions of these
architecture entities.
• P-GW: It stands for PDN Gateway. It interfaced with S-GW using S5 interface and with operator's IP
services using SGi interface. It has connectivity with PCRP using Gx interface. It connects UE to packet data
networks. P-GW assigns IP address to the UE. One UE can have connectivity with more than one PGWs in
order to have access to multiple PDNs. It takes care of packet filtering, policy enforcement and charging
related services. Moreover it fulfils connectivity between 3GPP (LTE, LTE-A) and non 3GPP (WiMAX,
CDMA etc.) technologies.
• S-GW: It stands for Serving Gateway. It interfaces with MME using S11 interface and with SGSN using S4
interface. It connects with PDN-GW using S5 interface as mentioned above. EPC gets terminated at this
node/entity. It is connected with E-UTRAN via S1-U interface. Each UE in LTE-A is associated to unique S-
GW which has several functions. It helps in inter-eNB handover as well as inter-3GPP mobility. It helps in
inter-operator charging. It does packet routing and packet forwarding.
• MME: It stands for Mobility Management Entity. It is major control plane element in LTE advanced
architecture. It takes care of authentication, authorization and NAS signaling related security functions. It
takes care of selecting either S-GW or PDN-GW or P-GW.
• S1-MME: It provides connectivity between EPC and eNBs.
• eNB: It is main building block or system in LTE-A. It provides interface with UEs or LTE-A phones. It has
similar functionality as base station used in GSM or other cellular systems. Each of the eNBs serve one or
several E-UTRAN cells. Interface between two eNBs is known as X2 interface.
• HeNB: It stands for Home eNodeB or Home eNB. It is known as Femtocell. It is used to improve coverage
in the indoor region of office or home premises. It can be interfaced directly to EPC or via Gateway. Refer
what is LTE Femtocell➤.
• HeNB-GW: It provides connectivity of HeNB with S-GW and MME. It aggregates all the traffic from
number of Home eNBs to core network. It uses S1 interface to connect with HeNBs.
• Relay Node: It is used for improving network performance. Refer what is LTE Relay➤.

LTE Advanced Protocol Stack-PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, NAS

The figure-2 depicts LTE Advanced protocol stack. It is divided into two main parts viz. NAS (Non-Access
Stratum) and AS (Access Stratum). Further it is categorized into control plane and user plane. User plane of
eNB consists of PHY, MAC, RLC and PDCP layers. Control plane of eNB consists of these 4 layers and in
addition houses RRC layer also.

Following are functions of these LTE Advanced protocol stack layers.

• PHY : This layer takes care of frame formation as per TDD or FDD topology and as per OFDMA structure
based on BW/FFT. Moreover it takes care of modulation and coding of different control and traffic channels.
It covers scrambling and codeword to layer mapping functionalities. It incorporates reference signals (DMRS/
SRS in the uplink while C-RS/ CSI-RS/ UE-RS in the downlink) which are used for channel estimation and
channel equalization.
• MAC-Medium Access Control : It takes care of following functions:
-Multiplexing/demultiplexing of RLC Packet Data Units (PDUs).
-Scheduling information reporting.
-Error correction through Hybrid ARQ (HARQ).
-Local Channel Prioritization.
-Padding.
• RLC-Radio Link Control :
-Error correction through Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ).
-Segmentation according to the size of the transport block and re-segmentation in case a retransmission is
needed.
-Concatenation of SDUs for the same radio bearer.
-Protocol error detection and recovery.
-In-sequence delivery.
• PDCP-Packet Data Convergence Protocol :
-Header compression.
-In-sequence delivery and retransmission of PDCP Session Data Units (SDUs) for acknowledge mode radio
bearers at handover.
-Duplicate detection.
-Ciphering and integrity protection.
• RRC-Radio Resource Control:
-Broadcast system information related to Non-Access Stratum (NAS) and Access Stratum (AS).
-Establishment, maintenance, and release of RRC connection.
-Security functions including key management.
-Mobility functions.
-QoS management functions.
-UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting.
-NAS direct message transfer between UE and NAS.
• NAS-Non Access Stratum :
-Connection/session management between UE and the core network.
-Authentication.
-Registration.
-Bearer context activation/deactivation.
-Location registration management.

Question-11: What is SRVCC?

Answer-11:SRVCC is the short form of Single-Radio Voice Call Continuity. SRVCC handover is supported from E-UTRAN
(i.e. LTE) to UTRAN/GERAN (WCDMA/GSM). SRVCC procedure is used for transferring an on-going PS voice call (IMS)
in LTE to a CS voice call via Handover from LTE to GERAN/UTRAN.

VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) basics, types of VoLTE which include VoLTE using IMS(VOIP) and VoLTE
using CSFB(SRVCC).

LTE is all IP based network and mainly designed for internet/data applications. Hence to support voice over
LTE there are two options. The first is using VOIP(voice vover IP) with the help of IMS(IP Multimedia
system) and the the second one is using legacy 2G/3G Circuit Switched Fall Back(CSFB) with the concept
called SRVCC. We will see below how these works.

VoLTE using IMS(VOIP)

As shown in the figure above in LTE called EUTRAN comprised of more than one eNodeB. eNodeB in LTE
has functionalities of RNC and NodeB of 3G. MME,S-GW,HSS and P-GW will form EPC(Evolved Packet
Core). eNodeBs and EPC form EPS(Evolved Packet System). LTE supports voice call using VOIP using
IMS. If it is VOIP to VOIP call, it will remain within LTE network and supported using VOIP protocols. But
if it is VOIP to CS call for GSM/WCDMA network, IMS with the help of application servers and legacy
MSC transfers the PS call to legacy networks (2G-GERAN/3G-UTRAN). If it is VOIP to PSTN call, IMS
directs through PSTN interface to respective exchanges.

VoLTE using 2G/3G CSFB(using SRVCC)

When UE moves from LTE network to say legacy networks(GSM/WCDMA), based on measurement report
submitted by UE handover is performed and tranfer of Voice over IP call to legacy voice call is performed .
This to happens UE should support SRVCC. SRVCC stands for Single Radio Voice Call Continuity. It means
UE will be connected with sigle radio at a time and hence one single RAT(either LTE or GSM or WCDMA).
Hence battery life becomes longer here with SRVCC capable UE.

Question-12: What is the difference between LTE and LTE Advanced?

Answer-12: LTE is specified in 3GPP release 8 and release 9. LTE advanced is specified in 3GPP release 10. The main
difference between them is carrier aggregation is introduced in LTE advanced. Number of antennas supported by
MIMO has been increased to 8 in LTE advanced.

LTE vs LTE Advanced covers difference between LTE and LTE Advanced 3GPP wireless technologies.

Both the LTE and LTE-Advanced are fourth generation wireless technologies designed to use for high speed
broadband internet access. The specifications are published by 3rd Generation Partnership Project(3GPP).
LTE is specified in 3GPP release 8 and LTE Advanced is specified in 3GPP release 10.

LTE is the short form of Long Term Evolution. It uses FDD and TDD duplex modes for the UEs to
communicate with the eNodeB. There are various bandwidths supported in LTE. Based on the bandwidth
different physical layer configurations are used for the system elements(UEs and eNodeBs) to communicate
efficiently. The LTE uses OFDMA modulation in the downlink(from eNodeB to UEs) and SC-FDMA
modulation in the uplink(from UEs to eNodeB). Various physical channels and logical channels are designed
to take care of data as well as control informations. It supports peak data rate of 300MBPS in the downlink
and 75MBPS in the uplink(theoretically). For LTE System features, READ MORE➤

Introduction:

LTE is the next generation of technology which is backword compatible with cellular technologies such as
HSPA,GSM,CDMA etc. LTE means Long Term Evolution.LTE which is known as 4G technology is being
specified in Release 8 and 9 of the 3GPP standard. Release 10 is referred as LTE-Advanced. The LTE radio
transmission and reception specifications are documented in TS 36.101 for the UE ( User Equipment) and TS
36.104 for the eNB (Evolved Node B). Downlink and uplink transmission in LTE are based on the use of
multiple access technologies: specifically, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) for the
downlink, and single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) for the uplink. The work on the
specifications is ongoing, and many of the technical documents are updated quarterly. The latest versions of
the 36-series documents can be found at http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/specs/archive/36_series/ LTE Physical layer
is described in TS36.211 and TS36.212 releases. 36.211 mentions physical channels and modulation while
36.212 mentions multiplexing and channel coding.

LTE system basic parameters and LTE Frame structure:

Frame Size=10ms
No. of slots=20.
No of Slots per Sub frame =2.
Slot duration=0.5 ms
Sub frame duration=1 ms
Basic time unit Ts for BW of 20MHz, (1/15000)*2048 seconds equal to 32.55ns.

There are two types of frames in LTE;FDD and TDD. Type 1, applicable to FDD- Here there are total 20
slots, each is 0.5ms. 2 slots constitute 1 sub frame. Total Frame duration is 10ms.

Type 2, applicable to TDD- Here there are 10 sub frames, each is 1 ms,sub frame 0 and 5 are dedicated for
downlink always while sub frames 1 and 6 are dedicated for control frame.Sub frames 2, 3, 4 and 7, 8, 9
depend on UL/DL configuration table defined in the standard.Frame has switch point periodicity of 5 ms.

LTE Features

The key features of LTE physical layer are mentioned below.

Channel Bandwidth: 1.4/3/5/10/15/20 MHz
FFT size : 128/256/512/1024/1536/2048
Cyclic Prefix : Normal, Extended
DL multiple access: OFDMA
UL multiple access: SC-FDMA
Duplexing :FDD & TDD
Subcarrier mapping: Localized
Subcarrier hopping: Yes
Data Modulation : QPSK/16QAM/64QAM
Subcarrier spacing: 15KHz
Channel Coding : convolutional coding and turbo coding
MIMO :2 or 4 at transmit and 2 or 4 at receive side
HARQ :incremental redundancy
LTE-Advanced is the upgraded version of LTE technology to increase the peak data rates to about 1GBPS in
the downlink and 500MBPS in the uplink. In order to increase the data rates LTE-Advanced utilizes higher
number of antennas and added carrier aggregation feature. For LTE Advanced system features,

LTE carrier aggregation basics in TDD and FDD mode. It mentions LTE carrier aggregation types and
carrier aggregation frequency bands.

Why Carrier Aggregation

Carrier aggregation (CA) helps in increasing bandwidth allocation to the UE. Hence it will support higher
data rate compare to non CA device. It is applied for both TDD and FDD topologies as mentioned below. To
know more on LTE TDD vs FDD, visit our page on LTE TDD Vs FDD modes and go through LTE frame
structure in both of these modes.

Carrier Aggregation in TDD

The figure depicts carrier aggregation used in LTE TDD mode frame. As shown in Fig.1, here number of
component carriers(CCs) and bandwdth of each component carriers are same for both uplink and downlink
assignments to UE.
No. of UL(CC) <= No. of DL(CC).

LTE Carrier Aggregation in FDD

Figure depicts LTE carrier aggregation in FDD mode. As shown in Fig.2, here no. of CCs will also be
different in both uplink and downlink. They will have different bandwidths in uplink and downlink too.

In both the above cases, each CC(Component Carrier) will have a BW of any value from 1.4/3/5/10/15 or 20
MHz. It is possible to aggregate or combine at maximum upto 5 carriers, which provides max. of 100
MHz(for CC of 20MHz). Changes are introduced in PHY and MAC layers of LTE protocol stack to support
carrier aggregation.

Types of Carrier Aggregation

As shown in fig.3 there are major three types, based on how CCs are allocated from frequency pool to the
UE;Whether allocated frequency is within one band or different bands and spacing between them.

Spacing between two CCs = 300KHz X N, Where N is any integer. Below section mentions LTE carrier
aggregation frequency bands for intra band and inter band in both TDD and FDD modes.

LTE Carrier Aggregation frequency bands

Intra-band contiguous CA:

CA_40 (2300 to 2400MHz in UL), (2300 to 2400M in DL), TDD

CA_1 (1920 to 1980M in UL) ,(2110 to 2170M in DL), FDD

Inter Band Non Contiguous(FDD)

CA_1, 1920-1980MHz(UL),2110-2170(DL)
CA_3, 1710-1785M(UL),1805-1880(DL)
CA_4, 1710-1755(UL), 2110-2155M(DL)
CA_5, 824-849(UL), 869-894 (DL)
CA_7, 2500-2570(UL), 2620-2690(DL)
CA_13, 777-787(UL), 746-756(DL)
CA_17, 704-716(UL), 734-746(DL)

LTE Advanced was started recently. 3GPP release 10 is considered as LTE Advanced after changes in LTE
release 9. LTE Advanced shall fulfill 4G requirements as set by ITU.

LTE advanced features

LTE advanced features are summarized below.

• Peak data rate DL: 1 Gbps, UL: 500 Mbps
• Transmission bandwidth: Wider than approximately 70 MHz in DL and 40 MHz in UL
• Asymmetric bandwidth in DL and UL unlike LTE
• user throughput: two times better than LTE
• Average user throughput: three times higher than that in LTE
• Spectrum efficiency: 3 times higher than that in LTE
• Modulation technique: Hybrid OFDMA in downlink and SC-FDMA in uplink
• Spectrum flexibility: means scalable bandwidth
• Mobility: Same as that in LTE

Coverage is in the micro cell environment and it extends ISD to about 1KM distance. LTE advanced is
backward compatible to LTE and other cellular standards.