LTE Physical Channels and Procedures

LTE Air Interface Course

TEKONSULT
Downlink Channel Mapping

TEKONSULT 2
Uplink Channel Mapping

TEKONSULT 3
Resource Block and Resource Element

• Physical Resource Block or Resource Block ( PRB or RB):

– 12 subcarriers in frequency domain x 1 slot period in time domain.

TEKONSULT 4
Physical Resource Blocks

TEKONSULT 5
LTE Physical Layer - Introduction

Uplink Pilot Time slot

Downlink Pilot Time slot TEKONSULT 6
Special subframe

UE always needs a guard period in order to switch from receiver to

transmitter.
The guard period includes RTD (Round Trip Delay).
PT = Propagation Time
eNodeB Start of UL subframe
SP = Switching Period
ends reaches at eNodeB
transmitting GP RTD = Round Trip Delay
GP = Guard Period
PT SP PT

Downlink Uplink eNodeB

Downlink Uplink UE

End of DL UE has switched to RTD = 2 x PT

subframe has transmission and has GP = RTD + SP
reached at the UE begun UL subframe
TEKONSULT 7
Cell Search

Let’s Suppose that a UE would like to camp on a cell.

TEKONSULT 8
Cell Search Procedure

• The eNb is broadcasting in the

downling two synchronisation
signals: PSS and SSS.
PSS/SSS
• From these Signals, the Ue can
have:
1. Frequency And Time Synch
2. Physical Cell ID =0…503
3. RS Configuration
4. TDD FDD modes
5. Frame Synchronisation
TEKONSULT 9
Physical Cell Id

• Each LTE cell has a physical layer ID : a number from 0 to 503.

• Physical layer ID: 3 → 0,1,2
• We know it from the PSS = Primary Synchronisation Signal
• Physical layer cell id group: 168
• We know it from the SSS = Secondary Synchronisation Signal
• Total 168 x 3 = 504 PCIs
• In a network we can have more than 504 cells. That’s why the PCI of the different
cells is subject to Planning

Physical layer Cell ID group 0 1 … 167

Physical Layer ID 0 1 2 0 1 2 … 0 1 2
TEKONSULT 10
Time Synchronization FDD Mode

10ms Radio frame

2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10

1ms Subframe
SSS

PSS
0.5ms (One slot)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Normal CP

1 2 3 4 5 6 Extended CP

PSS and SSS frame and slot structure in time domain in the FDD case

TEKONSULT 11
Time synchronization TDD mode

10ms Radio frame

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1ms Subframe
SSS

PSS
1 ms TTI (two slots = 2×0.5ms)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Normal CP

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 Extended CP

PSS and SSS frame and slot structure in time domain in the TDD case

TEKONSULT 12
Frequency Synchronization – PSS

Cell ID Root index

(M)
0 25
1 29
2 34

TEKONSULT 3GPP TS 36.211 13

Frequency Synchronization – SSS
PSS and SSS position (FDD case)
SSS0 and PSS SSS1 and PSS

TEKONSULT 15
DL Reference Signals

• Reference Signals are known by the transmitter

and the receiver
• DL channel quality measurements
• DL channel estimation for coherent demodulation
at the UE

RS

TEKONSULT 16
Reference Signals Position

First slot Second slot

In Time : 2 reference symbols per

Time slot

In Frequency: 1 reference symbol to

every 6th subcarrier

In one RB : every 3rd subcarrier

Exact position dependent on cell ID

TEKONSULT 17
How to Distinguish Between Different Cells? (1)

• 504 possible reference signals (Related to PCI)

• 6 Frequency Shifts: 0...5

TEKONSULT
PBCH Design Criteria

• Can be detected without the knowledge of system Bandwith:

It is mapped to the central 72 subcarriers over 4 symbols and
during second slot of each frame

• Only MIB is broadcasted in it (SIBs are sent on PDSCH)

• MIB (Master Information Block) content:

– DL system Bandwidth PBCH
– PHICH configuration
– System frame number SFN

TEKONSULT
1920 bits or 1728 bits
PBCH Mapping

PBCH
PBCH

• The PBCH is scrambled by a sequence known from the

physical cell ID

• Only QPSK modulation is used for PBCH

PBCH

• One MIB sent in 40 ms (repetition pattern)

• 4 OFDM-symbol duration x 72 RE's are used

TEKONSULT 21
 Random Access
Random Access process is used for several puposes:
• for initial access when establishing a radio link (moving from
RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED
• to re-establish a radio link after radio link failure;
• for handover when uplink synchronization needs to be
established to the new cell;
• to establish uplink synchronization if uplink or downlink data arrives
when the terminal is in RRC_CONNECTED and the uplink is not
synchronized;
• as a scheduling request if no dedicated scheduling-request
resources have been configured on PUCCH

TEKONSULT 22
 Initial Access
Msg1: RACH Preamble

Msg2: RAR

@UE: PrID, ( TC-RNTI, TA, UL-GRANT …)

Msg3: (RRC Connection Request)

TC-RNTI, (S-TMSI or Random Number)

Msg2: Contention resolution

@UE: TC-RNTI, (S-TMSI or Random Number)

Allocated C-RNTI

TEKONSULT 23
RACH Procedure
• UEs selects randomly a preamble from the 64 preambles evailable in the Cell
(broadcasted in SIB2)
• UE calculates OLPC parameters to determine the Initial Tx Power
• UE transmits initial RACH and waits for a response before retry. If the UE is not
receiving a RAR from the eNB, he will retry with another randomly chosen
preamble and power ramping.
• After a successful receipt of RACH preamble, eNB calculates power adjustment
and timing advance parameters together with an UL capacity grant

Msg1: RACH Preamble

Msg1: RACH Preamble

Msg1: RACH Preamble

Msg2: RAR

@UE: PrID, ( TC-RNTI, TA, UL-GRANT …)

24
PRACH Resources

• Avoid interference with PUCCH and PUSCH

• Reserve resources for PRACH preambles
• Frequency: 6 Resource Blocks
• Time duration: 1, 2 or 3 ms depending on the PRACH
Format (see next slides)
• The location of those resource blocks is defined by 2 RRC
Layer Parameters (PRACH Configuration Index and PRACH
Frequency offset). The UE may learn the configuration
from the system information

TEKONSULT 25
PRACH Preamble Received at the eNodeB

TEKONSULT 26
PRACH Formats

TEKONSULT 27
PRACH Formats and Cell Range

Preamble Format TCP (μs) TSEQ (μs) Cell Range

(configuration)

0 103.13 800 ∼14 km

1 684.38 800 ∼77 km

2 203.13 1600 ∼29 km

3 684.38 1600 ∼100 km

TEKONSULT 28
Intra-Cell Interference

• 64 different orthogonal Preambles available in

each cell
• obtained by cyclic shift of Zadoff-Chu sequences
• If collision happens -> contention resolution
process

TEKONSULT 29
Contention based Random Access

Msg1: RACH Preamble

Msg2: RAR

@UE: PrID, ( TC-RNTI, TA, UL-GRANT …)

Msg3: (RRC Connection Request)

TC-RNTI, (S-TMSI or Random Number)

Msg2: Contention resolution

@UE: TC-RNTI, (S-TMSI or Random Number)

Allocated C-RNTI

TEKONSULT 30
Non-Contention Based Random Access

Msg0: Preamble Assignement

Msg1: RACH Preamble

Msg2: RAR

@UE: PrID, ( C-RNTI, TA, UL-GRANT …)

TEKONSULT 31
DL L1 &L2 Control Channels

TEKONSULT 32
Resource Element Group

• IN the control Region, the

minimum resources to be
allocated to different
Physical L1&L2 control
channels is REG
• REG= 4 Res (w/o counting
the RS)
• RE groups are aligned
within one symbol and
occupy consecutive
frequencies.
TEKONSULT 33
Physical Control Format Indicator Channel

• Indicates the control region width: 1,2 or 3 OFDM

Symbols

TEKONSULT 34
Physical HARQ Indicator Channel

• Indicates ACK/N-ACK of an UL Transmission

TEKONSULT 35
Physical Downlink Control Channel

The PDCCH is used to carry Downlink Control

Information:
• Downlink scheduling assignments for PDSCH
• Uplink scheduling grants for PUSCH
• Power-control commands.

TEKONSULT 36
Downlink Control Information

• There is different DCI types corresponding to different

message sizes.
• Limiting the overhead per TTI
• Flexibility of control message depending on the
transmission mode

TEKONSULT 37
Formats for Downlink Control Information

• Format 0
– Used for defining the transmission of PUSCH assignments
• Format 1
– Used for defining the transmission of PDSCH assignments for single codeword (SCW) operation
• Format 1A
– Compact form for the transmission of PDSCH assignments for SCW operation*. Has same size as
format 0
• Format 1B
– Compact form like 1A but supports closed-loop rank 1 precoding
• Format 1C
– Signaling for PCH, RACH & BCCH on DL SCH (aka dynamic BCCH)
• Format 1D
– Like DCI 1A but supports power offsets for DL MU-MIMO and TPMI
• Format 2
– Used for defining the transmission of DL-SCH assignments for Closed-Loop MIMO operation
• Format 2A
– Used for defining the transmission of DL-SCH assignments for Open-Loop MIMO operation
• Format 3
– Used for TPC commands for PUCCH and PUSCH with 2-bit power adjustments. Has same size as
format 0
• Format 3A
– Used for TPC commands for PUCCH and PUSCH with 1-bit power adjustments. Has same size as
format 0
TEKONSULT 38
Size of one PDCCH

AGG4

• The minimum PDCCH resource is AGG3

1 CCE (Control Channel Element) AGG2
= 9 REGs
• 4 aggregation levels are defined ( AGG1

see table)

PDCCH format id Number of CCE's Number of RE Number of PDCCH

groups bits
0 1 9 72
1 2 18 144
2 4 36 288
3 8 72 576

TEKONSULT 39
PDCCH Decoding (1/3)

• eNB may send a send DCI intended for:

All the UEs in the cell (broadcasted information)
A particular UE.
• The Ue use a specific identity to decode the wanted
PDDCH:
 SI-RNTI: PDCCH related to SIB Resources
P-RNTI: PDCCH related to Paging Resources
RA-RNTI: PDCCH carrying the RAR
C-RNTI : UE specific Resources

TEKONSULT 40
PDCCH Decoding (2/3)

• The UE is going to find the wanted by blind decoding all

the possible PDCCH
• 3GPP come up with an optimisation: Blind Decoding in a
Search Space: Common Search Space and UE Search
Space.
• The UE Search Space may be overlaped
• The UE Search Space depend on the UE-Identity (C-RNTI)
and Subframe Number ( Resolve PDCCH Blocking)
• Only Aggregation of 4 or 8 CCE is possible for Common
Search Space
TEKONSULT 41
PDCCH Decoding (3/3)
PDSCH

• IT is shared by users
• May transport: User Data, SIB, Paging message.
• The resource allocation in term of RB (Different
Scheduling Types)
• MCS and PRB of PDSCH are sent in the PDCCH
PDSCH – Physical Downlink Shared Channel
Subframe 0 Subframe 1 Subframe 2 Subframe 3 Subframe 4 …..

Frequency
SSS

PSS

PBCH

PCFICH

PHICH

PDCCH

Reference signals

PDSCH UE1

Slot No. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ….
PDSCH UE2
Time
TEKONSULT 44
PDSCH – System Information Blocks

Function Reference Content

- Cell access related information (PLMN, cell identity, Tracking Area code etc.)
SIB 1 - Information for cell selection
- Information about time-domain scheduling of the remaining SIBs

SIB 2 - Access barring information

- Radio resource configuration of common channels (e.g. PCCH)
Information on
how to use LTE
SIB 3 - Cell-reselection information that is common for intra-frequency, inter-frequency and/or inter-
system
RAT cell re-selection.

SIB 4 - Neighbor cell related information only for intra-frequency cell re-selection.

SIB 5 - Inter-frequency cell re-selection like E-UTRAN related information

- Inter-frequency neighboring cell related information

Information on SIB 6 - UTRA FDD and TDD frequency information for cell reselection
how to perform
inter-RAT SIB 7 - Information relevant only for cell re-selection to the GERAN
selection
SIB 8 - Information relevant only for cell re-selection to the cdma2000® system.

SIB 9 - Home eNodeB identifier

Extra Information SIB 10 - Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS) primary notification

SIB 11 - Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS) secondary notification

TEKONSULT 45
PDSCH Paging

MME SAE-GW

DL Data Notification

PAGING
(UE-ID IE, S-TMSI IE or
RRC: PAGING
IMSI, TAIs IE, CN Domain
Message
IE, Paging DRX IE, CSG Id
List IE)
PDSCH

Service request procedure

TEKONSULT 46
Resource Allocation for PDSCH

• The allocated RB to PDSCH are signaled within the PDCCH

• A bitmap is needed to index each RB
• Very large overhead ( 100 RBs -> 100 bits !!)
• Different Resource Blocks allocation types are defined:
 Type 0
 Type 1
 Type 2

TEKONSULT 47
Resource Allocation for PDSCH Type 0

• The allocation is done in term of RBG

• The number of RBs in a RBG depend on the BW
• For example, Bw=10Mhz - RBG= 3 RB
• The Bitmap will be per RBG not per RB  less bit
needed

TEKONSULT 48
Resource Allocation for PDSCH Type 1

• The granularity of Resource allocation Type 0 is a

RBG
• The Granularity of Resource Allocation type 1 is RB
• RB will be divided into subsets, and a bitmap of RBs
within a subset is used

TEKONSULT 49
Resource Allocation for PDSCH Type 2

• The Resource allocation type 2 is using a

contiguous allocation of VRBs
• Specifying the starting VRB and the allocated
bandwidh
• May be localized (VRB= PRB) or Distributed

TEKONSULT 50
HARQ – Soft Combining Principle

Redundancy versions
0 1 2 3

Tx

TEKONSULT 52
 UL Physical Channel
• Physical UL Shared Channel PUSCH: UE data
transmission+ L3 and L2&L1 signaling
• Physical UL Control Channel PUCCH: L1&L2
signaling
• Physical Random Access Channel
• Demodulation Reference Signal
• Sounding Reference Signal

TEKONSULT 53
PUCCH and PUSCH Multiplexing

PUCCH PUCCH

Bw PUSCH

PUCCH PUCCH

Slot
TEKONSULT 54
PUCCH Design (1)

• Placed at edge of the UL Bandwidth

• Maximize the available PUSCH region for user data
• Frequency hopping from Slot to another
• PUCCH as a kind of guard band for PUSCH

TEKONSULT 55
PUCCH Formats

PUCCH format Modulation scheme Number of bits per Type of information

subframe
1 N/A N/A Scheduling Request (SR)
1a BPSK 1 ACK/ NACK
1b QPSK 2 ACK/ NACK
2 QPSK 20 CQI
2a QPSK+BPSK 21 CQI + 1 bit ACK/ NACK
2b QPSK+QPSK 22 CQI + 2 bits ACK/ NACK

TEKONSULT 56
Scheduling Request Indicator (SRI) on PUCCH
• UE transmits a SRI (Scheduling
Request Indicator)
• UE must be configured with SR
periodicity to use the PUCCH
• IF not, UE may use the Random
Access Process
• eNodeB answers with an UL Scheduling Request Indicator
Scheduling Grant for a UL Scheduling Grant
minimum assignment Scheduling Request

• UE sends the actual Scheduling

Request (Buffer Status Report)
and possibly some data
TEKONSULT 57
ACK/NACK on PUCCH

• The ACK/ NACK is used to acknowledge the Downlink Transport Blocks on the
PDSCH
• ACK could be sent using:
• Format 1a/1b
• Format 2a/ 2b (with CQI)

TEKONSULT 58
CQI on PUCCH

• Ue may send 10 bits CQI or 20bits CQI

• CQI is transmitted within the PUCCH in format 2
• Format 2: Only CQI or CQI+ACK/NACK

TEKONSULT 59
PUCCH Mapping to Physical Resources

nPRB  N RB
UL
1 m 1 m0 The logical resources are noted with m as
m3 m2 can be seen on the figure

m = 0 and 1 may contain formats 2/2a or 2b

which are placed at the outermost resource
blocks of the system bandwidth

m = 2 and 3 may contain formats 1/1a or 1b

m2 m3
nPRB  0 m0 m 1

One subframe

TEKONSULT 60
SRI/ ACK/ CQI Multiplexing

Challenge: There are scenarios in which the UE should sent SRI or ACK or CQI at the
same time

• SRI and CQI

The SRI will be sent and the CQI is dropped.
• SRI and ACK/NACK and CQI
The ACK/NACK will be sent over the SRI resources and the CQI will
not be sent.
• ACK/NACK and CQI
Both will be sent.

TEKONSULT 61
PUCCH Resources

• Allocation of 1 RB per UE may be too big

• Need To multiplex different UE in the same RB
• Code division Multiplexing is used:
– Orthogonal Codes
– CAZAC codes (Constant Amplitude Zero
Autocorrelation Codes)

TEKONSULT 62
PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

• User data from UL-SCH logical channel

• L1/L2 control information:
–ACK/NACK for HARQ
–CQI
–Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI)
–Rank Indicator (RI)
• QPSK, 16-QAM and 64-QAM modulation
• Retransmission Techniques: ARQ and HARQ

TEKONSULT 63
PUSCH multiplexing L1&L2 signaling
Demodulation Reference Signals DRS

• Transmitted in the allocated BW  DRS should Have different length

• Transmitted with PUCCH and PUSCH
• Same Structure for PUCCH DRS and PUSCH DRS
• The main differences are the DRS Bw and the DRS timing
• DRS is used for Channel Estimation: needed to have a coherent demodulation
• DRS can be used for Power control and Timing estimation

TEKONSULT 65
PUSCH DRS

• Position In Time : every 4th symbol

of each slot (the 3rd symbol for the
extended cyclic prefix
• 2 DRS per Subframe ( 1 per Slot)
• Position in Freq: Allocated Bw
• No DFT precoding fo DRS

TEKONSULT 66
PUCCH Format 1 DRS

TEKONSULT 67
PUCCH Format 2 DRS

TEKONSULT 68
DRS assignement to Cells

• 30 Sequence Group
• 1 sequence per group for length less or equal to 60
• 2 sequences per group for length larger or equal to 72
• Group Hopping: Group assignment may vary from a slot to
another
• Sequence hopping: Change the Sequence on slot basis (For
Sequences larger or equal to 72)

TEKONSULT 69
Sounding Reference Signals SRS

• UL channel Quality estimation

• Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) selection
• UL power control
• Timing advance
• Frequency dependent scheduling for the UL

TEKONSULT 70
Sounding Reference Signals SRS

• The subframes where the UE transmits the SRS are indicated by cell-
specific broadcast signalling.
•The SRS transmitted in the last SC-FDMA symbol of a candidate
subframe
•The eNodeB in LTE may either request an individual SRS transmission
from a UE
• SRS transmitted in a comb-like spectrum
•UE is assigned a ‘transmissionComb’ index (0 or 1) on which to
transmit the SRS

TEKONSULT 71
Sounding Reference Signals Structure
SRS Bandwidths

• UE far from eNodeB cannot

increase it’s transmit power
to maintain the transmission
across the full bandwidth
• up to 4 SRS bandwidths can
be simultaneously supported
in LTE depending on the
system bandwidth
• 8 sets of four SRS bandwidths
are defined for each possible
system bandwidth

TEKONSULT 73
Multiplexing of SRS

• Different offset of the comb

• Different RB
• Different cyclic time shifts of the same base sequence to achieve orthogonal
separation
• 8 cyclic shifts per SRS-comb : the cyclic shift being configured per UE
• reference signals must span the same frequency band

TEKONSULT 74