Synchronization Signals

(PSS and SSS) in LTE

Author: Badal Mishra

Synchronization Signals (PSS and SSS)

• In LTE, there are two downlink synchronization signals which are used by the UE to obtain the cell identity and
frame timing.

- Primary synchronization signal (PSS)

- Secondary synchronization signal (SSS)

• The division into two signals is aimed to reduce the complexity of the cell search process.
Cell Identity Arrangement

• The physical cell identity, NcellID, is defined by the equation:

NCELLID=3N(1)ID+N(2)ID

N(1)ID is the physical layer cell identity group (0 to 167).

N(2)ID is the identity within the group (0 to 2).

• This arrangement creates 504 unique physical cell identities.

Synchronization Signals and Determining Cell Identity

• The primary synchronization signal (PSS) is linked to the cell identity within the group (N(2)ID).
• The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is linked to the cell identity group (N(1)ID) and the cell identity
within the group (N(2)ID).
• You can obtain N(2)ID by successfully demodulating the PSS.
• The SSS can then be demodulated and combined with knowledge of N(2)ID to obtain N(1)ID. Once you
establish the values of N(1)ID and N(2)ID, you can determine the cell identity (NcellID).
 Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS)
• The primary synchronization signal (PSS) is based on a frequency-domain Zadoff-Chu sequence.
Zadoff-Chu Sequences:
Zadoff-Chu sequences are a construction of Frank-Zadoff sequences defined by D. C. Chu.
These codes have the useful property of having zero cyclic autocorrelation at all nonzero lags.
When used as a synchronization code, the correlation between the ideal sequence and a received sequence is
greatest when the lag is zero.
When there is any lag between the two sequences, the correlation is zero. This property is illustrated in this figure.
• PSS Generation:
• The PSS is a sequence of complex symbols, 62 symbols long.
• The sequence du(n) used for the PSS is generated according to these equations:
du(n)=e−jπun(n+1)63, for n=0,1,…,30
du(n)=e−jπu(n+1)(n+2)63, for n=31,32,…,61
• In the preceding equation, u is the Zadoff-Chu root sequence index and depends on the cell identity within the
group N(2)ID.

N(2)ID Root index u

0 25
1 29
2 34
• Mapping of the PSS
The PSS is mapped into the first 31 subcarriers either side of the DC subcarrier. Therefore, the PSS uses six
resource blocks with five reserved subcarriers each side, as shown in this figure.

As the DC subcarrier contains no information in LTE this corresponds to mapping onto the middle 62 subcarriers
within an OFDM symbol in a resource grid. d(n) is mapped from lowest subcarrier to highest subcarrier. The PSS is
mapped to different OFDM symbols depending on which frame type is used. Frame type 1 is frequency division
duplex (FDD), and frame type 2 is time division duplex (TDD).
FDD:
• The PSS is mapped to the last OFDM symbol in slots 0 and 10, as shown in this figure.
TDD
• The PSS is mapped to the third OFDM symbol in subframes 1 and 6, as shown in this figure.
Secondary Synchronization Signal
(SSS)
The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is based on maximum length sequences (m-sequences).

• M-Sequence Definition
An m-sequence is a pseudorandom binary sequence which can be created by cycling through every possible state
of a shift register of length m, resulting in a sequence of length 2m–1. Three m-sequences, each of length 31, are
used to generate the synchronization signals denoted ˜s, ˜c and ˜z.

• SSS Generation
Two binary sequences, each of length 31, are used to generate the SSS. Sequences s0(m0) and s1(m1) are different
cyclic shifts of an m-sequence, ˜s. The indices m0 and m1 are derived from the cell-identity group, NID(2) and
determine the cyclic shift.
The two sequences are scrambled with a binary scrambling code (c0(n), c1(n)), which depends on NID(2).
The second SSS sequence used in each radio frame is scrambled with a binary scrambling code (z1(m0), z1(m1))
corresponding to the cyclic shift value of the first sequence transmitted in the radio frame.
Binary Sequence Generation

• The sequences s0(m0) and s1(m1) are given by these equations:

s(m0)0(n)=˜s((n+m0)mod 31)
s(m1)1(n)=˜s((n+m1)mod 31)
˜s is generated from the primitive polynomial x5+x2+1 over the finite field GF(2).
c0(n) and c1(n are given by these equations:
c0(n)=˜c((n+N(2)ID)mod 31)
c1(n)=˜c((n+N(2)ID+3)mod 31)
˜c is generated from the primitive polynomial x5+x3+1 over the finite field GF(2).
z1(m0) and z1(m1) are given by these equations:
z(m0)1(n)=˜z((n+(m0mod 8))mod 31)
z(m1)1(n)=˜z((n+(m1mod 8))mod 31)
˜z is generated from the primitive polynomial x5+x4+x2+x+1 over the finite field GF(2).
Mapping of the SSS

The scrambled sequences are interleaved to alternate the sequence transmitted in the first and second SSS
transmission in each radio frame.
This allows the receiver to determine the frame timing from observing only one of the two sequences; if the first
SSS signal observed is in subframe 0 or subframe 5, synchronization can be achieved when the SSS signal is
observed in subframe 0 or subframe 5 of the next frame.
As with PSS, the SSS is mapped to different OFDM symbols depending on which frame type is used:

• FDD — The SSS is transmitted in the same subframe as the PSS but one OFDM symbol earlier. The SSS is
mapped to the same subcarriers (middle 72 subcarriers) as the PSS.

• TDD — The SSS is mapped to the last OFDM symbol in slots 1 and 11, which is three OFDM symbols before
the PSS.
The SSS is constructed using different scrambling sequences when mapped to even and odd resource elements.

Even resource elements:

Subframe 0: d(2n)=s(m0)0(n)c0(n)
Subframe 5: d(2n)=s(m1)1(n)c0(n)
Odd resource elements:
Subframe 0: d(2n+1)=s(m1)1(n)c1(n)z(m0)1(n)
Subframe 5: d(2n+1)=s(m0)0(n)c1(n)z(m1)1(n)
d(n) is mapped from lowest subcarrier to highest subcarrier.
Synchronization
There are two downlink synchronization signals, the Primary Synchronization Signal (P-SS) and the Secondary Synchronization Signal (S-SS).
For FDD, P-SS is present in the last symbol, and S-SS is present in the second-to-last symbol of slots 0 and 10 in every frame.
For TDD, P-SS is present in the third symbol in slots 2 and 12 in every frame. S-SS is present in the last symbol of slots 1 and 11 in every frame.
The middle 72 subcarriers in these symbols are reserved for P-SS and S-SS, but only the center 62 subcarriers are used so that sync signals are more
recognizable (easier to cross correlate).
The location of these sync signals is the same for every bandwidth, which makes locking onto a signal easier when the bandwidth is not known.

Reference signals
The downlink LTE reference signals are discussed in the following sections.
Cell specific Reference Signal (C-RS)
The Cell-specific Reference Signal (abbreviated C-RS or just RS) is transmitted on resource elements spread throughout the frame in specific locations
as defined by the standard. The Cell-specific RS is used by the UE's to compensate the downlink frame for channel frequency response and cross-
channel effects so that the signal can be demodulated.
Antenna ports 0-3 each have unique C-RS locations. Antenna ports do not transmit on resource elements allocated for RS on other antenna ports.
UE-specific Reference Signal (UE-RS)
In addition to the Cell-specific RS, the base station may transmit UE-specific RS in RBs allocated to the PDSCH of a UE. In LTE Release 8, UE-specific
RS is used to accomplish single-layer beamforming and is transmitted on antenna port 5.
In Release 9, UE-RS for single-layer beamforming can be transmitted on antenna port 5, 7, or 8. UE-RS for dual-layer (spatial multiplexing) beamforming
is transmitted on antenna ports 7 and 8. See 3GPP TS 36.211, Section 6.10.3 for more information.
The LTE demodulator only supports viewing beam patterns for linear antenna arrays. The number of elements in an antenna group and spacing between
elements is specified by the Antenna Group parameters.