Field Guide Change Alert

Field Guide Change Information:

Name of Change: Change Number:

LTE RACH Preamble change L11B FGA02 Ericsson (LTE)

Affective Date of Change: Field Guide Reference #: Issuer Name:

04/13/2012 Ericsson LTE Vol. II Vladimir Gusavac, Erik Holmberg, Hongyan Lei, Ferri Tafreshi 425 753 0171

Equipment Vendor:

Issuer Contact #:

Description of the Change:

In the space below, describe at a high level what and why this change is necessary and how it may affect the current systems.

This approved Field Guide Alert is sent as part of the normal Field Guide Alert process to communicate a change in the National recommendation for Ericsson LTE configurable parameters. The FGA02 is dealing with RACH preamble process and defines the guideline how to determine the first root sequence number for Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble generation. In the LTE networks, the UE employs the random access process to gain new or renewed access to the network, to perform uplink time synchronization and during HO process. The random access process allows multiple UEs to simultaneously obtain access to a cell by using different random access preamble sequences. The preambles are transmitted by the UE on the UL in specific Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) which occupy a frequency and time slot (6 PRBs over one or several subframes depending on configuration). There are two different forms of random access process:
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Contention Based Random Access (CBRA). Contention Free Random Access (CFRA).

The CBRA process is initiated by the UE to gain access to the network. It involves selecting a random access preamble from a list of preambles available for selection by all UEs in the cell. The CBRA requires additional signaling to resolve contention that may occur when multiple UE attempts to access the cell in the same PRACH opportunity using the same preamble sequence.

The CFRA process is initiated by the network and uses a dedicated random access preamble sequence allocated to the UE for a limited period. It is used when the UE is known to the network. Ericsson L11B SW does not support CFRA solution.

The preamble sequence codes transmitted by the UE on the UL allow multiple UEs to simultaneously obtain access to a cell. Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence is utilized to generate Random Access preambles since ZC sequences have very good auto and cross correlation properties. There are 838 Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequences available, each with length of 839. The total number of Random Access preambles available is the network is defined as Floor(839/cyclic shift) * 838, where cyclic shift is defined by

parameter zeroCorrelationZoneConfig. In the LTE, 64 Random Access preambles are used in each cell. In AT&T network at this point, all cells use the same 64 Random access preambles, which is generated from only 10 out of 838 Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequences. Because of no preamble planning, every UE RACH preamble request is received and processed by multiple eNodeBs within the range, what causes many unnecessary processing and low % RACH Success Rate. The Random Access preambles in a cell are generated using one logical sequence index (rachRootSequence) plus cyclic shift defined by the parameter zeroCorrelationZoneConfig. If more than one sequence is needed, the logic of going to the next sequence with (index+1) and applying cyclic shift is used, until all 64 preambles are obtained. More info can be found in 3GPP TS 36.211. These two parameters rachRootSequence and zeroCorrelationZoneConfig are broadcasted in SIB2: rachRootSequence provides the first logical root index to generate all 64 preambles in a cell and it is operator configurable parameter. zeroCorrelationZoneConfig (Cyclic Shift, Ncs) controls how many preambles can be generated from one root sequence and is derived from the parameter cellRange. The parameter cellRange is operator configurable and is recommended to set at 15km (except special case such as DAS).

The values in braces indicate [Level, Value, Units, Class]: rachRootSequence [eNB, 0..837, ,Local] is changed from 384 to [0..837] and the parameter permission is changed from Global to Local. The parameter defines the first root sequence number for Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble generation. RACH root sequence is broadcast as a part of system information distribution and used for preamble detection. The logic used to determine the settings for rachRootSequence is to map the root sequence of preamble planning to SSS (Secondary Synchronization Signal) of PCI planning, The PRACH opportunities occupy different subframes in different sectors of the same eNB in AT&T network configuration, so the same root sequence can be used for the same eNB. The algorithm is shown below: SSS = floor (PCI/3) If SSS*10 < 838 Then rachRootSequence = SSS*10; Else rachRootSequence = SSS*10 840

The recommended settings would help network performance: The significant improvement of RACH Success Rate will be seen as the consequence of used RACH planning method. In addition, the huge reduction in number of RACH attempts (~65%) is expected. Slight reduction in UL RSSI and lift in Retainability will be seen. Paging performance will improve. Intra LTE Handover performance will improve. Any negative impact on RTB LTE KPIs should not be observed. The following KPIs need to be closely monitored by the market once the change is made: Accessibility; Retainability; RACH Success Rate;

UL RSSI; IntraLTE Handover Success Rate; Paging performance.

Presentations outlining the results can be found here. The list of cells with FGA02 recommended settings for the parameter rachRootSequence can be found here.

Implementation of the Change: In the space below, describe in detail how this change is implemented for each system impacted.

The parameter rachRootSequence is eNB function parameter belonging to EUtranCellFDD MO class. No action needed by the markets, these changes will be implemented by the MNT team. For any questions regarding the timeline for specific market please contact Christopher Wyatt (cw7534@att.com).