WHAT IS QOS?

Ma na gement of the da ta tra ffi c i n a network

Refers to a networks a bi l i ty to a chi eve
maximum bandwidth a nd dea l wi th other
network performa nce el ements l i ke latency,
jitter, error rate and uptime
Invol ves control l i ng a nd ma na gi ng network
res ources by setting priorities for s peci fi c types
of da ta (vi deo, a udi o, fi l es ) on the network
Excl us ively a pplied to network traffic genera ted
for vi deo on dema nd, IPTV, VoIP, s trea mi ng
media, vi deoconferencing a nd onl i ne ga mi ng.

Keyterms

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) - technol ogy tha t

a l lows you to make voice ca lls using a broadband Internet
connection i nstead of a regul a r (or a na l og) phone l i ne
Videoconferencing
mea ns
to
conduct
a
conference between two or more participants a t different
s i tes by us i ng computer networks to tra ns mi t a udi o
a nd vi deo da ta . Ea ch pa rti ci pa nt ha s a vi deo ca mera ,
mi crophone, a nd s pea kers mounted on hi s or her
computer.
WHY DO WE NEED QOS IN LTE?

Pri ori ty for premium s ubscriber who a re wi l l i ng

to pa y more high bandwidth a nd better network
a cces s
Some s ervices require better priority handling i n
the network (e.g. VoIP ca l l )

Latency - i n a pa cket-s wi tched network i s mea s ured

ei ther one-way (the time from the s ource s ending a packet
to the des ti na ti on recei vi ng i t), or round-tri p del a y
ti me (the one-way l atency from s ource to destination plus
the one-wa y l a tency from the des ti na ti on ba ck to the
s ource). Round-trip latency i s more often quoted, because

FACTORS DRIVING THE NEED FOR QOS

i t ca n be me a s ured from a s i ngl e poi nt

Application and Services

Jitter- Ji tter i s the undes i red devi a ti on from true

peri odi ci ty
of
an
a s s umed
peri odic signal i n electroni cs a nd tel ecommuni ca ti ons ,
often i n rel a ti on to a reference cl ock s ource
Bit error rate - the number of recei ved bi ts of a da ta
s trea m over a communi ca ti on cha nnel tha t ha ve been
a l tered due to noi s e, i nterference , di s torti on or bi t
s ynchroni za ti on errors .
Uptime i s a measure of the time an equipment, ha s been
worki ng a nd a va i l a bl e . Uptime i s the oppos i te
of downti me.
Video on demand (VOD) - a re s ys tems which al l ow us ers
to s elect a nd watch/listen to vi deo or a udio content when
they choose to, ra ther than having to wa tch a t a s peci fi c
broa dcast ti me. IPTV technol ogy i s often us ed to bri ng
vi deo on demand to televisions and persona l computers .
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) - del i vers tel evi s i on
progra mming to households vi a a broadba nd co nnecti on
us i ng Internet protocols. It requires a s ubs cri pti on a nd a
s et-top box, a nd offers key a dva nta ges over exi s ti ng TV
ca bl e and satellite technologies. IPTV is typical l y bundl ed
wi th other s ervices l i ke Vi deo on Dema nd (VOD), voi ce
over IP (VOIP) or di gi ta l phone, a nd Web a cces s ,
col l ecti vel y referred to a s Triple Play.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) over mobile

Technol ogy
for
s upporti ng
voi ce
communications over packet networks , s uch a s
the Internet.
Voi ce tra ffic requires rel a ti vel y low bandwidth,
but to deliver accepta bl e qua l i ty, the pa ckets
mus t be transmitted wi th minimum latency and
jitter, or variation in latency.
Hi gh-priority s ervi ce might also be provi ded for
i mportant ca lls, such a s emergency 911 ca l l s
a nd cri tical communica ti on a mong emergency
s ervi ce personnel (based on us er ID, or s ource
a nd/or des ti na ti on).

Video Streaming

For qua lity vi deo/audio streaming, the network

mus t del i ver hi gh bandwidth, but wi th less
stringent latency and jitter requirements than
VoIP

Strea ming ca n be ei ther pers on -to-pers on or

content-to-person, and can be ei ther rea l -ti me
or recorded

Pers on-to-person vi deo streaming requires hi gh

ba ndwidth on both the uplink a nd downl i nk. So
to s upport a pplications l i ke Skype (whi ch a l s o
us es VoIP), the network wi l l need to provi de
s uch bi -di recti ona l QoS

Content Download

A s i gnifica nt a mount of mobi l e ba ndwi dth i s

cons umed by users downloading and uploa di ng
movi es, pictures, music, documents, etc. Unl i ke
wi th real-time vi deo, however, thes e tra ns fers
a re buffered and ca n, therefore, be handled at a
more l ei s urel y pa ce.
Unl i ke with real-time traffic, which uses the User
Da ta gra m Protocol (UDP), however, ba tch
tra ns fers us e the Transmission Control Protocol
(TCP) to retra nsmit any a nd a ll dropped pa ckets

Monetizing Mobile Networks

Terms
User Datagram Protocol (UDP) - i s a communications
protocol that offers a limited amount of s ervice when
mes sages are excha nged between computers i n a
network that uses the Internet Protocol (IP). Unl i ke
TCP, however, UDP does not provi de the s ervi ce of
di vi ding a mes s a ge i nto pa ckets (da ta gra ms ) a nd
rea ssembling it a t the other end. Speci fi ca l l y, UDP
doesn't provide s equencing of the pa ckets tha t the
da ta a rri ves i n. Thi s mea ns tha t the a ppl i ca ti on
progra m that uses UDP mus t be a bl e to ma ke s ure
tha t the entire message has arrived and is i n the ri ght
order. It i s used for tra ffic that doesn't s uffer much i f
a pa cket i s dropped, i .e. vi deo & voi ce s trea mi ng,
s ome data channels of online games, etc. The servi ce
provi ded by UDP is a n unreliable servi ce that provides
no gua rantees for del i very a nd no protecti on from
duplication (e.g. if this a rises due to s oftwa re errors
wi thin an Intermediate System (IS)). The simpli ci ty of
UDP reduces the overhead from us i ng the protocol
a nd the s ervices ma y be a dequa te i n ma ny ca s es .
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) - i s a set of rules
(protocol) used along with the Internet Protocol (IP)
to s end data in the form of messa ge uni ts between
computers over the Internet. Whil e IP ta kes ca re of
ha ndling the a ctual del i very of the da ta , TCP ta kes
ca re of keeping tra ck of the individua l uni ts of da ta
(ca l led packets) that a mes s a ge i s di vi ded i nto for
effi cient routing through the Internet. It i s us ed for
tra ffi c tha t you need a l l the da ta for. i .e HTML,
pi ctures , etc
Mobile Traffic Surges

QoS i s cri ti ca l to effecti vel y ma na gi ng pea k dema nd s cenarios when a large number of users
a cces s the s a me a ppl i ca ti on or s ervi ce.

Exa mples of these high-traffic scenarios i ncl ude

pres cheduled events, s uch a s a ga me or ma jor
s peech, or breaking news s omewhere a round
the gl obe.

QoS s ervi ce differentiation provides the a bi l i ty

both to i ncrease ARPU a nd to uti l i ze a va i l a bl e
ba ndwi dth more effi ci entl y for the mobi l e
opera tors .
Requi res tha t the network opera tor be a bl e
di fferentiate a mong subscribers bas ed on thei r
pa rti cular needs, a nd to offer di fferenti a ted or
even user-customizable s ervi ce pa cka ges wi th
s peci fi c Servi ce Level Agreements (SLAs )

Terms
Average revenue per user or average revenue per
unit (ARPU) expression of the income generated by
a typi ca l s ubs cri ber or devi ce per uni t ti me i n a
tel ecommuni ca ti ons network.
Service Level Agreement (SLA) - i s a part of a servi ce
contra ct where a s ervi ce i s forma l l y defi ned.
Pa rti cul a r a s pects of the s ervi ce - s cope, qua l i ty,
res ponsibil i ti es - a re a greed between the s ervi ce
provi der a nd the service user. A common fea ture of
a n SLA i s a contracted delivery ti me (of the servi ce or
performa nce). As a n exa mpl e, Internet s ervi ce
provi ders a nd telcos will commonl y i ncl ude s ervi ce
l evel agreements within the terms of thei r contra cts
wi th customers to define the level(s) of s ervice bei ng
s ol d i n plain l anguage terms. In this case the SLA wi l l
typi ca lly have a technical definition in terms of mean
time between failures(MTBF), mean time to
repair or mean time to recovery (MTTR); i denti fyi ng
whi ch pa rty i s res pons i bl e for reporti ng fa ul ts or
pa yi ng fees; res pons i bi l i ty for va ri ous da ta ra tes ;
throughput; ji tter; or s i mi l a r mea s ura bl e deta i l s .

WHAT IS AN EPS BEARER?

Bearer i n the di cti ona ry mea ns "Carrier" or

"Porter" whi ch carri es s omething from a point to
a nother poi nt
Under the context of communi ca ti on
technol ogy, a bea rer i s l i ke a pipe line
connecti ng two or more poi nts i n the
communi ca ti on s ys tem i n whi ch da ta tra ffi c
fol l ow through.

Bea rers pre-determine how the user end data i s

trea ted when i t travels a cross the LTE network.

Bea rers a re s et of network pa ra meters tha t

defi nes data s peci fi c trea tment. Some fl ow of
da ta type might be provided guaranteed bit ra te
whi l e other ma y a s s i gn l ower tra ns fer ra te.

One exa mple of using bearers to provi de ti ered

s ervi ce packages A premi um s ubs cri ber wi l l
a l ways get a t least 5Mbps downl oa d s peed on
hi s LTE broa dba nd s ervi ce whi l e for a ba s i c
pa ckage subscriber there i s no gua ra nteed bi t
ra te a nd his s peed ma y be s ubject to network
tra ffi c condi ti ons

Through the EPS bearer, va rious types of tra ffi c

cl a ssified by 5-tuple are delivered. Thes e types
of tra ffi c are ca lled IP flows, a nd ea ch IP fl ow i s
cl a ssified by the 5-tuple (Source IP, Des ti na ti on
IP, Protocol ID, Source Port, a nd Des ti na ti on
Port). For exa mpl e, when a UE connects to
Googl e, it would have a 5-tuple, which would be
defi ned a s IP fl ow, a s fol l ows :

Source IP = UE IP a ddres s

Des ti na ti on IP = Googl e
s erver IP a ddres s

Protocol ID = 6 (refers to
TCP)

Source Port = Ra ndom

number (Ephemera l port
number)

Des tination Port = 80 (refers

to WWW)

DEDICATED BEARER

A dedicated bearer is further classified as

GBR

Mi ni mum gua ra nteed bi t ra te per EPS bea rer

Ha s dedi ca ted network res ources
Needed for rea l -ti me voi ce a nd vi deo
a ppl i ca ti ons

Ma y be us ed to i mpl ement s ervi ce bl ocki ng

Non-GBR bearer

Does not ha ve dedi ca ted re s ources

Prone to conges ti on rel a ted pa cket l os s es .
Does not bl ock a ny network s peci fi c tra ck or
tra ns mi s s i on res ources .

Us ed for bes t-effort tra ffi c, s uch a s fi l e

downl oa ds

QOS FUNCTIONS
Control Plane

Admission control ma i ntains information a bout

a l l a vailable resources of a network enti ty a nd
ta kes decisi on to a l l ow a new s es s i on or not
ba s ed on the current res ource us a ge.
Subscription Control checks whether or not a
us er is entitled to use the requested s ervice with
the s peci fi ed QoS a ttri butes

Service Management coordi nates the functi ons

of the control pl a ne enti ti es duri ng s etup ,
modi fication a nd del eti on of the EPS bea rers
Translation function converts between the EPC
QoS pa ra meters the va rious protocols for service
control of i nterfa ci ng externa l networks e.g.,
UMTS to IP QoS pa ra meters ma ppi ng

User Plane

Mapping function provi des each data uni t wi th

the s peci fi c ma rki ng requi red to recei ve the
i ntended QoS at the tra nsfer by a bearer s ervice,
e.g., DSCP ma rki ng a t the PDN-GW
Classification function a s signs data uni ts to the
es tablished services of a us er a ccordi ng to the
rel a ted QoS attributes i f the us er ha s mul ti pl e
bea rer s ervi ces es ta bl i s hed
Resource Manager di s tri butes the a va i l a bl e
res ources between a ll s ervices sharing the same
res ource ba s ed on the QoS, e.g., s chedul i ng,
ba ndwidth management, a nd power control for
the ra di o bea rers
Traffic Shaping provi des conformance between
the negotiated QoS for a servi ce and the arri ving
da ta tra ffi c

LTE QOS PARAMETERS

QoS class indicator (QCI)

QCI s peci fi es the forwa rdi ng trea tment (e.g.

s cheduling weights, admission thresholds, queue
ma na gement thres hol ds , l i nk-l a yer protocol
confi guration, etc.) tha t the us er-pl a ne tra ffi c
recei ves between the UE a nd the ga tewa y.

Allocation and retention priority (ARP)

ARP s pecifies the forwarding trea tment for the

control -plane tra ffi c tha t the bea rers recei ve .

ARP ena bl es bea rer es ta bl i s hment a nd

modi fication, as well a s connecti on s etup a nd
rel ea s e

Maximum bit rate (MBR)

MBR i s a pplicable only for real-time s ervices

a nd i s defined for GBR bearers. MBR i s the
bi t ra te that the traffi c on the bea rer ma y
not exceed
Guaranteed bit rate (GBR)

GBR s pecifies the bit rate that the network

gua ra ntees (e.g. through the us e of a n
a dmission control function) for that bearer.
In 3GPP Rel ea s e 8 a nd beyond, the MBR
mus t be set equal to the GBR; tha t i s , the
gua ra nteed ra te is also the ma xi mum ra te
tha t i s a l l owed by the s ys tem.

POLICY CONTROL AND ASSIGNMENT

Controls the mapping of packet fl ows onto a

dedicated bearer a nd determines the QoS l evel
of the dedi ca ted bea rer through pol i ci es .

Filters packet fl ows us i ng fi ve pa ra meters ,

referred to a s IP fi ve-tupl e: s ource IP a ddres s ;
des ti na ti on IP a ddres s ; s ource port number;
des ti na ti on port number; a nd protocol
i denti fi ca ti on (TCP or UDP

LTE Air Interface Protocols

RADIO PROTOCOLS ARCHITECTURE

Protocols ca n be simply described a s set of rules

tha t a l l ow communi ca ti on between peer
enti ties or they ca n also be des cri bed a s s et of
rules tha t fa cilitate hori zonta l communi ca ti on

LTE protocol s ta ck i s s i mi l a r to the WCDMA

protocol s ta ck of UMTS.

The LTE protocol stack defines three layers: the

physical layer (layer 1), data link and access
layer (layer 2) ,layer 3 (hosting the AS, the NAS
control protocols as well and the application
level)
AIR INTERFACE PROTOCOL STACK

USER PLANE PROTOCOL STACK (TRANSMITTER)

The application creates data packets that are processed

by protocols such as TCP, UDP and IP

Terms
TCP is reliable. TCP i s connection-oriented protocol. When
a fi l e or mes s a ge s end i t wi l l get del i vered unl es s
connections fails. If connection l ost, the server will request
the l ost part. There is no corruption whi l e tra ns ferri ng a
mes s a ge.
TCP is ordered. If you s end two mes s a ges a l ong a
connecti on, one a fter the other, you know the fi rs t
mes sage will get there fi rst. You don't have to worry a bout
da ta a rri vi ng i n the wrong order.
TCP data is read as stream, wi th nothi ng di s ti ngui s hi ng
where one packet ends and another begins. There may b e
mul ti pl e pa ckets per rea d ca l l .
TCP applications: Worl dwi de web, e -ma i l , fi l e tra ns fer
protocol , s ecure s hel l
UDP is unreliable. UDP i s connectionless protocol . When
you a s end a data or message, you don't know i f i t'l l get
there, i t coul d get l os t on the wa y. There ma y be
corrupti on whi l e tra ns ferri ng a mes s a ge .
UDP is not ordered. If you s end two mes s a ges out, you
don't know wha t order they'l l a rri ve
UDP data are sent in datagrams. Pa ckets a re s ent
i ndividually a nd are guaranteed to be whole if they a rri ve.
One pa cket per one rea d ca l l .
UDP applications: Doma in Name system, streaming media
a pplications such a s IPTV a nd movi es , VoIP, Tri vi a l fi l e
tra ns fer protocol , onl i ne mul ti pl a yer ga mes
PDCP (PACKET DATA CONVERGENCE PROTOCOL)
The functions of PDCP are as follows:

Ciphering

Integrity protection**

In-sequence delivery and retransmission of

PDCP SDUs for AM Radio Bearers at
handover

Duplicate detection

Header compression using the RoHC

protocol*
for User plane ; ** for Control plane
Terms
Ciphering - encrypti on. Tra nsmitter/sender encrypts the
da ta wi th a key a nd tha t key knows to onl y Recei ver.
Service Data Unit (SDU) The da ta recei ved by l a yer N
from l a yer N + 1 i n a protocol s ta ck
Protocol Data Unit (PDU) The modi fi ed a nd converted
recei ved SDU by a n N l a yer
Robust Header Compression (ROHC) - i s a ki nd of
a l gorithm to compress the header of va rious IP packets. In
ca s e of IPv4, the s i ze of uncompres s ed IP hea der i s 40
bytes a nd in ca s e of IPv6, the s i ze of uncompres s ed IP
hea der i s 60 bytes. If i t is ordinary pa cket a pplica ti on l i ke

fi l e tra nsfer or browsing, i t would not be a big iss ue s i nce

the s ize of da ta bei ng tra ns ferred woul d be very huge
compa ring to the size of header. So the overhead crea ted
by IP hea der woul d not be a bi g i s s ue. But i n s om e
a pplications (e.g, VoIP, short message, gaming etc) the size
of da ta bei ng tra ns ferred tend to be s ma l l a nd they
generate very frequent tra nsactions, in this case overhead
crea ted by IP header gets very l arge. In this ca se, i t woul d
be huge benefit i f we ca n come up wi th a ny method to
reduce the size of IP hea der a nd ROHC i s one of thes e
method defined by RFC 3095. Idea l compres s i on ra te of
ROHC i s to reduce the s i ze of hea der (40 or 60 bytes i n
ori gi na l s i ze) to onl y 1 or 2 bytes .

Terms
The Logical Channel Prioritization procedure i s required to
ma ke s ure that all UE s erves the UPLINK logical channels i
n the fol lowing s equence (in case of downlink the s ame ca
n be a ppl i ed by eNodeB):
Al l the l ogical channels are s erved in a decreasing priority
order up to thei r confi gured pri ori ty
i f a ny resources remain, all the logical channels a re served
i n a s trict decreasing priority order up to their configured
USER PLANE DATA FLOW (TRANSMITTER)

RADIO LINK CONTROL

The functions of RLC are as follows

Error Correcti on through ARQ

(re)-Segmentation a ccording to the size of the TB

Conca tenation of SDUs for the same radio bearer

In-s equence del i very

Terms
Segmentation - i s the process of di vi di ng a da ta pa cket
i nto s maller units for tra nsmission over the network. It i s
requi red when: (a ) The da ta pa cket i s l a rger tha n
the ma ximum transmission unit supported by the network.
(b) The network is unreliable and i t's des i ra bl e to di vi de
the i nformation into s maller s egments to ma xi mi ze the
proba bi l i ty tha t ea ch one of them ca n be del i vered
correctl y to the des ti na ti on
Concatenation - i s the combination of s maller packets into
l a rger ones to more efficiently use the wi rel es s medi um
a nd provide higher overall data throughputs on a wireles s
bri dge.
MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL (MAC)

MAC i s the lowest layer 2 protocol.

Its ma i n functi on i s to drive the transport

channels.

From hi gher l a yers MAC i s fed wi th l ogi ca l

cha nnel s whi ch a re i n oneto one
corres pondence wi th ra di o bea rers .

Ea ch l ogical channel is given a pri ori ty a nd MAC

ha s to mul ti pl ex l ogi ca l cha nnel da ta onto
tra ns port channels (demultiplexing in reception)
The functions of MAC are as follows:

Mul ti pl exi ng/demul ti pl exi ng of RLC PDUs

Schedul i ng Informa ti on reporti ng
Error correcti on through HARQ
Logi ca l Cha nnel Pri ori ti za ti on

CONTROL PLANE PROTOCOL STACK (TRANSMITTER)

Non-Access Stratum (NAS) Protocol

Hi ghest stratum of the control plane between UE

a nd MME a t the ra di o i nterfa ce

Supports mobili ty of the us er equi pment (UE)

Supports the session management procedures to

es tablish a nd maintain IP connecti vi ty between
the UE a nd a packet data network gateway (PDN
GW)
Performs the following functions:

EPS bea rer ma na gement

Authenti ca ti on

ECM-IDLE mobi l i ty ha ndl i ng

Pa gi ng ori gi na ti on i n ECM-IDLE

Securi ty control

EMM, ECM AND RRC STATES

TERMS
EMM (EPS Mobility Management) - descri be the Mobi l i ty
Ma na gement s ta tes tha t res ul t from the mobi l i ty
ma nagement procedures e.g. Atta ch a nd Tra cki ng Area
Upda te procedures .
ECM (EPS Connection Management) - a s i gna l i ng
connection for exchanging NAS messages between UE and
MME. It i s a l ogi ca l connecti on cons i s ti ng of RRC
connection between a UE a nd a n eNB, a nd S1 s i gna l i ng
connecti on between the eNB a nd a n MME
RRC (Radio Resource Control) protocol performs

Broa dcast of Sys tem Information related to NAS

a nd AS;

Es ta blishment, maintenance and releas e of RRC

connecti on;

Es ta blishment, configuration, maintena nce a nd

rel ease of Si gna l i ng a nd Da ta Ra di o Bea rers
(SRBs a nd DRBs );
AIR INTERFACE PROTOCOL STACK

Physical layer has three parts

Transport channel processor

Appl i es error ma na gement

procedures

Physical channel processor

Appl i es the techni ques of

OFDMA, SC-FDMA a nd mul ti pl e
a ntenna tra ns mi s s i on

Analogue processor

Converts the i nforma ti on to

a na l ogue form

Fi l ters i t

Mi xes i t up
In the transmitter

Transport channel processor

Crea tes control information tha t

s upports the low-level operation
of phys i ca l l a yer

Sends thi s i nforma ti on to the

phys i cal channel processor in the
form of phys ical control channels

The i nformation tra vels a s far a s

the tra nsport channel process or
i n the receiver, but is completely
i nvi s i bl e to hi gher l a yers

Physical channel processor

Crea tes physical s i gna l s , whi ch

s upport the l owest-level aspects
of the s ys tem

Thes e tra vel a s fa r a s the

phys i cal channel processor in the
recei ver, but once a ga i n a re
i nvi s i bl e to hi gher l a yers
LOGICAL CHANNELS

LOGICAL CHANNELS
Logical channels are distinguished by the information
they carry and can be classified in two ways

1st

Logi cal tra ffic channels ca rry da ta i n the

us er pl a ne

Logi cal control channels ca rry s i gna l i ng

mes s a ges i n the control pl a ne

2nd

Dedicated logical channels a re al l oca ted

to a s peci fi c mobi l e

Common l ogical channels ca n be used by

more tha n one

Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH)

The mos t i mporta nt l ogi ca l cha nnel s

Ca rri es data to or from a s i ngl e mobi l e

Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH)

Ca rri es the l a rge ma jori ty of signaling messages

Ca rri es all the mobile-specific s ignaling messa ges

on Si gnaling Radio Bea rers 1 a nd 2, for mobi l e s
tha t a re i n RRC_CONNECTED s ta te

TERMS
Cell reselection i s when the mobile is changing the s ector
i n i dle mode a nd handover is when mobile i s in busy s tate,
cha ngi ng the s ector covera ge.

Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH)

Ca rri es RRC s ystem i nformation messages (SRB0)

BS broa dcasts BCCH message a cros s the whol e

cel l to tel l the mobi l es a bout how the cel l i s
confi gured
Thes e messages a re di vi ded i nto two unequa l groups ,
whi ch a re ha ndl ed di fferentl y by l ower l a yers
Master Information Block (MIB)

Ca rri es a few i mportant parameters s uch a s DL

Ba ndwi dth, Number of Tra ns mi t Antenna ,
Reference Signal Tra nsmit Power, System Frame
Number (SFN), PHICH Confi gura ti on
System Information Blocks (SIBs)

SIB 1

Cel l Acces s Rel a ted Informa ti on - PLMN

Identi ty Li s t, PLMN Identi ty, TA Code, Cel l
i denti ty & Cel l Sta tus

i Cel l Sel ecti on Informa ti on - Mi ni mum

Recei ver Level

Scheduling Information - SI mes s a ge type &

Peri odi ci ty, SIB ma ppi ng Info, SI Wi ndow
l ength

SIB 2

Acces s Ba rri ng Informa ti on - Acces s

Proba bili ty fa ctor, Acces s Cl a s s Ba ri ng Li s t,
Acces s Cl a s s Ba ri ng Ti me

Semi static Common Channel Confi gura ti on Ra ndom

Acces s
Pa ra meter,
PRACH
Confi gura ti on

UL frequency Informa ti on - UL EARFCN, UL

Ba ndwi dth, a ddi ti ona l emi s s i on
TERMS
Al l UEs a re members of one out of ten ra ndomly a llocated
mobi le populations, defined as Access Classes (AC) 0 to 9.
The popul a ti on number i s s tored i n the SIM/USIM. In
a ddition, UEs may be members of one or more out of 5
s pecial ca tegories (Access Cl asses 11 to 15), a l s o hel d i n
the SIM/USIM. These are allocated to specific high priori ty
us ers as fol l ows . (The enumera ti on i s not mea nt a s a
pri ori ty
s equence):
Cl a s s 15
PLMN
Sta ff;
-"14
Emergency
Servi ces ;
-"- 13 - Publ i c Uti l i ti es (e.g. wa ter/ga s s uppl i ers );
-"12
Securi ty
Servi ces ;
-"- 11 - For PLMN Us e.
AC 10 us ers i ni ti a ti ng emergency ca l l s

SIB 3 - Information/Para meters for i ntra -frequency

cel l res el ecti ons

SIB 4 - Information on i ntra -frequency nei ghbori ng

cel l s

SIB 5 - Information on i nter-frequency nei ghbori ng

cel l s

SIB 6 - Information for reselection to UMTS (UTRAN)

cel l s

SIB 7 - Information for res el ecti on to GSM (GERAN)

cel l s

SIB 8 - Informa ti on for res el ecti on to CDMA2000

s ys tems

SIB 9 - Home eNodeB name for future LTE femtocel l

a ppl i ca ti ons

SIB 10 + 11 - ETWS (Ea rthquake a nd Ts unami Warning

Sys tem) i nforma ti on

SIB 12 - Commercial Mobile Al erti ng Sys tem (CMAS)

i nforma ti on or Wi rel es s Emergency Al erts (WEA)
TERMS
The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) or Commercial
Mobile Alert System (CMAS) i s a free na ti ona l publ i c
s a fety s ystem that a l l ows cus tomers who own a CMAS ena bled mobile device to receive geographicall y-ta rgeted
text mes s a ges . Thes e broa dca s t mes s a ge s wi l l a l ert
cus tomers of imminent threats to their safety wi thin thei r
i mmedi a te a rea .
There a re three types of a l erts through CMAS:

Al erts
i s s ued
by
the
Pres i dent
Al erts i nvol vi ng i mmi nent threa ts to l i fe or property
i s s ued by the Na ti ona l Wea ther Servi ce or other
a uthori zed
emergency
ma na gement
a gency

Amber
Al erts
(mi s s i ng
chi l d
a l ert)
Cus tomers may choose to opt out of a ny of thes e a l erts
except for Pres i denti a l -l evel a l erts .
LOGICAL CHANNELS
Paging Control Cannel (PCCH)

Ca rri es pa gi ng mes s a ges

BS tra ns mi ts PCCH mes s a ge i f i t wi s hes to

conta ct mobi l es tha t a re i n RRC_IDLE
Common Control Channel (CCCH)

Ca rri es messages on Signaling Ra di o Bea rer 0,

for mobi les that a re movi ng from RRC_IDLE to
RRC_CONNECTED i n the procedure of RRC
connecti on es ta bl i s hment
TERMS
The ma in purpose of a paging message i s to pa ge UEs i n
RRC_IDLE mode for a mobi l e termi na ted
ca l l. Also the paging message ca n be used to inform UEs, in
RRC_IDLE a s wel l a s

i n RRC_CONNECTED modes
pa ging messages originating from the MME to noti fy the
termi nal a bout incoming connection requests., i s us ed i n
the RRC_IDLE state des cri bed further bel ow) when the
termi nal i s not connected to a particular cell. Indication of
s ys tem-information update i s another us e of the pa gi ng
mecha ni s m, a s i s publ i c wa rni ng s ys tems .

Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH) and Multicast Control

Channel (MCCH)

Handle

Multimedia

Broadcast/Multicastservice (MBMS) service

TRANSPORT CHANNELS

Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) & Downlink Shared

Channel (DL-SCH)

The most important tra ns port cha nnel s

Ca rry the l arge majority of data a nd s i gna l i ng

mes s a ges a cros s a i r i nterfa ce
Paging Channel (PCH)

Ca rri es paging mess a ges tha t ori gi na ted fro m

Pa gi ng Control Cha nnel (PCCH)
Broadcast Channel (BCH)

Ca rri es the broadcast control channel s Ma s ter

Informa ti on Bl ock (MIB)

The remaining s ystem i nformation messages are

ha ndl ed by DL-SCH, a s i f they were norma l
downl i nk da ta
Multicast Channel (MCH)

Ca rry da ta from multimedia broadcast/multicast

s ervi ce

The BS us ually s chedules the tra nsmissions tha t

a mobi l e ma kes , by gra nti ng i t res ources for
downlink transmission at s pecifi c ti mes a nd on
s peci fi c s ub-ca rri ers
Random Access Channel (RACH)

A s pecial channel through which the mobil e ca n

conta ct the network wi thout a ny pri or
s chedul i ng

Ra ndom access transmissions a re compos ed by

mobi les MAC protocol and tra vel a s fa r a s the
MAC protocol i n the BS, but a re compl etel y
i nvi s i bl e to hi gher l a yers .

The s ituati ons tha t requi re RACH a re a s fol l ows :

UE i n RRC_CONNECTED s ta te but not

upl ink-synchronized but needs to s end
new uplink data or control informa ti on
(e.g. a n event-triggered mea s urement
report)

UE i n RRC_CONNECTED s ta te but not

upl i nk- s ynchroni zed but needs to
recei ve new downl i nk da ta , a nd,
therefore, to tra ns mi t corres pondi ng
ACK/NACK i n the upl i nk

UE i n RRC_CONNECTED s ta te ha ndi ng
over from i ts current s ervi ng cel l to a
ta rget cell tra nsmission from RRC_IDLE
s ta te to RRC_CONNECTED. For exampl e
for i ni ti a l a cces s or tra cki ng a rea
upda tes
Recoveri ng from ra di o l i nk fa i l ure

Ma i n differences between tra nsport channels l i e i n thei r

a pproa ches to error management

UL-SCH & DL-SCH

The only tra nsport channel s

tha t us e ARQ and hybrid
ARQ

The only cha nnel s tha t ca n

a da pt thei r codi ng ra te to
cha nges in the received SINR
The other tra nsport channels us e FEC a l one a nd ha ve a
fi xed codi ng ra te
PHYSICAL LAYER

It provi des the basic bit transmission

functionality over air.

The physica l l a yer i s dri ven by OFDMA i n the

downl i nk a nd SCFDMA i n the upl i nk.

Phys i cal channels are dyna mi ca l l y ma pped to

the a va ilable resources (physical resource blocks
a nd a ntenna ports ).

To hi gher layers the physical l ayer offers i ts data

tra ns mission functionality vi a tra nsport channels

Li ke i n UMTS a tra ns port cha nnel i s a bl ock

ori ented tra ns mi s s i on s ervi ce wi th certa i n
cha ra cteri s ti cs rega rdi ng bi t ra tes , del a y,
col l i s i on ri s k a nd rel i a bi l i ty.

In contrast to 3G WCDMA or even 2G GSM there

a re no dedicated tra nsport or physical channel s
a nymore, as all resource mapping is dynamical l y
dri ven by the s chedul er
PHYSICAL DATA CHANNELS

Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) &

Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)

The most important phys i cal cha nnel s

PDSCH

Ca rri es data a nd s i gna l i ng mes s a ges

from DL-SCH

Ca rri es pa gi ng mes s a ges from PCH

PUSCH

Ca rri es data a nd s i gna l i ng mes s a ges

from UL-SCH

Someti mes ca rri es upl i nk control

i nforma ti on
Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)

Ca rri es the MIB (Ma s ter Informa ti on

Bl ock) from broa dca s t Cha nnel
Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)

Ca rri es ra ndom a cces s tra ns mi s s i ons

from ra ndom a cces s cha nnel
Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH)

Ca rri es da ta from mul ti ca s t cha nnel

PDSCH and PUSCH

The onl y phys i ca l cha nnel s tha t ca n

a da pt thei r modul a ti on s chemes i n
res pons e to cha nges i n the re cei ved
SINR
The other physical channels a ll use a fi xed modulation
s cheme, us ua l l y QPSK

CONTROL INFORMATION

Tra ns port cha nnel proces s or compos es

s evera l types of control i nforma ti on to
s upport the l ow level opera ti on of phys i ca l
l a yer

Uplink Control Information (UCI) conta ins s evera l fi el ds

Hybrid ARQ acknowledgements

The mobiles a cknowledgements

of the BSs tra nsmissions on the
DL-SCH (Downl i nk Sha red
Cha nnel )

Channel Quality Indicator (CQI)

Des cribes the received SINR as a

functi on of frequency i n s upport
of
frequency
dependent
s chedul i ng

Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) and

Rank Indication (RI)

Support the us e of s pa ti a l
mul ti pl exi ng

Col l ecti vel y, CQI, PMI a nd RI a re

s ometi mes known a s Channel State
Information (CSI)

Scheduling Request (SR)

Sent by the mobile, i f i t wi s hes

to tra ns mit upl i nk da ta on the
PUSCH, but does not ha ve the
res ources to do s o
Downlink Control Information (DCI) conta ins mos t of the
downl i nk control fi el ds

Us i ng s chedul i ng comma nds a nd

s chedul i ng gra nts , the BS ca n

Al ert the mobile to forthcomi ng

tra ns missions on the downl i nk
s ha red cha nnel a nd

Gra nt
it
res ources
for
tra ns mi s s i ons on the upl i nk
s ha red cha nnel

It ca n a lso a djust the power wi th whi ch

the mobiles a re tra nsmitting using power
control comma nds

Control Format Indicators (CFIs)

Tel l the mobi l es a bout the

orga nization of data a nd control
i nforma ti on on the downl i nk

Hybrid ARQ Indicators (HIs)

The BSs acknowledgements of

the
mobi l es
upl i nk
tra ns mi s s i ons on the UL-SCH

PHYSICAL CONTROL CHANNELS

In the downlink, there is a one-to-one mapping

between physical control channels and control
information listed above
Physical Control Format Indicator Channel
(PCFICH)

Ca rry control format indi ca tors (CFI)

Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH)

Ca rry hybri d ARQ i ndi ca tors (HI)

Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)

Ca rry downlink control i nforma ti on

(DCI)
Relay Physical Downlink Control CHannel (RPDCCH)

Supports the us e of rel a yi ng

The uplink control information is sent

On the Physical Uplink Shared

Channel (PUSCH)

i f the mobi l e i s tra ns mi tti ng

upl ink da ta a t the s a me ti me

On the Physical Uplink Control

Channel (PUCCH)

Otherwi s e

PHYSICAL SIGNALS

Phys i ca l s i gna l s s upport the l owes t-l evel

opera ti on of the phys i ca l l a yer

In the uplink, the mobile

Transmits the Demodulation Reference

Signal (DRS) a t the same ti me a s the PUSCH
a nd PUCCH, a s a phase reference for us e i n
cha nnel es ti ma ti on

Transmit the Sounding Reference Signal

(SRS) a t ti mes confi gured by the BS, a s a
power reference i n s upport of frequencydependent s chedul i ng
The downlink

Us ually combines DRS a nd SRS in the form of

cell specific Reference Signal (RS)

UE s peci fi c reference s i gna l s a re l es s

i mportant a nd a re sent to mobi l es tha t a re
us i ng beamformi ng i n s upport of cha nnel
es ti ma ti on

BS a l so tra nsmi ts two other

phys i cal signals, whi ch hel p
the mobi l e a cqui re the BS
a fter i t fi rs t s wi tches on

Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS)

Secondary Synchronization Signal

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

2. How do you ma ke da ta i n OFDM res i l i ent a ga i ns t
s el ecti ve fa di ng from mul ti -pa th effects ?
By making the carriers orthogonal with each
other
3. How do you ma ke the ca rri ers of a n OFDM s i gna l
orthogona l wi th ea ch other?
By making the space between them equal to
the reciprocal of the period of each symbol.
4. It i s the used of multiple pa i red tra ns mi t a nd recei ve
a ntenna s opera ti ng a t di fferent frequenci es .
Frequency Diversity
5. It i s the process of compensation of the signal distortion
ca us ed by the communi ca ti on cha nnel .
Equalization
6. It ha ppens when one or more s ymbol s ca n i nterfere
wi th other s ymbols causing noise or a l ess reliable s i gna l .
Inter Symbol Interference(ISI)
7. Wha t helps to overcome the i nter s ymbol i nterfe rence
(ISI) by i ns erti ng a gua rd peri od i nto the ti mi ng a t the
begi nni ng of ea ch da ta s ymbol ?
Cyclic Prefix
8. The OFDM s ymbol l ength i s ____________.
66.7us
9. Extended cycl ic prefix a llows cycl ic prefix to be extended
to 16.7 mi cros econds to s upport a path difference of ____.
Ans. 5km
10. It i s the presence of frequency offset that as a result of
os ci l l a tor i n recei ver not i n s ync wi th the tra ns mi tter
os ci llator which ca uses the subcarri ers no orthogona l to
ea ch other.
Inter Carrier Interference(ICI)
11. In normal cycl ic prefix, each symbol i s preceded by a
cycl i c prefi x tha t i s us ua l l y____ l ong
4.7 microseconds.
12. Ea ch Fra me i n OFDM i s numbered us i ng _____.
System Frame Number
13. It i s the cycl ic prefix used if the cell i s unusually large or
cl uttered.
14. In the downl i nk, a n Enode B needs to be a bl e to
s upport the tra ns mi s s i on of ________ s ub-ca rri ers .
72
15. In the downlink, when is a hi gher order modul a ti on
forma t us ed
When there is sufficient SNR.

K
A
M