Chapter1

TD-LTE principle

Contents

1 Overview........................................................................................................................................................1

1.1 Background..........................................................................................................................................1

1.1.1 Mobile Communications Evolution.........................................................................................1

1.2 LTE Overview and Standard Development.........................................................................................2

2 LTE Indexes and Requirements..................................................................................................................3

2.1 Overview..............................................................................................................................................3

2.2 Frequency Band Division....................................................................................................................3

2.3 Peak Data Rate.....................................................................................................................................4

2.4 Control Plane Delay.............................................................................................................................5

2.5 User Plane Delay.................................................................................................................................5

2.6 User Throughput..................................................................................................................................5

2.7 Spectrum Efficiency............................................................................................................................6

2.8 Mobility...............................................................................................................................................6

2.9 Coverage..............................................................................................................................................6
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

2.10 Spectrum Flexibility..........................................................................................................................7

2.11 Coexistence and Interoperability with Existing 3GPP Systems........................................................7

2.12 Reducing CAPEX and OPEX...........................................................................................................8

3 LTE Architecture..........................................................................................................................................9

3.1 System Architecture.............................................................................................................................9

3.2 Radio Protocol Architecture..............................................................................................................15

3.2.1 Control Plane Protocol Architecture......................................................................................15

3.2.2 User Plane Protocol Architecture...........................................................................................16

3.3 S1 Interface and X2 Interface............................................................................................................16

3.3.1 S1 Interface.............................................................................................................................16

3.3.2 X2 Interface............................................................................................................................20

4 Physical Layer.............................................................................................................................................23

4.1 Frame Structure.................................................................................................................................23

4.1.1 Frame structure type 1............................................................................................................23

4.1.2 Frame structure type 2............................................................................................................24

4.2 Physical Resources............................................................................................................................25

4.3 Physical Channels..............................................................................................................................28

4.4 Transport Channels............................................................................................................................29

4.5 Mapping Between Transport Channels and Physical Channels........................................................31

4.6 Physical Signals.................................................................................................................................32

4.7 Physical Layer Model........................................................................................................................33

4.8 Physical Layer Procedures.................................................................................................................35

4.8.1 Synchronization Procedures...................................................................................................35

4.8.2 Power Control.........................................................................................................................35

4.8.3 Random Access Procedures....................................................................................................36

5 Layer 2.........................................................................................................................................................39
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5.1 MAC Sub-Layer................................................................................................................................40

5.1.1 MAC Functions......................................................................................................................40

5.1.2 Logical Channels....................................................................................................................41

5.1.3 Mapping Between Logical Channels and Transport Channels..............................................42

5.2 RLC Sub-Layer..................................................................................................................................43

5.2.1 RLC Functions........................................................................................................................43

5.2.2 PDU Structure.........................................................................................................................43

5.3 PDCP Sub-Layer................................................................................................................................44

5.3.1 PDCP Functions......................................................................................................................44

5.3.2 PDU Structure.........................................................................................................................45

6 RRC..............................................................................................................................................................47

6.1 RRC Functions...................................................................................................................................47

6.2 RRC State..........................................................................................................................................48

6.3 NAS State and the Relationship With the RRC State.......................................................................49

6.4 RRC Procedure..................................................................................................................................49

6.4.1 System Information................................................................................................................49

6.4.2 RRC Connection Control.......................................................................................................51

7 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM).........................................................................53

7.1 Downlink OFDMA............................................................................................................................53

7.1.1 Basic Principles of OFDM.....................................................................................................53

7.1.2 OFDM Implementation Using IFFT/FFT Processing............................................................55

7.1.3 Cyclic-Prefix Insertion...........................................................................................................57

7.1.4 LTE OFDM Parameters..........................................................................................................59

7.2 Uplink SC-FDMA.............................................................................................................................60

7.2.1 Basic Principles of DFTS-OFDM..........................................................................................60

7.2.2 LTE DFTS-OFDM Parameters...............................................................................................62

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Appendix A Abbreviation..............................................................................................................................65

Appendix B Reference Document................................................................................................................67

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Figure of Content

Figure 1.1-1 Development and Evolution of Wireless Communication Technologies..............................1

Figure 1.2-1 Organization and establishment stages of 3GPP standards...................................................2
Figure 2.1-1 LTE Indexes and Requirements.............................................................................................3
Figure 3.1-1 SAE/LTE Architecture............................................................................................................9
Figure 3.1-2 E-UTRAN Architecture..........................................................................................................9
Figure 3.1-3 EPC/E-UTRAN Functional split.........................................................................................13
Figure 3.1-4 EPS Bearer............................................................................................................................13
Figure 3.2-1 Control Plane Protocol Stack...............................................................................................15
Figure 3.2-2 User plane protocol stack.....................................................................................................16
Figure 3.3-1 S1 interface control plane (eNodeB-MME).........................................................................16
Figure 3.3-2 S1 interface user plane (eNodeBS-GW)..........................................................................17
Figure 3.3-3 Initial Context Establishment (Blue Parts) in Idle-to-Active Procedure.............................19
Figure 3.3-4 X2 interface control plane....................................................................................................20
Figure 3.3-5 X2 interface user plane.........................................................................................................21
Figure 3.3-6 X2 Interface LOAD INDICATION message.......................................................................22
Figure 4.1-1 Frame structure 1..................................................................................................................23
Figure 4.1-2 Frame structure 1..................................................................................................................24
Figure 4.1-3 Frame structure 2.................................................................................................................25
Figure 4.2-1 Physical Resource Structure of a Downlink Slot.................................................................26
Figure 4.2-2 Physical Resource Structure of an Uplink Slot....................................................................27
Figure 4.5-1 Mapping Between Downlink Transport Channels and Downlink Physical Channels........31
Figure 4.5-2 Mapping Between Uplink Transport Channels and Uplink Physical Channels..................31
Figure 4.7-1 Physical Layer Model for DL-SCH Transmission...............................................................33
Figure 4.7-2 Physical Layer Model for BCH Transmission.....................................................................33
Figure 4.7-3 Physical Layer Model for PCH Transmission......................................................................34
Figure 4.7-4 Physical Layer Model for MCH Transmission....................................................................34
Figure 4.7-5 Physical Layer Model for UL-SCH Transmission...............................................................35
Figure 4.8-1 Layer 2 Downlink Structure.................................................................................................39
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Figure 4.8-2 Layer 2 Uplink Structure......................................................................................................39

Figure 5.1-1 Mapping Between Downlink Logical Channels and Transport Channels...........................42
Figure 5.1-2 Mapping between uplink logical channels and transport channels.....................................42
Figure 5.2-1 RLC PDU Structure..............................................................................................................44
Figure 5.3-1 PDCP PDU Structure...........................................................................................................45
Figure 7.1-1 Orthogonal Subcarriers..........................................................................................................53
Figure 7.1-2 OFDM Modulator..................................................................................................................53
Figure 7.1-3 OFDM Subcarriers................................................................................................................54
Figure 7.1-4 basic principle of Modulation..............................................................................................54
Figure 7.1-5 basic principle of OFDM demodulation...............................................................................55
Figure 7.1-6 FFT processing......................................................................................................................56
Figure 7.1-7 inter-symbol interference......................................................................................................57
Figure 7.1-8 cyclic- prefix..........................................................................................................................58
Figure 7.2-1 Basic Principles of DFTS-OFDM.........................................................................................60
Figure 7.2-2 mapping from the DFT output to IDFT input.......................................................................61
Figure 7.2-3 transmitted spectrum in localized and distributed DFTS-OFDM.......................................62
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

1 Overview

1.1 Background

1.1.1 Mobile Communications Evolution

The development history from 2G and 3G to 3.9 G is the development history from low-
speed voice services to high-speed multimedia services of mobile communications.

3GPP has been progressively perfected LTE R8 standard:

1. LTE R8 RAN1 was frozen in December, 2008.

2. LTE R8 RAN2, RAN3, and RAN4 were frozen in December, 2008.

3. LTE R8 standard was completed by March, 2009, implementing basic LTE functions
at the first commercial use of LTE systems.

Error: Reference source not found shows the development and evolution of wireless
communication technologies.

Figure 1.1-1 Development and Evolution of Wireless Communication Technologies

1.2 LTE Overview and Standard Development

3GPP working groups started LTE standardization in December, 2004. LTE focuses on the
enhancement of UTRAN and UTRA.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

The establishment of 3GPP standards can be divided into four stages: requirement proposal,
architecture establishment, detailed specifications, and testing and verification.

3GPP works in workgroup mode and RAN1/2/3/4/5 workgroups are directly related to LTE.

Figure 1.2-2 Organization and establishment stages of 3GPP standards

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

2 LTE Indexes and Requirements

2.1 Overview

Figure 2.1-3 LTE Indexes and Requirements

2.2 Frequency Band Division

Table 2.2-1 lists the E-UTRA frequency bands.

Table 2.2-1 E-UTRA frequency bands

E-UTRA Uplink (UL) operating band BS receive Downlink (DL) operating band BS Duplex
Operating UE transmit transmit UE receive Mode
Band
FUL_low FUL_high FDL_low FDL_high

1 1920 MHz 1980 MHz 2110 MHz 2170 MHz FDD

2 1850 MHz 1910 MHz 1930 MHz 1990 MHz FDD
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3 1710 MHz 1785 MHz 1805 MHz 1880 MHz FDD

4 1710 MHz 1755 MHz 2110 MHz 2155 MHz FDD
5 824 MHz 849 MHz 869 MHz 894MHz FDD
6 830 MHz 840 MHz 875 MHz 885 MHz FDD
7 2500 MHz 2570 MHz 2620 MHz 2690 MHz FDD
8 880 MHz 915 MHz 925 MHz 960 MHz FDD
9 1749.9 MHz 1784.9 MHz 1844.9 MHz 1879.9 MHz FDD
10 1710 MHz 1770 MHz 2110 MHz 2170 MHz FDD
11 1427.9 MHz 1452.9 MHz 1475.9 MHz 1500.9 MHz FDD
12 698 MHz 716 MHz 728 MHz 746 MHz FDD
13 777 MHz 787 MHz 746 MHz 756 MHz FDD
14 788 MHz 798 MHz 758 MHz 768 MHz FDD

17 704 MHz 716 MHz 734 MHz 746 MHz FDD
...
33 1900 MHz 1920 MHz 1900 MHz 1920 MHz TDD
34 2010 MHz 2025 MHz 2010 MHz 2025 MHz TDD
35 1850 MHz 1910 MHz 1850 MHz 1910 MHz TDD
36 1930 MHz 1990 MHz 1930 MHz 1990 MHz TDD
37 1910 MHz 1930 MHz 1910 MHz 1930 MHz TDD
38 2570 MHz 2620 MHz 2570 MHz 2620 MHz TDD
39 1880 MHz 1920 MHz 1880 MHz 1920 MHz TDD
40 2300 MHz 2400 MHz 2300 MHz 2400 MHz TDD

2.3 Peak Data Rate

According to 25.913,the instantaneous downlink peak rate reaches 100 Mbit/s (5 bit/s/Hz) at 20
MHz downlink spectrum band (two transmit antennas on the network side and two receive antennas
on the UE side).

The instantaneous uplink peak rate reaches 50 Mbit/s (2.5 bit/s/Hz) at 20 MHz uplink spectrum band
(one receive antenna on the UE side).

Wideband, MIMOs, and advanced modulation technologies are the key technologies to increase the
peak data rate.

2.4 Control Plane Delay

From residence to activation, similarly, from idle state to CELL_DCH state of Release 6, the
transmission delay time of the control plane is shorter than 100 ms and does not include the
paging delay time or NAS delay time.
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From sleep to activation, similarly, from CELL_PCH state to CELL_DCH state of Release
6, the transmission delay time of the control plane is shorter than 50 ms and does not include
the DRX interval.

Additionally, if the control plane operates at 5 MHz spectrum band, each cell is expected to
support 200 activated users. In the case of higher spectrum bands, each cell is expected to
support 400 activated users.

2.5 User Plane Delay

The user-plane delay is the unidirectional transmission time that a packet is transmitted from
the IP layer of a UE/RAN edge node to the IP layer of a RAN edge node/UE. The RAN edge
node indicates the interface nodes of the RAN and core network.

In the case of "zero loads" (a single user and a single data flow) and "small IP packets" (only
one IP header and no effective load), the user-plane delay is expected to be no longer than 5
ms.

2.6 User Throughput

Downlink:

1. The user throughput per MHz at the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of 5%
must reach two to three times the throughput of R6 HSDPA.

2. The average user throughput per MHz must reach three to four times the throughput
of R6 HSDPA.
R6 HSDPA uses one transmitter and one receiver (1T1R) while LTE uses two transmitters
and two receivers (2T2R).

Uplink:

1. The user throughput per MHz at the CDF of 5% must reach two to three times the
throughput of R6 HSUPA.

2. The user throughput per MHz must reach two to three times the throughput of R6
HSUPA.
R6 HSUPA uses 1T2R, and so does LTE.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

2.7 Spectrum Efficiency

Downlink: On a network with effective load, the target LTE spectrum efficiency (measured
by the bit quantity per site, per Hz, and per second) is three to four times more efficient than
R6 HSDPA. R6 HSDPA uses 1T1R while LTE uses 2T2R.

Uplink: On a network with effective load, the target LTE spectrum efficiency (measured by
the bit quantity per site, per Hz, and per second) is two to three times more efficient than R6
HSUPA. R6 HSUPA uses 1T2R, and so does LTE.

2.8 Mobility
E-UTRAN can provide optimum network performance for mobile users at the speed of 0
15 km/h, high performance services at the speed of 15120 km/h, and cell network services
at the speed of 120350 km/h (the speed even reaches 500 km/h at specified bands).

Voice services and other real-time services provided in the R6 CS domain are supported by
PS domain on the E-UTRAN and all these services can reach or exceed the quality of
UTRAN services. The interruption time caused by handovers within the E-UTRA system
must be shorter than or equal to the handover time of the GERAN CS domain.

In a special case where the moving speed exceeds 250 km/h (in a high-speed train), the
physical layer parameters of E-UTRAN must be set to be capable of protecting the
connections between users and networks at the highest speed of 350 km/h (the speed even
reaches 500 km/h at specified bands).

2.9 Coverage
The E-UTRA system must flexibly support all coverage scenarios on the basis of reusing the
current UTRAN sites and frequencies to meet the preceding performance indexes such as the
user throughput, spectrum efficiency, and mobility.

The performance requirements of the E-UTRA system within different coverage scope are
listed as follows:

1. Coverage radius within 5 km: The preceding performance indexes such as the user
throughput, spectrum efficiency, and mobility must be fully satisfied.

2. Coverage radius within 30 km: The throughput and spectrum efficiency are allowed
to slightly drop but within an acceptable range, and the mobility index must be fully
satisfied.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

3. Maximum coverage radius: 100 km.

2.10 Spectrum Flexibility

On one hand, the spectrum flexibility allows deployment of E-UTRA at varied bands
including 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, and 20 MHz. The E-UTRA supports
paired and unpaired spectrums.

On the other hand, the spectrum flexibility allows consolidation of spectrum bands.

2.11 Coexistence and Interoperability with Existing 3GPP Systems

Interoperability requirements of the E-UTRA and 3GPP systems include but are not limited
to:

1. E-UTRAN and UTRAN/GERAN multi-mode terminals support UTRAN/GERAN

measurement and handover between E-UTRAN systems and UTRAN/GERAN
systems.

2. The E-UTRAN system supports inter-system measurement.

3. The handover interruption time between E-UTRAN and UTRAN must be shorter than
300 ms for real-time services.

4. The handover interrupting time between E-UTRAN and UTRAN must be shorter than
500 ms for non-real-time services.

5. The handover interruption time between E-UTRAN and GERAN must be shorter than
300 ms for real-time services.

6. The handover interruption time between E-UTRAN and GERAN must be shorter than
500 ms for non-real-time services.

7. Paging information of only one of the GERAN, UTRA, or E-UTRA systems needs to
be monitored for multi-mode terminals in non-active state (similar to R6 Idle mode or
Cell_PCH state).

2.12 Reducing CAPEX and OPEX

The flat system architecture and less intermediate nodes dramatically reduce the equipment
costs and maintenance costs.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

3 LTE Architecture

3.1 System Architecture

As illustrated in the following figure, the EPC is made up of a control-plane node, called
MME (Mobility Management Entity), and two user-plane nodes, called S-GW (Serving GW)
and P-GW (Packet Data Network GW). In the non-roaming case, the S-GW and P-GW
functionalities are both located within one operators network and can be implemented in a
combined S-GW and P-GW node.

Figure 3.1-4 SAE/LTE Architecture

LTE adopts an OFDM-based air interface technology that is different from those of 2G and
3G networks. LTE adopts flat network architecture within which E-UTRAN contains only
eNodeBs but not RNCs to optimize the traditional 3G network architecture. LTE supports
the functions of PDCP, RLC, MAC, and physical layer protocols on the E-UTRA user plane
and those of the RRC protocol on the control plane. Error: Reference source not found
shows the E-UTRAN system architecture.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Figure 3.1-5 E-UTRAN Architecture

eNodeBs are connected over an x2 interface and every eNodeB is connected to the Evolved
Packet Core (EPC) network over an S1 interface. The user plane of S1 interfaces terminates
on the Serving-Gateway (S-GW) and the control plane of S1 interfaces terminates on the
Mobile Management Entity (MME). The other ends of the control plane and user plane
terminate on the eNodeB. Functions of all NEs in the preceding figure are listed as follows:

eNodeB

Besides the original eNodeB functions, an LTE eNodeB undertakes most of original
RNC functions such as physical layer, MAC layer (including HARQ), RLC layer
(including ARQ functions), PDCP, RRC, scheduling, radio access control, access
mobility management, and radio resource management of different cells.

An LTE eNodeB has the following functions:

Manages radio resources, for example, radio bearer control, radio access control,
connection mobility control, and dynamic resource assignment of uplink and
downlink (scheduling).

Compresses IP headers and encrypts user data streams.

Chooses the UE-attached MME when the MME routing information cannot be known
from the information provided for the UE.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Transmits routing data of user planes to the S-GW.

Schedules and transmits the paging information initiated by the MME.

Schedules and transmits the broadcast information initiated by the MME or O&M.

Measures the mobility and scheduling information and performs measurement

reporting configuration.

Schedules and transmits the Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS)
information initiated by the MME.

MME

As the control core of the SAE, an MME implements such functions as user access
control, service bearer control, paging, and handover control.

The function of the MME is separated from that of the gateway. The structure of
separated control plane and user plane facilitates network deployment, single
technology evolution, and flexible capacity expansion.

NAS signaling

NAS signaling security

AS security control

Mobile signaling among 3GPP radio networks

The reachability of an UE in idle state (including the control and implementation of

paging signal re-transmission)

Tracking area list management

P-GW or S-GW selection

MME selection at the time of handover

SGSN selection at handover to 2G or 3GPP network

Roaming

Authentication

Bearer management, including dedicated bearer establishment

ETWS signal transmission

S-GW
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

As the anchor point at local eNodeB handover, the S-GW implements the following
functions: data transfer between the eNodeB and the public data gateway, downlink
packet buffer, and user-based billing.

Local mobile anchor points at eNodeB handover

Mobile anchor points among 3GPP systems.

Downlink packet buffering and initialization of network-triggered service request

procedure in the E-UTRAN idle mode

Lawful interception

Packet routing and forwarding

Transport-layer packet marking (uplink/downlink)

Accounting on user and QCI granularity for inter-operator charging.

Uplink/downlink charging per UE, PDN, or QCI

PDN gateway (P-GW)

As the designated anchor point of the data bearer, the Public Data Network Gateway
(P-GW) has the following functions: packet forwarding, packet resolving, lawful
interception, service-based billing, QoS control, and interconnection with non-3GPP
networks.

Per-user packet filtering (for example, utilize deep packet inspection)

Lawful interception

IP address assignment of the UE

Transport-layer packet marking (downlink)

Uplink/downlink service level charging, gating, and rate enforcement

Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (AMBR)-based downlink rate control

As shown in the preceding figure, the original Iu interface, Iub interface, and Iur interface
are replaced with the S1 interface and X2 interface in the new LTE architecture.

Error: Reference source not found shows the functional split between E-UTRAN and EPC.
Yellow boxes depict the logical nodes, white boxes depict the functional entities of the
control plane, and blue boxes depict the radio protocol layers.

Figure 3.1-6 EPC/E-UTRAN Functional split

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

An E-UTRA capable terminal is connected directly to E-UTRAN. However some parts of

the terminal control-plane protocol stack are also terminated in the EPC.

Similar to UMTS, the EPS supports a bearer concept (see Figure 3.1-3) for supporting end-
user data services. The EPS bearer (similar to a PDP context of previous 3GPP releases) is
defined between the User Equipment (UE) and the P-GW node in the EPC (which provide
the end users IP point of presence towards external networks). The EPS bearer is further sub-
divided into an E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB), over the radio interface and S1
interface between the UE and S-GW.

End-to-end services (for example, IP services) are multiplexed on different EPS bearers.
There is a many-to-one relation between end-to-end services and EPS bearers.

Figure 3.1-7 EPS Bearer

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

An UL TFT (Traffic Flow Template) in the UE binds an SDF (Service Data Flow) to an EPS
bearer in the uplink direction.

Multiple SDFs can be multiplexed onto the same EPS bearer by including multiple uplink
packet filters in the UL TFT.

A DL TFT in the PDN GW binds an SDF to an EPS bearer in the downlink direction.
Multiple SDFs can be multiplexed onto the same EPS bearer by including multiple downlink
packet filters in the DL TFT.

An E-RAB transports the packets of an EPS bearer between the UE and the EPC. When an
E-RAB exists, there is a one-to-one mapping between this E-RAB and an EPS bearer.

A data radio bearer transports the packets of an EPS bearer between a UE and an eNB. When
a data radio bearer exists, there is a one-to-one mapping between this data radio bearer and
the EPS bearer/E-RAB.

An S1 bearer transports the packets of an E-RAB between an eNodeB and a Serving GW.

An S5/S8 bearer transports the packets of an EPS bearer between a Serving GW and a PDN
GW.

A UE stores a mapping between an uplink packet filter and a data radio bearer to create the
binding between an SDF and a data radio bearer in the uplink.

A PDN GW stores a mapping between a downlink packet filter and an S5/S8a bearer to
create the binding between an SDF and an S5/S8a bearer in the downlink.

An eNB stores a one-to-one mapping between a data radio bearer and an S1 bearer to create
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

the binding between a data radio bearer and an S1 bearer in both the uplink and downlink.

A Serving GW stores a one-to-one mapping between an S1 bearer and an S5/S8a bearer to

create the binding between an S1 bearer and an S5/S8a bearer in both the uplink and
downlink.

3.2 Radio Protocol Architecture

3.2.1 Control Plane Protocol Architecture

Error: Reference source not found shows the control plane protocol architecture.

Figure 3.2-8 Control Plane Protocol Stack

The PDCP terminates at an eNodeB and implements functions such as control-plane

encryption and integrity protection.

The RLC and MAC terminate at an eNodeB on the network side and implement the same
functions on the user plane and control plane.

The RRC terminates at an eNodeB and implements such functions as broadcast, paging,
RRC connection management, RB control, mobility, and UE measurement reporting and
control.

The NAS terminates at an MME and implements such functions as EPS bearer management,
authentication, idle-mode EPS Connection Management (ECM), idle-mode ECM paging,
and security control.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

3.2.2 User Plane Protocol Architecture

Error: Reference source not found shows the user plane protocol architecture.

Figure 3.2-9 User plane protocol stack

The user-plane PDCP, RLC, and MAC terminate at an eNodeB and implement such
functions as header compression, encryption, scheduling, ARQ, and HARQ.

3.3 S1 Interface and X2 Interface

Different from those in 2G and 3G systems, S1 interface and X2 interface are newly added
in the LTE system.

3.3.1 S1 Interface

The S1 interface is defined as the interface between the E-UTRAN and EPC. The S1
interface contains two parts: the control-plane S1-MME interface and user-plane S1-U
interface. The S1-MME interface is defined as the interface between the eNodeB and MME,
and the S1-UE interface is defined as the interface between the eNodeB and S-GW. Error:
Reference source not found and Error: Reference source not found show the protocol stack
architecture of the S1-MME interface and S1-U interface.

Figure 3.3-10 S1 interface control plane (eNodeB-MME)

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Figure 3.3-11 S1 interface user plane (eNodeBS-GW)

The S1 interface has the following acknowledged functions:

E-RAB service management

Establishment, modification, and release

UE mobility in ECM-CONNECTED state

Handover within the LTE system

Handover between the LTE system and the 3GPP system

S1 paging
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

NAS signaling transmission

S1 interface management

Error indication

Reset

Network sharing

Roaming and area restriction

NAS node selection

Initial context establishment

UE context modification

MME load balance

Location report

ETWS message transmission

Overload

RAN information management

The S1 interface has the following acknowledged signaling procedures:

E-RAB signaling procedure

E-RAB establishment

E-RAB modification

MME-initiated E-RAB release

eNodeB-initiated E-RAB release

Handover signaling procedure

Handover preparation

Resource assignment

Handover termination

Handover cancellation

Paging

NAS transmission procedure

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Direct uplink transmission (initial UE message)

Direct uplink transmission (uplink NAS transmission)

Direct downlink transmission (downlink NAS transmission)

Error indication procedure

eNodeB-initiated error indication

MME-initiated error indication

Reset

eNodeB-initiated reset

MME-initiated reset

Initial context establishment

UE context modification

S1 establishment

eNodeB configuration update

MME configuration update

Location report

Location report control

Location report

Location report failure indication

Overload startup

Overload stop

Write replacement alarm

Directly transmitted information transfer

Error: Reference source not found shows the S1 interface signaling procedure.

Figure 3.3-12 Initial Context Establishment (Blue Parts) in Idle-to-Active Procedure

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

The similarities between S1 interface and X2 interface lie in the fact that S1-U and X2-U
adopt the same user-plane protocol to reduce protocol processing at eNodeB data forward.

3.3.2 X2 Interface

The X2 interface is defined as the interface between eNodeBs. The X2 interface contains
two parts: the X2-CP and X2-U, where the X2-CP is the control plane interface between
eNodeBs and the X2-U is the user plane interface between eNodeBs. Error: Reference
source not found and Error: Reference source not found show the protocol stack architecture
of the X2-CP interface and X2-U interface.

Figure 3.3-13 X2 interface control plane

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Figure 3.3-14 X2 interface user plane

The X2-CP has the following functions:

UE mobility in ECM-CONNECTED state within the LTE system

Context transfer from the source eNodeB to the target eNodeB

User plane channel control between the source eNodeB and the target eNodeB

Handover cancellation

Uplink load management

General X2 interface management and error processing

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Error indication

The X2-CP interface has the following acknowledged signaling procedures:

Handover preparation

Handover cancellation

UE context release

Error indication

Load management

The management of load among cells is implemented over the X2 interface.

Error: Reference source not found shows that the LOAD INDICATOR message is used for
load state communication among eNodeBs.

Figure 3.3-15 X2 Interface LOAD INDICATION message

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

4 Physical Layer

4.1 Frame Structure

The LTE system supports the following two radio frame structures:

Structure 1: applicable to FDD mode.

Structure 2: applicable to TDD mode.

Figure 4.1-16 shows the frame structure 1. Every 10 ms radio frame is divided into ten sub-
frames of fixed length. Each sub-frame contains two time slots each of which is 0.5 ms long.

Figure 4.1-16 Frame structure 1

For FDD, at every 10 ms, ten sub-frames can be used for downlink transmission and another
ten sub-frames can be used for uplink transmission. The uplink transmission and downlink
transmission are separated on the frequency domain.

the size of various fields in the time domain is expressed as a number of time units
Ts 1 15000 2048
seconds.

Downlink and uplink transmissions are organized into radio frames with
Tf 307200 Ts 10 ms
duration.

4.1.1 Frame structure type 1

Frame structure type 1 is applicable to both full duplex and half duplex FDD. Each radio
Tf 307200 Ts 10 ms
frame is long and consists of 20 slots of length
Tslot 15360 Ts 0.5 ms
, numbered from 0 to 19. A subframe is defined as two consecutive
slots where subframe i consists of slots 2i and 2i 1 .

For FDD, 10 subframes are available for downlink transmission and 10 subframes are
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

available for uplink transmissions in each 10 ms interval. Uplink and downlink

transmissions are separated in the frequency domain. In half-duplex FDD operation, the UE
cannot transmit and receive at the same time while there are no such restrictions in full-
duplex FDD.\

Figure 4.1-17 Frame structure 1

4.1.2 Frame structure type 2

Frame structure type 2 is applicable to TDD. Each radio frame of length

Tf 307200 Ts 10 ms
consists of two half-frames of length 153600 Ts 5 ms each. Each
half-frame consists of five subframes of length 30720 Ts 1 ms . The supported uplink-
downlink configurations are listed in Table 4.3-2 where, for each subframe in a radio frame,
D denotes the subframe is reserved for downlink transmissions, U denotes the subframe
is reserved for uplink transmissions and S denotes a special subframe with the three fields
DwPTS, GP and UpPTS. The length of DwPTS and UpPTS is given by Table 4.3-1 subject
to the total length of DwPTS, GP and UpPTS being equal to 30720 Ts 1 ms . Each subframe
i is defined as two slots, 2i and 2i 1 of length Tslot 15360 Ts 0.5 ms in each subframe.

Uplink-downlink configurations with both 5 ms and 10 ms downlink-to-uplink switch-point

periodicity are supported.

In case of 5 ms downlink-to-uplink switch-point periodicity, the special subframe exists

in both half-frames.

In case of 10 ms downlink-to-uplink switch-point periodicity, the special subframe exists in

the first half-frame only.

Subframes 0 and 5 and DwPTS are always reserved for downlink transmission. UpPTS and
the subframe immediately following the special subframe are always reserved for uplink
transmission.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Figure 4.1-18 Frame structure 2

Table 4.1-1: Configuration of special subframe (lengths of DwPTS/GP/UpPTS).

Special subframe Normal cyclic prefix in downlink Extended cyclic prefix in downlink
configuration DwPTS UpPTS DwPTS UpPTS
Normal Extended Normal cyclic Extended
cyclic cyclic prefix prefix in cyclic prefix in
prefix in uplink uplink uplink
in uplink
0 6592 Ts 7680 Ts
1 19760 Ts 20480 Ts
2192 Ts 2560 Ts
2 21952 Ts 2192 Ts 2560 Ts 23040 Ts
3 24144 Ts 25600 Ts
4 26336 Ts 7680 Ts
5 6592 Ts 20480 Ts 4384 Ts 5120 Ts
6 19760 Ts 23040 Ts
4384 Ts 5120 Ts
7 21952 Ts - - -
8 24144 Ts - - -

Table 4.1-2: Uplink-downlink configurations.

Uplink-downlink Downlink-to-Uplink Subframe number

configuration Switch-point periodicity 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 5 ms D S U U U D S U U U
1 5 ms D S U U D D S U U D
2 5 ms D S U D D D S U D D
3 10 ms D S U U U D D D D D
4 10 ms D S U U D D D D D D
5 10 ms D S U D D D D D D D
6 5 ms D S U U U D S U U D

4.2 Physical Resources

The minimum resource unit for uplink/downlink transmission in the LTE system is called a
Resource Element (RE).
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

At the time of data transmission, the LTE system consolidates uplink and downlink time-
frequency domain physical resources into Resource Blocks (RBs) for scheduling and
allocation.

Several REs constitute an RB. There are 12 consecutive sub-carriers on the frequency
domain and seven consecutive OFDM symbols (six symbols for Extended CP). That is, the
frequency domain width is 180 kHz and the time length is 0.5 ms.

Error: Reference source not found and Error: Reference source not found show the physical
resource structure of downlink and uplink slots.

Figure 4.2-19 Physical Resource Structure of a Downlink Slot

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Figure 4.2-20 Physical Resource Structure of an Uplink Slot

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

4.3 Physical Channels

The downlink physical channels contain the following:

1. Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)

The coded BCH transmission block maps to four sub-frames within a 40 ms interval.

The 40 ms timing is obtained by blind tests, that is, no specified signaling indicates
the 40 ms timing.

With excellent-enough channels, every sub-frame that the PBCH is located can
separately decode signals.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

2. Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH)

Notifies the number of PDCCH-occupied OFDM marks to the UE.

Transmits the information in every sub-frame.

3. Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)

Notifies the resource assignment information of the PCH, DL-SCH, and DL-SCH-
related HARQ information to the UE.

Carries the uplink scheduling information.

4. Physical HARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH)

Carries the HARQ ACK/NACKs for uplink data transfer.

5. Physical Downlink Sharing Channel (PDSCH)

Carries the DL-SCH and PCH information.

6. Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH)

Carries the MCH information.

The uplink physical channels contain the following:

1. Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)

Carries HARQ ACK/NACKs for downlink data transfer.

Carries the scheduling request information.

Carries the CQI report information.

2. Physical Uplink Sharing Channel (PUSCH)

Carries the UL-SCH information.

3. Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)

Carries the random access preamble.

4.4 Transport Channels

The downlink transport channels contain the following:

1. Broadcast Channel (BCH)

Fixed predefined transport format

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Broadcast in the entire coverage area of the cell

2. Downlink Sharing Channel (DL-SCH)

Supports HARQ.

Implements dynamic link adaptation by varying the demodulation, coding mode, and
transmit power.

Supports broadcast in the entire cell.

Supports beamforming.

Supports dynamic or semi-static resource allocation.

Supports the UE Discontinuous Reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving.

Supports the MBMS transmission.

3. Paging Channel (PCH)

Supports the UE DRX to save power. (The network notifies the DRX period to the
UE.)

Broadcast in the entire coverage area of the cell.

Map to physical resources that can be used dynamically also for traffic or other
control channels.

4. Multicast Channel (MCH)

Broadcast in the entire coverage area of the cell.

Supports Multicast/Broadcast over Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) combing of

MBMS transmission on multiple cells.

Supports semi-static resource allocation.

The uplink transport channels contain the following:

1. Uplink Sharing Channel (UL-SCH)

Supports beamforming.

Implements dynamic link adaptation by varying the transmit power, potential

demodulation, and coding mode.

Supports HARQ.

Supports dynamic or semi-static resource allocation.

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

2. Random Access Channel (RACH)

Carries limited control information.

Collision risks.

4.5 Mapping Between Transport Channels and Physical Channels

Error: Reference source not found and Error: Reference source not found show the mapping
relationships between downlink/uplink transport channels and downlink/uplink physical
channels.

Figure 4.5-21 Mapping Between Downlink Transport Channels and Downlink Physical
Channels

Figure 4.5-22 Mapping Between Uplink Transport Channels and Uplink Physical Channels

4.6 Physical Signals

Physical signals correspond to several physical layer REs, but do not carry any information
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

that comes from higher layers.

The downlink physical signals include the reference signal and the synchronization signal.

Reference signal(Downlink)

The downlink reference signals include the following three types of reference signals:

Cell-specific reference signals associated with non-MBSFN transmission

MBSFN reference signals associated with MBSFN transmission

UE-specific reference signals

Synchronization signals

The synchronization signals include the following two types of signals:

Primary synchronization signal

Secondary synchronization signal

For FDD, the primary synchronization signal maps to the last OFDM symbol of time
slot 0 and time slot 10. The secondary synchronization signal maps to the second last
OFDM symbol of time slot 0 and time slot 10.

The uplink physical signals include the reference signals.

Reference signals(Uplink)

The uplink reference signals include the following two types of signals:

Demodulation reference signals associated with PUSCH or PUCCH transmission

Sounding reference signals not associated with PUSCH or PUCCH transmission

The demodulation reference signals and the sounding reference signals use the same
base sequence set.

4.7 Physical Layer Model

The following figures show the physical layer models of various types of channels. Node Bs
in all of the following figures are called eNodeBs in LTE.

Figure 4.7-23 Physical Layer Model for DL-SCH Transmission

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Node B UE
Error
Channel-state N Transport blocks indications
information, etc. (dynamic size S1..., SN)
ACK/NACK ACK/NACK
HARQ HARQ info HARQ info HARQ

CRC
CRC
Redundancy for
CRC
error detection CRC

Coding + RM Redundancy for

Coding + RM
Coding + RM Decoding + RM
MAC scheduler

Redundancy data detection

version
Interl.
Interleaving Interl.
Deinterleaving
Modulation
QPSK, 16QAM,
scheme Data modulation Data modulation
Data modulation 64QAM Data demodulation
Resource/power
assignment RB mapping
Resource mapping RB mapping
Resource demapping
Antenna
mapping Multi-antenna
Antenna mapping processing Antenna demapping

Figure 4.7-24 Physical Layer Model for BCH Transmission

Figure 4.7-25 Physical Layer Model for PCH Transmission

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Figure 4.7-26 Physical Layer Model for MCH Transmission

Figure 4.7-27 Physical Layer Model for UL-SCH Transmission

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

4.8 Physical Layer Procedures

4.8.1 Synchronization Procedures

Cell search

Cell search is the procedure by which a UE acquires time and frequency

synchronization with a cell and detects that cells physical layer cell ID. E-UTRA cell
search is based on various signals transmitted in the downlink such as primary and
secondary synchronization signals, and downlink reference signals.

Timing synchronization

Timing synchronization procedures include radio link monitoring, inter-cell

synchronization, and transmission timing adjustments.

4.8.2 Power Control

Power control determines the Energy Per Resource Element (EPRE). EPRE denotes the
energy prior to CP insertion. EPRE also denotes the average energy taken over all
constellation points for the applied modulation scheme. Uplink power control determines the
average power of one DFT-SOFDM symbol on a physical channel.

Uplink power control

The uplink power control procedure controls the transmit power of different uplink
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

physical channels.

Downlink power allocation

The eNodeB determines the downlink transmit energy per resource element.

4.8.3 Random Access Procedures

Prior to initiation of the non-synchronized physical random access procedure, the physical
layer should receive the following information from the higher layers:

1. Random access channel parameters (PRACH configuration, frequency position, and

preamble format).

2. Parameters for determining the root sequences and their cyclic shifts in the preamble
sequence set for the cell (index to root sequence table, cyclic shift (Ncs), and set type
(normal or high-speed set)).

From the physical layer perspective, the physical random access procedure encompasses the
transmission of random access preamble and random access response. The remaining
messages are scheduled for transmission by the higher layer on the shared data channel and
are not considered as a part of the L1 random access procedure.

The following steps are required for the physical random access procedure:

1. The physical layer procedure is triggered upon request of a preamble transmission by

higher layers.

2. A preamble index, preamble transmission power

(PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_POWER), associated RA-RNTI, and PRACH
resource are indicated by higher layers as part of the request.

3. Determine preamble transmit power: P PRACH = min{Pmax,

PREAMBLE_RECEIVED_TARGET_POWER + PL}, where, Pmax indicates the
maximum allowed power configured at higher layers, and PL indicates UE-calculated
downlink path loss.

4. A preamble sequence is then selected from the preamble sequence set through the
preamble index.

5. A single preamble transmission then occurs using the selected preamble sequence
with transmission power PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_POWER on the indicated
PRACH resource.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

6. The associated PDCCH with RA-RNTI is detected in the random access response
window controlled by higher layers. If an associated PDCCH with RA-RNTI is
detected, then the corresponding PDSCH transport block is passed to the higher
layers. Higher layers resolve the transport block and indicate the 20-bit UL-SCH
grant to the physical layer.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

5 Layer 2

1 Layer 2 consists of three sub-layers: PDCP, RLC, and MAC. Figure Error: Reference
source not found and Figure Error: Reference source not foundError: Reference source not
found show Layer 2 downlink and uplink structures.

2 Figure 4.8-28 Layer 2 Downlink Structure

5 Figure 4.8-29 Layer 2 Uplink Structure

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

8 The connection points among sub-layers are known as the Service Access Points (SAP). The
service provided by PDCP is referred to as the radio bearer. The PDCP provides the Robust
Header Compression (ROHC) and security protection. The SAP between the physical layer
and MAC layer provides transport channels and that between the MAC layer and RLC layer
provides logical channels.

9 The MAC layer provides multiplexing and mapping of logical channels (radio bearer) to
transport channels (transport block).

10 Only one transport block is generated at each TTI (1 ms) in the uplink or downlink in the
case of non-MIMO.

5.1 MAC Sub-Layer

5.1.1 MAC Functions

11 The MAC sub-layer provides the following functions:

Mapping between logical channels and transport channels

MAC Service Data Unit (SDU) multiplexing/demultiplexing

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Scheduling information report

Error correction through HARQ

Logical channel prioritization of the same UE

UE prioritization through dynamic scheduling

Selection of transmission formats

Padding

5.1.2 Logical Channels

12 The MAC layer provides different types of data transmission services. The type of each
logical channel is defined based on the type of transmitted data.

13 Logical channels are categorized into:

Control channels: used to transfer data on the control plane.

Traffic channels: used to transfer data on the user plane.

14 Control channels include:

Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH).

15 This is a downlink channel which is used to broadcast System Information (SI) and any
Public Warning System (PWS) messages. In the RLC layer, it is associated with a TM RLC
entity.

Paging Control Channel (PCCH).

16 The PCCH is a downlink channel used to transfer paging messages and system information
change notifications. The PCCH is used to page a UE when the UE cell location is unknown
to the network.

Common Control Channel (CCCH).

17 This channel is used to deliver control information in both uplink and downlink directions
when there is no confirmed association between a UE and the eNodeB i.e. during
connection establishment. In the RLC layer, it is associated with a TM RLC entity.

Multicast Control Channel (MCCH).

18 A point-to-multipoint downlink channel used for transmitting MBMS control information

from the network to the UE for one or several MTCHs. This channel is only used for UEs
that receive MBMS.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH).

19 This channel is used to transmit dedicated control information relating to a specific UE, in
both uplink and downlink directions. It is used when a UE has an RRC connection with
eNodeB. In the RLC layer, it is associated with an AM RLC entity

20 Traffic channels include:

Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH).

21 This channel is used to transmit dedicated user data in both uplink and downlink directions.
In the RLC layer, it can be associated with either a UM RLC entity or an AM RLC entity

Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH).

22 A point-to-multipoint downlink channel for transmitting traffic data from the network to the
UE. This channel is only used for UEs that receive MBMS.

5.1.3 Mapping Between Logical Channels and Transport Channels

23 Error: Reference source not found and Error: Reference source not found show the mapping
between downlink and uplink logical channels and transport channels.

24 Figure 5.1-30 Mapping Between Downlink Logical Channels and Transport Channels

25

26

27 Figure 5.1-31 Mapping between uplink logical channels and transport channels
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

28

29

5.2 RLC Sub-Layer

5.2.1 RLC Functions

30 The RLC sub-layer provides the following functions:

Transfer of upper layer PDUs

Error Correction through ARQ (only for AM data transfer)

Concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs (only for UM and AM

data transfer)

Re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs (only for AM data transfer)

In-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs (only for UM and AM data transfer)

Duplicate detection (only for UM and AM data transfer)

Protocol error detection and recovery

RLC SDU discard (only for UM and AM data transfer)

RLC re-establishment

5.2.2 PDU Structure

31 Error: Reference source not found shows the RLC PDU structure.

The PDU sequence number carried by the RLC header is independent of the SDU
sequence number (that is, the PDCP sequence number).

The red dotted lines in Error: Reference source not found indicate segmentation
positions.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

32 Figure 5.2-32 RLC PDU Structure

33

34

5.3 PDCP Sub-Layer

5.3.1 PDCP Functions

35 The main services and functions of the PDCP sub-layer for the user plane include:

Header compression and decompression: ROHC only

Transfer of user data

In-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs at PDCP re-establishment procedure for

RLC AM

Duplicate detection of lower layer SDUs at PDCP re-establishment procedure for

RLC AM

Retransmission of PDCP SDUs at handover for RLC AM

Ciphering and deciphering

Timer-based SDU discard in uplink

The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the control plane include:

Ciphering and Integrity Protection

Transfer of control plane data

5.3.2 PDU Structure

36 Error: Reference source not found shows the PDCP PDU structure.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

PDCP PDU and PDCP header are octet-aligned.

PDCP header can be either 1 or 2 bytes long.

37 Figure 5.3-33 PDCP PDU Structure

38

39
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

6 RRC

6.1 RRC Functions

40 The main Functions of RRC include:

Broadcast of system information related to the NASs

Broadcast of system information related to the ASs

Paging

Establishment, retention, and release of RRC connection between UEs and E-

UTRANs, including:

- Allocation of temporary identifiers between UEs and E-UTRANs

- Configuration of the Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) for RRC connection

- Low priority and high priority SRBs

Security management including key management

Establishment, configuration, retention, and release point-to-point RBs

Mobility management, including:

- Measurement report and reporting control of the mobile UEs between cells
and between RATs.

- Handover

- UE cell selection and reselection. Cell selection and reselection control

- Context forwarding during handover

MBMS notification

Establishment, configuration, retention, and release of RBs for the MBMS

QoS management

UE measurement report and reporting control

NAS direct transfer

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

6.2 RRC State

41 The RRC states include RRC_IDLE and RRC_CONNECTED

RRC idle state (RRC_IDLE)

42 PLMN selection

43 DRX configured by NAS

44 System information broadcast

45 Paging

46 Cell reselection mobility

47 A unique identifier allocated to a UE within a Tracking Area (TA)

48 No RRC contexts stored in eNodeBs

Connection state (RRC_CONNECTED)

49 The UE has an E-UTRAN-RRC connection.

50 The UE has a context in E-UTRAN.

51 The E-UTRAN knows the cell to which the UE belongs.

52 The network can transmit and receive data to/from the UEs.

53 Network-controlled mobility (handover).

54 Neighboring cell measurements.

55 PDCP/RLC/MAC features in RRC_CONNECTED state:

56 The UE can transmit and receive data to/from the networks.

57 The UE intercepts controlled signaling channels related to the shared data channels to view
that whether the UE is allocated any data on the shared data channel.

58 The UE also reports channel quality information and feeds back information to eNodeB.

59 The DRX cycle can be conformed according to the UE mobility level to save UE power and
enhance resource efficiency. This function is controlled by eNodeB.

6.3 NAS State and the Relationship With the RRC State
60 The NAS state model can be described by the two-dimensional state model of the EPS
Mobility Management state (EMM) and the EPS Connection Management state.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

EMM state:

61 EMM-DEREGISTERED state

62 EMM-REGISTERED state

ECM state:

63 ECM-IDLE state

64 ECM-CONNECTED state

65 Note: The EMM state and the ECM state are mutually independent.

66 The relationship between the NAS state and the RRC state is as follows:

EMM-DEREGISTERED state + ECM-IDLE state RRC_IDLE state

67 Mobility feature: PLMN selection

68 UE location: Unknown to the network.

EMM-REGISTERED state + ECM-IDLE state RRC_IDLE state

69 Mobility feature: Cell selection

70 UE location: Known to the network at TA level.

EMM-REGISTERED state + ECM-CONNECTED state + RB Established

RRC_CONNECTED state

71 Mobility feature: Handover

72 UE location: Known to the network at cell level.

6.4 RRC Procedure

73 The RRC procedure includes system information, connection control, mobility procedure,
measurements, and direct transfer.

6.4.1 System Information

74 System information includes the Master Information Block (MIB) and a series of System
Information Blocks (SIBs).

Master Information Block: defines the most important physical information of the
cells and is used to receive a further system information.

System Information Block Type 1: assesses the related information of whether the
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

UE is allowed to access to a cell and defines the dispatch of other system

information blocks.

System Information Block Type 2: includes common and shared channel

information.

System Information Block Type 3: includes cell reselection information that is

mainly related to the service cells.

System Information Block Type 4: includes cell reselection related service

frequency points and intra-frequency neighboring cell information.

System Information Block Type 5: includes cell reselection related other E-UTRA
frequency points and inter-frequency neighboring cell information.

System Information Block Type 6: includes cell reselection related UTRA

frequency points and UTRA neighboring cell information.

System Information Block Type 7: includes cell reselection related GERAN

frequency points information.

System Information Block Type 8: includes cell reselection related CDMA2000

frequency points and CDMA2000 neighboring cell information.

System Information Block Type 9: includes home eNodeB identifiers (HNBID).

System Information Block Type 10: includes ETWS primary notification.

System Information Block Type 11: includes ETWS secondary notification.

The MIB maps to the BCCH and BCH. The SI maps to the BCCH and DL-SCH,
and is identifies through the System Information RNTI (SI-RNTI). The MIB uses a
fixed dispatch cycle of 40 ms. The System Information Block Type 1 uses a fixed
dispatch cycle of 80 ms. The other SI dispatch cycle is not fixed and indicated by
the System Information Block Type 1.

6.4.2 RRC Connection Control

75 RRC connection control includes:

Paging

RRC connection establishment

Initial security activation

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

RRC connection reconfiguration

Counter check

RRC connection re-establishment

RRC connection release

Radio resource configuration

SRB addition/ modification

DRB release

SRB addition/ modification

MAC main reconfiguration

Semi-persistent scheduling reconfiguration

Physical channel reconfiguration

Radio link failure related actions

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

7 Orthogonal Frequency Division

Multiplexing (OFDM)

76 In the LTE system, the CP OFDM technology is used in the downlink direction while the CP
SC-FDMA technology is used in the uplink direction.

7.1 Downlink OFDMA

7.1.1 Basic Principles of OFDM

77 Transmission by means of OFDM can be seen as a kind of multi-carrier transmission.

Compared with the traditional multi-carrier transmission, more and narrower orthogonal
subcarriers are used for transmission, see the following figure.

78 Figure 7.1-34 Orthogonal Subcarriers

79

80 An illustrative description of a basic OFDM modulator is provided in the following figure. It

consists of a bank of Nc complex modulators, where each modulator corresponds to one
OFDM subcarrier.

81 Figure 7.1-35 OFDM Modulator

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

82

83 In complex baseband notation, a basic OFDM signal x(t) during the time interval mT u t <
(m+1) Tu can thus be expressed as
Nc 1 Nc 1
x t xk t a m
k e j 2kft
84 k 0 k 0

85 where xk(t) is the kth modulated subcarrier with frequency f k = k f and ak(m) is the, in
general complex, modulation symbol applied to the k th subcarrier during the m th OFDM
symbol interval, i.e. during the time interval mT u t < (m+1)Tu. OFDM transmission is thus
block based, implying that, during each OFDM symbol interval, N c modulation symbols are
transmitted in parallel. The modulation symbols can be from any modulation alphabet, such
as QPSK, 16QAM, or 64QAM.

86 Figure 7.1-36 OFDM Subcarriers

87

88 Figure 7.1-37 basic principle of Modulation

89
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

90

91 The term Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex is due to the fact that two modulated
OFDM subcarriers xk1 and xk2 are mutually orthogonal over the time interval mT u t <
(m+1)Tu, i.e.
m1 Tu m1 Tu

x t x t dt a a e j 2k1ft e j 2k2ft dt 0 k1 k 2
* *
k1 k2 k1 k 2
mTu mTu
92

93 The following figure illustrates the basic principle of OFDM demodulation consisting of a
bank of correlators, one for each subcarrier.

94 Figure 7.1-38 basic principle of OFDM demodulation

95

7.1.2 OFDM Implementation Using IFFT/FFT Processing

96 OFDM allows for low-complexity implementation by means of computationally efficient

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing.

97 To confirm this, consider a time-discrete (sampled) OFDM signal where it is assumed that
the sampling rate fs is a multiple of the subcarrier spacing f , i.e. f s = 1/Ts = N f. The
parameter N should be chosen so that the sampling theorem [50] is sufficiently fulfilled. As
Nc f can be seen as the nominal bandwidth of the OFDM signal, this implies that N should
exceed Nc with a sufficient margin.

98 With these assumptions, the time-discrete OFDM signal can be expressed as

Nc 1 Nc 1 N 1
xn x nTs ak e j 2kfnTs ak e j 2kn / N a'k e j 2kn / N
99 k 0 k 0 k 0

100 Where

ak 0 k Nc
a 'k
0 Nc k N
101

102 The index m on the modulation symbols, indicating the OFDM-symbol number, will be
ignored unless especially needed.

103 The sequence xn , i.e. the sampled OFDM signal, is the size- N Inverse Discrete Fourier
Transform (IDFT) of the block of modulation symbols a 0 , a1 , , aNc-1 extended with zeros
to length N. OFDM modulation can thus be implemented by means of IDFT processing
followed by digital-to-analog conversion, as illustrated in the following figure. Especially, by
selecting the IDFT size N equal to 2m for some integer m , the OFDM modulation can be
implemented by means of implementation-efficient radix-2 Inverse Fast Fourier Transform
(IFFT) processing.

104 Similar to OFDM modulation, efficient FFT processing can be used for OFDM
demodulation, replacing the bank of N c parallel demodulators of the above figure with
sampling with some sampling rate fs = 1/Ts, followed by a size-N DFT/FFT, as illustrated in
the following figure.

105 Figure 7.1-39 FFT processing

 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

106

107

7.1.3 Cyclic-Prefix Insertion

108 In case of a time-dispersive channel the orthogonality between the subcarriers will, at least
partly, be lost. The reason for this loss of subcarrier orthogonality in case of a time-dispersive
channel is that, in this case, the demodulator correlation interval for one path will overlap
with the symbol boundary of a different path, as illustrated in the following figure. Thus, the
integration interval will not necessarily correspond to an integer number of periods of
complex exponentials of that path as the modulation symbols ak may differ between
consecutive symbol intervals. As a consequence, in case of a time-dispersive channel there
will not only be inter-symbol interference within a subcarrier but also interference between
subcarriers.

109 Figure 7.1-40 inter-symbol interference

110
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

111

112 To deal with this problem and to make an OFDM signal truly insensitive to time dispersion
on the radio channel, so-called cyclic-prefix insertion is typically used in case of OFDM
transmission. As illustrated in the following figure, cyclic-prefix insertion implies that the
last part of the OFDM symbol is copied and inserted at the beginning of the OFDM symbol.
Cyclic-prefix insertion thus increases the length of the OFDM symbol from T u to Tu + TCP ,
where TCP is the length of the cyclic prefix, with a corresponding reduction in the OFDM
symbol rate as a consequence.

113 As illustrated in the lower part of the following figure, if the correlation at the receiver side is
still only carried out over a time interval Tu = 1/f, subcarrier orthogonality will then be
preserved also in case of a time-dispersive channel, as long as the span of the time dispersion
is shorter than the cyclic- prefix length.

114 Figure 7.1-41 cyclic- prefix

115

116 In practice, cyclic-prefix insertion is carried out on the time-discrete output of the transmitter
IFFT. Cyclic-prefix insertion then implies that the last N CP samples of the IFFT output block
of length N is copied and inserted at the beginning of the block, increasing the block length
from N to N + NCP. At the receiver side, the corresponding samples are discarded before
OFDM demodulation by means of, for example, DFT/FFT processing.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

117 Cyclic-prefix insertion is beneficial in the sense that it makes an OFDM signal insensitive to
time dispersion as long as the span of the time dispersion does not exceed the length of the
cyclic prefix. The drawback of cyclic-prefix insertion is that only a fraction T u /(Tu + TCP) of
the received signal power is actually utilized by the OFDM demodulator, implying a
corresponding power loss in the demodulation. In addition to this power loss, cyclic-prefix
insertion also implies a corresponding loss in terms of bandwidth as the OFDM symbol rate
is reduced without a corresponding reduction in the overall signal bandwidth.

7.1.4 LTE OFDM Parameters

118 For OFDM transmission, the basic OFDM parameters are listed as follows:

119 Subcarrier spacing f .

. It works with f to determine the transmission bandwidth of

Nc
120 Number of subcarriers
OFDM signals.
TCP f 1 / Tu
121 Cyclic prefix length . It works with the subcarrier spacing to determine
T TCP Tu
theOFDM symbol time length .

122 For LTE downlink transmission, the basic OFDM parameters are listed as follows:

123 Subcarrier spacing: The following two types of subcarrier spacing are supported

124
f 15kHz , used for unicast and muticast transmissions.

125 f 7.5kHz , only used for MBSFN transmission for independent carriers.
Nc
126 Number of subcarriers . Different system bandwidths have different number of
subcarriers. The following table lists the number of subcarriers specified for LTE.

127 128 129 130 131 132 133

Chan 1.4 3 5 10 15 20
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

134
Num

135 136 137 138 139 140

72 180 300 600 900 1200

141 Cyclic prefix length

TCP
: For
f 15kHz , two cyclic prefixes are supported: common CP
and extended CP, repectively used for different transmission environments. For
f 7.5kHz , only the extended CP is supported. Meanwhile, to ensure that the timeslot
length is 0.5 ms, different OFDM symbols have different cyclic prefix lengths, refer to the
following table.

142 Configur 143 Cyclic Prefix

ation N CP ,l
Length
144 145 146 160 for l 0
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

144 for l 1,2,..., 6

148 149
147 f 15 kHz 512 for l 0,1,..., 5
151 152
f 7.5 kHz 1024 for l 0,1,2

N CP ,l
153 Where represents the sample value contained in the cyclic prefix corresponding to the
Lth OFDM symbol in a timeslot.

7.2 Uplink SC-FDMA

154 SC-FDMA, namely DFTS-OFDM, is used as the uplink transmission scheme for LTE.

7.2.1 Basic Principles of DFTS-OFDM

155 The basic principle of DFTS-OFDM transmission is illustrated in the following figure.

156 A block of M modulation symbols from some modulation alphabet, e.g. QPSK or 16QAM, is
first applied to a size-M DFT. The output of the DFT is then applied to consecutive inputs
(subcarriers) of an OFDM modulator where, in practice, the OFDM modulator will be
implemented as a size-N inverse DFT (IDFT) with N > M and where the unused inputs of the
IDFT are set to zero. Typically, the IDFT size N is selected as N = 2 n for some integer n to
allow for the IDFT to be implemented by means of computationally efficient radix-2 IFFT
processing. Also similar to normal OFDM, a cyclic prefix is preferable inserted for each
transmitted block. The presence of a cyclic prefix allows for straightforward low-complexity
frequency-domain equalization at the receiver side.

157 Figure 7.2-42 Basic Principles of DFTS-OFDM

158

159
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

160 If the DFT size M would equal the IDFT size N , the cascaded DFT/IDFT processing would
obviously completely cancel out each other. However, if M is smaller than N and the
remaining inputs to the IDFT are set to zero, the output of the IDFT will be a signal with
single-carrier properties, namely, a signal with low power variations, and with a bandwidth
that depends on M. More specifically, assuming a sampling rate f s at the output of the IDFT,
BW M / N f s
the nominal bandwidth of the transmitted signal will be . Thus, by varying
the block size M, the instantaneous bandwidth of the transmitted signal can be varied,
allowing for flexible-bandwidth assignment.

161 To have a high degree of flexibility in the instantaneous bandwidth, given by the DFT size M
, it is typically not possible to ensure that M can be expressed as 2 m for some integer m.
However, as long as M can be expressed as a product of relatively small prime numbers, the
DFT can still be implemented as relatively lowcomplexity non-radix-2 FFT processing. As
an example, a DFT size M = 144 can be implemented by means of a combination of radix-2
and radix-3 FFT processing (144 = 32 24 ).

162 The following two methods can be used for mapping from the DFT output to IDFT input:

Localized DFTS-OFDM

Distributed DFTS-OFDM

163 What has been illustrated in the following figure represents the two methods. Localized
DFTS-OFDM refers to the fact that the output of the DFT is mapped to consecutive inputs of
the OFDM modulator. Distributed DFTS-OFDM refers to the fact that the output of the DFT
is mapped to equidistant inputs of the OFDM modulator with zeros inserted in between.

164 Figure 7.2-43 mapping from the DFT output to IDFT input

165
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

166

167 The following figure illustrates the basic structure of the transmitted spectrum in the case of
localized and distributed DFTS-OFDM, respectively. Although the spectrum of the localized
DFTS-OFDM signal clearly indicates a single-carrier transmission, this is not as clearly seen
from the spectrum of the distributed DFTS-OFDM signal. However, it can be shown that a
distributed DFTS-OFDM signal has similar power variations as localized DFTS-OFDM.
Actually, it can be shown that a distributed DFTS-OFDM signal is equivalent to so-called
Interleaved FDMA (IFDMA). The benefit of distributed DFTS-OFDM, compared to
localized DFTS-OFDM, is the possibility for additional frequency diversity as even a low-
rate distributed DFTS-OFDM signal (small DFT size M can be spread over a potentially very
large overall transmission bandwidth.

168 Figure 7.2-44 transmitted spectrum in localized and distributed DFTS-OFDM

169

170 Distributed DFTS-OFDM is not used for signal transmission for LTE.

7.2.2 LTE DFTS-OFDM Parameters

171 Similar to OFDM, DFTS-OFDM has the following basic parameters:

172 Subcarrier spacing f .

. It works with f to determine the transmission bandwidth of

Nc
173 Number of subcarriers
DFTS-OFDM signals.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

TCP f 1 / Tu
174 Cyclic prefix length . It works with the subcarrier spacing to determine the
T TCP Tu
DFTS-OFDM symbol time length .

175
Chan

176 177 178 179 180 181

1.4 3 5 10 15 20

182 183 184 185 186 187 188

Num 72 180 300 600 900 1200
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

189 For LTE uplink transmission, the basic DFTS-OFDM parameters are listed as follows:

190 Subcarrier spacing: Only one subcarrier spacing is supported, that is,

191
f 15kHz

Nc
192 Number of subcarriers . Different system bandwidths have different number of
subcarriers. The following table lists the nubmer of subcarriers specified for LTE.
TCP
193 Cyclic prefix length : Two cyclic prefixes are supported: common CP and extended CP,
repectively used for different transmission environments. Meanwhile, to ensure that the
timeslot length is 0.5 ms, different DFTS-OFDM symbols have different cyclic prefix
lengths, refer to the following table.

194
195 Cyclic Prefix
C N CP ,l
Length

196
197 160 for l 0
C
144 for l 1,2,..., 6

198
199
Ex
512 for l 0,1,..., 5

N CP ,l
200 Where represents the sample value contained in the cyclic prefix corresponding to the
Lth DFTS-OFDM symbol in a timeslot.
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Appendix A Abbreviation

201
A 202 Full Name

203
3 204 3rd Generation Partnership Project

205
B 206 Binary Phase Shift Keying

207
C 208 Capital Expenditure

209
D 210 Discrete Fourier Transform

211
D 212 Discontinuous Reception

213
E- 214 Evolved Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service

215
e 216 Evolution Node B

217
E 218 evolved 3G

219
E 220 Evolved Packet Core

221
E- 222 Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access

223
H 224 High Chip Rate
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

201
A 202 Full Name

225
H 226 Home eNodeB

227
I 228 Inter Access System Anchor

229
IF 230 Inverse Discrete Fourier transform

231
L 232 Low Chip Rate

233
L 234 low-density parity-check

235
L 236 Long Term Evolution

237
M 238 Multiple Input Multiple Output

239
M 240 Mobile Management Entity

241
O 242 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex

243
O 244 Operating Expenditure

245
P 246 Peak to Average Power Ratio

247
Q 248 QUADRATURE AMPLITUDE MODULATION

249
Q 250 Quality of Service
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

201
A 202 Full Name

251
Q 252 QUADRATURE PHASE SHIFT KEYING

253
R 254 Radio Resource Control

255
S 256 System Architecture Evolution

257
S 258 Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

259
S 260 Spatial Division Multiple

261
S- 262 Serving Gateway

263
T 264 Transmission Time Interval
 Chapter 4 Physical Layer

Appendix B Reference Document

265
266 Name

268 25.912 Feasibility study for evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio

267
Access (UTRA) and Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network
1
(UTRAN)
269 270 25.913 Requirements for Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA) and Evolved
2 UTRAN (E-UTRAN)
272 36.300 Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA)
271
and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-
3
UTRAN), Overall description
273 274 25.814 Physical layer aspects for evolved Universal Terrestrial
4 Radio Access (UTRA)
275
276 36.211 Physical Channels and Modulation
5
277
278 36.212 Multiplexing and channel coding
6
279
280 36.213 Physical layer procedures
7
281
282 36.214 Physical layer Measurements
8
283
284 36.302 Services provided by the physical layer
9
285
286 36.331 Radio Resource Control (RRC)
10
287
288 36.104 Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception
11
289
290 36.321 Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification
12
292 23.401 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements for
291
Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-
13
UTRAN) access
293
294 23.203 Policy and charging control architecture
14

295