LTE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

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T he information flows between the different protocols are known as channels and sig nals. LT E uses several different types of log ical, transport and physical channel, which are disting uished by the kind of information they carry and by the way in which the information is processed. Log ic al Channels: : Define whattype of information is transmitted over the air, e.g . traffic channels, control channels, system broadcast, etc. Data and sig nalling messag es are carried on log ical channels between the RLC and MAC protocols. T ransport Channels: Define howis something transmitted over the air, e.g . what are encoding , interleaving options used to transmit data. Data and sig nalling messag es are carried on transport channels between the MAC and the physical layer. Physic al Channels: Define whereis something transmitted over the air, e.g . first N symbols in the DL frame. Data and sig nalling messag es are carried on physical channels between the different levels of the physical layer.

Log ical Channels

Log ical channels define what type of data is transferred. T hese channels define the data-transfer services offered by the MAC layer. Data and sig nalling messag es are carried on log ical channels between the RLC and MAC protocols. Log ical channels can be divided into control channels and traffic channels. Control Channel can be either common channel or dedicated channel. A common channel means common to all users in a cell (Point to multipoint) while dedicated channels means channels can be used only by one user (Point to Point). Log ical channels are disting uished by the information they carry and can be classified in two ways. Firstly, log ical traffic channels carry data in the user plane, while log ical control channels carry sig nalling messag es in the control plane. Following table lists the log ical channels that are used by LT E:

Channel Name Broadcast Control Channel Pag ing Control Channel Common Control Channel Dedicated Control Channel Multicast Control Channel Dedicated T raffic Channel Multicast T raffic Channel

Ac ronym BCCH PCCH CCCH DCCH MCCH DT CH MT CH

Control c hannel X X X X X

T raffic c hannel

X X

Transport Channels
T ransport channels define how and with what type of characteristics the data is transferred by the physical layer. Data and sig nalling messag es are carried on transport channels between the MAC and the physical layer. T ransport Channels are disting uished by the ways in which the transport channel processor manipulates them. Following table lists the transport channels that are used by LT E:

Channel Name

Ac ronym

Downlink

Uplink

Broadcast Channel Downlink Shared Channel Pag ing Channel Multicast Channel Uplink Shared Channel Random Access Channel

BCH DL-SCH PCH MCH UL-SCH RACH

X X X X X X

Physical Channels
Data and sig nalling messag es are carried on physical channels between the different levels of the physical layer and according ly they are divided into two parts: Physical Data Channels Physical Control Channels

Physical data channels

Physical data channels are disting uished by the ways in which the physical channel processor manipulates them, and by the ways in which they are mapped onto the symbols and sub-carriers used by Orthog onal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDMA). Following table lists the physic al data c hannels that are used by LT E:

Channel Name Physical downlink shared channel Physical broadcast channel Physical multicast channel Physical uplink shared channel Physical random access channel

Ac ronym PDSCH PBCH PMCH PUSCH PRACH

Downlink X X X

Uplink

X X

T he transport c hannel processor composes several types of control information, to support the low-level operation of the physical layer. T hese are listed in the below table:

Field Name Downlink control information Control format indicator Hybrid ARQ indicator Uplink control information

Ac ronym DCI CFI HI UCI

Downlink X X X

Uplink

Physical Control Channels

T he transport channel processor also creates control information that supports the low-level operation of the physical layer and sends this information to the physical channel processor in the form of physical control channels.

T he information travels as far as the transport channel processor in the receiver, but is completely invisible to hig her layers. Similarly, the physical channel processor creates physical sig nals, which support the lowest-level aspects of the system. Physical Control Channels are listed in the below table:

Channel Name Physical control format indicator channel Physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel Physical downlink control channel Relay physical downlink control channel Physical uplink control channel

Ac ronym PCFICH PHICH PDCCH R-PDCCH PUCCH

Downlink X X X X

Uplink

T he base station also transmits two other physical sig nals, which help the mobile acquire the base station after it first switches on. T hese are known as the primary synchronization sig nal (PSS) and the secondary synchronization sig nal (SSS).