Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Rev. B 06/13
SPIRENT
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Web: http://www.spirent.com
Introduction
LTE-Advanced was introduced to meet the worlds demand for faster data delivery and
increased coverage. LTE-Advanced target parameters are defined in the 3GPPs
TR 36.9131 document, but high-level requirements include:
A quick calculation shows that both the uplink and downlink require more than 20 MHz
of bandwidth to achieve these targets. However, finding sufficient contiguous spectrum
is usually not an option for those deploying LTE & LTE-Advanced.
The term spectrum fragmentation is one that is often used to describe the large
number of spectral bands expected to be used for LTE deployments around the
world, which is an issue with respect to global roaming. Spectrum fragmentation also
describes the lack of contiguous bands for deploying the high data rates required by
advanced wireless services.
As an example, Figure 1 depicts one LTE network operators holdings in a top-tier city.
Note that this operators holdings in the region amount to 50 MHz of spectrum, but a
single contiguous 20-MHz band cannot be constructed from the available holdings.
1850
1870
1890
1910
1930
1950
1970
1990
This problem is universal, and is addressed in 3GPP Release 10 by the concept of carrier
aggregation.
1 3GPP TR 36.913: Requirements for further advancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
(E-UTRA) (LTE-Advanced)
1
Having the flexibility to schedule data across multiple carriers to the same device
provides spatial and frequency diversity, allowing for more reliable communication to
the mobile. Also, with cross carrier scheduling, all carriers can be managed by one cell.
This introduces a new option for managing Inter Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC).
It should be noted that the strategy driving the LTE-Advanced feature set is meant to
address the need for increased flexibility in network planning and data scheduling.
Carrier aggregation is just one part of the holistic implementation of that strategy; other
aspects include modulation, spatial multiplexing and Transport Block Size (TBS).
Inter-Band
Carrier Aggregation
Intra-Band
Carrier Aggregation
(Contiguous)
Intra-Band
Carrier Aggregation
(Non-Contiguous)
The mobile is connected to a primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells
(SCells). The mobile establishes an RRC connection only to the primary cell and will only
transmit PUCCH (uplink control information) to the primary cell. The SCell(s) transmit
PDCCH and PDSCH (downlink control and data) and receives the PUSCH (uplink data).
SCells may optionally not use the PDCCH if a feature called cross-carrier scheduling is
supported by both the UE and the network; cross-carrier scheduling is a process where
scheduling for all the bearers are managed by one of them, namely the PCell bearer.
This reserves the SCell traffic pipes for data only.
In terms of network architecture, the main layers impacted by carrier aggregation are
the RRC, MAC and PHY layers. The core network, PDCP and RLC are not impacted by
carrier aggregation; in fact, from the perspective of the user plane, the aggregated
carrier is a single bearer just like any other.
Aggregated Transmission
Bandwidth Configuration
Maximum Number
of Component
Carriers (CC)
N 100
N 100
100 N 200
200 N [300]
Under study
[300] N [400]
Under study
[400] N [500]
Under study
As of Release 10, a UE should be able to indicate which bands it supports and should
be able to report on its carrier aggregation capability for each band. Table 2 and Table 3
show intra-band continuous carrier aggregation capabilities and inter-band capabilities
defined in the Release 10 specification.
CA Configuration / NRB_agg
CA
Configuration
CA_1C
CA_7C
CA_38C
CA_40C
CA_41C
E-UTRA
Band
1
7
38
40
41
50RB+100RB
(10 MHz +
20 MHz)
75RB+75RB
(15 MHz +
15 MHz)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
75RB+100RB
(15MHz +
20 MHz)
100RB+100RB
(20 MHz +
20 MHz)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Maximum
Aggregated
Bandwidth
[MHz]
Bandwidth
Combination
Set
40
40
40
0
0
Maximum
Aggregated
Bandwidth
[MHz]
Bandwidth
Combination
Set
20
35
20
30
20
30
20
20
CA_1A-5A
CA_1A-18A
CA_1A-19A
CA_1A-21A
CA_2A-17A
CA_2A-29A
CA_3A-5A
CA_3A-7A
CA_3A-8A
CA_3A-20A
CA_4A-12A
CA_4A-13A
CA_4A-17A
CA_7A-20A
CA_11A-18A
E-UTRA
Band
1.4
MHz
1
5
1
18
1
19
1
21
2
17
2
29
3
5
3
5
3
7
3
8
3
8
3
20
4
12
4
13
4
17
7
20
11
3
MHz
Yes
5
MHz
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
10
MHz
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
15
MHz
20
MHz
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Measurement events
UE category:
Table 4 lists UE categories as of Release 10. Categories 6-8 imply carrier
aggregation support. It is worth noting that categories 6 and 7 do not offer
any improvement in downlink throughput over category 5. They offer different
configurations that can achieve the same throughput without relying on
contiguous 20 MHz bandwidth.
3GPP
Release
User
Equipment
Category
Maximum L1
Data Rate
Downlink
Maximum
Number of DL
MIMO layers
Maximum L1
Data Rate
Uplink
Release 8
Category 1
10.3 Mbits/s
5.2 Mbit/s
Release 8
Category 2
51.0 Mbits/s
25.5 Mbit/s
Release 8
Category 3
102.0 Mbits/s
51.0 Mbit/s
Release 8
Category 4
150.8 Mbits/s
51.0 Mbit/s
Release 8
Category 5
299.6 Mbits/s
75.4 Mbit/s
Release 10
Category 6
301.5 Mbits/s
2 or 4
51.0 Mbit/s
Release 10
Category 7
301.5 Mbits/s
2 or 4
102.0 Mbit/s
Release 10
Category 8
2998.6 Mbits/s
1497.8 Mbit/s
Table 4 - UE categories
2 3GPP TS 36.331: Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC);
Protocol specification
3 3GPP TS 36.306: Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio access
capabilities
Spirent white paper
Cross-Carrier Scheduling
Defines whether the UE supports cross-carrier scheduling operation.
Multi-cluster PUSCH
If the UE indicates support of carrier aggregation in the uplink, then the UE
supports PUSCH transmissions over non-contiguous resource blocks across
any UL component carriers which the UE can aggregate.
Event A6 support
Indicates that the UE supports enabling and triggering measurement event
A6 related to a SCell. Event A6 is described in the next section (Measurement
Events) of this document.
Further details can be found in the 3GPPs specification for UE radio access
capabilities4.
Measurement Events
Measurement procedures and capabilities are used by the network to manage
network resources and perform different mobility procedures. Measurement event
A6 is introduced as an optional UE capability in release 10 to enable the addition and
removal of SCells. In Release 10, Events A3 and A5 are specific to PCells.
Table 5 describes events A3, A5 and A6.
Event
Relevant Cell
Description
A3
PCell
A5
PCell
A6
SCell
4 3GPP TS 36.306: Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio access
capabilities
7
This procedure can only add an SCell after Access Stratum (AS) security has
been activated.
5 3GPP TS 36.321: Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Medium Access Control (MAC)
protocol specification
9
Release 8
Release 10
Radio Bearers
ROHC
ROHC
PDCP
ROHC
Security Security
RLC
ROHC
PDCP
Segm. Segm.
ARQ etc
ARQ etc
Security Security
RLC
Segm. Segm.
ARQ etc
ARQ etc
MAC
Multiplexing
UE1
Logical Channels
MAC
Multiplexing
UE1
HARQ
HARQ
HARQ
Transport Channels
DL-SCH
on CC1
DL-SCH
on CCx
Figure 2 - Downlink Data Link layer (L2) structures in Release 8 (left) and Release 10 (right)6
The PDCCH may optionally not be transmitted (on the SCell) if cross-carrier
scheduling is enabled. In this case the Downlink Control Information (DCI)
header includes a CIF that identifies the intended carrier.
6 3GPP TS 36.300: Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial
Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2
Spirent white paper
10
Cross-Carrier Scheduling
Release 10 introduces an optional UE capability which allows for scheduling all carriers
via one carriers PDCCH. Enacting all scheduling on the PCell reserves SCells for user
data, minimizing SCell control channel overhead. It also enables coordinated scheduling
of data across multiple carriers, which in turn enables efficient network planning.
Channel Quality
Downlink channel quality is measured by the UE and reported to the base-station in
the Uplink Control Information (UCI). The UCI field includes a CIF that indicates which
component carrier is being referenced. This is used in the case when cross-carrier
scheduling is enabled.
Uplink channel quality is measured by the base-station using Sounding Reference
Symbols (SRS) transmitted by the UE. As of Release 10, an optional capability allows
the UE to transmit SRS on secondary cells as well as primary cells.
Downlink Monitoring
Release 8 introduced the Radio Link Failure procedure. This procedure remains the
same with the introduction of carrier aggregation. The only clarification made in the
specification is that Radio Link Failure is only triggered by the UE upon failure of the
PCell, and is not triggered by failure of a SCell. Upon radio link reestablishment, all
SCells are deleted from the UEs list of serving cells.
Timing Advance
Timing advance is a method in which a base-station requests that a mobile adjusts its
uplink timing (relative to downlink time) in order to mitigate the effect of propagation
delay. In carrier aggregation, only a single timing advance value is used by the
E-UTRAN; this value is applied to all carriers.
11
Functional Tests
Functional tests are targeted at testing specific sub-features or procedures introduced
to the specifications to support carrier aggregation. They cover RRC, MAC, PHY layers
and Radio Resource Management (RRM).
One example of a functional test introduced by carrier aggregation is verification of
the SCell deactivation MAC timer. A network that supports carrier aggregation must
configure each mobile with a deactivation timer. This timer tells the mobile when to
stop monitoring an SCell. To verify that a mobile being tested has stopped monitoring
an SCell, a test should schedule data on the SCell after the timer has expired. By
monitoring the behavior of the mobile, the tester or automated test can verify whether
or not the mobile has behaved properly with respect to the timer. The following table
lists additional examples of functional tests:
Test Focus
RRC
MAC and
Physical
Layer
12
Performance Tests
Performance tests are system tests that are intended to characterize the RF and endto-end performance of a mobile under different scenarios and channel conditions. The
introduction of additional carriers provides new methods to reach target throughput
numbers, mainly by maintaining multiple streams from different carriers. This has a
direct impact on the mobiles performance, since throughput is now dependent on other
factors; each carrier will experience different channel conditions (especially in the case
of inter-band aggregation) and loading. Examples of performance test cases:
Acceptance Testing
Acceptance testing can be divided into two main groups: Conformance Testing and
Service Provider Testing.
Conformance Testing
These are tests mandated by standards bodies for device certification, in this case
3GPP, GCF and PTCRB. All mobile equipment must pass these tests before being
commercially deployed. Test specifications 36.521 and 37.571 list different carrier
aggregation test cases testing different aspects of carrier aggregation.
13
14
CONCLUSION
Recognizing the looming spectrum shortage and the need to boost LTE speeds,
operators on a global scale are shifting gears to ensure their LTE networks will be
compatible with LTE-3GPP Release 10, LTE-Advanced. Carrier aggregation has been
specified by 3GPP as the method for addressing the wireless industrys requirement for
greater spectrum utilization and faster data delivery.
By enabling RRC connections with multiple cells at low protocol layers, this Release
10 feature creates wide-band bearers for delivery of higher data rates. With the
challenge of combining relatively disparate contiguous and non-contiguous bands of
spectrum into a single logical channel, comes the guarantee of significant complexity
in development and testing. When considering the various types of carrier aggregation
and the possible combinations, it is not difficult to imagine the numerous test cases
and scenarios that will need to be addressed.
This paper was produced to provide an overview of carrier aggregation, the impacts
of implementation on relevant protocol layers and a discussion on how implementing
carrier aggregation affects the requirements for mobile device testing during
development. With years of experience of bringing real-world network and radio
channel conditions into the lab, Spirent is well positioned to support device developers
in addressing the challenges of carrier aggregation implementation.
15
Acronyms
The following is a list of all acronyms/abbreviations used in this document:
3GPP
AS
Access Stratum
CC
Component Carrier
CIF
DCI
E-UTRA
E-UTRAN
EV-DO
GCF
HARQ
Hybrid Automatic-Repeat-Request
HSDPA
HSUPA
IE
Information Element
LCID
LTE
Long-Term Evolution
MAC
PCell
Primary Cell
PDCCH
PDCP
PDSCH
PHY
PHYsical layer
PTCRB
PUCCH
PUSCH
RF
Radio Frequency
RRC
RRM
SCell
Secondary Cell
SRS
TBS
UCI
UE
User Equipment
UMTS
16