Questions:

Q1: Which Transmission Mode is used for control channels like PDCCH, PHICH, PCFICH,
PUCCH etc?
A1: SRBs are transmitted with TxDiv; MIMO is not used.
Q2: How many Codewords (defined as encoded TB at MAC Layer) are supported in LTE
system?
A2: Maximum 2 Codewords are supported as defined by 3GPP.
Q: How receivers can separate the signal from different transmitting antennas?
A: Each antenna port has different REs for reference signals which is sufficient for
the receiver to know the data-stream is coming from which antenna port.
Q3:
1. transmissionMode sets the transmission mode for PDSCH
In TDD, we are using TM3 + isInterTransmissionModeSwitchingEnabled
is set to TM378switchingenabled
dlSinrThresholdBetweenOLMimoAndTxDiv is set to 0
In FDD, we are using TM4 + isInterTransmissionModeSwitchingEnabled
is set to Disabled

dlSinrThresholdBetweenCLMimoTwoLayersAndOneLayer is set to 12
dlSinrThresholdBetweenCLMimoOneLayerAndTxDiv is set to -10 which
means that if UE supports MIMO, it should never go to TxDiv
2. macMIMOModeDL defines if 2 Layer MIMO is allowed in the cell per signaling &
traffic radio bearer
3. cQItoSINRLookUpTable
Q: If a cell has high HARQ retransmissions, what could be the reason?
A: Try to check dlSINRThresholds if their values are set too low.
CQI values 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Defau TD - -
-6 -4 1.25 2.75 5 6.75 8.5 10.8 12.5 14.5 16.3 17.8 20
lt D 2.75 0.75
Value TD - -
-7 -6 -3 0.25 2 4 5.5 8.25 10 12.5 14 18 21
1 D 4.75 1.75
Value TD - -
-7 -6 -3 2 4 6 8.5 10 12 13 16 20 25
2 D 4.75 1.75
Value TD - -
-7 -6 -3 0.25 2 4 5.5 8.25 10 12.5 16 20 25
PDSCH Target 3 D 4.75 1.75
SINR Defau FD - -
-6 -4 1.25 2.75 5 6.75 8.5 10.8 12.5 14.5 16.3 17.8 20
lt D 2.75 0.75
Value FD
-7 -5 -4 -1.5 0 2.25 3.75 6.5 8.25 9.75 11.5 13.3 14 16.3 18.3
1 D
Value FD - -
-6 -4 1.25 2.75 5 6.75 8.5 11.8 13.5 15.5 17 18.8 20
2 D 2.75 0.75
Value FD
-6 -4 -2 -0.5 2 3.75 6 7.25 8.5 10.8 12.5 14.5 16.3 17.8 20
3 D
Q4: UCI is on which layer?
A4: UCI is MAC layer containing CQI, PMI & RI, and Scheduling Request & HARQ and can
be mapped on PUCCH and PUSCH (in case UE is assigned resources in UL)
Q5: How CQI is calculated?
A5: CQI is computed by UE based on received DL Reference Signal Level, RSSI, and the
difference between DL RS transmitted power and PDSCH transmitted power (this
information is provided in SIB2)
Q6: Can PUCCH and PUSCH be transmitted at the same time from the same UE?
A6: No, it is against the property of single carrier FDMA so they can never be
transmitted simultaneously rather they are time multiplexed. So if there is any radio
channel established for a UE, CQI reporting is done on PUSCH instead of PUCCH
Q7: In TDD, which information is carried by UpPTS?
A7: In TDD, UpPTS carrier the UL Sounding reference signals and the random access,
PUCCH is not sent on UpPTS rather is sent at the edge of the bandwidth to keep the
contiguous bandwidth in the middle for data.
Q8: What is Scheduling Request?
A8: Scheduling request is just the presence of PUCCH transmission from UE, no extra
bits are required.
Q: Why UCI/PUCCH Format 2, 2a & 2b does not contain SR?
A: As CQI can be multiplexed with UL-SCH data in PUSCH and it already contains the
BSR so there is no need to send the SR.
Q8: How many Reference Signals per PRB are there for 4 Antennas?
A8: There are only 24 (and not 2x16=32) RS per PRB with 4 antennas because antenna
ports 0 and 1 have twice as many RS as antenna ports 2 and 3 (standard), in order to
reduce the RS overhead.
Q9: Define PBCH?
A9: PBCH is transparent from DL scheduler perspective as there is no MAC header and
this is not granted on PDCCH but permanently assigned, also the content of PBCH is
built at RRC level. It carries MIB (System bandwidth, antenna configuration and
reference signal power)
PBCH is single antenna transmission with TxDiv having modulation QPSK, no HARQ, and
no Quality Feedback
Q10: How many REs are occupied by PCFICH?
A10: PCFICH occupies 1 symbol (Time domain) & 4 REGs = 16 REs (Frequency domain)
equally distributed throughout the bandwidth; the positioning of PCFICH channels is
determined by the PCI (cell specific frequency offset)
Q11: Is it possible to map PDCCH on different antenna port than PBCH?
A11: No, PDCCH is mapped on the same set of antenna ports as that of PBCH; it is
scrambled with 16-bit CRC. First UE tries to decode the PDCCH with Cell ID (PCI) and
then it tries to decode CRC with C-RNTI (to identify which PDCCH is intended for it
particularly)
Q12: What are important DCI (Downlink Control Information) formats?
A12: Following are main DCI formats:
1. DCI0 Used for PUSCH grant important thing is it can indicate if eNB requires
an aperiodic CQI
2. DCI1 PDSCH assignment for TxDiv or single layer assignment
3. DCI2 PDSCH assignment for CL & OL MIMO
4. DCI3 Transmit power Control commands for multiple users with 2 & 1 bit
Q13: How many types of Search Spaces and their usage?
A13: There are 2 types of search spaces:
1. Common Search Space
a. Non-CRNTI Common Search Space (RACH msg4, Paging, SIB (on D-BCH or
PDSCH)
b. C-RNTI Search Space (SRB1, VoIP, Timing Advance Command)
2. UE Specific Search Space (Anything which is not in common search space
Q14: How PDCCHs resources are allocated?
A14: Minimum allocation for PDCCH is CCE (Cotrol Channel Element) = 4 REGs = 36
REs; normally PDCCH are allocated according to aggregation level.
There can be only 2 aggregation levels for common search space PDCCHs (AL = 4 or 8)
For UE Specific Search Space, the aggregation levels are 1,2,4,8 and adaptive (which
depends on CQI mean bad SINR, AL will be higher and if good SINR, AL will be small
with less parity bits)
SINRThresholdBetweenAL4andAL8
Q15: What is the size of Common and UE specific Search Space?
A15: Common Search Space is 20 ms long (length) and 16 subcarriers in depth while UE
Specific Search Space is now dynamic depending upon CFI value.
Q16: PHICH is DL or UL and describe its other characteristics?
A16: PHICH is DL channel which acknowledges the receipt of data on PUSCH.
BPSK modulation Scheme; it occupies 3 REGs = 12 REs during 1 st Symbol. To identify for
which PUSCH transmission the acknowledgment is being sent, PHICH index is associated
with the lowest UL PRB used for the PUSCH transmission.
Q17: How many UL Signals we have?
A17: There are two UL Signals, DRS & SRS, DRS is associated with PUSCH or PUCCH
assigned to the particular UE and can be used for channel estimation, power control,
direction of arrival etc. while SRS is not associated with any PUSCH/PUCCH and used for
wideband channel quality for FSS allocation.
Q18: Why there are 2 Reference Signals in UL unlike DL?
A18: DRS is only transmitted for the subcarriers which are assigned to UE so they are
not providing sufficient wideband channels information.
Question 1: How many symbols are required to transmit 100 bits when radio
conditions are similar to?

Answer:
Case 1? With coding rate , Total 200 bits (100 Actual + 100 Parity Bits) need to be
transmitted, Since 4 bits can be transmitted per symbol with 16-QAM. Total symbols
required will be 50 Symbols
Case 2? With coding rate 2/3, Total 150 bits (100 Actual + 50 Parity Bits) need to be
transmitted, Since 2 bits can be transmitted per symbol with QPSK (4-QAM). Total
symbols required will be 75 Symbols

Question 2: What is the maximum bit rate of a sub-carrier?

Answer:

CQI index identifies which Modulation & Coding Rate will be used.
Coding Rate = (transport block size + number of CRC bits) / (number of bits
transmitted on RF interface)