LTE Tutorial

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What is LTE: Long Term Evolution Tutorial &
Overview
LTE Long Term Evolution was the 4G successor to 3G UMTS that provided improved
speeds and performance.

LTE was the 4G successor to the 3G UMTS system which was developed to provide a further evolution
of the mobile telecommunications system available.

Providing much higher data speeds and greatly improved performance as well as lower operating
costs, the scheme started to be deployed in its basic form around 2008.

Initial deployments gave little improvement over 3G HSPA and were sometimes dubbed 3.5G or
3.99G, but soon the full capability of LTE was realized it provided a full 4G level of performance.

The first deployments were simply known as LTE, but later deployments were designated 4G LTE
Advanced and later still 4G LTE Pro.

Not only was the radio access network improved for 4G LTE, but the network architecture was
overhauled enabling lower latency and much better interconnectivity between elements of the radio
access network, RAN.

LTE beginnings
3GPP, the Third Generation Partnership Project that oversaw the development of the UMTS 3G
system started the work on the evolution of the 3G cellular technology with a workshop that was held
in Toronto Canada in November 2004. The work on LTE started with a feasibility study started in
December 2004, which was finalized for inclusion on 3GPP release 7. LTE core specifications were
then included in release 8.

The workshop set down a number of high level requirements for the new technology:

 Reduced cost per bit

 Increased service provisioning - more services at lower cost with better user experience
 Flexibility of use of existing and new frequency bands
 Simplified architecture, Open interfaces
 Allow for reasonable terminal power consumption
In terms of actual figures, targets for the initial deployments of LTE included download rates of
100Mbps, and upload rates of 50Mbps for every 20MHz of spectrum. In addition to this LTE was
required to support at least 200 active users in every 5MHz cell. (i.e. 200 active phone calls). Targets
were also set for the latency in IP packet delivery. With the growing use of services including VoIP,
gaming and many other applications where latency is of concern, figures need to be set for this. As a
result, a figure of sub-10ms latency for small IP packets has been set.

3G LTE evolution

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Although there are major step changes between LTE and its 3G predecessors, it is nevertheless
looked upon as an evolution of the UMTS / 3GPP 3G standards. Although it uses a different form of
radio interface, using OFDMA / SC-FDMA instead of CDMA, there are many similarities with the earlier
forms of 3G architecture and there is scope for much re-use.

In determining what is LTE and how does it differ from other cellular systems, a quick look at the
specifications for the system can provide many answers. LTE can be seen for provide a further
evolution of functionality, increased speeds and general improved performance.

WHAT IS 4G LTE?
COMPARISON WITH OTHER MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES

WCDMA HSPA HSPA+ LTE

(UMTS) HSDPA / HSUPA
Max downlink speed 384 k 14 M 28 M 100M
bps
Max uplink speed 128 k 5.7 M 11 M 50 M
bps
Latency 150 ms 100 ms 50ms (max) ~10 ms
round trip time
approx
3GPP releases Rel 99/4 Rel 5 / 6 Rel 7 Rel 8
Approx years of initial roll out 2003 / 4 2005 / 6 HSDPA 2008 / 9 2009 / 10
2007 / 8 HSUPA
Access methodology CDMA CDMA CDMA OFDMA / SC-FDMA

In addition to this, LTE is an all IP based network, supporting both IPv4 and IPv6.

LTE basics: - specification overview

It is worth summarizing the key parameters of the 3G LTE specification. In view of the fact that there
are a number of differences between the operation of the uplink and downlink, these naturally differ in
the performance they can offer.

LTE BASIC SPECIFICATIONS

PARAMETER DETAILS

Peak downlink speed 100 (SISO), 172 (2x2 MIMO), 326 (4x4 MIMO)
64QAM
(Mbps)

Peak uplink speeds 50 (QPSK), 57 (16QAM), 86 (64QAM)

(Mbps)

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 LTE BASIC SPECIFICATIONS

PARAMETER DETAILS

Data type All packet switched data (voice and data). No circuit switched.

Access schemes OFDMA (Downlink)

SC-FDMA (Uplink)

Modulation types supported QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM (Uplink and downlink)

Spectral efficiency Downlink: 3 - 4 times Rel 6 HSDPA

Uplink: 2 -3 x Rel 6 HSUPA

Channel bandwidths 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20

(MHz)

Duplex schemes FDD and TDD

Mobility 0 - 15 km/h (optimized),

15 - 120 km/h (high performance)

Latency Idle to active less than 100ms

Small packets ~10 ms

These highlight specifications give an overall view of the performance that LTE will offer. It meets the
requirements of industry for high data download speeds as well as reduced latency - a factor important
for many applications from VoIP to gaming and interactive use of data. It also provides significant
improvements in the use of the available spectrum.

New LTE features

LTE has introduced a number of new technologies when compared to the previous cellular systems.
They enable LTE to be able to operate more efficiently with respect to the use of spectrum, and also
to provide the much higher data rates that are being required.

 OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex): OFDM technology was used for the signal
format for LTE because it enabled high data bandwidths to be transmitted efficiently while still
providing a high degree of resilience to reflections and interference. As data was carried on a large
number of carriers, if some were missing as a result of interference from reflections, etc, the system
was still able to cope. The access schemes differed between the uplink and downlink: OFDMA
(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access was used in the downlink; while SC-FDMA (Single
Carrier - Frequency Division Multiple Access) was used in the uplink. SC-FDMA was used in view
of the fact that its peak to average power ratio is smaller than for OFDMA - the lower peak to
average power ratio enabling better levels of final RF power amplifier to be achieved - this was and
is an important factor for mobile handset battery life.

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 MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output): One of the main problems that previous
telecommunications systems have encountered was that of multiple signals arising from the many
reflections that are encountered. By using MIMO, these additional signal paths could be used to
advantage and were able to be used to increase the throughput.

When using MIMO, it is necessary to use multiple antennas to enable the different paths to be
distinguished. Accordingly, schemes using 2 x 2, 4 x 2, or 4 x 4 antenna matrices could be used.
While it is relatively easy to add further antennas to a base station, the same was not true of mobile
handsets, where the dimensions of the user equipment limited the number of antennas which
should be placed at least a half wavelength apart.
 SAE (System Architecture Evolution): With the very high data rate and low latency
requirements for 3G LTE, it was necessary to evolve the system architecture to enable the
improved performance to be achieved. One change was that a number of the functions previously
handled by the core network were transferred out to the periphery. Essentially this provided a much
"flatter" form of network architecture. In this way latency times could be reduced and data routed
more directly to its destination. As part of the upgrade an Evolved Packet Core, EPC was developed
to ensure that the packet data was routed as efficiently as possible.
 IP data: 4G LTE is an all IP data system. 3G UMTS had included circuit switched voice, but LTE
had not provision for any circuit switched voice. Originally it had been anticipated that operators
would supply the data capability and voice would be via OTT applications. As operators would lose
out significant revenues as voice, at the time, constituted a major element of the revenue. To
overcome this GSMA set the standard for voice connectivity as the Voice over LTE scheme,
VoLTE.

VoLTE required the implementation of an IMS core and this slowed roll out of this capability in view
of the expense. To help operators overcome this, a limited implementation of IMS was developed
and this considerably reduced the capital expenditure required by operators.

4G LTE became the mainstay mobile communications technology. Both first and second-generation
technologies were focused on voice and 3G then moved towards mobile data. 4G LTE improved on
the mobile data aspects of mobile communications, focusing mainly on this aspect to enable general
mobile data connectivity.

LTE OFDM, OFDMA SC-FDMA & Modulation

LTE uses OFDM as the basic signal format - OFDMA in the downlink and SC-FDMA in
the uplink with various modulation formats.
OFDM forms the basic signal format used within 4G LTE. OFDM, Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplex is the basic format used and this is modified to provide the multiple access scheme: OFDMA,
orthogonal frequency division multiple access in the downlink and SC-FDMA, single channel
orthogonal frequency division multiple access in the uplink.

Using multiple carriers, each carrying a low data rate, OFDM is ideal for high speed data transmission
because it provides resilience against narrow band fading that occurs as a result of reflections and the
general propagation properties at these frequencies.

Within the basic LTE OFDM signal format, a variety of modulation formats are used including PSK and
QAM. Higher order modulation is used to achieve the higher data rates: the modulation order being
determined by the signal quality.

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LTE modulation & OFDM basics
The use of OFDM is a natural choice for LTE. While the basic concepts of OFDM are used, it has
naturally been tailored to meet the exact requirements for LTE. However, its use of multiple carrier
each carrying a low data rate remains the same.

Note on OFDM:
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex, OFDM is a form of signal format that uses a large number
of close spaced carriers that are each modulated with low rate data stream. The close spaced signals
would normally be expected to interfere with each other, but by making the signals orthogonal to each
other there is no mutual interference. The data to be transmitted is shared across all the carriers and
this provides resilience against selective fading from multi-path effects.

What is OFDM: Orthogonal Frequency Division

Multiplexing
OFDM, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing uses multiple close spaced carriers
each with low rate data for resilient communications.
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Includes:
OFDM basics, Cyclic prefix, OFDM synchronization

OFDM, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a form of signal waveform or modulation that
provides some significant advantages for data links.

Accordingly, OFDM, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is used for many of the latest wide
bandwidth and high data rate wireless systems including Wi-Fi, cellular telecommunications and many
more.

The fact that OFDM uses a large number of carriers, each carrying low bit rate data, means that it is
very resilient to selective fading, interference, and multipath effects, as well providing a high degree
of spectral efficiency.

Early systems using OFDM found the processing required for the signal format was relatively high, but
with advances in technology, OFDM presents few problems in terms of the processing required.

What is OFDM?
OFDM is a form of multicarrier modulation. An OFDM signal consists of a number of closely spaced
modulated carriers. When modulation of any form - voice, data, etc. is applied to a carrier, then
sidebands spread out either side. It is necessary for a receiver to be able to receive the whole signal
to be able to successfully demodulate the data. As a result, when signals are transmitted close to one
another they must be spaced so that the receiver can separate them using a filter and there must be
a guard band between them. This is not the case with OFDM. Although the sidebands from each
carrier overlap, they can still be received without the interference that might be expected because they
are orthogonal to each another. This is achieved by having the carrier spacing equal to the reciprocal
of the symbol period.

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To see how OFDM works, it is necessary to look at the receiver. This acts as a bank of demodulators,
translating each carrier down to DC. The resulting signal is integrated over the symbol period to
regenerate the data from that carrier. The same demodulator also demodulates the other carriers. As
the carrier spacing equal to the reciprocal of the symbol period means that they will have a whole
number of cycles in the symbol period and their contribution will sum to zero - in other words there is
no interference contribution.

One requirement of the OFDM transmitting and receiving systems is that they must be linear. Any non-
linearity will cause interference between the carriers as a result of inter-modulation distortion. This will
introduce unwanted signals that would cause interference and impair the orthogonality of the
transmission.

In terms of the equipment to be used the high peak to average ratio of multi-carrier systems such as
OFDM requires the RF final amplifier on the output of the transmitter to be able to handle the peaks
whilst the average power is much lower and this leads to inefficiency. In some systems the peaks are

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limited. Although this introduces distortion that results in a higher level of data errors, the system can
rely on the error correction to remove them.

Data on OFDM
The data to be transmitted on an OFDM signal is spread across the carriers of the signal, each carrier
taking part of the payload. This reduces the data rate taken by each carrier. The lower data rate has
the advantage that interference from reflections is much less critical. This is achieved by adding a
guard band time or guard interval into the system. This ensures that the data is only sampled when
the signal is stable and no new delayed signals arrive that would alter the timing and phase of the
signal.

The distribution of the data across a large number of carriers in the OFDM signal has some further
advantages. Nulls caused by multi-path effects or interference on a given frequency only affect a small
number of the carriers, the remaining ones being received correctly. By using error-coding techniques,
which does mean adding further data to the transmitted signal, it enables many or all of the corrupted
data to be reconstructed within the receiver. This can be done because the error correction code is
transmitted in a different part of the signal.

Key features of OFDM

The OFDM scheme differs from traditional FDM in the following interrelated ways:

 Multiple carriers (called subcarriers) carry the information stream

 The subcarriers are orthogonal to each other.

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 A guard interval is added to each symbol to minimize the channel delay spread and intersymbol
interference.

OFDM advantages & disadvantages

OFDM advantages
OFDM has been used in many high data rate wireless systems because of the many advantages it
provides.

 Immunity to selective fading: One of the main advantages of OFDM is that is more resistant to
frequency selective fading than single carrier systems because it divides the overall channel into
multiple narrowband signals that are affected individually as flat fading sub-channels.
 Resilience to interference: Interference appearing on a channel may be bandwidth limited and,
in this way will not affect all the sub-channels. This means that not all the data is lost.
 Spectrum efficiency: Using close-spaced overlapping sub-carriers, a significant OFDM
advantage is that it makes efficient use of the available spectrum.
 Resilient to ISI: Another advantage of OFDM is that it is very resilient to inter-symbol and inter-
frame interference. This results from the low data rate on each of the sub-channels.
 Resilient to narrow-band effects: Using adequate channel coding and interleaving it is possible
to recover symbols lost due to the frequency selectivity of the channel and narrow band
interference. Not all the data is lost.
 Simpler channel equalization: One of the issues with CDMA systems was the complexity of the
channel equalization which had to be applied across the whole channel. An advantage of OFDM
is that using multiple sub-channels, the channel equalization becomes much simpler.

OFDM disadvantages
Whilst OFDM has been widely used, there are still a few disadvantages to its use which need to be
addressed when considering its use.

 High peak to average power ratio: An OFDM signal has a noise like amplitude variation and
has a relatively high large dynamic range, or peak to average power ratio. This impacts the RF
amplifier efficiency as the amplifiers need to be linear and accommodate the large amplitude
variations and these factors mean the amplifier cannot operate with a high efficiency level.
 Sensitive to carrier offset and drift: Another disadvantage of OFDM is that is sensitive to carrier
frequency offset and drift. Single carrier systems are less sensitive.

OFDM, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing has gained a significant presence in the wireless
market place. The combination of high data capacity, high spectral efficiency, and its resilience to
interference as a result of multi-path effects means that it is ideal for the high data applications that
have become a major factor in today's communications scene.

OFDM Cyclic Prefix, CP

The cyclic prefix used in Frequency Division Multiplexing schemes including OFDM to
primarily act as a guard band between successive symbols to overcome intersymbol
interference, ISI.
Use of cyclic prefix is a key element of enabling the OFDM signal to operate reliably.

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The cyclic prefix acts as a buffer region or guard interval to protect the OFDM signals from intersymbol
interference. This can be an issue in some circumstances even with the much lower data rates that
are transmitted in the multicarrier OFDM signal.

What is a cyclic prefix

The basic concept behind the OFDM cyclic prefix is quite straightforward. The cyclic prefix performs
two main functions.

 The cyclic prefix provides a guard interval to eliminate intersymbol interference from the previous
symbol.
 It repeats the end of the symbol so the linear convolution of a frequency-selective multipath channel
can be modeled as circular convolution, which in turn may transform to the frequency domain via
a discrete Fourier transform. This approach accommodates simple frequency domain processing,
such as channel estimation and equalization.
The cyclic prefix is created so that each OFDM symbol is preceded by a copy of the end part of that
same symbol.

Different OFDM cyclic prefix lengths are available in various systems. For example, within LTE a
normal length and an extended length are available and after Release 8 a third extended length is
also included, although not normally used.

Cyclic prefix advantages and disadvantages

There are several advantages and disadvantages attached to the use for the cyclic prefix within
OFDM.

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 Advantages
 Provides robustness: The addition of the cyclic prefix adds robustness to the OFDM signal. The
data that is retransmitted can be used if required.
 Reduces inter-symbol interference: The guard interval introduced by the cyclic prefix enables
the effects of inter-symbol interference to be reduced.

Disadvantages
 Reduces data capacity: As the cyclic prefix re-transmits data that is already being transmitted,
it takes up system capacity and reduces the overall data rate.
The use of a cyclic prefix is standard within OFDM and it enables the performance to be maintained
even under conditions when levels of reflections and multipath propagation are high.

OFDM Timing & Frequency Synchronization

Accurate timing and frequency synchronization is required for optimum OFDM demodulation
otherwise
Interface levels rise and other demodulation issues arise.

One of the key requirements for optimum demodulation of OFDM signals is that there is accurate
frequency and timing synchronization.

Fortunately, good OFDM timing and frequency synchronization is relatively easy to obtain as accurate
signals are easy to derive.

Poor timing and frequency synchronization result in significant levels of degradation to the signal, and
as a result this aspect of the signal chain is key to optimum performance.

OFDM synchronization basics

OFDM offers many advantages in terms of resilience to fading, reflections and the like. OFDM also
offers a high level of spectrum efficiency. However, to reap the rewards, it is necessary that the OFDM
system operates correctly, and to achieve this, it is necessary for the OFDM synchronization to be
effective.

There are a number of areas in which the OFDM synchronization is critical to the operation of the
system:

 OFDM synchronization in terms of frequency offset: It is necessary that the frequencies are
accurately tracked to ensure that orthogonality is maintained.
 OFDM synchronization in terms of clock accuracy: It is necessary that the sampling occurs at
the
correct time interval to ensure that the samples are synchronized and data errors are minimized.
In order to ensure that the OFDM system works to its optimum, it is necessary to ensure that there
are schemes in place to ensure the OFDM synchronization is within the required limits.

Frequency offset OFDM synchronization

It is particularly important that the demodulator in an OFDM receiver is able to synchronize accurately
with the carriers within the OFDM signal. Offsets may arise for a number of reasons including any
frequency errors between the transmitter and the receiver and also as a result of Doppler shifts if there
is movement between the transmitter and receiver.

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If the frequency synchronization is impaired, then the orthogonality of the carriers is reduced within
the demodulation process and error rates increase. Accordingly, it is essential to maintain
orthogonality to reduce errors and maintain the performance of the link.

First look at the way that sampling should occur. With the demodulator in synchronization, all the
contributions from the other carriers sum to zero as shown. On this way all the carriers are orthogonal
and the error rate is at its minimum.

If a situation is encountered where the OFDM synchronization for the frequency aspects are poor,
then the demodulator will centre its samples away from the peak of the signal, and also at a point
where the contributions from the other signals do not sum to zero. This will lead to a degradation of
the signal which could in turn lead to an increase in the number of bit errors.

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Clock offset OFDM synchronization
It is also necessary to maintain OFDM synchronization in terms of the clock. Gain if the clock
synchronization is not accurate, sampling will be offset and again orthogonality will be reduced, and
data errors will increase.

When looking at OFDM synchronization with regard to the clock offset, the carrier spacing used within
the receiver for sampling the received signal will be based upon the internal clock rate. If this differs
from that used within the transmitter, it will be found that even if the first carrier within the multiplex is
correct, then there will be a growing discrepancy with each carrier away from the first one. Even small
levels of discrepancy will cause the error rate to increase.

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When using OFDM it is necessary to ensure that the synchronization for both timing and frequency is
accurate. By ensuring accurate synchronization, it is possible to perform the optimum demodulation
of the signal. Any misalignment causes the receiver to start to pick up the unwanted interference
signals. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to obtain accurate synchronization signals as these are
available from the network, and short-term synchronization can be generated internally.

The actual implementation of the technology will be different between the downlink (i.e. from base
station to mobile) and the uplink (i.e. mobile to the base station) as a result of the different requirements
between the two directions and the equipment at either end. However, OFDM was chosen as the
signal bearer format because it is very resilient to interference. Also, in recent years a considerable
level of experience has been gained in its use from the various forms of broadcasting that use it along
with Wi-Fi and WiMAX. OFDM is also a modulation format that is very suitable for carrying high data
rates - one of the key requirements for LTE.

In addition to this, OFDM can be used in both FDD and TDD formats. This becomes an additional
advantage.

LTE channel bandwidths and characteristics

One of the key parameters associated with the use of OFDM within LTE is the choice of bandwidth.
The available bandwidth influences a variety of decisions including the number of carriers that can be

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accommodated in the OFDM signal and in turn these influences elements including the symbol length
and so forth.

LTE defines a number of channel bandwidths. Obviously the greater the bandwidth, the greater the
channel capacity.

The channel bandwidths that have been chosen for LTE are:

1. 1.4 MHz
2. 3 MHz
3. 5 MHz
4. 10 MHz
5. 15 MHz
6. 20 MHz
In addition to this the subcarriers spacing is 15 kHz, i.e. the LTE subcarriers are spaced 15 kHz apart
from each other. To maintain orthogonality, this gives a symbol rate of 1 / 15 kHz = of 66.7 µs.

Each subcarrier is able to carry data at a maximum rate of 15 ksps (kilosymbols per second). This
gives a 20 MHz bandwidth system a raw symbol rate of 18 Msps. In turn this is able to provide a raw
data rate of 108 Mbps as each symbol using 64QAM is able to represent six bits.

It may appear that these rates do not align with the headline figures given in the LTE specifications.
The reason for this is that actual peak data rates are derived by first subtracting the coding and control
overheads. Then there are gains arising from elements such as the spatial multiplexing, etc.

LTE OFDMA in the downlink

The OFDM signal used in LTE comprises some maximum of 2048 different sub-carriers having a
spacing of 15 kHz. Although it is mandatory for the mobiles to have capability to be able to receive all
2048 sub-carriers, not all need to be transmitted by the base station which only needs to be able to
support the transmission of 72 sub-carriers. In this way all mobiles will be able to talk to any base
station.

Within the OFDM signal it is possible to choose between three types of modulation for the LTE signal:

1. QPSK (= 4QAM) 2 bits per symbol

2. 16QAM 4 bits per symbol
3. 64QAM 6 bits per symbol
Note on QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation:
Quadrature amplitude modulation, QAM is widely sued for data transmission as it enables better levels
of spectral efficiency than other forms of modulation. QAM uses two carriers on the same frequency
shifted by 90° which are modulated by two data streams - I or Inphase and Q - Quadrature elements.

The exact LTE modulation format is chosen depending upon the prevailing conditions. The lower forms
of modulation, (QPSK) do not require such a large signal to noise ratio but are not able to send the
data as fast. Only when there is a sufficient signal to noise ratio can the higher order modulation format
be used.

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Downlink carriers and resource blocks
In the downlink, the subcarriers are split into resource blocks. This enables the system to be able to
compartmentalize the data across standard numbers of subcarriers.

Resource blocks comprise 12 subcarriers, regardless of the overall LTE signal bandwidth. They also
cover one slot in the time frame. This means that different LTE signal bandwidths will have different
numbers of resource blocks.

LTE DOWNLINK CARRIERS AND RESOURCE BLOCKS

Channel bandwidth 1.4 3 5 10 15 20

(MHz)

Number of resource blocks 6 15 25 50 75 100

LTE SC-FDMA in the uplink

For the LTE uplink, a different concept is used for the access technique. Although still using a form of
OFDMA technology, the implementation is called Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access
(SC-FDMA).

One of the key parameters that affects all mobiles is that of battery life. Even though battery
performance is improving all the time, it is still necessary to ensure that the mobiles use as little battery
power as possible.

With the RF power amplifier that transmits the radio frequency signal via the antenna to the base
station being the highest power item within the mobile, it is necessary that it operates in as efficient
mode as possible. This can be significantly affected by the form of radio frequency modulation and
signal format.

Signals that have a high peak to average ratio and require linear amplification do not lend themselves
to the use of efficient RF power amplifiers. As a result, it is necessary to employ a mode of transmission
that has as near a constant power level when operating. Unfortunately, OFDM has a high peak to
average ratio.

While this is not a problem for the base station where power is not a particular problem, it is
unacceptable for the mobile. As a result, LTE uses a modulation scheme known as SC-FDMA - Single
Carrier Frequency Division Multiplex which is a hybrid format. This combines the low peak to average
ratio offered by single-carrier systems with the multipath interference resilience and flexible subcarrier
frequency allocation that OFDM provides.

The LTE signal format, modulation and use of OFDM has enabled LTE to provide reliable high-speed
data communications.

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The use of OFDM has enabled LTE to provide reliable link quality even in the presence of reflections
and the adaptive modulation provided the ability to modify the link according to the prevailing signal
quality.

LTE MIMO: Multiple Input Multiple Output.

MIMO, Multiple Input Multiple Output is used within LTE to provide improved signal performance
and / or improved data rates using the multiple path propagation.
MIMO, Multiple Input Multiple Output is a technology that was introduced into many wireless
communications systems including 4G LTE to improve the signal performance.

Using multiple antennas, LTE MIMO is able to utilize the multiple path propagation that exists to
provide improvements in signal performance.

LTE MIMO adds complexity to the system, but it is able to provide some significant improvements in
performance and spectral efficiency and these more than justify its inclusion in the LTE standard.

LTE MIMO: introduction

MIMO is basically an antenna technology as it utilizes a number of antennas to provide the
performance improvements.

The basic concept of MIMO utilizes the multipath signal propagation that is present in all terrestrial
communications. Rather than providing interference, these paths can be used to advantage.

The transmitter and receiver have more than one antenna and using the processing power available
at either end of the link, they are able to utilize the different paths that exist between the two entities
to provide improvements in data rate of signal to noise.

Note on MIMO:
MIMO is a form of antenna technology that uses multiple antennas to enable signals travelling via
different paths as a result of reflections, etc., to be separated and their capability used to improve
the data throughput and / or the signal to noise ratio, thereby improving system performance.
MIMO is being used increasingly in many high data rate technologies including Wi-Fi and other
wireless and cellular technologies to provide improved levels of efficiency. Essentially MIMO employs
multiple antennas on the receiver and transmitter to utilize the multi-path effects that always exist to
transmit additional data, rather than causing interference.

LTE MIMO
The use of MIMO technology has been introduced successively over the different releases of the LTE
standards.

MIMO has been a cornerstone of the LTE standard, but initially, in releases 8 and 9 multiple transmit
antennas on the UE was not supported because in the interested of power reduction, only a single RF
power amplifier was assumed to be available.

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It was in Rel. 10 that a number of new schemes were introduced. Closed loop spatial multiplexing for
SU-MIMO as well as multiple antennas on the UE.

LTE MIMO modes

There are several ways in which MIMO is implemented in LTE. These vary according to the equipment
used, the channel function and the equipment involved in the link.

 Single antenna: This is the form of wireless transmission used on most basic wireless links. A
single data stream is transmitted on one antenna and received by one or more antennas. It may
also be referred to as SISO: Single In Single Out or SIMO Single In Multiple Out dependent upon
the antennas used. SIMO is also called receive diversity.
 Transmit diversity: This form of LTE MIMO scheme utilizes the transmission of the same
information stream from multiple antennas. LTE supports two or four for this technique. The
information is coded differently using Space Frequency Block Codes. This mode provides an
improvement in signal quality at reception and does not improve the data rate. Accordingly, this
form of LTE MIMO is used on the Common Channels as well as the Control and Broadcast
channels.

 Open loop spatial multiplexing: This form of MIMO used within the LTE system involves
sending two information streams which can be transmitted over two or more antennas. However,
there is no feedback from the UE although a TRI, Transmit Rank Indicator transmitted from the UE
can be used by the base station to determine the number of spatial layers.

 Close loop spatial multiplexing: This form of LTE MIMO is similar to the open loop version, but
as the name indicates it has feedback incorporated to close the loop. A PMI, Pre-coding Matrix
Indicator is fed back from the UE to the base station. This enables the transmitter to pre-code the
data to optimize the transmission and enable the receiver to more easily separate the different data
streams.

 Closed loop with pre-coding: This is another form of LTE MIMO, but where a single code word
is transmitted over a single spatial layer. This can be sued as a fallback mode for closed loop
spatial multiplexing and it may also be associated with beamforming as well.

 Multi-User MIMO, MU-MIMO: This form of LTE MIMO enables the system to target different
spatial streams to different users.

 Beam-forming & MIMO: This is the most complex of the MIMO modes and it is likely to use linear
arrays that will enable the antenna to focus on a particular area. This will reduce interference, and
increase capacity as the particular UE will have a beam formed in their particular direction. In this
a single code word is transmitted over a single spatial layer. A dedicated reference signal is used
for an additional port. The terminal estimates the channel quality from the common reference
signals on the antennas.

As the LTE standards progressed, so the numbers of antennas being supported increased. For many
mobiles the use of MIMO just resulted in improvements in signal performance, whereas for others it
was able to provide real data rate improvements.

LTE FDD, TDD, TD-LTE Duplex Scheme.

18
LTE is able to utilize both frequency division and time division, FDD & TDD (TD-LTE)
forms of duplex to accommodate the uplink and downlink.

LTE can utilize both FDD - frequency division duplex and TDD - time division duplex, often referred to
as TD-LTE.

Both forms of duplex, FDD and TDD have their advantages and the areas where their deployment is
advantageous.

For most normal LTE deployments, the frequency division duplex, FDD is used, and paired spectrum
with equal bandwidth in up and downlinks is utilized.

LTE FDD using the paired spectrum was considered to be the migration path for the UMTS 3G services
which typically utilized paired spectrum.

However, there was considerable development placed on the time division duplex form of LTE: TDD
LTE or TD-LTE which was seen as the upgrade path for TD-SCDMA that was developed and
introduced by the Chinese as a 3G technology.

LTE Duplex schemes

It is essential that any cellular communications system must be able to transmit in both directions
simultaneously. This enables conversations to be made, with either end being able to talk and listen
as required. Additionally, when exchanging data, it is necessary to be able to undertake virtually
simultaneous or completely simultaneous communications in both directions.

It is necessary to be able to specify the different direction of transmission so that it is possible to easily
identify in which direction the transmission is being made. There are a variety of differences between
the two-links ranging from the amount of data carried to the transmission format, and the channels
implemented. The two links are defined:

 Uplink: the transmission from the UE or user equipment to the eNodeB or base station.
 Downlink the transmission from the eNodeB or base station to the UE or user equipment.

Uplink and downlink directions

In order to be able to be able to transmit in both directions, a user equipment or base station must
have a duplex scheme. There are two forms of duplex that are commonly used, namely FDD,
frequency division duplex and TDD time division duplex.

Both FDD and TDD have their own advantages and disadvantages. Accordingly, they may be used
for different applications, or where the bias of the communications is different.

LTE TDD / LTE FDD comparison

There are a number of the advantages and disadvantages of TDD and FDD LTE that are of particular
interest to mobile or cellular telecommunications operators. These are naturally reflected into LTE.

19
 COMPARISON OF TDD LTE AND FDD LTE DUPLEX FORMATS

TDD & FDD LTE ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

PARAMETER LTE-TDD LTE-FDD

Paired spectrum Does not require paired spectrum as both Requires paired spectrum with sufficient frequency
transmit and receive occur on the same separation to allow simultaneous transmission and
channel reception

Hardware cost Lower cost as no diplexer is needed to isolate Diplexer is needed and cost is higher.
the transmitter and receiver. As cost of the UEs
is of major importance because of the vast
numbers that are produced, this is a key
aspect.

Channel Channel propagation is the same in both Channel characteristics different in both directions as
reciprocity directions which enables transmit and receive a result of the use of different frequencies
to use on set of parameters

UL / DL It is possible to dynamically change the UL and UL / DL capacity determined by frequency allocation

asymmetry DL capacity ratio to match demand set out by the regulatory authorities. It is therefore
not possible to make dynamic changes to match
capacity. Regulatory changes would normally be
required and capacity is normally allocated so that it
is the same in either direction.

Guard period / Guard period required to ensure uplink and Guard band required to provide sufficient isolation
guard band downlink transmissions do not clash. Large between uplink and downlink. Large guard band
guard period will limit capacity. Larger guard does not impact capacity.
period normally required if distances are
increased to accommodate larger propagation
times.

Discontinuous Discontinuous transmission is required to allow Continuous transmission is required.

transmission both uplink and downlink transmissions. This
can degrade the performance of the RF power
amplifier in the transmitter.

Cross slot Base stations need to be synchronized with Not applicable

interference respect to the uplink and downlink transmission
times. If neighbouring base stations use
different uplink and downlink assignments and
share the same channel, then interference may
occur between cells.

LTE TDD /TD-LTE and TD-SCDMA

Apart from the technical reasons and advantages for using LTE TDD / TD-LTE, there are market

20
drivers as well. With TD-SCDMA now well established in China, there needs to be a 3.9G and later a
4G successor to the technology. With unpaired spectrum allocated for TD-SCDMA as well as UMTS
TDD, it is natural to see many operators wanting an upgrade path for their technologies to benefit from
the vastly increased speeds and improved facilities of LTE. Accordingly, there is a considerable
interest in the development of LTE TDD, which is also known in China as TD-LTE.

With the considerable interest from the supporters of TD-SCDMA, a number of features to make the
mode of operation of TD-LTE more of an upgrade path for TD-SCDMA have been incorporated. One
example of this is the subframe structure that has been adopted within LTE TDD / TD-LTE.

Of the two versions of LTE, the frequency division duplex, FDD version is more widely used than the
time division, TDD version also known as TD-LTE.

Although it is possible in TD-LTE to change the percentage of time that is occupied by the up and
downlink, this is not as easy as it may appear at first sight. Nevertheless, LTE TDD does have its place
within the family of LTE technologies, FDD and TDD.

LTE Frame & Subframe Structure: Type 1 & Type 2

LTE uses a frame structure of frame & subframes – type 1 & type 2 frames provide the
synchronization and location for the data being carried.

Like previous cellular systems, and virtually all data communications systems, LTE data is carried in
frames and subframes.

Using frames and subframes enables the data to be synchronized enabling the radio network to be
able to handle the data correctly.

The frames and subframes used different between the FDD and TDD versions of LTE because there
are different requirements for segregating data on the two schemes.

The two types of LTE frame structure are:

 Type 1: used for the LTE FDD mode systems.

 Type 2: used for the LTE TDD systems.

Type 1 LTE Frame Structure

The basic type 1 LTE frame has an overall length of 10 ms. This is then divided into a total of 20
individual slots. LTE Subframes then consist of two slots - in other words there are ten LTE subframes
within a frame.

21
Type 2 LTE Frame Structure
The frame structure for the type 2 frames used on LTE TDD is somewhat different. The 10 ms frame
comprises two half frames, each 5 ms long. The LTE half-frames are further split into five subframes,
each 1ms long.

The subframes may be divided into standard subframes of special subframes. The special subframes
consist of three fields;

 DwPTS - Downlink Pilot Time Slot

 GP - Guard Period
 UpPTS - Uplink Pilot Time Stot.

22
These three fields are also used within TD-SCDMA and they have been carried over into LTE TDD
(TD-LTE) and thereby help the upgrade path. The fields are individually configurable in terms of length,
although the total length of all three together must be 1ms.

LTE TDD / TD-LTE subframe allocations

One of the advantages of using LTE TDD is that it is possible to dynamically change the up and
downlink balance and characteristics to meet the load conditions. In order that this can be achieved in
an ordered fashion, a number of standard configurations have been set within the LTE standards.

A total of seven up / downlink configurations have been set, and these uses either 5 ms or 10 ms
switch periodicities. In the case of the 5ms switch point periodicity, a special subframe exists in both
half frames. In the case of the 10 ms periodicity, the special subframe exists in the first half frame only.
It can be seen from the table below that the subframes 0 and 5 as well as DwPTS are always reserved
for the downlink. It can also be seen that UpPTS and the subframe immediately following the special
subframe are always reserved for the uplink transmission.

UPLINK / DOWNLINK SUBFRAME CONFIGURATIONS FOR LTE TDD (TD-LTE)

UPLINK-DOWNLINK DOWNLINK TO UPLINK SUBFRAME NUMBER

CONFIGURATION SWITCH 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

Where:
D is a subframe for downlink transmission
S is a "special" subframe used for a guard time
U is a subframe for uplink transmission

The frame and subframe structure used within LTE provides the data synchronization and organization
required to enable it to be transferred in a logical and ordered fashion.

LTE Channels: Physical, Logical and Transport

23
To provide effective, efficient data transport over the LTE radio interface, data channels are
used: physical, logical & transport.
There are several forms of data that need to be sent over the LTE radio interface. LTE uses a series
of data channels to provide effective management of the data: physical, logical and transport channels
are used.

These LTE channels provide different interfaces into the higher layers of the protocol stack and in this
way, they are able to provide efficient management of the data.

The physical, logical and transport channels all link to different areas of the stack. By organizing them
in this way, the LTE system is able to route the data to the required area.

LTE channel types

There are three categories into which the various data channels may be grouped.

 Physical channels: These are transmission channels that carry user data and control messages.
 Logical channels: Provide services for the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer within the LTE
protocol structure.
 Transport channels: The physical layer transport channels offer information transfer to Medium
Access Control (MAC) and higher layers.

LTE physical channels

The LTE physical channels vary between the uplink and the downlink as each has different
requirements and operates in a different manner.

 Downlink:

- Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH): This physical channel carries system information for
UEs requiring to access the network. It only carries what is termed Master Information Block,
MIB, messages. The modulation scheme is always QPSK and the information bits are coded
and rate matched - the bits are then scrambled using a scrambling sequence specific to the
cell to prevent confusion with data from other cells.

The MIB message on the PBCH is mapped onto the central 72 subcarriers or six central
resource blocks regardless of the overall system bandwidth. A PBCH message is repeated
every 40 ms, i.e. one TTI of PBCH includes four radio frames.

The PBCH transmissions has 14 information bits, 10 spare bits, and 16 CRC bits.

- Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH): As the name implies the PCFICH
informs the UE about the format of the signal being received. It indicates the number of OFDM
symbols used for the PDCCHs, whether 1, 2, or 3. The information within the PCFICH is
essential because the UE does not have prior information about the size of the control region.

A PCFICH is transmitted on the first symbol of every sub-frame and carries a Control Format

24
 Indicator, CFI, field. The CFI contains a 32-bit code word that represents 1, 2, or 3. CFI 4 is
reserved for possible future use.

The PCFICH uses 32,2 block coding which results in a 1/16 coding rate, and it always uses
QPSK modulation to ensure robust reception.

- Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH): The main purpose of this physical channel
is to carry mainly scheduling information of different types:
 Downlink resource scheduling
 Uplink power control instructions
 Uplink resource grant
 Indication for paging or system information
The PDCCH contains a message known as the Downlink Control Information, DCI which
carries the control information for a particular UE or group of UEs. The DCI format has several
different types which are defined with different sizes. The different format types include: Type
0, 1, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3, 3A, and 4.

- Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH): As the name implies, this channel is
used to report the Hybrid ARQ status. It carries the HARQ ACK/NACK signal indicating
whether a transport block has been correctly received. The HARQ indicator is 1 bit long - "0"
indicates ACK, and "1" indicates NACK.

The PHICH is transmitted within the control region of the subframe and is typically only
transmitted within the first symbol. If the radio link is poor, then the PHICH is extended to a
number symbols for robustness.

 Uplink:

- Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH): The Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH
provides the various control signalling requirements. There are a number of different PUCCH
formats defined to enable the channel to carry the required information in the most efficient
format for the particular scenario encountered. It includes the ability to carry SRs, Scheduling
Requests.

The basic formats are summarized below:

PHYSICAL UPLINK CONTROL CHANNEL (PUCCH) FORMAT SUMMARY

& /TH>
PUCCH UPLINK CONTROL INFORMATION MODULATION BITS PER SUB- NOTES
FORMAT SCHEME FRAME

Format 1 SR N/A N/A

Format 1a 1-bit HARQ ACK/NACK with or without BPSK 1

SR

25
 PHYSICAL UPLINK CONTROL CHANNEL (PUCCH) FORMAT SUMMARY
& /TH>
PUCCH UPLINK CONTROL INFORMATION MODULATION BITS PER SUB- NOTES
FORMAT SCHEME FRAME

Format 1b 2-bit HARQ ACK/NACK with or without QPSK 2

SR

Format 2 CQI/PMI or RI QPSK 20

Format 2a CQI/PMI or RI and 1-bit HARQ QPSK + BPSK 21

ACK/NACK

Format 2b CQI/PMI or RI and 2-bit HARQ QPSK + BPSK 22

ACK/NACK

Format 3 Provides support

for carrier
aggregation.

o Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) : This physical channel found on the LTE uplink
is the Uplink counterpart of PDSCH
o Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) : This uplink physical channel is used for
random access functions. This is the only non-synchronized transmission that the UE can make
within LTE. The downlink and uplink propagation delays are unknown when PRACH is used
and therefore it cannot be synchronized.

The PRACH instance is made up from two sequences: a cyclic prefix and a guard period. The
preamble sequence may be repeated to enable the eNodeB to decode the preamble when link
conditions are poor.

LTE logical channels

The logical channels cover the data carried over the radio interface. The Service Access Point, SAP
between MAC sublayer and the RLC sublayer provides the logical channel.

 Control channels: these LTE control channels carry the control plane information:

- Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH): This control channel provides system information to
all mobile terminals connected to the eNodeB.
- Paging Control Channel (PCCH): This control channel is used for paging information when
searching a unit on a network.
- Common Control Channel (CCCH): This channel is used for random access information,
e.g. for actions including setting up a connection.
- Multicast Control Channel (MCCH): This control channel is used for Information needed
for multicast reception.
- Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH): This control channel is used for carrying user-specific
control information, e.g. for controlling actions including power control, handover, etc.

26
 Traffic channels: These LTE traffic channels carry the user-plane data:

- Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH): This traffic channel is used for the transmission of user
data.
- Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH): This channel is used for the transmission of multicast
data.

LTE transport channels

The LTE transport channels vary between the uplink and the downlink as each has different
requirements and operates in a different manner. Physical layer transport channels offer information
transfer to medium access control (MAC) and higher layers.

 Downlink:

- Broadcast Channel (BCH): The LTE transport channel maps to Broadcast Control Channel
(BCCH)
- Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH): This transport channel is the main channel for
downlink data transfer. It is used by many logical channels.
- Paging Channel (PCH): To convey the PCCH
- Multicast Channel (MCH): This transport channel is used to transmit MCCH information to
set up multicast transmissions.

 Uplink:

- Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH): This transport channel is the main channel for uplink
data transfer. It is used by many logical channels.
- Random Access Channel (RACH): This is used for random access requirements.

The basic concept of data channels is not new and has been used in previous generations of mobile
telecommunications systems. The LTE channels bear many similarities to those of the previous
generations, but the channels are tailored to LTE and building on the functionality.

The LTE channels for data transport enable the system to operate efficiently and effectively by
ensuring that the data is partitioned and also routed to the required destination as easily as possible.

LTE Frequency Bands, Spectrum & Channels

There are many frequency bands allocated to accommodate available spectrum in different
countries for LTE (FDD & TDD) which are numbered and have defined limits. Radio channel
numbers are also allocated.

There are very many different LTE frequency bands which have been allocated around the globe.

As different countries have different areas of available spectrum it has not been possible to have a
high level of coordination from one country to the next and this has issues with roaming and the number
of bans needed for handsets.

Each frequency band is allocated a number so it can be defined easily and its limits known.

The LTE radio channels are also allocated numbers - these can be calculated from a simple defined
formula. By having defined radio channels, they can be coordinated globally to facilitate roaming.

27
LTE bands for FDD & TDD
The spectrum requirements and hence the frequency band allocations for LTE are different for FDD
and TDD.

 FDD LTE bands: FDD spectrum requires pair bands, one of the uplink and one for the downlink.
It is also important that there is sufficient spacing between the top of the lower band and the bottom
of the upper band to allow sufficient filtering. Also, the uplink to downlink channel spacing must be
sufficient to allow sufficient filtering to prevent the transmitted signal from entering he receiver and
desensitizing it.
 TDD LTE bands: TDD transmissions only require a single band and, in this way, paired spectrum
is not needed.

The different LTE frequency allocations or LTE frequency bands are allocated numbers. Currently the
LTE bands between 1 & 22 are for paired spectrum, i.e. FDD, and LTE bands between 33 & 41 are
for unpaired spectrum, i.e. TDD.

FDD LTE frequency band allocations

There is a large number of allocations or radio spectrum that has been reserved for FDD, frequency
division duplex, LTE use.

LTE frequency band definitions

The FDD LTE frequency bands are paired to allow simultaneous transmission on two frequencies.
The bands also have a sufficient separation to enable the transmitted signals not to unduly impair the
receiver performance. If the signals are too close then the receiver may be "blocked" and the sensitivity
impaired. The separation must be sufficient to enable the roll-off of the antenna filtering to give
sufficient attenuation of the transmitted signal within the receive band.

28
 FDD LTE BANDS & FREQUENCIES

LTE BAND UPLINK DOWNLINK WIDTH OF DUPLEX BAND

NUMBER (MHZ) (MHZ) BAND (MHZ) SPACING GAP
(MHZ) (MHZ)
1 1920 - 1980 2110 - 2170 60 190 130
2 1850 - 1910 1930 - 1990 60 80 20
3 1710 - 1785 1805 -1880 75 95 20
4 1710 - 1755 2110 - 2155 45 400 355
5 824 - 849 869 - 894 25 45 20
6 830 - 840 875 - 885 10 35 25
7 2500 - 2570 2620 - 2690 70 120 50
8 880 - 915 925 - 960 35 45 10
9 1749.9 - 1784.9 1844.9 - 1879.9 35 95 60
10 1710 - 1770 2110 - 2170 60 400 340
11 1427.9 - 1452.9 1475.9 - 1500.9 20 48 28
12 698 - 716 728 - 746 18 30 12
13 777 - 787 746 - 756 10 -31 41
14 788 - 798 758 - 768 10 -30 40
15 1900 - 1920 2600 - 2620 20 700 680
16 2010 - 2025 2585 - 2600 15 575 560
17 704 - 716 734 - 746 12 30 18
18 815 - 830 860 - 875 15 45 30
19 830 - 845 875 - 890 15 45 30
20 832 - 862 791 - 821 30 -41 71
21 1447.9 - 1462.9 1495.5 - 1510.9 15 48 33
22 3410 - 3500 3510 - 3600 90 100 10
23 2000 - 2020 2180 - 2200 20 180 160
24 1625.5 - 1660.5 1525 - 1559 34 -101.5 135.5
25 1850 - 1915 1930 - 1995 65 80 15
26 814 - 849 859 - 894 30 / 40 10
27 807 - 824 852 - 869 17 45 28
28 703 - 748 758 - 803 45 55 10
29 n/a 717 - 728 11
30 2305 - 2315 2350 - 2360 10 45 35
31 452.5 - 457.5 462.5 - 467.5 5 10 5
32 DL CA Only 1452 - 1496 44 N/A N/A
65 1920 - 2100 2120 - 2200 90 190 20
66 1710 - 1780 2110 - 2200 90 400 330
67 DL CA Only 738 - 758 20 N/A N/A
68 698 - 728 753 - 783 30 55 25
69 DL CA Only 2570 - 2620 50 N/A N/A
70 1695 - 1710 1995 - 2020 25 295 285
71 663 - 698 617 - 652 35 -46 11
252 DL CA Only 5150 - 5250 100 N/A N/A
255 DL CA Only 5725 - 5850 125 N/A N/A

Notes:
bands 15 and 16 are now obsolete
DL CA Only refers to bands that are used for downlink carrier aggregation only
Bands 252 and 255 use the unlicensed spectrum and used with LTE-LAA / LTE-U.

29
 LTE Frequency Band Notes
Some of the different LTE frequency bands have different aspects and information over that
presented in a table.

The large number of LTE bands and frequencies have been allocated in many areas of the radio
spectrum.

These LTE bands and frequencies have different attributes and some come with restrictions for their
operation.

Some of the additional notes regarding these LTE bands are presented below to provide a better
picture of their usage and status.

LTE bands overview

The number of bands allocated for use has increased as the pressure increases on spectrum.

It has not been possible for all LTE band allocations to be the same across the globe because of the
different regulatory positions in different countries. It has not been possible to gain global allocations.

In some cases, bands appear to overlap. This is because of the different levels of availability around
the globe.

This means that roaming with LTE may have some limitations as not all handsets or UEs will be able
to access the same frequencies.

Notes accompanying LTE band tabulations

There are a few notes that can give some background to the LTE bands defined in the table on the
previous page.

 LTE Band 1: This is one of the paired bands that was defined for the 3G UTRA and 3GPP rel 99.
 LTE Band 4: This LTE band was introduced as a new band for the Americas at the World
(Administrative) Radio Conference, WRC-2000. This international conference is where
international spectrum allocations are agreed. The downlink of band 4 overlaps with the downlink
for Band 1. This facilitates roaming.
 LTE Band 9: This band overlaps with Band 3 but has different band limits and it is also only
intended for use in Japan. This enables roaming to be achieved more easily, and many terminals
are defined such that that are dual band 3 + 9
 LTE Band 10: This band is an extension to Band 4 and may not be available everywhere. It
provides an increase from 45 MHz bandwidth (paired) to 60 MHz paired.
 LTE Band 11: This "1500 MHz" band is identified by 3GPP as a Japanese band, but it is allocated
globally to the mobile service on a "co-primary basis".
 LTE Band 12: This band was previously used for broadcasting and has been released as a result
of the "Digital Dividend."
 LTE Band 13: This band was previously used for broadcasting and has been released as a result
of the "Digital Dividend." The duplex configuration is reversed from the standard, having the uplink
higher in frequency than the downlink.

30
 LTE Band 14: This band was previously used for broadcasting and has been released as a result
of the "Digital Dividend." The duplex configuration is reversed from the standard, having the uplink
higher in frequency than the downlink.
 LTE Band 15: This LTE band has been defined by ETSI for use in Europe, but this has not been
adopted by 3GPP. This band combines two nominally TDD bands to provide one FDD band.
 LTE Band 16: This LTE band has been defined by ETSI for use in Europe, but this has not been
adopted by 3GPP. This band combines two nominally TDD bands to provide one FDD band.
 LTE Band 17: This band was previously used for broadcasting and has been released as a result
of the "Digital Dividend."
 LTE Band 20: The duplex configuration is reversed from the standard, having the uplink higher
in frequency than the downlink.
 LTE Band 21: This "1500 MHz" band is identified by 3GPP as a Japanese band, but it is allocated
globally to the mobile service on a "co-primary basis".
 LTE Band 24: The duplex configuration is reversed from the standard, having the uplink higher
in frequency than the downlink.
 LTE Band 33: This was one of the bands defined for unpaired spectrum in Rel 99 of the 3GPP
specifications.
 LTE Band 34: This was one of the bands defined for unpaired spectrum in Rel 99 of the 3GPP
specifications.
 LTE Band 38: This band is in the centre band spacing between the uplink and downlink pairs of
LTE band 7.
Although 3GPP can defined bands for use in LTE or any other mobile service, the actual allocations
are made on an international basis by the ITU are World Radio Conferences, and then the individual
country administrations can allocate spectrum use in their own countries. 3GPP has no legal basis,
and can only work with the various country administrations.

Frequency bands may be allocated on a primary and secondary basis. Primary users have the first
access to a band, secondary users, in general, may use the band provided they do not cause
interference to the primary users.

LTE EARFCN Radio Channel Numbers

The LTE standards have very little to say about the actual frequencies used for the LTE carriers. The
LTE physical layer specification does not define the locations of the carriers. However in practice it is
necessary to restrict the locations of the carrier centres to standardisation purposes.

It is assumed that within each supported band, LTE carriers exist on a 100kHz raster or grid.. In this
way the frequency of the carrier frequency, i.e. the centre frequency of the radio channel can be
expressed as m . 100 kHz, where is an integer.

To provide a means of identifying the different channels available a schme known as the EARFCN
has been adopted.

LTE EARFCN
LTE EARFCN stands for E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number. EARFCN number is
within range 0 to 65535.

31
Where:
NDL = downlink EARFCN
NUL = uplink EARFCN
NDLoffset = offset used to calculate downlink EARFCN
NULoffset = offset used to calculate uplink EARFCN

LTE EARFCN channel / band chart

To provide a view of the EARFCN channel calculations, the table below provides a good indication of
the ranges for many of the LTE frequency bands.

It can be seen that the downlink EARFCN starts at 0 and the Uplink starts at 18000.

EARFCN CHANEL NUMBERS FOR CHANNELS 1 - 14

E-UTRA BAND FDL_LOW (MHZ) NDL_OFFSET DOWNLINK EARFCN(NDL) FUL_LOW(MHZ) NUL_OFFSET UPLINK EARFCN
(NUL)

1 2110 0 0-599 1920 18000 18000 - 18599

2 1930 600 600-1199 1850 18600 18600 - 19199

3 1805 1200 1200-1949 1710 19200 19200 - 19949

4 2110 1950 1950-2399 1710 19950 19950 - 20399

5 869 2400 2400-2649 824 20400 20400 - 20649

6 875 2650 2650-2749 830 20650 20650 - 20749

7 2620 2750 2750-3449 2500 20750 20750 - 21449

8 925 3450 3450-3799 880 21450 21450 - 21799

9 1844.9 3800 3800-4149 1749.9 21800 21800 - 22149

10 2110 4150 4150-4749 1710 22150 22150 - 22749

11 1475.9 4750 4750-4999 1427.9 22750 22750 - 22999

12 728 5000 5000-5179 698 23000 23000 - 23179

13 746 5180 5180-5279 777 23180 23180 - 23279

14 758 5280 5280-5379 788 23280 23280 - 23379

The table above provides a good indication of the EARFCN channel numbers for several LTE bands
and provides a useful indication of the ranges of channel numbers.

32
LTE UE Category & Class Definitions
LTE UE categories are used to inform the NB of the UE capabilities: Cat 9, Cat 6, Cat 4, Cat
0, Cat M, etc. are commonly used categories.

LTE categories are important because they provide information to the base station, eNB from the user
equipment, UE about the capability of the UE.

The UE lets the eNB about its performance by letting it know its category. In this way the eNB is able
to provide data at the required level.

In some cases the category might inform the eNB that it requires very low data rates as in the case of
Cat 0 or Cat M where the level of performance is directed ore towards remote devices, whereas some
may be able to provide very high levels of performance like Cat 6, Cat 7, or even Cat 9.

LTE UE category definitions

There are 9 different LTE UE categories that are defined. As can be seen in the table below, the
different LTE categories have a wide range in the supported parameters and performance. LTE
category 1, for example does not support MIMO, but LTE UE category five supports 4x4 MIMO.

It is also worth noting that UE class 1 does not offer the performance offered by that of the highest
performance HSPA category. Additionally all LTE UE categories are capable of receiving
transmissions from up to four antenna ports.

A summary of the different LTE UE category parameters is given in the tables below.

HEADLINE DATA RATES FOR LTE CATEGORIES

LTE UE CATEGORY

LINK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Downlink 10 50 100 150 300 300 300 1200

Uplink 5 25 50 50 75 50 150 600

It can be seen that the headline data rates for category 8 exceed the requiremetns for IMT-Advanced
by a considerable margin.

While the headline rates for the different LTE UE categories or UE classes show the maximum data
rates achievable, it is worth looking in further detail at the underlying performance characteristics.

33
 UL AND DL PARAMETERS FOR LTE UE CATEGORIES 1 - 5

LTE CATEGORY
LTE CAT LTE CAT LTE CAT LTE
PARAMETER LTE CAT 1
2 3 4 CAT 5
Max number of DL-SCH transport block bits
10 296 51 024 102 048 150 752 302 752
received in a TTI
Max number of bits of a DL-SCH block received in
10 296 51 024 75 376 75 376 151 376
a TTI
3 667
Total number of soft channel bits 250 368 1 237 248 1 237 248 1 827 072
200
Maximum number of supported layers for spatial
1 2 2 2 4
multiplexing in DL
Max number of bits of an UL-SCH transport block
5 160 25 456 51 024 51 024 75 376
received in a TTI

Support for 64-QAM in UL No No No No Yes

UL AND DL PARAMETERS FOR LTE UE CATEGORIES 6, 7, 8

LTE CATEGORY

PARAMETER LTE CAT 6 LTE CAT 7 LTE CAT 8

Max number of DL-SCH transport block bits received in a TTI 299 552 299 552 1 200 000

Max number of bits of a DL-SCH block received in a TTI TBD TBD TBD

Total number of soft channel bits 3 667 200 TBD TBD

Maximum number of supported layers for spatial multiplexing in DL

Max number of bits of an UL-SCH transport block received in a TTI TBD TBD TBD
Yes, up to
Support for 64-QAM in UL No Yes
RAN 4

Source: Fictitious data, for illustration purposes only

From this it can be seen that the peak downlink data rate for a Category 5 UE using 4x4 MIMO is
approximately 300 Mbps, and 150 Mbps for a Category 4 UE using 2x2 MIMO. Also in the Uplink, LTE
UE category 5 provides a peak data rate of 75 Mbps using 64-QAM.

Note:
DL-SCH = Downlink shared channel

34
 UL-SCH = Uplink shared channel
TTI = Transmission Time Interval

LTE Category 0
With the considerable level of development being undertaken into the Internet of Things, IoT and
general machine to machine, M2M communications, there has been a growing need to develop an
LTE category focused on these applications. Here, much lower data rates are needed, often only in
short bursts and an accompanying requirement is for the remote device or machine to be able to draw
only low levels of current.

To enable the requirements of these devices to be met using LTE, and new LTE category was
developed. Referred to as LTE Category 0, or simply LTE Cat 0, this new category has a reduced
performance requirement that meets the needs of many machines while significantly reducing
complexity and current consumption. Whilst Category 0 offered a reduced specification, it still complied
with the LTE system requirements.

LTE CATEGORY 0 PERFORMANCE SUMMARY

PARAMETER LTE CAT 0 PERFORMANCE

Peak downlink rate 1 Mbps

Peak uplink rate 1 Mbps

Max number of downlink spatial layers 1

Number of UE RF chains 1

Duplex mode Half duplex

UE receive bandwidth 20 MHz

Maximum UE transmit power 23 dBm

The new LTE Cat 0 was introduced in Rel 12 of the 3GPP standards. And it is being advanced in
further releases.

One major advantage of LTE Category 0 is that the modem complexity is considerably reduced when
compared to other LTE Categories. It is expected that the modem complexity for a Cat 0 modem will
be around 50% that of a Category 1 modem.

LTE UE category summary

In the same way that category information is used for virtually all cellular systems from GPRS onwards,
so the LTE UE category information is of great importance. While users may not be particularly aware
of the category of their UE, it will match the performance an allow the eNB to communicate effectively
with all the UEs that are connected to it.

35
LTE-M: Machine to Machine, M2M communications
LTE supports machine to machine, M2M communications with LTE-M using a low
data rate, low bandwidth for low battery consumption.

LTE provides an ideal platform for machine to machine, M@M communications. Using low bandwidth
and low data rates, with new LTE categories, LTE is able to support this form of communication using
LTE-M

The LTE-M variant of LTE enables the enormous coverage of the LTE networks to be utilised for M2M
communications without the need for installing a new network.

LTE-M has been tailored to meet the needs of IoT M2M communications with the introduction of new
low data rate categories, and with careful design of the remote nodes, this enables enormous battery
lifetimes extending to many years to be achieved.

Associated with the introduction of LTE-M are new categories that were introduced in the Release 13
(Rel 13) of the 3GPP standards. These categories include LTE Cat 1.4MHz and LTE Cat 200kHz.

LTE-M key issues

There are several requirements for LTE M2M applications if the cellular system is to be viable in these
scenarios:

 Long battery life: Many M2M devices will need to be left unattended for long periods of time in
areas where there may be no power supply. Maintaining batteries is a costly business and therefore
any devices should be able to have a time between battery changes of up to ten years. This means
that the LTE-M system must be capable of draining very little battery power.
 Wide spectrum of devices: Any LTE machine to machine system must be able to support a wide
variety of different types of devices. These may range from smart meters to vending machines and
automotive fleet management to security and medical devices. These different devices have many
differing requirements, so any LTE-M system needs to be able to be flexible.
 Low cost of devices: Most M2M devices need to be small and fit into equipment that is very cost
sensitive. With many low cost M2M systems already available, LTE-M needs to provide the benefits
of a cellular system, but at low cost.
 Large volumes - low data rates: As it is anticipated that volumes of remote devices will be
enormous, the LTE-M must be structured so that the networks are be able to accommodate vast
numbers of connected devices that may only require small amounts of data to be carried, often in
short peaks but with low data rates.
 Enhanced coverage: LTE-M applications will need to operate within a variety of locations - not
just where reception is good. They will need to operate within buildings, often in positions where
there is little access and where reception may be poor. Accordingly, LTE-M must be able to operate
under all conditions.

Rel 12 updates for LTE-M

A number of updates were introduced in 3GPP Rel 12 to accommodate LTE-M requirements.

36
These updates mean that the cost of a low cost M2M modem could be 40 to 50% that of regular LTE
devices, making them comparable with EGPRS ones.

To accommodate these requirements a new a new UE category has been implemented LTE Category
0. These categories define the broad capabilities of the device so that the base station is able to
communicate properly.
These low-cost LTE-M, M2M modems have limited capability and are:

 Antennas: There is the capability for only one receive antenna compared to two receive antennas
for other device categories.
 Transport Block Size: There is a restriction on the transport block size These low-cost LTE-M
devices are allowed to send or receive up to 1000 bits of unicast data per sub-frame. This reduces
the maximum data rate to 1 Mbps in both the uplink and the downlink.
 Duplex: Half duplex FDD devices are supported as an optional feature - this provides cost savings
because it enables RF switches and duplexers that are needed for the full performance modems
to be removed. It also means there is no need for a second phase locked loop for the frequency
conversion, although having only one PLL means that switching times between receive and
transmit are longer.

LTE-M features planned for Rel 13

There are several features that are being proposed and prepared for the next release of the 3GPP
standards in terms of LTE M2M capabilities. These include some of the following capabilities:

 Reduce bandwidth to 1.4 MHz for uplink and downlink

 Reduce transmit power to 20dBm
 Reduce support for downlink transmission modes
 Relax the requirements that require high levels of processing, e.g. downlink modulation scheme,
reduce downlink HARQ timeline
The UE category for this is being termed 'Cat 1.4MHz'.

There is an additional enhancement for LTE-M under Rel 13 with a reduced bandwidth option of
200kHz in the uplink and downlink - often termed Narrowband or NB lte_m. By reducing the bandwidth
and also the data rate, further simplification of the modem can be achieved. The UE category of this
is being termed 'Cat 200kHz.'

LTE-M categories
It is possible to summaries the various UE categories and options for LTE-M modems and systems.

COMPARISON OF CAPABILITIES AND MODEM COMPLEXITIES FOR LTE-M

CAPABILITY REL 8 REL 12 REL 13 REL 13

CAT 4 CAT 0 'CAT 1.4 MHZ' 'CAT 200KHZ'

Downlink peak rate (Mbps) 150 1 1 0.2

37
 COMPARISON OF CAPABILITIES AND MODEM COMPLEXITIES FOR LTE-M

CAPABILITY REL 8 REL 12 REL 13 REL 13

CAT 4 CAT 0 'CAT 1.4 MHZ' 'CAT 200KHZ'

Uplink Peak Rate (Mbps) 50 1 1 0.144

Number of antennas 2 1 1 1

Duplex mode Full Half Half Half

UE receive bandwidth (MHz) 20 20 1.4 0.2

UE transmit power (dBm) 23 23 20 23

Relative Modem Complexity 100% 40% 20% <15%

One of the key measurements for any machine node is the modem complexity. As these falls, so does
the battery consumption. It can be seen that LTE Cat 1.4MHz and LTE Cat 200kHz have very lower
complexity modems when compared to a Cat 4 modem.

Accordingly, LTE Cat 1.4MHz and LTE Cat 200kHz will be widely used for LTE-M and M2M
applications.

LTE-M enables LTE to provide a service tailored to meet the needs of the many IoT and M2M
applications that are now being developed. With IoT nodes expected to reach 20 to 30 billion devices
in a few years, it was necessary that LTE address this sector of the market and provide a suitable
solution. This has been achieved using LTE-M.

LTE_LAA & LTE-U Unlicensed

LTE-U (LTE-Unlicensed), or as it is also known LTE-LAA (LTE-License Assisted Access)
utilizes unlicensed spectrum, typically in the 5GHz band to provide additional radio
spectrum.
LTE networks are carrying an increasing amount of data. Although cells can be made smaller to help
accommodate this, it is not the complete solution and more spectrum is needed.

One approach is to use unlicensed spectrum alongside the licensed bands. Known in 3GPP as LTE-
LAA - LTE License Assisted Access or more generally as LTE U - LTE Unlicensed, it enables access
to unlicensed spectrum especially in the 5GHz ISM band.

LTE-U background
There is a considerable amount of unlicensed spectrum available around the globe. These bands are
used globally to provide unlicensed access for short range radio transmissions. These bands, called
ISM - Industrial, Scientific and Medical bands are allocated in different parts of the spectrum and are
used for a wide variety of applications including microwave ovens, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and much more.

38
The frequency band of most interest for LTE-U, Unlicensed / LTE-LAA, License Assisted Access is
the 5GHz band. Here there are several hundred MHz of spectrum bandwidth available, although the
exact bands available depend upon the country in question.

In addition to the basic frequency limits, the use of the 5GHz bands for applications such as LTE-U or
LTE-LAA carries some regulatory requirements.

One of the main requirements for access to these frequencies is that of being able to coexist with other
users of the band - a method of Clear Channel Assessment, CCA, or Listen Before Talk, LBT is
required. This often means that instantaneous access may not always be available when LTE-U is
being implemented.

Another requirement is that there are different power levels allowed dependent upon the country and
the area of the band being used. Typically, between 5150 and 5350 MHz there is a maximum power
limit of 200 mW and operation is restricted to indoor use only, and the upper frequencies often allow
power levels up to 1 W.

LTE-U / LTE-LAA basics

The use of LTE-U (Unlicensed) / LTE-LAA (License Assisted Access) was first introduced in Rel13 of
the 3GPP standards. Essentially, LTE-U is built upon the carrier aggregation capability of LTE-
Advanced that has been deployed since around 2013. Essentially Carrier aggregation seeks to
increase the overall bandwidth available to a user equipment by enabling it to use more than one
channel, either in the same band, or within another band.

There are several ways in which LTE-U can be deployed:

 Downlink only: This is the most basic form of LTE-U and it is similar in approach to some of the
first LTE carrier aggregation deployments. In this the primary cell link is always located in the
licensed spectrum bands. Also, when operating in this mode, the LTE eNodeB performs most of
the necessary operations to ensure reliable operation is maintained and interference is not caused
to other users by ensuring the channel is free.
 Uplink and downlink: Full TDD LTE-U operation with the user equipment having an uplink and
downlink connection in the unlicensed spectrum requires the inclusion of more features.
 FDD / TDD aggregation: LTE-CA allows the use of carrier aggregation mixes between FDD and
TDD. This provides for much greater levels of flexibility when selecting the band to be used with in
unlicensed spectrum for LTE-LAA operation.
LTE-U relies on the existing core network for the backhaul, and other capabilities like security and
authentication. As such no changes are needed to the core network. Some changes are needed to
the base station so that it can accommodate the new frequencies and also incorporate the capabilities
required to ensure proper sharing of the unlicensed frequencies. In addition to this, the handsets or
UEs will need to have the new LTE-U / LTE-LAA capability incorporated into them so they can access
LTE on these additional frequencies.

LTE-U / Wi-Fi coexistence

One of the great fears that many have is that the use of LTE-U will swamp the 5GHz unlicensed band
and that Wi-Fi using these frequencies will suffer along with other users.

The LTE-U system is being designed to overcome this issue and using an, listen before transmit, LBT
solution, all users should be able to coexist without any undue levels of interference.

39
There will be cases where LTE-U operation and Wi-Fi use different channels and under these
circumstances there will be only minimal levels of interference.

It is also possible to run LTE-U and Wi-Fi on the same channel. Under these circumstances both are
able to operate, although with a lower data throughput. It is also possible to place a "fairness" algorithm
into the eNodeB to ensure that the Wi-Fi signal is not unduly degraded and is still able to support a
good data thro0ughput.

What is Voice over LTE, VoLTE

Voice over LTE, VoLTE is now the standard means of carrying voice over an LTE radio link,
providing many gains beyond that of just carrying voice.

Voice over LTE, VoLTE is the method of sending voice over an LTE bearer. Although there are many
over the top applications for carrying voice over an LTE signal, VoLTE is the method that is provided
by operators.

When LTE was launched, it was seen as a packet data-based system for data only. Operators would
be able to carry voice either by reverting to 2G / 3G systems or by using VoIP in one form or another.
However, this did not provide the operator revenue and the standardization required to provide a really
reliable service.

A further requirement was that many systems relied on SMS messaging. It was therefore particularly
important to have a viable and standardized format for voice over LTE and messaging to protect the
revenue provided to operators by these services.

To overcome this Voice over LTE, was introduced as the global scheme to provide seamless
integration of voice and short messaging into LTE networks.

Voice over LTE, VoLTE formation

Originally the concept for an SMS and voice system over LTE using IMS had been opposed by many
operators because of the complexity of IMS. They had seen it as far too expensive and burdensome
to introduce and maintain.

However, Voice over LTE was developed by a collaboration between over forty operators including:
AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent and originally referred to as the One Voice profile.

At the 2010 GSMA Mobile World Congress, GSMA announced that they were supporting the One
Voice solution to provide Voice over LTE.

To achieve a workable system, a cut down variant of IMS was used. It was felt that his would be
acceptable to operators while still providing the functionality required.

The VoLTE system is based on the IMS MMTel concepts that were previously in existence. It had
been specified in the GSMA profile IR 92.

Voice over LTE, VoLTE basics

VoLTE, Voice over LTE is an IMS-based technique. Adopting this approach, it enables the system to
be integrated with the suite of other applications for LTE.

40
In order that IMS was implemented in fashion that would be acceptable to operators, a cut down
version was defined. This not only reduced the number of entities required in the IMS network, but it
also simplified the interconnectivity - focusing on the elements required for VoLTE. This considerably
reduced the costs for network operators as this had been a major issue preventing he introduction of
IMS.

As can be seen there are several entities within the reduced IMS network used for VoLTE:

 IP-CAN IP, Connectivity Access Network: This consists of the EUTRAN and the MME.
 P-CSCF, Proxy Call State Control Function: The P-CSCF is the user to network proxy. In this
respect all SIP signalling to and from the user runs via the P-CSCF whether in the home or a visited
network.
 I-CSCF, Interrogating Call State Control Function: The I-CSCF is used for forwarding an initial
SIP request to the S-CSCF. When the initiator does not know which S-CSCF should receive the
request.
 S-CSCF, Serving Call State Control Function: The S-CSCF undertakes a variety of actions
within the overall system, and it has a number of interfaces to enable it to communicate with other
entities within the overall system.
 AS, Application Server: It is the application server that handles the voice as an application.
 HSS, Home Subscriber Server: The IMS HSS or home subscriber server is the main subscriber
database used within IMS. The IMS HSS provides details of the subscribers to the other entities
within the IMS network, enabling users to be granted access or not dependent upon their status.
The IMS calls for VoLTE are processed by the subscriber's S-CSCF in the home network. The
connection to the S-CSCF is via the P-CSCF. Dependent upon the network in use and overall location
within a network, the P-CSCF will vary, and a key element in the enablement of voice calling capability
is the discovery of the P-CSCF.

An additional requirement for VoLTE enabled networks is to have a means to handing back to circuit
switched legacy networks in a seamless manner, while only having one transmitting radio in the
handset to preserve battery life. A system known as SRVCC - Single Radio Voice Call Continuity is
required for this.

VoLTE codecs
As with any digital voice system, a codec must be used. The VoLTE codec is that specified by 3GPP
is the adaptive multi-rate, AMR codec that is used in many other cellular systems from GSM through
UMTS and now to LTE. The AMR-wideband codec may also be used.

41
The used of the AMR codec for VoLTE also provides advantages in terms of interoperability with
legacy systems. No transcoders are needed as most legacy systems now are moving towards the
AMR codec.

In addition to this, support for dual tone multi-frequency, DTMF signalling is also mandatory as this is
widely used for many forms of signalling over analogue telephone lines.

VoLTE IP versions
With the update from IPv4 to IPv6, the version of IP used in any system is of importance.

VoLTE devices are required to operate in dual stack mode catering for both IPv4 and IPv6.

If the IMS application profile assigns and IPv6 address, then the device is required to prefer that
address and also to specifically use it during the P-CSCF discovery phase.

One of the issues with voice over IP type calls is the overhead resulting from the IP header. To
overcome this issue VoLTE requires that IP header compression is used along with RoHC, Robust
Header Compression, protocol for voice data packet headers.

VoLTE is now included on most 4G smartphones as standard. The networks steadily deployed IMS
either in its full form, or as the cut down version making voice calls over the LTE network common.
This was particularly useful as 2G and 3G frequencies were re-farmed for 4G purposes.

What is SRVCC: Single Radio Voice Call Continuity

SRVCC, Single Radio-Voice Call Continuity is used with VoLTE and it enables voice calls to be
transferred to and from legacy 2G & 3G services.
SRVCC - Single Radio Voice Call Continuity is required within LTE as voice calls often need to be
transferred between LTE and legacy circuit switched services like 2G GSM or 3G UMTS as coverage
of LTE may not be complete.

As voice calls in LTE are packet data based within the IMS environment, call continuity with legacy
circuit switched services is not straightforward and can be handled in various ways. SRVCC, single
radio voice call continuity provides a standardized means by which these transfers can be made in a
seamless manner with the minimum of dropped calls.

What is SRVCC?
SRVCC, Single radio Voice Call Continuity, is a scheme that enables Inter Radio Access Technology,
Inter RAT handover as well as a handover from packet data to circuit switched data voice calls.

By using SRVCC operators are able to make the handovers while maintaining existing quality of
service, QoS and also ensuring that call continuity meets the critical requirements for emergency calls.

42
Some ideas for handover require that the handset has two active radios to facilitate handover. This is
not ideal because it requires additional circuitry to enable the two radios to be active simultaneously
and it also adds considerably to battery drain.

The SRVCC requires only a single active radio in the handset and requires some upgrades to the
supporting network infrastructure.

SRVCC network architecture

The concept for SRVCC was originally included in the 3GPP specification Release 8. Since then it has
evolved to take account of the various issues and changing requirements. As a result, GSMA
recommends that 3GPP Rel 10 or later is implemented as this ensures a considerably lower level of
voice interruption and dropped calls.

The network upgrades required to the cellular network are needed in both the LTE network and that
of the legacy network or networks. SRVCC requires that software upgrades are required to the MSS
- Mobile Soft Switch subsystem in the legacy MSC - Mobile Switching Centre, the IMS subsystem and
the LTE/EPC subsystem. No upgrades are required for the radio access network of the legacy system,
meaning that the majority of the legacy system remains unaffected.

The upgrades required for the MSC are normally relatively easy to manage. The MSC is normally
centrally located and not dispersed around the network, and this makes upgrades easier to manage.
If they are not easily accessible then a new dedicated MSC can be used that has been upgraded to
handles the SRVCC requirements.

How SRVCC works

The SRVCC implementation controls the transfer of calls in both directions.

LTE to legacy network handover

Handover from LTE to the legacy network is required when the user moves out of the LTE coverage
area. Using SRVCC, the handover is undertaken in two stages.
 Radio Access Technology transfer: The handover for the radio access network and this is a
well-established protocol that is in use for transfers from 3G to 2G for example.
 Session transfer: The session transfer is the new element that is required for SRVCC. It is
required to move the access control and voice media anchoring from the Evolved Packet Core,
EPC of the packet switched LTE network to the legacy circuit switched network.
During the handover process the CSCF within the IMS architecture maintains the control of the whole
operation.

43
The SRVCC handover process takes place in a number of steps:

1. The handover process is initiated by a request for session transfer from the IMS CSCF.
2. The IMS CSCF responds simultaneously with two commands, one to the LTE network, and the
other to the legacy network.
3. the LTE network receives a radio Access Network handover execution command through the MME
and LTE RAN. This instructs the user device to prepare to move to a circuit switched network for
the voice call.
4. The destination legacy circuit switched network receives a session transfer response preparing it
to accept the call from the LTE network.
5. After all the commands have been executed and acknowledged the call is switched to the legacy
network with the IMS CSCF still in control of the call.

Legacy network to LTE

When returning a call to the LTE network much of the same functionality is again used.
To ensure the VoLTE device is able to return to the LTE RAN from the legacy RAN, there are two
options the legacy RAN can implement to provide a swift and effective return:

 Allow LTE information to be broadcast on the legacy RAN so the LTE device is able to perform the
cell reselection more easily.
 Simultaneously release the connection to the user device and redirect it to the LTE RAN.

SRVCC interruption performance

One of the key issues with VoLTE and SRVCC is the interruption time when handing over from an
LTE RAN to a legacy RAN.

44
The key methodology behind reducing he time is to simultaneous perform the redirections of RAN and
session. In this way the user experience is maintained and the actual interruption time is not unduly
noticeable.

It has been found that the session redirection is the faster of the two handovers, and therefore it is
necessary for the overall handover methodology to accommodate the fact that there are difference
between the two.

SRVCC has been implemented along with VoLTE. In this way calls transferring to and from legacy
circuit switched services can managed in a seamless manner without the user realising any
difference.

SRVCC is one of the many elements that has been added to the LTE network, and although it does
require some upgrades, these are generally relatively straightforward.

4G LTE Advanced
LTE Advanced adds additional capabilities to the basic LTE format to enable it to provide
additional facilities, higher data rate, and better performance.
The basic LTE, long term evolution cellular services were launched around 2010 with some advance
deployments well before this. It was never envisaged that this initial form of LTE would provide the full
performance intended. This required some additional elements that were in what was termed LTE
Advanced.

LTE Advanced, LTE-A incorporated a number of new techniques that enabled the system to provide
very much higher data rates, and also much better performance, particularly at cell edges and other
areas where performance would not normally have been so good.

LTE Advanced took a few more years to fully develop and roll out across the networks, but when
introduced it enabled its many advanced features to provide significant improvements over basic LTE.

LTE Advanced development history

With 3G technology established, it was obvious that the rate of development of cellular technology
should not slow. As a result initial ideas for the development of a new 4G system started to be
investigated. In one early investigation which took place on 25 December 2006 with information
released to the press on 9 February 2007, NTT DoCoMo detailed information about trials in which they
were able to send data at speeds up to approximately 5 Gbit/s in the downlink within a 100MHz
bandwidth to a mobile station moving at 10km/h. The scheme used several technologies to achieve
this including variable spreading factor spread orthogonal frequency division multiplex, MIMO, multiple
input multiple output, and maximum likelihood detection. Details of these new 4G trials were passed
to 3GPP for their consideration

In 2008 3GPP held two workshops on IMT Advanced, where the "Requirements for Further
Advancements for E-UTRA" were gathered. The resulting Technical Report 36.913 was then
published in June 2008 and submitted to the ITU-R defining the LTE-Advanced system as their
proposal for IMT-Advanced.

45
The ITU-R also set a number of milestones to ensure that the development of LTE Advanced too place
in a timely fashion.

KEY MILESTONES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF 4G LTE-ADVANCED

MILESTONE DATE

Issue invitation to propose Radio Interface Technologies. March 2008

ITU date for cut-off for submission of proposed Radio Interface Technologies. October 2009

Cutoff date for evaluation report to ITU. June 2010

Decision on framework of key characteristics of IMT Advanced Radio Interface Technologies. October 2010

Completion of development of radio interface specification recommendations. February 2011

Comparison of LTE A Against Other Technologies

To see how LTE Advanced, LTE-A provided a significant improvement in performance, it is sometimes
interesting to check its capability against other cellular services.

COMPARISON OF LTE-A WITH OTHER CELLULAR TECHNOLOGIES

WCDMA HSPA HSPA+ LTE LTE ADVANCED
(UMTS) HSDPA / HSUPA (IMT ADVANCED)
Max downlink speed 384 k 14 M 28 M 100M 1G
bps
Max uplink speed 128 k 5.7 M 11 M 50 M 500 M
bps
Latency 150 ms 100 ms 50ms (max) ~10 ms less than 5 ms
round trip time
approx
3GPP releases Rel 99/4 Rel 5 / 6 Rel 7 Rel 8 Rel 10
Approx years of initial roll out 2003 / 4 2005 / 6 HSDPA 2008 / 9 2009 / 10 2014 / 15
2007 / 8 HSUPA
Access methodology CDMA CDMA CDMA OFDMA / SC-FDMA OFDMA / SC-FDMA

LTE Advance Features

With work starting on LTE Advanced, a number of key requirements and key features are coming to
light. Although not fixed yet in the specifications, there are many high level aims for the new LTE
Advanced specification. These will need to be verified and much work remains to be undertaken in the
specifications before these are all fixed. Currently some of the main headline aims for LTE Advanced
can be seen below:

 Peak data rates: downlink - 1 Gbps; uplink - 500 Mbps.

46
 Spectrum efficiency: 3 times greater than LTE.
 Peak spectrum efficiency: downlink - 30 bps/Hz; uplink - 15 bps/Hz.
 Spectrum use: the ability to support scalable bandwidth use and spectrum aggregation where non-
contiguous spectrum needs to be used.
 Latency: from Idle to Connected in less than 50 ms and then shorter than 5 ms one way for
individual packet transmission.
 Cell edge user throughput to be twice that of LTE.
 Average user throughput to be 3 times that of LTE.
 Mobility: Same as that in LTE
 Compatibility: LTE Advanced shall be capable of interworking with LTE and 3GPP legacy systems.
These are many of the development aims for LTE Advanced. Their actual figures and the actual
implementation of them will need to be worked out during the specification stage of the system.

LTE Advanced technologies

There are a number of key technologies that will enable LTE Advanced to achieve the high data
throughput rates that are required. MIMO and OFDM are two of the base technologies that will be
enablers. Along with these there are a number of other techniques and technologies that will be
employed.

 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex, OFDM OFDM forms the basis of the radio bearer.
Along with it there is OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) along with SC-
FDMA (Single Channel Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access). These will be used in a
hybrid format. However the basis for all of these access schemes is OFDM.

Note on OFDM:
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex, OFDM is a form of signal format that uses a large number
of close spaced carriers that are each modulated with low rate data stream. The close spaced signals
would normally be expected to interfere with each other, but by making the signals orthogonal to
each other there is no mutual interference. The data to be transmitted is shared across all the carriers
and this provides resilience against selective fading from multi-path effects.

Read more about OFDM, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing.

Multiple Input Multiple Output, MIMO: One of the other key enablers for LTE Advanced that is
common to LTE is MIMO. This scheme is also used by many other technologies including WiMAX and
Wi-Fi - 802.11n. MIMO - Multiple Input Multiple Output enables the data rates achieved to be increased
beyond what the basic radio bearer would normally allow.

Note on MIMO:
MIMO is a form of antenna technology that uses multiple antennas to enable signals travelling via
different paths as a result of reflections, etc., to be separated and their capability used to improve the
data throughput and / or the signal to noise ratio, thereby improving system performance.
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 For LTE Advanced, the use of MIMO is likely to involve further and more advanced techniques
including the use of additional antennas in the matrix to enable additional paths to be used,
although as the number of antennas increases, the overhead increases and the return per
additional path is less.

In additional to the numbers of antennas increasing, it is likely that techniques such as beamforming
may be used to enable the antenna coverage to be focused where it is needed.
 Carrier Aggregation, CA: As many operators do not have sufficient contiguous spectrum to
provide the required bandwidths for the very high data rates, a scheme known as carrier
aggregation has been developed. Using this technology operators are able to utilise multiple
channels either in the same bands or different areas of the spectrum to provide the required
bandwidth.
 Coordinated Multipoint : One of the key issues with many cellular systems is that of poor
performance at the cell edges. Interference from adjacent cells along with poor signal quality lead
to a reduction in data rates. For LTE-Advanced a scheme known as coordinated multipoint has
been introduced.
 LTE Relaying: LTE relaying is a scheme that enables signals to be forwarded by remote stations
from a main base station to improve coverage.
 Device to Device, D2D: LTE D2D is a facility that has been requested by a number of users, in
particular the emergency services. It enables fast swift access via direct communication - a facility
that is essential for the emergency services when they may be on the scene of an incident.

LTE-Advanced has been able to provide some significant improvements in performance. Not only has
the radio access network seen upgrades and improvements, but so too has the core network.

The result of all the upgrades is that users see significant performance improvements with LTE
Advanced. Also operators see greater returns. The cost per bit is reduced, and with the faster speeds,
users tend to consume more data, thereby raising revenues. Accordingly, LTE-Advanced has provided
improvements to both users and operators, as well as those providing additional services.

4G LTE CA: Carrier Aggregation

Carrier Aggregation, CA is an essential element of 4G LTE Advanced enabling much
higher data rates to be achieved by combining two or more carriers.
LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation, CA, is one of the key techniques used to enable the very high
data rates of 4G to be achieved.

By combining more than one carrier together, either in the same or different bands it is possible to
increase the bandwidth available and in this way increase the capacity of the link.

Carrier aggregation, CA requires many different features to be implemented to enable it to operate

effectively, as the two channels are likely to have very different characteristics, especially if they are
on different bands.

LTE carrier aggregation, CA, enables the most to be made of the available radio spectrum. Often
bands are small as the availability of spectrum is limited in the sectors required and as a result many

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country administrations have released as much as they can but this may only be as small bands.
Carrier aggregation seeks to be able to utilise this and large bands equally effectively.

Carrier aggregation is supported by both formats of LTE, namely the FDD and TDD variants. This
ensures that both FDD LTE and TDD LTE are able to meet the high data throughput requirements
placed upon them.

LTE carrier aggregation basics

The target figures for data throughput in the downlink is 1 Gbps for 4G LTE Advanced. Even with the
improvements in spectral efficiency it is not possible to provide the required headline data throughput
rates within the maximum 20 MHz channel. The only way to achieve the higher data rates is to increase
the overall bandwidth used. IMT Advanced sets the upper limit at 100 MHz, but with an expectation of
40 MHz being used for minimum performance. For the future it is possible the top limit of 100 MHz
could be extended.

It is well understood that spectrum is a valuable commodity, and it takes time to re-assign it from one
use to another in view - the cost of forcing users to move is huge as new equipment needs to be
bought. Accordingly, as sections of the spectrum fall out of use, they can be re-assigned. This leads
to significant levels of fragmentation.

To an LTE terminal, each component carrier appears as an LTE carrier, while an LTE-Advanced
terminal can exploit the total aggregated bandwidth.

RF aspects of carrier aggregation

There are a number of ways in which LTE carriers can be aggregated:

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 Intra-band: This form of carrier aggregation uses a single band. There are two main formats for
this type of carrier aggregation:

 Contiguous: The Intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation is the easiest form of LTE carrier
aggregation to implement. Here the carriers are adjacent to each other. The aggregated
channel can be considered by the terminal as a single enlarged channel from the RF viewpoint.
In this instance, only one transceiver is required within the terminal or UE, whereas more are
required where the channels are not adjacent. However, as the RF bandwidth increases it is
necessary to ensure that the UE in particular is able to operate over such a wide bandwidth
without a reduction in performance. Although the performance requirements are the same for
the base station, the space, power consumption, and cost requirements are considerably less
stringent, allowing greater flexibility in the design. Additionally, for the base station, multi-carrier
operation, even if non-aggregated, is already a requirement in many instances, requiring little
or no change to the RF elements of the design. Software upgrades would naturally be required
to cater for the additional capability.
 Non-contiguous: Non-contiguous intra-band carrier aggregation is somewhat more
complicated than the instance where adjacent carriers are used. No longer can the multi-carrier
signal be treated as a single signal and therefore two transceivers are required. This adds
significant complexity, particularly to the UE where space, power and cost are prime
considerations.
 Inter-band non-contiguous: This form of carrier aggregation uses different bands. It will be of
particular use because of the fragmentation of bands - some of which are only 10 MHz wide. For
the UE it requires the use of multiple transceivers within the single item, with the usual impact on
cost, performance and power. In addition to this there are also additional complexities resulting
from the requirements to reduce intermodulation and cross modulation from the two transceivers
The current standards allow for up to five 20 MHz carriers to be aggregated, although in practice two
or three is likely to be the practical limit. These aggregated carriers can be transmitted in parallel to or
from the same terminal, thereby enabling a much higher throughput to be obtained.

LTE carrier aggregation bandwidth classes

There is a total of six different carrier aggregation, CA bandwidth classes which are being defined.

LTE CARRIER AGGREGATION BANDWIDTH CLASSES

CARRIER AGGREGATION AGGREGATED TRANSMISSION NUMBER OF COMPONENT

BANDWIDTH CLASS BW CONFIGURATION CARRIERS

A ≤100 1

B ≤100 2

C 100 - 200 2

NB: classes D, E, & F are in the study phase.

LTE aggregated carriers

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When carriers are aggregated, each carrier is referred to as a component carrier. There are two
categories:

 Primary component carrier: This is the main carrier in any group. There will be a primary
downlink carrier and an associated uplink primary component carrier.
 Secondary component carrier: There may be one or more secondary component carriers.
There is no definition of which carrier should be used as a primary component carrier - different
terminals may use different carriers. The configuration of the primary component carrier is terminal
specific and will be determined according to the loading on the various carriers as well as other relevant
parameters.

In addition to this the association between the downlink primary carrier and the corresponding uplink
primary component carrier is cell specific. Again, there are no definitions of how this must be
organized. The information is signaled to the terminal of user equipment as part of the overall signalling
between the terminal and the base station.

Carrier aggregation cross carrier scheduling

When LTE carrier aggregation is used, it is necessary to be able to schedule the data across the
carriers and to inform the terminal of the DCI rates for the different component carriers. This
information may be implicit, or it may be explicit dependent upon whether cross carrier scheduling is
used.

Enabling of the cross carrier scheduling is achieved individually via the RRC signalling on a per
component carrier basis or a per terminal basis.

When no cross carrier scheduling is arranged, the downlink scheduling assignments achieved on a
per carrier basis, i.e. they are valid for the component carrier on which they were transmitted.

For the uplink, an association is created between one downlink component carrier and an uplink
component carrier. In this way when uplink grants are sent the terminal or UE will know to which uplink
component carrier they apply.

Where cross carrier scheduling is active, the PDSCH on the downlink or the PUSCH on the uplink is
transmitted on an associate component carrier other than the PDCCH, the carrier indicator in the
PDCCH provides the information about the component carrier used for the PDSCH or PUSCH.

It is necessary to be able to indicate to which component carrier in any aggregation scheme a grant
relates. To facilitate this, component carriers are numbered. The primary component carrier is
numbered zero, for all instances, and the different secondary component carriers are assigned a
unique number through the UE specific RRC signalling. This means that even if the terminal or user
equipment and the base station, eNodeB may have different understandings of the component carrier
numbering during reconfiguration, transmissions on the primary component carrier can be scheduled.

4G LTE CoMP, Coordinated Multipoint

4G LTE CoMP, coordinated multipoint provides a significant improvement in performance
at cell edges where previous performance has been poor.
4G LTE CoMP, Coordinated Multipoint is used to provide improved performance, particularly at cell
edges by utilising the capability of more than one base station to enable the communciatoions.

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LTE CoMP utilises a number of different techniques to dynamically coordinate the transmission and
reception for a UE to and from a variety of different base stations. The aim is to improve overall quality
for the user as well as improving the utilisation of the network.

In effect LTE CoMP uses what might have previously been seen as intercell interference to provide
improved performance.

Over the years the importance of inter-cell interference, ICI has been recognised, and various
techniques used from the days of GSM to mitigate its effects. Here interference averaging techniques
such as frequency hopping were utilised. However as technology has advanced, much tighter and
more effective methods of combating and utilising the interference have gained support.

LTE CoMP - the advantages

Although LTE Advanced CoMP, Coordinated Multipoint is a complex set of techniques, it brings many
advantages to the user as well as the network operator.

 Makes better utilisation of network: By providing connections to several base stations at once,
using CoMP, data can be passed through least loaded base stations for better resource utilisation.
 Provides enhanced reception performance: Using several cell sites for each connection means
that overall reception will be improved and the number of dropped calls should be reduced.
 Multiple site reception increases received power: The joint reception from multiple base
stations or sites using LTE Coordinated Multipoint techniques enables the overall received power
at the handset to be increased.
 Interference reduction: By using specialised combining techniques it is possible to utilise the
interference constructively rather than destructively, thereby reducing interference levels.

What is LTE CoMP? - the basics

Coordinated multipoint transmission and reception actually refers to a wide range of techniques that
enable dynamic coordination or transmission and reception with multiple geographically separated
eNBs. Its aim is to enhance the overall system performance, utilise the resources more effectively and
improve the end user service quality.

One of the key parameters for LTE as a whole, and in particular 4G LTE Advanced is the high data
rates that are achievable. These data rates are relatively easy to maintain close to the base station,
but as distances increase they become more difficult to maintain.

Obviously the cell edges are the most challenging. Not only is the signal lower in strength because of
the distance from the base station (eNB), but also interference levels from neighbouring eNBs are
likely to be higher as the UE will be closer to them.

4G LTE CoMP, Coordinated Multipoint requires close coordination between a number of

geographically separated eNBs. They dynamically coordinate to provide joint scheduling and
transmissions as well as proving joint processing of the received signals. In this way a UE at the edge
of a cell is able to be served by two or more eNBs to improve signals reception / transmission and
increase throughput particularly under cell edge conditions.

In essence, 4G LTE CoMP, Coordinated Multipoint falls into two major categories:

 Joint processing: Joint processing occurs where there is coordination between multiple entities
- base stations - that are simultaneously transmitting or receiving to or from UEs.

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 Coordinated scheduling or beamforming: This often referred to as CS/CB (coordinated
scheduling / coordinated beamforming) is a form of coordination where a UE is transmitting with a
single transmission or reception point - base station. However the communication is made with an
exchange of control among several coordinated entities.
To achieve either of these modes, highly detailed feedback is required on the channel properties in a
fast manner so that the changes can be made. The other requirement is for very close coordination
between the eNBs to facilitate the combination of data or fast switching of the cells.

The techniques used for coordinated multipoint, CoMP are very different for the uplink and downlink.
This results from the fact that the eNBs are in a network, connected to other eNBs, whereas the
handsets or UEs are individual elements.

Downlink LTE CoMP

The downlink LTE CoMP requires dynamic coordination amongst several geographically separated
eNBs transmitting to the UE. The two formats of coordinated multipoint can be divided for the downlink:

 Joint processing schemes for transmitting in the downlink : Using this element of LTE CoMP,
data is transmitted to the UE simultaneously from a number of different eNBs. The aim is to improve
the received signal quality and strength. It may also have the aim of actively cancelling interference
from transmissions that are intended for other UEs.

 This form of coordinated multipoint places a high demand onto the backhaul network because the
data to be transmitted to the UE needs to be sent to each eNB that will be transmitting it to the UE.
This may easily double or triple the amount of data in the network dependent upon how many eNBs
will be sending the data. In addition to this, joint processing data needs to be sent between all eNBs
involved in the CoMP area.
 Coordinated scheduling and or beamforming: Using this concept, data to a single UE is
transmitted from one eNB. The scheduling decisions as well as any beams are coordinated to
control the interference that may be generated.

The advantage of this approach is that the requirements for coordination across the backhaul
network are considerably reduced for two reasons:

 UE data does not need to be transmitted from multiple eNBs, and therefore only needs to be
directed to one eNB.
 Only scheduling decisions and details of beams needs to be coordinated between multiple
eNBs.

Uplink LTE CoMP

 Joint reception and processing: The basic concept behind this format is to utilise antennas at
different sites. By coordinating between the different eNBs it is possible to form a virtual antenna
array. The signals received by the eNBs are then combined and processed to produce the final
output signal. This technique allows for signals that are very low in strength, or masked by
interference in some areas to be receiving with few errors.

The main disadvantage with this technique is that large amounts of data need to be transferred
between the eNBs for it to operate.

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 Coordinated scheduling: This scheme operates by coordinating the scheduling decisions
amongst the ENBs to minimise interference.

As in the case of the downlink, this format provides a much reduced load in the backhaul network
because only the scheduling data needs to be transferred between the different eNBs that are
coordinating with each other.

4G LTE Relay: LTE Advanced relaying

4G LTE Advanced relay technology using relay nodes, RNs enables improved capacity and coverage whilst
minimizing infrastructure investment.

LTE relaying technology is a feature that enables signals to be relayed by relay nodes, RNs to provide
additional coverage and performance without the need to install all the backhaul capabilities normally
required for base stations. LTE relaying is a feature that is ideal for a number of specific areas where
additional coverage is required, but possibly not with the high capacities of inner town areas.

Need for LTE relay technology

One of the main drivers for the use of LTE is the high data rates that can be achieved. However, all
technologies suffer from reduced data rates at the cell edge where signal levels are lower and
interference levels are typically higher.

The use of technologies such as MIMO, OFDM and advanced error correction techniques improve
throughput under many conditions, but do not fully mitigate the problems experienced at the cell edge.

As cell edge performance is becoming more critical, with some of the technologies being pushed
towards their limits, it is necessary to look at solutions that will enhance performance at the cell edge
for a comparatively low cost. One solution that is being investigated and proposed is that of the use of
LTE relays.

LTE relay basics

LTE relaying is different to the use of a repeater which re-broadcasts the signal. A relay will actually
receive, demodulates and decodes the data, apply any error correction, etc to it and then re-
transmitting a new signal. In this way, the signal quality is enhanced with an LTE relay, rather than
suffering degradation from a reduced signal to noise ratio when using a repeater.

For an LTE relay, the UEs communicate with the relay node, which in turn communicates with a donor
eNB.

Relay nodes can optionally support higher layer functionality, for example decode user data from the
donor eNB and re-encode the data before transmission to the UE.

The LTE relay is a fixed relay - infrastructure without a wired backhaul connection, that relays
messages between the base station (BS) and mobile stations (MSs) through multihop communication.

There are a number of scenarios where LTE relay will be advantageous.

 Increase network density: LTE relay nodes can be deployed very easily in situations where the
aim is to increase network capacity by increasing the number of eNBs to ensure good signal levels

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 are received by all users. LTE relays are easy to install as they require no separate backhaul and
they are small enabling them to be installed in many convenient areas, e.g. on street lamps, on
walls, etc.

 Network coverage extension : LTE relays can be used as a convenient method of filling small
holes in coverage. With no need to install a complete base station, the relay can be quickly installed
so that it fills in the coverage blackspot.

 LTE relay coverage extension - filling in coverage holeAdditionally LTE relay nodes may be sued
to increase the coverage outside main area. With suitable high gain antennas and also if antenna
for the link to the donor eNB is placed in a suitable location it will be able to maintain good
communications and provide the required coverage extension.

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 LTE relay coverage extension - extending coverageIt can be noted that relay nodes may be
cascaded to provide considerable extensions of the coverage.
 Rapid network roll-out: Without the need to install backhaul, or possibly install large masts, LTE
relays can provide a very easy method of extending coverage during the early roll-out of a network.
More traditional eNBs may be installed later as the traffic volumes increase.

LTE relaying full & half duplex

LTE relay nodes can operate in one of two scenarios:

 Half-Duplex: A half-duplex system provides communication in both directions, but not

simultaneously - the transmissions must be time multiplexed. For LTE relay, this requires careful
scheduling. It requires that the RN coordinates its resource allocation with the UEs in the uplink
and the assigned donor eNB in the downlink. This can be achieved using static pre-assigned
solutions, or more dynamic ones requiring more intelligence and communication for greater
flexibility and optimisation.
 Full Duplex: For full duplex, the systems are able to transmit and receive at the same time. For
LTE relay nodes this is often on the same frequency. The relay nodes will receive the signal,
process it and then transmit it on the same frequency with a small delay, although this will be small
when compared to the frame duration. To achieve full duplex, there must be good isolation between
the transmit and receive antennas.
When considering full or half duplex systems for LTE relay nodes, there is a trade-off between
performance and the relay node cost. The receiver performance is critical, and also the antenna
isolation must be reasonably high to allow the simultaneous transmission and reception when only
one channel is used.

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LTE relay types
There is a number of different types of LTE relay node that can be used. However before defining the
relay node types, it is necessary to look at the different modes of operation.

One important feature or characteristic of an LTE relay node is the carrier frequency it operates on.
There are two methods of operation:

 Inband: An LTE relay node is said to be "Inband" if the link between the base station and the
relay node are on the same carrier frequency as the link between the LTE relay node and the user
equipment, UE, i.e. the BS-RN link and the BS-UE link are on the same carrier frequency.
 Outband: For Outband LTE relay nodes, RNs, the BS-RN link operates of a different carrier
frequency to that of the RN-UE link.
For the LTE relay nodes themselves there are two basic types that are being proposed, although there
are subdivisions within these basic types:

 Type 1 LTE relay nodes: These LTE relays control their cells with their own identity including the
transmission of their own synchronisation channels and reference symbols. Type 1 relays appear
as if they are a Release 8 eNB to Release 8 UEs. This ensures backwards compatibility. The basic
Type 1 LTE relay provides half duplex with Inband transmissions.

There are two further sub-types within this category:

 Type 1.a: These LTE relay nodes are outband RNs which have the same properties as the
basic Type 1 relay nodes, but they can transmit and receive at the same time, i.e. full duplex.
 Type 1.b: This form of LTE relay node is an inband form. They have a sufficient isolation
between the antennas used for the BS-RN and the RN-UE links. This isolation can be achieved
by antenna spacing and directivity as well as specialised digital signal processing techniques,
although there are cost impacts of doing this. The performance of these RNs is anticipated to
be similar to that of femtocells.
 Type 2 LTE relay nodes: These LTE relaying nodes do not have their own cell identity and look
just like the main cell. Any UE in range is not able to distinguish a relay from the main eNB within
the cell. Control information can be transmitted from the eNB and user data from the LTE relay.

LTE RELAY CLASS CELL ID DUPLEX FORMAT

Type 1 Yes Inband half duplex

Type 1.a Yes Outband full duplex

Type 1.b Yes Inband full duplex

Type 2 No Inband full duplex

Summary of Relay Classifications & Features in 3GPP Rel.10

4G LTE Advanced relaying is a feature that can be used to provide additional coverage and
performance for a minimum investment. It is ideal for many areas where traffic may not be as high as
some, but where coverage is still required.

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4G LTE Device to Device, D2D
4G LTE Advanced device to device, D2D is a direct mode of communication whereby individual devices
can communicate directly between them.

4G LTE device to device, D2D communications is a mode mainly intended for emergency services
and other similar applications that allows two LTE devices to communicate directly with each other
without the need for a base station.

A number of applications could use this, but one of the earliest examples was for emergency services
where they would be able to use their phones to communicate even without cellular coverage. This
might be useful if they are outside normal coverage, for use within buildings where coverage is limited,
or where the normal network is not usable.

LTE D2D communications is a peer to peer communications link which does not use the cellular
network infrastructure, but enables LTE based devices to communicate directly with one another when
they are in close proximity.

Benefits of D2D communications

Direct communications between devices can provide several benefits to users in various applications
where the devices are in close proximity:

 Data rates: Devices may be remote from cellular infrastructure and may therefore not be able to
support high data rate transmission that may be required
 Reliable communications: LTE Device to Device can be sued to communicate locally between
devices to provide high reliability communications especially if the LTE network has failed for any
reason - even as a result of the disaster.
 Instant communications: As the D2D communications does not rely on the network
infrastructure the devices could be used for instant communications between a set number of
devices in the same way that walkie-talkies are used. This is particularly applicable to t e way
communications may be used by the emergency services.
 Use of licensed spectrum: Unlike other device to device systems including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc,
LTE would use licensed spectrum and this would enable the frequencies to be used to be less
subject to interference, thereby allowing more reliable communications.
 Interference reduction: By not having to communicate directly with a base station, fewer links
are required (i.e. essentially only between devices) and this has an impact of the amount of data
being transmitted within a given spectrum allocation. This reduces the overall level of interference.
 Power saving: Using device to device communication provides energy saving for a variety of
reasons. One major area is that if the two0 devices are in close proximity then lower transmission
power levels are required.

LTE D2D basics

4G LTE device to device, D2D would enable the direct link of a device, user equipment UE, etc to
another device using the cellular spectrum. This could allow large volumes of media or other data to
be transferred from one device to another over short distances and using a direct connection. This
form of device to device transfer would enable the data to be transferred without the need to run it via
the cellular network itself, thereby avoiding problems with overloading the network.

Other examples of direct communication include Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, etc. Networks can be formed
in many ways.

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The D2D system would operate in a manner where devices within a locality would be able to provide
direct communications rather than transmitting via the network. The cellular infrastructure, if present,
may assist with issues like peer discovery, synchronization, and the provision of identity and security
information.

LTE D2D issues

The addition of the LTE D2D or device to device communication capability impacts the whole of the
network and is therefore not a trivial addition, Issues like authorization and authentication are currently
handled by the network and the overall LTE system would need to be extended to accommodate
device to device to communication without the essential presence of the network.

Another issue would be that of direct communication between devices that are under subscriptions
with different operators, although this is unlikely to occur in the event of public service or emergency
services.

With increasing numbers of emergency services using the existing cellular network to provide much
better coverage and better cost efficiency than a separate network for them might, they and other
services will need additional services and facilities. LTE D2D is one that is ideal for them, along with
a number of other users.

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