LTE Design

Challenges
& Test Solutions

Mr. Richard Kong

Application Support Manager
LTE Design Challenges
Agenda – LTE Design Challenges

ƒ Design Challenges
ƒ LTE Development Lifecycle
ƒ Chipset development
ƒ Antenna Techniques
ƒ Resistance to Fading & AWGN
ƒ Voice over LTE
Design and Test Challenges - LTE

ƒ New physical layer

– New measurement types, e.g. EVM of both composite
signal and specific channels and signals
– Wide, variable bandwidths, 1.4MHz – 20MHz
– New frequency bands
– Need to apply Doppler shift to test tolerance to
frequency error
ƒ All IP operation
– Need to make High-speed data throughput
measurements: 100Mbit/sec (Cat 3)
– Packet-based measurements: packet latency, packet
loss during adverse conditions, handover
Design and Test Challenges - LTE

ƒ Power consumption
– Always an issue, especially with first-generation
devices
– Need to perform measurements under realistic
conditions, with multiple tasks running in parallel
and at high data rate
ƒ Multiple radio standards:
– LTE + WCDMA (FDD + TD-LTE) + GSM/GPRS +
CDMA2000 + WiFi
– Need to be tested in combinations
ƒ Smaller form factors
– USB dongle, embedded module, PC Card
– Can cause heat dissipation and EMC issues which,
again, need to be tested under realistic conditions
 Expected LTE Development Process
PHY TEAM
PROTOCOL/BASEBAND

BB
MAC/RLC
TEAM

HL Development
(Host test)
Chipset development

ƒ Important Issues related to chips

– DSP for base band and multimedia processing should
be low power and high speed
– Progress power management for longer battery life for
good and consistent call quality it should support low
noise, high accuracy
– High performance audio I/C for better voice and music
and TV and Video connectivity ICS for enhanced
multimedia function
– High linearity, low power RF for power performance
– Suitable memory and response for various applications
Complexities of UE Antenna Design
Multiple Antenna techniques

• Antennas at receiver and/or transmitter

• Mitigates fading in the radio channel
• To improve system capacity (more users per cell),
better link reliability

• Antennas at receiver and/or transmitter

• Shaping of antenna beams to maximize gain in certain
direction or suppress specific interferer
• To improve coverage (possibility for larger cells)

• Antennas at both receiver and transmitter

• Sending several data streams on multiple parallel
channels
• To achieve higher data rates per user, higher
spectral efficiency
Single/Dual Radio terminals test
requirements
ƒ Single Radio terminals
– Test each RAT individually
– Test UE measurement capability and switching capability
to allow UE to switch between the 1xRTT and/or HRPD
network
– Power consumption testing

ƒ Dual Radio terminals

– Test each RAT individually
– Test parallel operation of WCDMA/CDMA & LTE
– Check capability to make measurements on neighbor cells
without losing current network
– Power consumption testing
Single Radio / Dual Radio UE
MIMO/SISO

7100 TM500
SISO Single-input single-output

SIMO Single-input multiple-output

MISO Multiple-input single-output

MIMO Multiple-Input Multiple -

output
 What is fading?

ƒ The arrived signal is a LOS signal plus

large number of reflected signals.
– In urban areas LOS blocked by buildings.
Reflected signals interfere with LOS signal,
causes degraded link
ƒ Antenna moves, the channel varies
with location and time because the
relative phases of the reflected signal
change
– leads to fading: time variations of the
received amplitude and phase
ƒ Other “background” interference (e.g.
neighbouring cells) are usually
simulated as (AWGN) with a
controllable (SNR).
Fading & AWGN Simulators

– Fading simulators and AWGN generators are essential

tools for testing device robustness
• Fading
– Typically affects received power from eNB

• AWGN
– Affects UE more adversely. When combined with Fading,
notable fluctuation in data throughput rate occurs
 Effects of Fading and AWGN
ƒ FADING– multipath reception
– Time varied amplitude and phase
ƒ AWGN – background interference
– Affects SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio)

• Commonly used fading model is the Jakes’ model, where In-Phase

each path undergoes Rayleigh fading.

• Rayleigh fading, many un-resolvable sub-paths at the receiver
are attributed to clusters of reflectors.
• These sub-paths are assumed to be arriving with the same
delay, but at all possible angles at the receiver
• Doppler Effect due to the UE’s motion is different for different
sub-paths.
• All of the above result in a reduced quality of service and
hence experience for the user
Fading/AWGN Test Scenarios

ƒ LTE fading models

– EVA (Extended vehicular A model)
– EPA (Extended Pedestrian A model)
– ETU (Extended Typical Urban model)
– HST (High Speed Train Model)
ƒ Doppler cases
– Low Doppler. (5Hz for EPA and EVA)
– Medium Doppler. (70 Hz for EVA and ETU)
– High Doppler. (300Hz for ETU)
ƒ Antenna Diversity
– SISO
– MIMO
ƒ Different Levels of AWGN SNR
– -20dB to 5dB
ƒ Modulation Techniques
– QPSK (MCS/RB),
– 16 QAM (MCS/RB)
– 64 QAM (MCS/RB)
Voice on LTE – how?

ƒ There has been considerable debate in the industry

how this should be done
– IMS, VoLGA(Voice over LTE via Generic Access ) SR-VCC and CS
fallback, and One Voice were all considered
ƒ LTE is designed as an IP-only technology and is not
designed to carry voice.
ƒ LTE will use overlaid voice
ƒ VoLGA was the leading solution however the GSMA
voted for One Voice finally, due to its IMS based
approach
– Key vendors involved
• http://www.volga-forum.com/

ƒ One Voice – also known as “Voice Over LTE – VoLTE)

– Know the preferred solution due to IMS usage
ƒ For general discussion on Voice and SMS services on
LTE, please refer to:
– http://voiceoverlte.typepad.com/voice-and-sms-over-lte/
One Voice (Voice Over LTE – VoLTE)

ƒ Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is the most popular method for

sending SMS and Voice service for LTE
– Started as the “One Voice Initiative” established by a select group
of mobile operators and suppliers that wanted to ensure
interoperable LTE voice and messaging.
ƒ Based on IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) developed by 3GPP
ƒ Initially known as “One Voice Initiative”
– AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, Verizon Wireless,
Vodafone, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia,
ƒ In early 2010, the GSM Association (GSMA), a global mobile
industry association, endorsed the One Voice Initiative as the
method it will pursue for carrying voice over LTE
– http://www.gsmworld.com/our-work/mobile_broadband/VoLTE.htm
LTE Test Solutions
Agenda – LTE Test Solutions

ƒ Why is testing LTE devices important?

ƒ Physical (RF) Layer testing
ƒ L1/L2/L3 Integration
ƒ Protocol Testing
ƒ RF testing
ƒ Fading and AWGN
ƒ Typical IOT issues
ƒ Call Box Testers
Why is testing LTE devices important?

ƒ Improved cell edge experience

– Due to the new requirements for LTE and the
expectations that will be set by the users, the service
will need to be far more robust that existing
WCDMA/CDMA networks

ƒ Additional test requirements

• Fading and AWGN
– Devices are expected to be able to roam seamlessly and also
maintain not just a connection, but reasonable data rate and
hence be more tolerant to interference travelling at speed

• More frequency bands to test (LTE has 40

different bands)
RF Test Equipment Requirements

ƒ RF (Physical Layer) testing for LTE

– Call box testers
– Script based tests
– 3GPP 36.521 conformance tests
– VSA/VSG
– Fading & AWGN simulator
– MultiRAT capable test equipment (for interference)
– Signal Generators supporting up to 12GHz (for blocking
tests)
Physical (PHY) Layer Testing

ƒ UL and DL channels
– VSA for testing UE UL signal generation from UE
• Test transmission of PRACH/PUSCH etc
– VSG for testing UE DL reception and MIMO
• Test reception of PBCH, PDCCH etc
• use predefined waveforms generated from
software such as Matlab
– Digital IQ / DigRF for testing BB if RF not ready
– Fading simulator to test multipath fading
– Following initial testing of UL/DL channels and signals,
combined testing is required (eg for Cell Search)
• Achieved by using a protocol tester
LTE UE RF Testing
ƒ Tx characteristics
– Transmit power (MOP/MPR)
– Output power dynamics
– Transmit Signal Quality
– Output RF spectrum emissions
– Spurious Emission
– Transmit Intermodulation
ƒ Rx characteristics
– Reference sensitivity level
– UE maximum input level
– Adjacent channel selectivity
– Blocking characteristics
– Intermodulation
characteristics
– Spurious emissions
– Performance requirements
RF Test Applications Overview

Conformance &
Non Signalling RF Signalling RF Production
Regulatory

RF Design
Protocol Design Sample
RF Design Regulatory
System Product Test
Module Test Pre-Conformance
Performance Signalling &
RF Module Test Conformance
Integration Non-signalling
3GPP 36.521RF Tests
RF
RFPARAMETRIC
PARAMETRICMEASUREMENTS
MEASUREMENTS
6.2.2 UE Maximum Output Power The tests listed are some of the key tests
6.2.3 Maximum Power Reduction (MPR) required for RF testing
6.3.2 Minimum Output Power
6.3.3 Transmit OFF power
6.5.1 Frequency Error
6.5.2.1 Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)
6.6.1 Occupied bandwidth
6.6.2.1 Spectrum Emission Mask
6.6.2.3 Adjacent Channel Leakage power Ratio
6.7 Transmit inter-
inter-modulation
7.3 Reference sensitivity level
7.4 Maximum input level
7.5 Adjacent Channel Selectivity (ACS)
7.6.1 In-
In-band blocking
7.6.3 Narrow band blocking
Protocol Test Equipment
Requirements

ƒ Various requirements for testing protocol:

– Call box testers
– Script based tests
• Configure eNB step by step for fault
location
– TTCN3 tests (for conformance) from 3GPP 36.523
– Rapid test scenario development tools
– MultiRAT equipment (support InterRAT handover eg
LTE > WCDMA)
– Full message decoding
– Ability to send & receive new messages
– Invalid message handling
– Data throughput testing
LTE Protocol Test Needs

ƒ Ideally every field will require to be varied, either to valid or

invalid values, and the UE’s responses monitored.
ƒ Force poor radio conditions (re-order, delay and corrupt
signaling messages and data)
ƒ Analysis tools
ƒ Some protocol tests will have to be verified through UE RF
output e.g. Power control
PHY / L2 / L3 integration

ƒ Testing of common procedures such as cell

search
ƒ Random Access Preamble (RAR) and RA
Preamble response (RAPR)
ƒ L1/L2 logging required
ƒ Layer by layer testing (e.g. MAC-MAC) can be
useful for testing prior to full stack completion
ƒ VSA also useful for real time analysis of RF
signal
– Quality of signal can be assessed during cell search
procedure
– Constellation, Spectrum Trace etc
Benefits of Combined RF and Protocol Testing

ƒ Testing RF and Protocol at the same

time provides:
– Confidence that the RF performance
matches required quality for UE operation
under:
• Fading conditions
• Data transfer
• Handover etc
– Visibility of the RF performance during
real usage…
• Avoid time of launch disasters
Common IOT procedures
ƒ IOT with prototype devices
– Functional, protocol and performance tests
ƒ RF measurements in signalling (call-box) and non-signalling
(VSA/VSG) modes
– Measure RF parameters such as CCDF, EVM vs subcarrier, spectrum, etc
regardless of whether prototype protocol is working
ƒ Registration / Attach Procedure
– integrate device functionality step by step
– Identify and debug failed registration caused by issues such as security,
configuration, firmware stability
– full protocol and protocol sub-layer testing
ƒ Authentication and Security Procedures
– SNOW 3G/AES
– log messages to check correct operation and configuration of device
ƒ WCDMA/eHRPD Handover testing
– RF and protocol measurements during handover
– Inter and intra frequency handover
ƒ Throughput testing
– Data throughput rates tested with various RB/MCS configurations
– Using tools such as JPERF
Call Box Test Equipment
ƒ A Call Box testers provides a fast and flexible solution to:
– Real World Network Simulation
– Test Real UE end-to-end experience
– Call Processing Functional and Performance Tests

ƒ High Speed Pass/Fail Testing

ƒ Stand-Alone Operation or Remote Control
ƒ Development, System and Service Test
Call box benefits

ƒ All Key UE Functional and Performance Tests in

One Box
– Application Test
– System and Regression Test
– Production Test/Service Test
– Quality Assurance Test
ƒ Reduce Test Time
– High Speed Pass/Fail Testing
– Real World Application Test
– Repeatable Test Scenarios within Controlled
Environment
ƒ Low cost allows mass deployment
ƒ Reduce handset time to market
Typical Call Box Test Capabilities

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS

Bit Error Rate APPLICATION TEST

Block Error Rate
VOIP
Throughput
Peer to Peer (Skype)
Latency
FTP
Jitter
HTTP SMTP & POP3
Voice Quality Analysis
SMS over IMS
Video Quality Analysis
Cell Broadcast

FUNCTIONAL
RF PARAMETRIC TEST
MEASUREMENTS

Cell Selection
Cell Selection / Re-Selection
RRC Connection/Release
Cell Re-Selection
Attach Context Activation /Release
Authentication Location Update
DetachSession Establishment /Release
Mobile Originated
Location Update, / Mobile Terminated
Measurement
Mobile Originated Call Reporting
CipheringTransmit Timing Accuracy
Mobile Terminated Call
Inter-Freq Handover
Handover including Inter-RAT
Multi-Cellular Technology Call
Quality Measurement Reports
A-GPS
 Advanced Callbox Testing
ƒ Adjust Cell Conditions Dynamically
using GUI and Analyse UE responses
– All Transmission Modes
• SISO, MIMO
– Channel Configurations
– Cell Power Levels
– Interference
– Fading conditions
• Timing Advance
• Cell Edge Performance
LTE Test Equipment Requirements

ƒ Simulation of OFDMA/SC-FDMA/MIMO air interface

– Needs to be fully configurable
ƒ Support for parametric measurements
– With and without protocol support
– VSA/VSG
ƒ Protocol support required
– MAC, RLC, RRC, PDCP, NAS
ƒ Measurement of IP data throughput
– End-to-end measurement needed
– Under favourable and unfavourable conditions
– Recovery of data throughput
ƒ Essential that Multi-path and Doppler Shift can be simulated
– Fading & AWGN simulator
ƒ Internet protocol support
– IMS needed for VoIP testing
ƒ TTCN-3 environment needed for protocol testing
9/5/2010 Proprietary 36
The End..