LTE Radio Quality Indicator's

The LTE standard defines three quality indicators that serve as a benchmark for the transmission
quality in the downlink: CQI, PMI and RI (channel state information CSI). The user equipment
(UE) can measure all three and transmit the information in the uplink to the base station (BS),
which then adapts the signal transmission in the downlink accordingly, although this is not
mandatory. To actually improve transmission quality through a modification in the downlink, the
statistical properties of the channel must remain constant between the time a quality indicator is
reported to the eNB and the time the transmission is modified (coherence time).

Channel quality indicator (CQI)

The CQI indicates the highest modulation and the code rate at which the block error rate (BLER)
of the channel being analyzed does not exceed 10 %. The CQI accepts discrete values between 0
and 15. Index 0 indicates that the UE has not received any usable LTE signals and that the channel
is inoperable. The CQI report for the UE has a wide variety of settings. As an example, the UE can
use one of two methods to send the CQI value to the eNB via the uplink:

- periodically via the PUCCH or PUSCH channels,

- aperiodically via the PUSCH channel.

In this case, the eNB explicitly requests the UE to send a CQI report. In addition, the frequency
domain resolution in the CQI report can be varied. Apart from the wideband CQI for the entire
channel bandwidth, there are different subband CQIs, each of which indicates the transmission
quality for a specific frequency subrange.

The CQI index reported to the eNB by the UE is derived from the quality of the downlink signal. In
contrast to other mobile radio systems such as HSDPA, the LTE CQI index is not directly associated
with the measured signal-to-noise ratio. Instead, it is also influenced by the signal processing in
the UE. With the same channel, a UE featuring a powerful signal processing algorithm is able to
forward a higher CQI index to the BS than a UE that has a weak algorithm.

Precoding matrix indicator (PMI)

The precoding matrix determines how the individual data streams (called layers in LTE) are
mapped to the antennas. Skillfully selecting this matrix yields a maximum number of data bits,
which the UE can receive together across all layers. However, this requires knowledge of the
channel quality for each antenna in the downlink, which the UE can determine through
measurements. If the UE knows what the allowed precoding matrices are, it can send a PMI report
to the eNB and suggest a suitable matrix.

Rank indicator (RI)

The channel rank indicates the number of layers and the number of different signal streams
transmitted in the downlink. When using a single input multiple output (SIMO) or a transmit
diversity configuration, only one layer is utilized. In contrast, 22 MIMO (multiple input multiple
output) with spatial multiplexing uses two layers. The goal of an optimized RI is to maximize the
channel capacity across the entire available downlink bandwidth by taking advantage of each full
channel rank. RI is not the sole benchmark for the state of the channel when using LTE. CQI and
PMI are taken into account as well, since the value of the RI also influences the allowed precoding
matrices and CQI values. In contrast, the eNB can only utilize the CQI reporting to adapt the
downlink channel (assuming the RI does not change such as in pure SIMO mode). The eNB is not
forced to react to the feedback from the UE and modify the signal in the downlink accordingly. In
most cases, it nevertheless makes sense to do this in order to reduce the error rate and increase
the data throughput. However, inaccurate feedback from the UE regarding the state of the
channel can lead to exactly the opposite situation. For this reason, it is vital to ensure that the UE
accurately indicates the state of the channel by means of the CQI, PMI and RI parameters.

NAS Attach Request

The UE initiates the Attach procedure by the transmission, to the eNodeB, of an Attach Request.
Following parameters are included in this message.

IMSI or old GUTI, last visited TAI (if available), UE Core Network Capability, UE Specific DRX
parameters, Attach Type, ESM message container (Request Type, PDN Type, Protocol
Configuration Options, Ciphered Options Transfer Flag), KSIASME, NAS sequence number, NAS-
MAC, additional GUTI, P-TMSI signature, Voice domain preference and UE's usage setting) message
together with RRC parameters indicating the Selected Network and the old GUMMEI.

The old GUTI may be derived from a P TMSI and RAI.

IMSI is included
if the UE does not have a valid GUTI or
if the UE does not have a valid P TMSI available, or
if the UE is configured to perform Attach with IMSI at PLMN change and is accessing a new
PLMN.
The UE stores the TIN in detached state.
If the UE's TIN indicates "GUTI" or "RAT-related TMSI" and the UE holds a valid GUTI then
the old GUTI indicates this valid GUTI.
If the UE's TIN indicates "P TMSI" and the UE holds a valid P TMSI and related RAI then these
two elements are indicated as the old GUTI. Mapping a P TMSI and RAI to a GUTI
If the UE holds a valid GUTI and the old GUTI indicates a GUTI mapped from a P-TMSI and
RAI, then the UE indicates the GUTI as additional GUTI. If the old GUTI indicates a GUTI mapped
from a P-TMSI and RAI and the UE has a valid P-TMSI signature associated to it, the P-TMSI
signature shall be included.
The UE sets the voice domain preference and UE's usage setting according to its configuration. If
available, the last visited TAI shall be included in order to help the MME produce a good list of
TAIs for any subsequent Attach Accept message. Selected Network indicates the PLMN that is
selected for network sharing purposes. The RRC parameter "old GUMMEI" takes its value from the
"old GUTI" contained in the Attach Request.

If the UE has valid security parameters, the Attach Request message is integrity protected by the
NAS-MAC in order to allow validation of the UE by the MME. KSIASME, NAS sequence number and
NAS-MAC are included if the UE has valid EPS security parameters. NAS sequence number indicates
the sequential number of the NAS message. If the UE does not have a valid EPS security
association, then the Attach Request message is not integrity protected.

The UE network capabilities indicate also the supported NAS and AS security algorithms. PDN type
indicates the requested IP version (IPv4, IPv4/IPv6, IPv6). Protocol Configuration Options (PCO)
are used to transfer parameters between the UE and the PDN GW, and are sent transparently
through the MME and the Serving GW. The Protocol Configuration Options may include the Address
Allocation Preference indicating that the UE prefers to obtain an IPv4 address only after the
default bearer activation by means of DHCPv4.

If the UE intends to send PCO which require ciphering (e.g., PAP/CHAP usernames and passwords)
or send an APN, or both, the UE shall set the Ciphered Options Transfer Flag and send PCO or APN
or both only after authentication and NAS security setup have been completed (see below). If the
UE has UTRAN or GERAN capabilities, it sends the NRSU in the PCO to indicate the support of the
network requested bearer control in UTRAN/GERAN.

Request Type is included in the ESM message container and indicates "Handover" when the UE has
already an activated PDN GW/HA due to mobility with non-3GPP accesses. Attach Type indicates
whether it is an EPS attach or a combined EPS/IMSI attach or an Emergency Attach.

For an Emergency Attach the UE sets both the Attach Type and the Request Type to "Emergency"
and the IMSI shall be included if the UE does not have a valid GUTI or a valid P-TMSI available. The
IMEI shall be included when the UE has no IMSI, no valid GUTI and no valid P-TMSI.

Few Questions on Bearer

What is the EPS Bearer?

For E-UTRAN access to the EPC the PDN connectivity service is provided by an EPS bearer for GTP-
based S5/S8, and by an EPS bearer concatenated with IP connectivity between Serving GW and
PDN GW for PMIP-based S5/S8.

An EPS bearer uniquely identifies traffic flows that receive a common QoS treatment between a
UE and a PDN GW for GTP-based S5/S8, and between UE and Serving GW for PMIP-based S5/S8.

EPS Bearer is a virutal connection between UE and PGW which identifies a data send and received
between these two end points with specific QoS attributes.

The procedure used to establish an EPS Bearer is called EPS Bearer Activation procedure. Either
endpoint can trigger this procedure. For example, the PDN-GW may trigger this procedure when it
determines that a new VoIP call is requested and a new EPS Bearer should be established to
support this call.

What is Default Bearer and Dedicated Bearer?

Default Bearer
One EPS bearer is established when the UE connects to a PDN, and that remains established
throughout the lifetime of the PDN connection to provide the UE with always-on IP connectivity to
that PDN. That bearer is referred to as the default bearer.

Dedicated Bearer
Any additional EPS bearer that is established for the same PDN connection is referred to as a
dedicated bearer.

Are default bearers created on a per UE or a per PDN (Packet Data Network) basis?

Default bearers are created on a per PDN basis. So if a UE is connecting to two PDNs it will need to
establish two default bearers. The first default bearer will be established during the Attach
process when the UE first powers up and the second will be done using Activate default EPS bearer
context request procedure. When the second default bearer is established it will be dependent on
the service and the UE.
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Labels: Bearer
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2009

LTE Bearer Service Architecture

- An E-RAB transports the packets of an EPS bearer between the UE and the EPC. When an E-RAB
exists, there is a one-to-one mapping between this E-RAB and an EPS bearer.

- A data radio bearer transports the packets of an EPS bearer between a UE and an eNB. When a
data radio bearer exists, there is a one-to-one mapping between this data radio bearer and the
EPS bearer/E-RAB.

- An S1 bearer transports the packets of an E-RAB between an eNodeB and a Serving GW.

- An S5/S8 bearer transports the packets of an EPS bearer between a Serving GW and a PDN GW.

- A UE stores a mapping between an uplink packet filter and a data radio bearer to create the
binding between an SDF and a data radio bearer in the uplink.

- An UL TFT in the UE binds an SDF to an EPS bearer in the uplink direction. Multiple SDFs can be
multiplexed onto the same EPS bearer by including multiple uplink packet filters in the UL TFT.

- A DL TFT in the PDN GW binds an SDF to an EPS bearer in the downlink direction. Multiple SDFs
can be multiplexed onto the same EPS bearer by including multiple downlink packet filters in the
DL TFT.

- A PDN GW stores a mapping between a downlink packet filter and an S5/S8a bearer to create the
binding between an SDF and an S5/S8a bearer in the downlink.

- An eNB stores a one-to-one mapping between a data radio bearer and an S1 bearer to create the
binding between a data radio bearer and an S1 bearer in both the uplink and downlink.

- A Serving GW stores a one-to-one mapping between an S1 bearer and an S5/S8a bearer to create
the binding between an S1 bearer and an S5/S8a bearer in both the uplink and downlink.

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Labels: Bearer

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2009

Dedicated bearer activation in combination with the default bearer
activation
Dedicated bearer activation in combination with the default bearer activation at attach or UE
requested PDN connectivity

It is possible for the PDN GW to initiate the activation of dedicated bearers as part of the attach
procedure or as part of the UE requested PDN connectivity procedure over E UTRAN. However, the
result of the dedicated bearer activation procedure is separate from the Attach procedure,
meaning that the result of the Attach procedure is not dependent on whether the Dedicated
bearer activation procedure succeeds or not. On the other hand, the dedicated bearer activation
may only be regarded as successful if the Attach procedure completes successfully.

The messages of the Dedicated bearer activation can be sent together with the messages of the
Attach procedure or of the UE requested PDN connectivity procedure (i.e. Attach accept or PDN
Connectivity Accept).

If the MME has sent an Attach Accept message towards the eNodeB, and then the MME receives a
Create Bearer Request before the MME receives the Attach Complete message, the MME shall wait
for the Attach procedure to complete before the MME continues with Dedicated Bearer Activation
procedure.

It is possible that multiple dedicated bearers can simultaneously be activated in the signalling
flow shown below.
Figure describes the activation of dedicated bearer(s) in combination with the default bearer
activation either as part of the Attach procedure (with specific steps 1a, 7a, 10a) or as part of the
UE requested PDN connectivity procedure (with specific steps 1b, 7b, 10b).

5. (On the P-GW-S-GW interface) Create Session Response message of the Attach procedure or
UE-requested PDN connectivity procedure is combined with Create Bearer Request message of the
Dedicated Bearer Activation Procedure

6.(On the S-GW-MME interface) Create Session Response message of the Attach procedure or
UE-requested PDN connectivity procedure is combined with the Create Bearer Request message of
the Dedicated Bearer Activation Procedure
7a. For Attach procedure: If the MME receives a Create Session Response message combined with a
Create Bearer Request message, the MME shall send the S1-AP Initial Context Setup Request
message to the eNodeB, including the NAS parts for both the Attach Accept message of the Attach
procedure and the Bearer Setup Request of the Dedicated Bearer Activation Procedure.

NOTE: The MME shall not send a Bearer Setup Request message of a new Dedicated Bearer
Activation procedure to the eNodeB before sending the Attach Accept message of the Attach
procedure to the eNodeB. If the MME has already sent the Attach Accept message of the Attach
procedure to the eNodeB, the MME shall wait for the Attach Complete message to arrive before
sending a separate Bearer Setup Request of a Dedicated Bearer Activation procedure.

7b. For UE requested PDN connectivity procedure: If the MME receives a Create Session Response
message combined with a Create Bearer Request message, the MME shall send the S1-AP Bearer
Setup Request message to the eNodeB, including the NAS parts for both the PDN Connectivity
Accept message and the Bearer Setup Request of the Dedicated Bearer Activation Procedure.

8-9. The radio bearer establishment of the default and dedicated bearer(s) is performed in the
same RRC message.

10a. For Attach procedure: The eNodeB sends the S1-AP Initial Context Setup Response message
to the MME.

10b. For UE requested PDN connectivity procedure: The eNodeB sends the S1-AP Bearer Setup
Response message to the MME.

11. For the Attach procedure: The UE sends the eNodeB a Direct Transfer message containing the
Attach Complete (Session Management Response for the Default Bearer) message as response of
the attach procedure, and Direct Transfer messages containing the Session Management Responses
of the dedicated bearer setup procedure.

For the UE requested PDN connectivity procedure: The UE NAS layer builds a PDN Connectivity
Complete (Session Management Response) for the Default Bearer Activation and Dedicated Bearer
Activation Procedures. The UE then sends Direct Transfer (PDN Connectivity Complete) message to
the eNodeB.

The NAS messages to establish the EPS bearers shall be handled individually by the UE and be sent
in separate RRC Direct Transfer messages.

12. The eNodeB sends an Uplink NAS Transport message to the MME, which contains the NAS
messages from the RRC message in step 11. There may be multiple Uplink NAS Transport messages
when the UE sends multiple RRC messages containing NAS messages in step 11.

13. Upon reception of the response messages in both step 10 and step 12, the Modify Bearer
Request message of the Attach procedure or UE requested PDN connectivity procedure is
combined with the Create Bearer Response message of the Dedicated Bearer Activation
Procedure. After that, the Serving GW continues with sending a Create Bearer Response message
to the PDN GW.
Radio Channel Quality Feedback
CQI (channel quality indicator)
CQI is an indication of the downlink mobile radio channel quality as experienced by this UE.
Essentially, the UE is proposing to the eNodeB an optimum modulation scheme and coding rate to
use for a given radio link quality, so that the resulting transport block error rate would not exceed
10%. 16 combinations of modulation scheme and coding rate are specified as possible CQI values.
The UE may report different types of CQI. A so-called wideband CQI refers to the complete
system bandwidth. Alternatively, the UE may evaluate a sub-band CQI value per sub-band of a
certain number of resource blocks which is configured by higher layers. The full set of sub-bands
would cover the entire system bandwidth. In case of spatial multiplexing, a CQI per code word
needs to be reported.

The time and frequency resources used by the UE to report CQI are under the control of the eNB.
CQI reporting can be either periodic or aperiodic. A UE can be configured to have both periodic
and aperiodic reporting at the same time. In case both periodic and aperiodic reporting occurs in
the same subframe, only the aperiodic report is transmitted in that subframe.

For efficient support of localized, distributed and MIMO transmissions, E-UTRA supports three
types of CQI reporting:
- Wideband type: providing channel quality information of entire system bandwidth of the cell;
- Multi-band type: providing channel quality information of some subset(s) of system bandwidth of
the cell;
- MIMO type: open loop or closed loop operation (with or without PMI feedback).

Periodic CQI reporting is defined by the following characteristics:

- When the UE is allocated PUSCH resources in a subframe where a periodic CQI report is
configured to be sent, the periodic CQI report is transmitted together with uplink data on the
PUSCH. Otherwise, the periodic CQI reports are sent on the PUCCH.

Aperiodic CQI reporting is defined by the following characteristics:

- The report is scheduled by the eNB via the PDCCH;
- Transmitted together with uplink data on PUSCH.

When a CQI report is transmitted together with uplink data on PUSCH, it is multiplexed with the
transport block by L1 (i.e. the CQI report is not part of the uplink the transport block).The eNB
configures a set of sizes and formats of the reports. Size and format of the report depends on
whether it is transmitted over PUCCH or PUSCH and whether it is a periodic or aperiodic CQI
report.

PMI (precoding matrix indicator)

PMI is an indication of the optimum precoding matrix to be used in the base station for a given
radio condition. The PMI value refers to the codebook table. The network configures the number
of resource blocks that are represented by a PMI report. Thus to cover the full bandwidth,
multiple PMI reports may be needed. PMI reports are needed for closed loop spatial multiplexing,
multi-user MIMO and closed-loop rank 1 precoding MIMO modes.

RI (rank indication)
RI is the number of useful transmission layers when spatial multiplexing is used. In case of
transmit diversity, rank is equal to 1.
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Labels: Control Channels
THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012

PDCCH and PUCCH

Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)

The downlink control signalling (PDCCH) is located in the first n OFDM symbols where n 4 and
consists of:

- Transport format and resource allocation related to DL-SCH and PCH, and hybrid ARQ
information related to DL-SCH;
- Transport format, resource allocation, and hybrid-ARQ information related to UL-SCH;

Transmission of control signalling from these groups is mutually independent. Multiple physical
downlink control channels are supported and a UE monitors a set of control channels. Control
channels are formed by aggregation of control channel elements, each control channel element
consisting of a set of resource elements. Different code rates for the control channels are realized
by aggregating different numbers of control channel elements.

QPSK modulation is used for all control channels. Each separate control channel has its own set of
x-RNTI. There is an implicit relation between the uplink resources used for dynamically scheduled
data transmission, or the DL control channel used for assignment, and the downlink ACK/NAK
resource used for feedback

Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)

The PUCCH shall be mapped to a control channel resource in the uplink. A control channel
resource is defined by a code and two resource blocks, consecutive in time, with hopping at the
slot boundary.

Depending on presence or absence of uplink timing synchronization, the uplink physical control
signalling can differ. In the case of time synchronization being present, the outband control
signalling consists of:

- CQI;
- ACK/NAK;
- Scheduling Request (SR).

The CQI informs the scheduler about the current channel conditions as seen by the UE. If MIMO
transmission is used, the CQI includes necessary MIMO-related feedback.

The HARQ feedback in response to downlink data transmission consists of a single ACK/NAK bit per
HARQ process. PUCCH resources for SR and CQI reporting are assigned and can be revoked through
RRC signalling. An SR is not necessarily assigned to UEs acquiring synchronization through the
RACH (i.e. synchronised UEs may or may not have a dedicated SR channel). PUCCH resources for
SR and CQI are lost when the UE is no longer synchronized.
Functions of various CSFB architectural elements
Mobility Management Entity (for GERAN/UTRAN CSFB)
o Multiple PLMN selection and reselection for the CS domain
o Deriving a VLR number and LAI from the TAI of the current cell and based on the selected PLMN
for CS domain, or using a default VLR number and LAI
o For CS fallback, generating a TAI list such that the UE has a low chance of "falling back" to a cell
in a LA different to the derived LAI (e.g. the TAI list boundary should not cross the LA boundary)
o Maintaining of SGs association towards MSC/VLR for EPS/IMSI attached UE
o Initiating IMSI detach at EPS detach
o Initiating paging procedure towards eNodeB when MSC pages the UE for CS services
o Supporting SMS procedures with UE and MSC via SGs
o Rejecting CS Fallback call request (e.g. due to O&M reasons)

Mobility Management Entity (for 1xRTT CSFB)

o It serves as a signaling tunneling end point towards the 3GPP2 1xCS IWS via S102 interface for
sending/receiving encapsulated 3GPP2 1xCS signaling messages to/from the UE
o Handling of S102 tunnel redirection in case of MME relocation
o 1xCS-IWS (terminating S102 reference point) selection for CSFB procedures
o Buffering of messages received via S102 for UEs in idle state

E-UTRAN for GERAN/UTRAN

o Forwarding paging request and SMS to the UE
o Directing the UE to the target CS capable cell via appropriate procedure (i.e. PS handover, RRC
release with redirection, CCO w/NACC)
o The configuration of appropriate cell reselection hysteresis at Location Area boundaries (or
across the whole E-UTRAN) to reduce Tracking Area Update traffic
o To facilitate the configuration of TA boundaries with LA boundaries, the E-UTRAN can
gather statistics (from the inbound inter-RAT mobility events of all UEs) of the most common LAs
indicated in the RRC signaling
o Configuration to permit the operator to choose the target fallback RAT and frequency

MSC for GERAN/UTRAN

o Maintaining SGs association towards MME for EPS/IMSI attached UE
o Supporting SMS procedures via SGs to EPS
o In order to speed up the potential LAU procedure during CS fallback the MSC may be configured
to lower the frequency of Authentication, TMSI reallocation and Identity check for UEs that are
EPS/IMSI attached via the SGs interface

E-UTRAN for 1xRTT

o Provision of broadcast information to trigger UE for 1xRTT CS registration
o Establish CDMA2000 tunnel between the UE and MME and forward 1xRTT messages
o Directing the UE to the target CS capable cell via appropriate procedure (i.e. RRC release with
redirection or enhanced 1xCSFB procedure with 1xSRVCC based)
o Release of E-UTRAN resources after UE leaves E-UTRAN coverage subsequent to a page for CS
fallback to 1xRTT CS if PS handover procedure is not performed in conjunction with 1xCS fallback
o Invoking the optimized or non-optimized PS handover procedure concurrently with enhanced
1xCS fallback procedure when supported by the network and UE, and based on network
configuration.

UE supporting GERAN/UTRAN CSFB

o CSFB procedures for EPS/IMSI attach, update and detach
o CS fallback request/reject and SMS procedures for using CS domain services
UE supporting 1xRTT CSFB
o 1xRTT CS registration over the EPS after the UE has completed the E-UTRAN attachment
o 1xRTT CS re-registration due to mobility
o CS fallback request/reject and SMS procedures for using CS domain services
o Includes enhanced CS fallback to 1xRTT capability indication as part of the UE radio capabilities
if it supports enhanced 1xCSFB
o Includes concurrent 1xRTT and HRPD capability indication as part of the UE radio capabilities if
supported by the enhanced CS fallback to 1xRTT capable UE
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Labels: CSFB

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2011

Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB)

CS domain services are the services that can be offered today in GSM-UMTS networks. Examples
of such services are: voice and its supplementary services (e.g. call waiting, call forwarding),
USSD, LCS, SMS, E911, LI, and even CS DUI video, etc. This rich set of CS domain features and
capabilities are the result of years of standardization works in 3GPP and operators investments to
their GSM-UMTS network.

In EPS, richer features/services can be offered to the end-user together with voice via IMS. While
this is the case for EPS, it is challenging for some operators to launch EPS with data and voice/IMS
from day one. Hence, these operators need a migration path to allow them to start from EPS with
data only and allow the reuse of CS domain services until they get to the point where IMS voice
can be added to the EPS.

Such migration path is possible with CS Fallback (CSFB) feature. CSFB is introduced in 3GPP Rel-8
to allow an UE in EPS to reuse CS domain services by defining how the UE can switch its radio from
EUTRAN access to other RAT (e.g. GERAN/UTRAN/1xRTT access) that can support CS domain
services. In addition, CSFB specification TS 23.272 also defines how the SMS is transferred to the
UE natively via EPS from the MSC. It should be noted that this type of SMS delivery mechanism is
defined in CSFB specification but the UE is not falling back to GERAN/UTRAN/1xRTT access.

With CSFB, UE under EPS can enjoy the fast PS data access and can switch over to
GERAN/UTRAN/1xRTT access for CS domain services when needed. In addition, UE can also utilize
the SMS feature supported by CSFB architecture.

UE, which wants to use CSFB, must first register itself to the CS domain via EPS. For GSM-UMTS
CSFB feature, UE performs a combined EPS/IMSI Attach/TAU procedure. In the EPS Attach/TAU
response message, the network indicates back to the UE whether CSFB (including SMS) is
supported, SMS-only, CSFB Not Preferred, or none of these features are supported. CSFB Not
Preferred is an indication to allow data centric devices to continue reside in EPS and to allow
CSFB (including SMS) features to be used. On the other hand, a voice centric device receiving
CSFB Not Preferred or SMS-only will assume CSFB is not supported in this network and will try
to reselect to other networks (i.e. 2G or 3G) to obtain voice services. In 1xRTT CSFB features, the
UE is aware that the network supports 1xCSFB by examining the system information broadcast
information over E-UTRAN access and performs the 1xCS registration to the 1xRTT MSC via the
CDMA2000 signaling tunnel between the UE (via EPS) and 1xCS IWS. This 1xCS registration request
and response is transparent to the EPS.
After the UE has successfully registered itself to the CS domain (and has received positive
response from MME that CSFB is possible in GERAN/UTRAN case), it can then request the MME to
perform CSFB procedures whenever it wants to use CS domain services (e.g. originating a voice
call or answer to a terminating voice call). Besides voice call, USSD, MO-LR, MT-LR, NI-LR, and
call-independent Supplementary Services procedures (e.g. activates CFB) can also trigger CSFB
procedures. In the CS terminating scenario, an active UE has the ability to reject terminating call
request while it still resides in EPS. This is particularly useful when the end-user is watching a
streaming video under EPS and does not want to answer a call from an unknown number to avoid
any streaming disruption in the streaming video due to unwanted CSFB procedures.

For the GSM-UMTS CSFB feature, EPS can perform the CSFB procedure with PS handover
procedure, RRC connection release with redirection information, or cell change order with NACC
(for GERAN only). This is based on network configuration and deployment option. For 1xRTT CSFB
feature, CSFB can be done with RRC connection release with redirection information or 1xSRVCC
based signaling (known as enhanced 1xCSFB). 1xRTT CSFB UE may also have dual-Rx/dual-Tx or
Dual-Rx/Single-Tx capability. Dual-Rx/dual-Tx 1xRTT CSFB UE can simultaneously transmit and
receive on both EPS and 1x at the same time. This allows the UE to obtain 1x voice service from
1xRTT system while maintaining the data stream over EPS at the same time. This is also based on
network configuration and deployment option, and UE capability. Dual-Rx/Single-Tx 1xRTT CSFB
UE allows simplification in EPS network deployment because there is no coordination is required
between the E UTRAN and 1xRTT network (i.e. S102 is not required).

After the UE is redirected to GERAN/UTRAN/1xRTT access via one of the above procedures, the
existing CS setup procedure is taken over for the remaining of the call.

In Rel-9, IDLE mode camping mechanism is enhanced in the EPS and GPRS to allow the network
to influence the UEs RAT camping policy so that a CSFB UE will select GERAN/UTRAN access when
it is in IDLE condition. The intention is to minimize the occurrence of CSFB procedure from EPS to
allow the UE to invoke the CS domain services directly from GERAN/UTRAN as much as possible.
On the other hand, this requires additional intelligence in the cell reselection policy in the
GERAN/UTRAN access in order to move the UE in active state to EPS to enjoy the fast PS access
when appropriate. There are also optimization enhancements to Rel-9 for speeding up the overall
CSFB procedure.

As indicated earlier, SMS delivery via CS Domain is also defined as part of the CSFB feature. UE
can utilize this feature after it has successfully attached itself to the CS domain. It should be
noted that EPS has the option to support only the SMS feature and not the CSFB feature which
redirect the UE to another RAT. For GERAN/UTRAN CSFB, MME can indicate this condition by
having an SMS-only indicator to the UE during their combined EPS/IMSI Attach/TAU procedure. For
1xRTT CSFB, this indication is not specified, as the 1xCS registration procedure is transparent to
the EPS. UE receiving the SMS-only indicator will not invoke the CSFB request and should not
expect any CS paging coming from EPS.

When interworking with a 3GPP MSC, SMS is delivered via the SGs interface. For MO-SMS, UE
first establishes a NAS tunnel to transfer the SMS PDU to MME. MME then transfer these SMS PDU
over to MSC via the SGs. MT-SMS works the same way by having the MME establish a NAS tunnel to
UE over E-UTRAN access.

When interworking with 1xMSC, the UE establishes a CDMA2000 tunnel with the 1xCS IWS via EPS
and SMS is delivered via that tunnel. EPS is transparent to this process.

3GPP also defines the CSFB UE in voice-centric and data-centric mode of operation in TS 23.221.
Voicecentric CSFB UE will always attempt to find a RAT where voice services can be supported. In
the example of UE receiving an SMS-only or CSFB Not Preferred indication from the network
during combined EPS/IMSI attach procedure, the voice-centric UE will autonomously switch to
UTRAN/GERAN access if coverage is available so voice service is possible to this user. With a data-
centric mode of operation, the CSFB UE will not switch to UTRAN/GERAN given the same scenario
with the SMS-only indication from the network and will forgo the voice services or CS domain
services altogether. This is because the data-centric mode UE wants the best possible PS access
and voice is not the determining factor to move away from EPS.

Article from "4G Broadband Evolution: 3GPP Release 10 and beyond"

Functional Split between E-UTRAN and EPC

eNB Functionalities
Functions for Radio Resource Management: Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control,
Connection Mobility Control, Dynamic allocation of resources to UEs in both uplink and downlink
(scheduling);
IP header compression and encryption of user data stream;
Selection of an MME at UE attachment when no routing to an MME can be determined from
the information provided by the UE;
Routing of User Plane data towards Serving Gateway;
Scheduling and transmission of paging messages (originated from the MME);
Scheduling and transmission of broadcast information (originated from the MME or O&M);
Measurement and measurement reporting configuration for mobility and scheduling;
Scheduling and transmission of PWS (which includes ETWS and CMAS) messages (originated
from the MME).

What is Evolved Packet Core ( EPC )

Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is the IP-based core network defined by 3GPP in Rel-8 for use
by LTE and other access technologies. The goal of EPC is to provide simplified all-IP core
network architecture to efficiently give access to various services such as the ones
provided in IMS.

 EPC consists essentially of a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving Gateway (S-GW)
that interfaces with the E-UTRAN and a PDN Gateway (P-GW) that interfaces to external
packet data networks. EPC for LTE networks were announced by numerous vendors
beginning in February 2009, allowing operators to modernize their core data networks to
support a wide variety of access types using a common core network.

EPC solutions typically include backhaul, network management solutions, video solutions
that monetize LTE investment and a complete portfolio of professional services.

What is Inter RAT HO ?

1. Inter RAT HO is network controlled through source access system. The source access system decides about
starting the preparation and provides the necessary information to the target system in the format required by
the target system. That is, the source system adapts to the target system. The actual handover execution is
decided in the source system.

2. Inter RAT HO is backwards handover, i.e. radio resources are prepared in the target 3GPP access system
before the UE is commanded by the source 3GPP access system to change to the target 3GPP access system.

3. To enable backwards handover, and while RAN level interfaces are not available, a control interface exists
in CN level. In Inter RAT HO involving E-UTRAN access, this interface is between 2G/3G SGSN and
corresponding MME/Serving Gateway.

4. The target access system will be responsible for giving exact guidance for the UE on how to make the radio
access there (this includes radio resource configuration, target cell system information etc.). This information
is given during the handover preparation and should be transported completely transparently through the
source access system to the UE.

5. Mechanisms for avoiding or mitigating the loss of user data (i.e. forwarding) can be used until the 3GPP
Anchor determines that it can send DL U-plane data directly to the target system.

6. The handover procedure should not require any UE to CN signalling in order for data to start to flow in the
target system. This requires that the security context, UE capability context and QoS context is transferred (or
translated) within the network between source and target system.

7. Similar handover procedure should apply for handovers of both real time and non-real time services.

8. Similar handover procedure should apply for both Inter RAT Handover and intra-LTE Handover with EPC
node change.

9. Network controlled mobility is supported even if no prior UE measurements have been performed on the
target cell and/or frequency i.e. blind HO is supported.
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Labels: Handover

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2009

U-Plane Handling During HO

The U-plane handling during the Intra-E-UTRAN-Access mobility activity for UEs in ECM-CONNECTED
takes place to avoid data loss during HO.
During HO preparation U-plane tunnels are established between the source eNB and the target eNB.
There is one tunnel established for uplink data forwarding and another one for downlink data forwarding for
each E-RAB for which data forwarding is applied.
 During HO execution, user data is forwarded from the source eNB to the target eNB.
o Forwarding of downlink user data from the source to the target eNB should take place in
order as long as packets are received at the source eNB from the EPC or the source eNB buffer has not been
emptied.
During HO completion:
o The target eNB sends a PATH SWITCH message to MME to inform that the UE has gained
access and MME sends a USER PLANE UPDATE REQUEST message to the Serving Gateway, the U-plane
path is switched by the Serving Gateway from the source eNB to the target eNB.
o The source eNB should continue forwarding of U-plane data as long as packets are received
at the source eNB from the Serving Gateway or the source eNB buffer has not been emptied.

Path Switch

After the downlink path is switched at the Serving GW downlink packets on the forwarding path and on the
new direct path may arrive interchanged at the target eNB. The target eNodeB should first deliver all
forwarded packets to the UE before delivering any of the packets received on the new direct path. The method
employed in the target eNB to enforce the correct delivery order of packets is outside the scope of the standard.

In order to assist the reordering function in the target eNB, the Serving GW shall send one or more "end
marker" packets on the old path immediately after switching the path for each E-RAB of the UE. The "end
marker" packet shall not contain user data. The "end marker" is indicated in the GTP header. After completing
the sending of the tagged packets the GW shall not send any further user data packets via the old path.

Upon receiving the "end marker" packets, the source eNB shall, if forwarding is activated for that bearer,
forward the packet toward the target eNB.

On detection of an "end marker" the target eNB shall discard the end marker packet and initiate any necessary
processing to maintain in sequence delivery of user data forwarded over X2 interface and user data received
from the serving GW over S1 as a result of the path switch.

On detection of the "end marker", the target eNB may also initiate the release of the data forwarding resource.
However, the release of the data forwarding resource is implementation dependent and could also be based on
other mechanisms (e.g. timer-based mechanism).

EPC may change the uplink end-point of the tunnels with Path Switch procedure. However, the EPC should
keep the old GTP tunnel end-point(s) sufficiently long time in order to minimise the probability of packet
losses and avoid unintentional release of respective E-RAB(s).
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Labels: Handover

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2009

Architecture for Optimized Handovers between E-UTRAN Access and

cdma2000 HRPD Access
S101 Interface
It enables interactions between EPS and HRPD access to allow for pre-registration and handover
signalling with the target system.

The S101 interface supports procedures for Pre-Registration, Session Maintenance and Active
handovers between E-UTRAN and HRPD networks. This is based on tunnelling over S101 signalling
of one technology while the UE is in the other technology. The HRPD air interface messages
tunnelled over S101 in E-UTRAN to HRPD mobility

S101 Protocol Stack

S103 Interface
This User Plane interface is used to forward DL data to minimize packet losses in mobility from E-
UTRAN to HRPD.

The S103 interface between the Serving GW and HS-GW supports the forwarding of DL data during
mobility from E-UTRAN to HRPD. Signalling procedures on the S101 interface are used to set up
tunnels on the S103 interface.
The S103 supports the following requirements:

The ability to tunnel traffic on a per-UE, per-PDN basis

Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) RFC 2784 [23] including the Key Field extension
RFC 2890 [24]. The Key field value of each GRE packet header uniquely identifies the PDN
connectivity that the GRE packet payload is associated with.

S103 Protocol Stack

UE Identity's in LTE
Globally Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI)
GUTI is allocated to the UE by the MME and has two components GUMMEI (Globally Unique MME ID)
and the M-TMSI (MME-TMSI). The GUMMEI identifies the MME.When contacting the network, the
mobile sends the GUTI to the base station which then uses the parameter to identify the MME to
which it will send the request to re-establish the communication session. The Globally Unique MME
Identifier (GUMMEI) is constructed from the MCC, MNC and MME Identifier (MMEI).
Temporary Mobile Subscribe Identity (M-TMSI)
The M-TMSI identifies the UE within the MME. An M-TMSI identifies a user between the UE and the
MME. The relationship between M-TMSI and IMSI is known only in the UE and in the MME.This value
is allocated by MME.
Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-TMSI)
For paging purposes, the mobile is paged with the S-TMSI. The S-TMSI is constructed from the
MMEC and the M-TMSI. S-TMSI = MMEC + M-TMSI. It uniquely identify's the UE within an MME group.
It is also included in RRC Connection Request.
International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)
IMSI is used for subscriber identification and stored in the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). IMSI is
usually 15 digits long. The first 3 digits are the Mobile Country Code (MCC), and is followed by the
Mobile Network Code (MNC), either 2 digits (Europeanstandard) or 3 digits (North American
standard). The remaining digits are the mobile station identification number (MSIN) within the
network's customer base.
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)
The IMEI number is used by the network/operators to identify valid devices and therefore can be
used for stopping a stolen phone from accessing the network. It is usually found printed on the
phone.

Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) is used as UE identifiers within E-UTRAN and in
signalling messages betweeen UE and E-UTRAN.

Cell RNTI (C-RNTI)

The C-RNTI provides a unique UE identification at the cell level identifying RRC Connection. Each
RRC connection is associated with C-RNTI.
Random Access RNTI (RA-RNTI)
The RA-RNTI is assigned by the eNB to a particular UE after this UE has sent a random access
preamble on the Physical Access Channel (PRACH). If this random acccess preamble is received by
the eNB and network granted, the base station sends an acquisition indication back to the mobile
and this acquisition indication message contains the RA-RNTI. In turn the UE will use the RA-RNTI
to send RRC connection request message on the radio interfac UL and the parameter will help to
distinguish messages sent by differnt UEs on the Random Access Channle (RACH). This procedure is
called as contention based random access procedure.
System Information RNTI (SI-RNTI)
The SI-RNTI is sent on the PDCCH. It does not stand for a particular UE identity. Instead it signals
to all mobiles in a cell where the broadcast System Information Blocks (SIBs) are found on the
Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). This is necessary since the PDSCH is used to transport
both broadcast system information for all UEs and singaling/payload for particular mobiles. In
other words, the SI-RNTI indicated which DL resource blocks are used to carry SIBs.
Paging RNTI (P-RNTI)The P-RNTI is derived from the IMSI of the subscribed to be paged and
constructed by the eNB. For this reason IMSI is transmitted in a S1AP paging message fromk the
MME to eNB. To receive paging messages from E-UTRAN, UEs in idle mode monitor the PDCCH
channel for P-RNTI value used to indicate paging.
Temporary Cell RNTI (TC-RNTI)
When the UE does not have allocated C-RNTI then Temporaru C-RNTI is used. A temporary
identity, the TC-RNTI, used for further communication between the terminal and the network. If
the communication is successful then TC-RNTI is promoted eventually to C-RNTI in the case of UE
not having a C-RNTI.

Dispelling LTE Myths

At the recent Leadership meeting of 3GPP, the Technical

Specification Group Chairmen sat down to discuss some of theMyths that surround LTEs roll-out.
Is LTE Data Only? ...Does it support SMS? ...Is IMS a success? ...Can LTE complete emergency calls?
Here are the answers:

Myth 1: LTE is Data only

Reality: LTE supports voice and efficient support of voice was one of the key considerations in
designing LTE. The voice solution for LTE is IMS VoIP and it is fully specified.

The 3GPP solution for voice over LTE is a combination of multiple efforts:
The work in Rel 7 to optimize IMS signalling and VoIP encoding so it would be as good or
better than CS voice in terms of quality and efficiency,
The work in Rel 8 to develop a radio and core network evolution optimized for the transfer
of packet data.
The work in Rel-7 to add the IMS emergency call requirements and to adapt it to
regulatory requirements in LTE and GPRS in Rel-9.
The work in Rel-8 to add the always-on IP connectivity requirements in LTE
A key consideration to recognize is that under LTE, voice is just one of many potential media
streams that can be communicated. A packet based network and VoIP allows this flexibility while
still providing efficient use of radio and network resources.

However, 3GPP recognizes that adoption of both LTE and IMS will not occur overnight For this
reason 3GPP provided a transition solution for voice called CS Fallback. This allows a LTE device to
drop back to the legacy 3G or 2G network if IMS VoIP capabilities are not supported. This is viewed
as an interim solution to ease the transition to IMS and VoIP.

Myth 2: SMS isnt supported over LTE

Reality: LTE and EPS will support a rich variety of messaging applications and also SMS is
supported over LTE. The solution is twofold, covering both the full IMS case and a transition
solution for those networks that do not support IMS.

SMS over IP was fully specified 3GPP Rel 7. It depends on IMS and it is intended to provide
compatibility between the existing cellular legacy and the implementations with more elaborate
messaging capabilities via SMS and IMS interworking..

For environments without IMS a transition solution was specified. This is called SMS over SGs
(previously called the misleading name: SMS over CS). It is a hybrid approach that allows the
transmission of native SMS from CS infrastructure over the LTE radio network. SMS over SGs was
specified as part of Rel 8. SMS over SGs provides SMS service for mobiles in LTE and since it
requires also CS domain infrastructure for the SMS transmission, it is intended to be a transition
solution.

Myth 3: IMS isnt ready for prime time

Reality: IMS has been around a long time. It was first developed as part of Rel 5 in 2002. It is
based on IETF protocols such as SIP and SDP that are very mature. These technologies have been
embraced by the industry as the signalling mechanism for multimedia applications.

In Rel 7 an effort was made to optimize IMS and the supporting protocols to ensure that voice and
other media were supported as efficiently as in circuit switched networks.
IMS is fully specified and mature. The difficulties in rolling out IMS are not due to the protocols or
the specifications. The consideration point is not only technical aspects but also shifting the whole
industry paradigm from CS services to a truly IP-based environment, i.e. service migration,
policies, interoperability and deployment plan included. However, these complexities must be
addressed if the idea is to truly provide a richer service environment. This work is ongoing in many
forums outside of 3GPP (e.g. Rich Communication Suite).

Myth 4: LTE doesnt support emergency calls

Reality: VoIP support for emergency calls (including location support) is specified as part of Rel 9.
This fulfils the last regulatory requirement separating VoIP from CS in 3GPP networks. A transition
solution exists which is falling back to 3G/2G for completing emergency calls. This solution has
existed since IMS was introduced (Rel 5).

However, to satisfy the situation of a fallback network not existing, this enhancement was
completed in Rel 9. This allows the operator the option of supporting the regulatory requirements
for LTE VoIP calls both for phones that can register for normal services and for those in limited
service, including the USIM-less case.

Also the emergency call callback from the PSAP and its interaction with the possibly activated
supplementary services is specified.

Transition
Legacy Service EPS Solution
Solution

CS Fallback (Rel
CS Voice IMS VoIP (Rel 7)
8)

SMS over SGs

(used to be called SMS over IP (Rel
SMS
SMS over CS) 7)
(Rel 8)

CS Fallback (Rel Multimedia

Supplementary Services
8) Telephony (Rel 7)

IMS Emergency
Emergency Calls w CS Emergency
Calls w Location
Location Support Calls (Rel 5)
Support (Rel 9)
source: http://www.3gpp.org/Dispelling-LTE-Myths

International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)

International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)

An International Mobile Subscriber Identity or IMSI ) is a unique number associated with

all GSM and UMTS network mobile phone users. It is stored in the SIM inside the phone and is sent
by the phone to the network. It is also used to acquire other details of the mobile in the Home
Location Register (HLR) or as locally copied in the Visitor Location Register. In order to avoid the
subscriber being identified and tracked by eavesdroppers on the radio interface, the IMSI is sent as
rarely as possible and a randomly-generated TMSI is sent instead.

An IMSI is usually 15 digits long, but can be shorter (for example MTN South Africa's old IMSIs that
are still being used in the market are 14 digits). The first 3 digits are the Mobile Country Code (MCC),
and is followed by the Mobile Network Code (MNC), either 2 digits (Europeanstandard) or 3 digits
(North American standard). The remaining digits are the mobile station identification number
(MSIN) within the network's customer base.

Examples

IMSI:429011234567890
MCC 429 Nepal
MNC 01 Nepal Telecom
MSIN 1234567890

IMSI: 310150123456789
MCC 310 USA
MNC 150 AT&T
MSIN 123456789

Low Power Wide Area Networks

To support the further growth and development of the Internet of Things (the IoT) the mobile
industry is developing and standardizing a new class of GSM technologies. These Low Power Wide
Area (LPWA) networks will support devices requiring low mobility, low power consumption, long
range, low cost and security.

Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks will play an important role in connecting up the billions of
new devices making up the IoT. LPWA technologies are expected to serve a diverse range of
vertical industries and support a range of applications and deployment scenarios, which existing
mobile technologies may not currently be best placed to connect.

Low-Power, Wide-Area (LPWA) technologies complement existing cellular mobile network and
short range technologies, enabling lower costs and better power consumption characteristics What
that means for you very much depends on who you are, and the impact will vary for different
market participants.

Due to the diversity of IoT application requirements, a single technology is not capable of
addressing all of the LPWA use cases and so the mobile industry has focused on three proposed
complementary licensed 3GPP standards: Extended Coverage GSM for the Internet of Things (EC-
GSM-IoT), Long-Term Evolution LPWA technologies in licensed spectrum can be deployed in a
simplified manner, without sacrificing key customer requirements, such as battery lifetime and
security.

However, since LPWA can be a significant competitive differentiator, very few participants in any
Internet of Things (IoT) market can afford to do nothing. Any company that elects to do
nothing can expect to be out-competed by a company that has deployed LPWA (and other IoT)
technologies to the maximum extent.

A wide range of players and alternative technologies are already engaged in the LPWA space. The
most fundamental differences between these technology types includes the radio spectrum that
the technologies use (licensed vs license exempt) and the commercial strategies of the companies
that deploy them.

Why use licenced spectrum solutions?

Mobile operators already provide reliable, secure end-to-end IoT platforms that allow customers
to scale and manage their business requirements. They also have unrivalled global network
coverage as well as technical and business support to react to a customers changing needs.
Mobile operators will bring this capability and expertise to LPWA technologies.
This means solutions deployed in licenced spectrum will:
support very low in power consumption a battery life in excess of 10 years for some
applications
be optimized for brief messages about the length of an SMS
have a very low device unit cost the connectivity module will eventually cost a few
dollars
have good coverage outdoors and indoors, enabling connectivity in rural and underground
locations
be easy to install on to current networks, reusing existing cellular infrastructure wherever
possible
be scalable by being able to support large numbers of devices over a wide geographic area
deliver secure connectivity and support for authentication appropriate to the IoT
application
be able to be integrated into a mobile operators unified IoT platform
Specifications for LPWA solutions will be completed by the end of June 2016 and included in 3GPP
Release 13, with full commercial solutions following later in the year.

Market Opportunity for Low Power Wide Area networks

As LPWA networks are designed for IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) applications that have low
data rates, long battery lives, are low cost, operate in remote and hard to reach locations they
will be easy to deploy across a number of different verticals such as utilities, agriculture,
manufacturing, wearables and transport.

LPWA is an emerging area of the IoT and represents a huge market opportunity as the IoT scales.
Analyst firm Strategy Analytics anticipate there will be 5 billion LPWA connections by 2022.

Analysys Mason forecasts LPWA technologies will generate US$970 million globally in connectivity
revenue in 2018, rising to US$7.5 billion in 2022. By that time, Strategy Analytics estimates
network operators could be generating more than $13 billion from LPWA connectivity, as well as
significant additional revenues from value-added services, such as data analytics and security.

What is the GSMA doing?

The GSMA launched the Mobile IoT Initiative in June 2015 to accelerate the commercial
availability of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) solutions in licensed spectrum. Backed by 53 of the
worlds leading mobile operators, OEMs, chipset, module and infrastructure companies, this
Initiative facilitates demonstrations, proofs of concept and trials of a 3GPP backed LPWA licensed
spectrum technologies or Mobile IoT technologies. It also provides analysis and feedback to assist
3GPP in standardising the technologies

More Inforamtion:

https://www.lora-alliance.org/portals/0/documents/whitepapers/LoRa-Alliance-Whitepaper-
LPWA-Technologies.pdf

Low Power Wide Area Networks

To support the further growth and development of the Internet of Things (the IoT) the mobile
industry is developing and standardizing a new class of GSM technologies. These Low Power Wide
Area (LPWA) networks will support devices requiring low mobility, low power consumption, long
range, low cost and security.

Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks will play an important role in connecting up the billions of
new devices making up the IoT. LPWA technologies are expected to serve a diverse range of
vertical industries and support a range of applications and deployment scenarios, which existing
mobile technologies may not currently be best placed to connect.

Low-Power, Wide-Area (LPWA) technologies complement existing cellular mobile network and
short range technologies, enabling lower costs and better power consumption characteristics What
that means for you very much depends on who you are, and the impact will vary for different
market participants.

Due to the diversity of IoT application requirements, a single technology is not capable of
addressing all of the LPWA use cases and so the mobile industry has focused on three proposed
complementary licensed 3GPP standards: Extended Coverage GSM for the Internet of Things (EC-
GSM-IoT), Long-Term Evolution LPWA technologies in licensed spectrum can be deployed in a
simplified manner, without sacrificing key customer requirements, such as battery lifetime and
security.

However, since LPWA can be a significant competitive differentiator, very few participants in any
Internet of Things (IoT) market can afford to do nothing. Any company that elects to do
nothing can expect to be out-competed by a company that has deployed LPWA (and other IoT)
technologies to the maximum extent.

A wide range of players and alternative technologies are already engaged in the LPWA space. The
most fundamental differences between these technology types includes the radio spectrum that
the technologies use (licensed vs license exempt) and the commercial strategies of the companies
that deploy them.

Why use licenced spectrum solutions?

Mobile operators already provide reliable, secure end-to-end IoT platforms that allow customers
to scale and manage their business requirements. They also have unrivalled global network
coverage as well as technical and business support to react to a customers changing needs.
Mobile operators will bring this capability and expertise to LPWA technologies.
This means solutions deployed in licenced spectrum will:
support very low in power consumption a battery life in excess of 10 years for some
applications
be optimized for brief messages about the length of an SMS
 have a very low device unit cost the connectivity module will eventually cost a few
dollars
have good coverage outdoors and indoors, enabling connectivity in rural and underground
locations
be easy to install on to current networks, reusing existing cellular infrastructure wherever
possible
be scalable by being able to support large numbers of devices over a wide geographic area
deliver secure connectivity and support for authentication appropriate to the IoT
application
be able to be integrated into a mobile operators unified IoT platform
Specifications for LPWA solutions will be completed by the end of June 2016 and included in 3GPP
Release 13, with full commercial solutions following later in the year.

Market Opportunity for Low Power Wide Area networks

As LPWA networks are designed for IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) applications that have low
data rates, long battery lives, are low cost, operate in remote and hard to reach locations they
will be easy to deploy across a number of different verticals such as utilities, agriculture,
manufacturing, wearables and transport.

LPWA is an emerging area of the IoT and represents a huge market opportunity as the IoT scales.
Analyst firm Strategy Analytics anticipate there will be 5 billion LPWA connections by 2022.

Analysys Mason forecasts LPWA technologies will generate US$970 million globally in connectivity
revenue in 2018, rising to US$7.5 billion in 2022. By that time, Strategy Analytics estimates
network operators could be generating more than $13 billion from LPWA connectivity, as well as
significant additional revenues from value-added services, such as data analytics and security.

What is the GSMA doing?

The GSMA launched the Mobile IoT Initiative in June 2015 to accelerate the commercial
availability of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) solutions in licensed spectrum. Backed by 53 of the
worlds leading mobile operators, OEMs, chipset, module and infrastructure companies, this
Initiative facilitates demonstrations, proofs of concept and trials of a 3GPP backed LPWA licensed
spectrum technologies or Mobile IoT technologies. It also provides analysis and feedback to assist
3GPP in standardising the technologies

More Inforamtion:

https://www.lora-alliance.org/portals/0/documents/whitepapers/LoRa-Alliance-Whitepaper-
LPWA-Technologies.pdf

LTE Architecture
The LTE architecture enables service providers to reduce the cost of owning and operating the
network by allowing the service providers to have separate CN (MME, SGW, PDN GW) while the E-
UTRAN (eNBs) is jointly shared by them. This is enabled by the S1-flex mechanism by enabling
each eNB to be connected to multiple CN entities. When a UE attaches to the network, it is
connected to the appropriate CN entities based on the identity of the service provider sent by the
UE.
SRVCC between LTE and 3GPP2 1xCS
Basics:
1xCS: The 3GPP2 legacy circuit switched signalling system as defined in 3GPP2 X.S0042-0
3GPP SRVCC UE: A 3GPP SRVCC UE is a UE enhanced for IMS Service Continuity with the
additional UE capabilities such as SRVCC between E-UTRAN and 3GPP UTRAN and / or between E-
UTRAN and 3GPP GERAN and / or between UTRAN (HSPA) and 3GPP UTRAN and 3GPP GERAN.
Concept:

For SRVCC-capable UEs, the call is always anchored at the VCC AS in the 3GPP2's IMS. The 3GPP2
1xCS IWS enables a single radio UE to communicate in parallel both with the source system and
the target system. From VCC perspective, this mechanism minimizes the voice gap by supporting
the transport of signalling for establishment of the target CS access leg while the terminal is
connected to the source PS access network.
 Transport of 3GPP2 1xCS signalling messages for preparation of the CS access leg in the target system

The S102 reference point is used to convey 3GPP2 1xCS signalling messages between the MME and
3GPP2 1xCS IWS. These 1x CS signalling messages are actually exchanged between the UE and the
3GPP2 1xCS IWS, and S102 is only one link in the overall UE 1xCS IWS tunnelling path. On the
remaining portion of the tunnelling path, the 3GPP2 1xCS signalling messages are encapsulated in
E UTRAN/EPS tunnelling messages (UE MME).

E-UTRAN and 3GPP2 1xCS SRVCC architecture

SRVCC architecture for E-UTRAN to 3GPP2 1xCS

Call flows for SRVCC from E-UTRAN

 LTE VoIP-to-1x CS voice service continuity
1. Ongoing VoIP session over the IMS access leg established over EPS/E UTRAN access.

2. 1xCS SRVCC UE sends measurement reports to eNodeB.

3. The E UTRAN (e.g., based on some trigger, measurement reports) makes a determination to
initiate an inter technology handover to cdma2000 1xRTT.

4. The E UTRAN signals the UE to perform an inter technology handover by sending a Handover
from EUTRA Preparation Request message.

5. The UE initiates signalling for establishment of the CS access leg by sending a UL handover
preparation Transfer message containing the 1xRTT Origination message. For the case of
emergency voice service continuity, the request includes a Request-Type = "emergency handover"
and in the case of UE operating in Limited Service Mode the MEID (e.g. IMEI) is included.
6. The E UTRAN sends an Uplink S1 cdma2000 Tunnelling (MEID, RAND, 1x Origination, Reference
CellID) message to the MME. The eNodeB will also include CDMA2000 HO Required Indication IE to
Uplink S1 CDMA2000 Tunnelling message, which indicates to the MME that the handover
preparation has started.

7. Upon reception of the Uplink S1 cdma2000 Tunnelling message, the MME selects a 3GPP2 1xCS
IWS based on Reference CellID and encapsulates the 1x Origination Message along with the MEID
and RAND in a S102 Direct Transfer message (as "1x Air Interface Signalling").

8. The traffic channel resources are established in the 1x RTT system and 3GPP2 1xCS procedures
for initiation of Session Transfer are performed as per 3GPP2 X.S0042 [4].

9. The 3GPP2 1xCS IWS creates a 1x message and encapsulates it in a S102 Direct Transfer
message (1x message, Handover indicator). If the 3GPP2 access was able to allocate resources
successfully, the 1x message is a 1x Handover Direction message and the handover indicator
indicates successful resource allocation. Otherwise, the handover indicator indicates to the MME
that handover preparation failed and the embedded 1x message indicates the failure to the UE.

10. The MME sends the 1x message and CDMA2000 HO Status IE in a Downlink S1 cdma2000
Tunnelling message to the E UTRAN. The CDMA2000 HO Status IE is set according to the handover
indicator received over the S102 tunnel.

11. If the CDMA2000 HO Status IE indicates successful handover preparation, the E UTRAN forwards
the 1x Handoff Direction message embedded in a Mobility from EUTRA Command message to the
UE. This is perceived by the UE as a Handover Command message. If handover preparation failed,
DL Information transfer message will be sent instead, with the embedded 1xRTT message that
indicates the failure to the UE.

12. Once the UE receives the traffic channel information from the cdma2000 1xRTT system, the
UE retunes to the 1xRTT radio access network and performs traffic channel acquisition with the
1xRTT CS access (e.g., 1xRTT BSS).

13. The UE sends a 1xRTT handoff completion message to the 1xRTT CS access (e.g., 1xRTT BSS).

14. The 1xRTT CS Access sends message to 1xRTT MSC to indicate of handoff done. The resources
between 1x CS IWS and 1xRTT MSC may be released at this step.

15. Ongoing voice call over the CS access leg established over 1xRTT access. The E UTRAN/EPS
context may be released based on the normal E UTRAN/EPS procedure.

16. The eNodeB sends an S1 UE Context Release Request (Cause) message to the MME. Cause
indicates the S1 release procedure is caused by handover from E-UTRAN to 1xRTT.

17. The MME exchanges Suspend Request/ Acknowledge messages with the S GW / P GW. The S1-U
bearers are released for all EPS bearers and the GBR bearers are deactivated by the MME. The
non-GBR bearers are preserved and are marked as suspended in the S GW / P GW. Upon receipt of
downlink data the S GW should not send a downlink data notification message to the MME.

18. S1 UE Context in the eNodeB is released as specified in TS 23.401 [2].

19. For an emergency services session after handover is complete, if the control plane location
solution is used on the source side, the source MME shall send a Subscriber Location Report
carrying an indication of the 1xRTT MSC (e.g. reference cell ID) to the GMLC associated with the
source side to support location continuity. This enables location continuity for the 1xRTT side.
Alternatively, if the control plane solution is not used on the source side, location continuity
procedures shall be instigated on the 1xRTT side.
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Labels: LTE Inter-Technology Mobility, SRVCC

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC)

SRVCC is an LTE functionality that allows a VoIP/IMS call in the LTE packet domain to be moved to
a legacy voice domain (GSM/UMTS or CDMA 1x).

Consider a case where a new LTE network operator wants to move voice services to VoIP over IMS
in conjunction with the deployment of an LTE access network. In the absence of other options,
this operator would need to provide ubiquitous LTE coverage on day 1 to have a competitive VoIP
service. However SRVCC enabled LTE may not require complete LTE coverage.

SRVCC provides the ability to transition a voice call from the VoIP/IMS packet domain to the
legacy circuit domain. Variations of SRVCC are being standardized to support both GSM/UMTS and
CDMA 1x circuit domains. For an operator with a legacy cellular network who wishes to deploy
IMS/VoIP-based voice services in conjunction with the rollout of an LTE network, SRVCC
offers VoIP subscribers with coverage over a much larger area than would typically be available
during the rollout of a new network.

SRVCC functions as follows. As an SRVCC-capable UEe engaged in a voice call determines that it is
moving away from LTE coverage, it notifies the LTE network. The LTE network determines that
the voice call needs to be moved to the legacy circuit domain. It notifies the MSC server of the
need to switch the voice call from the packet to the circuit domain and initiates a handover of the
LTE voice bearer to the circuit network. The MSC server establishes a bearer path for the mobile
in the legacy network and notifies the IMS core that the mobiles call leg is moving from the
packet to the circuit domain. The circuit-packet function in the IMS core then performs the
necessary inter-working functions. When the mobile arrives on-channel in the legacy network, it
switches its internal voice processing from VoIP to legacy-circuit voice, and the call continues.
If the legacy circuit network also has an associated packet capability and is capable of supporting
concurrent circuit/packet operations, the subscribers data sessions can be handed over to the
legacy network in conjunction with switching the voice call from the packet to the circuit domain.
In this case when the voice call finishes and the mobile re-enters LTE coverage, these packet
sessions can be handed back to the LTE.

If operators look to limit LTE deployments to high traffic areas and at the same time wish to
transition voice service in those areas to VoIP, then SRVCC is exactly what they need.

If on the other hand operators do not plan to migrate their voice service to VoIP, then SRVCC is
not for them. If an operator does plan to migrate to VoIP and also plans to roll out ubiquitous LTE
coverage, then the question of whether or not to adopt SRVCC is more complicated. While SRVCC
does not require modifications to what is certainly the operators largest legacy investment, the
RAN, it does require a significant modification of the operators legacy core and also requires full
deployment of IMS circuit-packet continuity services. Given the cost of these changes, deployment
of SRVCC purely as an interim measure to allow early rollout of VoIP-based services may not make
financial sense.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2010

LTE Layer 1 Services

Multiple Access
The multiple access scheme for the LTE physical layer is based on Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) in the downlink, and on Single-Carrier Frequency
Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) with a cyclic prefix in the uplink. To support transmission in
paired and unpaired spectrum, two duplex modes are supported: Frequency Division Duplex (FDD),
supporting full duplex and half duplex operation, and Time Division Duplex (TDD).

The Layer 1 is defined in a bandwidth agnostic way based on resource blocks, allowing the LTE
Layer 1 to adapt to various spectrum allocations. A resource block spans either 12 sub-carriers
with a sub-carrier bandwidth of 15kHz or 24 sub-carriers with a sub-carrier bandwidth of 7.5kHz
each over a slot duration of 0.5ms.

The radio frame structure type 1 is used for FDD (for both full duplex and half duplex operation)
and has a duration of 10ms and consists of 20 slots with a slot duration of 0.5ms. Two adjacent
slots form one sub-frame of length 1ms. The radio frame structure type 2 is used for TDD and
consists of two half-frames with a duration of 5ms each and containing each 8 slots of length
0.5ms and three special fields (DwPTS, GP and UpPTS) which have configurable individual lengths
and a total length of 1ms.

A sub-frame consists of two adjacent slots, except for sub-frames 1 and 6, which consist of
DwPTS, GP and UpPTS. Both 5ms and 10ms switch-point periodicity are supported.

To support a Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS), LTE offers the possibility to
transmit Multicast/Broadcast over a Single Frequency Network (MBSFN), where a time-
synchronized common waveform is transmitted from multiple cells for a given duration. MBSFN
transmission enables highly efficient MBMS, allowing for over-the-air combining of multi-cell
transmissions in the UE, where the cyclic prefix is utilized to cover the difference in the
propagation delays, which makes the MBSFN transmission appear to the UE as a transmission from
a single large cell. Transmission on a dedicated carrier for MBSFN with the possibility to use a
longer CP with a sub-carrier bandwidth of 7.5kHz is supported as well as transmission of MBSFN on
a carrier with both MBMS transmissions and point-to-point transmissions using time division
multiplexing.

Transmission with multiple input and multiple output antennas (MIMO) are supported with
configurations in the downlink with two or four transmit antennas and two or four receive
antennas, which allow for multi-layer transmissions with up to four streams. Multi-user MIMO i.e.
allocation of different streams to different users is supported in both UL and DL.

Physical channels and modulation

The physical channels defined in the downlink are:

the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH),
the Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH),
the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH),
the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH),
the Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH)
and the Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH).

The physical channels defined in the uplink are:

the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH),
the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH),
and the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

In addition, signals are defined as reference signals, primary and secondary synchronization
signals. The modulation schemes supported in the downlink and uplink are QPSK, 16QAM and
64QAM.

Channel coding and interleaving

The channel coding scheme for transport blocks in LTE is Turbo Coding with a coding rate of
R=1/3, two 8-state constituent encoders and a contention-free quadratic permutation polynomial
(QPP) turbo code internal interleaver. Trellis termination is used for the turbo coding. Before the
turbo coding, transport blocks are segmented into byte aligned segments with a maximum
information block size of 6144 bits. Error detection is supported by the use of 24 bit CRC.

Physical layer procedures

There are several Physical layer procedures involved with LTE operation. Such procedures covered
by the physical layer are;
- Cell search
- Power control
- Uplink synchronisation and Uplink timing control
- Random access related procedures
- HARQ related procedures
Through the control of physical layer resources in the frequency domain as well as in the time and
power domain, implicit support of interference coordination is provided in LTE.

Physical layer measurements

Radio characteristics are measured by the UE and the eNode-B and reported to higher layers in the
network. These include, e.g. measurements for intra- and inter-frequency handover, inter RAT
handover, timing measurements and measurements for RRM and in support for
positioning. Measurements for inter-RAT handover are defined in support of handover to GSM,
UTRA FDD, UTRA TDD, CDMA2000 1x RTT and CDMA2000 HRPD.
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Labels: LTE Layer 1

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2010

LTE Layer 1
The radio interface is composed of the Layer 1, 2 and 3. Below figure shows the E-UTRA radio
interface protocol architecture around the physical layer (Layer 1). The physical layer interfaces
the Medium Access Control (MAC) sub-layer of Layer 2 and the Radio Resource Control (RRC) Layer
of Layer 3. The circles between different layer/sub-layers indicate Service Access Points (SAPs).
The physical layer offers a transport channel to MAC. The transport channel is characterized by
how the information is transferred over the radio interface. MAC offers different logical channels
to the Radio Link Control (RLC) sub-layer of Layer 2. A logical channel is characterized by the type
of information transferred.

Service provided to higher layers

The physical layer offers data transport services to higher layers. The access to these services is
through the use of a transport channel via the MAC sub-layer. The physical layer is expected to
perform the following functions in order to provide the data transport service:

- Error detection on the transport channel and indication to higher layers

- FEC encoding/decoding of the transport channel
- Hybrid ARQ soft-combining
- Rate matching of the coded transport channel to physical channels
- Mapping of the coded transport channel onto physical channels
- Power weighting of physical channels
- Modulation and demodulation of physical channels
- Frequency and time synchronisation
- Radio characteristics measurements and indication to higher layers
- Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna processing
- Transmit Diversity (TX diversity)
- Beamforming
- RF processing.

LTE-Advanced Technology Introduction

Although the commercialization of LTE technology began in end 2009, the technology is still being
enhanced in order to meet ITU-Advanced requirements. This application note summarizes these
necessary improvements, which are known as LTE-Advanced.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2012

Backoff Indicator
Backoff Indicator is a special MAC subheader that carries the parameter indicating the time delay
between a PRACH and the next PRACH. There are cases where a UE has to send another PRACH
after it already sent a PRACH.

The most common cases are as follows.

i) UE sent a PRACH but didn't get a RAR for some reason.

ii) UE sent a PRACH and got RAR, but the RAPID in the RAR is not for the UE.

If the random access attempt of a UE fails, either because the preamble sent by the UE was not
detected by the eNB or the UE lost the contention resolution, the UE has to start the process over
again. To avoid contention and overload, the eNB can signal the UEs that they have to wait a
certain time before they try to connect again. The parameter that controls this is called the
backoff indicator (BI) and is signaled by the eNB in the random access response. The actual time
the UE should backoff is chosen uniformly by the UE in the interval [0,B]. As mentioned, the
backoff parameter is sent in the RA response, but all RA responses can however be read by all UEs
who sent a preamble in step 1 of the random access procedure. This means that also a UE that did
not get a random access response. with its own preamble, i.e., was not detected, can receive the
backoff parameter and use it.

The eNB can force the UE to wait a certain time before it tries to connect again. The maximum
length of the backoff time is signaled to the UE by the eNB with the backoff parameter B. One
possible scenario is that the backoff only is activated when there is an overload in the system.
Therefore it would be interesting to study how the observations of AD (Access Delay) are affected
by different values on B, during different conditions of the system. If the AD observers cannot be
upgraded to accurately estimate an eventual backoff it would mean that the eNB is depending on
AD reports from the UEs.

Knowing GUTI - Globally Unique Temporary ID

In LTE the GUTI is allocated to the UE by the MME and has two components. These are the GUMMEI
(Globally Unique MME ID) and the M-TMSI (MME-TMSI). While the GUMMEI identifies the MME, the
M-TMSI identifies the UE within the MME.

In GPRS and UMTS the mobile's temporary id was the (P-TMSI) Packet Temporary Mobile Identity.
This id is changed on a frequent basis and used instead of the IMSI (The International Mobile
Subscriber Identification) in most air interface messages for security reasons.

In LTE, the P-TMSI is now called the Globally Unique Temporary ID, or the GUTI. Some of the digits
in the GUTI identify the Mobility Management Entity the mobile was last registered with and they
are referred to as the Globally Unique MME Identifier, or the GUMMEI.

When contacting the network, the mobile sends the GUTI to the base station which then uses the
parameter to identify the MME to which it will send the request to re-establish the communication
session.It's also possible to roam between different radio technologies. If the mobile has
reselected from a UMTS cell to an LTE cell, a TAU is made and since the mobile does not have a
GUTI, the P-TMSI is sent instead.This way, the newly assigned MME can contact the 3G SGSN to
request the subscribers current profile (IP address, PDP contexts, etc.).

The same mechanisms apply when the mobile reselects from an LTE cell to a UMTS or GPRS cell. In
this case the GUTI is sent in the P-TMSI parameter and the procedure is reffered to as Routeing
Area Update (RAU) instead of TAU.
The GUTI has two main components:
one that uniquely identifies the MME which allocated the GUTI; and
one that uniquely identifies the UE within the MME that allocated the GUTI.
The Globally Unique MME Identifier (GUMMEI) is constructed from the MCC, MNC and MME
Identifier (MMEI). Within the MME, the mobile is identified by the M-TMSI.

Finally the GUTI is constructed from the GUMMEI and the M-TMSI.

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Labels: MME

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2009

The MME Function

NAS signalling;
NAS signalling security;
AS Security control;
Inter CN node signalling for mobility between 3GPP access networks;
Idle mode UE Reachability (including control and execution of paging retransmission);
Tracking Area list management (for UE in idle and active mode);
PDN GW and Serving GW selection;
MME selection for handovers with MME change;
SGSN selection for handovers to 2G or 3G 3GPP access networks;
Roaming;
Authentication;
Bearer management functions including dedicated bearer establishment;
Support for PWS (which includes ETWS and CMAS) message transmission.

NAS Service request procedure

This procedure is one of the EMM connection management procedures. The purpose of the service
request procedure is to transfer the EMM mode from EMM-IDLE to EMM-CONNECTED mode and
establish the radio and S1 bearers when uplink user data or signalling is to be sent. Another
purpose of this procedure is to invoke MO(mobile Originated/MT(Mobile Terminated) CS fallback
procedures.

This procedure is used when:

- the network has downlink signalling pending;
- the UE has uplink signalling pending;
- the UE or the network has user data pending and the UE is in EMM-IDLE mode;

- the UE in EMM-IDLE or EMM-CONNECTED mode has requested to perform mobile

originating/terminating CS fallback;
- the network has downlink cdma2000 signalling pending; or
- the UE has uplink cdma2000 signalling pending.

The service request procedure is initiated by the UE, however, for the downlink transfer of
signalling, cdma2000 signalling or user data in EMM-IDLE mode, the trigger is given by the
network by means of the paging procedure.

The UE invokes the service request procedure when:

a) the UE in EMM-IDLE mode receives a paging request with CN domain indicator set to "PS" from
the network;

b) the UE, in EMM-IDLE mode, has pending user data to be sent;

c) the UE, in EMM-IDLE mode, has uplink signalling pending;

d) the UE in EMM-IDLE or EMM-CONNECTED mode is configured to use CS fallback and has a mobile
originating CS fallback request from the upper layer;

e) the UE in EMM-IDLE mode is configured to use CS fallback and receives a paging request with CN
domain indicator set to "CS", or the UE in EMM-CONNECTED mode is configured to use CS fallback
and receives a CS SERVICE NOTIFICATION message;

f) the UE in EMM-IDLE or EMM-CONNECTED mode is configured to use 1xCS fallback and has a
mobile originating 1xCS fallback request from the upper layer;

g) the UE in EMM-CONNECTED mode is configured to use 1xCS fallback and accepts cdma2000
signalling messages containing a 1xCS paging request; or

h) the UE, in EMM-IDLE mode, has uplink cdma2000 signalling pending.

If one of the above criteria to invoke the service request procedure is fulfilled, then the service
request procedure may only be initiated by the UE when the following conditions are fulfilled:

- its EPS update status is EU1 UPDATED, and the TAI of the current serving cell is included in the
TAI list; and

- no EMM specific procedure is ongoing.

If the UE has pending uplink data or uplink signalling in EMM-IDLE mode to be transmitted or it
responds to paging with CN domain indicator set to "PS", the UE initiates the service request
procedure by sending a SERVICE REQUEST message to the MME, and enters the state EMM-SERVICE-
REQUEST-INITIATED.

For case d, the UE shall send an EXTENDED SERVICE REQUEST message, start T3417ext and enter
the state EMM-SERVICE-REQUEST-INITIATED.
For case e:

- if the UE is in EMM-IDLE mode, the UE shall send an EXTENDED SERVICE REQUEST message, and
enter the state EMM-SERVICE-REQUEST-INITIATED;

- if the UE is in EMM-CONNECTED mode and if the UE accepts the paging, the UE shall send an
EXTENDED SERVICE REQUEST message with the CSFB response IE indicating "CS fallback accepted
by the UE", and enter the state EMM-SERVICE-REQUEST-INITIATED;

- if the UE is in EMM-CONNECTED mode and if the UE rejects the paging, the UE shall send an
EXTENDED SERVICE REQUEST message with the CSFB response IE indicating "CS fallback rejected
by the UE" and enter the state EMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE. The network should not initiate
CS fallback procedures.

For cases f and g, the UE shall send an EXTENDED SERVICE REQUEST message, and enter the state
EMM-SERVICE-REQUEST-INITIATED.
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Labels: NAS

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2010

NAS Elementary procedures for EPS session management

EPS session management procedures are used at the radio interface "LTE-Uu". The main function
of the ESM sublayer is to support the EPS bearer context handling in the UE and in the MME.

The ESM comprises procedures for:

- the activation, deactivation and modification of EPS bearer contexts; and
- the request for resources (IP connectivity to a PDN or dedicated bearer resources) by the UE.

Each EPS bearer context represents an EPS bearer between the UE and a PDN. EPS bearer contexts
can remain activated even if the radio and S1 bearers constituting the corresponding EPS bearers
between UE and MME are temporarily released.

An EPS bearer context can be either a default bearer context or a dedicated bearer context. A
default EPS bearer context is activated when the UE requests a connection to a PDN. Generally,
ESM procedures can be performed only if an EMM context has been established between the UE
and the MME, and the secure exchange of NAS messages has been initiated by the MME by use of
the EMM procedures. The first default EPS bearer context, however, is activated during the EPS
attach procedure. Once the UE is successfully attached, the UE can request the MME to set up
connections to additional PDNs. For each additional connection, the MME will activate a separate
default EPS bearer context. A default EPS bearer context remains activated throughout the
lifetime of the connection to the PDN.

A dedicated EPS bearer context is always linked to a default EPS bearer context and represents
additional EPS bearer resources between the UE and the PDN. The network can initiate the
activation of dedicated EPS bearer contexts together with the activation of the default EPS bearer
context or at any time later, as long as the default EPS bearer context remains activated.

Default and dedicated EPS bearer contexts can be modified. Dedicated EPS bearer contexts can be
released without affecting the default EPS bearer context. When the default EPS bearer context is
released, then all dedicated EPS bearer contexts linked to it are released, too.
The UE can request the network to allocate, modify or release additional EPS bearer resources.
The network decides whether to fulfil a request for additional resources by activating a new
dedicated EPS bearer context or modifying an existing dedicated or default EPS bearer context.

Types of ESM procedures

1) Procedures related to EPS bearer contexts:

These procedures are initiated by the network and are used for the manipulation of EPS bearer
contexts:
Default EPS bearer context activation;
Dedicated EPS bearer context activation;
EPS bearer context modification;
EPS bearer context deactivation.
2) Transaction related procedures:

These procedures are initiated by the UE to request for resources, i.e. a new PDN connection or
dedicated bearer resources, or to release these resources:
PDN connectivity procedure;
PDN disconnect procedure;
Bearer resource allocation procedure;
Bearer resource modification procedure.
When combined with the attach procedure, the PDN connectivity procedure can trigger the
network to execute the following transaction related procedure:
ESM information request procedure.
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Labels: NAS

SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

NAS Elementary procedures for EPS Mobility Management

The main function of the mobility management sublayer is to support the mobility of a user
equipment, such as informing the network of its present location and providing user identity
confidentiality

A further function of the mobility management sublayer is to provide connection management

services to the session management (SM) sublayer and the short message services (SMS) entity of
the connection management (CM) sublayer.

All the EMM procedures can only be performed if a NAS signalling connection has been established
between the UE and the network. Else, the EMM sublayer has to initiate the establishment of a
NAS signalling connection.

Types of EMM procedures

EMM common procedures
o GUTI reallocation
o Authentication
o Security mode control
o Identification
o EMM information

EMM specific procedures

o Attach and combined attach.
o Attach.
o Detach and combined detach.
o Normal tracking area updating and combined tracking area updating (S1 mode
only).
o Periodic tracking area updating (S1 mode only).

EMM connection management procedures (S1 mode only)

o Service request.
o Paging procedure.
o Transport of NAS messages;
o Generic transport of NAS messages.
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Labels: NAS

MONDAY, JUNE 21, 2010

About NAS (Non-Access Stratum)

The non-access stratum (NAS)forms the highest stratum of the control plane between UE and MME
at the radio interface ("LTE-Uu interface")

Main functions of the protocols that are part of the NAS are:
the support of mobility of the user equipment (UE).
the support of session management procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity
between the UE and a packet data network gateway (PDN GW).
NAS security is an additional function of the NAS providing services to the NAS protocols, e.g.
integrity protection and ciphering of NAS signalling messages.

For the support of the above functions, the following procedures are supplied within 3GPP 24301
specification:
elementary procedures for EPS mobility management
elementary procedures for EPS session management.

Paging in LTE
The paging procedure is used by the network to request the establishment of a NAS
signalling connection to the UE. The NAS signalling connection thus established can also be
used to transport cdma2000 signalling messages to the UE. Another purpose of the paging
procedure is to prompt the UE to reattach if necessary as a result of a network failure. If
the UE is not attached when it receives a paging for EPS services, the UE shall ignore the
paging. Additionally, the network can use the paging procedure to initiate the mobile
terminating CS fallback procedure.

- Paging for EPS services through E-UTRAN using S-TMSI

 The network shall initiate the paging procedure for EPS services using S-TMSI with CN
domain indicator set to "PS" when NAS signalling messages, cdma2000 signalling messages
or user data is pending to be sent to the UE when no NAS signalling connection exists.
Upon reception of a paging indication, the UE responds to the paging with a SERVICE
REQUEST message.

- Paging for EPS services through E-UTRAN using IMSI

Paging for EPS services using IMSI is an abnormal procedure used for error recovery in the
network. The network may initiate paging for EPS services using IMSI with CN domain
indicator set to "PS" if the S-TMSI is not available due to a network failure.

Upon reception of a paging for EPS services using IMSI, the UE shall locally deactivate any
EPS bearer context(s) and locally detach from EPS. Additionally the UE shall delete the
following parameters: last visited registered TAI, TAI list, GUTI and KSIASME. The UE shall
set the EPS update status to EU2 NOT UPDATED and change the state to EMM-
DEREGISTERED.

After performing the local detach, the UE shall then perform an attach procedure. If the
UE is operating in CS/PS mode 1 or CS/PS mode 2 of operation, then the UE shall perform a
combined attach procedure.

-Paging for CS fallback to A/Gb or Iu mode

The network may initiate the paging procedure for non-EPS services when the UE is IMSI
attached for non-EPS services. To initiate the procedure when no NAS signalling connection
exists, the EMM entity in the network requests the lower layer to start paging. The paging
message includes a CN domain indicator set to "CS" in order to indicate that this is paging
for CS fallback.

To notify the UE about an incoming mobile terminating CS service when a NAS signalling
connection exists, the EMM entity in the network shall send a CS SERVICE NOTIFICATION
message. This message may also include CS service related parameters (e.g. Calling Line
 Identification, SS or LCS related parameters).

Upon reception of a paging indication, the UE shall respond with an EXTENDED SERVICE
REQUEST. If the paging is received in EMM-IDLE mode, the UE shall respond immediately. If
the paging is received as NAS CS NOTIFICATION message in EMM-CONNECTED mode, the UE
may request upper layers input i.e. to accept or reject CS fallback before responding with
an EXTENDED SERVICE REQUEST. The response is indicated in the CSFB response
information element in the EXTENDED SERVICE REQUEST message in both EMM-IDLE and
EMM-CONNECTED modes.

IP address allocation
A UE performs the address allocation procedures for at least one IP address (either IPv4
address or IPv6 prefix) after the default bearer activation if no IPv4 address is allocated
during the default bearer activation.

One of the following ways is used to allocate IP addresses for the UE:

a) The HPLMN allocates the IP address to the UE when the default bearer is activated
(dynamic or static HPLMN address);
b) The VPLMN allocates the IP address to the UE when the default bearer is activated
(dynamic VPLMN address); or
c) The PDN operator or administrator allocates an (dynamic or static) IP address to the UE
when the default bearer is activated (External PDN Address Allocation).

The IP address allocated for the default bearer is used for the dedicated bearers within
the same PDN connection. IP address allocation for PDN connections, which are activated
by the UE requested PDN connectivity procedure, is handled with the same set of
mechanisms as those used within the Attach procedure.

PDN types IPv4, IPv6 and IPv4v6 are supported. An EPS Bearer of PDN type IPv4v6 may be
associated with one IPv6 prefix only or with both one IPv4 address and one IPv6 prefix.
PDN type IPv4 is associated with an IPv4 address. PDN type IPv6 is associated with an IPv6
prefix. PDN types IPv4 and IPv6 are utilised for the UE and/or the PDN GW support IPv4
addressing only or IPv6 prefix only; or operator preferences dictate the use of a single IP
version only, or the subscription is limited to IPv4 only or IPv6 only for this APN. In
addition, PDN type IPv4 and IPv6 are utilised for interworking with nodes of earlier
releases.

The way that the UE sets the requested PDN type may be pre-configured in the device per
APN. Unless otherwise configured (including when the UE does not send any APN), the UE
sets the PDN type during the Attach or PDN Connectivity procedures based on its IP stack
configuration as follows:

- A UE which is IPv6 and IPv4 capable shall request for PDN type IPv4v6.
 - A UE which is only IPv4 capable shall request for PDN type IPv4.
- A UE which is only IPv6 capable shall request for PDN type IPv6.

- When the IP version capability of the UE is unknown in the UE (as in the case when the
MT and TE are separated and the capability of the TE is not known in the MT), the UE
requests for PDN type IPv4v6.

The HSS stores one or more PDN types per APN in the subscription data. During the Attach
or UE requested PDN connectivity procedure MME compares the requested PDN type to the
PDN type in the subscription records for the given APN and sets the PDN type as follows:

- If the requested PDN type is allowed by subscription, the MME sets the PDN type as
requested.
- If the requested PDN type is IPv4v6 and subscription data only allows PDN type IPv4 or
only allows PDN type IPv6, the MME sets the PDN type according to the subscribed value. A
reason cause shall be returned to the UE indicating that only the assigned PDN type is
allowed. In this case the UE shall not request another PDN connection to the same APN for
the other IP version.
- If the requested PDN type is IPv4 or IPv6, and neither the requested PDN type nor PDN
type IPv4v6 are subscribed, the PDN connection request is rejected.
- If the requested PDN type is IPv4v6, and both IPv4 and IPv6 PDN types are allowed by
subscription but not IPv4v6, the MME shall set the PDN type to IPv4 or IPv6 where the
selection between IPv4 and IPv6 is implementation specific. The UE should then initiate
the UE requested PDN connectivity procedure to this APN in order to activate a second
PDN connection with the other single address PDN type which was not allocated by the
network.

NOTE 1: If the MT and TE are separated, the UE might not be able to use reason cause
"single address bearers only" as a trigger for activating a second single-stack EPS bearer.

The PDN GW may restrict the usage of a PDN type IPv4v6 as follows.

- If the PDN GW receives a request for PDN type IPv4v6, but the PDN GW operator
preferences dictate the use of IPv4 addressing only or IPv6 prefix only for this APN, the
PDN type shall be changed to a single address PDN type (IPv4 or IPv6) and a reason cause
shall be returned to the UE indicating that only the assigned PDN type is allowed. In this
case the UE shall not request another PDN connection to the same APN for the other IP
version.
- If the PDN GW receives a request for PDN type IPv4v6, but the MME does not set the Dual
Address Bearer Flag due to the MME operator using single addressing per bearer to support
interworking with nodes of earlier releases the PDN type shall be changed to a single IP
version only and a reason cause shall be returned to the UE indicating that only single IP
version per PDN connection is allowed. In this case the UE should request another PDN
connection for the other IP version using the UE requested PDN connectivity procedure to
the same APN with a single address PDN type (IPv4 or IPv6) other than the one already
activated.

During inter-RAT mobility between E UTRAN and UTRAN/GERAN, an EPS bearer with PDN
type IPv4v6 is mapped one-to-one to PDP type IPv4v6.

 During inter-RAT mobility between E-UTRAN and UTRAN/GERAN, an EPS bearer with PDN
type IPv4 is mapped one-to-one to a PDP context of PDP type IPv4. An EPS bearer with PDN
type IPv6 is mapped one-to-one to a PDP context of PDP type IPv6.
It is the HPLMN operator that should define in the subscription whether a dynamic HPLMN
or VPLMN address may be used.

The EPS UE may indicate to the network within the Protocol Configuration Options element
that the UE wants to obtain the IPv4 address with DHCPv4:

- the UE may indicate that it prefers to obtain an IPv4 address as part of the default
bearer activation procedure. In such a case, the UE relies on the EPS network to provide
IPv4 address to the UE as part of the default bearer activation procedure.
- the UE may indicate that it prefers to obtain the IPv4 address after the default bearer
setup by DHCPv4. That is, when the EPS network supports DHCPv4 and allows that, it does
not provide the IPv4 address for the UE as part of the default bearer activation
procedures. The network may respond to the UE by setting the PDN Address to 0.0.0.0.
After the default bearer establishment procedure is completed, the UE uses the
connectivity with the EPS and initiates the IPv4 address allocation on its own using
DHCPv4. However, if the EPS network provides IPv4 address to the UE as part of the
default bearer activation procedure, the UE should accept the IPv4 address indicated in
the default bearer activation procedure.
- if the UE sends no Address Allocation Preference, the PDN GW determines whether to use
DHCPv4 or not based on per APN configuration

Both EPS network elements and UE shall support the following mechanisms:
a. IPv4 address allocation via default bearer activation, if IPv4 is supported.
b. IPv6 prefix allocation via IPv6 Stateless Address autoconfiguration according to RFC 4862
[18], if IPv6 is supported;

Furthermore, the Protocol Configuration Options may be used during bearer activation to
configure parameters which are needed for IP address allocation. Both EPS network
elements and UE may support the following mechanisms:
a. IPv4 address allocation and IPv4 parameter configuration after the attach procedure via
DHCPv4 according to RFC 2131 [19] and RFC 4039 [25];
b. IPv6 parameter configuration via Stateless DHCPv6 according to RFC 3736 [20].
c. Allocation of IPv6 prefixes using DHCPv6 according to RFC 3633 [21].

EPS network elements may support the following mechanism:

a. Allocation of a static IPv4 address and/or a static IPv6 prefix based on subscription data
in the HSS.

If the static IP address/prefix is not stored in the HSS subscription record, it may be
configured on a per-user per-APN basis in the DHCP/Radius/Diameter server and the PDN
GW retrieves the IP address/prefix for the UE from the DHCP/Radius/Diameter server. In
this case, static IP address/prefix is allocated by the same procedures as the dynamic IP
address/prefix allocation.

The following clauses describe how the above listed IP address allocation mechanisms work
when GTP based S5/S8 is used. The way of working of the IP address allocation
mechanisms for PMIP based S5/S8 can be found in TS 23.402 [2].The procedures can be
used both for PLMN (VPLMN/HPLMN) or external PDN based IP address allocation.

 NOTE 2: It is transparent to the UE whether the PLMN or the external PDN allocates the IP
address and whether the IP address is static or dynamic.

In order to support DHCP based IP address configuration, the PDN GW acts as the DHCP
server for HPLMN assigned dynamic and static and VPLMN assigned dynamic IP addressing.
When DHCP is used for external PDN assigned addressing and parameter configuration, the
PDN GW shall act as the DHCP server towards the UE and it shall act as the DHCP client
towards the external DHCP server. The Serving GW does not have any DHCP functionality.
It forwards packets, including DHCP packets, between the UE and the PDN GW.

IPv6 Stateless Address autoconfiguration specified in RFC 4862 [18] is the basic mechanism
to allocate /64 IPv6 prefix to the UE.

During default bearer establishment, the PDN GW sends the IPv6 prefix and Interface
Identifier to the S GW, and then the S GW forwards the IPv6 prefix and Interface Identifier
to the MME or to the SGSN. The MME or the SGSN forwards the IPv6 Interface Identifier to
the UE. The MME does not forward the IPv6 prefix to the UE. If the UE receives the IPv6
prefix from the SGSN during PDP Context Activation procedure, it ignores it.

P-GW Function
The PDN Gateway (P-GW) hosts the following functions (see 3GPP TS 23.401 [17]):
Per-user based packet filtering (by e.g. deep packet inspection);
Lawful Interception;
UE IP address allocation;
Transport level packet marking in the downlink;
UL and DL service level charging, gating and rate enforcement;
DL rate enforcement based on APN-AMBR;

Services Provided by Physical (L1) Layer

The physical layer offers data transport services to higher layers. The access to these
services is through the use of transport channels via the MAC sub-layer. A transport block
is defined as the data delivered by MAC layer to the physical layer and vice versa.
Transport blocks are delivered once every TTI (Transmission Time Interval).

The physical layer is expected to perform the following functions in order to provide the
data transport service:

- Error detection on the transport channel and indication to higher layers

- FEC encoding/decoding of the transport channel
- Hybrid ARQ soft-combining
- Rate matching of the coded transport channel to physical channels
- Mapping of the coded transport channel onto physical channels
- Power weighting of physical channels
- Modulation and demodulation of physical channels
- Frequency and time synchronisation
- Radio characteristics measurements and indication to higher layers
- Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna processing
- Transmit Diversity (TX diversity)
- Beamforming
- RF processing. (Note: RF processing aspects are specified in the TS 36.100)
 LTE User Plane - Protocol Stacks
UE - P GW user plane with E-UTRAN

- GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for the user plane (GTP U): This protocol tunnels user data
between eNodeB and the S GW as well as between the S GW and the P GW in the backbone
network. GTP shall encapsulate all end user IP packets.
- MME controls the user plane tunnel establishment and establishes User Plane Bearers
between eNodeB and S GW.
- UDP/IP: These are the backbone network protocols used for routeing user data and
control signalling.
- LTE-Uu: The radio protocols of E-UTRAN between the UE and the eNodeB are specified in
TS 36.300 [5].

eNodeB - S GW

UE - PDN GW user plane with 2G access via the S4 interface


UE - PDN GW user plane with 3G access via the S12 interface

UE - PDN GW user plane with 3G access via the S4 interface

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Labels: Protocols
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
LTE Control Plane - Protocol Stacks
eNodeB - MME


- S1 Application Protocol (S1-AP): Application Layer Protocol between the eNodeB and the
MME.
- SCTP for the control plane (SCTP): This protocol guarantees delivery of signalling
messages between MME and eNodeB (S1). SCTP is defined in RFC 2960 [35].

UE - MME

- NAS: The NAS protocol supports mobility management functionality and user plane bearer
activation, modification and deactivation. It is also responsible of ciphering and integrity
protection of NAS signalling.
- LTE-Uu: The radio protocol of E-UTRAN between the UE and the eNodeB is specified in TS
36.300 [5].
SGSN - MME

- GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for the control plane (GTP C): This protocol tunnels signalling
messages between SGSN and MME (S3).
- User Datagram Protocol (UDP): This protocol transfers signalling messages. UDP is defined
in RFC 768 [26].
 SGSN - S GW

- GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for the control plane (GTP C): This protocol tunnels signalling
messages between SGSN and S GW (S4).
- User Datagram Protocol (UDP): This protocol transfers signalling messages. UDP is defined
in RFC 768 [26].

S GW - P GW

MME - MME



MME - S GW

MME - HSS

- Diameter: This protocol supports transferring of subscription and authentication data for
authenticating/authorizing user access to the evolved system between MME and HSS (S6a).
Diameter is defined in RFC 3588 [31].
- Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP): This protocol transfers signalling messages.
SCTP is defined in RFC 2960 [35].

MME - EIR



- Diameter: This protocol supports UE identity check procedure between MME and EIR
(S13). Diameter is defined in RFC 3588 [31].
- Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP): This protocol transfers signalling messages.
SCTP is defined in RFC 2960 [35].

QoS Class Identifier (QCI)

The need for supporting a broader variety of applications requiring higher bandwidth and lower
latency led 3GPP to alleviate the existing QoS principles with the introduction for EPS of a QoS
Class Identifier (QCI).

The QCI is a scalar denoting a set of transport characteristics (bearer with/without guaranteed bit
rate, priority, packet delay budget, packet error loss rate) and used to infer nodes specific
parameters that control packet forwarding treatment (e.g., scheduling weights, admission
thresholds, queue management thresholds, link-layer protocol configuration, etc.).

Each packet flow is mapped to a single QCI value (nine are defined in the Release 8 version of the
specifications) according to the level of service required by the application. The usage of the QCI
avoids the transmission of a full set of QoS-related parameters over the network interfaces and
reduces the complexity of QoS negotiation.

The QCI, together with Allocation-Retention Priority (ARP) and, if applicable, Guaranteed Bit Rate
(GBR) and Maximum Bit Rate (MBR), determines the QoS associated to an EPS bearer. A mapping
between EPS and pre-Release 8 QoS parameters has been defined to allow proper interworking
with legacy networks.

The QoS architecture in EPC enables a number of important capabilities for both operators and
users:

VoIP support with IMS. QoS is a crucial element for providing LTE/IMS voice service.
Enhanced application performance. Applications such as gaming or video can operate
more reliably.
More flexible business models. With flexible, policy-based charging control, operators
and third-parties will be able to offer content in creative new ways. For example, an enhanced
video stream to a user could be paid for by an advertiser.
Congestion control. In congestion situations, certain traffic flows (e.g., bulk transfers,
abusive users) can be throttled down to provide a better user experience for others.
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Labels: QoS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009

QoS Concept in LTE

An EPS bearer/E-RAB is the level of granularity for bearer level QoS control in the EPC/E-UTRAN.
That is, SDFs mapped to the same EPS bearer receive the same bearer level packet forwarding
treatment (e.g. scheduling policy, queue management policy, rate shaping policy, RLC
configuration, etc.).

One EPS bearer/E-RAB is established when the UE connects to a PDN, and that remains established
throughout the lifetime of the PDN connection to provide the UE with always-on IP connectivity to
that PDN. That bearer is referred to as the default bearer. Any additional EPS bearer/E-RAB that
is established to the same PDN is referred to as a dedicated bearer. The initial bearer level QoS
parameter values of the default bearer are assigned by the network, based on subscription data.
The decision to establish or modify a dedicated bearer can only be taken by the EPC, and the
bearer level QoS parameter values are always assigned by the EPC.

An EPS bearer/E-RAB is referred to as a GBR bearer if dedicated network resources related to a

Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) value that is associated with the EPS bearer/E-RAB are permanently
allocated (e.g. by an admission control function in the eNodeB) at bearer
establishment/modification. Otherwise, an EPS bearer/E-RAB is referred to as a Non-GBR bearer.
A dedicated bearer can either be a GBR or a Non-GBR bearer while a default bearer shall be a
Non-GBR bearer.

QoS parameters

The bearer level (i.e. per bearer or per bearer aggregate) QoS parameters are QCI, ARP, GBR, and
AMBR. Each EPS bearer/E-RAB (GBR and Non-GBR) is associated with the following bearer level
QoS parameters:

- QoS Class Identifier (QCI): scalar that is used as a reference to access node-specific parameters
that control bearer level packet forwarding treatment (e.g. scheduling weights, admission
thresholds, queue management thresholds, link layer protocol configuration, etc.), and that have
been pre-configured by the operator owning the eNodeB.

- Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP): the primary purpose of ARP is to decide whether a
bearer establishment / modification request can be accepted or needs to be rejected in case of
resource limitations. In addition, the ARP can be used by the eNodeB to decide which bearer(s) to
drop during exceptional resource limitations (e.g. at handover).

Each GBR bearer is additionally associated with the following bearer level QoS parameter:

- Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR): the bit rate that can be expected to be provided by a GBR bearer,

Each APN access, by a UE, is associated with the following QoS parameter:

- per APN Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (APN-AMBR).

Each UE in state EMM-REGISTERED is associated with the following bearer aggregate level QoS
parameter:
- per UE Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (UE-AMBR).

The GBR denotes bit rate of traffic per bearer while UE-AMBR/APN-AMBR denote bit rate of traffic
per group of bearers. Each of those QoS parameters has an uplink and a downlink component.

LTE Radio Quality Indicator's

The LTE standard defines three quality indicators that serve as a benchmark for the transmission
quality in the downlink: CQI, PMI and RI (channel state information CSI). The user equipment
(UE) can measure all three and transmit the information in the uplink to the base station (BS),
which then adapts the signal transmission in the downlink accordingly, although this is not
mandatory. To actually improve transmission quality through a modification in the downlink, the
statistical properties of the channel must remain constant between the time a quality indicator is
reported to the eNB and the time the transmission is modified (coherence time).

Channel quality indicator (CQI)

The CQI indicates the highest modulation and the code rate at which the block error rate (BLER)
of the channel being analyzed does not exceed 10 %. The CQI accepts discrete values between 0
and 15. Index 0 indicates that the UE has not received any usable LTE signals and that the channel
is inoperable. The CQI report for the UE has a wide variety of settings. As an example, the UE can
use one of two methods to send the CQI value to the eNB via the uplink:

- periodically via the PUCCH or PUSCH channels,

- aperiodically via the PUSCH channel.

In this case, the eNB explicitly requests the UE to send a CQI report. In addition, the frequency
domain resolution in the CQI report can be varied. Apart from the wideband CQI for the entire
channel bandwidth, there are different subband CQIs, each of which indicates the transmission
quality for a specific frequency subrange.

The CQI index reported to the eNB by the UE is derived from the quality of the downlink signal. In
contrast to other mobile radio systems such as HSDPA, the LTE CQI index is not directly associated
with the measured signal-to-noise ratio. Instead, it is also influenced by the signal processing in
the UE. With the same channel, a UE featuring a powerful signal processing algorithm is able to
forward a higher CQI index to the BS than a UE that has a weak algorithm.

Precoding matrix indicator (PMI)

The precoding matrix determines how the individual data streams (called layers in LTE) are
mapped to the antennas. Skillfully selecting this matrix yields a maximum number of data bits,
which the UE can receive together across all layers. However, this requires knowledge of the
channel quality for each antenna in the downlink, which the UE can determine through
measurements. If the UE knows what the allowed precoding matrices are, it can send a PMI report
to the eNB and suggest a suitable matrix.

Rank indicator (RI)

The channel rank indicates the number of layers and the number of different signal streams
transmitted in the downlink. When using a single input multiple output (SIMO) or a transmit
diversity configuration, only one layer is utilized. In contrast, 22 MIMO (multiple input multiple
output) with spatial multiplexing uses two layers. The goal of an optimized RI is to maximize the
channel capacity across the entire available downlink bandwidth by taking advantage of each full
channel rank. RI is not the sole benchmark for the state of the channel when using LTE. CQI and
PMI are taken into account as well, since the value of the RI also influences the allowed precoding
matrices and CQI values. In contrast, the eNB can only utilize the CQI reporting to adapt the
downlink channel (assuming the RI does not change such as in pure SIMO mode). The eNB is not
forced to react to the feedback from the UE and modify the signal in the downlink accordingly. In
most cases, it nevertheless makes sense to do this in order to reduce the error rate and increase
the data throughput. However, inaccurate feedback from the UE regarding the state of the
channel can lead to exactly the opposite situation. For this reason, it is vital to ensure that the UE
accurately indicates the state of the channel by means of the CQI, PMI and RI parameters.

RSRP and RSRQ

In cellular networks, when a mobile moves from cell to cell and performs cell
selection/reselection and handover, it has to measure the signal strength/quality of the neighbor
cells. In LTE network, a UE measures two parameters on reference signal: RSRP (Reference Signal
Received Power) and RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality).

RSRP is a RSSI type of measurement. It measures the average received power over the resource
elements that carry cell-specific reference signals within certain frequency bandwidth. RSRP is
applicable in both RRC_idle and RRC_connected modes, while RSRQ is only applicable in
RRC_connected mode. In the procedure of cell selection and cell reselection in idle mode, RSRP is
used.

RSRQ is a C/I type of measurement and it indicates the quality of the received reference signal. It
is defined as (N*RSRP)/(E-UTRA Carrier RSSI), where N makes sure the nominator and denominator
are measured over the same frequency bandwidth;

The carrier RSSI (Receive Strength Signal Indicator) measures the average total received power
observed only in OFDM symbols containing reference symbols for antenna port 0 (i.e., OFDM
symbol 0 & 4 in a slot) in the measurement bandwidth over N resource blocks. The total received
power of the carrier RSSI includes the power from co-channel serving & non-serving cells, adjacent
channel interference, thermal noise, etc.

The RSRQ measurement provides additional information when RSRP is not sufficient to make a
reliable handover or cell reselection decision. In the procedure of handover, the LTE specification
provides the flexibility of using RSRP, RSRQ, or both.

Logical Channels
Control Channels
Control channels are used for transfer of control plane information only. The control channels
offered by MAC are:
o Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH)
A downlink channel for broadcasting system control information.
o Paging Control Channel (PCCH)
A downlink channel that transfers paging information and system information change notifications.
This channel is used for paging when the network does not know the location cell of the UE.
o Common Control Channel (CCCH)
Channel for transmitting control information between UEs and network. This channel is used for
UEs having no RRC connection with the network.
o Multicast Control Channel (MCCH)
A point-to-multipoint downlink channel used for transmitting MBMS control information from the
network to the UE, for one or several MTCHs. This channel is only used by UEs that receive MBMS.
o Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH)
A point-to-point bi-directional channel that transmits dedicated control information between a UE
and the network. Used by UEs having an RRC connection.
Traffic Channels

Traffic channels are used for the transfer of user plane information only. The traffic channels
offered by MAC are:
o Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH)
A Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point channel, dedicated to one UE, for the
transfer of user information. A DTCH can exist in both uplink and downlink.
o Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH)
A point-to-multipoint downlink channel for transmitting traffic data from the network to the UE.
This channel is only used by UEs that receive MBMS.

Timing Advance(TA) in LTE

In GSM system MS sends its data three time slots after it received the data from the BTS. This is ok
as long as MS-BTS distance is small but increasing distance requires consideration of propagation
delay as well. To handle it Timing advance (TA) is conveyed by network to MS and current value is
sent to the MS within the layer 1 header of each SACCH. BTS calculates the first TA when it
receives RACH and reports it to the BSC and BSC/BTS passes it to UE during Immediate
Assignment.

In UMTS Timing Advance parameter was not used but in LTE Timing Advance is back.

In LTE, when UE wish to establish RRC connection with eNB, it transmits a Random Access
Preamble, eNB estimates the transmission timing of the terminal based on this. Now eNB transmits
a Random Access Response which consists of timing advance command, based on that UE adjusts
the terminal transmit timing.

The timing advance is initiated from E-UTRAN with MAC message that implies and adjustment of
the timing advance.

3GPP TA Requirements
Timing Advance adjustment delay
UE shall adjust the timing of its uplink transmission timing at sub-frame n+6 for a timing
advancement command received in sub-frame n.
Timing Advance adjustment accuracy
The UE shall adjust the timing of its transmissions with a relative accuracy better than or equal to
4* TS seconds to the signalled timing advance value compared to the timing of preceding uplink
transmission. The timing advance command is expressed in multiples of 16* TS and is relative to
the current uplink timing.

Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment

The UE has a configurable timer timeAlignmentTimer which is used to control how long the UE is
considered uplink time aligned
when a Timing Advance Command MAC control element is received then UE applies the
Timing Advance Command and start or restart timeAlignmentTimer.
 when a Timing Advance Command is received in a Random Access Response message then
one of following action is performed by UE.
- if the Random Access Preamble was not selected by UE MAC then UE applies the Timing Advance
Command and starts or restarts timeAlignmentTimer.
- else if the timeAlignmentTimer is not running then UE applies the Timing Advance Command
starts timeAlignmentTimer; when the contention resolution is considered not successful then UE
stops timeAlignmentTimer.
- else ignore the received Timing Advance Command.
when timeAlignmentTimer expires UE flushes all HARQ buffers, notifies RRC to release
PUCCH/SRS and clears any configured downlink assignments and uplink grants.

RRM functions
Radio Bearer Control (RBC)

The establishment, maintenance and release of Radio Bearers involve the configuration of
radio resources associated with them. When setting up a radio bearer for a service, radio
bearer control (RBC) takes into account the overall resource situation in E-UTRAN, the QoS
requirements of in-progress sessions and the QoS requirement for the new service. RBC is
also concerned with the maintenance of radio bearers of in-progress sessions at the change
of the radio resource situation due to mobility or other reasons. RBC is involved in the
release of radio resources associated with radio bearers at session termination, handover
or at other occasions. RBC is located in the eNB.

Radio Admission Control (RAC)

The task of radio admission control (RAC) is to admit or reject the establishment requests
for new radio bearers. In order to do this, RAC takes into account the overall resource
situation in E-UTRAN, the QoS requirements, the priority levels and the provided QoS of in-
progress sessions and the QoS requirement of the new radio bearer request. The goal of
RAC is to ensure high radio resource utilization (by accepting radio bearer requests as long
as radio resources available) and at the same time to ensure proper QoS for in-progress
sessions (by rejecting radio bearer requests when they cannot be accommodated). RAC is
located in the eNB.

Connection Mobility Control (CMC)

Connection mobility control (CMC) is concerned with the management of radio resources in
connection with idle or connected mode mobility. In idle mode, the cell reselection
algorithms are controlled by setting of parameters (thresholds and hysteresis values) that
define the best cell and/or determine when the UE should select a new cell.

Also, E-UTRAN broadcasts parameters that configure the UE measurement and reporting
procedures. In connected mode, the mobility of radio connections has to be supported.
Handover decisions may be based on UE and eNB measurements. In addition, handover
decisions may take other inputs, such as neighbour cell load, traffic distribution, transport
and hardware resources and Operator defined policies into account. CMC is located in the
eNB.

Dynamic Resource Allocation (DRA) - Packet Scheduling (PS)

The task of dynamic resource allocation (DRA) or packet scheduling (PS) is to allocate and
de-allocate resources (including buffer and processing resources and resource blocks (i.e.
 chunks)) to user and control plane packets. DRA involves several sub-tasks, including the
selection of radio bearers whose packets are to be scheduled and managing the necessary
resources (e.g. the power levels or the specific resource blocks used). PS typically takes
into account the QoS requirements associated with the radio bearers, the channel quality
information for UEs, buffer status, interference situation, etc. DRA may also take into
account restrictions or preferences on some of the available resource blocks or resource
block sets due to inter-cell interference coordination considerations. DRA is located in the
eNB.

Inter-cell Interference Coordination (ICIC)

Inter-cell interference coordination has the task to manage radio resources such that inter-
cell interference is kept under control. ICIC mechanism includes a frequency domain
component and time domain component. ICIC is inherently a multi-cell RRM function that
needs to take into account information (e.g. the resource usage status and traffic load
situation) from multiple cells. The preferred ICIC method may be different in the uplink
and downlink. The frequency domain ICIC manages radio resource, notably the radio
resource blocks.

For the time domain ICIC, Almost Blank Subframes (ABSs) are used to protect resources
receiving strong inter-cell interference. MBSFN subframes can be used for time domain
ICIC when they are also included in ABS patterns. The eNB cannot configure MBSFN
subframes [4] as ABSs when these MBSFN subframes are used for other usages (e.g., MBMS,
LCS). ICIC is located in the eNB.
SC-FDMA Modulation
Modulation symbol mapping

The transmitter of an SC-FDMA system converts a binary input signal to a sequence of

modulated subcarriers. Todo so, it performs the signal processing operations shown in the
Figure. Signal processing is repetitive in a few different time intervals. Resource
assignment takes place in transmit time intervals (TTIs). In 3GPP LTE, a typical TTI is 0.5
ms. The TTI is further divided into time intervals referred to as blocks. A block is the time
used to transmit all of subcarriers once.

At the input to the transmitter a baseband modulator transforms the binary input to a
multilevel sequence of complex numbers Xn in one of several possible modulation formats
including Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), quaternary PSK (QPSK), 16-level Quadrature
Amplitude Modulation (16-QAM) and 64-QAM. The system adapts the modulation format,
 and thereby the transmission bit rate, to match the current channel conditions of each
terminal.

The type of modulation format used often depends on the signal-to-noise level of the
received signal and the receiver ability to decode them correctly. These modulated
symbols are then mapped to subcarriers. An inverse-FFT (IFFT) is used to transform the
modulated subcarriers in frequency domain to time domain samples.

In general, the same modulation format is used in all the subcarriers to keep the control
information overhead small. However, it is possible to have different modulation formats
over multiple subcarriers, and it is in fact advantageous in harsh and time varying channel
conditions. In a broadband system, the channel is frequency selective over its large system
bandwidth, meaning the signal fading on each subcarrier is independent. The interference
level on each subcarrier can also be different and vary uniquely with time. It results in a
different signal-to-impairment level on each of the subcarriers. Hence, having an
appropriate modulation format on these subcarriers would help to maximize the overall
system throughput. OFDM system inherits an adaptation of modulation formats to each of
the subcarriers depending on channel conditions, and this is called Channel-dependent
scheduling.

A cyclic prefix block copies a portion of the samples at the end of the time domain
samples block (at the IFFT output) to the beginning. Since the DFT/FFT outputs are
periodic in theory, copying the samples to the beginning will make the signal continuous.
The length of the cyclic prefix depends on the channel delay spread, and is preferably
longer than the length of the channel response. At the receiver, the prefix part of the
symbol is thrown away as it may contain ISI from its previous symbol. Hence, it removes
the effect of ISI caused by the multipath signal propagation. However, the prefix is the
overhead in an OFDM system, as it does not carry any useful information.

PAPR analysis SC-FDMA offers similar performance and complexity as OFDM. However, the
main advantage of SC-FDMA is the low PAPR (peak-average-power ratio) of the transmit
signal. PAPR is defined as the ratio of the peak power to average power of the transmit
signal. As PAPR is a major concern at the user terminals, low PAPR makes the SC-FDMA the
preferred technology for the uplink transmission. PAPR relates to the power amplifier
efficiency at the transmitter, and the maximum power efficiency is achieved when the
amplifier operates at the saturation point. Lower PAPR allows operation of the power
amplifier close to saturation resulting in higher efficiency. With higher PAPR signal, the
power amplifier operating point has to be backed off to lower the signal distortion, and
thereby lowering amplifier efficiency.

As SC-FDMA modulated signal can be viewed as a single carrier signal, a pulse shaping filter
can be applied to transmit signal to further improve PAPR. PAPR comparison between
OFDM and SC-FDMA variations such as interleaved SC-FDMA and localized SC-FDMA has
been done in [2]. With no pulse shaping filters, interleavedSC-FDMA shows the best PAPR.
Compared to OFDM PAPR, the PAPR of interleaved SCFDMA with QPSK is about 10 dB lower,
whereas that of localized SC-FDMA is only about 3 dB lower. With 16-QAM, these levels are
about 7 dB and 2 dB lower respectively. Therefore, interleaved SC-FDMA is a preferred
modulation technique for lower PAPR. Pulse shape filtering of SC-FDMA in fact degrades
the PAPR level of interleaved SC-FDMA whereas it shows no effect with localized SC-FDMA.
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 LTE SC-FDMA
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).

Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) has been adopted by the third
generation partnership project (3GPP) for uplink transmission in technology standardized
for long term evolution (LTE) of cellular systems.SC-FDMA was chosen because it combines
the low PAPR techniques of single-carrier transmission systems, such as GSM and CDMA,
with the multi-path resistance and exible frequency allocation of OFDMA.

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.

SC-FDMA is a modified form of OFDM with similar throughput performance and complexity.
This is often viewed as DFT-coded OFDM where time-domain data symbols are transformed
to frequency-domain by a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) before going through the
standard OFDM modulation. Thus, SC-FDMA inherits all the advantages of OFDM over other
well-known techniques such as TDMA and CDMA.

The major problem in extending GSM TDMA and wideband CDMA to broadband systems is
the increase in complexity with the multipath signal reception. The distinguishing feature
of SC-FDMA is that it leads to a singlecarrier transmit signal, in contrast to OFDMA which is
a multi-carrier transmission scheme which makes it suitable for broadband systems.

In SC-FDMA as well as OFDM, equalization is achieved on the receiver side after the FFT
calculation, by multiplying each Fourier coefficient by a complex number. The advantage
is that FFT and frequency domain equalization requires less computation power than the
conventional timedomain equalization.

Authentication procedure
The purpose of the EPS authentication and key agreement (AKA) procedure is to provide mutual
authentication between the user and the network and to agree on a key KASME. The EPS AKA
procedure is always initiated and controlled by the network. However, the UE can reject the EPS
authentication challenge sent by the network.

A partial native EPS security context is established in the UE and the network when an EPS
authentication is successfully performed. During a successful EPS authentication procedure, the
CK and IK are computed by the USIM. CK and IK are then used by the ME as key material to
compute a new key, KASME. KASME is stored in the EPS security contexts of both the network and
in the volatile memory of the ME while attached to the nework, and is the root for the EPS
integrity protection and ciphering key hierarchy.
Authentication initiation by the network
When a NAS signalling connection exists, the network can initiate an authentication procedure at
any time. The network initiates the authentication procedure by sending an AUTHENTICATION
REQUEST message to the UE.

The AUTHENTICATION REQUEST message contains the parameters necessary to calculate the
authentication response.
Authentication response by the UE
The UE responds to an AUTHENTICATION REQUEST message. The UE processes the authentication
challenge data and respond with an AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE message to the network. Upon a
successful EPS authentication challenge, the UE determines the PLMN identity to be used for the
calculation of the new KASME from the authentication challenge data.
Upon a successful EPS authentication challenge, the new KASME calculated from the
authentication challenge data is stored in a new EPS security context in the volatile memory of
the ME.

The USIM computes the authentication response (RES) using the authentication challenge data
received from the ME, and pass RES to the ME.
Authentication completion by the network
Upon receipt of an AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE message, the network checks the correctness of
RES. If the authentication procedure has been completed successfully and the related eKSI is
stored in the EPS security context of the network.

When the network initiates a new authentication procedure, it includes a different eKSI value in
the AUTHENTICATION REQUEST message.
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010

EPS Authentication and Key Agreement Procedure

EPS AKA is the authentication and key agreement procedure that is used between UE and EPC Core
Network. EPS AKA produces keying material forming a basis for user plane (UP), RRC, and NAS
ciphering keys as well as RRC and NAS integrity protection keys.

The MME sends to the USIM via ME the random challenge RAND and an authentication token AUTN
for network authentication from the selected authentication vector. It also includes a KSIASME for
the ME which will be used to identify the KASME (and further keys derived from the KASME) that
results from the EPS AKA procedure.

At receipt of this message, the USIM verify's the freshness of the authentication vector by checking
whether AUTN can be accepted. If so, the USIM computes a response RES. USIM also computes CK
and IK which are sent to the ME.

An ME accessing E-UTRAN checks during authentication that the "separation bit" in the AMF field of
AUTN is set to 1. The "separation bit" is bit 0 of the AMF field of AUTN.

UE responds with User authentication response message including RES in case of successful AUTN
verification and successful AMF verification as described above. In this case the ME computes
KASME from CK, IK, and serving network's identity (SN id) using the KDF algorithm. SN id binding
implicitly authenticates the serving network's identity when the derived keys from KASME are
successfully used.

Otherwise UE shall send User authentication reject message with a CAUSE value indicating the
reason for failure. In case of a synchronisation failure of AUTN, the UE also includes AUTS that was
provided by the USIM.

The MME checks that the RES equals XRES. If so the authentication is successful. If not or in cause
of an authentication failure response by the UE, the MME may initiate further identity requests or
authentications towards the UE.

S-GW Functions
The Serving Gateway (S-GW) hosts the following functions (see 3GPP TS 23.401 [17])
The local Mobility Anchor point for inter-eNB handover;
 Mobility anchoring for inter-3GPP mobility;
E-UTRAN idle mode downlink packet buffering and initiation of network triggered service
request procedure;
Lawful Interception;
Packet routeing and forwarding;
Transport level packet marking in the uplink and the downlink;
Accounting on user and QCI granularity for inter-operator charging;
UL and DL charging per UE, PDN, and QCI.

Self-Organizing Networks - SON

SON solutions can be divided into three categories: Self-Configuration, Self-Optimisation and Self-Healing. The SON
architecture can be a centralized, distributed or a hybrid solution.

SELF-CONFIGURATION
This is the dynamic plug-and-play configuration of newly deployed eNBs. The eNB will by itself configure the
Physical Cell Identity, transmission frequency and power, leading to faster cell planning and rollout.
The interfaces S1 and X2 are dynamically configured, as well as the IP address and connection to IP backhaul. To
reduce manual work ANR (Automatic neighbour relations) is used. ANR configures the neighbouring list in newly
deployed eNBs and is optimizing the list configuration during operation.
Dynamic configuration includes the configuration of the Layer 1 identifier, Physical cell identity (PCI) and Cell global
ID (CGID). There are 504 different PCIs available in LTE, the PCI mapping shall fulfill the collision free condition as
well as the confusion free. The PCI can be assigned either in a centralized or distributed way.
When centralised assignment is used the OAM system will have a complete knowledge and control of the PCIs. When
the distributed solution is used the OAM system assigns a list of possible PCIs to the newly deployed eNB, but the
adoption of the PCI is in control of the eNB. The newly deployed eNB will request a report, sent either by User
Equipment (UEs) over the air interface or by other eNBs over the X2 interface, including already in-use PCIs,
see figure 1. - The eNB will randomly select its PCI from the remaining values.

Figure 1, PCI reporting
ANR is used to minimize the work required for configuration in newly deployed eNBs as well as to optimize
configuration during operation. Correct and up-to-date neighbouring lists will increase the number of successful
handovers and minimize the number of dropped calls. Before a handover can be executed the source eNB requires the
neighbouring information: PCI and CGID of the target eNB.
The PCI is included in every normal measurement report. The mapping between the PCI and CGID parameters can be
done by using information from the OAM or reported by UEs decoding the target cell CGID on the broadcast channel
in the target cell, see figure 2. The capability of decoding CGID is an optional UE feature.


Figure 2, UE supported reporting of CGID

A network operator can put a cell on a ANR black list, to block certain handover candidates, for example from indoor
to outdoor cells. 3GPP has also specified LTE Inter-Frequency and Inter-RAT (Radio Access Technology) ANR.
The functions described above are mainly included in Release 8.

SELF-OPTIMISATION
Functions for self-optimisation are mainly included in Release 9. It includes optimisation of coverage, capacity,
handover and interference.
Mobility load balancing (MLB) is a function where cells suffering congestion can transfer load to other cells, which
have spare resources. MLB includes load reporting between eNBs to exchange information about load level and
available capacity.
The periodicity of the reporting can be requested in the range of 1 to 10 s. The report can contain, hardware load, S1
transport network load and Radio resource status. The Radio resource status reports are separated in Up Link and Down
Link reports, including the total allocation guaranteed and non-guaranteed bit rate traffic, the percentage of allocated
Physical Resource Block (PRB) and the percentage of PRBs available for load balancing.
MLB can also be used between different Radio Technologies. In case of inter-RAT the load reporting RAN
Information Management (RIM) protocol will be used to transfer the information via the core between the base stations
of different radio technologies. A cell capacity class value, set by the OAM-system, will be used to compare and weigh
the different technologies radio capacities against each other.
A handover due to load balancing is carried out as a regular handover, but it may be necessary to amend parameters so
that the User Equipment (UE) does not return to the congested cell. The amendment must take place in both cells, so
that the handover settings remain coherent in both. The eNBs need to estimate how much the cell border needs to be
shifted, expressed in dB, to avoid a quick return of the UE.
Mobility robustness optimization (MRO) is a solution for automatic detection and correction of errors in the mobility
configuration. In Release 9 the focus is on errors causing Radio link failure (RLF) due to too late or early handover, or
handover to an incorrect cell.

Figure 3, Late Handover, the UE does not receive the RRC Handover command, due to weak signal
In case of late handover, see figure 3, the handover procedure in the source cell is initialized too late, since the UE is
moving faster than the Handover (HO) parameter settings allow. Hence when the RRC HO command from the serving
cell is transmitted the signal strength is too weak to reach the UE, now located in the target cell, connection is lost. The
 UE attempts a connection re-establishment, containing PCID and C-RNTI belonging to the source cell, but received by
the target cell. The target eNB will then inform the source cell about RLF to adjust Handover parameters.

Figure 4, Handover too early, the signal strength in the target cell is too weak, and the connection is lost almost
immediately
It is a bit more complicated to detect a too early handover, see figure 4. The UE has successfully been handed over
from source cell A to target cell B, but since it was triggered too early the connection will drop almost immediately due
to too poor radio conditions in the target cell B. The UE will then try to re-establish the connection, which will now
take place in the original source cell, cell A, since this cell is the strongest one. The UE will use the PCID and RNTI
from the target cell B and the source cell A will then consider this as a Radio Link Failure due to too late handover and
send an indication to the target cell B. But the target cell B will now recognize the parameters in the indication, as
given to a mobile that had just completed a handover to cell B from cell A now indicating failure. The target cell B will
send back a report about too early Handover to adjust Handover parameters, to the source cell A.
In order to save energy some cells can be switched off when capacity is not needed. The power consumption in a base
station is not only related to load, a number of functions requires power even if there are no users to serve. But, if a cell
is switched off, in the legal operator license there are still requirements on coverage, the coverage must be maintained
at all times! The suspension of the cell may occur when the last user leaves the cell, all incoming handovers during this
period of time will then be rejected. The cells that remain on, providing coverage, can wake up a suspended cell when
traffic load increase. This can be done with a wake-up call to the sleeping cell.
RACH optimisation aims to minimise the number of attempts on the RACH channel, causing interference. The UE can
be polled by the eNB for RACH statistics after connection. The number of preambles sent until successful RACH
completion, and the number of contention resolution failure are in the statistics. But PRACH configuration parameters
can also be distributed amongst eNBs, like zero correlation configuration, root sequence, high speed flag and PRACH
frequency offset.

SELF-HEALING
Features for automatic detection and removal of failures and automatic adjustment of parameters are mainly specified
in Release 10.
Coverage and Capacity Optimization enables automatic correction of capacity problems depending on slowly changing
environment, like seasonal variations.
Minimization of drive tests (MDT), is enabling normal UEs to provide the same type of information as those collected
in drive test. A great advantage is that UEs can retrieve and report parameters from indoor environments.

SRVCC between LTE and 3GPP2 1xCS

Basics:
1xCS: The 3GPP2 legacy circuit switched signalling system as defined in 3GPP2 X.S0042-0
3GPP SRVCC UE: A 3GPP SRVCC UE is a UE enhanced for IMS Service Continuity with the
additional UE capabilities such as SRVCC between E-UTRAN and 3GPP UTRAN and / or between E-
UTRAN and 3GPP GERAN and / or between UTRAN (HSPA) and 3GPP UTRAN and 3GPP GERAN.
Concept:
For SRVCC-capable UEs, the call is always anchored at the VCC AS in the 3GPP2's IMS. The 3GPP2
1xCS IWS enables a single radio UE to communicate in parallel both with the source system and
the target system. From VCC perspective, this mechanism minimizes the voice gap by supporting
the transport of signalling for establishment of the target CS access leg while the terminal is
connected to the source PS access network.

Transport of 3GPP2 1xCS signalling messages for preparation of the CS access leg in the target system

The S102 reference point is used to convey 3GPP2 1xCS signalling messages between the MME and
3GPP2 1xCS IWS. These 1x CS signalling messages are actually exchanged between the UE and the
3GPP2 1xCS IWS, and S102 is only one link in the overall UE 1xCS IWS tunnelling path. On the
remaining portion of the tunnelling path, the 3GPP2 1xCS signalling messages are encapsulated in
E UTRAN/EPS tunnelling messages (UE MME).

E-UTRAN and 3GPP2 1xCS SRVCC architecture

 SRVCC architecture for E-UTRAN to 3GPP2 1xCS

Call flows for SRVCC from E-UTRAN

 LTE VoIP-to-1x CS voice service continuity
1. Ongoing VoIP session over the IMS access leg established over EPS/E UTRAN access.

2. 1xCS SRVCC UE sends measurement reports to eNodeB.

3. The E UTRAN (e.g., based on some trigger, measurement reports) makes a determination to
initiate an inter technology handover to cdma2000 1xRTT.

4. The E UTRAN signals the UE to perform an inter technology handover by sending a Handover
from EUTRA Preparation Request message.

5. The UE initiates signalling for establishment of the CS access leg by sending a UL handover
preparation Transfer message containing the 1xRTT Origination message. For the case of
emergency voice service continuity, the request includes a Request-Type = "emergency handover"
and in the case of UE operating in Limited Service Mode the MEID (e.g. IMEI) is included.
6. The E UTRAN sends an Uplink S1 cdma2000 Tunnelling (MEID, RAND, 1x Origination, Reference
CellID) message to the MME. The eNodeB will also include CDMA2000 HO Required Indication IE to
Uplink S1 CDMA2000 Tunnelling message, which indicates to the MME that the handover
preparation has started.

7. Upon reception of the Uplink S1 cdma2000 Tunnelling message, the MME selects a 3GPP2 1xCS
IWS based on Reference CellID and encapsulates the 1x Origination Message along with the MEID
and RAND in a S102 Direct Transfer message (as "1x Air Interface Signalling").

8. The traffic channel resources are established in the 1x RTT system and 3GPP2 1xCS procedures
for initiation of Session Transfer are performed as per 3GPP2 X.S0042 [4].

9. The 3GPP2 1xCS IWS creates a 1x message and encapsulates it in a S102 Direct Transfer
message (1x message, Handover indicator). If the 3GPP2 access was able to allocate resources
successfully, the 1x message is a 1x Handover Direction message and the handover indicator
indicates successful resource allocation. Otherwise, the handover indicator indicates to the MME
that handover preparation failed and the embedded 1x message indicates the failure to the UE.

10. The MME sends the 1x message and CDMA2000 HO Status IE in a Downlink S1 cdma2000
Tunnelling message to the E UTRAN. The CDMA2000 HO Status IE is set according to the handover
indicator received over the S102 tunnel.

11. If the CDMA2000 HO Status IE indicates successful handover preparation, the E UTRAN forwards
the 1x Handoff Direction message embedded in a Mobility from EUTRA Command message to the
UE. This is perceived by the UE as a Handover Command message. If handover preparation failed,
DL Information transfer message will be sent instead, with the embedded 1xRTT message that
indicates the failure to the UE.

12. Once the UE receives the traffic channel information from the cdma2000 1xRTT system, the
UE retunes to the 1xRTT radio access network and performs traffic channel acquisition with the
1xRTT CS access (e.g., 1xRTT BSS).

13. The UE sends a 1xRTT handoff completion message to the 1xRTT CS access (e.g., 1xRTT BSS).

14. The 1xRTT CS Access sends message to 1xRTT MSC to indicate of handoff done. The resources
between 1x CS IWS and 1xRTT MSC may be released at this step.

15. Ongoing voice call over the CS access leg established over 1xRTT access. The E UTRAN/EPS
context may be released based on the normal E UTRAN/EPS procedure.

16. The eNodeB sends an S1 UE Context Release Request (Cause) message to the MME. Cause
indicates the S1 release procedure is caused by handover from E-UTRAN to 1xRTT.

17. The MME exchanges Suspend Request/ Acknowledge messages with the S GW / P GW. The S1-U
bearers are released for all EPS bearers and the GBR bearers are deactivated by the MME. The
non-GBR bearers are preserved and are marked as suspended in the S GW / P GW. Upon receipt of
downlink data the S GW should not send a downlink data notification message to the MME.

18. S1 UE Context in the eNodeB is released as specified in TS 23.401 [2].

19. For an emergency services session after handover is complete, if the control plane location
solution is used on the source side, the source MME shall send a Subscriber Location Report
carrying an indication of the 1xRTT MSC (e.g. reference cell ID) to the GMLC associated with the
source side to support location continuity. This enables location continuity for the 1xRTT side.
Alternatively, if the control plane solution is not used on the source side, location continuity
procedures shall be instigated on the 1xRTT side.
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Labels: LTE Inter-Technology Mobility, SRVCC

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC)

SRVCC is an LTE functionality that allows a VoIP/IMS call in the LTE packet domain to be moved to
a legacy voice domain (GSM/UMTS or CDMA 1x).

Consider a case where a new LTE network operator wants to move voice services to VoIP over IMS
in conjunction with the deployment of an LTE access network. In the absence of other options,
this operator would need to provide ubiquitous LTE coverage on day 1 to have a competitive VoIP
service. However SRVCC enabled LTE may not require complete LTE coverage.

SRVCC provides the ability to transition a voice call from the VoIP/IMS packet domain to the
legacy circuit domain. Variations of SRVCC are being standardized to support both GSM/UMTS and
CDMA 1x circuit domains. For an operator with a legacy cellular network who wishes to deploy
IMS/VoIP-based voice services in conjunction with the rollout of an LTE network, SRVCC
offers VoIP subscribers with coverage over a much larger area than would typically be available
during the rollout of a new network.

SRVCC functions as follows. As an SRVCC-capable UEe engaged in a voice call determines that it is
moving away from LTE coverage, it notifies the LTE network. The LTE network determines that
the voice call needs to be moved to the legacy circuit domain. It notifies the MSC server of the
need to switch the voice call from the packet to the circuit domain and initiates a handover of the
LTE voice bearer to the circuit network. The MSC server establishes a bearer path for the mobile
in the legacy network and notifies the IMS core that the mobiles call leg is moving from the
packet to the circuit domain. The circuit-packet function in the IMS core then performs the
necessary inter-working functions. When the mobile arrives on-channel in the legacy network, it
switches its internal voice processing from VoIP to legacy-circuit voice, and the call continues.
If the legacy circuit network also has an associated packet capability and is capable of supporting
concurrent circuit/packet operations, the subscribers data sessions can be handed over to the
legacy network in conjunction with switching the voice call from the packet to the circuit domain.
In this case when the voice call finishes and the mobile re-enters LTE coverage, these packet
sessions can be handed back to the LTE.

If operators look to limit LTE deployments to high traffic areas and at the same time wish to
transition voice service in those areas to VoIP, then SRVCC is exactly what they need.

If on the other hand operators do not plan to migrate their voice service to VoIP, then SRVCC is
not for them. If an operator does plan to migrate to VoIP and also plans to roll out ubiquitous LTE
coverage, then the question of whether or not to adopt SRVCC is more complicated. While SRVCC
does not require modifications to what is certainly the operators largest legacy investment, the
RAN, it does require a significant modification of the operators legacy core and also requires full
deployment of IMS circuit-packet continuity services. Given the cost of these changes, deployment
of SRVCC purely as an interim measure to allow early rollout of VoIP-based services may not make
financial sense.

Combined Tracking Area Update

Within a combined tracking area updating procedure the messages TRACKING AREA UPDATE
ACCEPT and TRACKING AREA UPDATE COMPLETE carry information for the tracking area updating
and the location area updating.

The UE operating in CS/PS mode 1 or CS/PS mode 2, in state EMM-REGISTERED, shall initiate the
combined tracking area updating procedure:

a) when the UE that is attached for both EPS and non-EPS services detects entering a tracking area
that is not in the list of tracking areas that the UE previously registered in the MME;

b) when the UE that is attached for EPS services wants to perform an attach for non-EPS services.
In this case the EPS update type IE shall be set to "combined TA/LA updating with IMSI attach";

c) when the UE performs an intersystem change from A/Gb mode to S1 mode and the EPS services
were previously suspended in A/Gb mode;

d) when the UE performs an intersystem change from A/Gb or Iu mode to S1 mode and the UE
previously performed a location area update procedure or a combined routing area update
procedure in A/Gb or Iu mode, in order to re-establish the SGs association. In this case the EPS
update type IE shall be set to "combined TA/LA updating with IMSI attach";

e) when the UE enters EMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE and the UE's TIN indicates "P-TMSI";

f) when the UE receives an indication from the lower layers that the RRC connection was released
with cause "load balancing TAU required";

g) when the UE deactivated EPS bearer context(s) locally while in EMM-REGISTERED.NO-CELL-

AVAILABLE, and then returns to EMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE;

h) when the UE changes the UE network capability information or the MS network capability
information or both;

i) when the UE changes the UE specific DRX parameter;

j) when the UE receives an indication of "RRC Connection failure" from the lower layers and has no
user uplink data pending;

k) when due to manual CSG selection the UE has selected a CSG cell whose CSG identity is not
included in the UE's Allowed CSG list;

l) when the UE reselects an E-UTRAN cell while it was in GPRS READY state or PMM-CONNECTED
mode;

m) when the UE supports SRVCC to GERAN or UTRAN and changes the mobile station classmark 2
or the supported codecs, or the UE supports SRVCC to GERAN and changes the mobile station
classmark 3; or

n) when the UE changes the radio capability of at least one of the following radio access
technologies: GERAN, UTRAN or cdma2000.

For case n, the UE shall include a UE radio capability information update needed IE in the
TRACKING AREA UPDATE REQUEST message.
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Labels: TAU

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Tracking Area Update (TAU) Procedure Initiation

The UE in state EMM-REGISTERED shall initiate the tracking area updating procedure by sending a
TRACKING AREA UPDATE REQUEST (TAU) message to the MME,

a) when the UE detects entering a tracking area that is not in the list of tracking areas that the UE
previously registered in the MME;

b) when the periodic tracking area updating timer T3412 expires;

c) when the UE enters EMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE and the UE's TIN indicates "P-TMSI";

d) when the UE performs an inter-system change from S101 mode to S1 mode and has no user data
pending;

e) when the UE receives an indication from the lower layers that the RRC connection was released
with cause "load balancing TAU required";

f) when the UE deactivated EPS bearer context(s) locally while in EMM-REGISTERED.NO-CELL-

AVAILABLE, and then returns to EMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE;

g) when the UE changes the UE network capability information or the MS network capability
information or both;

h) when the UE changes the UE specific DRX parameter;

i) when the UE receives an indication of "RRC Connection failure" from the lower layers and has no
user uplink data pending;
j) when the UE enters S1 mode after 1xCS fallback;

k) when due to manual CSG selection the UE has selected a CSG cell whose CSG identity is not
included in the UE's Allowed CSG list;

l) when the UE reselects an E-UTRAN cell while it was in GPRS READY state or PMM-CONNECTED
mode;

m) when the UE supports SRVCC to GERAN or UTRAN and changes the mobile station classmark 2
or the supported codecs, or the UE supports SRVCC to GERAN and changes the mobile station
classmark 3; or

n) when the UE changes the radio capability of at least one of the following radio access
technologies: GERAN, UTRAN or cdma2000.

For all cases except case b, the UE shall set the EPS update type IE to "TA updating". For case b,
the UE shall set the EPS update type IE to "periodic updating".

For case n, the UE shall include a UE radio capability information update needed IE in the
TRACKING AREA UPDATE REQUEST message.

UE Radio Capability Handling

The UE Radio Capability information contains information on RATs that the UE supports (e.g.
power class, frequency bands, etc). Consequently, this information can be sufficiently large (e.g.
>50 octets) that it is undesirable to send it across the radio interface at every transition from ECM
IDLE to ECM CONNECTED. To avoid this radio overhead, the MME stores the UE Capability
information during ECM IDLE state and the MME shall, if it is available, send its most up to date UE
Radio Capability information to the E UTRAN in the S1 interface INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
message unless the UE is performing an Attach procedure or a Tracking Area Update procedure for
the "first TAU following GERAN/UTRAN Attach" or for a "UE radio capability update".

If the UE is performing an Attach procedure or a Tracking Area Update procedure for the "first TAU
following GERAN/UTRAN Attach" or for "UE radio capability update", the MME shall delete (or mark
as deleted) any UE Radio Capability information that it has stored, and, if the MME sends an S1
interface INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message during that procedure, the MME shall not
send any UE Radio Capability information to the E UTRAN in that message. This triggers the E
UTRAN to request the UE Radio Capability from the UE and upload it to the MME in the S1
interface UE CAPABILITY INFO INDICATION message.

If the UE is performing a Service Request (or other) procedure and the MME does not have UE
Radio Capability information available (or it is available, but marked as "deleted"), then the MME
sends an S1 interface INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the E UTRAN without any UE
Radio Capability information in it. This triggers the E UTRAN to request the UE Radio Capability
from the UE and upload it to the MME in the S1 interface UE CAPABILITY INFO INDICATION
message.

NOTE 2: This use of the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message means that for a signalling only
procedure such as a periodic Tracking Area Update, the UE Radio Capability would not be sent to
the E UTRAN.

NOTE 3: If a "first TAU following GERAN/UTRAN Attach" Tracking Area Update is performed during
ECM-CONNECTED mode, e.g. after an inter RAT handover, no INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST is
sent and the UE Radio Capability information in the MME will remain deleted until the next ECM-
IDLE to ECM-CONNECTED transition (or later, e.g. if the next activity from the UE is another
Tracking Area Update).

The UE Radio Capability is not provided directly from one CN node to another. It will be uploaded
to the MME when the E-UTRAN requests the UE Radio Capability information from the UE. During
handover via the MME (both intra RAT and inter RAT), the radio capability information for the
source and target 3GPP RATs (with the possible exception of UTRAN) are transferred in the "source
to target transparent container". Information on additional 3GPP RATs is optionally transferred in
the "source to target transparent container". Transfer of the radio capability information related
to the source and/or additional RATs is beneficial as it avoids the need for the target RAT to
retrieve the information from the UE prior to a subsequent inter-RAT handover.

To allow for the addition of future radio technologies, frequency bands, and other enhancements,
the MME stores the UE Radio Capability Information even if it is larger than specified in TS 36.331
[37], up to a maximum size of 510 octets.

NOTE 4: The 510 octet value comes from the information element encoding rules described in TS
24.007 [45] and the assumption that the information contained within this UE Radio Capability
Information Element stored by the MME is the equivalent of information signalled in two
information elements in the GERAN NAS signalling for the case of GERAN to E UTRAN PS handover.

The E UTRAN stores the UE Radio Capability information, received in the S1 interface INITIAL
CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message or obtained from the UE, for the duration of the RRC
connection for that UE. Before any handover attempt from E UTRAN to UTRAN, the E UTRAN
retrieves the UE's UTRAN Radio Capabilities from the UE.

If the UE's non-UTRAN UE Radio Capability information changes while in ECM-IDLE state (including
cases of being in GERAN/UTRAN coverage), the UE shall perform a Tracking Area Update indicating
"UE radio capability update" when it next returns to E UTRAN coverage.

UE Positioning In LTE
UE positioning is an access network function (e.g. GERAN, UTRAN, E-UTRAN). An access network
may support one or more UE positioning methods, which may be same or different from another
access network. In E-UTRAN the following UE positioning methods are supported:

Cell ID positioning method

Enhanced Cell ID based positioning method
OTDOA positioning method
Network assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) positioning methods

Determining the position of a UE involves two main steps:

1. Radio signal measurements

2. Position estimate computation and optional velocity computation based on the measurements

The signal measurements may be made by the UE or the E-UTRAN. Both TDD and FDD radio
interface will be supported in E-UTRAN. The basic signals measured for terrestrial position
methods are typically the E-UTRA radio transmissions. Also other transmissions such as general
radio navigation signals including those from Global Navigation Satellites Systems can also be
measured. The position estimate computation may be made in the UE or in the E-SMLC. In UE-
assisted positioning the UE perform the downlink radio measurements and the E-SMLC estimates
the UE position while in UE-based positioning the UE performs both the downlink radio
measurements and also the position estimation. The UE may require some assistance from the
network in the form of assistance data in order to perform the downlink measurements and these
are provided by the network either autonomously or upon UE requesting it.

The E-UTRAN positioning capabilities are intended to be forward compatible to other access types
and other position methods, in an effort to reduce the amount of additional positioning support
needed in the future.

CELL ID METHOD
This is the simplest of all positioning methods but the UE position is very coarse in that only the
serving cell where the UE is located is provided. As E-UTRAN and MME are involved in the mobility
management (e.g. tracking area update or paging) of UEs the serving base station and serving cell
of the UE is always known especially when there is signaling between the E-SMLC and the UE to
query the UE position.

ENHANCED CELL IDBASED METHOD

In this method the position obtained by the Cell ID method is enhanced through means of use of
other UE or E-UTRAN measurements to estimate the UE position with better accuracy than the
Cell ID method. The measurements used may be radio resource measurements or other
measurements. The E-SMLC does not configure these measurements in the UE/E-UTRAN but only
queries the UE/E-UTRAN for these measurements and obtains them if available in the UE/E-
UTRAN.

NETWORK ASSISTED GNSS METHODS

In network assisted GNSS methods the network provides various assistance data to the UE that
are equipped with radio receivers capable of receiving GNSS signals. The UEs use the assistance
data provided by the network to help perform measurements. Examples of GNSS include: GPS,
Modernized GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Space Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) and Quasi Zenith
Satellite System (QZSS). Different GNSS can be used separately or in combination to determine the
position of a UE.

OTDOA METHOD
The OTDOA method is a downlink terrestrial positioning method. In this method the UE
performs measurements of downlink signals of neighbor E-UTRAN cells. This is a good backup
method for positioning the UE when satellite signals are not strong enough (e.g. indoors or bad
atmospheric conditions etc). The UE receives the downlink radio transmission of four or more
neighbor cells, aided by downlink reference signal transmissions from those cells and measures the
time difference of arrival of the radio frames of the measured neighbor cells relative to the
serving cell. These UE measurements are then used either by the UE or by the E-SMLC to estimate
the UE position using a trilateration technique.

The E-UTRAN may combine two or more of the supported UE positioning methods and perform a
hybrid positioning estimation to achieve a better positioning accuracy.

The UE positioning protocol is an end-to-end protocol with terminations in the UE and the E-
SMLC(Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center). This protocol is called the LTE Positioning
Protocol (LPP). This is a transaction-oriented protocol with exchange of LPP messages between UE
and E-SMLC where one or more messages realize each transaction. A transaction results in one
activity or operation such as assistance data transfer, UE positioning capability transfer or position
measurement/estimate exchange. There is a second UE positioning protocol, LPPa, with
terminations in the E-UTRAN and E-SMLC that allows the exchange of information and
measurements, which are useful for some specific positioning methods. Currently, the LPPa is
used for the delivery of timing information that is resident only to the E-UTRAN and/or is
semidynamically changing, which is required for the OTDOA positioning method. Apart from this
the LPPa also supports the exchange of E-UTRAN assisted measurements that are used for the
Enhanced Cell ID positioning method.

Voice over LTE to have 3G support and emergency calls

Updated specifications of VoLGA Forum for its standard for Voice Over LTE have been released.
The new specifications include mobile voice as well as SMS services over 4G and is different from
the current standard which supports only data. The changes in the standard will bring VoLGA
(Voice over LTE via Generic Access) which uses 3G, HSPA-based networks. Users also get an option
for emergency calls even in the absence of a SIM card.

The just released standard will optimize voice-bearer routing. The forum has also issued host APIs
for LTE devices.

Nineteen companies are members of the VoLGA Forum. Among them, LG, Motorola, Samsung,
Cisco and HTC are the most important.

Many efforts are being made in order to standardize both calls and SMS on the LTE data network.
They include the One Voice initiative of Verizon, AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens
and Samsung.
Cyclic Delay Diversity
Cyclic Delay Diversity (CDD) is a simple approach to introduce spatial diversity to an
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) based transmission scheme that itself
has no built-in diversity. It also can be regarded as a Space-Time Code (STC).

But in contrast to that there is no additional effort in the receiver necessary, since the
different codewords result in a changed channel impulse response in the receiver. They
insert virtual echos and thus increase the frequency selectivity of the channel seen by the
receiver.

Cyclic Delay Diversity (CDD) is a diversity scheme used in OFDM-based telecommunication

systems, transforming spatial diversity into frequency diversity avoiding intersymbol
interference.

Cyclic delay diversity is an elegant diversity technique for OFDM based transmission
systems, which does not introduce additional effort in the receiver. For OFDMA systems
with many users and slow fading channels, cyclic delay diversity cannot provide full diversity
for one user. Hence, a new technique, called time-varying cyclic delay diversity, is
introduced. With this technique the diversity can be increased, which leads to lower bit and
frame error rates during an OFDMA transmission

In CDD, the signal on the second or each additional antenna is not delayed but cyclically
shifted. Therefore, no inter-symbol interference can occur and thus there are no limits for
the cyclic shift. Another advantage of CDD is that there is no additional complexity in the
receiver. Also there is no rate loss even for a large number of antennasin contrast to other
Space-Time Codes.

In principle,CDD shifts the TX-signal in time direction and transmit these modied signal
copies over separate TX-antennas. The TX-antenna specic signal modications, i.e. the
time shifts, are inserted in cyclically, such that no additional inter symbol interference (ISI)
occurs. CDD is capable to offer a larger degree of diversity since they increase the number
of resolvable channel propagation paths. This additional diversity has to be exploited by the
OFDM system itself by means of techniques, which guarantee a certain amount of
Hamming distance for the data bearing signal, i.e. channel coding or spreading.
Spatial Multiplexing
Spatial multiplexing is a transmission technique in MIMO wireless communication to
transmit independent and separately encoded data signals, so-called streams, from each of
the multiple transmit antennas. Therefore, the space dimension is reused, or multiplexed,
more than one time.

In spatial multiplexing different signals or data bits are transmitted through several
independent (spatial) communication channels by multiple antennas and at the same time
the receiving side also use multiple antennas for receiving signals-this way increase the
date transmission rate which is in direct proportion to the number of antennas used for both
transmission and receiving purpose. The higher the number of antennas, the higher the
number of data transmission rate.

Multiple antennas are used to provide diversity gain (receive and transmit diversity )and
increase the reliability of wireless links. With channel knowledge at the transmitter, multiple
transmit antennas can also provide a power gain via transmit beam-forming. Multiple
transmit antennas are used to induce channel variations, which can then be exploited by
opportunistic communication techniques. The scheme can be interpreted as opportunistic
beam-forming and provides a power gain as well.

Spatial multiplexing requires MIMO antenna configuration. In spatial multiplexing, a high

rate signal is split into multiple lower rate streams and each stream is transmitted from a
different transmit antenna in the same frequency channel. If these signals arrive at the
receiver antenna array with sufficiently different spatial signatures, the receiver can
separate these streams, creating parallel channels for free. Spatial multiplexing is a very
powerful technique for increasing channel capacity at higher Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR).
The maximum number of spatial streams is limited by the lesser in the number of antennas
at the transmitter or receiver. Spatial multiplexing can be used with or without transmit
channel knowledge.
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a technique for transmitting large
amounts of digital data over a radio wave The technology works by splitting the radio signal
into multiple smaller sub-signals that are then transmitted simultaneously at different
frequencies to the receiver. OFDM reduces the amount of crosstalk in signal transmissions.

OFDMA is a multi-user OFDM that allows multiple access on the same channel (a channel
being a group of evenly spaced subcarriers).

OFDMA distributes subcarriers among users so all users can transmit and receive at the
same time within a single channel on what are called subchannels. Whats more,
subcarrier-group subchannels can be matched to each user to provide the best
performance, meaning the least problems with fading and interference based on the
location and propagation characteristics of each user.

OFDMA is a multiplexing technique that subdivides the bandwidth in to multiple frequency

sub-carriers. Here the input data stream is divided in to several parallel sub-streams of
reduced data rate and each substream is modulated and transmitted on a separate
Orthogonal Subcarrier.

It is a multi-user version of the popular orthogonal frequency division multiplexing [ OFDM ]

digital modulation scheme. Multiple access is achieved in OFDMA by assigning subsets of
subcarriers to individual users.

The main advantages of OFDMA over TDMA/CDMA stem from the scalability of OFDMA,
the uplink orthogonality of OFDMA and the ability of OFDMA to take advantage of the
frequency selectivity of the channel. Other advantages of OFDMA include its MIMO-
friendliness and ability to provide superior quality of service (QoS).

OFDMA Advantages
Averaging interference's from neighboring cells, by using different basic carrier
permutations between users in different cells.
Interferences within the cell are averaged by using allocation with cyclic
permutations.
Enables orthogonality in the uplink by synchronizing users in time and frequency.
Enables Multipath mitigation without using Equalizers and training sequences.
Enables Single Frequency Network coverage, where coverage problem exists and
gives excellent coverage.
Enables spatial diversity by using antenna diversity at the Base Station and possible
at the Subscriber Unit.
Enables adaptive modulation for every user QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM and 256QAM.
Enables adaptive carrier allocation in multiplication of 23 carriers = nX23 carriers up to 1587
carriers (all data carriers).
 Offers Frequency diversity by spreading the carriers all over the used spectrum.
Offers Time diversity by optional interleaving of carrier groups in time.
Advantages & Disadvantages of OFDM
Advantages of OFDM

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing is commonly implemented in many emerging

communications protocols because it provides several advantages over the traditional FDM
approach to communications channels. More specifically, OFDM systems allow for greater
spectral efficiency reduced intersymbol interference (ISI), and resilience to multi-path
distortion.

Spectral Efficiency

In a traditional FDM system, each channel is spaced by about 25% of the channel width.
This is done to ensure that adjacent channels do not interfere. This is illustrated in the
diagram below, which shows the guard bands between individual channels.

Because of the requirement for guard bands, it is required to the symbol rate to allow for
guard bands to exist. In general, the allowed channel bandwidth (Bw) is 2/Rs. As a result of
this, the channels are able to be separated adequately.

n an OFDM system, on the other hand, the channels actually overlap. As a result, it is
possible to maximize the symbol rate, and thus the throughput, for a given bandwidth. In the
image below, we illustrate overlapping sub-carriers in an OFDM system. In this scenario,
the channel bandwidth (Bw) approaches 1 / Rs. Thus, as the number of sub-carriers
approaches infinity, OFDM systems allow for nearly double the spectral efficiency.
Note that with an OFDM system, it is still required to have a guard band between each
individual channel. However, the effective symbol rate for the combined sub-carriers is
greater than if a single carrier were used instead.

Note that the effect of using overlapping orthogonal sub-carriers also requires the use of a
cyclic prefix to prevent intersymbol interference (ISI). Thus, some of the advantages gained
through overlapping sub-carriers are compromised. However, the spectral efficiency
advantage is great enough such that greater throughput is available in an OFDM system.

Reduced Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)

n mono-carrier systems, intersymbol interference is often caused through the multi-path

characteristics of a wireless communications channel. Note that when transmitting an
electromagnetic wave over a long distance, the signal passes through a variety of physical
mediums. As a result, the actual received signal contains the direct path signal overlaid with
signal reflections of smaller amplitudes. The diagram below illustrates how, at high symbol
rates, reflected signals can interfere with subsequent symbols.

In wireless systems, this creates difficulty because the received signal can be slightly
distorted. In this scenario, the direct path signal arrives as expected, but slightly attenuated
reflections arrive later in time. These reflections create a challenge because they interfere
with subsequent symbols transmitted along the direct path. These signal reflections are
typically mitigated through a pulse-shaping filter, which attenuates both the starting and
ending sections of the symbol period. However, as the figure above illustrates, this problem
becomes much more significant at high symbol rates. Because the reflections make up a
significant percentage of the symbol period, ISI will also be substantial.
OFDM systems mitigate this problem by utilizing a comparatively long symbol period. In
addition, they do this without sacrificing throughput by utilizing multiple sub-carriers per
channel. Below, we illustrate the time domain of OFDM symbols. Note that in an OFDM
system, the symbol rate can be reduced while still achieving similar or even higher
throughput.

Note from the illustration above that the time required for the reflections to fully attenuate is
the same as before. However, by utilizing a smaller symbol rate, the signal reflections make
up only a small percentage of the total symbol period. Thus, it is possible to simply add a
guard interval to remove interference from reflections without significantly decreasing
system throughput.

Other Advantages
Flexibility of deployment across various frequency bands with little needed
modification to the air interface.
Averaging interferences from neighboring cells, by using different basic carrier
permutations between users in different cells.
Interferences within the cell are averaged by using allocation with cyclic
permutations.
Enables orthogonality in the uplink by synchronizing users in time and frequency.
 Enables Single Frequency Network coverage, where coverage problem exists and
gives excellent coverage.
Enables adaptive carrier allocation in multiplication of 23 carriers = nX23 carriers up
to 1587 carriers (all data carriers).
Offers Frequency diversity by spreading the carriers all over the used spectrum.
Offers Time diversity by optional interleaving of carrier groups in time.
Using the cell capacity to the utmost by adaptively using the highest modulation a
user can use, this is allowed by the gain added when less carriers are allocated (up to 18dB
gain for 23 carrier allocation instead of 1587 carriers), therefore gaining in overall cell
capacity.

Disadvantages of OFDM
Peak to average power ratio (PAPR) is high
High power transmitter ampli ers need linearlization
Low noise receiver ampli ers need large dynamic range
Capacity and power loss due to guard interval
Bandwidth and power loss due to the guard interval can be signi cant
The guard interval consumes 20% of the bandidth and transmit power in
IEEE802.11a
Frequency off sets and phase noise sensitivity
Phase noise is especially acute at high carrier frequencies
The OFDM signal has a noise like amplitude with a very large dynamic range,
therefore it requires RF power amplifiers with a high peak to average power ratio.
It is more sensitive to carrier frequency offset and drift than single carrier systems
are due to leakage of the DFT.