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3.5 PHYSICAL DOWNLINK CONTROL CHANNEL

 The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is used to transfer Downlink Control Information (DCI). This corresponds to
Physical layer signalling from layer 1, in contrast to RRC signalling from layer 3 or the use of MAC Control Elements from layer 2.
3GPP has specified a set of DCI Formats to accommodate a range of PDCCH payloads:
o DCI Format 0_0 ‘fallback’ DCI format for uplink resource allocations on the PUSCH
o DCI Format 0_1 ‘standard’ DCI format for uplink resource allocations on the PUSCH
o DCI Format 1_0 ‘fallback’ DCI format for downlink resource allocations on the PDSCH
o DCI Format 1_1 ‘standard’ DCI format for downlink resource allocations on the PDSCH
o DCI Format 2_0 provision of Slot Format Indicators (SFI)
o DCI Format 2_1 provision of Pre-emption Indications
o DCI Format 2_2 provision of closed loop power control commands applicable to the PUCCH and PUSCH
o DCI Format 2_3 provision of closed loop power control commands applicable to the SRS
The content of each DCI Format is described in sections 3.5.4 to 3.5.11
 DCI Formats 2_0, 2_1, 2_2 and 2_3 are used to provide ‘UE Group Common Signalling’. These DCI Formats are designed to address a
group of UE and can accommodate payloads for each UE within the group. The payload belonging to a specific UE has a specific
position within the DCI so each UE is able to extract its own information while ignoring the information intended for other UE
 Figure 145 illustrates the general mapping of DCI onto the PDCCH physical channel. The PDCCH occupies a specific number of
Resource Elements according to its aggregation level. An aggregation level is quantified in terms of the number of Control Channel
Elements (CCE) that it occupies. 1 CCE is equivalent to 6 Resource Element Groups (REG) which is also equivalent to 72 Resource
Elements. The link adaption algorithm within the Base Station assigns a specific aggregation level according to the size of the DCI
payload and the UE coverage conditions. Small payloads can be accommodated using lower aggregation levels. UE which experience
poor coverage are normally allocated higher aggregation levels to allow increased channel coding gain, i.e. higher quantities of
redundancy

Downlink Control Information (DCI) PDCCH Search Space Sets CORESET

Format 0_0 Uplink Aggregation Level Common Resource Blocks &

Format 0_1 Allocations 1 CCE = 72 RE Type 0 SIB1 Symbols
2 CCE = 144 RE Type 0A Other SIB
Format 1_0 Downlink CCE to REG Mapping
4 CCE = 288 RE Type 1 MSG2/MSG4
Format 1_1 Allocations 8 CCE = 576 RE Type 2 paging Precoder Granularity
Format 2_0 UE Group 16 CCE = 1152 RE Type 3 UE Group Common signalling
Quasi Co-location
Format 2_1 Common & UE Specific signalling
Format 2_2 Signalling CCE: Control Channel Elements DMRS Scrambling Id
UE Specific UE Specific signalling
Format 2_3 RE: Resource Elements
REG: Resource Element Group
Figure 145 – Mapping of DCI Formats onto the PDCCH, Search Space Sets and Control Resource Sets

 The PDCCH is mapped onto a specific Search Space Set according to the content of the DCI. For example, if the DCI is being used to
provide a resource allocation for MSG2 during the random access procedure, then the PDCCH is mapped onto a Type 1 Common
Search Space Set. Alternatively, if the DCI is being used to provide a resource allocation for the transfer of application data then the
PDCCH can be mapped onto the UE Specific Search Space Set. Each Search Space Set has got a specific periodicity. This periodicity
impacts latency because it determines the average waiting time for a resource allocation opportunity
 Each Search Space Set is mapped onto a specific Control Resource Set (CORESET). The CORESET defines the set of Resource
Blocks and the number of symbols available to the Search Space Set. Various other physical layer characteristics are also defined by
the CORESET. These are described in the next section
 A UE is required to deduce which DCI Format is being received at any point in time. This can be achieved using a combination of the
following:
o PDCCH Search Space Set
o type of RNTI used to scramble the CRC bits which are attached to the DCI payload
o size of DCI payload
o information within the DCI payload
 For example, if a UE is scanning a Type 2 Common Search Space Set then it knows that it should be checking for DCI Format 1_0
because DCI Format 1_0 is used to provide resource allocations for paging messages. Alternatively, if a UE is scanning a UE Specific
Search Space Set then it knows that it should be checking for DCI Formats 0_0, 0_1, 1_0 and 1_1

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 Table 60 presents the set of Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTI) specified by 3GPP. These RNTI are used to scramble the
CRC bits which are attached to the DCI payload during Physical layer processing. This is used as a way to address either an individual
UE, a group of UE or all UE. The Base Station allocates a unique C-RNTI to each UE within a cell when the UE establishes an RRC
connection (either from RRC Idle mode or an incoming handover). If a UE receives a DCI Format 0_1 (for example) and obtains a
successful CRC result after de-scrambling the CRC bits using its C-RNTI then the UE knows that the resource allocation is being sent
to that UE rather than another UE. The Base Station can allocate a single INT-RNTI to a group of UE. All UE within that group will
obtain a successful CRC result after de-scrambling the CRC bits attached to a DCI Format 2_1 payload. 3GPP has specified single
fixed values for the SI-RNTI and P-RNTI. These fixed values are applicable to all UE

RNTI DCI Format Application Value

SI-RNTI 1_0 PDSCH resources for System Information FFFF
P-RNTI 1_0 PDSCH resources for Paging messages FFFE
RA-RNTI 1_0 PDSCH resources for Random Access Response (RAR)
TC-RNTI 0_0, 1_0 PUSCH resources for MSG3 re-transmissions, PDSCH resources for MSG4
C-RNTI 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, 1_1 PUSCH and PDSCH resources for application data and control plane signalling
MCS-C-RNTI 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, 1_1 Dynamic selection of low Spectral Efficiency MCS Table for PDSCH and PUSCH
CS-RNTI 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, 1_1 Configured Grant Scheduling for PUSCH, Semi-Persistent Scheduling for PDSCH
TPC-PUSCH-RNTI 2_2 Closed loop uplink power control commands for the PUSCH 0001 - FFEF
TPC-PUCCH-RNTI 2_2 Closed loop uplink power control commands for the PUCCH
TPC-SRS-RNTI 2_3 Closed loop uplink power control commands for the SRS
INT-RNTI 2_1 Interruption signalled using Pre-emption Indications
SFI-RNTI 2_0 Dynamic changes to the slot format signalled using Slot Format Indicators (SFI)
SP-CSI-RNTI 0_1 Trigger to activate/deactivate Semi-Persistent CSI reporting from the UE

Table 60 – Types of Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTI)

 The size of the DCI payload can also be used to identify a specific DCI Format. The UE calculates the size of some DCI Formats based
upon its configuration. For example, the UE can calculate the size of DCI Formats 0_0, 0_1, 1_0 and 1_1. DCI Formats 0_0 and 1_0
can have equal size, i.e. the pair of ‘Fallback’ DCI Formats. In some cases, the Base Station explicitly signals the size of a particular
DCI Format, e.g. the UE is explicitly told the size of DCI Formats 2_0 and 2_1
 Specifying multiple DCI Formats with an equal size payload reduces the number of blind decoding attempts required by the UE. For
example, if DCI Format ‘A’ has a payload size of 30 bits and DCI Format ‘B’ has a payload size of 40 bits. Initially, the UE does not
know which DCI Format is being received. The UE has to attempt decoding a payload size of 30 bits before checking the CRC bits to
determine whether or not decoding was successful. If unsuccessful, the UE has to attempt decoding a payload size of 40 bits before
checking the CRC bits. If both DCI Formats have an equal payload size, the UE only has to attempt decoding once. If the CRC bits
indicate that decoding is successful then the UE has to rely upon information within the payload to differentiate between Formats ‘A’
and ‘B’, e.g. a single bit of information could be used as a flag to indicate which DCI Format is being received
 DCI Formats 0_0 and 1_0 include a 1 bit flag to differentiate them, i.e. the flag is set to ‘0’ to indicate an uplink resource allocation and
is set to ‘1’ to indicate a downlink resource allocation. Similarly, DCI Formats 0_1 and 1_1 also include a 1 bit uplink/downlink
resource allocation flag
 Figure 146 illustrates the Physical layer processing applied to the DCI Format payload before mapping onto the PDCCH.
 Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) bits are added to allow error detection at the UE. The PDCCH does not have any mechanism which
allows the UE to directly indicate successful/unsuccessful reception. Instead, the Base Station has to rely upon indirect mechanisms,
e.g. if the Base Station uses the PDCCH to allocate uplink resources on the PUSCH but the Base Station does not receive a PUSCH
transmission then it can deduce that the UE failed to receive the PDCCH. A set of 24 CRC bits are calculated from the PDCCH
payload. These CRC bits are scrambled using the relevant RNTI. Scrambling changes some bits from ‘1’ to ‘0’ and other bits from ‘0’
to ‘1’. The order of the bits is not changed.
 Channel coding is applied after the CRC bits have been added. Polar coding is used as a channel coding solution for the PDCCH. The
coding rate depends upon the aggregation level allocated to the PDCCH, i.e. the number of Control Channel Elements (CCE). Table 61
presents the set of aggregation levels specified by 3GPP. The number of Resource Elements shown in this table is required to
accommodate both the PDCCH and the PDCCH Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), i.e. not all Resource Elements are available
to transfer the payload
 UE in weak coverage are likely to be allocated a higher aggregation level. This increases the number of Resource Elements which are
available to transfer the PDCCH payload and allows the use of a lower coding rate (higher redundancy). UE in good coverage are
likely to be allocated a lower aggregation level. This decreases the number of Resource Elements which are available to transfer the
PDCCH payload and leads to a higher coding rate (lower redundancy). CCE and Resource Element Groups (REG) are described in
section 3.5.1

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DCI Format defines

the PDCCH payload
Example of 1 CCE
CRC bits added 1 CCE = 6 Resource
(24 bits) Element Groups (REG) =
72 Resource Elements

According to Polar Coding 18 Resource Elements

number of used by PDCCH DMRS
allocated Control
Channel Elements 54 Resource Elements
(CCE) Rate Matching used by PDCCH

Rules used to initialise

pseudo random sequence PDCCH
dependent upon type of Scrambling Demodulation
Search Space and UE Reference
configuration Signal (DMRS)
Map onto
QPSK Resource Elements
Modulation

Figure 146 – Physical layer processing for the PDCCH

Aggregation Level CCE Resource Element Groups (REG) Resource Elements

1 1 6 72
2 2 12 144
4 4 24 288
8 8 48 576
16 16 96 1152

Table 61 – PDCCH Aggregation Levels

 Rate Matching is applied after channel coding to ensure that the number of bits matches the capacity of the Resource Elements
available to the PDCCH after accounting for the Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS). A single CCE can accommodate 108 bits
after accounting for the DMRS. Rate Matching also includes an interleaving operation to change the order of the transmitted bits
 The resultant bits are scrambled using a pseudo random sequence. Initialisation of the pseudo random sequence depends upon the type
of Search Space and whether or not the UE has been configured with a pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID. If a Common Search Space is used
then the pseudo random sequence is always initialised using the PCI which has been allocated to the cell. If a UE Specific Search Space
is used and the UE has been configured with a pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID then the pseudo random sequence is initialised using a
combination of the C-RNTI and the pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID. If a UE Specific Search Space is used but the UE has not been
configured with a pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID then the pseudo random sequence is initialised using the PCI which has been allocated
to the cell
 QPSK modulation is applied to generate the set of modulation symbols which are mapped onto the allocated Resource Elements. There
are 54 Resource Elements available per CCE after accounting for the DMRS
 The PDCCH and DMRS are transmitted using a single antenna port, i.e. antenna port 2000. Beamforming can be applied to improve
downlink coverage. If using a Common Search Space to allocate resources for a paging message or the broadcast of system information
then it will be necessary to repeat the PDCCH transmission using multiple beams to ensure that the PDCCH is transmitted across the
whole cell. In other cases, the PDCCH can be transmitted using a single beam, e.g. when using a UE Specific Search Space
 The PDCCH can be transmitted with or without transmit diversity. 3GPP has not specified the precoding for PDCCH transmit diversity
but network vendors can implement solutions which are transparent to the UE. The same precoding is applied to both the PDCCH and
the DMRS so the UE can use the DMRS to estimate the composite propagation channel (including precoding). The Base Station may
apply the same precoding to all Resource Blocks used by the PDCCH, or may apply different precoding to different Resource Blocks.
At least some information regarding the precoder granularity in the frequency domain can be provided as part of the Control Resource
Set (CORESET) configuration (precoderGranularity information element within Table 62, section 3.5.1).
 3GPP References: TS 38.211, TS 38.212, TS 38.213, TS 38.321

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