LTE

INTRODUCTION TO LTE
LTE Overview
The 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard represents a major advance in cellular
technology.
LTEis designed to meet carrier needs for high-speed data and media transport as well as high-
capacity voice support well into the next decade.
LTE is well positioned to meet the requirements of next-generation mobile networks.
Itwill enable operators to offer high performance, mass-market mobile broadband services,
through a combination of high bit-rates and system throughput – in both the uplink and
downlink – with low latency.
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is one of the choices for next generation broadband wireless
networks and is defined by the 3GPP standards as an evolution to a variety of 3G wireless
networks such as UMTS and EVDO.
Its high data rates enable advanced multimedia applications.
The LTE network architecture, network interfaces and protocols, air interface and mobility will
provide advanced mobile broadband services for years to come.

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 INTRODUCTION TO LTE
 LTE is an evolution of the current family of 3G mobile wireless standards.
 A main objective of Long Term Evolution (LTE) is to support IP multimedia services,
including VoIP and high-speed data applications, with an “always-on” end-user
experience comparable to that of fixed internet access, and at a lower cost per bit.
This is achieved by
 flatter network architecture,
 improved spectral efficiency,
 providing a more flexible spectrum deployment,
 lower operating costs.

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LTE V/S OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

2G to 4G Evolution and data download rates

 SAE (System
Architecture Evolution) -
With the very high data
rate and low latency
requirements for 3G
LTE, it is necessary to
evolve the system
architecture to enable
the improved
performance to be
achieved. One change is
that a number of the
functions previously
handled by the core
network have been
transferred out to the
periphery. Essentially
this provides a much
"flatter" form of network
architecture. In this way
latency times can be 5
reduced and data can
be routed more directly
to its destination.
INTEROPERABILITY
LTE hardware from multiple vendors is currently being tested for compatibility with older
technologies such as GSM and 3G networks. The availability of commercial LTE
terminals from multiple vendors and proven interoperability with networks providers is a
prerequisite for any operator to launch commercial LTE services. Interoperability
between infrastructure and terminals is key with every technology, and it is particularly
fundamental in such a new technology like LTE.

LTE is designed to work with legacy technologies such as:

GSM

3G Networks
WCDMA

CDMA-2000

WiMax

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 NEW AND WIDER SPECTRUM
 A key characteristic of LTE technology is its suitability for deployment in scalable bandwidths
ranging from 1.25 MHz to 20 MHz.
 To its advantage, it can operate in all 3GPP frequency bands in paired and unpaired spectrum
allocations.
 In practical terms, the actual performance achievable with LTE depends on the bandwidth
allocated for services, and not the choice of spectrum band itself.
 This gives operators considerable flexibility in their commercial and technical strategies.
 Deployed at higher frequencies, LTE is attractive for strategies focused on network capacity,
whereas at lower frequencies it can provide ubiquitous cost-effective coverage.
 As such, LTE networks could be rolled out in any of the bands already harmonized for use by
3GPP systems.
 These include IMT-2000 core frequency bands (1.9-2 GHz) and extension bands (2.5 GHz), as
well as at 850-900 MHz, 1800 MHz, AWS spectrum (1.7 GHz-2.1 GHz) and portions of the UHF
band recently identified at the World Radio Communication Conference (WRC-07) for mobile
services in some parts of the world.

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 FREQUENCY BANDS FOR FDD AND TDD
 LTE operates with both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex
(TDD).
 Both methods allow multiple users to share bandwidth.
 LTE can be used in both paired (FDD) and unpaired (TDD) spectrum.

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 SUPPORT FOR WIDE RANGE OF TERMINALS
 Long Term Evolution (LTE) will support many types of terminals or user devices.
 These terminals may range from cell phones, Blackberrys, hand-held mobile devices,
and laptops with mobile broadband connectivity.
 LTE supports a wide range of terminals – In addition to mobile phones, many computer
and consumer electronic devices, such as notebooks, ultra-portables, gaming devices
and cameras, will incorporate embedded LTE modules.
 Because LTE supports handover and roaming to existing mobile networks, all these
devices can have ubiquitous mobile broadband coverage from day one.

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 LTE PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
Higher Voice Capacity through VoIP
LTE deployment will mean higher voice capacity with mobile VoIP.
High-capacity voice service on LTE will be supported by using VoIP over the LTE data
channels.
The end-to-end QoS control ensures that the LTE provides Telco-quality VoIP.
The voice call continuity (VCC) service in the IMS core will ensure that the VoIP service
is interoperable with the circuit-switched voice and VoIP services on the existing UMTS
networks.
Carrying voice traffic on the data channels not only enables a high-capacity voice
service, it also enables operators to meet all possible service needs by efficient mixing
of voice and data traffic.
Itenables a suite of new, rich voice services that can be targeted to specific market
segments for increased operator revenue.
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 LTE FEATURES

Long Term Evolution offers the following features:

Up to 100 Mbps (Downlink)
Up to 50 Mbps (Uplink)
Simplified Architecture
Advanced MIMO Spatial Antenna Technology
Open Interfaces
Flexible Frequency (FDD/TDD)
All IP Backbone

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LTE SERVICES
Long Term Evolution (LTE) will offer the following services:
Mobile VoIP
Data (High-Speed)
Text (SMS)/Multi-Media (MMS)
Video-on-Demand

Social Networking
Mobile Conferencing
M-Commerce (Banking/Advertisement)

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LTE ADVANCED
 Mobile Communication Standard
 As a major enhancement of the 3GPP LTE Standard
 Peak data rates of 1 Gbps to meet IMT
Advanced standards for 4G
 Ability to leverage advanced topology

heterogenous networks such as Picocells and

Femtocells
 Improves capacity and coverage and provides

large bandwidth upto 100 MHz of spectrum

 LTE PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
Higher User Data Rates
The estimated peak data rates deemed attainable for the LTE system in ideal conditions are very
high, and range from 100 to 326.4 Mbps on the downlink and 50 to 86.4 Mbps on the uplink
depending on the antenna configuration and modulation depth.
These rates represent the absolute maximum the system could support and actual peak data
rates will be scaled back by the introduction of User Equipment categories.
There are many dimensions to a UE category but the most significant is probably the supported
data rates.

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The UE-Category defines a combined uplink and downlink capability as specified
in 3GPP TS36.306.
LTE TECHNOLOGIES
 OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing) for downlink

 SC-FDMA (Single Carrier – Frequency Division

Multiple Access) for uplink

 MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output)

 SAE (System Architecture Evolution)

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MULTIPLE INPUT/MULTIPLE OUTPUT
(MIMO)
 MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) is an antenna technology for wireless
communications in which multiple antennas are used at both the source
(transmitter) and the destination (receiver).
 The antennas at each end of the communications circuit are combined to
minimize errors and optimize data speed.
 MIMO is one of several forms of smart antenna technology, the others being MISO
(multiple input, single output) and SIMO (single input, multiple output).
 The MIMO system uses multiple antennas to simultaneously transmit data, in
small pieces to the receiver, which can process the data flows and put them back
together.
 This process, called spatial multiplexing, proportionally boosts the data-
transmission speed by a factor equal to the number of transmitting antennas.
 In addition, since all data is transmitted both in the same frequency band and
with separate spatial signatures, this technique utilizes spectrum very efficiently.
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MIMO

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MULTIPLE INPUT/MULTIPLE OUTPUT
(MIMO)

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LTE KEY PARAMETERS

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Time Unit Value
Frame 10 ms
Half-frame 5 ms
Subframe 1 ms
Slot 0.5 ms
Symbol (0.5 ms) / 7 for normal CP
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(0.5 ms) / 6 for extended CP
Ts 1/(15000 * 2048) sec  32.6
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Cyclic prefic-refers to the prefixing of a symbol with a repetition of the end

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A resource block (RB) is the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a user.
The resource block is 180 kHz wide in frequency and 1 slot long in time. In frequency,
resource blocks are either 12 x 15 kHz subcarriers or 24 x 7.5 kHz subcarriers wide The
number of subcarriers used per resource block for most channels and signals is 12
subcarriers.

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Resource
Block

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7 symbols
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OFDM/OFDMA
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SC-FDMA
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 OFDMA (DOWNLINK)
 OFDMA is a multi-user version of a digital modulation scheme called Orthogonal Frequency-
Division Multiplexing (OFDM).
 In OFDM the signal is first split into independent sub-carriers and these closely-spaced orthogonal
sub-carriers are used to carry the data.
 The data is divided into several parallel data streams or channels, one for each sub-carrier.
 Each sub-carrier is modulated with a conventional modulation scheme (such as quadrature
amplitude modulation or phase shift keying) at a low symbol rate, maintaining total data rates
similar to conventional single carrier modulation schemes of the same bandwidth.
 A general analogy for OFDM can be of many small lamps in a hall rather than a single big lamp.
 The advantage is that light will be distributed across the hall equally as compared to a single lamp
and increase redundancy—a defect in one lamp will not affect the light in the hall.
 The primary advantage of OFDM over single-carrier scheme is its ability to cope with severe
channel conditions without complex equalization filters.
 For example, attenuation of high frequencies in a long copper wire, narrowband interference, and
frequency-selective fading due to multipath.

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OFDMA (DOWNLINK)

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 SC-FDMA (UPLINK)
 For the LTE uplink, a different concept is used for the access technique.
 The implementation is called Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access
(SC-FDMA).
 SC-FDMA is a hybrid transmission scheme combining the low peak to average
(PAR) of single carrier schemes with the frequency allocation flexibility and
multi-path protection.
 One of the key parameters that affect 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.
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 Peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR)
Crest factor is the peak amplitude of the waveform divided by the RMS value
of the waveform:

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The peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) is the peak amplitude squared (giving the peak power) divided by
the RMS value squared (giving the average power).[2][2]It is the square of the crest factor:

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 Wave type Waveform RMS value Crest factor PAPR (dB)

DC 1 1 0.0 dB

Sine wave 3.01 dB

Full-wave rectified sine 3.01 dB

Half-wave rectified sine 6.02 dB

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Triangle wave 4.77 dB

Square wave 1 1 0 dB

QPSK 1 1 0 dB

8PSK 3.3 dB[

π/4DQPSK 3.0 dB[

OQPSK 3.3 dB

8VSB 6.5–8.1 dB

64QAM 3.7 dB
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WCDMA downlink
10.6 dB
carrier
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PAPR
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 TECHNOLOGIES ASSOCIATED WITH LTE
The development of Long Term Evolution is associated with the following technologies:
WiMax-technology used for Wireless Metropolitan Networks (WMANs)
OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) - OFDM technology has been incorporated
into LTE because it enables high-data bandwidths to be transmitted efficiently while still
providing a high degree of resilience to reflections and interference. The access schemes differ
between the uplink and downlink: OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) is
used in the downlink.
SC-FDMA (Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access) - SC-FDMA (Single Carrier -
Frequency Division Multiple Access) is used in the uplink. SC-FDMA is used in view of the fact
that its peak to average power ratio is small and the more constant power enables high RF
power amplifier efficiency in the mobile handsets - an important factor for battery power
equipment.
MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) - One of the main problems with previous telecommunications
systems concerned distortion from reflected waves. By using MIMO, these additional signal
paths can be used to advantage and are able to be used to increase the throughput.

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LTE ARCHITECTURE

Source: Ericsson (2009)

LTE NETWORK ELEMENTS
 Evolved Node B (eNB)
 Supports air interface
 Provides radio resource management functions

 Serving Gateway (SGW)

 Provides Mobility
 Responsible for Routing and Forwarding
LTE NETWORK ELEMENTS
(CONTINUED)
 Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN GW)
 Provides connectivity to Internet
 Provides QoS and mobility between 3G and non-3G

networks
 Mobility Management Entity (MME)
 Manages mobility and provides security
 Operates in control plane and provides authentication
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OVERVIEW OF BASIC SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
CONFIGURATION
 This figure also shows the division of the architecture into four
main high level domains: User Equipment (UE), Evolved UTRAN
(E-UTRAN), Evolved Packet Core Network (EPC), and the
Services domain.
 The high level architectural domains are functionally
equivalent to those in the existing 3GPP systems.
 The new architectural development is limited to Radio Access
and Core Networks, the E-UTRAN and the EPC respectively.
 UE and Services domains remain architecturally intact, but
functional evolution has also continued in those areas.

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LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
CONFIGURATION

User Equipment (UE)

UE is the device that the end user uses for communication.
Typicallyit is a hand held device such as a smart phone or a data card such as those
used currently in 2G and 3G, or it could be embedded, e.g. to a laptop.
UEalso contains the Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) that is a separate
module from the rest of the UE, which is often called the Terminal Equipment (TE).
USIM is an application placed into a removable smart card called the Universal
Integrated Circuit Card (UICC).
USIM is used to identify and authenticate the user and to derive security keys for
protecting the radio interface transmission.
Functionallythe UE is a platform for communication applications, which signal with the
network for setting up, maintaining and removing the communication links the end user
needs.
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LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
CONFIGURATION

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LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
CONFIGURATION
E-UTRAN Node B (eNodeB)
The only node in the E-UTRAN is the E-UTRAN Node B (eNodeB).
Simply put, the eNodeB is a radio base station that is in control of all radio related
functions in the fixed part of the system.
Base stations such as eNodeB are typically distributed throughout the networks coverage
area, each eNodeB residing near the actual radio antennas.
Functionally eNodeB acts as a bridge between UE and the EPC, by being the termination
point UE, and relaying data between the radio connection and the corresponding IP based
connectivity towards the EPC.
Inthis role, the eNodeB performs ciphering/deciphering of the UP data, and also IP header
compression/decompression.
The eNodeB is also responsible for many Control Plane (CP) functions. The eNodeB is
responsible for the Radio Resource Management (RRM), i.e. controlling the usage of the
radio interface, which includes, for example, allocating resources based on requests,
prioritizing and scheduling traffic according to required Quality of Service (QoS), and
constant monitoring of the resource usage situation.

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LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
CONFIGURATION
Mobility Management Entity (MME)
Mobility Management Entity (MME) is the main control element in the EPC.
Typically the MME would be a server in a secure location in the operator’s premises.
It operates only in the CP, and is not involved in the path of UP data.
In addition to interfaces that terminate to MME in the architecture as shown in Figure,
the MME also has a logically direct CP connection to the UE, and this connection is used
as the primary control channel between the UE and the network.
The following lists the main MME functions in the basic System Architecture
Configuration:
 Authentication and Security
 Mobility Management
 Managing Subscription Profile and Service Connectivity

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 LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
CONFIGURATION

Mobility Management Entity (MME)

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LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE CONFIGURATION
Serving Gateway (S-GW)
In
the Basic System Architecture configuration, the high level function of S-
GW is UP tunnel management and switching.
The S-GW is part of the network infrastructure maintained centrally in
operation premises.
When the S5/S8 interface is based on GTP, the S-GW will have GTP tunnels
on all its UP interfaces.
Mappingbetween IP service flows and GTP tunnels is done in P-GW, and the
S-GW does not need to be connected to PCRF.
All control is related to the GTP tunnels, and comes from either MME or P-
GW.

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 LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE CONFIGURATION
Serving Gateway (S-GW)

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 LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE CONFIGURATION
Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW)
Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW, also often abbreviated as
PDN-GW) is the edge router between the EPS and external packet
data networks.
Itis the highest level mobility anchor in the system, and usually it
acts as the IP point of attachment for the UE.
Itperforms traffic gating and filtering functions as required by the
service in question.
Similarlyto the S-GW, the P-GWs are maintained in operator
premises in a centralized location.

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 LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE CONFIGURATION
Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW)

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 LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE CONFIGURATION

Policy and Charging Resource Function (PCRF)

Policy
and Charging Resource Function (PCRF) is the network
element that is responsible for Policy and Charging Control (PCC).
Itmakes decisions on how to handle the services in terms of QoS,
and provides information to the PCEF located in the P-GW, and if
applicable also to the BBERF located in the S-GW, so that appropriate
bearers and policing can be set up.
PCRF is a server usually located with other CN elements in operator
switching centres.

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LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE CONFIGURATION
Policy and Charging Resource Function (PCRF)

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 LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE CONFIGURATION
Home Subscription Server (HSS)
Home Subscription Server (HSS) is the subscription data repository for all permanent user data.
It also records the location of the user in the level of visited network control node, such as MME.

It is a database server maintained centrally in the home operator’s premises.

The HSS stores the master copy of the subscriber profile, which contains information about the
services that are applicable to the user, including information about the allowed PDN connections,
and whether roaming to a particular visited network is allowed or not.
For supporting mobility between non-3GPP ANs, the HSS also stores the Identities of those P-GWs
that are in use.
The permanent key, which is used to calculate the authentication vectors that are sent to a visited
network for user authentication and deriving subsequent keys for encryption and integrity
protection, is stored in the Authentication Center (AuC), which is typically part of the HSS.
In all signalling related to these functions, the HSS interacts with the MME. The HSS will need to be
able to connect with every MME in the whole network, where its UEs are allowed to move.
For each UE, the HSS records will point to one serving MME at a time, and as soon as a new MME
reports that it is serving the UE, the HSS will cancel the location from the previous MME.

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LOGICAL ELEMENTS IN BASIC SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
CONFIGURATION
Services Domain
The Services domain may include various sub-systems, which in turn may contain several
logical nodes. The following is a categorization of the types of services that will be made
available, and a short description of what kind of infrastructure would be needed to provide
them:
IMS based operator services: The IP Multimedia Sub-system (IMS) is service machinery that the
operator may use to provide services using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).
Non-IMS based operator services: The architecture for non-IMS based operator services is not
defined in the standards. The operator may simply place a server into their network, and the
UEs connect to that via some agreed protocol that is supported by an application in the UE. A
video streaming service provided from a streaming server is one such example.
Other services not provided by the mobile network operator, e.g. services provided through the
internet: This architecture is not addressed by the 3GPP standards, and the architecture
depends on the service in question. The typical configuration would be that the UE connects to a
server in the internet, e.g. to a web-server for web browsing services, or to a SIP server for
internet telephony service (i.e. VoIP).
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