LTE

Over View

3GPP Evolution

Release 99 (Mar. 2000): UMTS/WCDMA

Rel-5 (Mar. 2002): HSDPA
Rel-6 (Mar. 2005): HSUPA
Rel-7 (2007): DL MIMO, optimized real-time services (VoIP, gaming, )
Long Term Evolution (LTE)
3GPP work on the Evolution of Mobile System started in November
2004.
Standardized in the form of Rel-8.
Spec finalized and approved in January 2008.
LTE-Advanced study phase in progress.

LTE Background Introduction

What is LTE

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is known as the evolution of radio access technology conducted by
3GPP.

The radio access network will evolve to E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access
Network), and the correlated core network will evolved to SAE (System Architecture Evolution).

What can LTE do

Flexible bandwidth configuration: supporting

1.4MHz, 3MHz, 5MHz, 10Mhz, 15Mhz and
20MHz
Peak date rate (within 20MHz bandwidth):
100Mbps for downlink and 50Mbps for uplink
Time delay: <100ms (control plane), <5ms (user
plane)
Provide 100kbps data rate for mobile user (up to
350kmph)
Support eMBMS
Circuit services is implemented in PS domain:
VoIP
Lower cost due to simple system structure

Page 3

SAE

SAE Brief Introduction

SAE System Architecture Evolution considers evolution for the whole system architecture, including
Flat Functionality. Take out the RNC entity and part of the functions are arranged on e-NodeB in order to reduce the
latency and enhance the schedule ability, such as interference coordination, internal load balance, etc.
Part of the functions are arranged on core network. To enhance the mobility management, all IP technology is
applied, user-plane and control-plane are separated. The compatibility of other RAT is considered.

Page 4

LTE Network Architecture

Main Network Element of LTE

The E-UTRAN consists of e-NodeBs, providing the user plane and control plane.

The EPC consists of MME, S-GW and P-GW.

Network Interface of LTE

The e-NodeBs are interconnected with each other by means of the X2 interface, which enabling direct
transmission of data and signaling.

S1 is the interface between e-NodeBs and the EPC, more specifically to the MME via the S1-MME
and to the S-GW via the S1-U
Compare with traditional 3G
network, LTE architecture
becomes much more simple
and flat, which can lead to
lower networking cost, higher
networking flexibility and
shorter time delay of user data
and control signaling.

UMTS
Page 5

LTE

LTE Network Element

Function

e-Node hosts the following functions:

S-GW (Serving Gateway) hosts the following functions:

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;
Routing of User Plane data towards Serving Gateway;
Scheduling and transmission of paging and broadcast
messages (originated from the MME);
Measurement and measurement reporting configuration
for mobility and scheduling;

MME (Mobility Management Entity) hosts the following

functions:

NAS signaling and security;

AS Security control;
Idle state mobility handling;
EPS (Evolved Packet System) bearer control;
Support paging, handover, roaming and authentication.

P-GW (PDN Gateway) hosts the following functions:

Per-user based packet filtering; UE IP address allocation; UL

and DL service level charging, gating and rate enforcement;

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Packet routing and forwarding; Local mobility anchor point

for handover; Lawful interception; UL and DL charging per
UE, PDN, and QCI; Accounting on user and QCI granularity
for inter-operator charging.

RRC: Radio Resource Control

PDCP: Packet Data Convergence
Protocol
RLC: Radio Link Control
MAC: Medium Access Control
PHY: Physical layer
EPC: Evolved Packet Core
MME: Mobility Management Entity
S-GW: Serving Gateway
P-GW: PDN Gateway

Frequency Band of LTE

From LTE Protocol:

Duplex mode: FDD and TDD

FDD Frequency Band

Support frequency band form 700MHz to

2.6GHz
Support various bandwidth: 1.4MHz, 3MHz,
5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, 20MHz

E-UTRA
Band

FUL_low FUL_high

FDL_low FDL_high

FDL_low FDL_high

Duple
x
Mode

1980 MHz

2110 MHz

2170 MHz

FDD

1850 MHz

1910 MHz

1930 MHz

1990 MHz

FDD

1710 MHz

1785 MHz

1805 MHz

1880 MHz

FDD

1710 MHz

1755 MHz

2110 MHz

2155 MHz

FDD

824 MHz

849 MHz

869 MHz

894MHz

FDD

830 MHz

840 MHz

875 MHz

885 MHz

FDD

Duplex
Mode

2500 MHz

2570 MHz

2620 MHz

2690 MHz

FDD

880 MHz

915 MHz

925 MHz

960 MHz

FDD

1749.9
MHz

1784.9
MHz

1844.9
MHz

1879.9
MHz

FDD

10

1710 MHz

1770 MHz

2110 MHz

2170 MHz

FDD

11

1427.9
MHz

1452.9
MHz

1475.9
MHz

1500.9
MHz

FDD

12

698 MHz

716 MHz

728 MHz

746 MHz

FDD

13

777 MHz

787 MHz

746 MHz

756 MHz

FDD

14

788 MHz

798 MHz

758 MHz

768 MHz

FDD

17

704 MHz

716 MHz

734 MHz

746 MHz

FDD

...

33

1900 MHz

1920 MHz

1900 MHz

1920 MHz

TDD

34

2010 MHz

2025 MHz

2010 MHz

2025 MHz

TDD

35

1850 MHz

1910 MHz

1850 MHz

1910 MHz

TDD

36

1930 MHz

1990 MHz

1930 MHz

1990 MHz

TDD

37

1910 MHz

1930 MHz

1910 MHz

1930 MHz

TDD

38

2570 MHz

2620 MHz

2570 MHz

2620 MHz

TDD

39

1880 MHz

1920 MHz

1880 MHz

1920 MHz

TDD

40

2300 MHz

2400 MHz

2300 MHz

2400 MHz

TDD

Page 7

FUL_low FUL_high

1920 MHz

TDD Frequency Band

Downlink (DL)

Downlink (DL)

Protocol is being updated, frequency information could

be changed.

Uplink (UL)

E-UTRA
Band

Uplink (UL)

FDMA TDMA CDMA and

OFDMA

OFDM
Introduction

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a

modulation multiplexing scheme. The system bandwidth is divided
into a plurality of orthogonal.
Orthogonality of different subcarriers is achieved by the baseband
IFFT.

OFDM

OFDM has many advantages that can meet the needs

of E-UTRAN, which is one of 4G key technology.
OFDM is a modulation multiplexing scheme, and the
corresponding multi-access techniques is OFDMA.
OFDMA are used in LTE downlink.
For LTE uplink the multiple access scheme is SCFDMA .

OFDM OFDMA

Page 9

OFDMA & SC-FDMA

OFDM & OFDMA

OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)

is a modulation multiplexing technology, divides the
system bandwidth into orthogonal subcarriers. CP is
inserted between the OFDM symbols to avoid the ISI.
OFDMA is the multi-access technology related with
OFDM, is used in the LTE downlink. OFDMA is the
combination of TDMA and FDMA essentially.
Advantage: High spectrum utilization efficiency due to
orthogonal subcarriers need no protect bandwidth.
Support frequency link auto adaptation and
scheduling. Easy to combine with MIMO.
Disadvantage: Strict requirement of time-frequency
domain synchronization. High PAPR.

Page 10

DFT-S-OFDM & SC-FDMA

DFT-S-OFDM (Discrete Fourier Transform

Spread OFDM) is the modulation multiplexing
technology used in the LTE uplink, which is
similar with OFDM but can release the UE PA
limitation caused by high PAPR. Each user is
assigned part of the system bandwidth.
SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division
Multiple Accessing is the multi-access
technology related with DFT-S-OFDM.
Advantage: High spectrum utilization efficiency
due to orthogonal user bandwidth need no
protect bandwidth. Low PAPR.
The subcarrier assignment scheme includes
Localized mode and Distributed mode.

Radio Frame Structure

Radio Frame Structures Supported by LTE:

Type 1, applicable to FDD

Type 2, applicable to TDD

FDD Radio Frame Structure:

LTE applies OFDM technology, with subcarrier spacing f=15kHz and 2048order IFFT. The time unit in frame structure is Ts=1/(2048* 15000) second
FDD radio frame is 10ms shown as below, divided into 20 slots which are
0.5ms. One slot consists of 7 consecutive OFDM Symbols under Normal CP
configuration

FDD Radio Frame Structure

Concept of Resource Block:

LTE consists of time domain and frequency domain resources. The minimum unit for
schedule is RB (Resource Block), which compose of RE (Resource Element)
RE has 2-dimension structure: symbol of time domain and subcarrier of frequency domain
One RB consists of 1 slot and 12 consecutive subcarriers under Normal CP configuration

Page 11

Radio Frame Structure

Radio Frame Structure

CP Configuration

CP Length Configuration:

Cyclic Prefix is applied to eliminate ISI

of OFDM.
CP length is related with coverage
radius. Normal CP can fulfill the
requirement of common scenarios.
Extended CP is for wide coverage
scenario.

Configuration

Normal
CP

Longer CP, higher overheading.

f=15kHz

f=15kHz
Extende
d CP

Slot structure under Normal

CP configuration
(f=15kHz)

Slot structure under

Extended CP configuration
(f=15kHz)

Slot structure under

Extended CP configuration
(f=7.5kHz)

Page 13

f=7.5kHz

DL OFDM CP
Length
160 for slot #0
144 for slot #1~#6

512 for slot #0~#5

1024 for slot
#0~#2

UL SC-FDMA
CP Length

Subcarrier of
each RB

Symbol
of each
slot

160 for slot #0

7

144 for slot

#1~#6

12

512 for slot

#0~#5
NULL

24 (DL

3 (DL

only)

only)

Brief Introduction of Physical Channels

Downlink Channels

Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH): Carries system information

for cell search, such as cell ID.
Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) : Carries the
resource allocation of PCH and DL-SCH, and Hybrid ARQ
information.
Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) : Carries the
downlink user data.
Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH) : Carriers
information of the OFDM symbols number used for the PDCCH.
Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) : Carries Hybrid
ARQ ACK/NACK in response to uplink transmissions.
Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH) : Carries the multicast
information.

MAC Layer
Physical Layer

Mapping between downlink transport

channels and downlink physical
channels

Uplink Channels
Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) : Carries the random
access preamble.
Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) : Carries the uplink user
data.
Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) : Carries the HARQ
ACK/NACK, Scheduling Request (SR) and Channel Quality
Indicator (CQI), etc.

Page 14

MAC Layer
Physical Layer

Mapping between uplink transport

channels and downlink physical
channels

SON Self-Organising Networks

SON Brief Introduction
SON (Self Organization Network) is the functions of LTE that required by the
NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Network) operators.
From the point of view of the operators benefit and experiences, the early
communication systems had bad O&M compatibility and high cost.
New requirements of LTE are brought forward, mainly focus on FCAPSI (Fault,
Configuration, Alarm, Performance, Security, Inventory) management:

Self-planning and Self-configuration, support plug

and play
Self-Optimization and Self-healing
Self-Maintenance

SON_ANR (Automatic Neighbor Relation)

Add new Sites

New siteconfigured site

Description:
Description:
Auto
Autoconfigure
configureand
andoptimize
optimize
Neighbor
Neighborrelations,
relations,intra-LTE
intra-LTEand
and
inter-RAT
inter-RAT
X2
X2automatic
automaticsetup
setup
Operator
Operatordefined
definedrules
rulesand
and
monitoring
monitoringsupported
supported

Page 16

Benefits:
Benefits:
Fast
Fastdefinition
definitionof
ofNeighbor
Neighbor
Relations
Relations
up
upto
to95%
95%lower
lowercost
costof
ofneighbor
neighbor
relation
relationplanning
planningand
andoptimization
optimization
Improve
Improvecustomer
customerexperience
experienceby
by
reducing
reducingHO
HOfailure
failurecaused
causedby
by
missing
missingneighbor
neighborrelations
relations

Thanks