You are on page 1of 19

Carrier Aggregation - Offerings & Capabilities

Planning & implementation

Testing & Tools

KPIs

Challenges of implementation

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Overview of Carrier Aggregation


Carrier Aggregation feature provides higher bandwidth for a user. It increases user
throughput across the cell coverage area hence offering better user experience.
Single user peak throughput increase Theoretical throughput for 1Carrier=79Mbps,
2CA=158Mbps and 3CA=237Mbps at MAC layer (TDD Frame Config1 and SSF7)
Average user throughput is expected to increases from 25 Mbps to 55 Mbps under
lightly loaded to medium load conditions (TDD Frame Config1 and SSF7)
Average Sector Throughput No change to sector throughput as it is measured per
carrier.
The main benefits of CA are:
Increased downlink speed across the
coverage area
More efficient use of scattered spectrum
Higher capacity and spectral efficiency
Use of downlink only bands

LT E - C a r r i e r A g g r e g a t i o n t r i a l
s oDrawback:
lu t i o n h i g h l i g h t s
Increased battery usage due to higher
amount of signaling

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Overview of Carrier Aggregation

LT E - C a r r i e r A g g r e g a t i o n t r i a l
solution highlights
3

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Modes of Carrier Aggregation


Carrier Aggregation cab ne divided in three parts:
Intra Band contiguous- Contiguous component carrier within the same operating frequency bands.
Intra Band non-contiguous- Component carriers belongs to same operating frequency band, but have a
gap in between.
Inter Ban non-contiguous- Component carriers belongs to different operating frequency bands.
The component carriers are organized into one primary cell (PCell) and up to four secondary
cells (SCell). The primary cell contains one component carrier in TDD mode, or one downlink CC
and one uplink CC in FDD mode. It is used in exactly the same way as a cell in Release 8.
Secondary cells are only used by mobiles in RRC_CONNECTED and are added or removed by
means of mobile-specific signaling messages. Each secondary cell contains one component
carrier in TDD mode, or one downlink CC and optionally one
uplink CC in FDD mode.

LT E - C a r r i e r A g g r e g a t i o n t r i a l
solution highlights
4

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

UE design

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

UE design

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Considerations for Dual band CA


This proposal give a high number of resources to scheduling request, it is
condired more important because of apeoriodic CQI reports are sent in
PUSCH too.
Default value of the parameter commonSrPeriodicity (10 ms) is used.
For non high capacity sites, only 4 RB pairs are used in order to not reduce
the UL THP.
The pdcchCfiMode value follows the official control channel dimensioning
document recommendation: to handle peaks of PDCCH load it is
recommended to set pdcchCfiMode to CFI_AUTO_MAXIMUM_3(5) for
bandwidth of 10 MHz or less. For bandwidths larger than 10 MHz
CFI_AUTO_MAXIMUM_2(4) is recommended. A higher CFI than 2 can increase
the number of RB pairs allocated to PUCCH.This would lead to a reduced
uplink peak rate,
All these values take into account dual-band configuration with Carrier
Aggregation
Up to 3 cells of each frequency band (Total: 6 cells) in a Single Radio Unit
configuration

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Considerations for Triple band CA

1/3

1.- This proposal give a high number of resources to scheduling


request, it is considered more important because of apeoriodic CQI
reports are sent in PUSCH too.
2.- Default value of the parameter commonSrPeriodicity (10 ms) is
used.
3.-The pdcchCfiMode value follows the official control channel
dimensioning document recommendation: to handle peaks of PDCCH
load it is recommended to set pdcchCfiMode to
CFI_AUTO_MAXIMUM_3(5) for bandwidth of 10 MHz or less. For
bandwidths larger than 10 MHz CFI_AUTO_MAXIMUM_2(4) is
recommended. A higher CFI than 2 can increase the number of RB
pairs allocated to PUCCH.This would lead to a reduced uplink peak
rate,
4.-All these values take into account triple-band configuration with
Carrier Aggregation

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Considerations for Triple band CA

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

2/3

Considerations for Triple band CA

10

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

3/3

Carrier Aggregation - Offerings & Capabilities

11

Planning & implementation

Testing & Tools

KPIs

Challenges of implementation

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Testing & Tools


When Inter-Band aggregation and MIMO spatial multiplexing is
combined, test set-ups may become quite complex

12

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Testing & Tools

Simultaneous transceiver chains lead to intermodulation


and cross-modulation within the UE.

13

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Testing & Tools

Simultaneous transceiver chains lead to intermodulation


and cross-modulation within the UE.

14

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Carrier Aggregation - Offerings & Capabilities

15

Planning & implementation

Testing & Tools

KPIs

Challenges of implementation

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Performance Monitoring
Carrier aggregation performance is reflected in existing Integrity KPIs:
Throughput
The downlink throughput is the speed at which packets can be transferred once
the first packet has been scheduled on the air interface.
Latency
The one-way latency in downlink is the time it takes to schedule the first packet on
the air interface, determined from the time it was received in RBS.
Packet loss
No impact expected.
Note: Depending on where data is measured it will show different aspects of
carrier aggregation. The following slides will explain this further
CA is performed at MAC layer
PDCP and RLC are not aware whether a certain packet will be transmitted in the
PCell or in the SCell(s)
All counters for RLC and above are registered on the users PCell.
Services are observed using RLC and above

All counters for MAC and below are registered on the cell where the data is
transmitted.
Cell efficiency is observed using MAC and below
16

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Carrier Aggregation - Offerings & Capabilities

17

Planning & implementation

Testing & Tools

KPIs

Challenges of implementation

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

The Bandwidth Challenge


At a fundamental level, a large part of the RF challenge of LTE-Advanced is that the standard pushes up the signal transmit
bandwidth requirements in order to support very high data rates. The standard has been designed to allow up to a theoretical
maximum of 100 MHz, although in early LTE-A implementations the aggregate bandwidth of 40 MHz is perhaps the more useful
reference point for RF engineers.
40 MHz transmissions are a significant RF challenge in their own right, but this is compounded by the way the standard has
specified how these bandwidths will be achieved using carrier aggregation in the uplink. Rather than a single 40 MHz channel, LTEA transmissions will comprise two separate channels, or carriers, of up to 20 MHz side-by-side.
The nature of aggregating signals in this way is what is causing the double whammy of complexity for RF and PA designers.

The Carrier Aggregation Challenge


Carrier aggregation is one of the major features of LTE-A and it will enable networks to increase peak user data rates and
overall network capacity for either FDD or TDD LTE.
The principle is simple enough. Reflecting the far more fragmented nature of LTE spectrum allocation compared to previous
standards, carrier aggregation recognizes that operators might not be able to provide a single 40 MHz channel due to
frequency allocation scenarios. So carrier aggregation allows for the signal to be made up of multiple component carriers.
There are a number of variants of how this can be achieved allowed by the standard.
The most straightforward is using contiguous component carriers within the same frequency band - known as intra-band
contiguous carrier aggregation.
Where contiguous allocation is not possible due to spectrum limitations, carrier aggregation can be achieved non-contiguously.
This can be done either intra-band, where the carriers are in the same frequency band but with gaps, or inter-band, where
the carriers are in completely different frequency bands.
18

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

Summary

19

Copyright 2016 Tech Mahindra. All rights reserved.

You might also like