Smart Scheduler

White Paper

Contents
1. Introduction 2. Smart Scheduler Features and Benefits 2.1 Frequency Selective Scheduling 3. Multi-Cell Smart Scheduler 3.1 Distributed RAN with X2+ and non-ideal backhaul 3.2 Distributed RAN with slow centralized scheduling and non-ideal backhaul 3.3 Centralized RAN with fast centralized scheduling and dark fiber connection 4. Further Evolution of LTE Scheduling 5. Summary 6. Abbreviations 2 3 5 7 7 8 8 9 10 11

1. Introduction
Long Term Evolution (LTE) has been successfully deployed by more than 190 operators and the subscribers can enjoy high LTE data rates. LTE radio is designed for a so-called frequency reuse of one where all the cells use the same frequency. Reuse one provides the highest network efficiency and enables high data rates close to the base station. The challenge with reuse one is the high inter-cell interference when the terminal (User Equipment UE) is located between two cells. The data rate over the cell area is illustrated in Figure 1. The boosting of the cell edge performance is the main motivation for the Smart Scheduler. The Smart Scheduler can also enhance the average data rates and system capacity by considering signal fading and interference in the packet scheduling decisions. The Smart Scheduler algorithms, benefits, implications to the network architecture and further evolution are discussed in this white paper.

Frequency f1

Frequency f1

Cell A Data rate High data rate close to BTS

UE

Cell B

Low data rate at cell edge

Figure 1. Frequency reuse one creates high inter-cell interference

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2. Smart Scheduler features and benefits

LTE radio is highly standardized by 3GPP when it concerns interfaces, but the network algorithms including link adaptation, power control and packet scheduling are not standardized. Network performance can therefore differ according to which algorithms are used. The most relevant scheduling features and benefits are described in this section. Packet scheduling can use various input data for resource allocation and for interference coordination: Channel Quality Information (CQI) from UE to BTS for downlink scheduling Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) measurements and interference measurements in the frequency domain for uplink scheduling Load and other information exchange over X2+ interface between base stations. X2+ is an enhanced version of X2 interface and allows fast exchange of further information between base stations, for example, handover measurements, load information, or CQI measurements. X2 interface in Release 8 allows only very limited exchange of information between the base stations, but further extensions will be discussed in 3GPP and can also be added proprietarily. Quality of Service (QoS) parameters from the packet core network These input options are illustrated in Figure 2. The Smart Scheduler can utilize the different input values to optimize the packet scheduling and the link adaptation. LTE radio allows significant freedom in defining the allocations in the time, frequency and power domains. A number of different features are required for the different use cases. The Smart Scheduler utilizes the same features both in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) based LTE systems. These include:
QoS Gateway QoS

Coordination over X2+ Channel quality information (CQI)

Cell A

UE

Cell B

Figure 2. Input information for coordinating the resource usage

Frequency Selective Scheduling (FSS), which improves performance in the case of frequency selective fading and fractional inter-cell interference. FSS consists of Channel Aware Scheduling (CAS) and Interference Aware Scheduling (IAS). The field measurements demonstrate 30% gains for the cell edge data rates. QoS differentiation, which improves cell edge performance by allocating more resources for the users in weak channel conditions. QoS can be utilized to maintain the data rate for example for video streaming services. Further flexibility is obtained by using operator specific QoS Class Identifier (QCI) values. The minimum guaranteed cell edge data rate can also be obtained using a Nominal Bit Rate (NBR) solution, which works even without any guaranteed bit rate QoS classes. The cell edge prioritization has only a minor impact on the cell aggregate throughput capacity; in a typical case,cell edge throughput can be improved by 30% and the number of satisfied subscribers increased, at a cost of 5% sacrifice in cell throughput capacity. Interference aware uplink power control, which considers the adjacent cells when allocating the uplink transmission power. The feature minimizes inter-cell interference and helps to boost the uplink data rates.

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 Intra-frequency load balancing helps when the load in the adjacent cells is not balanced. The idea is to modify handover parameters based on the information exchange of X2 interface. If there are double the users in the adjacent cell, the intra-frequency load balancing can improve the cell edge data rate by 30%. Multi-cell scheduling can reduce the power levels (muting or related variants) in adjacent cells to minimize the interference. The multi-cell scheduling coordinates resource allocation between multiple cells in the time and frequency domains, using a judicious selection of users and power levels in multiple cells to maximally combine the benefits of frequency-selective scheduling and spectral efficiency gain due to reduced interference. The coordination occurs between the sectors of one base station, or over X2+ interface between the base stations. The multi-cell scheduling requires base station time synchronization and can improve cell edge performance by 20%. TD-LTE base stations must be synchronized, while the synchronization of LTE FDD base stations is not mandatory and not typically used by FDD operators. As in a synchronized network, the reference signals overlap in adjacent cells. Therefore, UEs should preferably support cancellation

of common reference signals for better performance. Enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC) minimizes inter-cell interference in heterogeneous networks (HetNet) between macro and small cells in the time domain when deployed in the same frequency carrier. eICIC provides data rate benefits especially when there are multiple small cells under one macro cell. The eICIC technique can improve the data rates by over 50% in a high density small cell deployment scenario. These techniques benefit from Release 10 and 11 terminals due to their special eICIC and interference cancellation capabilities. Some gains can be achieved with Release 8 legacy terminals as well. eICIC can be further enhanced with fast coordination control running at the macro site, either via X2+ or when the small cells are deployed as lowpower Remote Radio Heads (RRH). Smart Scheduler use cases, features and gains are presented in Figures 3 and 4. Figure 4 illustrates macro cell gains achieved by combining individual scheduling functionalities, with the exception of eICIC. Additional gains can be obtained with eICIC in HetNet scenarios.

Use case
Fractional inter-cell interference Unbalanced loading between cells HetNet Minimum cell edge rate required Fractional inter-cell interference Frequency selective fading

Feature
Multi-cell scheduling Intra- and inter-frequency load balancing eICIC QoS differentation and nominal bit rate FSS including Interference Aware Scheduling (IAS) and Channel Aware Scheduling (CAS) Lower gain

Highest gain

Baseline scheduler

Figure 3. Smart Scheduler use cases and solutions

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120% 100% 80% 60% 40%

Multi-cell scheduling Intra-frequency load balancing Nominal bit rate and QoS Frequency selective scheduling

20% 0% Cell edge Average

Figure 4. Smart Scheduler downlink data rate gains with non-ideal backhaul. FSS and QoS gains are obtained from field measurements and the other gains from demo/trial setups

2.1 Frequency Selective Scheduling

Multipath propagation in the mobile environment results in frequency selective fading. For this reason, Frequency Selective Scheduling (FSS) is the most important part of the Smart Scheduler. The typical coherence bandwidth of the macro cell channel is 1-2 MHz, and therefore, faded and non-faded frequencies exist within one LTE carrier. LTE radio uses Orthogonal Frequency Division

Multiple Access (OFDMA) in downlink and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) in uplink. FSS thus allows using those parts of the carrier (called Physical Resource Blocks), which are not faded for the transmission. The concept is illustrated in Figure 5. The information about channel fading can be obtained from UE CQI reports in downlink and from Sounding Reference Symbols (SRS) in uplink.

Carrier bandwith Resource block

Transmit on those resource blocks that are not faded

Figure 5. Frequency Selective Scheduling to minimize fading impact

Frequency

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Fractional load in adjacent cell

UE reports subband CQI

CQI 1 (low) CQI 2 (high) CQI 3 (high) CQI 4 (low) CQI 5 (low) CQI 6 (high) CQI 7 (high) CQI 8 (high)

Frequency selective scheduling

Frequency

Interfering cell

UE A

Target cell

No transmission Transmission in adjacent cell

Transmission to UE A

Transmission to other UEs

Figure 6. Frequency Selective Scheduling (FSS) to minimize inter-cell interference

FSS can also be applied to avoid inter-cell interference. Figure 6 provides an example where the interfering cell is partially loaded. The UE is connected to the target cell but receives strong interference from the adjacent interfering cell. The UE reports subband CQI values in the frequency domain to the target cell. Low CQI values are reported on those subbands where the interfering cell has ongoing transmission, while high CQI values are reported in other subbands. FSS in the target cell prioritizes an allocation of those downlink physical resource blocks to the UE where the interference to this UE is lowest. Other resource blocks in the target cell can then be allocated to other UEs that do not receive interference from the adjacent cell. Benefits of FSS include: Effective inter-cell interference coordination without the need for explicit inter-BTS coordination

Utilization of UE CQI reports for interference mitigation and without the need for coordination signalling between the base stations Improved cell edge data rates as well as total cell capacity As part of the Smart Scheduler concept, the underlying link adaptation function is very critical for the success of features such as FSS. The quality of the reporting from each active terminal is constantly monitored and evaluated in order to improve the quality of the scheduler decisions, overruling the UE recommendations where needed. With such methods, Nokia Siemens Networks has in numerous field and lab trials demonstrated the practical value of FSS. Figure 7 documents the benefit of FSS for cell edge performance and total cell capacity based on field measurement results from a system with 10 MHz bandwidth.

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Cell edge throughput

3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 FSS off FSS on

Cell capacity
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 FSS off FSS on

Figure 7. Field measurements with Frequency Selective Scheduling (FSS) in downlink

3. Multi-cell Smart Scheduler

Further performance improvements can be obtained by explicitly coordinating the resource allocation in the adjacent base stations. The network architecture options for supporting multi-cell scheduling are shown in Figure 8. coordination from its neighboring base stations to aid a certain user at the cell edge can still take into account FSS gains for that user. FSS gains can thus be fully preserved, while also adding those achieved from multi-cell coordination. The evolution from fully distributed architecture to multi-cell coordination over X2+ is a straight-forward software upgrade no need for any new network elements or new interface. It is important to note that fast local coordination can be implemented between the cells in one base station without any inter-base station coordination. This approach is also the basis for HetNets, where small cells are coordinated by the nearest macro cell using Enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC).

3.1 Distributed RAN with X2+ and non-ideal backhaul

Todays LTE architecture (99% of deployments) is depicted in Figure 8a using non-ideal backhaul with microwave radio, IP connected fiber or copper based transport. The multi-cell scheduling needs to coordinate the resource usage in adjacent base stations over non-ideal backhaul while still fully utilizing FSS gains in fast scheduling. The coordination between cells of different base stations will utilize X2+ interface. Each scheduler requesting

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a) Distributed RAN with X2+ and non-ideal backhaul X2+

b) Distributed RAN with slow centralized scheduling and non-ideal backhaul Coordinated scheduling

c) Centralized RAN with fast centralized scheduling and dark fiber connection Super-eNB (baseband pool) Common packet scheduling

eNB#1 Coordinated scheduling (inter-eNB) Fast local scheduling

eNB#1 Coordinated scheduling (inter-eNB) Fast local scheduling

X3 eNB#1 Fast local ... scheduling eNB#N Fast local scheduling ...

Figure 8. Network architecture options for explicit multi-cell scheduling

3.2 Distributed RAN with slow centralized scheduling and non-ideal backhaul
Another architecture alternative is shown in Figure 8b adding a new centralized network element for coordinating the distributed schedulers. A new interface between base stations and the centralized scheduler is denoted as X3. Involving an additional interface and information exchange to an additional entity has a negative impact on the responsiveness of this architecture. The distributed base stations still run fast local scheduling, while the centralized element can only set scheduling limitations to minimize the interference. The performance gain of the centralized element is similar to the coordination over X2+ interface. 3GPP standardization is required for X3 to become multivendor capable.

also referred to as Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) and is comparable to a super-sized base station. C-RAN enables the most advanced multi-cell coordination because all the functionalities are in the same location: link adaptation, power control, fast FSS and multi-cell coordination. C-RAN architecture also enables Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) functionality as defined in 3GPP Release 11. C-RAN provides clear benefits but the practical implementation is challenging given the limited availability of wide dark fiber connection to RF sites. The centralized architecture also implies that there is a single point of failure and requirements for availability are higher than in a distributed architecture. The most typical architecture scenario globally is multi-cell coordination over X2+ interface. Studies show that other scheduling features, like FSS, are more important than multi-cell scheduling and FSS should be implemented first. Multi-cell scheduling also increases deployment complexity given the synchronization requirement and implementation should take into account the 3GPP Release 12 work to be completed during 2H/2014. Preferably, multi-cell scheduling should be implemented through a software upgrade without any new network element.

3.3 Centralized RAN with fast centralized scheduling and dark fiber connection
The final multi-cell architecture shown in Figure 8c is centralized scheduling using a baseband pool and assuming that ideal backhaul is available. The baseband pool architecture requires low latency and direct dark fiber connection between the RF heads and the baseband pool. The baseband pool is

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4. Further Evolution of LTE Scheduling

3GPP is working with enhanced LTE performance in Release 12, and 3GPP initiated a new study item Enhanced CoMP for LTE in June 2013. The target is to evaluate the benefits of multi-cell scheduling with non-ideal backhaul, and to define the required interfaces and signalling messages to support multi-cell scheduling. The options of Figure 8a and Figure 8b will likely be considered as reference architectures. The earlier CoMP work in 3GPP Releases 10 and 11 considered only ideal backhaul, which is not feasible for most LTE deployments. Further related work items in 3GPP are UE interference cancellation and network assisted UE interference cancellation. The target is to cancel the inter-cell interference by UE baseband algorithms. These advanced UE receivers can improve cell edge performance considerably. Both performance enhancements in 3GPP should be considered jointly in optimizing the cell edge performance: if UE is able to cancel inter-cell interference, there is less gain in explicit coordination and no need to mute the strongest interferer in the adjacent cells.

Enhanced CoMP (Multi-cell scheduling)

UE interference cancellation

Mute the strongest interferer

Cancel the impact of the strongest interferer

Figure 9. Work items in 3GPP Release 12 for improving cell edge data rates

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5. Summary
While LTE radio has been highly standardized by 3GPP, the network algorithms including packet scheduling are not standardized. Packet scheduling in LTE has the freedom to control the resource allocation in both the time and frequency domains. The Smart Scheduler can push the cell edge data rates by more than100% in the presence of inter-cell interference compared to baseline wideband scheduling, and improve the cell capacity by over 20%. The essential component of the Smart Scheduler is Frequency Selective Scheduling that avoids fading and interference in the frequency domain combined with Quality of Service differentiation and intrafrequency load balancing. Further cell edge gains can be obtained through multi-cell scheduling. Multi-cell scheduling is a simple software upgrade to the distributed base stations. Scheduling information is shared between base stations over X2+ interface. The detailed standardization of multi-cell coordination is expected in 3GPP Release 12. The most advanced multi-cell coordination can be obtained with baseband pooling in Centralized RAN. The baseband pool deployment assumes direct fiber connection between baseband and RF sites. A 3GPP study item started in June 2013 aims to evaluate multi-cell scheduling options with non-ideal backhaul.

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Smart Scheduler White Paper

6. Abbreviations
3GPP BTS CoMP CQI C-RAN eICIC FDD FSS LTE OFDMA QoS RRH SC-FDMA SRS UE Third Generation Partnership Project Base Station Coordinated Multipoint Channel Quality Information Centralized Radio Access Network Enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination Frequency Division Duplex Frequency Selective Scheduling Long Term Evolution Orthogonal Frequency Division M Quality of Service Remote Radio Head Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access Sounding Reference Symbols User Equipment

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Nokia Siemens Networks P.O. Box 1 FI-02022 NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS Finland Visiting address: Karaportti 3, ESPOO, Finland Switchboard +358 71 400 4000 (Finland) Switchboard +49 89 5159 01 (Germany) Order No. C401-00801-WP-201307-1-EN Copyright 2013 Nokia Siemens Networks. All rights reserved.
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