[Ashwani Kumar] [Ericsson]

Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN)

Current architecture of Radio Access Network (RAN) is soon reaching the limit of sustaining the
amount of data traffic on the network. Especially in population concentrated areas, such as major
stations and giant commercial complexes, it is no longer acceptable to simply increase the
number of base stations (BTS) in order to provide smooth network accesses to users, for various
reasons.
One reason is the cost effectiveness of building BTS. Each BTS needs a complete system, from
power sources, backup battery, cooling, and monitoring system. However, when there are many
BTS in concentrated areas, average utilization of each BTS goes down significantly although the
cost of each BTS remains the same. Interference among BTS is another reason. More BTS being
built in close range, there are more chances that the same frequency range will be used by
multiple BTS.
To overcome such problems, Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) was invented, with the
following concepts in mind:
1. Centralized Deployment
2. Collaborative Radio
3. Real-time Cloud Computing
4. Clean system

A single master base station of C-RAN can connect multiple Remote Radio Heads (RRH), so that
BTS controls are centralized. This scheme can greatly improve the utilization of processing
resources, and at the same time, provide versatile coverage to large areas with a combination of
macro cells and small cells (Figure 1).
Figure 1: C-RAN Architecture

To enhance the capabilities of C-RAN further, Advanced C-RAN architecture is already in
development. The advanced architecture incorporates "Add-on Cell" which uses different
frequency ranges to avoid interferences and even supports higher throughput (Figure 2). The new
technology uses Carrier Aggregation, one of the key features of LTE-Advanced, and is extensible
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to the maximum downlink throughput of 3Gbps. With the capability to support up to 48 cells, C-
RAN paves way for new possibility in mobile broadband.
Figure 2: Advanced C-RAN Architecture

Figure 3: Carrier Aggregation

Sharp Rise in Heavy C-plane Traffic
A Lesson Learned from NTT docomo's Network Collapse
Subscribers in Japan have recently encountered a series of large scale network outages. NTT
docomo had total of 5 outages in 7 months from June 2011 to January 2012, and KDDI has 5
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outages in 10 months from April 2011 to February 2012. The impact of the incidents was so
severe that it has led the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry in Japan order the service
operators to a total investigation of the whole network capacity and detail reporting.
It was clear that the explosion in the number of smartphones has been the reason for these
outages. The smartphone's control plane (C-plane) traffic surges 2 to 5 times of feature phones,
and user plane (U-plane) traffic as much as 10 times. Service providers are eager to promote
smartphones to generate data traffic revenues, but as a result, the sharp rise in data traffic has
exceeded network capacity and it is causing frequent service disruptions.
Smartphones have two distinguishable characteristics from feature phones, i.e., the larger amount
of data traffic and the higher network access frequency. Obviously, large data traffic can ultimately
lead to service disruptions, but the same can be said of the network access frequency.
Radio resources are shared among all subscribers, and large data traffic can easily create a
bottleneck by heavily utilizing the resources. When they are fully occupied, the data throughput
and accessibility for all subscribers is seriously affected. Likewise, frequent network access can
also affect the network, but in a different way. The high network access frequency causes
unexpectedly high amount of C-plane traffic, and it creates a very high stress on core network
processing. When it exceeds the networks processing capability, it can take down all the mobile
services in the area (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Two Major Challenges for Cellular Network

Starting from some of the population-concentrated spots, this type of outages has spread across
major cities in Japan and affected millions of subscribers in Japan since 2010. The root cause of
the outages is found to be the sharp rise in C-plane traffic (Figure 2). (Refer to this article) NTT
docomo's Executive Vice President Fumio Iwasaki told, "Our estimate (of the communication
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volume) was insufficient . . . We apologize to our subscribers for causing the trouble," at a news
conference.
Figure 2: C-plane Traffic

Boosting a Network Capacity for C-plane Traffic

Service operators have reacted by boosting a network capacity and reducing the number of C-
plane messages per network access. NTT docomo and other operators have already reinforced
their networks with a number of powerful packet switches and revised their C-plane processing
software.
Not only to avoid rising CAPEX, but new technologies are introduced for more efficient C-plane
processing. One of such examples is Fast Dormancy. If terminal and network support this
specification, the number of C-plane messages can become one third of the current volume.
Some of the popular smartphones, such as iPhones, have already implemented Fast Dormancy,
and the service operators in Japan are preparing to support this feature from 2011 to 2013.
Reducing the Number of Messages in C-plane Traffic
C-plane messages are generated by terminals to set up and release the radio links. These
messages represent only a very limited amount of bandwidth, yet C-plane fault can trigger fatal
disruptions of the radio link. In case of NTT docomo, sharp rise in C-plane traffic of smartphones
has overloaded the packet switches and brought down the network. Frequent network access
causes terminals to transmit C-plane messages to set up, but then soon release the radio link
upon idle timeout from no data activity. Multiple background applications can add up to create a
high load of C-plane traffic, resulting in high load processing in core network, so reducing C-plane
messages is one of the main challenges to be resolved.
Underestimating C-plane Traffic
NTT docomo has admitted they have underestimated the amount of C-plane traffic generated by
smartphones. NTT docomo's spokesperson Mr. Hiramatsu told that C-plane traffic can create the
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high stress environment not only for radio access but for the core network. The reason behind the
high stress comes from the mechanism where C-plane messages re-write data on radio network
controllers (RNC) and packet switches (PS).
CEO of NTT docomo Mr. Yamada also told that NTT docomo was focusing solely on handling the
bursting user traffic. NTT docomo introduced new packet switches on January 25, 2012 in
response to the network incidents.
Core network nodes keep logical connections for certain periods, told Ericsson Japan CTO Mr.
Fujisawa. However, physical radio links are set up and released frequently to increase radio
usage efficiency. While NTT docomo had increased simultaneous connection capacity from 880K
to 1.8M by introducing new packet switches to accommodate smartphone traffic, C-plane
performance was reduced from 27.5M to 14.1M packets per hour. However, before the packet
switches were reinforced, sharp rise in C-plane traffic attacked the NTT docomo's network (Figure
3).
Figure 3: Underestimating PS Performance

Introducing Fast Dormancy
At the current rate, just reinforcing packet switches can lead to limitless CAPEX. To avoid the
increased cost, a new technology called Fast Dormancy is introduced in 3GPP Release 8 to
reduce C-plane messages to one third (Figure 4). Fast Dormancy specifies intermediate state
(PCH) to avoid frequent return to idle state. Newer iPhone has already integrated this technology
and so have some of the Android phones, depending on the chipset. In addition, Android 4.0
implements a new mechanism to reduce C-plane messages.
Figure 4: Fast Dormancy
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Conclusion
Today's rapidly changing cellular network environments create a challenge for service operators,
especially by the wide spread of smartphones. No longer are the service disruptions unusual
incidents, highly congested networks became the major issues in most major cities in the world.
Fast increasing smartphones are responsible for high congestion in terms of network capacity, but
more importantly, the associated C-plane traffic is causing fatal damage to take down mobile
services. The need for comprehensive testing including C-plane performance testing is increasing
for both vendors and operators to know the true limit of their network capacities. To better prepare
for the worst case scenarios, it is highly recommended to evaluate communication nodes of radio
access and core networks with total testing solution, such as Artiza LTE Tester DuoSIM.
LTE-Advanced Tutorial
LTE Breakthrough to Real 4G
In the spring of 2009, 3GPP LTE Release 8 (LTE Rel.8) specification was completed, and it has
triggered LTE service deployment by leading mobile network operators. LTE Rel.8 has set various
target requirements for LTE, designed to achieve higher system performance than HSPA in 3GPP
Release 6. It has improved system capacity, cell edge user throughput and lower C/U-plane
latency, supported by introduction of new radio interface technologies, such as OFDM, frequency
domain scheduling and MIMO. In the following year, spring of 2010, 3GPP LTE Release 9 (LTE
Rel.9) has also been completed to extend various functionalities in LTE Rel.8. The area of
enhancement includes closed subscriber group (CSG), self-organizing network (SON), and new
functionalities such as location information service and MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast and
Multicast Service).
The next important milestone is the standardization of LTE-Advanced (LTE Rel.10 and beyond).
To keep up with the today's rapidly growing traffic, especially by the wide spread of smart phone
devices, it became necessary to further enhance LTE Rel.9 and achieve much higher level of
system performance, while keeping the backward compatibility. Accordingly, the radio access
interface specifications for LTE-Advanced has been developed in the beginning of 2011. ITU-T
has announced new requirements including spectral efficiency, higher bandwidth, and lower
latency. To meet these competitive requirements, a series of new technologies have been
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discussed to introduce into LTE-Advanced, such as Carrier Aggregation, Enhanced Uplink Multi-
antenna Transmission, and CoMP Transmission/Reception. LTE-Advanced will enable 1Gbps
downlink bandwidth in addition to the existing LTE service and open a new era of true wireless
broadband services in the near future.
Figure 1: Standardization Schedule

LTE-Advanced services will become available from leading mobile network operators around
2014. Additional features include higher downlink bandwidth and non-contiguous spectra usage to
further enhance the current LTE services.
Evaluation Results against ITU-R Technical Criteria
ITU-R has specified minimum requirements and evaluation criteria for IMT-Advanced in the eight
technical areas as listed below.
Peak spectral efficiency
Cell spectral efficiency
Cell edge user spectral efficiency
Bandwidth
Latency
Mobility
Handover interruption time
VoIP capacity
3GPP TR 36.912 V9.0.0 (2009-09) describes the detailed evaluation results for the ITU-R
technical criteria. The 3GPP self-evaluation concluded that LTE Rel.10 & beyond (LTE-
Advanced), SRIT (Set of Radio Interface Technology), individual FDD RIT (FDD Radio Interface
Technology) and TDD RIT (TDD Radio Interface Technology) components completely satisfied
the criteria of the decision step and should move forward to Step 7 of the process. It concluded
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that, "consequently, the 3GPP LTE Release 10 & beyond (LTE-Advanced) technology should be
included in the ITU-R IMT-Advanced terrestrial component radio interface Recommendation(s)."
DL/UL Acceleration Technologies
There are series of technologies in LTE-Advanced as shown in Figure 2. But new MIMO and
Carrier Aggregation (CA) are the two key technologies for DL/UL acceleration. These
technologies will improve communication performance and expand the effective bandwidth,
enabling the maximum downlink speed of even up to 3 Gbps as shown Figure 3.
Figure 2: New Technology Adaptation into LTE-Advanced

Figure 3: DL Acceleration with CA and MIMO

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Carrier Aggregation
Carrier Aggregation (CA) is an innovative approach to create wider bandwidth by using multiple
aggregated Carrier Components (CCs). LTE Rel.10 adopts the CA technique to increase spectral
bandwidth up to 100 MHz using multiple CCs. The aggregated CCs must be on compatible
spectral bandwidth supported by LTE Rel.8 (i.e., 1.4 MHz/3 MHz/5 MHz/10 MHz/15 MHz/20
MHz). It allows seamless migration into LTE Rel.10 by re-utilizing LTE Rel.8 eNB along with radio
frequency (Figure 4), adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR), spectrum emission mask (SEM),
adjacent channel selectivity (ACS) and blocking.
As the LTE Rel.10 UEs are backward-compatible to LTE Rel.8 standards, it has great advantage
on reducing redundant implementation with this approach. Thus, CA-enabled LTE Rel.10 UE
would achieve higher user throughput than LTE Rel.8.
There are three types of CA, depending on CC combination as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 4: Carrier Aggregation

Figure 5: Three Types of Carrier Aggregation
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1. Intra-band Contiguous CA
Contiguous bandwidth wider than 20 MHz is used in this scenario. For example, wideband such
as 3.5 GHz band would fit this model.
2. Inter-band Non-contiguous CA
Non-contiguous band over multiple bands is used in this scenario. Network with two spectrum
bands (i.e., 2 GHz and 800 MHz) would fit this model. This scenario would have advantage on
having higher throughput simply by two carriers as well as the improvement on stable
transmission by two different spatial paths on different spectrum bands.
3. Intra-band Non-contiguous CA
Non-contiguous band in same band is used in this scenario. This model would fit operators in
North America or Europe, who have fragmental spectrum in one band or share same cellular
network.
CA Scenarios
There are four possible CA Scenarios in real LTE-Advanced deployment.
(a) Multiple CCs over contiguous bandwidth (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Overlapped Coverage
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(b) CCs over different bands with different coverage in cells (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Different Coverage

(c) CCs cover cell edges of different CC cells (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Cell Edge Beamforming

(d) Macro-coverage with lower CC and Hotspot with RRH (Remote Radio Head) (Figure 9).

Figure 9: RRH Integration
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New MIMO Techniques
LTE Rel.8 supported up to four layers of MIMO multiplexing for downlink and no MIMO for uplink.
LTE-Advanced supports single user MIMO (SU-MIMO) scheme up to eight layers (8x8 MIMO) for
downlink and four layers (4x4 MIMO) for uplink. With this technology, it achieves peak spectral
efficiency of 30 bit/s/Hz for downlink and 15 bit/sec/Hz for uplink. In other words, single 20MHz
bandwidth to achieve up to 600Mbps downlink speed.
Figure 10: Closed-Loop MIMO (4x4 MIMO rank-2)

Figure 11: Rank Adaptation
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Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) is also the important technology to increase peak data rate as well
as the system capacity and cell edge user throughput. MU-MIMO and CoMP transmission, which
will be described later, are applying various advanced signal processing techniques, e.g.
dedicated downlink beamforming, adaptive transmission power control, and multi cell
simultaneous transmission.
CoMP Techniques
Coordinated multi-point transmission/reception (CoMP) is a DL/UL orthogonalization technique to
improve system capacity and cell edge user throughput. Currently, there are two different
approaches for CoMP techniques (Figure 12). One approach is a decentralized autonomous
control based on independent eNB architecture, and the other is a centralized control based on
remote radio equipment (RRE) architecture.
In the approach with independent eNB architecture, CoMP is performed by signaling between
eNBs. This technique can utilize legacy cells, but the disadvantage is signaling delay and other
overheads. In the second approach with RRE technique, the eNB can centralize and control all
the radio resource by transmitting baseband data directly between eNB and RREs on optical fiber
connections. There is little signaling delay or other overheads in this technique, and Intra-cell
radio resource control is relatively easy. However, CAPEX on optical fibers is not negligible, and
centralized eNB must be able to accept higher load according to the number of RREs. Therefore,
both approaches are under consideration for LTE-Advanced.
Figure 12: Centralized/Autonomous Decentralized Control

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1. Downlink CoMP
Downlink CoMP also has two approaches under consideration for LTE-Advanced, i.e.,
Coordinated Scheduling/Beamforming (CS/CB) (Figure 13) and Joint Processing (Figure 14).
In CS/CB, the transmission to a single UE is performed from the serving cell, exactly as in the
case of non-CoMP transmission. However, the scheduling is dynamically coordinated between
the cells, including any beamforming functionality. In that way, the interference between different
transmissions can be controlled and reduced. In principle, schedule optimization will be performed
based on the serving set of users, so that the transmitter beams are constructed to reduce
interference to other neighboring user, while increasing the served users signal strength.
In Joint Transmission feature of Joint Processing, the transmission to a single UE is
simultaneously performed from multiple transmission points in practice cell sites. The multi-point
transmissions will be coordinated as a single transmitter with multiple antennas that are
geographically separated. This scheme has the potential for higher performance, compared to
CS/CB, but comes at the expense of more stringent requirement on backhaul communication.
Figure 13: Centralized/Autonomous Decentralized Control

Figure 14: Centralized/Autonomous Decentralized Control

2. Uplink CoMP
Uplink CoMP utilizes geographically separated antennas for signal reception from UE, and
scheduling decisions are coordinated by multiple cells to control interference from each other. UE
is not aware of multi-cell reception of its signal, so that impact on radio interface specification is at
minimal. Implementation of Uplink CoMP largely depends on scheduler and receiver in the cells.
Deployment Possibilities
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Deployment of the first LTE-Advanced service is expected to be around 2013 to 2014, with limited
set of features. Not all the advanced technologies will be implemented in the beginning, but the
rest will be "added-on" as the various conditions are cleared. Such conditions may include radio
regulations, frequency allocations, and some technical barriers. Many of the new features are
expected to be software upgrades on LTE nodes.
Unlike the general expectations of 4G, LTE-Advanced will not initially reach 1 Gbps or even 600
Mbps. One of the biggest reasons is the spectrum, which is strictly controlled by the governments.
Currently, only the 3.5 GHz spectrum is going to be assigned for wireless broadband (in Japan),
but it will not become available until 2014 to 2015. NTT docomo has announced its plan to start
LTE-Advanced service with 40 MHz bandwidth on the 3.5GHz spectrum, which is enough to
achieve 1.2 Gbps speed theoretically. However, 8x8 MIMO required for such link speed will not be
technically possible by 2015.
On the other hand, LTE services on 2 GHz spectrum will be able to provide around 100 Mbps
bandwidth in 2015. LTE-Advanced will only achieve the same speed as the existing LTE services
at this point, or in the best case, it may be able to reach up to 300 Mbps with 2x2 MIMO and
Carrier Aggregation on 40 MHz bandwidth. Thus, LTE-Advanced will not initially achieve full spec
services, but it only indicates the roadmap for the future enhancements.
LTE-Advanced is the real 4G specification that greatly enhances the performance of existing LTE
services. Although the maximum link speed may not greatly exceed the current LTE in the initial
stage, deployment of LTE-Advanced will be an important milestone to set clear path for the
beginning of true wireless broadband.
Essential Performance Testing
Performance Testing Not Optional
Most vendors recognize functional testing as mandatory and as an important part of product
development in the early phases. A significant amount of engineering effort is made on functional
testing, but unfortunately, few vendors make similar effort on performance testing. In some cases,
it is even seen as completely optional. In reality, neglecting performance testing can be very
dangerous. It is the last defense to detect performance issues and even functional issues that
occur only when a large number of UEs are involved. Products without performance testing are
far from perfect and cannot be ready to ship out to customers. It is important to realize how much
OPEX must be spent for fixing endless service problems, and also that tremendous amount of
those problems can be avoided by spending upfront CAPEX on performance testing. It can end
up with 100 times more expensive without performance testing. Thus, LTE eNB/EPC performance
testing is vital for vendors as well as for service operators.
Figure 1: Positioning of Functional and Performance Testing
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Performance Testing Needed at Every Release
Performance Testing is the type of testing that needs continuous usage, whereas Functional
Testing is most used in the early phase of product development and at the first release of
products (i.e., Ver1 in Figure 2). For the second and later releases (i.e., Ver2, Ver3 and so on),
Functional Testing is limited and usually performed on newly added enhanced functionality only.
On the other hand, Performance Testing takes a more important role to ensure that new
enhancement does not make any degradation in terms of product performance. In the long run,
Performance Testing is the only tool to promise final quality upon release after release.
Figure 2: Performance Testing at Every Release

Performance Testing Finds More Critical Issues
Functional Testing can find functional issues that are easy-to-reproduce and easy-to-fix. It may be
enough in the first stage of product development, but in later stages, it is necessary to use
Performance Testing to find more critical issues and performance related problems which are
found only under high load conditions. Usually, when problems are found under higher load, it is
more difficult and takes longer time to resolve. Performance Testing can find a number of such
critical issues, and they are usually identified as one of the five major groups.
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Functional Issues on Massive UE connections
Performance Requirement Not Reached
Function Block Stability Issues at Max Performance
Critical Timing Issues in Inter-Function Block Communications
Sustainability Issues
Figure 3: LTE eNB Function Block

Problems Found by Performance Testing
Artiza LTE Testers have been used worldwide to find a number of critical issues, and saved
vendors and operators from major service problems. Table 1 lists some of the typical issues that
are found from performance testing with Artiza LTE Testers.
Table 1: Typical Problems Found on Performance Testing by Artiza LTE Tester
No eNB Problem Description Detected TDD/FDD
1 No RACH response on a number of
simultaneous RACH preamble
Detected by MAC statistics on UE-SIM TDD
2 RRCConnectionReject on a number
of simultaneous attach sequence
Detected by Message Monitor on UE-SIM TDD
3 Teardown on S1 and Uu by UL rate
exceeding a threshold
Detected by Message Monitor on UE-SIM TDD
4 No radio transmission after 72-hour
sustainability test
Detected by UE-SIM SIR monitor TDD
5 Occasional no return of RAR with Detected by Message Monitor on UE-SIM. eNB FDD
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multiple UE connections shows CPU usage reaches 70%
6 Out of sync on DL transmission at
150 Mbps
Detected by Message Monitor on UE-SIM FDD
7 No retransmission on MAC/RLC
layers with massive UE connections
Detected by MAC/RLC statistics on UE-SIM FDD
8 No UL grant assignment for a
number of simultaneous UE
connections
Detected by MAC statistics on UE-SIM FDD
9 No attach completion with Burst
Generation
Detected by Message Trace and MAC statistics
on UE-SIM
TDD
10 eNB halt/reboot during 12-hour
sustainability test
Detected by statistics on UE-SIM and S1/X2-
SIM
FDD






















What is LTE?
LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the project name of a new high performance air interface for cellular
mobile communication systems. It is the last step toward the 4th generation (4G) of radio
technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks. Where
the current generation of mobile telecommunication networks are collectively known as 3G, LTE is
marketed as 4G.
According to 3GPP, a set of high level requirements was identified
Reduced cost per bit
Increased service provisioning more services at lower cost with better user experience
Flexibility of use of existing and new frequency bands
Simplified architecture, Open interfaces
Allow for reasonable terminal power consumption
Figure 1: Roadmap to 4G
-19-

Although there are major step changes between LTE and its 3G predecessors, it is nevertheless
looked upon as an evolution of the UMTS / 3GPP 3G standards. Although it uses a different form
of radio interface, using OFDMA / SC-FDMA instead of CDMA, there are many similarities with
the earlier forms of 3G architecture and there is scope for much re-use. LTE can be seen for
providing a further evolution of functionality, increased speeds and general improved
performance.
Table 1: LTE and 3G/3.5G Specification (from NTT docomo Press Release)
3G WCDMA (R99) 3.5G HSPA LTE
Frequency Common frequency assigned for 3G
Bandwidth 5MHz 5/10/20MHz
Radio Access DS-CDMA DL: OFDMA
UL: SC-FDMA
Uplink Peak Rate 384kbps 5.7Mbps >50Mbps
Downlink Peak Rate 384kbps 14Mbps >100Mbps
LTE has introduced a number of new technologies when compared to the previous cellular
systems. They enable LTE to be able to operate more efficiently with respect to the use of
spectrum, and also to provide the much higher data rates that are being required.
OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex)
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.
MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output)
One of the main problems that previous telecommunications systems have encountered is that of
multiple signals arising from the many reflections that are encountered. 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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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 reduced and data can be routed more directly to its destination.
Requirement for LTE
The following target requirements were agreed among operators and vendors at the project to
define the evolution of 3G networks started.
Peak data rate
Instantaneous downlink peak data rate of 100 Mbps within a 20 MHz downlink spectrum allocation
(5 bps/Hz)
Instantaneous uplink peak data rate of 50 Mbps (2.5 bps/Hz) within a 20MHz uplink spectrum
allocation
Control-plane latency
Transition time of less than 100 ms from a camped state, such as Release 6 Idle Mode, to an
active state such as Release 6 CELL_DCH
Transition time of less than 50 ms between a dormant state such as Release 6 CELL_PCH and
an active state such as Release 6 CELL_DCH
Control-plane capacity
At least 200 users per cell should be supported in the active state for spectrum allocations up to 5
MHz
User-plane latency
Less than 5 ms in unload condition (i.e., single user with single data stream) for small IP packet
User throughput
Downlink: average user throughput per MHz, 3 to 4 times Release 6 HSDPA
Uplink: average user throughput per MHz, 2 to 3 times Release 6 Enhanced Uplink
Spectrum efficiency
Downlink: In a loaded network, target for spectrum efficiency (bits/sec/Hz/site), 3 to 4 times
Release 6 HSDPA
Uplink: In a loaded network, target for spectrum efficiency (bits/sec/Hz/site), 2 to 3 times Release
6 Enhanced Uplink
Mobility
E-UTRAN should be optimized for low mobile speed from 0 to 15 km/h
Higher mobile speed between 15 and 120 km/h should be supported with high performance
Mobility across the cellular network shall be maintained at speeds from 120 km/h to 350 km/h (or
even up to 500 km/h depending on the frequency band)
Coverage
Throughput, spectrum efficiency and mobility targets above should be met for 5 km cells, and with
a slight degradation for 30 km cells. Cells range up to 100 km should not be precluded.
Further Enhanced Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS)
While reducing terminal complexity: same modulation, coding, multiple access approaches and
UE bandwidth than for unicast operation.
Provision of simultaneous dedicated voice and MBMS services to the user.
Available for paired and unpaired spectrum arrangements.
Spectrum flexibility
E-UTRA shall operate in spectrum allocations of different sizes, including 1.25 MHz, 1.6 MHz, 2.5
MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz and 20 MHz in both the uplink and downlink. Operation in paired
and unpaired spectrum shall be supported
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The system shall be able to support content delivery over an aggregation of resources including
Radio Band Resources (as well as power, adaptive scheduling, etc) in the same and different
bands, in both uplink and downlink and in both adjacent and non-adjacent channel arrangements.
A "Radio Band Resource" is defined as all spectrum available to an operator
Co-existence and Inter-working with 3GPP Radio Access Technology (RAT)
Co-existence in the same geographical area and co-location with GERAN/UTRAN on adjacent
channels.
E-UTRAN terminals supporting also UTRAN and/or GERAN operation should be able to support
measurement of, and handover from and to, both 3GPP UTRAN and 3GPP GERAN.
The interruption time during a handover of real-time services between E-UTRAN and UTRAN (or
GERAN) should be less than 300 msec.
Architecture and migration
Single E-UTRAN architecture
The E-UTRAN architecture shall be packet based, although provision should be made to support
systems supporting real-time and conversational class traffic
E-UTRAN architecture shall minimize the presence of "single points of failure"
E-UTRAN architecture shall support an end-to-end QoS
Backhaul communication protocols should be optimized
Radio Resource Management requirements
Enhanced support for end to end QoS
Efficient support for transmission of higher layers
Support of load sharing and policy management across different Radio Access Technologies
Complexity
Minimize the number of options
No redundant mandatory features
We can find significantly higher data rate (50-100Mbps) and faster connection times as most
remarkable requirements relative to 3G/3.5G. In order to achieve the high data rate, 3GPP
decided to use OFDMA and MIMO together for radio access technology. LTE also introduce
scheduling for shared channel data, HARQ and AMC (Adaptive Modulation and Coding).
SAE Technology
System Architecture Evolution (SAE) is the network architecture and designed to simplify the
network to other IP based communications network. SAE uses an eNB and Access Gateway
(aGW) and removes the RNC and SGSN from the equivalent 3G network architecture, to make a
simpler mobile network. This allows the network to be built as an All-IP based network
architecture. SAE also includes entities to allow full inter-working with other related wireless
technology (WCDMA, WiMAX, WLAN, etc.). These entities can specifically manage and permit
the non-3GPP technologies to interface directly into the network and be managed from within the
same network.
Figure 2: SAE (System Architecture Evolution) and LTE Network
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Figure 3: LTE Network

Figure 4: Bearer Services in LTE/SAE Network
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E-UTRAN Architecture
In order to achieve the requirements in previous section, the LTE radio access network E-UTRAN
architecture is improved dynamically from 3G/3.5G radio access network UTRAN. It has been
changed to be flat from legacy hierarchy mobile network architecture. The functions of eNB in E-
UTRAN include not only base station (NodeB) to terminate radio interface but also Radio Network
Controller (RNC) to manage radio resource.
According to 3GPP TR 25.912, E-UTRAN is described as follows.
The evolved UTRAN consists of eNB, providing the evolved UTRAN U-plane and C-plane
protocol terminations towards the UE. The eNBs are interconnected with each other by means of
the X2 interfaces. It is assumed that there always exist an X2 interface between the eNBs that
need to communicate with each other, e.g., for support of handover of UEs in LTE_ACTIVE. The
eNBs are also connected by means of the S1 interface to the EPC (Evolved Packet Core). The S1
interface supports a many-to-many relation between aGWs and eNBs.
Figure 5: E-UTRAN Architecture
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Protocol Stack
C-plane protocol stack on Uu and S1-C interfaces is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: C-plane Protocol Stack on Uu (UE/eNB) and S1-C (eNB/MME)

C-plane protocol stack on Uu and X2-C interfaces is shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7: C-plane Protocol Stack on X2-C (eNB/eNB)
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U-plane protocol stack on Uu and S1-U interfaces is shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8: U-plane Protocol Stack on Uu (UE/eNB) and S1-U (eNB/MME)

C-plane protocol stack on Uu and X2-U interfaces is shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9: U-plane Protocol Stack between eNB/eNB

Physical Interface
According to Overview of 3GPP, LTE radio access technology is described as follows:
The multiple access scheme for the LTE physical layer is based on Orthogonal Frequency
Division Multiple Access (OFDM) with a Cyclic Prefix (CP) in the downlink and a Single Carrier
Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) with CP in the uplink.
OFDMA technique is particularly suited for frequency selective channel and high data rate. It
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transforms a wideband frequency selective channel into a set of parallel flat fading narrowband
channels, thanks to CP. This ideally, allows the receiver to perform a low complex equalization
process in frequency domain, i.e., 1 tap scalar equalization.
The baseband signal representing a downlink physical channel is defined in terms of the following
steps:
scrambling of coded bits in each of the code words to be transmitted on a physical channel
modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valued modulation symbols
mapping of the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers
precoding of the complex-valued modulation symbols on each layer for transmission on the
antenna ports
mapping of complex-valued modulation symbols for each antenna port to resource elements
generation of complex-valued time-domain OFDM signal for each antenna port
The baseband signal representing the physical uplink shared channel is defined in terms of the
following steps, as shown in the below figure:
scrambling
modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valued symbols
transform precoding to generate complex-valued symbols
mapping of complex-valued symbols to resource elements
generation of complex-valued time-domain SC-FDMA signal for each antenna port
Figure 10: Overview of downlink physical channel processing.

Figure 11: Overview of uplink physical channel processing.

OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)
One of the key elements of LTE is the use of OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex) as
the signal bearer and the associated access schemes, OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiple Access) and SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access).
OFDM is used in a number of other of systems from WLAN, WiMAX to broadcast technologies
including DVB and DAB. OFDM has many advantages including its robustness to multipath fading
and interference. In addition to this, even though, it may appear to be a particularly complicated
form of modulation, it lends itself to digital signal processing techniques. In view of its advantages,
the use of ODFM and the associated access technologies, OFDMA and SC-FDMA are natural
choices for the new LTE cellular standard. OFDM is a form of transmission that uses a large
number of close spaced carriers that are modulated with low rate data. Normally these signals
would be expected to interfere with each other, but by making the signals orthogonal to each
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another there is no mutual interference. This is achieved by having the carrier spacing equal to
the reciprocal of the symbol period. This means that when the signals are demodulated they will
have a whole number of cycles in the symbol period and their contribution will sum to zero - in
other words there is no interference contribution. The data to be transmitted is split across all the
carriers and this means that by using error correction techniques, if some of the carriers are lost
due to multi-path effects, then the data can be reconstructed. Additionally having data carried at a
low rate across all the carriers means that the effects of reflections and inter-symbol interference
can be overcome. It also means that single frequency networks, where all transmitters can
transmit on the same channel, can be implemented.
Figure 12: OFDMA

MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output)
MIMO is being used increasingly in many high data rate technologies including Wi-Fi and other
wireless and cellular technologies to provide improved levels of efficiency. Essentially MIMO
employs multiple antennas on the receiver and transmitter to utilize the multi-path effects that
always exist to transmit additional data, rather than causing interference.
The schemes employed in LTE again vary slightly between the uplink and downlink. The reason
for this is to keep the terminal cost low as there are far more terminals than base stations and as
a result terminal works cost price is far more sensitive.
For the downlink, a configuration of two transmit antennas at the base station and two receive
antennas on the mobile terminal is used as baseline, although configurations with four antennas
are also being considered.
For the uplink from the mobile terminal to the base station, a scheme called MU-MIMO (Multi-User
MIMO) is to be employed. Using this, even though the base station requires multiple antennas,
the mobiles only have one transmit antenna and this considerably reduces the cost of the mobile.
In operation, multiple mobile terminals may transmit simultaneously on the same channel or
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channels, but they do not cause interference to each other because mutually orthogonal pilot
patterns are used. This techniques is also referred to as spatial domain multiple access (SDMA).
Figure 13: 2 x 2 MIMO Channel Matrix

Physical Channel Structure
Downlink physical channels and downlink physical signals are as follows. Downlink physical
channels carry layer 2 information but downlink physical signals are only used by the physical
layer.
Downlink physical channels:
Physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)
Carries the DL-SCH and PCH. DL-SCH contains actual user data.
Physical downlink control channel(PDCCH)
Informs the UE about the resource allocation of PCH and DL-SCH, and HARQ information related
to DL-SCH. Carries the uplink scheduling grant.
Physical HARQ indicator channel (PHICH)
Carries ACK/NACKs in response to uplink transmissions.
Physical control format indicator channel(PCFICH)
Informs the UE about the number of OFDM symbols used for the PDCCHs; Transmitted in every
subframe.
Physical broadcast channel (PBCH)
The coded BCH transport block is mapped to four subframes within a 40 ms interval.
Downlink physical signals:
Reference signal
Synchronization signal (P-SS and S-SS)
Downlink physical channel and downlink physical signal structure is shown in Figure 14
Figure 14: Downlink Physical Channel Structure
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Uplink physical channels and uplink physical signals are as follows. Uplink physical channels
carries layer 2 information but uplink physical signals are only used by the physical layer.
Uplink physical channels:
Physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)
Carries the UL-SCH, ACK/NACK and CQI. UL-SCH contains actual user data.
Physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)
Carries ACK/NACKs in response to downlink transmission. Carries CQI (Channel Quality
Indicator) report and SR (Scheduling Request).
Physical random access channel (PRACH)
Carries random access preamble.
Uplink physical signals:
Demodulation reference signal (UL-RS), associated with transmission of PUSCH and
PUCCH.
Sounding reference signal (SRS), not associated with transmission of PUSCH and PUCCH.
Uplink physical channel and uplink physical signal structure is shown in Figure 15.
Figure 15: Uplink Physical Channel Structure
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Layer 2
Transport channels, Layer2 structure, Logical channels, and the procedures are introduced in this
section.
Transport Channels
Downlink transport channel types are:
Broadcast Channel (BCH) characterized by:
o fixed, pre-defined transport format
o requirement to be broadcast in the entire coverage area of the cell.
Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH) characterized by:
o support for HARQ
o support for dynamic link adaptation by varying the modulation, coding and transmit power
o possibility to be broadcast in the entire cell
o possibility to use beamforming
o support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation
o support for UE discontinuous reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving.
Paging Channel (PCH) characterized by:
o support for UE discontinuous reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving (DRX cycle is indicated
by the network to the UE)
o requirement to be broadcast in the entire coverage area of the cell
o mapped to physical resources which can be used dynamically also for traffic/other control
channels.
Multicast Channel (MCH) (from Release 9) characterized by:
o requirement to be broadcast in the entire coverage area of the cell
o support for MBSFN combining of MBMS transmission on multiple cells
o support for semi-static resource allocation e.g., with a time frame of a long cyclic prefix.
Uplink transport channel types are:
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Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) characterized by:
o possibility to use beamforming (likely no impact on specifications)
o support for dynamic link adaptation by varying the transmit power and potentially modulation and
coding
o support for HARQ
o support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation.
Random Access Channel(s) (RACH) characterized by:
o limited control information
o collision risk

Layer 2 Structure
According to 3GPP, Layer 2 structure consists of PDCP/RLC/MAC layers. Transport channels are
located between physical layer and MAC layer. MAC multiplexes RLC links and scheduling and
priority handling serving via logical channels. Layer 2 downlink and uplink structures are shown in
Figure 16 and Figure 17.
Figure 16: Layer 2 Downlink Structure

Figure 17: Layer 2 Uplink Structure
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Logical Channels
According to 3GPP, several types of data transfer services are offered by MAC. Each logical
channel type is defined by the type of information to be transferred.
A general classification of logical channels is into two groups:
Control Channels (for the transfer of control plane information)
Traffic Channels (for the transfer of user plane information).
Control Channels:
Control channels are used for transfer of control plane information only. The control channels
offered by MAC are:
Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH)
A downlink channel for broadcasting system control information.
Paging Control Channel (PCCH)
A downlink channel that transfers paging information and system information change notifications.
This channel is used for paging when the network does not know the location cell of the UE.
Common Control Channel (CCCH)
Channel for transmitting control information between UEs and network. This channel is used for
UEs having no RRC connection with the network.
Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH)
A point-to-point bi-directional channel that transmits dedicated control information between a UE
and the network. Used by UEs having an RRC connection.
Traffic Channels:
Traffic channels are used for the transfer of user plane information only. The traffic channels
offered by MAC are:
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Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH)
A Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point channel, dedicated to one UE, for the
transfer of user information. A DTCH can exist in both uplink and downlink.
Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH) (from Release 9)
A point-to-multipoint downlink channel for transmitting traffic data from the network to the UE. This
channel is only used by UEs that receive MBMS.
The figure below depicts the mapping between logical channels, transport channels and physical
channels for downlink and uplink:
Figure 18: Downlink Channel Mapping

Figure 19: Uplink Channel Mapping

RRC Protocol
According to 3GPP TS 36.331, the RRC protocol includes the following main functions:
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Broadcast of system information:
o Including NAS common information
o Information applicable for UEs in RRC_IDLE, e.g., cell (re-)selection parameters, neighboring cell
information and information (also) applicable for UEs in RRC_CONNECTED, e.g., common
channel configuration information.
o Including ETWS notification
RRC connection control:
o Paging
o Establishment/modification/release of RRC connection, including e.g., assignment/ modification of
UE identity (C-RNTI), establishment/ modification/ release of SRB1 and SRB2, access class
barring
o Initial security activation, i.e., initial configuration of AS integrity protection (SRBs) and AS
ciphering (SRBs, DRBs)
o RRC connection mobility including e.g., intra-frequency and inter-frequency handover, associated
security handling, i.e., key/ algorithm change, specification of RRC context information transferred
between network nodes
o Establishment/ modification/ release of RBs carrying user data (DRBs)
o Radio configuration control including e.g., assignment/ modification of ARQ configuration, HARQ
configuration, DRX configuration
o QoS control including assignment/ modification of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration
information for DL and UL, assignment/ modification of parameters for UL rate control in the UE,
i.e., allocation of a priority and a prioritized bit rate (PBR) for each RB
o Recovery from radio link failure
Inter-RAT mobility including e.g., security activation, transfer of RRC context information
Measurement configuration and reporting:
o Establishment/ modification/ release of measurements (e.g., intra-frequency, inter-frequency and
inter- RAT measurements)
o Setup and release of measurement gaps
o Measurement reporting
o Other functions including e.g., transfer of dedicated NAS information and non-3GPP dedicated
information, transfer of UE radio access capability information, support for E-UTRAN sharing
(multiple PLMN identities)
o Generic protocol error handling
o Support of self-configuration and self-optimization
NOTE: Random access is specified entirely in the MAC including initial transmission power
estimation.
Figure 20 : RRC States (from 3GPP TS 36.331)
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Signaling Radio Bearers (SRB) are defined as Radio bearers that are used only to transmit RRC
and NAS messages. SRBs are classified into
Signaling Radio Bearer 0: SRB0: RRC message using CCCH logical channel.
Signaling Radio Bearer 1: SRB1: is for transmitting NAS messages over DCCH logical channel.
Signaling Radio Bearer 2: SRB2: is for high priority RRC messages. Transmitted over DCCH
logical channel.
What is LTE eNB?
One of the biggest differences between LTE network and legacy mobile communication system
3G is a base station. There used to be intelligent and centralizing node like RNC (Radio Network
Controller) in 3G for example, and it needed to control all the radio resources and mobility over
multiple NodeB (3G base stations) underneath in hieratical radio access network (Figure 21). All
NodeB need to do is behave exactly according to command from RNC through Iub interface. In
LTE, on the other hand, eNB (evolved NodeB) as base station have to manage radio resource
and mobility in the cell and sector to optimize all the UEs communication in flat radio network
structure (Figure 22). Therefore, the performance of LTE eNB depends on radio resource
management algorithm and its implementation.
Figure 21: 3G Radio Access Network (UTRAN) Architecture
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Figure 22: E-UTRAN Architecture

LTE eNB Functions
According to overview of 3GPP Release 8, the eNB hosts the following functions:
Radio Resource Management
o Radio Bearer Control
o Radio Admission Control
o Connection Mobility Control
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o 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 when no routing to an MME can be determined from the
information provided by the UE
Routing of User Plane data towards Serving Gateway
Scheduling and transmission of paging messages (originated from the MME)
Scheduling and transmission of broadcast information (originated from the MME or O&M)
Measurement and measurement reporting configuration for mobility and scheduling
Figure 23: Functional Split between E-UTRAN and EPC

LTE eNB Architecture
In order to reduce Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) for LTE operators, most of equipment vendors
are developing LTE eNB using generic off-the-shelf platforms, such as ATCA, Micro-TCA, and
AMC in PICMG. On the other hand, legacy proprietary platforms have been used until 3G/3.5G
network era. Micro-TCA platform (see Figure 24) is one of the powerful options dedicated to
applying telecom equipment especially for the use in LTE eNB. Many component vendors are
developing modules based on general purpose Micro-TCA modules with powerful CPU, DSP, and
FPGA, with high speed memory with GbE I/F on front side. Each module in the platform can
communicate with not only GbE interface as control interface from server module but also with the
10Gbps Serial Rapid I/O (sRIO) interface. Micro-TCA Connection Handler (MCH) module enables
star topology on backplane, switching the packets from all of modules in the platform. 10GbE is
selectable for this start topology connection on Micro-TCA.
Figure 24: MicroTCA platform
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The sRIO interface is used for connection between Uu side baseband module and S1/X2 side
network I/F module. The baseband function and network interface function are usually
implemented on different modules, and connected with sRIO I/F over MCH. Most of equipment
developers use FPGAs for PHY/Baseband, DSPs or Network processors for Lower layer
protocols (HARQ/MAC/RLC), and CPUs or Network processors with operation system for PDCP
and upper layers, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: LTE eNB Implementation Example
Function Implementation
PHY/ Baseband FPGAs/ASSPs
Low layer protocol DSPs/Network processor
PDCP and upper layer
protocol
CPUs/Network processor with operation system
eNB vendors can minimize their development effort using generic components, not only with
hardware module but with intellectual property like baseband logical circuit on FPGAs, protocol
stack software. An example of LTE eNB implementation on Micro-TCA platform is shown in
Figure 20, Figure 21 and Figure 22.
Figure 25: LTE eNB implementation example (C-plane)

Figure 26: LTE eNB implementation example (U-plane)
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Figure 27: LTE eNB implementation on MicroTCA platform

Figure 22 shows an example of eNB implementation, which connects two eNB that covers six
sectors over two cells. The eNB is connected to S1/X2 with two GbE interfaces.
Concept
LTEs radio interface testing methodology has been developed along with the specifications for
LTE network implementation, yet a de facto way of evaluating the whole LTE eNB system does
not exist as of today. There are testing standards in 3GPP that are focused on separated
elements (layers) of User Equipment (UE) and eNB, as listed below. However, specification of
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integrated methodology for the system evaluation has not been established, so the NEMs and
operators are evaluating their equipment as a system with their own methodology from the
experiences in legacy mobile development.
TS 36.101 User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception
TS 36.104 Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception
TS 36.133 E-UTRA Requirements for support of radio resource management
TS 36.141 Base Station (BS) conformance testing
TS 36.211 Physical channels and modulation
TS 36.212 Multiplexing and channel coding
TS 36.213 Physical layer procedures
TS 36.214 Physical layer - Measurements
TS 36.321 Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification
In todays advanced wireless technology, a single evaluation method for separate basic
functionalities is inadequate. The industry needs a new approach to evaluate the comprehensive
performances of the eNB, which carries out the most complicated functionality in E-UTRAN. As
matter of fact, eNB comprises the largest number of network nodes in the LTE system, and the
biggest capital expenditure is invested to deploying the eNB. At Artiza Networks, we propose
LTE eNB Evaluation Methodology, setting the new standard of system evaluation for the LTE
eNB. Artiza LTE eNB Tester is a complete test suite including C-plane test to evaluate radio
resource management, U-plane QoS test, C-U combined test, NAS testing, and various types of
system evaluation. As the first trial in the industry, Artiza has developed a comprehensive
methodology for operators and manufacturers QA team to overcome a big challenge of effective
evaluation of LTE eNB ever.
Requirement for Testers
An example for the maximum number of LTE eNB deployment in one cell with 6 sectors is shown
in Figure 28: Example of LTE eNB deployment, and UE-SIM and S1/X2-SIM specification for the
eNB is also shown in Table 3.
Figure 28

Table 3 : Example of LTE eNB Load Tester (UE-SIM and S1/X2-SIM) Requirement
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Parameter Side Requirement Comment
No. of sectors UE-SIM 6 sector/system 6 sectors/cell
No. of UEs to simulate UE-SIM 840 UEs/sector 5,040 UEs/system
No. of MMEs to simulate S1X2-SIM 2 2 associations/MME
No. of S-GWs to simulate S1X2-SIM 2 2 IPs/S-GW
No. of eNB to simulate S1X2-SIM 2 2 associations/eNB
No. of external IP stations S1X2-SIM 10 Support IPv4
No. of UEs to simulate UE-SIM/S1X2-SIM 840 UEs/sector 5,040 UEs/system
No. of bearers to simulate UE-SIM/S1X2-SIM 3 bearers/UE 7200 bearers/system
No. of GbE I/Fs S1X2-SIM 2 Including external I/F
No. of RACH Mux UE-SIM 64 Mux/msec RACH performance
DL Throughput (SISO) UE-SIM 75 Mbps/system Max MAC RX Rate
DL Throughput (MIMO) UE-SIM 150 Mbps/system Max MAC RX Rate
DL Throughput S1X2-SIM 450 Mbps/System Max TX Rate
UL Throughput UE-SIM 50 Mbps/system Max TX MAC Rate
UL Throughput S1X2-SIM 300 Mbps/system Max RX Rate
No. of RRC msgs to generate UE-SIM 6000 msgs/sec

C-plane Protocol Procedures
C-plane protocol procedure test is mandatory, and it includes not only functional testing but also
the testing under load condition. There are multiple protocol procedures in C-plane, and all the
procedures are covered in this section. Equipment vendors test RRC connection
establishment/release procedure as functional test in early phase of eNB system testing.
RRC Connection Establishment/Release Procedure
The first step to evaluate the C-place protocol is to test the basic function, such as connection
establishment/release procedure for LTE eNB. In RRC protocol in E-UTRAN, there are only two
states, RRC_IDLE and RRC_CONNECTED (shown in Figure 24), so that connection can be set
up faster. Connection establishment and release procedure initiated by UE on Uu and S1
interface is shown in Figure 25. Paging (Connection establishment and release procedure initiated
by E-UTRAN) on Uu and S1 interface is shown in Figure 26. RRC protocol procedure is described
in details in 3GPP TS36.331. In order to evaluate C-plane performance of LTE eNB, the reliable
transition between these two states is critical.
Figure 29: RRC Protocol State Transition
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Figure 30 : Connection Establish and Release Procedure

Figure 31 : Paging and Release Procedure
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Handover Procedures
Handover procedure is intended to reduce the interruption time, less than the circuit-switched
handover in 2G networks, and it is an important function for LTE eNB. There are multiple
Handover procedures to be tested shown Table 4. LTE eNB is required to implement handover
procedure inside E-UTRAN (Inter eNB/Intra eNB) and also between legacy Radio Access
Technologies (RAT) like UMTS.
Table 4: Handover Procedures
Handover Description
Inter eNB Handover (Source) Handover inside E-UTRAN. Procedure that side of UE leaving out from
the cell.
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Inter eNB Handover (Target) Handover inside E-UTRAN. Procedure that side of UE coming into the
cell.
Inter RAT Handover (Source) Handover from E-UTRAN to different RAT. Procedure that side of UE
leaving out from the cell.
Inter RAT Handover (Target) Handover from E-UTRAN to different RAT. Procedure that side of UE
coming into the cell.
Intra eNB Handover (Source) Handover inside the same E-UTRAN cell. Procedure that side of UE
leaving out from the sector.
Intra eNB Handover (Target) Handover inside the same E-UTRAN cell. Procedure that side of UE
coming into the sector.
Test Configurations
Test configuration for Inter eNB Handover and Inter RAT Handover is shown in Figure 32. There
are two types of procedures that can be tested in this configuration. The first type of the procedure
is the Source where UE leaves out of the cell, and the other is the Target where UE comes into
the cell. The eNB (DUT) is connected to S1/X2 Simulator with X2AP and S1AP interface, and it is
also connected to UE Simulator as UE in the Cell. Source and Target procedures can be
tested with same configuration. Inter RAT (Source) and Inter RAT (Target) can also be tested
in this configuration.
Figure 32: Test Configuration for Inter eNB Handover

Test configuration for Intra eNB Handover is shown in Figure 33.
Figure 33: Test Configuration for Intra eNB Handover
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Inter eNB Handover (Source) is shown in Figure 34.
Figure 34: Inter eNB Handover (Source)

Inter eNB Handover (Source) procedure is shown in Figure 35, Figure 36 and Figure 37.
Figure 35: Inter eNB Handover (Source) (UE side)
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Figure 36: Inter eNB Handover (Source) (Core side X2HO)

Figure 37: Inter eNB Handover (Source) (Core side S1HO)

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Inter eNB Handover (Target) is shown in Figure 38.
Figure 38: Inter eNB Handover (Target)

Inter eNB Handover (Target) procedure is shown in Figure 39, Figure 40 and Figure 41.
Figure 39: Inter eNB Handover (Target) (UE side)

Figure 40: Inter eNB Handover (Target) (Core side X2HO)
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Figure 41: Inter eNB Handover (Target) (Core side S1HO)

Inter RAT (Radio Access Technology) Handover (Source) is handover between LTE and different
radio access technology, i.e., UMTS. The test configuration and procedures are exactly the same
as Inter eNB Handover (Source).
The test configuration and procedures for Inter RAT Handover (Target) is exactly the same as
Inter eNB Handover (Source).
Intra eNB Handover is shown in Figure 42.
Figure 42: Intra eNB Handover (to next sector)
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Inter eNB Handover procedure is shown in Figure 43.
Figure 43: Intra eNB Handover

C-plane Test Configuration
Logical configuration of the C-plane performance testing is shown in Figure 44. The eNB (DUT:
Device Under Test) and S1/X2-SIM is connected with four GbE interfaces. Two of the four
interfaces are used as X2-C, simulated the connection of two eNBs in E-UTRAN, and the other
two are used as S1-C, simulated the connection of two MMEs in Core Network.
Figure 44: Logical Configuration of the C-plane Performance Test
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U-plane Test Configuration
Logical configuration of the U-place performance testing is shown in Figure 45. The eNB (DUT)
and S1/X2-SIM are connected with four GbE interfaces. Two of the four interfaces are used as
X2-U simulated a connection of two eNBs in E-UTRAN. The other two interfaces are used as S1-
U simulated connection of two S-GWs in Core Network.
Figure 45: Logical Configuration of U-plane Performance Testing
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C-U plane combined Test Configuration
Logical configuration of C-U-plane performance testing is shown in Figure 46. The eNB (DUT)
and S1/X2-SIM are connected with six GbE interfaces. Two of the interfaces are used as X2-CU
simulated connections of two eNBs in E-UTRAN, next two interfaces are used as S1-C simulated
connection of two MMSs in Core Network and last two interfaces are S1-U simulated connection
of two S-GWs.
Figure 46: Logical Configuration of C-U-plane Combined Performance Testing
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C-U plane combined Test Configuration with External Device
Logical configuration of C-U-plane combined performance testing with external device is shown in
Figure 47. The configuration is same as the previous C-U-plane combined performance testing
excluding external device connected to S-GW.
Figure 47: Logical Configuration of C/U-plane Combined Performance Testing with
External Device
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An example of external devices is shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Example of External Devices
Device Comments
IP performance tester Generic equipment to test Benchmarking Methodology for Network
Interconnect Devices RFC2544.
Video quality tester Generic equipment to test Video quality over IP reference Media
Delivery Index (MDI) RFC4445
Voice quality tester Generic equipment to test Voice over IP quality like R-Factor/PESQ/
MOS etc.
Application servers Generic application servers like HTTP/FTP/SMTP/POP3 etc.