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 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 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

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

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

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:

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
o

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

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:

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:

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 interfrequency 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 semipersistent 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)

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

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
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 venders 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 venders 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

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
CPUs/Network processor with operation system
protocol
eNB venders 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)

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.