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Carrier Aggregation is a special form of LTE technology that enables UE and Network to use more than one carrier
frequencies. Actually this is not a new concept in LTE. You might have used/heard Dual Carrier in WCDMA HSDPA
(HSDPA DC) or similar mode in WiFi (I forgot the terminology in WiFi).

Followings are the list of topics to be described in this page.

Initial Motivation for Carrier Aggregation

Initial Deployment
Overview of Carrier Allocation and Network Architecture
Layer 2 Structure of Carrier Aggregation
What kind of Aggregated Carrier (Carrier Combination) is possible ?
E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for intra-band contiguous CA
E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for non-contiguous intra-band CA
(with two sub-blocks)
E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for inter-band CA
Test Frequency Table
How a Network know if a UE support Carrier Aggregation ?
Overall Sequence of Adding a Second Carrier
Evolution path of Carrier Aggregation / Possible Test Plan

Initial Motivation for Carrier Aggregation

You may be hearing more and more about LTE Advanced these days (approaching the end of 2012) and you may
think "Do we really need such a huge bandwidth ? Is the current LTE BW not enough ? Do we have all the
technologies mature enough for LTE Advanced Implementation ?"

To see the mature implementation of LTE advanced network or mobile phone, you should get firm "YES" to following
quesitons first.

Is there any major LTE Network Operators who has strong willingness to deploy LTE Advanced
Network(Feature) ?
Are all those components (especially baseband chipsets and RF devices) for LTE advanced device available and
mature in the market ?
Are there any test equipment which are providing the test capability for the device ?

As of the end of 2012, I don't think I have firm "YES" to any of these questions. But I am hearing that a couple of
LTE network operators will deploy LTE Advanced feature in very near future and some operators has already
supported the feature. I think this is true, but the LTE advanced they talk about at this point is not the full fledged
technology and it is mainly about Carrier Aggregation.
Does this mean that they already feel the current 20 Mhz LTE bandwidth is not enough ? As far as I know, it is not
because of this. Even though the current LTE supports 20 Mhz BW in max, there are only a few network operators
who is certified for such a wide bandwidth. The most common bandwidth that network operators has for LTE is 10
Mhz, which means they are not fully utilizing the LTE capability in terms of bandwidth. This is not because of
technical restriction, it is purely because of licensing issues for the allocated bandwidth.
Even though there is not many Network Operators who has 20 Mhz BW, there are some network operators who has
license multiple band (e.g, two separated 10 Mhz BW and two or more 5 Mhz BW). These network operators wants to
combine those multiple bands to achieve wide BW (in most case 20 Mhz BW) LTE. It is the initial motivation for LTE
Advanced for now and I don't think we will see the fully grown LTE advanced technology in any time soon. We still
have a lot of things to be done even for the initial LTE (Release 8 LTE) and this maturing process would take a couple
of more years. LTE Advanced will be introduced gradually in parallele to Release 8 LTE, but initial introduction of LTE
advanced would be more about "Marketing motivation" rather than "Technical motivation".

Initial Deployment

You may heard from other sources or will see in this page a lot of fancy stories about LTE advanced (like the
aggregation of 5 carriers with 20 Mhz BW each, 8 x 8 DL MIMO, 4 x 4 UL MIMO, 1G Data Rate etc). But as I
mentioned above, the reality would not be as fancy as you may expect. As of Jan, 2013. The only type of deployment
I am hearing that some network operators would deploy is as follows :

i) 2 DL Carriers (mostly 10 Mhz BW each, Inter band)

ii) NO UL Subcarriers

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Following illustration shows some of possible carrier allocations for initial deployment.

Even this simple configuration there are many things to consider and following is some of the list.

What kind of data you would carry on the primary and secondary DL carrier ?
: Definately both channel can carry PDSCH. How about PDCCH ? Would both DL carry each of its own PDCCH
seprately ? or Primary DL Carrier would carry PDCCH for both carrier and the secondary carrier carry only PDSCH ?.
Both options are possible and it is upto network implementation.

How kind of data you would carry on UL carrier ?

: You may think there would be no differences in UL carrier if UL does not support multi carrier as in the initial
deployment, but it would not be true. There would be no differences in terms of PUSCH, but how about PUCCH? Since
UE is getting PDSCHs from two separate carriers, there should be questions of how to send HARQ ACK/NACK for each
of the PDSCH. Should UE send separate PUCCHs(HARQ ACK/NACK for each DL carriers) or single PUCCH carrying the
HARQ ACK/NACK for both channels. Both options are possible in terms of Rel 9/Rel 10 specification, but it is higher
possibility to use a single PUCCH for carrying HARQ ACK/NACK for both DL carriers. It means that we will have new
PUCCH format for this situation.

How to handle PRACH ?

: Since UE can have possibility of send Uplink to two different carrier and can receive the data from two separate
carrier. Possible channels for PRACH procedure can be diverse as shown below.

PRACH via Primary Carrier and RAR via Primary Carrier

PRACH via Primary Carrier and RAR via Secondary Carrier
PRACH via Secondary and RAR via Secondary Carrier
and couple of others.

But I guess the first option would be the best candidate since it is easy and is the same as Rel 8 method we are
currently using.

How to handle handover with dual carrier ?

: For this, we may also have easy option or tricky option.
Tricky option would be to handover the two carrier without any modification from one cell (source cell) to another
(destination cell). but this will cause a lot of issues if it is not very carefully implemented.
Easy option would be to remove the secondary DL channel before handover and then perform handover and
configure the secondary channel in the destination cell.
Of course, it is highly probable to take an easy option for initial deployment.

Overview of Carrier Allocation and Network Architecture

One of the most important/critical feature in LTE Advanced is that we use multiple carriers in downlink and possible
in uplink as well. It may sound simple to use multiple carriers, but in reality, with the introduction of multiple carrier

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all the possible carrier/resource allocation in uplink and downlink has such a huge combinations as shown below.
This is not just a graphicaly complication -:). Just by looking at this illustration, a lot of questions would be boggling
in your mind. How to allocated resources (number of RBs) in control channel ? Do we have to have separate HARQ
process for each carrier ? or single-aggregated HARQ for the multiple carrier ? What about Uplink side ? How can I
schedule the resource for Multiple SC-FDMA (Clustered SC-FDMA) ? etc... These are the topics I have to add later..
For now, just enjoy the illustration and use your imagination for all of these questions. Trying to get the solution
based on your imagination would greatly help you to understand 3GPP specification. This is a kind of motivation step
for the new study.

Another aspect of LTE Advanced is network architecture side. One of the key modification of LTE advanced is 'Relay
Node' to improve data communication especially on cell boundary and increase cell coverage. Again, I just put the
illustrations and I would like you to use your imagination to find the answers to the questions popping up in your
mind. Do we need any RRC message or Information element to handle this Relay Node ? How a UE handle the
situation as shown for UE C in the following illustration. This UE is getting the similar strength of signals both from
eNodeB and Relay Node. Would it be possible to handover between two Relay Nodes ? Would the Relay Node have
the same RF capability as eNB ? Would this Relay Node get involved in L1/PHY scheduling as well ? etc.

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Layer 2 Structure of Carrier Aggregation

Many people asked me "Is there any way to direct a specific IP packet to PCC (Mirmary Component Carrier) and
another specific IP packet to SCC (Secondary Component Carrier) ?".
The Answer is 'No'.
You may understand why the answer is 'NO' from L2 structure of 3GPP 36.300 as shown below (This figure may look
a little too complicated. You will find clearer figure after this). As you may notice here, Carrier Layer Aggregation is
MAC-PHY layer concept and it is not applied to higher layer.

< 36.300 Figure 6.4-1 : Layer 2 Structure for DL with CA Configured >

For clarity, let's suppose a case of a Carrier Aggregation with 2 CC(Component Carrier) and each carrier support
SISO. Following is overal data path from IP to Physical layer. As you see, from IP through RLC, there is no separate
path between PCC and SCC.

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For clarity, let's suppose a case of a Carrier Aggregation with 2 CC(Component Carrier) and each carrier support
MIMO. Following is overall data path from IP to Physical layer. As you see, from IP through RLC, there is no separate
path between PCC and SCC.

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What kind of Aggregated Carrier (Carrier Combination) is possible ?

Now the question you may ask is how can I know which band combination of bands a UE support in terms of Carrier
Aggregation ?
It is also supposed to be reported to network by the UE via UE Capability Information message. Followings are some
of the possible IEs a UE may use depending on its release status.

RF-Parameters-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE {

supportedBandCombination-r10 SupportedBandCombination-r10
}

RF-Parameters-v1090 ::= SEQUENCE {

supportedBandCombination-v1090 SupportedBandCombination-v1090 OPTIONAL
}

RF-Parameters-v1130 ::= SEQUENCE {

supportedBandCombination-v1130 SupportedBandCombination-v1130 OPTIONAL
}

The definition of these IE is described as below in 36.331. Generally it sounds OK.. but it is not very clear to me if I
go into one step deeper. For example, this definition does not clearly explain on which item in the list can be a PCC
(Primary Component Carrier) and which should be SCC (Secondary Component Carrier). As far as I know, there is no
priority of these items in terms of determining PCC/SCC, meaning either one should be allowed to be PCC depending
on situation. But you may see some UE that allows only specific PCC/SCC mapping.

bandCombinationListEUTRA : One entry corresponding to each supported band combination listed in the same
order as in supportedBandCombination.

BandCombinationParameters-v1090 : If included, the UE shall include the same number of entries, and listed in
the same order, as in BandCombinationParameters-r10.

BandCombinationParameters-v1130 :The field is applicable to each supported CA bandwidth class combination

(i.e. CA configuration in TS 36.101 Section 5.6A.1 indicated in the corresponding band combination

One example of Carrier Combination information in UE Capability Information is as follows. This example shows the

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UE allows Carrier Aggregation between band 4 and band 17.

nonCriticalExtension
rf-Parameters-v1020
supportedBandCombination-r10: 1 item
Item 0
BandCombinationParameters-r10: 2 items
Item 0
BandParameters-r10
bandEUTRA-r10: 4
bandParametersUL-r10: 1 item
Item 0
CA-MIMO-ParametersUL-r10
ca-BandwidthClassUL-r10: a
bandParametersDL-r10: 1 item
Item 0
CA-MIMO-ParametersDL-r10
ca-BandwidthClassDL-r10: a
supportedMIMO-CapabilityDL-r10: twoLayers
Item 1
BandParameters-r10
bandEUTRA-r10: 17
bandParametersDL-r10: 1 item
Item 0
CA-MIMO-ParametersDL-r10
ca-BandwidthClassDL-r10: a
supportedMIMO-CapabilityDL-r10: twoLayers

Following Table from 36.101 V11.7.0 (2014-03) shows all the possible (allowed) band combination of inter-band CA
case. This list is likely to get extended as time goes on. So try to refer to latest spec. I just put inter-band case since
I see only inter-band CA which is really deployed as of now (Apr 2014). If you are interested in intra-band CA, refer
to Table 5.6A.1-1, Table 5.6A.1-3 in 36.101.

< 36.101 Table 5.6A.1-1: E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for intra-band contiguous CA >

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< 36.101 Table 5.6A.1-3: E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for non-contiguous
intra-band CA (with two sub-blocks) >

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36.101 Table 5.6A.1-2: E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for inter-band CA

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< Test Frequency Tables >

For the specific test fequencies for each of the band combination, we need to refer to following tables in 36.508 (A lot
of tables :)

Table 4.3.1.1.1-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 1
Table 4.3.1.1.1A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_1C
Table 4.3.1.1.2-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 2
Table 4.3.1.1.3-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 3
Table 4.3.1.1.3A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_3C
Table 4.3.1.1.4-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 4
Table 4.3.1.1.5-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 5
Table 4.3.1.1.6-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 6
Table 4.3.1.1.7-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 7
Table 4.3.1.1.7A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_7C
Table 4.3.1.1.8-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 8
Table 4.3.1.1.9-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 9
Table 4.3.1.1.10-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 10
Table 4.3.1.1.11-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 11
Table 4.3.1.1.12-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 12
Table 4.3.1.1.13-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 13
Table 4.3.1.1.14-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 14
Table 4.3.1.1.17-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 17
Table 4.3.1.1.18-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 18
Table 4.3.1.1.19-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 19
Table 4.3.1.1.20-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 20
Table 4.3.1.1.21-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 21
Table 4.3.1.1.22-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 22
Table 4.3.1.1.23-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 23
Table 4.3.1.1.24-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 24
Table 4.3.1.1.25-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 25
Table 4.3.1.1.26-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 26
Table 4.3.1.1.27-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 27
Table 4.3.1.1.27A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_27B
Table 4.3.1.1.28-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 28
Table 4.3.1.1.29-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 29
Table 4.3.1.1.31-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 31
Table 4.3.1.2.1-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 33
Table 4.3.1.2.2-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 34
Table 4.3.1.2.3-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 35
Table 4.3.1.2.4-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 36

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Table 4.3.1.2.5-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 37
Table 4.3.1.2.6-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 38
Table 4.3.1.2.6A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_38C
Table 4.3.1.2.7-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 39
Table 4.3.1.2.7A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_39C
Table 4.3.1.2.8-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 40
Table 4.3.1.2.8A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_40C
Table 4.3.1.2.9-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 41
Table 4.3.1.2.9A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_41C
Table 4.3.1.2.10-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 42
Table 4.3.1.2.11-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 43
Table 4.3.1.2.12-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 44

One of the UE capability information that may confuses you would be following IE. This IE shows you which band are
supported by the UE in terms of single carrier. It is not about Carrier Aggregation.

rf-Parameters
supportedBandListEUTRA: 4 items
Item 0
SupportedBandEUTRA
bandEUTRA: 2
..0. .... halfDuplex: False
Item 1
SupportedBandEUTRA
bandEUTRA: 4
.0.. .... halfDuplex: False
Item 2
SupportedBandEUTRA
bandEUTRA: 5
0... .... halfDuplex: False
Item 3
SupportedBandEUTRA
bandEUTRA: 17
.... ...0 halfDuplex: False

How a Network know if a UE support Carrier Aggregation ?

The most important thing you have to pay attention in UE Capability Information is CA Band combination as specified
in RRC message as shown below.

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Another important part is featureGroupIndicator (FGI) for r10. It has following items.

     featureGroupIndRel10-r10: 00000000 [bit length 32, 0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0000 decimal value 0]
         0... .... = Indicator 101: DMRS with OCC (orthogonal cover code) and SGH (sequence group hopping) disabling - Not
supported
         .0.. .... = Indicator 102: Trigger type 1 SRS (aperiodic SRS) transmission (Up to X ports) - Not supported
         ..0. .... = Indicator 103: PDSCH TM9 when up to 4 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported
         ...0 .... = Indicator 104: PDSCH TM9 for TDD when 8 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported
         .... 0... = Indicator 105: PUCCH RM2-0 when PDSCH TM9 is configured and RM2-1 when PDSCH TM9
                                    and up to 4 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported
         .... .0.. = Indicator 106: PUCCH RM2-1 when PDSCH TM9 and 8 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not
supported
         .... ..0. = Indicator 107: PUSCH RM2-0 when PDSCH TM9 is configured and RM2-2 when PDSCH TM9 and
                                    up to 4 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported
         .... ...0 = Indicator 108: PUSCH RM2-2 when PDSCH TM9 and 8 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not
supported
         0... .... = Indicator 109: PUCCH RM1-1 submode 1 - Not supported
         .0.. .... = Indicator 110: PUCCH RM1-1 submode 2 - Not supported
         ..0. .... = Indicator 111: Measurement reporting trigger Event A6 - Not supported
         ...0 .... = Indicator 112: SCell addition within the Handover to EUTRA procedure - Not supported
         .... 0... = Indicator 113: Trigger type 0 SRS (periodic SRS) transmission on X Serving Cells - Not supported
         .... .0.. = Indicator 114: Reporting of both UTRA CPICH RSCP and Ec/N0 in a Measurement Report - Not supported
         .... ..0. = Indicator 115: Time domain ICIC RLM/RRM / ICIC RRM / ICIC CSI measurement sf restriction
                                    for the serving cell / neighbour cells - Not supported
         .... ...0 = Indicator 116: Relative transmit phase continuity for spatial multiplexing in UL - Not supported

Overall Sequence of Adding a Second Carrier

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Following is an example for RRC Connection Reconfiguration for LTE advanced (Step 1). I just enabled all IE on ASN
to give you full details of parameters, but it reality the implementation would start with very limited set of
parameters enabled and leaving large portions of parameter to some 3GPP default or hardcoded configuration based
on aggrement between UE maker and Network Operator.

First part you have to pay attention to this sample RRC message is sCellToAddModList-r10 which is for adding the
SCC and next important thing is pucch-ConfigDedicated-v1020 which is for defining uplink control channel for
reporting Ack/Nac for aggregated Carrier.

+-rrcConnectionReconfiguration-r8 ::= SEQUENCE [000101]

  +-measConfig ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  +-mobilityControlInfo ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  +-dedicatedInfoNASList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit
  +-radioResourceConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE [000101] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | +-srb-ToAddModList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit
  | +-drb-ToAddModList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit
  | +-drb-ToReleaseList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit
  | +-mac-MainConfig ::= CHOICE [explicitValue] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | | +-explicitValue ::= SEQUENCE [000]
  | |   +-ul-SCH-Config ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   +-drx-Config ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   +-timeAlignmentTimerDedicated ::= ENUMERATED [infinity]
  | |   +-phr-Config ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE [01]
  | |     +-VERSION-BRACKETS1 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |     +-VERSION-BRACKETS2 ::= SEQUENCE [1] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |       +-mac-MainConfig-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [111] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |         +-sCellDeactivationTimer-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [rf16] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |         +-extendedBSR-Sizes-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |         +-extendedPHR-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | +-sps-Config ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | +-physicalConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE [0000000000] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | | +-pdsch-ConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | | +-pucch-ConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | | +-pusch-ConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | | +-uplinkPowerControlDedicated ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

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  | | +-tpc-PDCCH-ConfigPUCCH ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

  | | +-tpc-PDCCH-ConfigPUSCH ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | | +-cqi-ReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicated ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | | +-antennaInfo ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | | +-schedulingRequestConfig ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE [010]
  | |   +-VERSION-BRACKETS1 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   +-VERSION-BRACKETS2 ::= SEQUENCE [00000111111] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | +-antennaInfo-r10 ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   | +-antennaInfoUL-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   | +-cif-Presence-r10 ::= BOOLEAN OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   | +-cqi-ReportConfig-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   | +-csi-RS-Config-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   | +-pucch-ConfigDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [1111] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | | +-pucch-Format-r10 ::= CHOICE [channelSelection-r10] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | | | +-channelSelection-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [1]
  | |   | | |   +-n1PUCCH-AN-CS-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | | |     +-setup ::= SEQUENCE
  | |   | | |       +-n1PUCCH-AN-CS-List-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..2) [2]
  | |   | | |         +-N1PUCCH-AN-CS-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..4) [4]
  | |   | | |         | +- ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [10]
  | |   | | |         | +- ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [11]
  | |   | | |         | +- ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [12]
  | |   | | |         | +- ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [13]
  | |   | | |         +-N1PUCCH-AN-CS-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..4) [4]
  | |   | | |           +- ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [10]
  | |   | | |           +- ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [11]
  | |   | | |           +- ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [12]
  | |   | | |           +- ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [13]
  | |   | | +-twoAntennaPortActivatedPUCCH-Format1a1b-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | | +-simultaneousPUCCH-PUSCH-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | | +-n1PUCCH-AN-RepP1-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [0] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | +-pusch-ConfigDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [000] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | | +-betaOffsetMC-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   | | +-groupHoppingDisabled-r10 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   | | +-dmrs-WithOCC-Activated-r10 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   | +-schedulingRequestConfig-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [0] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | | +-sr-PUCCH-ResourceIndexP1-r10 ::= INTEGER OPTIONAL:Omit
  | |   | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | | +-srs-AntennaPort-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]
  | |   | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicatedAperiodic-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | | +-setup ::= SEQUENCE [11]
  | |   | |   +-srs-ConfigIndexAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..31) [0]
  | |   | |   +-srs-ConfigApDCI-Format4-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..3) [1] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | |   | +-SRS-ConfigAp-r10 ::= SEQUENCE
  | |   | |   |   +-srs-AntennaPortAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]
  | |   | |   |   +-srs-BandwidthAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [bw0]
  | |   | |   |   +-freqDomainPositionAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..23) [0]
  | |   | |   |   +-transmissionCombAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..1) [0]
  | |   | |   |   +-cyclicShiftAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [cs0]
  | |   | |   +-srs-ActivateAp-r10 ::= CHOICE [release] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   | |     +-release ::= NULL
  | |   | +-uplinkPowerControlDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   |   +-deltaTxD-OffsetListPUCCH-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   |   | +-deltaTxD-OffsetPUCCH-Format1-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [dB0]
  | |   |   | +-deltaTxD-OffsetPUCCH-Format1a1b-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [dB0]
  | |   |   | +-deltaTxD-OffsetPUCCH-Format22a2b-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [dB0]
  | |   |   | +-deltaTxD-OffsetPUCCH-Format3-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [dB0]
  | |   |   | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE
  | |   |   +-pSRS-OffsetAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..15) [0] OPTIONAL:Exist
  | |   +-VERSION-BRACKETS3 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE [00]
  |   +-VERSION-BRACKETS1 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  |   +-VERSION-BRACKETS2 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  +-securityConfigHO ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
  +-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE [01] OPTIONAL:Exist
    +-lateNonCriticalExtension ::= OCTET STRING OPTIONAL:Omit
    +-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE [001] OPTIONAL:Exist
      +-otherConfig-r9 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
      +-fullConfig-r9 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit
      +-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE [010] OPTIONAL:Exist
        +-sCellToReleaseList-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit
        +-sCellToAddModList-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..maxSCell-r10[4]) [1] OPTIONAL:Exist

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        | +-SCellToAddMod-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [111]

        |   +-sCellIndex-r10 ::= INTEGER (1..7) [1]
        |   +-cellIdentification-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | +-physCellId-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..503) [2]
        |   | +-dl-CarrierFreq-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..maxEARFCN[65535]) [5790]
        |   +-radioResourceConfigCommonSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [0] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | +-nonUL-Configuration-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [00]
        |   | | +-dl-Bandwidth-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [n50]
        |   | | +-antennaInfoCommon-r10 ::= SEQUENCE
        |   | | | +-antennaPortsCount ::= ENUMERATED [an2]
        |   | | +-mbsfn-SubframeConfigList-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit
        |   | | +-phich-Config-r10 ::= SEQUENCE
        |   | | | +-phich-Duration ::= ENUMERATED [normal]
        |   | | | +-phich-Resource ::= ENUMERATED [oneSixth]
        |   | | +-pdsch-ConfigCommon-r10 ::= SEQUENCE
        |   | | | +-referenceSignalPower ::= INTEGER (-60..50) [21]
        |   | | | +-p-b ::= INTEGER (0..3) [1]
        |   | | +-tdd-Config-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
        |   | +-ul-Configuration-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit
        |   | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE
        |   +-radioResourceConfigDedicatedSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [1] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | +-physicalConfigDedicatedSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | +-nonUL-Configuration-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [1111] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | +-antennaInfo-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [1] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-transmissionMode-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [tm3]
        |   | | | | +-codebookSubsetRestriction-r10 ::= BIT STRING SIZE(ALIGNED) [00] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-ue-TransmitAntennaSelection ::= CHOICE [release]
        |   | | | |   +-release ::= NULL
        |   | | | +-crossCarrierSchedulingConfig-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-schedulingCellInfo-r10 ::= CHOICE [own-r10]
        |   | | | |   +-own-r10 ::= SEQUENCE
        |   | | | |     +-cif-Presence-r10 ::= BOOLEAN [FALSE]
        |   | | | +-csi-RS-Config-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-csi-RS-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | | +-setup ::= SEQUENCE
        |   | | | | |   +-antennaPortsCount-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]
        |   | | | | |   +-resourceConfig-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..31) [0]
        |   | | | | |   +-subframeConfig-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..154) [0]
        |   | | | | |   +-p-C-r10 ::= INTEGER (-8..15) [-8]
        |   | | | | +-zeroTxPowerCSI-RS-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | |   +-setup ::= SEQUENCE
        |   | | | |     +-zeroTxPowerResourceConfigList-r10 ::= BIT STRING SIZE(16) [0000000000000000]
        |   | | | |     +-zeroTxPowerSubframeConfig-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..154) [0]
        |   | | | +-pdsch-ConfigDedicated-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | |   +-p-a ::= ENUMERATED [dB-3]
        |   | | +-ul-Configuration-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [1111111] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | +-antennaInfoUL-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-transmissionModeUL-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [tm1] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-fourAntennaPortActivated-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | +-pusch-ConfigDedicatedSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-groupHoppingDisabled-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-dmrs-WithOCC-Activated-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | +-uplinkPowerControlDedicatedSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-p0-UE-PUSCH-r10 ::= INTEGER (-8..7) [-8]
        |   | | | | +-deltaMCS-Enabled-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [en0]
        |   | | | | +-accumulationEnabled-r10 ::= BOOLEAN [FALSE]
        |   | | | | +-pSRS-Offset-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..15) [0]
        |   | | | | +-pSRS-OffsetAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..15) [0] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-filterCoefficient-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [fc0] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-pathlossReferenceLinking-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [pCell]
        |   | | | +-cqi-ReportConfigSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [111] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-cqi-ReportModeAperiodic-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [rm12] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-nomPDSCH-RS-EPRE-Offset-r10 ::= INTEGER (-1..6) [-1]
        |   | | | | +-cqi-ReportPeriodicSCell-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | | +-setup ::= SEQUENCE [0000]
        |   | | | | |   +-cqi-PUCCH-ResourceIndex-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..1184) [0]
        |   | | | | |   +-cqi-PUCCH-ResourceIndexP1-r10 ::= INTEGER OPTIONAL:Omit
        |   | | | | |   +-cqi-pmi-ConfigIndex ::= INTEGER (0..1023) [0]
        |   | | | | |   +-cqi-FormatIndicatorPeriodic-r10 ::= CHOICE [widebandCQI-r10]
        |   | | | | |   | +-widebandCQI-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [0]
        |   | | | | |   |   +-csi-ReportMode-r10 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit
        |   | | | | |   +-ri-ConfigIndex ::= INTEGER OPTIONAL:Omit
        |   | | | | |   +-simultaneousAckNackAndCQI ::= BOOLEAN [FALSE]
        |   | | | | |   +-cqi-Mask-r9 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

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        |   | | | | |   +-csi-ConfigIndex-r10 ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

        |   | | | | +-pmi-RI-Report-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicated-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-setup ::= SEQUENCE
        |   | | | |   +-srs-Bandwidth ::= ENUMERATED [bw0]
        |   | | | |   +-srs-HoppingBandwidth ::= ENUMERATED [hbw0]
        |   | | | |   +-freqDomainPosition ::= INTEGER (0..23) [0]
        |   | | | |   +-duration ::= BOOLEAN [FALSE]
        |   | | | |   +-srs-ConfigIndex ::= INTEGER (0..1023) [0]
        |   | | | |   +-transmissionComb ::= INTEGER (0..1) [0]
        |   | | | |   +-cyclicShift ::= ENUMERATED [cs0]
        |   | | | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | | | +-srs-AntennaPort-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]
        |   | | | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicatedAperiodic-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | |   +-setup ::= SEQUENCE [11]
        |   | | |     +-srs-ConfigIndexAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..31) [0]
        |   | | |     +-srs-ConfigApDCI-Format4-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..3) [1] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | |     | +-SRS-ConfigAp-r10 ::= SEQUENCE
        |   | | |     |   +-srs-AntennaPortAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]
        |   | | |     |   +-srs-BandwidthAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [bw0]
        |   | | |     |   +-freqDomainPositionAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..23) [0]
        |   | | |     |   +-transmissionCombAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..1) [0]
        |   | | |     |   +-cyclicShiftAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [cs0]
        |   | | |     +-srs-ActivateAp-r10 ::= CHOICE [release] OPTIONAL:Exist
        |   | | |       +-release ::= NULL
        |   | | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE
        |   | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE
        |   +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE

Evolution path of Carrier Aggregation / Possible Test Plan

It's already been over an year since the first LTE-A was deployed since July 2013 in Korea and now it is getting
spreaded wider. I tried to list up possible evolution path of LTE-A development in terms of chipset development
aspect and UE development. This can be a big picture of test plan. I would be good practice if you think on your own
about why we need these test and what kind of challenge UE (or chipset) should overcome to pass each of these
test. You don't have to get the answers to your question.. just think about it as much as possible and it would let you
think about a lot of details.

2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 3, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUSCH

2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 3, PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUCCH Format 1b
2 CC Aggregation - SISO with CSI Report - Periodic
2 CC Aggregation - SISO with CSI Report - Aperiodic
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Handover for SCC Change
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Handover for PCC Change
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Handover for both SCC and PCC Change
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 3, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUSCH
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 3, PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUCCH Format 1b
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 3, 40 Mhz Aggregated BandWidth, 200 Mbps Throughput at IP layer
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 4, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUSCH
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 4, PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUCCH Format 1b
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, MIMO, 20 Mhz Aggregated Bandwidth, 150 Mbps Throughput at IP layer
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, MIMO, 40 Mhz Aggregated Bandwidth, 300 Mbps Throughput at IP layer
2 CC Aggregation - TM 8
2 CC Aggregation - TM 9
3 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 6, 30 Mhz Aggregated BW, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUSCH
3 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 6, 30 Mhz Aggregated BW,PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUCCH
Format 3
3 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, 30 Mhz Aggregated BW, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by
PUSCH
3 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, 30 Mhz Aggregated BW, PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by
PUCCH Format 3
3 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, 40 Mhz Aggregated BW
3 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, 60 Mhz Aggregated BW

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