Lets today discuss something more about LTE i.e. its Architecture.

It mainly consists of 3 Main Components :-

1. Evolved Packet Core (EPC).

2. User Equipment (UE)
3. E-UTRAN - Evolved UMTS Terrestial Radio Access Network.

Evolved Packet Core :-

Its an IP-Based core network system. Its a Always-On Connection. All Services including Voice calls
are carried by IP Network i.e. VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol).
Components of EPC are - MME, S-GW, P-GW, HSS, PCRF, etc.

 MME (Mobile Management Entity) - Responsible for Establishment & Releasing of Signaling
(bearer) between User & Packet Core Network. Handles Mobility Management like Location
Registration, Authentication, Handover with HSS (Home Subscriber Server).
 S-GW (Serving Gateway) - It acts as Router, forward & receive data between Wireless Base
Station eNodeb or 3GPP access networks such as 2G/3G & the PDN (Packet Data Network)
Gateways (P-GW). for Roaming, S-GW & P-GW provides boundaries between Operators.
 P-GW (Packet Data Network - PDN Gateway) - It Communicates with outside world using SGi
interface. Each PDN is identified by an Access Point Name (APN). Its functions includes IP
Address Assignment to Terminals, User Authentication, QoS (Quality of Service) Control,
Charging Data (as per PCRF), also capable of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) - Involves either to
Pass or Drop the User Data Packet.
 HSS (Home Subscriber Server) - Its like HLR (Home Location Register), Its a Central Database,
contains all information about all network operator's subscriber.
 PCRF (Policy Control & Charging Rule Function) - Its responsible for Policy Control Decision
Making. It function is to either accept or reject data packets & also check the charging method
from users & instruct S/P-GW & Access Network to work accordingly.
 User Equipment (UE) :-

Its same as the mobile equipment used in UMTS & GSM Network. It contains following
modules like,
ME (Mobile Equipment) - handles all Communication Functions.
TE (Terminal Equipment) - Terminates the Data Stream.
UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) - Also know as SIM Card, which stores user specific
data, like home network identity, security keys, user's phone number.

E-UTRAN (the Access Network):-

It handles all the Radio Communications between Mobile & EPC, It provides Higher Data
Rates, Lower Latency & Specifically designed for Packet Data. It has just one component i.e.
Evolved Base Station called eNodeB or eNB, which interfaces with UE.
Each eNB is a Base Station that controls mobiles in one or more cells. The Base Station that is
Communicating with a Mobile is term as Serving eNB.
eNB connects with each other via X2 Interface & they connect to the PS core network via S1
Interface.


LTE - Long Term Evolution
Hi All,

Today, Lets discuss something about the Latest Technology, LTE (Long Term Evolution),

Its a standard for Wireless Communication of High-Speed Data for Mobile Phones and Data Terminals.

The Increase in Usage of Mobile Data Transmission & New Mobile Application such as MMOG (Multi-Media Online
Gaming), Mobile TV, Web 2.0, Streaming Contents, Voice-Over-IP (VOIP), have Motivated the 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP) to work on LTE.

The Goal of LTE was to Increase the Capacity & Speed of Wireless Data Networks, Provide Low Latency (delay),
Packet Optimized Radio-Access Technology, Supports Flexible Bandwidth using new Digital Signal Processing
Techniques and Modulations.

It Supports Scalable Carrier Bandwidths, from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz and,

Supports both Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) & Time-Division Duplexing (TDD).

In FDD, Uplink & Downlink Transmission used Different Frequency, while

In TDD, Uplink & Downlink use the Same Carrier (Frequency) & are Separated in Time.

It Redesign & Simplifies the Network Architecture to an IP-based System with significantly reduced Data Transfer
Latency.

Its Specification Provides Downlink Peak Rates of 300 Mbit/s, Uplink Peak Rates of 75 Mbit/s.

Advantage :-

 High Throughput - High Data Rate Transfer can be achieved in both Uplink & Downlink Transmission.
 Low Latency - Time required to connect to the Network is very less i.e. is in range of few Hundred
Milliseconds.
 Improvement in User Experience - Optimized Signaling for Connection Establishment, Other Air Interface
& Mobility Management.
 Simple Architecture - All Interface between Nodes are IP-based, which Reduces the Operating Cost, &
Provides Easy Maintenance.

QoS (Quality of Service) - It supports Hard QoS, with end-to-end quality of service and Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR)
for Radio Bearers.
Various levels of QoS can be applied to LTE traffic for different applications.