Understanding PA / PB in LTE

The power allocation of the downlink traffic channel PDSCH in LTE uses a fixed
power allocation method, which involves two parameters, PA and PB, which are
difficult to understand. Here we introduce the understanding of these two
parameters.

PA / PB theory description
First, let's review the LTE time-frequency resource map. Under the condition of 2
CRS ports, the resource distribution of a RB in the time and frequency domain is
as follows (where the horizontal is Time domain, 7 symbols; Vertical is Frequency
domain, 12 subcarriers), each small grid represents one RE。

We first divide RE into the following Class 3：

 RS : represents the RE transmitting CRS, above Big red lattice
 TypeA : RE representing a column that does not contain CRS, above blue
lattice
  TypeB : Represents the column containing CRS, other REs except CRS and
no-load RE (both not shown in the above picture), above picture green
lattice
Since the downlink uses fixed power allocation, how much power should be
allocated to the above three types of symbols? In fact, the essence of PA and PB
is Determine the power allocation relationship of the above 3 types of
symbols. Here we introduce 2 more intermediate variables ρa & ρb, then the
power of the three types of symbols can be expressed by the following formulas:
 RS power : fixed value, network management can configure its absolute
value
 TypeA power = RS power + ρa
 TypeB power = RS power + ρb
Among them, the RS power is the absolute value of the network management
configuration (unit dbm),inSIB2

Delivery : TypeA / TypeB power is RS power plus an offset ρa / ρb (unit db), Ρa /

ρb can be understood as TypeA / TypeB relative RS power value For example, ρa
= -3db, then the power of TypeA is 1/2 of the RS power.
With the help of two intermediate variables ρa / ρb, PA / PB can be further
expressed:
 PA = ρa, immediately The values of PA and ρa are equal, indicating the
power of TypeA relative to RS, Is an enumerated variable, which can take a
total of 8 values (-6, -4.77, -3, -1.77, 0,1,2,3) dB

PA inRRCConnectionSetupIssued in the message:

  PB is actually an Index value, Is also an enumeration variable, which can take
(0,1,2,3) 4 values:

its meaning is to represent ratio of ρb and ρa, And when the PB index value
is the same, different CRS ports will result in different values of ρb / ρa,
which can be queried by the following table:

For example, when PB = 0 and the number of CRS ports = 1 1, that is, ρb and
ρa are equal, so the power of TypeA and TypeB is equal; for example, PB = 0,
the number of CRS ports = 2, and ρb / ρa = 5/4. This 5/4 is an absolute value
and involves absolute and relative values. Conversion, assume PA = ρa = -
3dB, TypeA power = RS power * 0.5, and then convert 0.5 * 5/4 to dB to get
the value of ρb.
Because TypeA and TypeB power are both based on RS power and offset, so
ρb / ρa is actually the ratio of TypeB power to TypeA power.
PB is in system messagesSIB2Issued together with RS power:

It can be seen from the above analysis that RS power is a Benchmark Through
network management configuration, PA determines the relationship between
TypeA power and RS power, and PB determines the relationship between TypeB
power and TypeA power. Then when the RS is determined, the power of TypeA
can be obtained according to the value of PA, and the power of TypeB can be
obtained according to the value of PB. In this way, the power of all types of RE is
determined, which is the downlink service Channel fixed power allocation.
PA / PB live network application
According to the previous analysis, PA has 8 types of values, and PB has 4 types
of values. How does the current network set up PA and PB???
In general, for macro stations (CRS port number = 2 or 4), PA / PB = -3/1; for
room division (CRS port number = 1), PA / PB = 0/0. Why is this set up? The
answer is to Maximize RRU power utilization Let's analyze the case where the
number of CRS ports of the macro station = 2 and continue to look at the
previous RB chart: When the

number of CRS ports = 2, PA = -3dB, and PB = 1, look up the table and get ρb /
ρa = 1, So we get
TypeA power = TypeB power = 0.5 * RS power

The total power of the column containing the CRS (like column 0 in the time domain above)
= 8 * TypeB power + 2 * RS power = 6 * RS power

Total power of columns without CRS (1 column in the time domain above) = 12 * TypeA
power = 6 * RS power
Such Total power in columns 0 and 1 is equal in the time domain If the power we
set reaches the maximum RRU power, then the RRU power can be fully used on
any symbol in the time domain. If PA / PB does not take a combination of -3/1,
the total power of a column containing CRS and a column not containing CRS in
the time domain will be different, and a column with a smaller total power
cannot fully utilize the power of the RRU.
In the scenario where the number of CRS ports is 0, it is the same reason why the
PA / PB is configured as 0/0. You can analyze it yourself.
There is still a small problem here. When the number of outdoor macro stations
CRS ports = 2, the PA / PB value is -3/1, which will cause RS power to be 3dB
higher than other RE powers, which is equivalent to artificially increasing
coverage and raising CQI and MCS, but will this result in a mismatch between RS
power and service RE power, and instead result in a decrease in
throughput? Generally it is not. Although the wireless environment is relatively
poor at the edge of cell coverage, artificially raising MCS will cause the UE to fail
to demodulate data correctly. In macro station MIMO mode, transmit diversity is
generally used, and the RS power is fixed to a single antenna transmission. After
using transmit diversity, it is equivalent to double the original service RE power,
which is just 3dB more, which can match the RS power.