http://www.3gpp.org/Highlights/LTE/LTE.

htm
E-UTRAN architecture (extract from TR 25.912):

MME/UPE

MME/UPE

EPC S1

X2
eNB

E-UTRAN
eNB

X2
eNB

X2

HSDPA and HSUPA will be competitive for several years. But to ensure the competitiveness in an even longer time frame, i.e for next 10 years and beyond LTE should be considered. The eNBs are also connected by means of the S1 interface to the EPC (Evolved Packet Core). The S1 interface support a many-to-many relation between aGW Functional split: The eNB host the following functions: - Functions for Radio Resource Management: Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control, Connection Mobility Control, Dynamic Resource Allocation (scheduling). Mobility Management entity (MME): - Distribution of paging messages to the eNBs. User Plane Entity (UPE): - IP Header Compression and encryption of user data streams; - Termination of U-plane packets for paging reasons; - Switching of U-plane for support of UE mobility.

This resulted, in conjuntion with work in RAN WG2, into the following protocol stack and the following function split (extract of TR 25.813):
eNB Inter Cell RRM Connection Mobility Cont. RB Control Radio Admission Control eNB Measurement Configuration & Provision

aGW Control Plane

Dynamic Resource Allocation (Scheduler)

SAE Bearer Control MM Entity aGW User Plane

RRC

RLC

MAC S1

PDCP internet

PHY

User Plane

GERAN

Gb Iu

SGSN

GPRS Core S7

PCRF
Rx+

UTRAN
S3 S5a S4

S6 S5b
3GPP Anchor
IASA

HSS
SGi

Evolved RAN

S1

MME UPE

SAE Anchor

S2b S2a

WLAN 3GPP IP Access

Op. IP Serv. (IMS, PSS, etc)

Evolved Packet Core

ePDG

Trusted non 3GPP IP Access

Acc

New reference points have been defined: S1: It provides access to Evolved RAN radio resources for the transport of user plane and control plane traffic. The S1 reference point shall enable MME and UPE separation and also deployments of a combined MME and UPE solution. S2a: It provides the user plane with related control and mobility support between a trusted non 3GPP IP access and the SAE Anchor. S2b: Anchor. It provides the user plane with related control and mobility support between ePDG and the SAE

S3: It enables user and bearer information exchange for inter 3GPP access system mobility in idle and/or active state. It is based on Gn reference point as defined between SGSNs. User data forwarding for inter 3GPP access system mobility in active state (FFS). S4: It provides the user plane with related control and mobility support between GPRS Core and the 3GPP Anchor and is based on Gn reference point as defined between SGSN and GGSN. S5a: It provides the user plane with related control and mobility support between MME/UPE and 3GPP anchor.

It is FFS whether a standardized S5a exists or whether MME/UPE and 3GPP anchor are combined into one entity. S5b: It provides the user plane with related control and mobility support between 3GPP anchor and SAE anchor. It is FFS whether a standardized S5b exists or whether 3GPP anchor and SAE anchor are combined into one entity. S6: It enables transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the evolved system (AAA interface). S7: It provides transfer of (QoS) policy and charging rules from PCRF to Policy and Charging Enforcement Point (PCEP). The allocation of the PCEP is FFS. SGi: It is the reference point between the Inter AS Anchor and the packet data network. Packet data network may be an operator external public or private packet data network or an intra operator packet data network, e.g. for provision of IMS services. This reference point corresponds to Gi and Wi functionalities and supports any 3GPP and non-3GPP access systems. The interfaces between the SGSN in 2G/3G Core Network and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) will be based on the GTP protocol. The interfaces between the SAE MME/UPE and the 2G/3G Core Network will be based on the GTP protocol.

http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/GanttChart-Level-2.htm#20023 3GPP Work Item = 330018 (LTEPhys) Description Status

36.201

36.211 36.212 36.213 36.214 WI-LTE-L23 36.300

Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer; General description E-UTRA; Physical Channels and Modulation E-UTRA; Multiplexing and channel coding E-UTRA; Physical layer procedures (E-UTRA); Physical layer; Measurements Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2

Version 1.0.0 available

Version 1.0.0 available Version 1.0.0 available Version 1.0.0 available Version 0.1.0 available Version 8.0.0 available

36.321

36.322

Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Medium Acces Control (MAC) protocol specification Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification

Not available

Not available

36.323

36.331

Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification

Not available

Not available

WI LTE interfaces 36.401 EUTRAN; Architecture description 36.410 E-UTRA and E-UTRAN; S1 general aspects and principles 36.411 E-UTRA and E-UTRAN; S1 layer 1 36.412 E-UTRA and E-UTRAN; S1 signalling transport 36.413 E-UTRA and E-UTRAN ; S1 36.414 36.420 36.421 36.422 36.423 36.424 WI- LTE RF 36.101 36.104 36.141 36.801 36.803 36.804 36.942

Draft 0.0.0 available Draft 0.0.0 available Not available Not available Draft 0.0.0 available Drfat 0.1.0 available Draft 0.0.0 available Not available Not available Draft 0.0.1 available Not available Not available Not available Not available R4-42 0.1.0 available Not available R4-42 0.2.0 available TR version 1.0.0 available

Application Protocol (S1 AP) E-UTRAN; S1 data transport

(E-UTRAN); X2 general aspects and principles E-UTRAN; X2 layer 1 E-UTRAN; X2 signaling transport E-UTRAN;X2 Application Protocol (X2AP) (E-UTRAN); X2 data transport E-UTRA; User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception

(E-UTRA); Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception

E-UTRA; Base Station (BS) conformance testing E-UTRA; Measurement Requirements

E-UTRA; User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception (E-UTRA); Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception
(E-UTRA); Radio Frequency (RF) system scenarios

Version x.y.z where: x the first digit: 1 presented to TSG for information; 2 presented to TSG for approval; 3 or greater indicates TSG approved document under change control. y the second digit is incremented for all changes of substance, i.e. technical enhancements, corrections, updates, etc.

z the third digit is incremented when editorial only changes have been incorporated in the document. Higher user data rates Reduced latency Improved system capacity and coverage Reduced cost for the operator Packet Optimized Radio Access Technology To achieve above goals, areas to be considered are Physical layer L2&L3 Network Architecture RF issues

Requirement doc 25.913 1. Capability requirement 1.1 Peak Data rate 1.2 Latency 2. System performance requirement 2.1 User throughput 2.2 Spectrum efficiency 2.3 Mobility 2.4 Coverage 2.5 Further Enhanced MBMS 2.6 Network Synchronization 3. Deployment related requirements 3.1 Deployment Scenario 3.2 Spectrum flexibility 3.3 Spectrum deployment 3.4 Co-existence and interworking with 3GPP RAT 4. Requirements for EUTRAN architecture and migration 5. Radio resource management requirement 5.1 Enhanced support for end to end QoS 5.2 Efficient support for transmission of higher layers 5.3 Support for load sharing and policy management across different Radio Access Technologies

6. Complexity requirements 6.1 Complexity requirements for overall system 6.2 Complexity requirements for UE 7. General requirements **In case of FDD, operation with half duplex from UE point of view is supported ??

Protocol Aspects in 25.813 Reducing Complexity

1. 2. 3. 4. The number of transport channels is reduced compared to UTRAN, by making use of shared channels and not supporting dedicated transport channels. The number of different MAC entities is reduced compared to UTRAN (e.g. MAC-d not needed in the absence of dedicated transport channels). The BMC layer and the CTCH of UTRAN are not needed in E-UTRAN i.e. all data broadcast is on MBMS and on e.g. MTCH. There is no inter eNB SHO in the downlink and in the uplink (as currently supported for Rel-6 dedicated channels in UTRAN) for the shared channel, in case of unicast transmissions. Note that this does not preclude the potential support of other schemes such as fast cell selection, bicasting, "softer HO" (L1 combining) for intra eNB cases, etc. Compressed mode as defined for UTRAN is not supported. If some transmission/reception gaps for measurement purpose have to be provided to the UE, this will be based on scheduling gaps. Only one receiver structure will be assumed for defining the measurements and their requirements. RRC is simplified by e.g. reducing the number of RRC states compared to UTRAN (e.g. removal of UTRAN CELL_FACH is agreed).

5.

6. 7.

Performance functional entities of the control plane (eNodeB) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Inter Cell RRM Connection mobility control in LTE_ACTIVE state RB Control Radio Admission Control eNodeB Measurement Configuration and Provision Dynamic Resource Allocation (Scheduling) RRC

Control plane 1. RLC and MAC sublayers (terminated in eNB on the network side) perform the same functions as for the user plane; 2. RRC (terminated in eNB on the network side) performs the following functions 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Broadcast Paging RRC Connection management RB Control Mobility functions UE measurement reporting and control

PDCP sublayer 1. Ciphering 2. Integrity Protection NAS (terminated in aGW on the network side) performs among other things: 1. SAE bearer management; 2. Authentication; 3. Idle mode mobility handling; 4. Paging origination in LTE_IDLE; 5. Security control for the signalling between aGW and UE, and for the user plane.

SAE Bearers

ROHC PDCP Security

ROHC

ROHC

ROHC

Security

Security

Security

Radio Bearers

RLC

Segm. ARQ ...

Segm. ARQ

Segm. ARQ ... Logical Channels

Segm. ARQ BCCH PCCH

Scheduling / Priority Handling

MAC

Multiplexing UE1

Multiplexing UEn

HARQ

HARQ

Transport Channels

Figure 5.3a: Layer 2 Structure for DL in eNB and aGW

SAE Bearers

ROHC PDCP Securtiy

ROHC

Security

Radio Bearers

RLC

Segm. ARQ ...

Segm. ARQ

Logical Channels Logical Channels

Scheduling / Priority Handling

MAC

Multiplexing

HARQ RACH

Transport Channels

Figure 5.3.b: Layer 2 Structure for UL in UE

MAC Services & Functions 1. Mapping between logical channels and transport channels; 2. Multiplexing/demultiplexing of RLC PDUs belonging to one or different radio bearers into/from transport blocks (TB) delivered to/from the physical layer on transport channels; 3. Traffic volume measurement reporting; 4. Error correction through HARQ; 5. Priority handling between logical channels of one UE; 6. Priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling; 7. Transport format selection; 8. Mapping of Access Classes to Access Service Classes (FFS for RACH); 9. Padding (FFS); 10. In-sequence delivery of RLC PDUs if RLC cannot handle the out of sequence delivery caused by HARQ (FFS). Logical Channels 1. Control Channels 1.1 BCCH 1.2 PCCH 1.3 MCCH

1.4 DCCH 2. Traffic Channels 2.1 DTCH 2.2 MTCH Mapping between logical channels and transport channels
PCCH BCCH CCCH DCCH DTCH MCCH MTCH

Logical channels

Transport channels
PCH BCH RACH SCH MCH

Mapping in Uplink

In Uplink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels exist:
CCCH can be mapped to RACH: FFS if access procedure is not contained within L1; CCCH can be mapped to Uplink SCH: FFS if just a transient (random) ID is assigned for the resource request, the actual e.g. RRC Connection Request message has still to contain a UE identifier and therefore such message is considered to be a CCCH message, even if it's transported on the UL-SCH, since the UE is not in RRC_CONNECTED state at this stage; DCCH can be mapped to UL- SCH; DTCH can be mapped to UL-SCH.

Mapping in Downlink

In Downlink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels exist:
BCCH can be mapped to BCH; BCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH: FFS; PCCH can be mapped to PCH; CCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH: FFS if CCCH exists; DCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; DTCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; MTCH can be mapped to DL-SCH: FFS; MTCH can be mapped to MCH;

MCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH: FFS; MCCH can be mapped to MCH: FFS.

RLC layer Services and Functions The main services and functions of the RLC sublayer include:
1 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Transfer of upper layer PDUs supporting AM, UM or TM data transfer (FFS); Error Correction through ARQ; Segmentation according to the size of the TB; Resegmentation when necessary (e.g. when the radio quality, i.e. the supported TB size changes) (FFS if it takes place at PDU or SDU level); Concatenation of SDUs for the same radio bearer is FFS; In-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs; Duplicate Detection; Protocol error detection and recovery; Flow Control (FFS between aGW and eNB);

10. SDU discard (FFS); 11. Reset.

PDCP Sublayer
User Plane SAE Bearers Control Plane NAS Signalling

PDCP
ROHC ROHC Integrity Protection

Ciphering

Ciphering

Ciphering

Ciphering

Services and Functions

The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer include:

Header compression and decompression: ROHC only; Transfer of user data: transmission of user data means that PDCP receives PDCP SDU from the NAS and forwards it to the RLC layer and vice versa; Ciphering of user plane data and control plane data (NAS Signalling); Integrity protection of control plane data (NAS signalling); Integrity protection of user plane data is FFS.

RRC Services and Functions

ARQ and HARQ

E-UTRAN provides ARQ and HARQ functionalities. The ARQ functionality provides error correction by retransmissions in acknowledged mode at Layer 2. The HARQ functionality ensures delivery between peer entities at Layer 1. HARQ principles N-process Stop-And-Wait HARQ is used The HARQ is based on ACK/NACKs; In the downlink: Asynchronous retransmissions with adaptive transmission parameters are supported; Additional optimisations (e.g. less adaptive/synchronous) are FFS. In the uplink: HARQ is based on synchronous retransmissions; Whether resource allocation and modulation and coding scheme can be adapted for retransmissions is FFS. The HARQ transmits and retransmits TBs;

HARQ/ARQ interactions
In HARQ assisted ARQ operation, ARQ uses knowledge obtained from the HARQ about the transmission/reception status of a TB e.g.:
If the HARQ transmitter detects a failed delivery of a TB due to e.g. maximum retransmission limit it is FFS if the relevant transmitting ARQ entities are notified; If the HARQ receiver is able to detect a NACK to ACK error it is FFS if the relevant transmitting ARQ entities are notified via explicit signalling; If the HARQ receiver is able to detect TB transmission failure it is FFS if the receiving ARQ entities are notified.

Scheduling 1.Scheduler operation 2. Signaling of scheduler decisions 3. Measurements to support scheduler operation

LTE performance