What is special sub frame in LTE?

As the single frequency block is shared in time domain between UL and DL the
transmission in TDD is not continuous. All UL transmission need to be on hold
while any downlink resource it is used and the other way around.
Switching between transmission directions has a small hardware delay (for both
UE and NodeB) and needs to be compensated. To control the switching between
the UL and DL a guard period GP is allocated which compensates for the
maximum propagation delay of interfering components.
Description of the switching mechanism:
In LTE TDD there is maximally one UL->DL and one DL->UL transition per 5ms
period (half frame)
UL-> DL transition
Is done for all intra-cell UEs by the process of time alignment. The NodeB
instructs each UE to use a specific time offset so that all UEs signals are aligned
when they arrive at Node-B. So UL is synchronous very similar to FDD (intra cell
case only!)
DL->UL transition
The interference coming from other DL neighbors has to be avoided

As shown in above figure there are 7 frame configurations, according to

different DL/UL partition.
1. Downlink / Uplink ratio can vary from 1/3 (Frame configuration = 0) to 8/1
(Frame configuration = 1), depending on the service requirements of the carrier
2. Frame always starts with a downlink subframe, used for advertising the
frame descriptor, PCFICH and PDCCH. UE hence learns the frame structure in
this subframe.
3. 3rd frame is always used for uplink

4. When switching from downlink to uplink, there is need for a special switching
subframe. No special subframe is used when switching from uplink to downlink.

As special subframe is introduced at subframe1 and subframe 6. Each halfframe

of 0.5ms carries one special subframe that is divided into 3 parts as shown in
below figure:
DwPTS, GP and UpPTS (Uplink Pilot Time slot). Subframe 0 and DwPTS are
reserved for downlink; subframe1 and UpPTS are reserved for UL. Remaining
fields are dynamically assigned between UL and DL.
This special subframe replace the subframe 1. The individual time duration in
OFDM symbols of the special subframe parts are adjustable.
1. The GP implements the DL->UL transition point and the GP has to be large
enough to cover the propagation delay of DL interferers.
Its length determines the maximum supportable cell size.
2. DwPTS is considered as a normal DL subframe and carries reference signals
and control information as well as data for those cases when sufficient duration
is configured. It also carries PSS.
3. UpPTS is primarily intended for sounding reference signals (SRS)
transmission from UE.Mainly used for RACH transmission.
Special Subframe Configuration
Total length of special subframe is 1ms but the length of the each field may vary
and there are 9 formats are available as shown in figure.

UE always needs a guard period in order to switch from receiver to transmitter.

The guard period includes RTD (Round Trip Delay) as shown in figure.