2015722

RACH Capacity (Part 1 of 2) - Lauro - Expert Opinion - LTE University

Expert Opinion
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RACH Capacity (Part 1 of 2)

Lauro 21 Mar 2012 3:01 PM

In this blog, an approximation to the Random Access Channel Capacity is provided. To this aim, several
assumptions are utilized.
The number of sub-frames utilized for random access is provided for by the parameter
prachconfigurationindex by means of the following table.

When prachconfigurationindex has a value of 3 (See highlighted row), then:

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2015722

RACH Capacity (Part 1 of 2) - Lauro - Expert Opinion - LTE University

a) The preamble format used is 0 (which means that the maximum cell radius is 14 km)

b) The UE can send the preamble in any frame number.

c) The UE HAS to send the preamble in subframe 1 only.

Maximum RACH Capacity:

a) Let us assume that the number of preambles available for initial access given by parameter numberofRAPreambles is 56 (the other 8 are reserved for Contention Free Random Access, that is, for handover). In this is
situation, up to 56 users could be trying to access the system simultaneously.
b) Lets assume then, that 56 UE are trying to access the system simultaneously and that each of them picked
a different preamble.
c) Lets assume that the eNodeB responds to only one UE despite the fact that in 10 ms, up to 56 UE are trying
to access.
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RACH Capacity (Part 1 of 2) - Lauro - Expert Opinion - LTE University

Given this situation, the maximum RACH capacity, can be approximated by:
Max # of UE supported (RACH) = 1 UE per Frame*No. Frames/second
= (1 UE/frame)*(100 frames/second)
= 100 UE/second.
Minimum RACH Capacity:
a) Let us assume that all 56 UE are trying to access at the same time, as in the previous case.
b) Let us also assume that the enodeB only responds to one UE per t300 period.
Given this situation, the maximum RACH capacity, can be approximated by:
Min # of UE supported (RACH) = 1 UE per t300 period*(number of t300 periods
per second)
= (1 UE/t300)*(1 sec/t300)
Hence, if t300 is set to 400 ms, the Min # of UE supported per RACH = (1)(1000/400) = 2.5 users.

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