of Service Architecture Evaluation (SAE) network is the new presents the analysis of handover interruption time before the
enhanced base station, known as evolved NodeB (eNodeB). conclusions are drawn in Section IV.
This enhanced base station performs radio resource manage-
II. R EQUIREMENTS & A SSUMPTIONS
ment for the evolved access system. The eNodeB features
enhanced coverage and capacity for improved performance A. Minimum Requirements
and reduced energy consumption. IP-based core network of The IMT-Advanced proposal shall be able to support han-
SAE is known as Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The goal of dover interruption times specified in Table I [8].
EPC is to provide simplified all-IP core network architecture
TABLE I
to efficiently give access to various services. EPC consists of a IMT-A R EQUIREMENTS
Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving Gateway (S-
GW) that interfaces with the E-UTRAN and a PDN Gateway Handover Type Interruption Time (ms)
(P-GW) that interfaces to external packet data networks. Intra-Frequency 27.4
Inter-Frequency
The mobility requirement in LTE-Advanced is identical to Within a spectrum band 40.0
LTE. Below subsections give introduction about handover pro- Between spectrum bands 60.0
cedure, handover interruption time, and improvements which
enhance handover performance.
B. Assumptions
B. Handover Handover Interruption time for intra-frequency and inter-
In all cellular telecommunications the term handover refers frequency is the same as it does not depend on the frequency
to the process of establishing a target radio link from source of the target cell as long as the cell has already been measured
base station to target base station. When the handover process by the User Equipment (UE), which is a typical scenario
is initiated, the target base station is alerted about the awaiting [8]. For the purposes of determining handover interruption
handover by the serving base station. The target base station time, interactions with the core network (i.e., network entities
allocates a radio resource set and provides information to the beyond the radio access network) are assumed to occur in zero
serving base station. The serving base station sends this infor- time. It is also assumed that all necessary attributes of the
mation to the user equipment. After receiving the information target channel (that is, downlink synchronization is achieved
user equipment breaks the current session with serving base and uplink access procedures, if applicable, are successfully
station and establishes the new radio link using the radio completed) are known at initiation of the handover from the
resource set. Handovers have a great impact on the complete serving channel to the target channel [9].
system performance. LTE-Advanced robust general minimum For analysis RACH and PUCCH cycle is taken as 1ms.
RRM requirements ensure good mobility performance across The RACH and PUCCH waiting times in TDD cases are
the cellular network, including minimal handover interruption calculated based on the UL/DL sub-frame locations in the
time. respective frame configurations. In TDD mode analysis, frame
configuration 1 is considered.
C. Handover Interruption Time
III. A NALYSIS
During handover process, for some period, user equipments
cannot exchange user plane packets with any of the base The intra- and inter-frequency handover interruption time is
stations. This period is known as handover interruption time. It calculated based on the handover procedure shown in figure
includes the time required to execute any radio access network 3. The steps involved in handover interruption are:
procedure, radio resource control signaling, or other message 1) Radio Synchronization to the target cell.
exchanges between the user equipment and the radio access 2) Average delay due to Random Access CHannel (RACH)
network. The impact of intra LTE-Advanced handovers on scheduling period.
interruption time is less than or equal to that provided by 3) RACH Preamble Transmission.
handovers in LTE. In LTE-Advanced, sub-frame size, also 4) Preamble detection at Target eNodeB.
known as Transmission Time Interval (TTI), of 1ms makes 5) Transmission of Random Access (RA) - Time between
it capable of adapting to fast changing radio link conditions the RA response transmission and UEs reception of
and allows exploitation of multiuser diversity [7]. scheduling grant.
In LTE-Advanced, processing delays in different nodes and 6) Decoding of scheduling grant and timing alignment at
RACH scheduling period are reduced in comparison to LTE. UE.
RACH cycle is decreased from 5.0ms to 1.0ms. 7) Transmission of data.
This tutorial outlines the procedures involved in handover Radio synchronization delay is the sum of the delay caused
process and analyzes the performance of handover interruption by frequency synchronization and downlink synchronization.
time for both FDD and TDD modes. The paper is organized Frequency synchronization delay depends on whether the
as follows: Section II explains the minimum requirements set target cell is operating on the same carrier frequency as the
by IMT-Advanced and assumptions of analysis. Section III serving cell. But since the UE has already identified and
1. Radio Synch
4. Processing
In the figures giving the analysis, the case numbers (Case
5. Grant
#1, #2, and so on) refer to the occurrence of RACH trigger
6. Processing in sub-frame 0, 1 and so on. According to Rel-8 E-UTRA
7. Data specifications, RACH resource could not be located in nor-
mal sub-frames and special sub-frames simultaneously. This
constraint leads to two options, either RACH in uplink sub-
Fig. 3. State Diagram for Handover Interruption Time Analysis
frame, or RACH in special sub-frame. For example, for TDD
Configuration 0 RACH request can occupy any UL sub-frames
measured the target cell by this time, this delay is negligible. 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 or special sub-frames 1, 6. In this paper
Although baseband and radio frequency alignments always analysis for UL/DL configuration 1 is given in detail, for all
take some time, since the UE has already acquired downlink other UL/DL configurations refer [11]. The summary of delay
synchronization to the target cell in conjunction with previous calculations for all the UL/DL configurations of TDD mode
measurement and can relate the target cell DL timing to the are shown in Table V.
source cell DL timing with an offset, the corresponding delay Figure 5 shows the analysis done considering RACH in
is less than 1ms. This leads to the total delay of 1ms for Radio uplink sub-frame for Configuration 1. The figure presents
Synchronization step. analysis for two cases where RACH Preamble is transmitted in
sub-frame 2/7 and 3/8. Since RACH transmissions triggering
A. FDD Mode Analysis
In FDD mode, uplink and downlink transmissions are done Cases 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Total Delay
2 = 1.5ms 3 = 45 = 7ms
simultaneously on different frequency bands. So, the average #1 1ms 6 = 2ms 7 = 3ms 15.5
2= 3= 45 = 7ms 14.5
RACH waiting time is only 0.5ms (TTI/2). The delays caused #2 0.5ms 1ms 6 = 2ms 7 = 3ms
in FDD mode due to the steps listed above are shown in table #3 2= 3=
0.5ms 1ms
45 = 6ms 6 = 2ms 7 = 3ms 13.5
II [5]. #4 2 = 3.5ms 3=
1ms 45 = 7ms 6 = 2ms 7 = 3ms 17.5
(3.5 ms average). RACH attempts during sub-frame 3, must wait till sub-
RACH attempts during sub-frame 4, must also wait till frame 6 to start, thus the delay is between 2 and 3 ms
sub-frame 7 to start, thus the delay is between 2 and 3 (2.5ms average).
ms (2.5ms average). RACH attempts during sub-frame 4, must wait till sub-
Averaging these sub-frame delays (0.5, 0.5, 1.5, 3.5, and 2.5) frame 6 to start, thus the delay is between 1 and 2 ms
produces a mean delay of 1.7ms. RACH preamble transmis- (1.5ms average).
sion will take 1ms in all the case. For all the remaining events, Averaging these sub-frame delays (0.5, 4.5, 3.5, 2.5 and 1.5)
FDD case delay is considered as the minimum requirement for produces a mean delay of 2.5ms. Delay for other events is
that event. The actual delay for a specific event will depend on calculated similarly. Tabular format of the analysis is shown
when the next uplink or downlink sub-frame occurs. Tabular in table IV.
format of the analysis is shown in table III. TABLE IV
A NALYSIS IN TDD M ODE FOR C ONFIGURATION 1 WHEN RACH IN
TABLE III SPECIAL SUB - FRAME
A NALYSIS IN TDD M ODE FOR C ONFIGURATION 1 WHEN RACH IN
UPLINK SUB - FRAME
SN Process RACH in RACH in Average
sub-frame 1 sub-frame 6
SN Process RACH in RACH in Average probability probability
sub-frame sub-frame 0.2 0.8
2/7 3/8 1 Radio Syn- 1.0 1.0 1.0
probability probability chronization
0.8 0.2 2 RACH Wait- 0.5 3.0 0.34
1 Radio Syn- 1.0 1.0 1.0 ing
chronization 3 Preamble 1.0 1.0 1.0
2 RACH Wait- 2.0 0.5 1.7 4-5 eNB 5.0 5.0 5.8
ing processing
3 Preamble 1.0 1.0 1.0 and Grant
4-5 eNB 7.0 6.0 6.8 6 UE process- 2.0 2.0 2.0
processing ing delay
and Grant 7 Data 1.0 1.0 1.0
6 UE process- 2.0 2.0 2.0 Total delay 10.5 13.0 12.5
ing delay
7 Data 3.0 3.0 3.0
Total delay 16.0 13.5 15.5 Similar analysis can be done for other UL/DL Configura-
tions and presented in [11]. The summary of results for all the
Figure 6 shows the analysis done considering RACH in UL/DL configurations of TDD mode are shown in table V.
special sub-frame for UL/DL Configuration 1. In this scenario,
TABLE V
RACH Preamble can be transmitted in special sub-frame 1 H ANDOVER I NTERRUPTION TIME IN TDD
or 6. RACH waiting times for different cases are calculated
Scenarios UL/DL Configu- RACH position Handover
Cases 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Total Delay ration Interruption
#1 2= 3= 45 = 5ms 6 = 2ms 71ms
= 10.5
Time (ms)
0.5ms 1ms
1 0 UL Sub-frame 15.5
2 = 4.5ms 3= 45 = 5ms 7=
6 = 2ms 1ms 14.5
#2 1ms 2 SP Sub-frame 13.5
#3 2 = 3.5ms 3=
1ms
45 = 5ms 7=
6 = 2ms 1ms 13.5 3 1 UL Sub-frame 15.5
3= 45 = 5ms
4 SP Sub-frame 12.5
#4 2 = 2.5ms 1ms 6 = 2ms 71ms
= 12.5
5 2 UL Sub-frame 13.5
#5 2 = 1.5ms 31ms
= 45 = 5ms 6 = 2ms 71ms
= 12.5
6 SP Sub-frame 12.5
Average Delay 12.5 ms 7 3 UL Sub-frame 13.6
8 SP Sub-frame 15.0
9 4 UL Sub-frame 14.1
Fig. 6. TDD Configuration: 1 RACH in: Special sub-frame 10 SP Sub-frame 15.0
11 5 UL Sub-frame 15.0
below: 12 SP Sub-frame 15.0
13 6 UL Sub-frame 15.6
RACH attempts during sub-frame 0, must wait till sub- 14 SP Sub-frame 13.0
frame 1 to start, thus the delay is between 0 and 1 ms
(0.5ms average). This is similar to the FDD case, where
the following uplink sub-frame can always be used for IV. C ONCLUSION
any sub-frame. Section III has covered the analysis for Handover Interrup-
RACH attempts during sub-frame 1, must wait till sub- tion Time in LTE-Advanced system, which can be summarized
frame 6 to start, thus the delay is between 4 and 5 ms as:
(4.5ms average). In FDD case the Handover Interruption Time is 10.5ms.
RACH attempts during sub-frame 2, must wait till sub- In TDD case minimum Handover Interruption Time is
frame 6 to start, thus the delay is between 3 and 4 ms 12.5ms for UL/DL Configuration 1 & 2 when RACH is
(3.5ms average). sent in special sub-frame.