Iclterpop Section 2

Physical Layer Services and Protocol Architecture
Physical Layer Services

and Protocol Architecture
© Informa Telecoms & Media

Physical Layer Services and

Protocol Architecture
Physical Layer Services and Protocol Architecture 4
The Multipath Environment 8
Inter Symbol Interference and Frequency
Selective Fading 10
OFDM – Minimising the Impact of ISI 14
OFDM – Defeating ISI 16
OFDM – Spectral Efficiency 18
The LTE OFDM Structure 20
OFDM – Making it Happen 22
Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) 24
OFDM – Frequency Sensitivity 26
OFDM and OFDMA 28
LTE OFDMA Structure 30
Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) 32
16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16 QAM) 34
64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (64 QAM) 36
Single Carrier – Frequency Division Multiple
Access (SC-FDMA) 38
LTE Timing and Framing 44
Frame Type 2, TDD 46
The Resource Block 48
Comparison of Resource Blocks, Channel Size
and Sampling Rate 50

LTE Physical Channels and Signals 52

Mapping Channels to the Resource Block 54
Channel Mapping on a 10MHz Channel 56
Uplink Mapping of Physical Channels 58
Uplink Mapping of the Control Channel 60
Overall Picture of UL Mapping 62
Physical Channels and Modulation Schemes 64
Cell Search and Synchronisation 66
Synchronisation and Reference Signals 68
Primary and Secondary Synch Sequences 70
PSS and SS in the Frame Structure 72
Cells Supporting Differing Bandwidths 76
LTE Power Control 78
Physical Control Format Indication Channel (PCFICH) 80
Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) 82
Physical HARQ Indication Channel 84
Physical Channel Processing 86
HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Request) 88
Introduction to Multiple Input Multiple Output
(MIMO) Techniques 90
Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) 94
Single User, Multiple User, and Cooperative MIMO 96
Beamforming 98
LTE Downlink Multiple Antenna Schemes 100
Spatial Multiplexing – MIMO 102
Cyclic Delay Diversity (CDD) 102
Reporting of UE Feedback 104


In order to fulfil the ambitious requirements for data rate, capacity, spectrum efficiency, and
latency, it is the LTE physical layer that exhibits the most radical changes. The key enabling
technologies are multiple antenna systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access
(in the uplink), and Single Carrier – Frequency Division Multiple Access (in the downlink).
LTE includes an FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) mode of operation and a TDD (Time Division
Duplex) mode of operation.
The figures opposite detail the services offered by the physical layer and illustrate the protocol
architecture.

1. Error detection on the transport channel and indication
to higher layers
2. FEC encoding/decoding of the transport channel
3. Hybrid ARQ soft-combining
4. Rate matching of the coded transport channel to
physical channels
5. Mapping of the coded transport channel onto physical
channels
6. Power weighting of physical channels
7. Modulation and demodulation of physical channels
8. Frequency and time synchronisation
9. Radio characteristics measurements and indication
to higher layers
10. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna
processing
11. Transmit diversity
12. Beamforming
13. RF processing
Fig. 1 – Physical Layer Services


Layer 3 Radio Resource Control (RRC)
Control/measurements
Logical
channels
Layer 2
Medium Access Control
Transport
channels
Layer 1 Physical layer
Fig. 2 – Protocol Architecture

The Multipath Environment

The figure opposite illustrates a typical urban environment through which radio signals
propagate. The transmission of the signal from the source to the destination is carried over
multiple paths. The main reason for this is the existence of the buildings, vehicles, and other
obstacles which can reflect and scatter the transmitted signal. The received signal is a
summation of all these signals from different paths. It is apparent that any receiver will be
subject to multiple, time shifted copies of the same signal.
Each of these paths experiences a different Doppler shift and degree of attenuation.
The frequency response is the representation in the frequency domain of the superposition
of all these paths. With the multipath scenario, where the transmitted signals take place
over different paths, the signals received from each path will add up at the receiver input

Transmitter
Receiver
Fig. 3 – The Multipath Environment

Inter Symbol Interference and Frequency Selective Fading

The power of the received signal will vary as it is dependant upon the relationship between the
phases of each received component; whether the result is constructive or destructive addition
of the phase values.
The fluctuation of received signal power is called fading. If the power is varying randomly, with a
Rayleigh distribution, then it is called Rayleigh fading. The fading caused by multipath propagation
is known as frequency-selective fading, as illustrated in Figure 5.
As all received components will have travelled different path lengths it is found that the
demodulated data consists of multiple copies of the same data, shifted in time with respect
to each other. This is known as delay spread which creates Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
as illustrated in Figure 4.
10 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Indoor Delay Spread
Transmitter
Receiver
RMS Delay Spread

t0
t1
t2
t3
t4
Power
t5
Time
RMS delay spread
Narrowband or WideBand?
Ts
Td
Narrow band ~ Ts > Td

Wideband ~ Td > Ts
Fig. 4 – Multipath Induced Inter Symbol interference (ISI)
© Informa Telecoms & Media 11


a) Typical Multipath Environment
Transmitter
Receiver
b) Flat Fading
Expected signal
Actual signal
Power
Frequency
c) Frequency Selective Fading

Expected signal
Actual signal
Power
Frequency
Fig. 5 – Multipath Induced Frequency Selective Fading

OFDM – Minimising the Impact of ISI

An OFDM signal is very resilient to frequency selective fading. This is because, instead of
transmitting the data serially over a wide channel, the data is transmitted in parallel over a
number of narrow band signals known as sub-carriers, as illustrated in Figure6. How this process
is achieved will be discussed later but, for now, it is important to understand the benefits of such
a transmission method.
Obviously such a signal will experience frequency selective fading but fading will only impact a
number of the sub-carriers, thus limiting the negative impact on the composite data being carried.

Spectrum Response Spectrum Response
of signal of channel of signal 1 of channel
Deep fade
frequencies
a b a b
Traditionally Spaced FDM Channels
t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t6
Orthogonally Spaced FDM Channels

(sub‑carriers)
1/Ts
Fig. 6 – OFDM advantages – Minimising the Impact of Multipath Induced ISI

OFDM – Defeating ISI

A further advantage of OFDM is that an effective method of defeating ISI can be realised by
adding a “guard interval” immediately before the transmitted data symbol. This guard interval
is known as a Cyclic Prefix (CP). The Cyclic Prefix is a copy of a portion of the transmitted
data symbol pre-pended to the symbol prior to transmission.
To understand how OFDM deals with ISI induced by multipath, consider the time domain
representation of an OFDM symbol shown in Figure 7. The OFDM symbol consists of two major
components: the CP and an FFT(Fast Fourier Transform) period (TFFT) -(to be discussed later.
In effect the TFFTcontains the transmitted data. The duration of the CP is determined by the
highest anticipated degree of delay spread for the targeted application. When transmitted
signals arrive at the receiver by two paths of differing length, they are staggered in time as
shown in Fig. 7.
Within the CP, it is possible to have distortion from the preceding symbol. However, with a
CP of sufficient duration, preceding symbols do not spill over into the FFT period; there is only
interference caused by time-staggered “copies” of the current symbol. Once the channel
impulse response is determined (by periodic transmission of known reference signals), distortion
can be corrected by applying an amplitude and phase shift on a subcarrier-by-subcarrier basis.
Note that all of the information of relevance to the receiver is contained within the FFT period.
Once the signal is received and digitized, the receiver simply discards the CP. The result is a
rectangular pulse that, within each subcarrier, is of constant amplitude over the FFT period.

Creation of the Cyclic Prefix
Tcp = 4.7µS
Symbol = 66.7µS
Total transmitted symbol = 71.3µS
Cyclic Prefix Operation

CPA A CPB B CPC C
CPA A CPB B CPC C
Td
Complete symbol
FFT sampling
time
Fig. 7 – OFDM Advantages – Defeating Multipath Induced ISI with the

Addition of the Cyclic Prefix (Guard Interval/Period)

OFDM – Spectral Efficiency

The rectangular pulses resulting from decimation of the CP are central to the ability to space
subcarriers very closely in frequency without creating ICI. A uniform rectangular pulse (RECT
function) in the time domain results in a SINC function (sin(x) / x) in the frequency domain as
shown in Figure 8. The LTE FFT Period is 67.77 μsec. Note that this is simply the inversion of
the carrier spacing (1 / 15 kHz). This results in a SINC pattern in the frequency domain with
uniformly spaced zero-crossings at 15 kHz intervals – precisely at the centre of the adjacent
subcarrier. It is therefore possible to sample at the centre frequency of each subcarrier while
encountering no interference from neighbouring subcarriers (zero-ICI).
Figure 8 also illustrates how the choice of sub-carrier spacing impacts upon the spectral
efficiency of OFDM.

4/3 Hz
per symbol
Fig. 8 – OFDM Advantages – Spectral Efficiency

The LTE OFDM Structure

Figure 9 illustrates the LTE OFDMA structure. This particular example is for a 5 MHz bandwidth
signal; the principle is the same for the other bandwidths supported by LTE.

5 MHz bandwidth
FFT Subcarriers
Guard
intervals
Symbols
Frequency
Time
Fig. 9 – The OFDM Structure – Time and Frequency Domain

OFDM – Making it Happen

So far the discussion has focussed on OFDM without going into any detail of how the structure
is created. Figure 10 illustrates the full process of creating an OFDM signal and also
demodulating such a structure.
The serial data input is passed through a serial to parallel converter. The spectral components
of each symbol are identified and input to an Inverse FFT (IFFT) process. IFFT converts
frequency domain signals into the time domain. Each resulting time domain FFT symbols is now
mapped onto its sub-carrier, and the final time domain signal is a composite of all sub-carriers.
Demodulation is the reverse of the above process with the parallel sub-carriers undergoing
an FFT process (time to frequency) and the frequency domain components of each symbol
allow the recovery of the transmitted data, which then proceeds through the parallel to serial
conversion process.

Modulation &
f t amplification
11
a IFFT A
01
b
1101110001 11
c t
00
d
01
e
A
abcde f
Amplification &
f t de-modulation
detect
a FFT A
detect
b
1101110001 detect
c t
detect
d
detect
e
A
abcde f
Fig. 10 – OFDM(A) – Making it Happen

Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR)

OFDM does present some technical challenges. The resulting composite waveform displays
large variations in amplitude caused by the combination of a number of individual signals.
This is illustrated in Figure 11. The effect is similar to that caused by the multipath environment –
a resultant signal fluctuating in amplitude as a result of the combining of so many signals with
discrete phase and amplitude differences.
This resultant composite signal has implications for A to D convertor and RF amplifier design.
The dynamic range of the amplifier must be able to cope with the smallest and largest signal
amplitudes – particularly the largest amplitude as it this that could cause over-driving of the
amplifier. Over driving an amplifier causes non-linear behaviour resulting in the generation of
harmonics and Intermodulation Products (IPs) which will reside within the wanted spectrum,
but will cause unwanted effects. The FFT process will be degraded as it attempts to deal with
frequency components that should not be there, resulting in lost packets.

Symbol time 2 Symbol time 3 Symbol time 4
Carrier 1
Carrier 2
Carrier 3
Carrier 4
Composite
signal
Fig. 11 – OFDM Disadvantages – The Peak to

Average Power Ratio (PAPR) Problem

OFDM – Frequency Sensitivity

The FFT is done at baseband frequency, after the received signal has been down converted
from the RF carrier frequency. Down conversion is typically performed by means of direct
conversion. The received signal is mixed with a signal produced by the receiver’s local oscillator
(LO). Ideally, the carrier signal and the receiver LO are at the identical frequency. Unfortunately,
this is not always the case.
The transmitter and receiver local oscillators will invariably drift, so active means must be taken
to keep them synchronized. Each base station periodically sends synchronization signals which
are used by the UE for this purpose, among other things (synchronization signals are also used
for initial acquisition and handover). Even so, other sources such as Doppler shifts and oscillator
phase noise can still result in frequency errors. Uncorrected frequency errors will result in ICI as
shown in Figure 12. For these reasons, the signal frequency must be tracked continuously. Any
offsets must be corrected in the baseband processor to avoid excessive ICI that might result in
dropped packets.
It is because of oscillator phase noise that the central sub-carrier is never used to carry
information – either traffic or signalling. Hence it is referred to as the DC carrier.

2
FFT points
1.5
Zero ICI
Demodulated
Normalised voltage
1
signal without
frequency offset
0.5
(zero ICI)
-0.5
15 30 45 60 75 90 105
Frequency (kHz)
freq. error
ICI induced by
1.5
freq. error
Normalised voltage
1
Demodulated
signal with
0.5
frequency offset
causing ICI
0
-0.5
15 30 45 60 75 90 105
Frequency (kHz)
Fig. 12 – OFDM Disadvantages – Sensitivity to Carrier Frequency Errors

OFDM and OFDMA

Figure 13 illustrates the difference between OFDM and OFDMA.
In OFDM a group of sub-carriers are allocated to a given transaction across that air interface.
The capacity allocated is available for the duration of the transaction at that particular point
in the frequency domain.
OFDMA allows greater flexibility in the allocation of resources and is therefore much more
efficient than OFDM. The resources are variable in both the time and frequency domains.
This efficiency far outweighs the added complexity of resource scheduling.

Time Time
User 1
Frequency
Frequency
User 2
User 3
OFDM OFDMA
Fig. 13 – OFDM and OFDMA

LTE OFDMA Structure

Figure 14 illustrates the structure of a physical resource block (PRB). This is the smallest
element of resource allocation that can be assigned by the eNodeB scheduler.

One resource One resource block
element (12x7 = 84 resource
QPSK, 2bits elements)
16 QAM, 4bits /f = 15kHz
64 QAM, 6 bits
One slot (Tslot = 0.5 ms, 7 OFDM symbols)
12 subcarriers, 180kHz
Fig. 14 – LTE OFDMA Structure

Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)

QPSK (Figure 15) is an example of a multi state modulation scheme. Such schemes allow
efficient use of spectral resources by allowing the transmission of multiple bits for every state
change. The baud (symbol) rate of QPSK is half the bit rate as each symbol represents two bits.
QPSK is a robust modulation scheme more resilient to noise and interference than higher
order schemes.

Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)
Data 01 00 11 00 01 10 Q
φ(t) 01 01 00
00
π I
10
10 11 10
Fig. 15 – Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)

16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16 QAM)

16 QAM is a natural progression from QPSK. With each modulation symbol representing 4 bits
the baud rate is 4 times lower than the bit rate resulting in even more efficient use of spectral
resources. However, the decision distance between the symbol states is reduced making
16 QAM less resilient o noise and interference.

1
0.5
0 SI(t)
Q +1V
-0.5 0011 0010 0001 0000
-1 16 QAM
0111 0110 0101 0100
Noise I
-1V +1V
1 1011 1010 1001 1000
0.5 1111 1110 1101 1100

-1V
0 SQ(t)
-0.5
-1
Fig. 16 – 16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16QAM)

64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (64 QAM)

64 QAM (Figure 17) further decreases the baud rate as each symbol now represents 6 bits.
Further spectral efficiency is realised but at the cost of even lower resilience against noise and
interference as the decision distance has decreased further still.
LTE supports all three modulation schemes on the shared channels. The modulation scheme
will be changed dynamically as radio channel conditions vary.

1, -1 1 1, 1
Q
-1 I 1
-1, -1 -1 -1, 1
Fig. 17 – 64 QAM Constellation Diagram

Single Carrier – Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA)

3GPP has chosen SC-FDMA for the uplink. Not surprisingly, power consumption is a key
consideration for UE terminals. The high PAPR and related loss of efficiency associated with
OFDMA are major concerns. As a result, an alternative to OFDM was sought for use in the
LTE uplink.
SC-FDMA is well suited to the LTE uplink requirements. The basic transmitter and receiver
architecture is very similar (nearly identical) to OFDMA, and it offers the same degree of
multipath protection. Most important though is that the underlying waveform is essentially
single-carrier, and therefore the PAPR is lower.
Figure 18 compares the OFDMA and SC-FDMA structures. For clarity this example uses only
four (M) subcarriers over two symbol periods with the payload data represented by quadrature
phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation.
As described earlier, real LTE signals are allocated in units of 12 adjacent subcarriers.
Data symbols in the time domain are converted to the frequency domain using a discrete
Fourier transform (DFT); then in the frequency domain they are mapped to the desired location
in the overall channel bandwidth before being converted back to the time domain using an
inverse FFT (IFFT). Finally, the CP is inserted. Because SC-FDMA uses this technique, it is
sometimes called discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM or (DFT-SOFDM). The most obvious
difference between the two schemes illustrated in Figure 18 is that OFDMA transmits the four
QPSK data symbols in parallel, one per subcarrier, while SC-FDMA transmits the four QPSK
data symbols in series at four times the rate, with each data symbol occupying M x 15 kHz
bandwidth.

Q
-1,1 1,1 1,1 -1,-1 -1,1 1,-1 -1,-1 1,1 1,-1 -1,1
Sequence of QPSK data symbols to be transmitted

I
-1,-1 1,-1
QPSK modulating
data symbols
Constant subcarrier
power during
each SC-FDMA
symbol period
V V
bo A
m MA
m M
sy -FD
l
l
bo
sy FD
SC
O
CP CP
e
bo A
m
m
m MA
m M
Ti
Ti
sy -FD
l
l
bo
sy FD
SC
O
fc 15kHz Frequency fc 60kHz Frequency
OFDMA SC-FDMA
Data symbols occupy 15kHz for Data symbols occupy M*15kHz for
one OFDMA symbol period 1/M SC-FDMA symbol periods
Fig. 18 – Comparison of OFDMA and Single Carrier – Frequency Division

Multiple Access (SC-FDMA)


As noted, SC-FDMA signal generation begins with a special pre-coding process.
Figure 19 shows the first steps, which create a time-domain waveform of the
QPSK data sub-symbols. Using the four colour-coded QPSK data symbols from
Figure 8, the process creates one SC-FDMA symbol in the time domain by computing the
trajectory traced by moving from one QPSK data symbol to the next. This is done at M
times the rate of the SC-FDMA symbol such that one
SC-FDMA symbol contains M consecutive QPSK data symbols.
Once an IQ representation of one SC-FDMA symbol has been created in the time domain,
the next step is to represent that symbol in the frequency domain using a DFT.

Q V(I) V(I)
-1,1 1,1 +1 +1
-1,-1 1,-1
–1 –1
One SC-FDMA One SC-FDMA

symbol period symbol period
Fig. 19 – Creating the Time Domain Waveform for SC-FDMA


To complete SC-FDMA signal generation, the process follows the same steps as for OFDMA.
Performing an IDFT converts the frequency-shifted signal to the time domain and inserting
the CP provides the fundamental robustness of OFDMA against multipath. The relationship
between SC-FDMA and OFDMA is illustrated in Figure 20.

Unique to SC-FDMA Common with OFDMA
Map Generate Perform Map Perform Upconvert

data to time domain M-point DFT symbols to N-point IFFT and
constellation waveform (time to freq) subcarriers N>M transmit
M data
bits in
Time domain Frequency domain Time domain
De-map Perform De-map Perform Receive

Generate
constellation M-point IDFT subcarriers N-point DFT and
constellation
to data (time to freq) to symbols N>M downconvert
bits out
M data
Fig. 20 – Simplified Block Diagram of OFDMA and SC-FDMA

Transmission and Reception

LTE Timing and Framing

The basic unit of time in LTE is Ts, this is defined as 1/(15000*2408) = 32.56nS, where 15000
is the bandwidth of the sub-carrier and 2048 is the maximum number of FFTs supported.
Every element of time is some multiple of this value.
The figure opposite shows the type 1 frame, or Frame Structure 1 (FS1), this is the timing
structure used on the uplink and downlink of the FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) channels.
One slot is a 0.5mS period of time which contains 7 symbols of 66.67 µS. 2 slots make up
one 1mS Sub-Frame, the sub-frame is sometimes referred to as the transmission time interval
(TTI) particularly by the higher layers. There a 10 sub-frames or 20 slots in one 10mS frame.
This structure is used in the time domain to map the physical channels. Note that the physical
channels also require a frequency domain component for complete mapping.

Radio frame 10mS
Sub frame 1mS
#0 #1 #2 #3 #18 #19
One subframe
Slot 0.5mS
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Symbols = Ts = 66.67µS
Fig. 21 – Frame Type 1 FDD

Frame Type 2, TDD

The figure opposite shows the frame structure used on a TDD (Time Division Duplex) channel.
It has similar overall timing i.e. the overall frame length is 10mS and 10 sub-frames of 1mS each.
However the structure of the sub-frames is different.
In the FS2 the sub-frame allows both an uplink and downlink transmission/reception
opportunity. These are referred to as the DwPTS (Downlink Pilot Time Slot) and UpPTS
(Uplink Pilot Time Slot), these are separated in the sub-frame by a guard period (GP).
The frame has two different switch points i.e. the point at which a defined slot configuration
begins to repeat, these are at 5mS and 10mS. In addition there are 7 different frame
configurations. In any of these configurations sub-frame 0 and 6 carry downlink information
only, and sub-frame carries uplink only. The table opposite shows the frame configurations.

One radio frame, Tf = 307200 T5 = 10mS
One half frame, 153600 T5 = 5mS

One slot,
Tslot =
15360 T5 30720 T5
Subframe #0 Subframe #2 Subframe #3 Subframe #4 Subframe #5 Subframe #7 Subframe #8
One subframe
30720 T5
GP GP
DwPTS UpPTS DwPTS UpPTS
Configuration Switch-point Sub-frame number

periodicity 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Fig. 22 – Frame Type 2 TDD

0 5 ms D S U U U D S U U U
1 5 ms D S U U D D S U U D
2 5 ms D S U D D D S U D D
3 10 ms D S U U U D D D D D
4 10 ms D S U U D D D D D D
5 10 ms D S U D D D D D D D
6 10 ms D S U U U D S U U D
47
The Resource Block

Mapping of channels takes place in the time and frequency domains in LTE. The primary
element that support the mapping process is the Resource Block (RB). The RB has a fixed size
and is common to all channel bandwidths/FFT sizes.
In the time domain the RB is one slot ( 7 x 66.67µS symbols). In the frequency domain there
are 12 x 15KHz sub-carriers. 1 symbol and 1 sub-carrier is known as a resource element.
From the figure opposite it can bee seen that the RB occupies 12 x 15KHz = 180KHz of band
width. In a 5MHz radio channel there will be 300 RB occupying 4.5MHz of spectrum. The
number of FFTs required to process this is 512, assuming sub-carrier size of 15KHz, 512 x
15KHz = 7.68MHz. 7.68MHz if the space occupied by 512 FFT points and is not the transmitted
bandwidth, 7.68MHz is also the sampling frequency required to recover information from the
carrier to drive the FFT (time domain to frequency domain) in the receiver.

1 slot
Zeros
DL or UL
symbol
Resource
block
NRB x NscRB = 300 (4.5 MHz)
M = 512 (7.68 MHz)

NscRB = 12 (180 kHz)
Frequency
Zeros
Time
*5 MHz system with
frame structure type 1
Fig. 23 – Defining a Resource Block

Comparison of Resource Blocks, Channel Size and Sampling Rate

The table opposite shows the number of RB required for channel bandwidths supported
by LTE, it should be noted that the definition of channel bandwidth in this table refers to
the nominal channel size defined by the spectrum regulating body, it is not necessarily the
transmission bandwidth.
Since each RB contains 12 sub-carriers the number of occupied sub-carriers can be

determined, multiplying the number of occupied sub-carriers by 15KHz will more accurately
describe the transmission bandwidth of the various options.
The IDFT/DFT (Inverse Discreet Fourier Transform) describes the number of FFT points required
to successfully recover information from the carrier, it is always a value of 2n and determines the
number of steps of processes required to construct/de-construct the composite OFDMA signal.
The sampling rate and samples per slot are determined from the FFT number and the
sub‑carrier bandwidth. E.g. in the 5MHz channel the sampling rate of 7.68MHz would result
in 3840 samples every 1mS

Channel bandwidth (MHz) 1.4 3 5 10 15 20
Number of resource blocks (NRB) 6 15 25 50 75 100
Number of occupied subcarriers 72 180 300 600 900 1200
IDFT(Tx)/DFT(Rx) size 128 256 512 1024 1536 2048
Sample rate (MHz) 1.92 3.84 7.68 15.36 23.04 30.72
Samples per slot 960 1920 3840 7680 11520 15360
Fig. 24 – Table of Resource Block Sizes and Channel BandwidtH

LTE Physical Channels and Signals

The physical channels describe the time and frequency domain mapping of specific types
of data form the upper layers of the protocol stack, not all physical channels carry information
above the physical layer e.g. PDCCH and PUCCH carry only control data related to physical
layer events such as resources allocations. The PCFICH describes the properties of the PDCCH
and the PHICH provides feedback for the HARQ mechanism.
The PBCH is important that it is fixed and carries upper layer system and cell related
information, allowing the UEs to discover the operational parameters of the LTE system.
Upper layer control and user data is carried on the PUSCH and PDSCH and where supported
broadcast information on the PMCH.
In addition to the defined physical channels there are physical signals which to not have
any formal definition as channels, they primarily carry synchronisation and reference signals
to aid the process of finding, identifying and decoding information on the radio interfaces.
The reference signals are an important part of the MIMO operation of LTE.

DL channels Full name Purpose
PBCH Physical broadcast channel Carries cell-specific information
PMCH Physical multicast channel Carries the MCH transport channel
PDCCH Physical downlink control channel Scheduling, ACK/NACK
PDSCH Physical downlink shared channel Payload
PCFICH Physical control format indicator channel Defines number of PDCCH OFDMA
symbols per sub-frame (up to 4)
PHICH Physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel Carries HARQ ACK/NACK
UL channels Full name Purpose

PRACH Physical random access channel Call setup
PUCCH Physical uplink control channel Scheduling, ACK/NACK
PUSCH Physical uplink shared channel Payload
Fig. 25 – The Physical Layer Channels of LTE
DL signals Full name Purpose

P-SCH Primary synchronisation signal Used for cell search and identification by
the UE. Carries part of the cell ID (one of
three orthogonal sequences)
S-SCH Secondary synchronisation signal Used for cell search and identification by
the UE. Carries the remainder of the cell ID
(one of 168 binary sequences)
RS Reference signal (pilot) Used for DL channel estimation. Exact
sequence derived from cell ID (one of
3 x 168 = 504) pseudo random sequences)
UL signals Full name Purpose

RS Reference signal Used for synchronisation to the UE and UL
(demodulation and sounding) channel estimation
Fig. 26 – Physical Layer Signals of LTE

Mapping Channels to the Resource Block

The figure opposite shows the process of mapping the downlink control and shared channels
to a resource block. The synchronisation and reference signals are also included.
Note the PDCCH occurs in the first few symbols of each sub-frame, the number of symbols
is signalled by the PHFICH. Also note the arrangement of the primary and secondary
synchronisation signals and the PBCH. When this information is mapped to the 10mS
frame it can be seen that the P-SCH, S-SCH and PBCH are transmitted in sub-frame 1
and the P-SCH, S-SCH is transmitted again in sub-frame 5. This means that primary and
secondary synchronisation signals are retransmitted every 5mS. The PBCH is transmitted
with 40mS periodicity.

Fig. 27 – Mapping of Downlink Control and SCH Physical Channels
to a Resource Block

Channel Mapping on a 10MHz Channel

The figure opposite shows the downlink mapping on a 10MHz channel. The synch and
broadcast data is located in the centre of the band to aid the UE cell search process.

One radio frame = 10 ms
One subframe = 1 ms
Slot 0 Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 10 Slot 19
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
RB
Ant 0/Ant 1 reference 258

• channel estimation 259
• channel quality
measurement 260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
PDCCH 268
• DL scheduling decision 269
• UL scheduling grants
• ACK/NACK information 270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
P-/S-SCH 278
• cell search 279
• frequency and
timing acquisition 280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
PBCH 288
• broadcasting channel 289
• cell specific information
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
595
596
597
598
599
600
Fig. 28 – Detailed Physical Channel Mapping for 5MHz Channel

Uplink Mapping of Physical Channels

The uplink channels are mapped in a similar fashion to the downlink, the biggest difference
here being the absence of sub-carriers since SC-FDMA is used the resource block contains
7 time domain symbols (1 slot) and a single SC-FDMA channel.
The mapping of the uplink shared channel is shown in the figure opposite. Note the presence
of the uplink reference signal in symbol 3 of every slot.

Fig. 29 – Mapping of UL Shared Channel to Resource Block and Frame

Uplink Mapping of the Control Channel

The figure opposite shows the mapping arrangement for the PUCCH and its reference signals.
The PRACH channel is also mapped into this sub-frame format although its presence and
location must be signalled by the network.

PRACH
Fig. 30 – Mapping of UL Control Channel to Resource Block

Overall Picture of UL Mapping

The figure opposite shows the general arrangement for mapping uplink control and shared
channels over time and frequency domains.

e
Tim
Frequency
n PUSCH n Demodulation reference signal (for PUSCH)

n PUCCH n Demodulation reference signal for PUCCH format 0 & 1
Fig. 31 – Detailed Mapping of UL Data and Control Channels

Physical Channels and Modulation Schemes

There are generally 3 different types of information transmitted over the radio link, signalling,
data and special reference signals.
Physical layer signalling has the primary requirement of reliability therefore the modulation
schemes supported by the signalling channels are low level “robust” schemes. QPSK is the
modulation scheme used in most cases although the PUCCH has the option of using BPSK
in circumstance where interference is very high.
Data’s main requirement is one of speed and spectral efficiency. Most application benefit
from hi data transfer rates and the network benefits from high spectral efficiency, therefore the
highest order modulation scheme would generally be selected, 64QAM, however there are
times when interference is high and the high order schemes cannot be maintained, there for
the shared channels also support 16QAM and QPSK.
The special signals don’t transmit explicit information, rather complex signals which imply
a channel condition or position in complex sequence generation. The signals are used
by the UE and the eNB to determine channel conditions for MIMO processing and network
synchronisation. The RS, P-SCH and S-SCH all transmit complex data sequences.

Downlink
DL channels Modulation Scheme
PBCH QPSK
PDCCH QPSK
PDSCH QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM
PMCH QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM
PCFICH QPSK
PHICH BPSK modulated on I and Q with the sreading factor 2 or 4 Walsh codes
DL channels Modulation Scheme

RS Complex I+jQ pseudo random sequence (length-31 Gold sequence) derived from cell ID
P-SCH One of three Zadoff-Chu sequences
S-SCH Two 31-bit BPSK M-sequence
Uplink
UL channels Modulation Scheme
PUCCH BPSK, QPSK
PUSCH QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM
PRACH uth root Zadoff-Chu
UL channels Modulation Scheme

Demodulation RS Zadoff-Chu
Sounding RS Based on Zadoff-Chu
Fig. 32 – Physical Channels and Modulation Schemes

Cell Search and Synchronisation

The P-SCH and S-SCH assist in the process of UE synchronisation and cell identification.
The Primary (P-SCH) Synch channel and Secondary (S-SCH) carry hierarchical cell identity
information. There are 504 unique cell identities that are arranged in to 168 groups of 3.
The P‑SCH transmits cell id (0,1,2) in a Zadoff-Chu sequence over the central 72 sub‑carriers of
the cell channel. When the UE decodes the sequence it is sub-frame synchronised and knows
which of the 3 id’s the cell has.
The S-SCH carries the secondary synch which identifies the cell (one of 168) group. The successful
decoding also allows the UE to be frame synchronised.
Sub-frame and frame synchronisation allow the UE to discover the PBCH which contains
system information (MIB) and the System Frame Number (SFN).
The exact mapping of the SCH signals depends on the frame type. (FDD or TDD).

CH
P-S
CH
S-S
BCH
eNB
UE
P-SCH – Slot 0 and 10, physical layer identity 0-2

S-SCH – Slot 0 and 10, physical layer group 0-167
BCH – System Frame Number
Fig. 33 – Mobile Synchronisation and Cell Identification

Synchronisation and Reference Signals

Synch Sequence and Cell Search
A UE entering a cell for the fist time must discover the time and frequency parameters that are
required to successfully communicate with the eNB. In other words the UE must synchronise
with the eNB. Synchronisation signals are broadcast from the eNB on a frequent basis that
enable the time domain and frequency domain parameters to be read by the UE, in addition
this information can impart cell identification.
The requirements for synchronisation can be decomposed into three main functions.
1. Symbol timing acquisition, where the correct symbol start position is identified, to set the
correct FFT window position.
2. Carrier frequency synchronisation, which is needed to reduce or eliminate the effect of

frequency errors arising from the mismatch of local oscillator to the transmitter and receiver,
also other frequency distortions arising from temperature drift, ageing and Doppler effects.
3. It is also necessary to have the sampling clock synchronised.
The UE is required to perform cell search either initially when entering the system after switch
on and identifying a new cell (i.e. neighbour cell) once connected to the system.

1. Symbol timing acquisition
2. Carrier frequency synchronisation
3. Synchronised sampling clock
Fig. 34 – Synchronisation Requirements

Primary and Secondary Synch Sequences

There are 2 synch signals transmitted from the eNB, the Primary Synch Signal (PSS) and the
Secondary Synch Signal (SSS)
The PSS enables the UE to detect the slot timing and also provides a physical layer identity for
the cell. The SSS provides the radio frame timing, the cell ID, Cyclic Prefix (CP) detection and
an ndication of TDD or FDD.
If the cell search is for initial entry in to the system the UE will detect PSS followed by SSS then
go on to find and decode the Broadcast information in the cell, information broadcast will deliver
other important cell parameters allowing the UE to modify its behaviour according to the
selected cell.
If the UE has already entered the network the detection of adjacent cell PSS and SSS will be
followed by the detection and measurement of the neighbour cell signal strength and quality.

PSS Detection
Slot Timing
PHY Layer ID
SSS Detection
Radio Frame Timing
Cell ID
CP Length Detection
TDD/FDD Detection
Initial New cell
synchronisation identification
RS Detection
PBCH Decode
Measure and Report…
PBCH Timing Detection
Signal Quality
System Information Access
Signal Strength
RS Detection
Measure and Report…
Signal Quality
Signal Strength
Fig. 35 – Synch Sequences and Synch Activity

PSS and SS in the Frame Structure

The structure of the PSS and SSS is shown in the figure opposite. In both the TDD and FDD
frame structure the PSS and SSS are transmitted periodically, twice in every 10mS frame.
However the actual structure of the PSS and SSS as applied to the frame is slightly different
depending on whether the frame is TDD of FDD and whether the long or short CP is used.
The FDD frame locates the PSS and SSS in the last 2 symbols of the 1st and 11th slots of
the radio frame. Allowing the UE to obtain slot boundary timing independently of CP length.
In the TDD frame the PSS is located in the third symbol of the 3rd and 13th slots of the radio
frame, the SSS is transmitted 3 symbols earlier.

PSS and SSS Frame and Slot Structure
in Time Domain in the FDD Case
10 ms radio frame
2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10
1 ms subframe SSS PSS
0.5 ms 1 slot
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Normal CP
1 2 3 4 5 6 Extended CP
PSS and SSS Frame and Slot Structure

in Time Domain in the TDD Case
10 ms radio frame
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 ms subframe SSS PSS
0.5 ms 1 slot
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Normal CP
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 Extended CP
Fig. 36


PSS and SSS Frame Structure in Frequency
and Time Domain for an FDD Cell
10 ms radio frame
6 RB
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SSS
PSS
RS
Unused RE
1 ms subframe
Fig. 36

Cells Supporting Differing Bandwidths

LTE supports radio channel bandwidths of various configurations (1.75 – 20MHz) so a UE
scanning a cell for the first time will not know what the channel bandwidth is. However this
problem should not stop a UE from discovering and synchronising with a cell. This is the reason
for the central placement of P-SCH, S-SCH and PBCH in the radio channel. These signals will
always be in the centre of the channel and have the same format regardless of actual channel
bandwidth. Once the UE has found and decoded the system information block it will have all
the information it requires about the operating parameters of the current cell.

20 MHz Cell Channel Bandwidth
SCH and BCH

Centre 1.08 MHz
5 MHz Mobile
Fig. 37 – Synchronising in Bandwidth Diverse Systems

LTE Power Control

Like many mobile radio systems LTE supports dynamic or adaptive power control. The reason
for power control systems is to reduce the power emissions from devices and therefore reduce
the overall interference across the network.
The system for LTE power control is shown on the opposite page. The scheme basically
involves parameters that are determined by the current occupied bandwidth, network
determined components for the cell and UE, the radio link pathloss and a power control
command from the network.
The UE will read this information from the system information blocks or in dedicated messages
during connection setup. Many of the parameters are determined by the upper layers and
signalled during resource allocation. Some parameters such as the power control command
are dynamic and can by modified on a regular basis.

PMAX is the maximum allowed power that depends on the UE power class
MPUSCH(i) is the bandwidth of the PUSCH resource assignment expressed

in number of resource blocks valid for subframe i
PO_PUSCH(j) = PO_NOMINAL_PUSCH(j) + PO_UE_PUSCH(j)

where
PO_NOMINAL_PUSCH(j) is a 8-bit cell specific signalled from higher layers

PO_UE_PUSCH(j) is a 4-bit UE specific component
PPUSCH(i) = min {PMAX, 10log10 (MPUSCH(i)) + PO_PUSCH(j) + α(j).PL + ∆TF(i) +ƒ(i)}
α(j) = 0, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1

depending on certain configurations
PL is the downlink pathloss

estimate calculated in the UE
∆TF is related to the Transport Block Size (TBS)

and the number of resource elements
ƒ(i) = ƒ(i–1) + δPUSCH(i–KPUSCH)

where δPUSCH is a UE specific correction
value, also referred to as a TPC command
Fig. 38 – LTE Power Control

Physical Control Format Indication Channel (PCFICH)

The main purpose of this channel is to indicate to the UE the number of symbols comprising
the PDCCH and the beginning of each sub-frame. The number of slots is dynamic to reflect
the dynamic nature of signalling and traffic capacity.
The number of symbols the PDCCH can occupy is 1,2, 3 or 4, this is the information conveyed
by the PCFICH.

ICH
PCF
eNB
UE
PCFICH – How many Symbols define the PDCCH, 1, 2, 3 or 4
Fig. 39 – Frame Control Channel Function

Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)

The primary purpose of the PDCCH is to convey resource allocations to UE. There are 3 ways
the PDCCH can indicate resource allocations Types 0,1 and 2
The RBs (Resource Blocks) are arranged in to Resource Block Groups (RBGs), the number
of RBs per RBG (1 – 4) depends on the channel bandwidth.
Type 0 allocations uses a bit map to describe to the UE the RBGs allocated to it.
Type 1 allocations uses an additional bit map to describe which RBs of the allocated RBGs
should be used.
Type 2 describes the use of Virtual RBGs.

CH
UL/DL Resource
PDC
Allocations
CH
PDS
DL Data eNB
UE
PDCCH – Signals information about UL/DL resource allocations

PDSCH – Contains the DL Data
Fig. 40 – Allocation of Radio Resources in LTE
1 0 0
Type 0 RBG 1 RBG 2 RBG 3 RBG n
0 1 0 1
Type 1 RB1 RB2 RB3 RB4
Fig. 41 – Type 0 and Type 1 Resource Allocation

Physical HARQ Indication Channel

The use of a Hybrid ARQ mechanism relieves the upper layers of CRC processing and allows
for efficient use of the radio interface.
Transmitted data on the physical layer is protected with CRC any CRS failure may result in
the data being retransmitted. However in HARQ systems the errored data is held in the receive
buffer and will be combined with the retransmitted information.
The PHICH allows the uplink data to be Acknowledged (Ack) or Negative Acknowledged (NACK).

CH
PUS
UL Data
H
ACK/NACK
PHIC
eNB
UE
PUSCH – Carries UL Data

PHICH – Carries HARQ ACK/NACK
Fig. 42 – Use of UL Data Channels and HARQ Feedback

Physical Channel Processing

Cyclic redundancy check (CRC)
A CRC coding process is applied to each Transport Block (TB) – 24-bit CRC applied to DL-SCH,
PCH, and MCH transport blocks and 16-bit CRC applied to BCH and DCI code blocks.
Segmentation
Code block segmentation is applied to DL-SCH, PCH, and MCH transport blocks (i.e., data that
are turbo encoded), with an additional 24-bit CRC computed on each code-block (in cases
where segmentation produces more than one code-block).
Encoding
A Turbo code is applied to DL-SCH, PCH, and MCH data to be carried over a downlink
physical channel is scrambled prior to modulation. Convolutional code is applied to BCH and
DCI data (single code block).
Channel coding used over the LTE air interface is based on the UTRAN Release 6 turbo-coding
schemes. Other schemes are under consideration with the main drivers being
• Improvement in power efficiency (low Eb/No)
• Lower complexity decoder in the UE
• Code rates lower than 1/3.
• Extension of maximum code block size
• Removal of tail
All the above objectives are in pursuit of a reduction in overhead, an improvement in RF

performance, and reduction in equipment costs.
Coding schemes being studied by 3GPP include:
• Duo-binary turbo codes
• Inter-block permutation turbo code (IBPTC)
• Rate-compatible/quasi cyclic LDPC code (RC/QCLDPC)
• Concatenated zigzag LDPC code
• Turbo single parity check (SPC) low-density parity check (LDPC) code
• Shortened turbo code by insertion of temporary bits
Rate Matching
Rate matching is applied on a code-block basis to DL-SCH, PCH, MCH, BCH, and DCI data.
This function performs appropriate puncturing according to the AMC parameters.
Figure 40 is a schematic diagram of the above processes.

UE…
UE1
PDSCH Transport block (TB) processing #CB #CB

TB2 Subblock Layer
#CB #CB interleaver Mapping
Codeblock Turbo • Rate
TB (CB) CB encoder Subblock matching # layers
Scrambling Modulation
CRC Segmen- CRC (internal interleaver • HARQ
TB1 tation interleaver) functionality
Subblock
interleaver Precoding
No. of antennas
Resource
RF Front-End CP Insertion IFFT Element Mapper
(Subframe builder)
PBCH, Ref. Signals,

P-SCH, S-SCH,
PCFICH, PDCCH,
PHICH, PMCH
Fig. 43 – Physical Channel Processing – (Downlink)

HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Request)

HARQ is commonly used in emerging communication systems to provide a high reliability over
wireless channels. HARQ is essentially a combination of Automatic Request (ARC) and Forward
Error Correction (FEC) techniques. Among two different types of HARQ are Chase combining
and incremental redundancy (IR), which are also known as HARQ Type-I and HARQ Type-II (or
Type-III), respectively. In the Chase combining scheme the receiver sends a retransmission to
the transmitter if the initial packet fails to be successfully decoded. Then the transmitter resends
the same packet again so that the receiver combines the previously received packet with the
new packet. In the IR scheme instead of resending the same packet, the transmitters in general
add more redundancy than the previous packet and recreate a different packet delivering the
same information. The receiver needs to keep the previous erroneous packet (packet with bad
CRC) in the memory and combine it with the newly received packet for achieving a higher
coding gain.

UE…
UE1
PDSCH Transport block (TB) processing #CB #CB

TB2 Subblock Layer
#CB #CB interleaver Mapping
Codeblock Turbo • Rate
TB (CB) CB encoder Subblock matching # layers
Scrambling Modulation
CRC Segmen- CRC (internal interleaver • HARQ
TB1 tation interleaver) functionality
Subblock
interleaver Precoding
No. of antennas
Resource
RF Front-End CP Insertion IFFT Element Mapper
(Subframe builder)
PBCH, Ref. Signals,

P-SCH, S-SCH,
PCFICH, PDCCH,
PHICH, PMCH
Fig. 43 – Physical Channel Processing – (Downlink)

Introduction to Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Techniques

Figure 41 illustrates the increases in data throughput realised by the implementation of higher
order modulation schemes and MIMO techniques.
Single input single output (SISO)

This is the “traditional” method of accessing the radio channel. Each transmitter has a single
antenna, as does each receiver. This method is used as the baseline against which the
performance of all multiple antenna techniques is compared.
Multiple input single output (MISO) – Transmit diversity

MISO is also known as transmit diversity. Each transmit antenna transmits essentially the same
stream of data. The multipath environment impacts upon the transmitted signal resulting in the
arrival of time displaced replicas of the same signal at the receiver. This is used to improve the
signal to noise ratio at the receiver and thus the reliability of data transmission. It is usual to
apply antenna-specific coding to the signals prior to transmission to increase the diversity effect.
Transmit diversity does not increase data rates as such, but rather supports the same data
rates using less power or, allows a higher order modulation scheme to be used if sufficient
improvement in SNR is experienced at the receiver. The performance of transmit diversity can
be enhanced if the receiver is able to feedback parameters to be used by the transmitter to
adjust the balance of phase and power used for each antenna.
Single input multiple output (SIMO)

SIMO uses one transmitter and two or more receivers and is usually referred to as receive
diversity. It is particularly well suited for low SNR conditions. There is no improvement in the
data rate as only one data stream is transmitted, but coverage at the cell edge is improved
due to the lowering of the usable SNR.
Multiple input multiple output (MIMO)

MIMO requires two or more transmitters and two or more receivers. Multiple data streams are
transmitted simultaneously in the same frequency and time, taking full advantage of the multiple
paths in the radio channel. For a system to be described as MIMO, it must have at least as
many receivers as there are transmit streams.
All of the above modes are illustrated in Figure 42.

FDD downlink peak data rate (64 QAM)
Antenna configuration SISO 2x2 MIMO 4x4 MIMO
Peak data rate Mbps 100 172.8 326.4
FDD uplink peak data rates (single antenna)

Modulation depth QPSK 16 QAM 64 QAM
Peak data rate Mbps 50 57.6 86.4
Fig. 44 – LTE FDD Peak Data Rates – Uplink and Downlink


Transmit The radio channel Receive
antennas antennas
SISO
MISO
SIMO
MIMO
Fig. 45 – Radio Channel Access Modes

Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)

Adding receive diversity (SIMO) to Tx diversity (MISO) does not create MIMO, even though
there are now two Tx and two Rx antennas involved. If N data streams are transmitted from
fewer than N antennas, the data cannot be fully descrambled by any number of receivers
since overlapping streams results in interference. However, by spatially separating N streams
across at least N antennas, N receivers will be able to fully reconstruct the original data
streams provided the crosstalk and noise in the radio channel are low enough.
One other crucial factor for MIMO operation is that the transmissions from each antenna must
be uniquely identifiable so that each receiver can determine what combination of transmissions
has been received. This identification is usually done with pilot or reference signals.
The spatial diversity of the radio channel means that MIMO has the potential to increase the
data rate. Figure 43 shows a simplified illustration of spatial multiplexing. In this example, each
transmit antenna transmits a different data stream. One data stream is uniquely assigned to one
antenna. The multipath characteristics of the channel should ensure that each receiver antenna
sees a combination of each stream. The receivers decode the received signals by analyzing the
patterns that uniquely identify each transmitter and then determine what combination of each
transmit stream is present. The application of an inverse filter and summing of the received
streams recreates the original data.
A more advanced form of MIMO includes special pre-coding which results in each stream
being spread across more than one transmit antenna. For this technique to work effectively
the transmitter must have knowledge of the channel conditions and, in the case of FDD,
these conditions must be provided in real time by feedback from the UE. Such optimization
significantly complicates the system but can also provide higher performance. Pre-coding for
TDD systems do not require receiver feedback as the transmitter can independently determine
the channel conditions by analyzing the received signals that are on the same frequency.

Cross channel
de-mapping
Transmit The Received

stream “channel” stream
Fig. 46 – Spatial Multiplexing

Single User, Multiple User, and Cooperative MIMO

Further elaboration of MIMO is possible, as illustrated in Figure 44.
Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO)

This is the most common form of MIMO and can be applied in the uplink or downlink. The primary
purpose of SU-MIMO is to increase the data rate to a single user. There is also a corresponding
increase in the capacity of the cell. Figure 44 shows the downlink form of 2x2 SU-MIMO in which
two data streams are allocated to a single UE. The two data streams (red and blue) are pre-coded
in such a way that each stream is represented at a different power and phase on each antenna.
The two mixed data streams are then transmitted from each antenna. The transmitted signals
are further mixed by the channel. The purpose of the pre-coding is to optimize the transmissions
to the characteristics of the radio channel so that when the signals are received, they can be
more easily separated back into the original data streams.
Multiple user MIMO (MU-MIMO)

MU-MIMO is used only in the uplink. MU-MIMO does not increase an individual user’s data
rate but does offer cell capacity gains. In the figure, the two data streams originate from
different UE. The two transmitters are much further apart than in the single user case, and the
lack of physical connection means there is no opportunity to optimize the coding by mixing the
two data streams. However, the extra spatial separation does increase the chance of the eNB
picking up pairs of UE which have uncorrelated paths. This maximizes the potential capacity
gain. This contrasts to the pre-coded SU-MIMO case in which the closeness of the antennas
could be problematic, especially at frequencies less than 1 GHz. MU-MIMO has an additional
important advantage: the UE does not require the expense and power drain of two transmitters,
yet the cell still benefits from increased capacity.
Cooperative MIMO (Co-MIMO)

The essential element of Co-MIMO is that two separate entities are involved at the transmission
end. The example in Figure XXX shows two eNB “collaborating” by sharing data streams to
pre‑code the spatially separate antennas for optimal communication with at least one UE.
When this technique is applied in the downlink it is sometimes called network MIMO. The most
advantageous use of downlink Co-MIMO occurs when the UE is at the cell edge. Here the SNR
will be at its worst but the radio paths will be uncorrelated, which offers significant potential
for increased performance. Co-MIMO is also possible in the uplink but is fundamentally more
difficult to implement as no physical connection exists between the UE to share the data
streams. Uplink Co-MIMO is also known as virtual MIMO. Co-MIMO is not currently part of the
Release 8 LTE specifications but is being studied as a possible enhancement to LTE in Release
9 or Release 10 to meet the goals of the ITU’s IMT 4G initiative.

Transmit The radio channel Receive
antennas antennas
SU-MIMO
∑ ∑
eNB 1 UE 1
MU-MIMO
UE 1
∑
UE 2
eNB
Co-MIMO
eNB 1
∑
∑
eNB 2 UE 1
Fig. 47 – Singe User, Multiple User and Co-operative MIMO

Beamforming
Beamforming uses the same signal processing and antenna techniques as MIMO but rather
than exploit de-correlation in the radio path, beamforming aims to exploit correlation so that
the radiation pattern from the transmitter is directed towards the receiver. This is done by
applying small time delays to a calibrated phase array of antennas. The effectiveness of
beamforming varies with the number of antennas. With just two antennas little gain is seen,
but with four antennas the gains are more useful. Obtaining the initial antenna timing calibration
and maintaining it in the field are challenges. Turning a MIMO system into a beamforming
system is simply a matter of changing the pre-coding matrices. In practical systems, however,
antenna design has to be taken into account and things are not so simple. It is possible to
design antennas to be correlated or uncorrelated; for example, by changing the polarization.
However, switching between correlated and uncorrelated patterns can be problematic if the
physical design of the antennas has been optimized for one or the other.
Since beamforming is related to the physical position of the UE, the required update rate for
the antenna phasing is much lower than the rates needed to support MIMO pre-coding. Thus
beamforming has a lower signalling overhead than MIMO.

Beamforming
array
Beam 1
UE1
Beam 2
UE2
Fig. 48 – Beamforming Antennas

LTE Downlink Multiple Antenna Schemes

The following multiple antenna schemes previously described are supported in the LTE
downlink:
• Single-Antenna transmission, no MIMO
• Transmit diversity
• Open-loop spatial multiplexing, no UE feedback required
• Closed-loop spatial multiplexing, UE feedback required
• Multi-user MIMO (more than one UE is assigned to the same resource block)
• Beamforming
Open-loop Tx diversity
This is the simplest downlink LTE multiple antenna scheme. LTE supports either two or four
antennas for Tx diversity. Figure 27 shows a two Tx example in which a single stream of data
is assigned to the different layers and coded using space-frequency block coding (SFBC).
Since this form of Tx diversity has no data rate gain, the code words CW0 and CW1 are the
same. SFBC achieves robustness through frequency diversity by using different subcarriers
for the repeated data on each antenna.
Receive diversity
RX diversity is mandatory for the UE. It is the baseline receiver capability for which performance
requirements will be defined. A typical use of Rx diversity is maximum ratio combining of the
received streams to improve the SNR in poor conditions. Rx diversity provides little gain in good
conditions.
Spatial multiplexing – MIMO

MIMO is supported for two and four antenna configurations. Assuming a two-channel UE
receiver, this scheme allows for 2x2 or 4x2 MIMO. A four-channel UE receiver, which is required
for a 4x4 configuration, has been defined but is not likely to be implemented in the near future.
The most common configuration will be 2x2 SU-MIMO. In this case the payload data will be
divided into the two code-word streams CW0 and CW1 and processed according to the steps
in Figure 47.

RV index
Code block Channel Rate Code block Circular

Payload
segmentation coding matching concatenation buffer
QPSK/ Spatial multiplexing Antenna

16 QAM/ Tx Div (CDD/SFBC) number
CW0 64 QAM
Resource OFDM
Modulation
Scrambling element signal
mapper
mapper mapper
Layer
Precoding
CW1 mapping
Resource OFDM
Modulation
Scrambling element signal
mapper
mapper mapper
Fig. 49 – Downlink Baseband Signal Processing for TX Diversity

and Spatial Multiplexing

Spatial Multiplexing – MIMO

Depending on the pre-coding used, each code word is represented at different powers and
phases on both antennas. In addition, each antenna is uniquely identified by the position of
the reference signals within the frame structure, as illustrated in Figure 47. The UE must obtain
accurate picture of channel conditions for each antenna. Therefore, when a reference signal is
transmitted from one antenna port, the other antenna ports in the cell are idle.
Closed loop spatial multiplexing

As the streams must be pre-coded, the transmitter must have knowledge of the channel.
The UE estimates the radio channel and selects the optimum precoding matrix. This channel
information is provided by the UE on the uplink control channel. The channel feedback uses a
codebook approach to provide an index into a predetermined set of pre-coding matrices. Since
the channel is continually changing, this information will be provided for multiple points across
the channel bandwidth, at regular intervals, up to several hundred times a second.
The exact details are still to be specified. However, the UE that can best estimate the channel
conditions and then signal the best coding to use will get the best performance out of the
channel. Although the use of a codebook for pre-coding limits the best fit to the channel, it
significantly simplifies the channel estimation process by the UE and the amount of uplink
signalling needed to convey the desired pre-coding.
Open loop spatial multiplexing

If the UE is moving at a high velocity, the quality of the feedback may deteriorate. Thus, an open
loop spatial multiplexing mode is also supported which is based on predefined settings for
spatial multiplexing and precoding. The eNodeB will select the optimum MIMO mode and
precoding configuration. The information is conveyed to the UE as part of the downlink control
information (DCI) on PDCCH.
Cyclic Delay Diversity (CDD)

This technique adds antenna-specific cyclic time shifts to artificially create multi-path on the
received signal and prevents signal cancellation caused by the close spacing of the transmit
antennas. Normally multipath would be considered undesirable, but by creating artificial multi-
path in an otherwise flat channel, the eNB UE scheduler can choose to transmit on those RBs
that have favourable propagation conditions. The CDD system works by adding the delay only
to the data subcarriers while leaving the RS subcarriers alone.
The UE uses the flat RS subcarriers to report the received channel flatness and the eNB
schedules the UE to use the RB that it knows will benefit from the artificially induced”multipath”.
By not applying the CDD to the RS, the eNB can choose to apply the CDD on a per-UE basis.

Fig. 50 – Mapping of Reference Signals to Resource Elements

Reporting of UE Feedback
In order for MIMO schemes to work properly, each UE has to report information about the
mobile radio channel to the base station. A lot of different reporting modes and formats are
available which are selected according to the MIMO mode of operation and network choice.
The reporting may consist of the following elements:
CQI (channel quality indicator) is an indication of the downlink mobile radio channel quality as
experienced by this UE. Essentially, the UE is proposing to the eNodeB an optimum modulation
scheme and coding rate to use for a given radio link quality, so that the resulting transport block
error rate would not exceed 10%. 16 combinations of modulation scheme and coding rate are
specified as possible CQI values. The UE may report different types of CQI.
A so-called “wideband CQI” refers to the complete system bandwidth. Alternatively, the UE may
evaluate a “sub-band CQI” value per sub-band of a certain number of resource blocks which is
configured by higher layers. The full set of sub-bands would cover the entire system bandwidth.
In case of spatial multiplexing, a CQI per code word needs to be reported.
PMI (precoding matrix indicator) is an indication of the optimum precoding matrix to be used
in the base station for a given radio condition. The PMI value refers to the codebook table. The
network configures the number of resource blocks that are represented by a PMI report. Thus
to cover the full bandwidth, multiple PMI reports may be needed. PMI reports are needed for
closed loop spatial multiplexing, multi-user MIMO and closed-loop rank 1 precoding MIMO modes.
RI (rank indication) is the number of useful transmission layers when spatial multiplexing is
used. For transmit diversity the rank is equal to 1.
The reporting may be periodic or aperiodic and is configured by the radio network. Aperiodic
reporting is triggered by a CQI request contained in the uplink scheduling grant. The UE would
send the report on PUSCH. In the case of periodic reporting, PUCCH is used if no PUSCH is
available.

CQI – Channel Quality Indicator
• DL channel quality as experienced by UE
• UE proposes optimum modulation and coding scheme
• Wideband CQI – complete system bandwidth
• Sub-band CQI – number or resource blocks
PMI – Precoding Matrix Indicator

• Indicates optimum precoding matrix
• Refers to codebook table
• Closed loop, MU-MIMO, Closed loop rank 1
RI – Rank Indication
• Number of useful transmission layers for spatial
multiplexing
• TX diversity Rank is 1
• Periodic or aperiodic
• CQI request on DL – UE reports on PUSCH
• UE reports on PUCCH if no PUSCH available
Fig. 51 – Reporting UE Feedback

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Physical Layer Services and Protocol Architecture

Physical Layer Services

© Informa Telecoms & Media

Physical Layer Services and

© Informa Telecoms & Media

LTE Physical Channels and Signals 52

© Informa Telecoms & Media

Physical Layer Services and Protocol Architecture

 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Fig. 1 – Physical Layer Services

© Informa Telecoms & Media 

 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Layer 1 Physical layer

Fig. 2 – Protocol Architecture

© Informa Telecoms & Media 

The Multipath Environment

 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Fig. 3 – The Multipath Environment

© Informa Telecoms & Media 

Inter Symbol Interference and Frequency Selective Fading

10 © Informa Telecoms & Media

RMS Delay Spread

Narrow band ~ Ts > Td

Fig. 4 – Multipath Induced Inter Symbol interference (ISI)

© Informa Telecoms & Media 11

12 © Informa Telecoms & Media

c) Frequency Selective Fading

Fig. 5 – Multipath Induced Frequency Selective Fading

© Informa Telecoms & Media 13

OFDM – Minimising the Impact of ISI

14 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Traditionally Spaced FDM Channels

Orthogonally Spaced FDM Channels

© Informa Telecoms & Media 15

OFDM – Defeating ISI

16 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Total transmitted symbol = 71.3µS

Cyclic Prefix Operation

CPA A CPB B CPC C

Fig. 7 – OFDM Advantages – Defeating Multipath Induced ISI with the

© Informa Telecoms & Media 17

OFDM – Spectral Efficiency

18 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Fig. 8 – OFDM Advantages – Spectral Efficiency

© Informa Telecoms & Media 19

The LTE OFDM Structure

20 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Fig. 9 – The OFDM Structure – Time and Frequency Domain

© Informa Telecoms & Media 21

OFDM – Making it Happen

22 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Fig. 10 – OFDM(A) – Making it Happen

© Informa Telecoms & Media 23

Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR)

24 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Fig. 11 – OFDM Disadvantages – The Peak to

© Informa Telecoms & Media 25

OFDM – Frequency Sensitivity

26 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Fig. 12 – OFDM Disadvantages – Sensitivity to Carrier Frequency Errors

© Informa Telecoms & Media 27

OFDM and OFDMA

28 © Informa Telecoms & Media

Fig. 13 – OFDM and OFDMA

© Informa Telecoms & Media

© Informa Telecoms & Media

© Informa Telecoms & Media

© Informa Telecoms & Media

© Informa Telecoms & Media

© Informa Telecoms & Media