Report of mini- project

Course: Wireless & Mobile Communications

Master of Science in Telecommunication Systems Engineering, 2018-2019
Department of Physics

By: Joseph Edaman Naja Supervisor: Prof. Noura Aknin

Outline
1. Introduction
2. 4G LTE Frequency bands and EARFCN
3. 4G LTE Architecture and Interfaces
4. 4G LTE Air-interface
4.1. LTE OFDMA for downlink transmission
4.2. LTE SC-FDMA for uplink transmission
4.3. LTE Coding Scheme and Frame Structure
4.4. LTE Channels
4.6. LTE Antennas configurations options and MIMO transmission
4.7 4G LTE protocols stack overview
5. 4G LTE Mobility Management and Handover
6. 4G LTE Roaming scenario
7. 4G LTE Interconnection with UMTS and GSM architecture
8. 4G LTE Advanced LTE Advanced Pro Overview
9. Conclusion
Reference.
List of figures
Fig.1 Evolution of mobile networks
Fig. 2 Calculating EARFCN example.
Fig.3-1: LTE architecture overview
Fig.3-2 : LTE architecture
Fig. 4-1: FDM vs OFDM
Fig. 4-2: Principle of OFDMA for downlink transmission.
Fig. 4-3: SC-FDMA working principle.
Fig. 4-4: OFDMA vs SC-FDMA using QPSK coding scheme.
Fig. 4-5: QPSK and 16QAM modulation.
Fig. 4-6: LTE resource grid
Fig. 4-7: LTE frame structure
Fig. 4-8 : channels types
Fig.4-9: Channels location
Fig. 4-10: FDD and TDD Radio channels
Fig. 4-11: FDD vs TDD
Fig.4-12: downlink channels.
Fig.4-13: uplink channels
Fig.4-14 : Different transmission scheme
Fig.4-15 : 2x2 MIMO
Fig. 4-16: SU-MIMO & MU-MIMO
Fig. 4-17: Protocols stack of LTE
Fig. 4-18 LTE detailed Protocols stack

Fig.5-1 : Mobility states

Fig. 5-2 : Intra and Inter frequency selection in idle state
Fig. 5-3 : Active state mobility
Fig. 5-4 : Handover procedure.
Fig.6: Roaming architecture.
Fig.7: Interworking with UMTS and GSM and roaming architecture.
Fig. 8-1 : Carrier Aggregation in LTE-A, LTE-A Pro
Fig. 8-2 : Femto and Small cells into Macro cells.
Fig. 8-3 : ICIC mechanism.
Fig.8-4 : CoMP operation in LTE-A and LTE-A Pro
 1. Introduction
In the same manner like the GSM and UMTS in the ending 1990s, UMTS reaches its limitations
faster than expected. By Nov. 2004, 3GPP began a project to define a successor to the UMTS
cellular technology, thus to redesign both the radio network and the core network. It was
named Long-Term Evolution (LTE). LTE was to provide higher performance, dynamic
information access, wide application and backward compatible. The figure below shows the
evolution of mobile networks.

>1Gpbs

500Mbps-1Gpbs

150Mbp
s
40Mbps

400kbps

14.4kbps

Fig.1 Evolution of mobile networks

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One of the short coming UMTS is multipath fading. Multipath fading can be observed when
radio waves bounce off objects on the way from transmitter to receiver, and hence the receiver
does not see only one signal, but several copies arriving at different times and this greatly
causes Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI).
In LTE, a completely different air interface was designed to overcome the effects caused by
multipath fading. Instead of transmitting the signal over a single carrier (e.g 5MHz), LTE uses
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) which transmits the signal over
narrowband carriers of 180kHz. With this technique, the multipath effect is greatly reduced.
In addition to flexible bandwidth support, all LTE devices must support Multiple Input Multiple
Output, a technique we will discuss in a later section. LTE air- interface also can be FDD or TDD
or Carrier Aggregation of FDD and TDD, of which will be looked at in a later section.
Another major change to LTE as compared to previous systems was all Internet – Protocol (IP)
approach. All IP-based approach greatly simplifies the design architecture and the
implementation of the air-interface, the radio and the core network.

2. 4G LTE Frequency bands and EARFCN

LTE supports variable bandwidth from 1.4MHz to 20MHz as shown in the table below. In
practice, bandwidth of 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz and 20MHz are commonly used. With 20MHz
carrier, data rates of beyond 100Mbits/s can be achieved.
FDD spectrum requires paired bands, thus one for uplink and another for downlink, and TDD
requires a single band, as both uplink and downlink are transmitted on the same band but time
separated. Therefore, there are different LTE band allocations for both FDD and TDD. The two
could be present in the same band but rarely the case. LTE UEs supports both mode of
transmission and has to detect whether FDD or TDD should be made on a given band.
Table 1 below shows illustrates Release 8 frequency bands. The duplex mode, the highest and
lowest frequency for both uplink and downlink as well as parameters that permit us to calculate
the center frequency is shown in the table as well.
These carrier frequencies are each given an EARFCN (E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency
Channel Number) which ranges from 0 to 65535. In contrast, TDD only has one EARFCN. The
parameters required to calculate the EARFCN(s) include:

• FDL_low - This is the lower frequency of the downlink band.

• FDL_high - This is the higher frequency of the downlink band.
• NOffs-DL - This is a parameter used as part of the downlink EARFCN calculation.
• NDL - This is the actual downlink EARFCN number.

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 • FUL_low - This is the lower frequency of the uplink band.
• FUL_high - This is the higher frequency of the uplink band.
• NOffs-UL - This is a parameter used as part of the uplink EARFCN calculation.
• NUL - This is the actual uplink EARFCN number.
FDL_low FDL_high FUL_low FUL_high
Band Duplex NOffs-DL NDL NOffs-UL NUL
(MHz) (MHz) (MHz) (MHz)
18000-
1 FDD 2110 2170 0 0-599 1920 1980 18000
18599
18600-
2 FDD 1930 1990 600 600-1199 1850 1910 18600
19199
19200-
3 FDD 1805 1880 1200 1200-1949 1710 1785 19200
19949
19950-
4 FDD 2110 2155 1950 1950-2399 1710 1755 19950
20399
20400-
5 FDD 869 894 2400 2400-2649 824 849 20400
20649
20650-
6 FDD 875 885 2650 2650-2749 830 840 20650
20749
20750-
7 FDD 2620 2690 2750 2750-3449 2500 2570 20750
21449
21450-
8 FDD 925 960 3450 3450-3799 880 915 21450
21799
21800-
9 FDD 1844.9 1879.9 3800 3800-4149 1749.9 1784.9 21800
22149
22150-
10 FDD 2110 2170 4150 4150-4749 1710 1770 22150
22749
22750-
11 FDD 1475.9 1500.9 4750 4750-4999 1427.9 1452.9 22750
22999
23000-
12 FDD 728 746 5000 5000-5179 698 716 23000
23179
23180-
13 FDD 746 756 5180 5180-5279 777 787 23180
23279
23280-
14 FDD 758 768 5280 5280-5379 788 798 23280
23379
23730-
17 FDD 734 746 5730 5730-5849 704 716 23730
23849
36000- 36000-
33 TDD 1900 1920 36000 1900 1920 36000
36199 36199
36200- 36200-
34 TDD 2010 2025 36200 2010 2025 36200
36349 36349
36350- 36350-
35 TDD 1850 1910 36350 1850 1910 36350
36949 36949
36950- 36950-
36 TDD 1930 1990 36950 1930 1990 36950
37549 37549
37550- 37550-
37 TDD 1910 1930 37550 1910 1930 37550
37749 37749
37750- 37750-
38 TDD 2570 2620 37750 2570 2620 37750
38249 38249
38250- 38250-
39 TDD 1880 1920 38250 1880 1920 38250
38649 38649
38650- 38650-
40 TDD 2300 2400 38650 2300 2400 38650
39649 39649
Table 1 : 4G LTE frequency allocation

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To calculate the EARFCN, we have the following formulas. The channel raster for LTE is 100kHz,
thus all center frequencies have to be a multiple of 100kHz. This represent the 0.1 in the
equations.
𝐹𝐷𝐿 = 𝐹𝐷𝐿_𝐿𝑂𝑊 + 0.1(𝑁𝐷𝐿 + 𝑁𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑠−𝐷𝐿 )

𝐹𝑈𝐿 = 𝐹𝑈𝐿_𝐿𝑂𝑊 + 0.1(𝑁𝑈𝐿 + 𝑁𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑠−𝑈𝐿 )

For example, to calculate a downlink EARFCN:

Fig. 2 Calculating EARFCN example.

3. 4G LTE Architecture and Interfaces

The general network architecture of 4G LTE is similar to that of GSM and UMTS. As all cellular
networks, 4G LTE architecture is separated into radio network part and core network part. The
number of logical nodes has been reduced in LTE. This reduces the overall architecture
complexity, cost and latency in the network. 4G LTE architecture is grouped into 2 major parts:
1. Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) which forms the radio
access part of the network
2. Evolved Packet Core (EPC): EPC forms the core network part of the LTE network.

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Fig.3-1: LTE architecture overview

E-UTRAN

Fig.3-2 : LTE architecture

LTE-UE
LTE User Equipment are the mobile devices that supports LTE standards. In 3GPP release 8, UE
classes of 1-5 have been defined. Additional classes have been defined in later release to
support Carrier Aggregation. All 4G LTE devices have to support :

• 64-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) for downlink

• 16-QAM for uplink
• MIMO
• Carrier Aggregation (Optional)

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 eNode-B
E-UTRAN Node (eNodeB) are found all over the network of the mobile operator. They connect
the LTE UE via radio interface called Uu to the core network.
eNode-B consist of three major parts:

• The antenna, which are the most visible parts of a mobile network.
• Radio modules, that modulate and demodulate all signals transmitted or
received on the air interface.
• Digital modules, that process all signals transmitted and received on the air
interface and that act as an interface to the core network over a high-speed
backhaul connection.

MME: Mobility Management Entity (MME)

MME is the central control node in the EPC network. It is responsible for mobility and security
signaling, tracking and paging of mobile terminals. The network node responsible for all
signaling exchanges between the base stations and the core network and between users and
the core network is the MME. The signaling the MME exchange are termed as Non-access
Stratum (NAS) signaling. MME is responsible for the following:

• Authentication
• Establishment of bearers
• NAS mobility management
• Handover support
• Interworking with other radio networks
• SMS and voice support

The Serving Gateway (S-GW)

The Serving-GW is responsible for managing user data tunnels between the eNode-Bs in the
radio network and the Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN-GW). It terminates the s1-UP GTP
tunnels on the radio network side and terminates the S5-UP GTP tunnels on the network side.
Tunnels creation and modification are controlled by the MME and the commands are sent over
the S11 interface to the S-GW.

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 The Packet Data Network – Gateway (P-GW or PDN -GW)
• The PDN-GW is the gateway to the internet and to intranets of some large
organizations.
• On the UP side, user packets are encapsulated into S5-UP GTP tunnels and forward to
the S-GW that currently serves the user. The S-GW then forwards the packet to the
eNode-B that currently covers the user.
• P-GW is also responsible for assigning IP addresses to mobile devices.
• It also plays an important role in international roaming scenarios by the method of
Home Routing.

The Home Subscriber Server (HSS)

LTE shares its subscriber database with both GSM and UMTS. In GSM and UTMS, the database
is referred to as Home Location Register (HLR) and the protocol called Mobile Application Part
(MAP) is used to connect MSC and SGSN on one side and the HLR on another side. In LTE, an IP-
based Protocol called DIAMETER is used to exchange information on with the database. The
interface between the MME and HSS is the S6a interface. The HSS stores :

• IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity)

• MCC (Mobile Country Code)
• SIM (Subscriber Identity Module0
• MSISDN (Mobile Subscriber Integrated Service Digital Network)
• APS (Access Point Names)

PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function)

PCRF is node responsible for real-time policy rules and charging in EPC network

4. 4G LTE Air-interface
Because of the problem of multipath effect, CDMA could not support higher bandwidth beyond
the 5GHz carrier. Therefore, LTE uses much larger bandwidth in the downlink and uplink
direction.

4.1LTE OFDMA for downlink transmission

In the downlink direction, LTE uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA).
Instead of transmission the data stream over a single large carrier bandwidth like in UMTS,
OFDMA split the data streams into many slower data streams that are transported over many
carriers simultaneously. The advantage is that, the transmissions steps can be longer on fast

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data transmissions to avoid multipath effect. For example, a total of 600 subcarriers are used in
a bandwidth of 10MHz. So, the overall data rate would be 600 data rates of each subcarrier.
LTE uses the following physical parameters for the subcarriers:
-Subcarrier spacing: 15kHz
-OFDMA symbol duration: 66.667 microseconds
-Cyclic prefix : 4.7 microseconds

Cyclic prefix is transmitted before each OFDMA symbol to prevent intersymbol interference due
to different transmission paths. The property of orthogonality is that, the subcarriers are
spaced in such a way that, the sidelobes of each subcarrier is exactly zero at the center of
neighboring subcarrier. The saves the bandwidth of the carriers.

Fig. 4-1: FDM vs OFDM

Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) is used to decode signals of this type. IFFT is used at the
transmission side and FFT is used at the receiver side. Input to the IFFT is frequency domain,
which is then transforms into time domain., and the modulated, amplified and transmitted. At
the receiving end, the signal is demodulated and forwarded to the FFT. FFT then converts the
signal from time domain back to frequency domain and the subcarriers are then detected as
can be seen in the figure below.

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Fig. 4-2: Principle of OFDMA for downlink transmission.

4.2. LTE SC-FDMA of uplink transmission

For uplink transmission, LTE uses Single Carrier – FDMA (SC-FDMA) as OFDMA is not ideal
because of Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) when the signals from multiple subcarriers are
combined. The mobile device is battery driven and therefore has lower power as compared to
the base stations. SC-FDMA is similar to OFDMA with additional processing steps. After
receiving the input signal, instead of dividing the data streams into the subcarriers as in
OFDMA, the time-based signal is first converted into frequency domain using FFT function. This
distributes the information to each bit into the subcarriers and this reduces the power
difference between the subcarriers. Subchannels used for uplink transmission are encoded with
0. This frequency domain signal is then feed to the IFFT like in OFDMA and converted to time
domain, modulated and transmitted. This technique greatly reduces the peak to average power
ratio of the signal. The process is reversed at the receiving end as in OFDMA as shown in the
figure below.

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Fig. 4-3: SC-FDMA working principle.

Fig. 4-4: OFDMA vs SC-FDMA using QPSK coding scheme.

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4.3. 4G LTE coding scheme and frame structure
LTE uses 64-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) (26 = 64 ) of transfer of 6 bits per
symbol or 16-QAM) (24 = 16 ) or QPSK (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) for transfer of 4 to
2 bits per symbol, or recently 256-QAM) (28 = 256 ) which is 8 bits per symbol for deployment
is small cells. A symbol is also referring to as a resource element (RE). The figure below
summarized the resource of LTE.

Fig. 4-5: QPSK and 16QAM modulation

1 LTE frame contains 10 subframes. 1 subframe contains 2 slots. Therefore, we have 20 slots in
1 frame. 1 slot, also known as a resource block contains 12 subcarriers with 7 symbols each.
The duration of LTE frame is 10ms. So we have 1ms for each subframe and 0.5ms for each slot.
LTE time unit is the Ts and it is 32.552083ns.

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Fig. 4-6: LTE resource grid

Fig. 4-7: LTE frame structure

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4.4. 4G LTE Channels
Broadly, there are four channels in LTE as shown below:

Fig. 4-8 : channels types

We can identify below where each of this channel are located.

Fig. 4-9 : channels location

Logical channels carry control and traffic messages, transport channels carry error management
information and the physical channels are used to apply techniques like OFDMA, SC-FDMA and
MIMO.
The radio channel is a term used to describe the overall channels, i.e downlink and uplink
carrier for FDD and single carrier of TDD.

Fig. 4-10: FDD and TDD Radio channels

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Fig. 4-11: FDD vs TDD

➢ LTE Downlink Channels:

Fig.4-12: downlink channels.

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 ➢ 4.5 LTE Uplink Channels

Fig.4-13: uplink channels

4.5. LTE Antenna configuration options and MIMO transmission

Antenna configurations can take various forms for LTE: SISO (Single Input Single Output), SIMO,
MISO or MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). The basic idea of MIMO technique is to
transmit several independent data streams over the same air interface channel simultaneously.

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Fig.4-14 : Different transmission scheme

Fig.4-15 : 2x2 MIMO and MU-MIMO

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In practice at moment in LTE networks, 2x2 MIMOs and 4X4 MIMO are implemented.
MIMO configurations can be categorized into 2:
✓ SU-MIMO(Single User MIMO): This utilizes the MIMO technology to improve the
transmission performance towards a single user
✓ MU-MIMO(Multiple User MIMO) : This enables many users to be served through the use
of spatial multiplexing techniques.

Fig. 4-16: SU-MIMO & MU-MIMO.

4.7 LTE protocols stack overview

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Fig. 4-17 Protocols stack of LTE

Fig. 4-17 LTE detailed Protocols stack

• The top layer is the NAS protocol that is used for mobility management and other
purposes between the mobile device and the MME

• Radio Resource Control (RRC) encapsulates NAS messages over the air interface. The
other purpose of RRC messages is to manage the air interface connection and they are
used, for example, for handover or bearer modification signaling

• Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) is responsible for encapsulating IP packets

and signaling messages, for ciphering, header compression and lossless handover
support.

• RLC is responsible for segmentation and reassembly of higher‐layer packets to adapt

them to a packet size that can be sent over the air interface. It is also responsible for
detecting and retransmitting lost packets (ARQ).

• MAC protocol is responsible for multiplexing data from different radio bearers and
ensures QoS by instructing the RLC layer about the number and the size of packets to be
provided. And finally, the MAC header provides fields for addressing individual mobile
devices and for functionalities such as bandwidth requests and grants, power
management and timing advance control

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 5. LTE Mobility and handover
6.1 Mobility in general
LTE mobility within the network can be grouped into two as shown below:

Fig.6-1 : Mobility states

✓ Idle state mobility
In the Idle state, the UE has already registered in a cell and it is performance a cell reselection
and listening to paging messages. In this state, the UE has to determine whether it is necessary
to change a frequency of transmission or still used the same frequency based on the power
received called RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power).

Fig. 6-2 : Intra and Inter frequency selection in idle state.

✓ Active State Mobility
When the UE is in the active state, the eNodeB monitors the UE and assist in hondover if
necessary. This is done in three phases:
1. Measurement and reporting: In the first phase, the UE takes measurements like RSRP of
neighboring cells and report the results to the current serving eNodeB

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 2. Handover Preparation Phase : Once the eNode identifies the need for a handover, it
communicates with the concerned eNodeB through and X2 interface or involve the MME
if this interface is not available.
3. Perform Handover: The eNodeB will the inform the UE when to handover with the
necessary information.

Fig. 6-3 : Active state mobility

6.2 Handover Procedure

Handover is the process by user a UE moves from one cell to another while keeping a
communication.
The UE is configured to send MR (Measurement Reports) based on the configuration
information in Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling messages.
Handover is first initiated by the serving eNodeB. The figure below explains the procedure.

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Fig. 6-4 : Handover procedure.

6. 4G LTE Roaming Scenario

A network run by one operator in one country is known as a “public land mobile
network (PLMN).” Roaming, where users are allowed to connect to PLMNs other than
those to which they are directly subscribed, is a powerful feature form mobile networks,
and LTE/SAE is no exception. A roaming user is connected to the E-UTRAN, MME and S-
GW of the visited LTE network. However, LTE/SAE allows the P-GW of either the visited
or the home network to be used, as shown in Figure 7. Using the home network’s P-GW
allows the user to access the home operator’s services even while in a visited network.
A P GW in the visited network allows a “local breakout” to the Internet in the visited
network.

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 Fig.6: Roaming architecture.

7. Interworking with UMTS and GSM architecture

Fig.8: Interworking with UMTS and GSM and roaming architecture.

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 8. 4G LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro Overview
LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro specified in 3GPP Release 10, 11 and 12 are considered
the true 4G network by International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) requirement. The
requirements for LTE-A and LTE-A Pro are:

▪ Data rate of 1 Gbps for DL and 500 Mbps for uplink when using 100MHz.
▪ 8x8 MIMO for DL and 4x4 MIMO for UL
▪ Latency of less than 10 ms
▪ FDD or TDD and wider channels of to 100 MHz
▪ Seamless connectivity and global roaming with smooth handovers
▪ High-Quality Multimedia

Key techniques for LTE-A and LTE-A Pro

8x8 MIMO for DL and 4x4 MIMO for downlink
This will further improve spectral efficiency. MIMO to be used when the channel is good. In bad
transmission conditions, other techniques are be used
Carrier Aggregation
This is a technique of combining multiple into a single carrier. Eech band can be any of the LTE
defined bands: 1.4, 3, 5, 10, or 20 MHz. Maximum of 5 aggregation is allowed. Thus 100 MHz
max.

Fig. 8- : Carrier Aggregation in LTE-A, LTE-A Pro

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 HetNets/Small Cells and Relay Nodes
This technique of Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) permits network operators to install
small cells, femto cells micro cells or pico cells in dense areas such as homes, offices, or in malls
to improve coverage and capacity. Relay Nodes are low-power base stations used to enhance
performance at cell edges, hot-spot areas, indoor coverage.

Fig. 8-2 : Femto and Small cells into Macro cells.

Inter-Cell Interference Co-ordination and cancellation (ICIC)

Another difficulty to be overcome in heterogeneous networks is the interference caused by the
overlapping coverage of macro cells and small cells that would significantly reduce the capacity
increase that small cells could provide. The solution to this problem is ICIC. A eNB sends a “load
information” message to the neighbor eNB about interference level per physical resource block.
The neighbor adjusts DL power levels at those blocks as shown in fig.8-3 below.

Fig. 8-2 : ICI mechanism.

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 Coordinated Multipoint Operation (CoMP)
With CoMP technique, a UE can send data to multiple BSs(eNBs, RN, HeNB), can receive data
from multiple BSs or can send data to one BS and receive from another BSs at the same time.

Fig.8-4 : CoMP operation in LTE-A and LTE-A Pro.

9. Conclusion
Even though much of the talk today is about the upcoming 5G and the high speed it is going to
provide for the data world, 4G LTE is still and being deployed by so many operators and it is still
going to play a very important role in the digital transformation.
Some of the features of LTE-A and LTE-A Pro are not yet in practice, but provides potential for
future network enhancement.

Reference
[1]. Martin Sauter-From GSM to LTE-Advanced Pro and 5G_ An Introduction to Mobile
Networks and Mobile Broadband.
[2]. The LTE Network Architecture, S T R A T E G I C W H I T E P A P E R, Alcatel-Lucent.
[3]. 4G LTE Cellular Technology: Network Architecture and Mobile Standards, Rakesh Kumar
Singh, Ranjan Singh, Uttarakhand Open University.
[4]. LTE Air Interface Training Manual, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
[5]. Introduction Introduction to LTE-Advanced, Raj Jain Washington University in Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO 63130.

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