Radio Link Failure

RRC Re-establish
 RLF DETECT

UE may assume that Radio Link is broken in the following situation.

 The measured RSRP is too low (under a certain limit)
 It failed to decode PDCCH due to power signal quality (e.g, low RSRP, RSRQ)
 It failed to decode PDSCH due to power signal quality (e.g, low RSRP, RSRQ)

eNodeB may assume that that Radio Link is broken in the following situation.
 SRS Power (SINR) from UE is much lower than what eNB configured for the UE
 eNodeB couldn't detect (see) any NACK nor ACK from UE for PDSCH.
 • Then the next question would be "What UE does when it detects Radio Link Failure ?" or "What
eNodeB does when it detects Radio Link Failure ?".
• The most typical procedure is to go through RRC Connection Reestablishment procedure.

Attempt to recover Radio Link while Out of SYNC (Radio Link Failure) When UL Data arrives from higher layer while Out of SYNC (Radio Link Failure)
 RLF FAILURE

Triggering points of RLF

 upon indication from RLC that the maximum number of re transmissions has been reached
 upon expiry of Timer T310 (this timer is started when physical layer problems are detected i.e. upon receiving N310
consecutive out-of-sync indications from lower layers)
 upon random access problem indication from MAC while neither T300, T301, T304 nor T311 is running

Actions when RLF is detected

 UE shall initiate RRC Connection Re-establishment procedure.

 if AS security has not been activated then inform upper layers about the release of RRC connection with release cause 'other'
CALL REESTABLISHMENT TRIGGER

• There are several cases where this process get triggered. According to 36.331 5.3.7.2, there are
several cases as described below.

• Case 1 : When radio link failure happened

• Case 2 : when Handover failure happened
• Case 3 : when mobility from E-UTRA failure happened
• Case 4 : when integrity check failure indication was received from lower layers
• Case 5 : when RRC connection reconfiguration failure happened
RRC REESTABLISH
RRC ESTABLISH
• In LTE, the UE context fetching can be enabled using MRO (mobility robustness optimization).
• Therefore, in order to minimize the dropped call rate in LTE networks the triggering of re-
establishments should be minimized and on the other hand the success rate of the RRC connection
re-establishment should be maximized.
• The UE handling of radio link problems is based on [4], [5] and [6] as shown below(it should be
noted that additional triggers, on top of 3GPP-defined ones, for RRC connection re-
establishments can exist in the UEs):
1) Timer T310 expiry
2) Maximum number of RLC retransmissions in uplink is reached
3) Handover failure and timer T304 expiry
4) Non-handover-related random access problem
 All LTE Timers

RlfTimerConstGroup SrbRlcPdcpCfg Parameter

RRCCONNSTATETIMER
Parameter
Timer302
Timer320 for load balance
Timer304 for EUTRAN
Timer304 for GERAN
Timer320 for other
Ue inactive timer
Uplink Sync Timer
Filter Repeated RRCConnReq Timer
UE Inactivity Timer Dynamic DRX
Uplink Sync Timer Dynamic DRX
Ue Inactive Timer QCi1
UeTimerConst
RlcPdcpParaGroup
RlfTimerConstGroup . RlfTimerConstGroupId
RlfTimerConstGroup . T301
Parameter
RlfTimerConstGroup . T310
SRB ID
RlfTimerConstGroup . T311 MaxRetxThreshold for UE
MaxRetxThreshold for eNodeB
RlfTimerConstGroup . N310
PollByte for UE
RlfTimerConstGroup . N311 PollByte for eNodeB
PollPdu for UE
PollPdu for eNodeB
UeTimerConst
Poll retransmit timer for UE
UeTimerConst .T300 Poll retransmit timer for eNodeB
UeTimerConst .T301 Status prohibit timer for UE
Status prohibit timer for eNodeB
UeTimerConst .T310 AM reordering timer for UE
UeTimerConst .T311 AM reordering timer for eNodeB
UeTimerConst .N310
UeTimerConst .N311
RLC PDCP parameter group ID
Discard timer
RLC-UM or RLC-AM mode
MaxRetxThreshold for UE
MaxRetxThreshold for eNodeB
PollByte for UE
PollByte for eNodeB
PollPdu for UE
PollPdu for eNodeB
Poll retransmit timer for UE
Poll retransmit timer for eNodeB
Status prohibit timer for UE
Status prohibit timer for eNodeB
AM reordering timer for UE
AM reordering timer for eNodeB
UM PDCP-SN size
Uplink RLC-SN size
Downlink RLC-SN size
UM reordering timer for UE
UM reordering timer for eNodeB
AM PDCP status report required indication
RLC Parameter Adaptive Switch
Preset eNodeB Poll Retransmit Timer
Preset eNodeB Status Prohibit Timer
Preset UE Poll Retransmit Timer
Preset UE Status Prohibit Timer
Nonsupport Um UE Adaptive Switch
Discardtimer Separate Config Switch
DownLink PDCP Discard Timer
UE-TRIGGERED RRC CONNECTION RE-
ESTABLISHMENTS
COMMON TIMERS

RlfTimerConstGroup . RlfTimerConstGroupId
RlfTimerConstGroup . T301 Common
RlfTimerConstGroup . T310
RlfTimerConstGroup . T311
RlfTimerConstGroup . N310
RlfTimerConstGroup . N311

UeTimerConst
UeTimerConst .T300
UeTimerConst .T301 Common
UeTimerConst .T310
UeTimerConst .T311
UeTimerConst .N310
UeTimerConst .N311
 UE TIMERS
UeTimerConst. N310 Indicates the maximum number of successive "out of sync" indications received from L1

UeTimerConst. T310 Started :when the UE detects any fault at the physical layer
Stopped: if the UE detects one of the following before the timer expires:
(1) The physical-layer fault is rectified; -- > N311
(2) A handover is triggered;
(3) The UE initiates an RRC connection reestablishment procedure.
After the timer expires, the UE enters the RRC_IDLE mode if the security mode is not activated. If the security mode is activated,
the UE initiates an RRC connection reestablishment procedure.

UeTimerConst. N311 Indicates the maximum number of successive "in sync" indications received from L1

UeTimerConst. T311 Started: when the UE starts the RRC connection reestablishment procedure.
Stopped:if, before the timer expires, the UE selects an E-UTRAN or inter-RAT cell to camp on
After the timer expires, the UE enters the RRC_IDLE mode.
T310
• Timer T310 Expiry
• While in RRC-connected state the physical layer of the UE monitors the radio link quality based on the cell-
specific reference signals of the primary cell (Pcell) as defined in [6].
• The UE compares the downlink radio link quality estimation against the out-of-sync and in-sync thresholds
(defined in [6]).
• The out-of-sync threshold, Qout, is defined as the level at which the downlink radio link cannot be reliably
received corresponding to 10% block error rate (BLER) of a hypothetical PDCCH transmission taking into
account the PCFICH errors.
• The in-synch threshold, Qin, is defined as the level at which the downlink radio link can be reliably received
corresponding to 2% BLER of a hypothetical PDCCH transmission taking into account the PCFICH errors.
• The in-sync and out-of-sync are evaluated during time window which depends on the DRX settings as shown in
[6]. In case of no DRX: if the downlink radio link quality of the Pcell estimated over the last 200 ms is worse
than Qout, the physical layer sends out-ofsync indication to layer 3. In case out-of-sync is detected the UE
initiates evaluation of in-sync.
• The UE layer 3 evaluates radio link failure based on the out-of-sync and in-sync indications after layer 3 filtering
(layer 3 filtering as specified in [4]).
RLF DETECT
 RLF IN DOWNLINK

Values in our network:

UeTimerConst. N310 = n10(10),

UeTimerConst. T310 =MS1000_T310(1000ms),
UeTimerConst. N311= n1(1),

T310

Out of Sync means UE has 20 consecutive subframes (i.e 2 Frames)

In-Sunc means UE counts 10 Consecutive Subframes (i.e 1 Frame)
T301 & T311

In case the UE does not find any suitable cells and T311 expires the UE enters RRC
idle state and RRC connection is released.
In case timer T301 expires or selected cell is no longer considered as suitable cell, the RRC
connection re-establishment procedure fails and the UE enters RRC idle state and releases the
RRC connection.
 Q. What is the difference between T301 & T311?

T300 & T301 A. T311 is started when re-establishment procedure is initiated

and the UE starts searching for a suitable cell.
Radio Link failure RLF occurs (UE out-of-sync until T310 T301 is stared if the UE finds a suitable LTE cell and transmits
expire). My understanding is, T311 (RRC re-establishment the RRCConnectionReestablishmentRequest message.
timer) starts first to search for best cell, after UE selecting the
best cell, T301 starts to transmit RRC connection re-
establishment request.

T311

UeTimerConst .T300= MS300_T300(300ms), UeTimerConst .T301= MS200_T301(200ms),

After the timer expires in both Cases, the UE enters the RRC_IDLE state
 HANDOVER FAILURE & TIMER T304
EXPIRY

UeTimerConst. T311 =MS10000_T311(10000ms),

T304
MAXRETXTHRESHOLD FOR UE -
MAXRETXTHRESHOLD FOR ENODEB
ENODEB-TRIGGERED RRC
CONNECTION RE-ESTABLISHMENTS
• The eNodeB has triggers for radio link problem detection and in case any of those link monitors
detect the problem, the eNodeB will wait for radio link recovery until defined timer expires without
any RRC connection re-establishment request received from the UE.
• Radio link problem detection is typically as below:
1) UL PUSCH DTX detection: After the uplink capacity grant is given there is nothing received on the
allocated PUSCH resources
2) Certain amount of consecutive periodical CQI reports not received on PUCCH or PUSCH
3) No uplink ACK/NACK received but only DTX for downlink data transmissions
4) No allocated preamble received as a response to PDCCH order
5) No allocated sounding reference signal (SRS) received but instead DTX detected on allocated
resources
• Each of the above-mentioned radio link problem triggers has its own controlling parameters
which impact on the radio link problem detection and therefore start of radio link recovery
timer.
In case of expiry of the radio link recovery timer of the RRC connection, all E-RABs
and S1 connection are released.
The eNodeB radio link recovery timer should be longer than T310 + T311 so that the UE can
perform RRC connection re-establishment to the source cell or to any other cell before
connection is considered to be dropped.
RLF DETECT BY UE & ENODEB
 RLF DETECTED BY UE - DOWNLINK

the actions carried out by UE are shown when an DL

Physical Layer failure is detected -- > RRC Connection
Reestablishment Request

• The parameter MaxRetxThreshold determines the number of times a packet is retransmitted at the RLC layer in the downlink. If
this number is reached, the eNodeB declares a DL RLC failure and “kills” the context as shown in the picture below.
MO RlcPdcpParaGroup
Parameter ID UeMaxRetxThreshold
Parameter Name MaxRetxThreshold for UE
MML Command ADD RLCPDCPPARAGROUP
MOD RLCPDCPPARAGROUP
LST RLCPDCPPARAGROUP
Meaning Indicates the UE-specific maximum number of RLC ARQ retransmissions, namely the maximum number of AM PDU
retransmissions. When the number of retransmissions reaches the value of this parameter, RRC connection re-establishment is
initiated.
Feature Name Radio Bearer Management
Value Type Enumeration Type
GUI Value Range Maxretx_Threshold_t1(1), Maxretx_Threshold_t2(2), Maxretx_Threshold_t3(3), Maxretx_Threshold_t4(4), Maxretx_Threshold_t6(6),
Maxretx_Threshold_t8(8), Maxretx_Threshold_t16(16), Maxretx_Threshold_t32(32)
Enumeration Number/Bit Maxretx_Threshold_t1~0, Maxretx_Threshold_t2~1, Maxretx_Threshold_t3~2, Maxretx_Threshold_t4~3, Maxretx_Threshold_t6~4,
Maxretx_Threshold_t8~5, Maxretx_Threshold_t16~6, Maxretx_Threshold_t32~7
Unit None
Actual Value Range Maxretx_Threshold_t1, Maxretx_Threshold_t2, Maxretx_Threshold_t3, Maxretx_Threshold_t4, Maxretx_Threshold_t6,
Maxretx_Threshold_t8, Maxretx_Threshold_t16, Maxretx_Threshold_t32
Default Value Maxretx_Threshold_t32(32)
Recommended Value Maxretx_Threshold_t32(32)
Initial Value Setting Source Default/Recommended Value
Impact RlcPdcpParaGroup
Parameter Relationship This parameter is valid when RlcMode is set to RlcMode_AM.
Impact on Radio Network A larger value of this parameter leads to a higher interference resistance capability, but a larger number of retransmissions results in a
Performance longer delay and lower throughput. Set this parameter to a small value for services with a high requirement for the delay and to a large
value for services with a low requirement for the delay. RRC connection re-establishment has a great impact on Acknowledged Mode
(AM) services, such as packet-loss-sensitive and delay-insensitive TCP services, because packets in the buffer are discarded upon the re-
establishment. Therefore, a large value of this parameter is recommended, reducing the probability of RRC connection re-establishment.
RLF DETECTED BY ENODEB - UPLINK

• Not all vendor implementation support

this type of failure detection. It essentially
consists in measuring the power of the
sounding reference signals (SRS) sent by
the UE in the UL. If the power is below a
given SINR threshold, a timer gets
started. If the SINR remains under the
stated SINR threshold for the entire
duration of the timer, then the eNodeB
declares the UL as out of synch and
proceeds to “kill” the context. If the
SINR of the SRS goes above a second
specified threshold during the timer
duration, the UL is said to be in-synch
and no actions are carried out

the actions carried out by eNodeB are shown when an UL

Physical Layer failure is detected ---- > Context Release
MO RlcPdcpParaGroup
Parameter ID ENodeBMaxRetxThreshold
Parameter Name MaxRetxThreshold for eNodeB
MML Command ADD RLCPDCPPARAGROUP
MOD RLCPDCPPARAGROUP
LST RLCPDCPPARAGROUP
Meaning Indicates the eNodeB-specific maximum number of RLC ARQ retransmissions, which limits the maximum number of acknowledged mode
(AM) PDU retransmissions. When the number of RLC ARQ retransmissions reaches the value of this parameter, eNodeB releases the UE.
Feature Name Radio Bearer Management
Value Type Enumeration Type
GUI Value Range Maxretx_Threshold_t1(1), Maxretx_Threshold_t2(2), Maxretx_Threshold_t3(3), Maxretx_Threshold_t4(4), Maxretx_Threshold_t6(6),
Maxretx_Threshold_t8(8), Maxretx_Threshold_t16(16), Maxretx_Threshold_t32(32)
Enumeration Number/Bit Maxretx_Threshold_t1~0, Maxretx_Threshold_t2~1, Maxretx_Threshold_t3~2, Maxretx_Threshold_t4~3, Maxretx_Threshold_t6~4,
Maxretx_Threshold_t8~5, Maxretx_Threshold_t16~6, Maxretx_Threshold_t32~7
Unit None
Actual Value Range Maxretx_Threshold_t1, Maxretx_Threshold_t2, Maxretx_Threshold_t3, Maxretx_Threshold_t4, Maxretx_Threshold_t6,
Maxretx_Threshold_t8, Maxretx_Threshold_t16, Maxretx_Threshold_t32
Default Value Maxretx_Threshold_t32(32)
Recommended Value Maxretx_Threshold_t32(32)
Initial Value Setting Source Default/Recommended Value
Impact RlcPdcpParaGroup
Parameter Relationship This parameter is valid when RlcMode is set to RlcMode_AM.
Access Read & Write
Service Interrupted After Modification No (And no impact on the UE in idle mode)
Validation of Modification The parameter modification has no impact on the equipment.
Impact on Radio Network Performance A larger value of this parameter leads to a higher interference resistance capability, but a larger number of retransmissions results in a longer
delay and lower throughput. Set this parameter to a small value for services with a high requirement for the delay and to a large value for
services with a low requirement for the delay. RRC connection re-establishment has a great impact on Acknowledged Mode (AM) services,
such as packet-loss-sensitive and delay-insensitive TCP services, because packets in the buffer are discarded upon the re-establishment.
Therefore, a large value of this parameter is recommended, reducing the probability of RRC connection re-establishment.
 ARQ & HARQ
• ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request)
• In ARQ, when we have a 'bad' package, the system
simply discards it, and asks for a retransmission
(of the same package). And for this, it sends a
feedback message to the transmitter.
• The data packets that are not properly decoded
are discarded. The data packets or retransmissions
are separately decoded. That is, every time a packet
that arrives is bad, it is discarded, and it is
requested that this same package be retransmitted.
• HARQ (HybridAutomatic Repeat
Request)
• The HARQ is the use of conventional ARQ
along with an Error Correction technique
called 'Soft Combining', which no longer
discards the received bad data (with error).
• The redundancy version, or HARQ scheme
with 'Soft Combining' can be 'Chase
Combination' or 'Incremental Redundancy'.
HARQ SCHEMES

• The redundancy version, or HARQ scheme with 'Soft Combining' can be 'Chase Combination' or 'Incremental Redundancy'.

• HARQ Chase Combination

• ‘Chase Combination’: when we combine the same information (the retransmission is an identical copy of the original packet).
• We transmit an information, which arrived wrong, and we need to do a retransmission.We retransmit the same information - and there
we don't have much gain.

• HARQ Incremental Redundancy

• ‘Incremental Redundancy’: where we retransmit only the portion that we didn't transmitted before. Thus we retransmit less
information. Less information means fewer bits, less energy. And this gives a gain!
• Redundancy bits are retransmitted gradually to the receiver, until an ACK is received.
• With this, we adapt to changes in the condition of the link. The first retransmission can, for example, contain or not bits of redundancy.
If necessary, a small number of these bits is retransmitted. And so on.
HARQ

- It is a re-transmission technique used by LTE for re-transmitting of UL & DL Data.

- HARQ (Hybrid ARQ) = ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) + FEC (Forward Error Correction).
- The HARQ makes use of ARQ along with an Error Correction technique called 'Soft Combining', which no longer discards the received
corrupted data.
• - Using 'Soft Combining' data packets that are not decoded are not discarded anymore. The received signal is stored in a 'buffer', and
combined with next re transmission.
• - Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) leads to higher efficiency in transmission and error correction.
- There is one HARQ entity per UE with 8/16 stop-and-wait processes for each HARQ entity.
- It means Sender will not send new data or re-transmitted data until he will not get ACK or NACK from receiver respectively.
- As Sender is waiting for ACK/NACK from receiver, hence it decreases the through put. To overcome this issue, LTE uses multiple
parallel HARQ Process with different process ID.
- FDD-LTE uses 8 HARQ Parallel Process having unique process ID 0, 1, 2...7 (3 bits reserve for HARQ Process ID in DCI
Messages).
- In TD-LTE, it uses 16 HARQ Parallel Process ID having unique process ID 0, 1…15(4 bits reserve for HARQ Process ID in DCI
Messages).
- Both Incremental redundancy(IR) and Chase combining(CC) are supported.
- The number of HARQ re transmissions targeted by the HARQ protocol depends on the network provided configuration.
FEC (FORWARD ERROR CORRECTION :

• FEC or Channel Coding is a technique used for controlling and correcting error in LTE Data
transmission.
• HARQ with Soft Combining :

In practice, incorrectly received coded data blocks are often stored at the receiver rather than discarded, and when
the re-transmitted block is received, the two blocks are combined.This is called Hybrid ARQ with soft combining
• - IR requires larger receiver buffer than CC but can achieve better performance than CC.
- CC is simple HARQ and requires small receiver buffer.
• Chase Combining :

- Every re-transmission = The same information (data and parity bits).

- Receiver uses maximum-ratio combining to combine the received bits with the same bits
from previous transmissions.
- All transmissions are identical So Chase combining seen as additional repetition coding.
- This scheme achieves gain with small buffer size in a receiver.
- The buffer size becomes the number of coded symbols of one coded packet

Incremental Redundancy :

- To transmit additional redundant information in each re-transmission and receiver decode on each re-transmission.
- Every retransmission contains different information than the previous one.
- IR requires larger size of buffer in a receiver than Chase Combining. The buffer size becomes the number of coded bits of total transmitted
coded packets.

Redundancy Versions (RV) :

- Different combinations of systematic data bits + FEC bits.

- LTE HARQ has 4 RVs typically of a packet (0,1,2,3).

Difference between LTE HARQ used in UL and DL:

• UL: A synchronous HARQ mode is used.

• DL: An adaptive, asynchronous HARQ.
 ARQ

Parameter
MML Command Parameter ID Current Value Meaning Impact on Radio Network Performance
Name
If this parameter is set to a small value, too many polling
Indicates the length of PDUs are sent. In addition, the number of ARQ
Poll retransmit Tpollretrans_m40(4 the Polling PDU retransmissions reaches its maximum due to consecutive
RLCPDCPPARAGR UePollRetransmitTimer
timer for UE 0) retransmission timer PDU retransmissions, and therefore the RRC connection
for the UE. is re-established. If this parameter is set to a large value,
status reports cannot be sent in time.
If this parameter is set to a small value, too many polling
Indicates the length of PDUs are sent. In addition, the number of ARQ
ENodeBPollRetransmit Poll retransmit Tpollretrans_m50(5 the Polling PDU retransmissions reaches its maximum due to consecutive
RLCPDCPPARAGR
Timer timer for eNodeB 0) retransmission timer PDU retransmissions, and therefore the RRC connection
for the eNodeB. is re-established. If this parameter is set to a large value,
status reports cannot be sent in time.

 In UL (Retransmission from UE Side) = UeMaxRetxThreshold* UePollRetransmitTimer=32*40ms=1280ms

 In DL (Retransmission From eNodeB Side) = ENodeBMaxRetxThreshold* ENodeBPollRetransmitTimer=32*50ms=1600ms

 L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Time
Total downlink packet processing delay of DRB services with all
QCIs (including extended QCIs) in a cell
• Description
• The counters measure the total processing delay of downlink PDCP SDUs for DRB services with a
specific QCI ranging from 1 to 9 in a cell. If this cell is an SCell of a CA UE, the processing delay of
downlink PDCP SDUs for the CA UE is also counted in the corresponding counter.
• Measurement Points
• The transmission delay of downlink packets per QCI (including extended QCIs) with an ACK-
HARQ feedback from UEs is sampled. Assume that the time that a packet is received at the PDCP
layer is A, and the time that the eNodeB receives an ACK-HARQ feedback for the packet from the
UE after sending the packet at the MAC layer is B. The value of (B - A) is used as the sampling result.
At the end of a measurement period, the sum of these sampling results per QCI is used as the
corresponding counter value. The sum of sampling results related to all QCIs (including
standardized and extended QCIs) is used as the value of the L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Time counter.
 L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Num
Total number of successfully transmitted downlink PDCP SDUs
for DRB services with all QCIs (including extended QCIs) in a
cell
• Description
• The counters measure the number of successfully transmitted downlink PDCP SDUs for DRB
services with a specific QCI ranging from 1 to 9 in a cell. If this cell is an SCell of a CA UE, the
number of successfully transmitted downlink PDCP SDUs for the CA UE is also counted in the
corresponding counter.
• Measurement Points
• The corresponding counter is incremented by 1 per QCI each time the MAC layer receives an
ACK-HARQ feedback after a PDCP SDU is transmitted in the downlink, which is considered that
the PDCP SDU is successfully transmitted. PDCP SDUs that are successfully transmitted in the
downlink for DRB services with all standardized and extended QCIs are counted in the
L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Num counter.
RRC CONNECTION RELEASE CASES
CASE:1

• Going to idle mode: In

this case, the UE will
receive an RRC connection
release from the eNodeB
due to the expiration of
the inactivity timer (in
most networks configured
to approximately 10
seconds).
CASE:2

• Drop Call - > RLC Failure: When

the number of retransmissions at
the RLC layer in the Downlink
direction reaches its maximum
value given by the parameter
MaxRetxThreshold, the eNodeB
releases the context and sends
an RRC connection release to
the UE.
CASE:3

• Drop Call - > RRC

Connection Reestablishment
Reject: Either because the
feature is not adopted or
because a race condition
occurred in which the case
just presented happened first,
the eNodeB responds with a
RRC connection
reestablishment reject to the
UE
CASE:4

• Tracking Area Update: During a

successful tracking area update, the
eNodeB will send an RRC
connection release to the UE after
sending a tracking area update
message (from the MME) when no
new GUTI is allocated or after the
tracking area update complete
message is received from the UE, if
it received a new GUTI.
CASE:5

• During Detach: Either during normal detach or abnormal detach, both by an UE initiated
detach or network initiated detach, the UE receives an RRC connection Release from the
network. Elements in the Network that may cause a detach message sent from the MME to
the UE are:
• Expiration of timers at the P-GW for the last bearer the UE had, capacity issues or errors.
• Errors or Capacity issues at the S-GW
• Expiration of timers at the MME (t3412) without TAU, errors at the MME, configuration
problems, etc.
SRBRLCPDCPCFG
Parameter
SRB ID
MaxRetxThreshold for UE
MaxRetxThreshold for eNodeB
PollByte for UE
PollByte for eNodeB
PollPdu for UE
PollPdu for eNodeB
Poll retransmit timer for UE
Poll retransmit timer for eNodeB
Status prohibit timer for UE
Status prohibit timer for eNodeB
AM reordering timer for UE
AM reordering timer for eNodeB
Description
Indicates the SRB ID of the SRB RLC/PDCP parameter group. The SRB ID can be SRB1 or SRB2.
Indicates the UE-specific maximum number of RLC ARQ retransmissions, namely the maximum number of AM PDU retransmissions. When
the number of retransmissions reaches the value of this parameter, RRC connection re-establishment is initiated. If you need to change the
value of this parameter, ask for assistance from Huawei technical support personnel.
Indicates the eNodeB-specific maximum number of RLC ARQ retransmissions, which limits the maximum number of acknowledged mode
(AM) PDU retransmissions. When the number of RLC ARQ retransmissions reaches the value of this parameter, eNodeB releases the UE. If
you need to change the value of this parameter, ask for assistance from Huawei technical support personnel.
Indicates the UE-specific data volume threshold of PDUs to trigger polling. When the transmitted data volume reaches the value of this
parameter, the Poll flag is set in the PDU header. If you need to change the value of this parameter, ask for assistance from Huawei technical
support personnel.
Indicates the eNodeB-specific data volume threshold of PDUs to trigger polling. When the transmitted data volume reaches the value of this
parameter, the Poll flag is set in the PDU header. If you need to change the value of this parameter, ask for assistance from Huawei technical
support personnel.
Indicates the UE-specific number of PDUs to trigger polling. When the transmitted number of PDUs reaches the value of this parameter, the
Poll flag is set in the PDU header. If you need to change the value of this parameter, ask for assistance from Huawei technical support
personnel.
Indicates the eNodeB-specific number of PDUs to trigger polling. When the transmitted number of PDUs reaches the value of this
parameter, the Poll flag is set in the PDU header. If you need to change the value of this parameter, ask for assistance from Huawei technical
support personnel.
Indicates the length of the Polling PDU retransmission timer for the UE. If you need to change the value of this parameter, ask for assistance
from Huawei technical support personnel.
Indicates the length of the Polling PDU retransmission timer for the eNodeB. If you need to change the value of this parameter, ask for
assistance from Huawei technical support personnel.
Indicates the length of the UE-specific timer for prohibiting status reporting from the receiver in AM. If you need to change the value of this
parameter, ask for assistance from Huawei technical support personnel.
Indicates the length of the eNodeB-specific timer for prohibiting status reporting from the receiver in AM. If you need to change the value of
this parameter, ask for assistance from Huawei technical support personnel.
Indicates the length of the UE-specific timer for reordering at the receiver in AM. If you need to change the value of this parameter, ask for
assistance from Huawei technical support personnel.
Indicates the length of the eNodeB-specific timer for reordering at the receiver in AM. If you need to change the value of this parameter, ask
for assistance from Huawei technical support personnel.
 RLCPDCPPARAGROUP
Parameter
RLC PDCP parameter group ID
Discard timer
RLC-UM or RLC-AM mode
MaxRetxThreshold for UE
MaxRetxThreshold for eNodeB
PollByte for UE
PollByte for eNodeB
PollPdu for UE
PollPdu for eNodeB
Poll retransmit timer for UE
Poll retransmit timer for eNodeB
Status prohibit timer for UE
Status prohibit timer for eNodeB
AM reordering timer for UE
AM reordering timer for eNodeB
UM PDCP-SN size
Uplink RLC-SN size
Downlink RLC-SN size
UM reordering timer for UE
UM reordering timer for eNodeB
AM PDCP status report required indication
RLC Parameter Adaptive Switch
Preset eNodeB Poll Retransmit Timer
Preset eNodeB Status Prohibit Timer
Preset UE Poll Retransmit Timer
Description
Indicates the ID of the RLC/PDCP parameter group.
Indicates the length of the PDCP discard timer.
Indicates the RLC transmission mode. Only the AM and UM modes are available.
Indicates the UE-specific maximum number of RLC ARQ retransmissions, namely the maximum number of AM PDU retransmissions. When the number of retransmissions
reaches the value of this parameter, RRC connection re-establishment is initiated.
Indicates the eNodeB-specific maximum number of RLC ARQ retransmissions, which limits the maximum number of acknowledged mode (AM) PDU retransmissions.
When the number of RLC ARQ retransmissions reaches the value of this parameter, eNodeB releases the UE.
Indicates the UE-specific data volume threshold of PDUs to trigger polling. When the transmitted data volume reaches the value of this parameter, the Poll flag is set in the
PDU header.
Indicates the eNodeB-specific data volume threshold of PDUs to trigger polling. When the transmitted data volume reaches the value of this parameter, the Poll flag is set
in the PDU header.
Indicates the UE-specific number of PDUs to trigger polling. When the transmitted number of PDUs reaches the value of this parameter, the Poll flag is set in the PDU
header.
Indicates the eNodeB-specific number of PDUs to trigger polling. When the transmitted number of PDUs reaches the value of this parameter, the Poll flag is set in the PDU
header.
Indicates the length of the Polling PDU retransmission timer for the UE.
Indicates the length of the Polling PDU retransmission timer for the eNodeB.
Indicates the length of the UE-specific timer for prohibiting status reporting from the receiver in AM.
Indicates the length of the eNodeB-specific timer for prohibiting status reporting from the receiver in AM.
Indicates the length of the UE-specific timer for reordering at the receiver in AM.
Indicates the length of the eNodeB-specific timer for reordering at the receiver in AM.
Indicates the length of a PDCP sequence number of a UL DRB in RLC UM.
Indicates the length of a UL RLC sequence number in UM. The length is permanently 10 bits in AM.
Indicates the length of a DL RLC sequence number in UM. The length is permanently 10 bits in AM.
Indicates the length of the UE-specific timer for reordering at the receiver in UM.
Indicates the length of the eNodeB-specific timer for reordering at the receiver in UM.
Indicates whether a PDCP status report is required upon handover in AM.
Indicates whether to enable the adaptive configuration of parameters related to Radio Link Control (RLC). If this parameter is set to ON(On), the eNodeB adaptively
configures the lengths of the following timers according to the number of UEs in the cell when new UEs access the cell:
(1) The polling PDU retransmission timer for the UE
(2) The polling PDU retransmission timer for the eNodeB
(3) The UE-specific timer for prohibiting status reporting from the receiver
(4) The eNodeB-specific timer for prohibiting status reporting from the receiver
Indicates the length of the polling PDU retransmission timer for the eNodeB, which is used when the RlcParaAdaptSwitch parameter is set to ON(On) and the number of
UEs in the cell is large.
Indicates the length of the eNodeB-specific timer for prohibiting status reporting from the receiver, which is used when the RlcParaAdaptSwitch parameter is set to
ON(On) and the number of UEs in the cell is large.
Indicates the length of the polling PDU retransmission timer for the UE, which is used when the RlcParaAdaptSwitch parameter is set to ON(On) and the number of UEs in
 PDU VS SDU

• What is the meaning of PDU and SDU and what is the difference between them ?
A: PDU is Protocol Data Unit and SDU is Service Data Unit. Difference between them and their role should describe following
figure
UPLINK TIMING
UPLINK TIMING Resources allocated to the UE may include:
 Sounding reference signal (SRS) resources,
 Demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for the physical
uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or
 Channel quality indicator (CQI) in physical uplink
control channel (PUCCH).

UL Timimg

Uplink Timing Uplink timing

Control control after
During RA RA
TimeAlignmentTimer.TimingAdvCmdOptSwitch = Off TimeAlignmentTimer.TimingAdvCmdOptSwitch = ON

The length of Timing Advance The period can be set by the

Command sending period is TimeAlignmentTimer.TACmd
calculated by the below formula SendPeriod parameter.
and cannot be manually set

"Floor
(TimeAlignmentTimer.TimeAlign
mentTimer parameter value/2 - 32)"

RrcConnStateTimer.UlSynTimer

UE eNodeB UE eNodeB
 UE STATES
UE States

Idle Mode (RRC

Connected Mode
Connected
(Activated Mode)
Mode)

Synchronized
Out of Sync UEs
UEs

Out of Sync States can reach

 Whether detection RLF (After T310 expires)
 Or when ULALiighnmentTimer expired
TIMEALLIGNMENTTIMER TAT

• Why UE needs time alignment ?

• Due to different signal transmission paths and
movement, UE can lose time synchronization to
eNB subframe. eNB measures the time
alignment of UE by measuring the difference
between arrival time of PUCCH, PUSCH,
SRS to its own uplink subframe
 DL DATA ARRIVE WHEN UE IN NON
SYNCHRONIZED STATE

• <RACH Procedure on DL Data Arrival • RACH Procedure on DL Data Arrival when

when Out-of-Sync - Contention Based > Out-of-Sync - Non Contention Based
UL DATA ARRIVE WHEN UE IN NON
SYNCHRONIZED STATE

• RACH Procedure on RRC Connection • RACH Procedure on UL Data Arrival

Re-establishment when Out-of-Sync when Out-of-Sync
UPLINK TIME ALIGNMENT TIMER

• Uplink synchronization between a UE and the eNodeB is performed using their respective time
alignment timers.
• The UE uses its uplink time alignment timer to determine whether it is in the synchronization state.
– Before the timer expires, the UE is considered to be in the synchronization state.
– When the timer expires, the UE is considered to be in the out-of-synchronization state.
• The eNodeB uses its uplink timer alignment timer to determine whether the UE is in the
synchronization state.
– Before the timer expires, the eNodeB determines that the UE is in the synchronization state.
– After the timer expires, the eNodeB determines that the UE is in the out-of-synchronization state and
stops sending the Timing Advance Command to the UE, excluding the Timing Advance Command included
in the Random Access Response message.
• Timer Settings
• The uplink time alignment timer on the UE side and that on the eNodeB side are controlled separately. The
TimeAlignmentTimer.TimeAlignmentTimer parameter specifies the uplink time alignment timer length on the
eNodeB side. After setting the timer value, the value is sent to the UE through air interface signaling.
• If the eNodeB adopts the periodic policy, it is recommended that the TimeAlignmentTimer.TimeAlignmentTimer
parameter be set to SF1920(1920 subframes).
– When the TimeAlignmentTimer.TimeAlignmentTimer parameter is set to a smaller value, the eNodeB sends the Timing
Advance Command to the UE at a higher frequency, more radio resources are consumed, and higher mobility speed can be
supported.
– If the TimeAlignmentTimer.TimeAlignmentTimer parameter is set to a larger value, the opposite effect is generated.
• If the eNodeB adopts the periodic evaluation and event-triggering policy, it is recommended that the
TimeAlignmentTimer.TimeAlignmentTimer parameter be set to SF10240(10240 subframes). In heavy traffic
scenarios where the TimeAlignmentTimer.TimingResOptSwitch parameter is set to ON(On), you are advised
to set TimeAlignmentTimer.TimeAlignmentTimer to INFINITY(Infinity). A smaller value of the
TimeAlignmentTimer.TimeAlignmentTimer parameter (for example, less than SF5120(5120 subframes))
leads to a higher probability of UEs in the discontinuous reception (DRX) state entering the out-of-synchronization
state.
 UPLINK SYNCHRONIZATION TIMER

• The uplink synchronization timer controls whether the eNodeB continues to maintain uplink synchronization
between a UE and the eNodeB. The eNodeB starts or restarts the uplink synchronization timer for a UE when
sending data to and receiving data from the UE. Before the uplink synchronization timer for a UE expires, the eNodeB
continuously sends the Timing Advance Command to the UE. After the uplink synchronization timer for a UE expires,
the eNodeB no longer sends the Timing Advance Command to the UE, and determines that the UE enters the out-of-
synchronization state after the uplink time alignment timer on the eNodeB side expires.
• Timer Settings
• The RrcConnStateTimer.UlSynTimer parameter specifies the uplink synchronization timer length.
• A smaller value for this parameter leads to a higher probability of the UE entering the out-of-synchronization state, a
shorter time for the UE to occupy PUCCH and SRS resources, and a larger number of RA requests initiated by the
UE.
• A larger value for this parameter leads to a lower probability of the UE entering the out-of-synchronization state, a
longer time for the UE to occupy PUCCH and SRS resources, and a less number of RA requests initiated by the UE.

•The RrcConnStateTimer.UlSynTimer parameter can be set only on the eNodeB side.

•If the RrcConnStateTimer.UlSynTimer parameter is set to 0, the uplink synchronization timer will never expire.
UE INACTIVITY TIMER

• Timer Working Principles

• The UE inactivity timer is used to specify the period within which the eNodeB does not send data
to or receive data from a UE. The eNodeB starts or restarts the timer for a UE while sending data
to or receiving data from the UE. The eNodeB determines whether a UE is in connected mode
based on the state of the UE inactivity timer. Before the UE inactivity timer expires, the eNodeB
determines that the UE is in connected mode.
• After the UE inactivity timer expires, the eNodeB sends an RRC Connection Release message to
the UE; the UE is then released and enters idle mode. This prevents an inactive UE from occupying
radio resources when it is unnecessary. If the UE inactivity timer for an out-of-synchronized UE
expires, the UE enters the synchronization state first. Then, the eNodeB sends an RRC Connection
Release message to the UE, and the UE enters the idle mode.
 • Timer Settings
• The RrcConnStateTimer.UeInactiveTimer parameter specifies the length of the UE inactivity
timer. In the scenario where a UE does not send data to or receive data from the eNodeB:
• If this parameter is set to a smaller value, the UE will be released earlier, and the UE sends the RRC
connection setup requests to the eNodeB at a higher frequency. Because the number of UEs
released normally increases, the service drop rate decreases.
• If this parameter is set to a larger value, the time required to release the UE will be longer, the RRC
connection between the UE and the eNodeB maintains for a longer time, and the UE occupies
radio resources for a longer time as well. Because the number of UEs being released normally
decreases, the service drop rate increases.
• If the value of RrcConnStateTimer.UlSynTimer is greater than the value of
RrcConnStateTimer.UeInactiveTimer, the UE enters the idle mode directly.

•The RrcConnStateTimer.UlSynTimer parameter can be set only on the eNodeB side. If the parameter setting is changed, the change applies to UEs
that newly access the network.
•If the RrcConnStateTimer.UeInactiveTimer, parameter is set to 0, the timer does not take effect, which means the UEs are always in connected mod
THANK YOU
RRC

S1

E-RAB
CONNECTION MANAGEMENT

Signaling connection management

RRC connection setup

RRC connection
reestablishment

RRC connection
management

dedicated S1 connection
setup

signaling connection release