LTE Air-Interface

Privileged and confidential. The information contained in this material is privileged and confidential, and is intended
only for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and others who have been specifically authorized to receive
it. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this
material is strictly prohibited. If you have received this material in error, please destroy it immediately.

The Physical Layer - OFDM

Orthogonal
Frequency
Division
Multiplexing

Each user is
assigned a
specific
frequency
resource

Orthogonal Codes

The Physical Layer - OFDMA

0.5mS

OFDMA

LTE

Own Cell
What is interference?
3

PRACH PARAMETERS- LTE TROUBLE SHOOTING

COURSE
Unlikely to get own cell interference:
Same time/Same Frequency

Frequency

However
If you lose timing advance
PRACH

Different Time
Timing Av

UE 2

Frequency

UE 1

RRC
CONNECTED

Evolved
Node B
(eNB)
Time Slot

Data

Time Slot

Packet
Scheduling

PS allocates
frequency and Time
to the UE

Data

UE 1

UE 2

PRACH PARAMETERS- LTE TROUBLE SHOOTING

COURSE
Unlikely to get own cell interference:
Same time/Same Frequency

Frequency

However
If you lose timing advance
PRAC
H

Different Time
Timing Av

UE 2

Frequency

UE 1

RRC
CONNECTED

Evolved
Node B
(eNB)
Time Slot

Data

Time Slot

Packet
Scheduling

PS allocates
frequency and Time
to the UE

Data

UE 1

UE 2

Function Evolved Node B (eNB)

Evolved
Node B

SINR ave =

S
I+N
I = Iown + Iother

(eNB)

RRC
CONNECTED

UE at cell edge
Same time slot
Same Frequency

PS allocates
frequency and Time
to the UE

Packet
Scheduling

Data

Other Cell
Interference
Evolved
Node B
(eNB)
Packet
Scheduling

Data

PS allocates frequency and

Time to the UE

Traffic SINR
SINR ave =

S
I+N

I = Iown + Iother

There are a number of ways of

controlling other cell Interference
7

Channel Quality Indicator

The CQI indicates the downlink
channel quality

CQI=15
CQI=10

Evolved
Node B

RF conditions will change as the user moves

(eNB)

CQI=1
CQI=8

Packet
Scheduling

Downlink
16-QAM

User reports CQI index8, it informs the eNB that, for the CQI bandwidth
being reported, it can support a transport block using 16-QAM modulation
and a coding rate of approximately 0.48 with a block error of less than
10%.
8

Channel Quality Indicator

In LTE the Physical Resource
Block is made up of 12
subcarriers

The CQI
indicates the
downlink
channel quality

Coding
Rate
OPSK
2bits/Hz

16QAM
4bits/Hz

Normal Frame
84 OFDM symbols (12x7)

64QAM
6bits/Hz

modulation and coding scheme

CQI

CQI

64-QAM

Evolved
Node B
(eNB)

CQI

Resource
Element(RE) : The
smallest unit made up
of 1 symbol x 1
subcarrier
QPSK = 2bits
16 QAM = 4bits
64 QAM = 6bits

QPSK

16-QAM

64-QAM

84 OFDM
symbols

84 OFDM
symbols

84 OFDM
symbols

(12x7)

(12x7)

(12x7)

OPSK
2bits/Hz

16QAM
4bits/Hz

64QAM
6bits/Hz

SINR - Signal to Interference & Noise Ratio

S: indicates the power of
measured usable signals.
SINR ave =

S
I+N
I = Iown + Iother

Path Loss

10

SINR - Signal to Interference & Noise Ratio

The components of the SINR calculation
can be defined as:
S: indicates the power of measured usable
signals.
I: interference signals from other cells in
the current system plus own cell
N: indicates background noise, which is
related to measurement bandwidths and
receiver noise coefficients
UEs typically use SINR to calculate the
CQI (Channel Quality Indicator) they report
to the network

CQI

Modulation

QPSK

Actual
coding rate

S
I +0.07618
N
I = Iown + Iother

-4.46

QPSK

0.11719

-3.75

QPSK

0.18848

-2.55

QPSK

308/1024

-1.15

QPSK

449/1024

1.75

QPSK

602/1024

3.65

16QAM

378/1024

5.2

8
9

16QAM
490/1024
Channel Quality
Indicator6.1
16QAM
616/1024
7.55

10

64QAM

466/1024

10.85

11

64QAM

567/1024

11.55

12

64QAM

666/1024

12.75

13

64QAM

772/1024

14.55

14

64QAM

873/1024

18.15

15

64QAM

948/1024

19.25

SINR ave =

Required
SINR

not defined in the 3GPP specs but defined by the UE

vendor.

11

coding rate
CQI

Modulation

Efficiency

Actual
coding rate

Required
SINR

QPSK

0.1523

0.07618

-4.46

QPSK

0.2344

0.11719

-3.75

QPSK

0.3770

0.18848

-2.55

QPSK

0.6016

308/1024

-1.15

QPSK

0.8770

449/1024

1.75

QPSK

1.1758

602/1024

3.65

16QAM

1.4766

378/1024

5.2

16QAM

1.9141

490/1024

6.1

16QAM

2.4063

616/1024

7.55

10

64QAM

2.7305

466/1024

10.85

11

64QAM

3.3223

567/1024

11.55

12

64QAM

3.9023

666/1024

12.75

13

64QAM

4.5234

772/1024

14.55

14

64QAM

5.1152

873/1024

18.15

15

64QAM

5.5547

948/1024

19.25

The coding rate indicates

how many real data bits
are present out of 1024
while the efficiency
provides the number of
information bits per
modulation symbol.
602/1024 = 0.5879
QPSK = 2bits
Efficiency=
2x0.5879=1.1758 data
bits per symbol
12

Function Evolved Node B (eNB)

SINR = 19db

SINR
SINR=-4.46dB
S
I+N
I = Iown + Iother

Evolved
Node B

SINR ave =

QPSK
2bits/Hz

(eNB)

64QAM
6bits/Hz

16QAM
4bits/Hz

Data

Packet
Scheduling

By improving SINR you will increase coverage and throughput

SINR

SINR = 19db

SINR=-4.46dB

QPSK
2bits/Hz

Evolved
Node B
16QAM
4bits/Hz

64QAM
6bits/Hz

(eNB)

Packet Scheduling

Data

13

Traffic SINR

Point of
interest

14

What is meant by adaptive modulation

and coding (AMC)?

15

Link adaptation, or adaptive modulation and coding

(AMC)
Link adaptation, or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), is a term used
in wireless communications to denote the matching of the modulation, coding
and other signal and protocol parameters to the conditions on the radio link

If the base station receives the data correctly

Sends the mobile a positive

acknowledgement on the physical hybrid
ARQ indicator channel (PHICH).

16

Link adaptation, or adaptive modulation and coding

(AMC)
If the base station receives the data with errors
Two ways for it to respond

1. The base station can trigger a

non adaptive re-transmission by sending the mobile a
negative acknowledgement on the PHICH.
The mobile then re-transmits the data with the same
parameters that it used first time around.

Scheduling grant
Change parameters like uplink modulation scheme
QPSK for noisy channels
2. Alternatively, the base station can trigger an adaptive re-transmission by
explicitly sending the mobile another scheduling grant. It can do this to change the
parameters that the mobile uses for the re-transmission, such as the resource block
allocation or the modulation scheme.
17

What is a time slot?

Same Time-Different
Frequency
Own cell interference zero

Physical Resource Block

You need allot of frequencies

time slot
0
Block of
Frequencie
s
Block of
Frequencie
s
Block of
Frequencie
s
Block of
Frequencie
s

time slot
1
Same Frequency -Different
time
Own cell interference zero

SINR ave =

S
I+N
I = Iown + Iother

Block of
Frequencie
s

18

What is a time slot?

10ms

0.5ms

You need allot of frequencies

time slot
0

time slot
1

Block of
Frequencie
s
Block of
Frequencie
s
Block of
Frequencie
s
Block of
Frequencie
s
Block of
Frequencie
s

time slot
2

time slot
19

UE1

TTI = 1ms
10 sub channels in 10mS
Physical Downlink Control Channel
(PDCCH)

TTI = 1mS
UE3

19

Transmission Time Interval

In UMTS Release '99 the shortest TTI is 10 ms and can be 20 ms, 40 ms, or
80 ms.

In UMTS Release-5 the TTI for HSDPA is reduced to 2ms.

In LTE the TTI for HSDPA is reduced to 1ms

This provides the advantage of faster response to link conditions and allows
the system to quickly schedule transmissions to mobiles which temporarily
enjoy better than usual link conditions
Having decoded the bits the receiver can estimate the bit error rate (BER).
And because the shortest de-codable transmission is one TTI the shortest
period over which BER can be estimated is also one TTI

20

Physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)

10ms
0.5ms

sub channel

time slot
0
of
I need to read theBlock
PDCCHFrequencie
Is it QPSK, 64 QAM,
s
16QAM
What is the size of the
transport Block?
Do I do hopping?
What about Power control
What is my uplink/Down
link resources?

time slot
1

time slot
2

time slot
3

time slot
19

UE1

Physical Downlink Shared Channels

Physical downlink control channel

(PDCCH)

I cannot change my
MCS till I see another
PDCCH

Scheduling grant
I need to change MCS

At the start of each subframe, a few symbols are reserved for the control
information that the base station transmits on the PCFICH, PDCCH and
PHICH. The number of control symbols can vary from one subframe to the
next, depending on how much control information the base station needs to

21

What is Physical Resource Block?

100 Physical Resource Blocks

0.5ms

time slot
0

Frequencies 1200

12 subcarriers

Block of
Frequencie
s

12 subcarriers

Block of
Frequencie
s

12 subcarriers

Block of
Frequencie
s

12 subcarriers

Block of
Frequencie
s

12 subcarriers

Block of
Frequencie
s

In LTE the
Physical
Resource Block is
made up of 12
subcarriers
If there are 100
Physical
Resource
Blocks you
would require
1200
frequencies

22

Master Information Block

Bandwidth 1.4
(MHz)
# of RBs

10

15

20
LTE-Uu
Air-Interface

15

25

50

75

100

MIB

Evolved
Node B
(eNB)

20MHz
15MHz

10MHz
5MHz
3MHz

Subcarriers

72

180

300

600

900

1200

1.4MHz

Channel Bandwidth
in Resource Blocks

6 x 12 = 72 Subcarriers
50 x 12 = 600
Subcarriers
23

Master Information Block

Logical BCC

PCC
H

Transport

CCC
H

DCC
H

DTC
H

MCC
H

MTC
H

BCH
PCH

PHYS
.

PBC
H

PDSC
H

DL-SCH MC
H

PMCH

REFERENCE
SIGNALS

R
R

R
R

24

Physical Resource Block

12 subcarriers

0.5ms

Physical
Resource
Block

time slot
0

Normal Frame
84 OFDM symbols (12x7)

cyclic prefix
In the time domain, a guard interval may be added to
each symbol to combat inter-OFDM-symbolinterference due to channel delay spread
Normal 7
Extended 6

12 subcarriers

Resource Element(RE) : The

smallest unit made up of 1
symbol x 1 subcarrier
QPSK = 2bits
16 QAM = 4bits
64 QAM = 6bits

Extended
72 OFDM symbols(12x6)
7 symbols

25

Channel Bandwidth
Carrier spacing 15 kHz

QPSK = 2bits
16 QAM = 4bits
64 QAM = 6bits

12 subcarriers = 180 kHz

Frequency Domain

Normal Cyclic Prefix

Normal Frame
84 OFDM symbols

(12x7

7 symbols = 0.5 ms

12 subcarriers in the frequency

domain x Carrier spacing 15 kHz =
180 kHz

100 x 180khz= 18Mhz

Time Domain

Channel Bandwidth
in Resource Blocks

50 x 180khz= 9Mhz

26

Channel Bandwidth
Channel Bandwidth (MHz)

1.4

10

15

20

Transmission Bandwidth Config. (RB)

15

25

50

75

100

Number of Subcarriers

72

180

300

600

900

1200

Occupied Bandwidth (MHz)

1.08

2.7

4.5

9.0

13.5

18.0

20 MHz
Channel Bandwidth (20MHz)
Transmission Bandwidth Configuration (RB)

100 x 180khz= 18Mhz

12 subcarriers
in the
frequency
domain x
Carrier
spacing 15
kHz = 180
kHz
27

Delay spread

Greater the Delay spread

Greater the Guard period
Extended

Evolved
Node B
(eNB)

2
1
3

If we
sample
here

Direct signal

If we
sample
here

Reflection 1

Last Reflection

Guard
Period

Sampling Window

28

Delay spread
radio waves travel at speed of light =
300 000000m/s

For LTE, the normal CP length has been set at 4.69 s, enabling the
system to
cope with path delay variations up to about 1.4 km.
300m 4.69 =1.4km
Extended cyclic prefix of 16.7 s for highly dispersive environments.
variations up to about 5km
300mx 16.7 =5km
29

Summary so far

12 subcarriers = 180 kHz

Frequency Domain

Normal Cyclic Prefix

Normal Frame
84 OFDM symbols
(12x7)

12 subcarriers = 180 kHz

Resource Element
7 symbols = 0.5 ms
2 bits
Time Domain
4 bits
6 bits Extended Cyclic Prefix

Extended
72 OFDM
symbols(12x6)

6 symbols = 0.5 ms

Resource Block represents the basic

unit of resource for LTE
Resource Block is a grid:
12 subcarriers in the frequency
domain (180 kHz)
6 or 7 symbols in the time domain

72 or 84 Resource Elements per

Resource Block
Each Resource Element can
accommodate 1 modulation symbol,
e.g. QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM
Bandwidth 1.4
(MHz)

10

15

20

# of RBs

15

25

50

75

100

Subcarriers

72

180

300

600

900

1200

30

LTE is about 300Mbps (4x4)

12 subcarriers = 180 kHz

12 subcarriers x 7
OFDMA symbols= 84

How do we get 300Mbps?

Assume 20 MHz channel bandwidth, normal CP, 4x4
MIMO. 64 QAM modulation and no coding. 25% 20 MHz
Overhead about 25%
overhead
64 QAM
PDCCH
Calculate the number of resource elements (RE) in
a sub-frame with 20 MHz channel bandwidth:

7 symbols = 0.5 ms

84x100= 840

Time Domain

12 subcarriers = 180 kHz

20 Mhz-100PRB

Normal Cyclic Prefix

reference signal
12 subcarriers x 7 OFDMA symbols x 100 resource
blocks x 2 slots= 16800 REs per sub-frame (One
mS).
Each RE can carry a modulation symbol: 2bits/4bits/6bits

16800 REs per sub-frame x 6 = 100800bits per ms

840x2=16800 REs per subframe

7 symbols = 0.5 ms

100.8 Mbits per second per transmitter (1x1)

4x4 MIMO about 400Mbits/s
31

One sub
channel

3 PRB
6 x 180kHz
=1.080Mhz

3 PRB

32

Time-Division Duplexing (TDD)

Normal / Extended

Multicast-broadcast
single-frequency
network (MBSFN) is a
communication channel
defined in Long Term
Evolution (LTE). It can
deliver services such as
mobile TV using the LTE
infrastructure

Normal Cyclic
Prefix

7 symbols = 0.5 ms
12 subcarriers = 180 kHz

Frequency-division duplexing(FDD)
Normal / Extended

12 subcarriers = 180 kHz

Frame Structures

Extended Cyclic Prefix

6 symbols = 0.5 ms
Time Domain

33

Physical Downlink Shared

Channels is shared

Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH)

Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH)
Dedicated Control CHannel
Logical

BCCH

PCCH

DCCH

DTCH MCCH

MTCH

SIB
s

MIB

Transport

CCCH

BCH
PCH

Physical Downlink Control Channel

DL-SCH

MCH

SIB
s

PDCCH

PHYS.

PBCH

PDSCH

PMCH

REFERENCE
SIGNALS

Physical Downlink Shared Channels

7 symbols = 0.5 ms 7 symbols = 0.5 ms

DCCH
SIB
s
7 symbols = 0.5 ms 7 symbols = 0.5 ms

34

12 subcarriers = 180 kHz

Frame Structures

7 symbols = 0.5 ms

For LTE, the normal CP length has been set at 4.69 s, enabling
the system to cope with path delay variations up to about 1.4
km.
35

Frame Structures

12 subcarriers = 180 kHz

Extended Cyclic Prefix

Extended cyclic prefix of 16.7 s for highly dispersive

environments. variations up to about 5km

6 symbols = 0.5 ms
Time Domain

36

Frequency selective packet scheduling

Frequency domain scheduling uses those resource blocks

that are not faded

Not possible in CDMA based system
Carrier bandwidth
Resource block

5 Mhz

CDMA based system

Frequency

Transmit on those resource

blocks that are not faded
37

CQI Reporting
CQI reporting can be:
Wideband Reporting

Channel
Bandwidth

Configured Sub-band Reporting

Sub-band

CQI

Sub-band

CQI

Sub-band

CQI

Sub-band

CQI

CQI

38

Power control in LTE

CQI Modulation

Actual
Required
coding rate
SINR

QPSK

0.07618

QPSK

0.11719SINR -3.75

QPSK

QPSK

308/1024

-1.15

QPSK

449/1024

1.75

QPSK

602/1024

3.65

16QAM

378/1024

5.2

16QAM

490/1024

6.1

16QAM

616/1024

7.55

10

64QAM

466/1024

10.85

11

64QAM

567/1024

11.55

12

64QAM

13

64QAM

14

64QAM

NO POWER CONTROL IN
666/1024
12.75
DOWNLINK.
SINR WILL
772/1024
14.55
REDUCE MOVING
873/1024
TOWARDS18.15
CELL EDGE

15

64QAM

948/1024

19.25

SINR
0.18848

-4.46

SINR

SINR

SINR

-2.55

SINR ave =

S
I+N
I = Iown + Iother

39

Power control in LTE(UPLINK)

Cell Edge

Power of the UE

Power control
commands

Goes behind a
building power
control slow to
react

Ideal

Distance
Practical
Errors

SINR

40

Power control in LTE(UPLINK)

41

Power control in LTE(UPLINK)

In LTE, UE specific TPC commands can be sent in two modes:
Accumulative TPC commands
Absolute TPC commands
In Accumulative TPC command mode, each TPC command signals a power
step relative to the previous level and is suitable for fine tuning of transmission
power.
Two sets of power step values (+1 dB,-1 dB) and (-1 dB,0 dB,+1 dB,+3 dB) are
available in this mode. Accumulative TPC command type is available for
PUSCH & PUCCH
In Absolute TPC command mode, each TPC command signals a power step
which is independent of previous power step level. The set of power offset
signaled using absolute TPC command mode is (-4 dB,-1 dB,+1 dB,+4 dB ).
An absolute TPC command allows UE to adjust its transmission power in a
single step. Absolute TPC command available only for PUSCH..
42

Power control in LTE(UPLINK)

In LTE, UE specific TPC commands can be sent in two modes:
Accumulative TPC commands
Absolute TPC commands

PUSCH is TPC command

carried by DCI format 0/3/4

Accumulative - Two sets of power step values (+1 dB,-1 dB) and (-1 dB,0
dB,+1 dB,+3 dB) are available in this mode. Accumulative TPC command
type is available for PUSCH & PUCCH

DCI format 3A

43

Power Control & Downlink Control Indicator (DCI)

It is DCI which carries those detailed information like "which resource block
carries your data ?" and "what kind of demodulation scheme you have to use to
decode data ?" and some other additional information including power control.
.

Format 3 - TPC Commands for PUCCH and PUSCH with 2 bit

power adjustment - Power Control Only

Format 3A - TPC Commands for PUCCH and PUSCH with 1 bit power adjustment
Power Control Only
DCI format 3A

Breathing

PUCCH
PUSCH

DCI format 3A

44

Control Channel (PDCCH)

It means the reciever first have to decode DCI and based on the information you
got from the DCI you can decode the real data. It means without DCI, decoding
the data delivered to you is impossible

Cannot read the

PDCCH

Path Loss

45

Power Headroom Report

eNB uses Power Headroom Report (PHR) sent by the UE to schedule
uplink transmission resources to different UEs in an appropriate manner.
With PHR, eNB gets an idea about how much more bandwidth UE is
capable of using in a subframe
How much uplink
bandwidth can a UE can
use for a specific subframe.
Power Headroom Report

Power headroom indicates how much

transmission power left for a UE to use in
addition to the power being used by current
transmission
46

Downlink Control Indicator (DCI)

47

Questions

48

Questions
1. How many PRBs (Physical Resource Block)? do you have in 0.5ms in 10
MHz bandwidth?
a.
b.
c.
d.

10
100
50
None of the above

2. How many sub channels at there in one radio frame

a.
b.
c.
d.

10
20
5
None of the above

49

Questions
3. TTI refers to the duration of a transmission on the radio link?
TRUE
FALSE

4. What is the bandwidth of one PRB (Physical Resource Block)?

a. 20Mhz
b. 10Mhz
c. 15khz
d. 180khz

50

Questions
3.In an extended frame you have 84 Resource Elements per Resource
Block?
TRUE
FALSE

51

In Closing

52