UEswitchedON:

Weallusehandsetsandthequestionwecanaskourselvesare: 1.HowdoestheMobilephone(UE)knowsabouttheOperator'ssignalpresenceinitsvicinity? 2.HowdoestheUEgetthesignal? 3.HowdoesthesignalindicatorbarontheUEincreases? 4.SincetherearemanyserviceprovidersinthelocationthenhowcometheUElogsintoa particularprovider? 5.Howthecallisinitiatedandreachesthecalledpartywithinfewseconds? Theanswerstothequeriesareexplainedbelow: ThebasestationinLTEitistermedaseNB(EvolvedNodeB)iscontinuouslytransmittingsignal whichcontainscertaininformationaboutthenetwork.WhentheUEisswitchedonitsearches forthisbroadcastinformationandsyncsitselfwiththenetwork.Theactualparameterswhich areexchangedwillbeexplainedlaterbutforaninitialentrytothefielditisimportantto understandthetechnologyfromalayman'spoint. ItiswhentheUEsyncswiththeeNBitstartstoestablishaconnectionsothatotherentityin thenetworkknowsthepresenceoftheUE.(Aseparatecallflowwillbediscussedlater) Now,whentheUEisincompletesyncwiththenetworkitcanstartit'sdataexchange.Theterm 'dataexchange'meansthatitcanbeeither/allvoice,video,chat,messagingandInternet browsing. Thequestionis:Ifthisisdataexchangethenwhatwillbethetermusedbeforethedata exchange.Well,theansweris:Itissignaling. So,wecansaythattherearetwopartsinvolvedwhenanexchangeofinformationhappens. 1.ControlPlane(Signaling) 2.UserPlane(Userdata) AnuserplaneoccursonlyaftertheControlplanehasplayeditpart. Inthenextpost,IwillprovidethearchitectureofLTEtechnology.Inthecomingposts,Iwill attempttoexplainthetechnicaldetailsinvolvedintheabovepost.

LTEArchitecture:

TheS1C,S6a,S11,S7interfacesintheabovediagramrepresentstheControlPlanesignaling betweentheentitiesinLTE. TheS1U,S5/S8,SGiinterfacesintheabovediagramrepresentstheUserPlanebetweenthe entitiesinLTE. UE:(UserEquipment)(MobilePhone,Datadevice,Laptopetc.) eNodeB:(EvolvedNodeB)RRM(RadioResourceManagement)functions,selectionofMME,routingof userplanedatatoSGW,IPheadercompression,encryptionofuserdata,schedulingandtransmission ofpagingmessage. MME:(MobilityManagementEntity)NASsignalingandsecurity,trackingarealistmanagement,bearer management,DNGWandSGWselection,handovers(intraandinterLTE),authentication HSS:(HomeSubscriberServer)serverwhichholdsuserrecordsandisalsoresponsiblefor Authentication

SGW:(ServingGateway)ThelocalmobilityanchorpointforintereNodeBhandover;downlink packetbufferingandinitiationofnetworktriggeredservicerequests,lawfulinterception, accountingonuserandQCIgranularity,UL/DLchargingperUE PGW:(PacketGateway)UEIPaddressallocation,packetfilteringandPDNconnectivity,ULand DLservicelevelcharging,gatingandrateenforcement. PCRF:(PolicyChargingandRulesFunction)TakescareofresourceallocationtotheUE ThenextpostwilldescribethefunctionindetailofeachelementsintheLTEArchitecture.One significantpointtoknowaboutLTEisthatitisallIP.TheUEisallocatedanIPaddressbythe NetworkElement(PGW)andwiththisIP,itcommunicateswiththeworld.

FunctionofNetworkElement:

AspertheLTEArchitecturefrommypreviouspost,thefunctionofeachnetworkelementis definedbelow:

eNB

InterfaceswithUE.TheinterfaceisknownasUuinterface. ConnectstoMMEwithinterfaceS1MMEorS1C ConnectstoSGWwithinterfaceS1U AdmissionControl Scheduling RadioResourceManagement EnforcementofnegotiatedULQoS CellInformationBroadcast Ciphering/decipheringofuserandControlPlanedata CompressionanddecompressionofDL/ULuserplanepacketheaders

MME
ItisthemaincontrolnodeintheLTEaccessnetwork.

ConnectstoSGSNwithinterfaceS4(providesControlplanefunctionforMobility betweenLTEand2G/3G) ConnectstoanotherMMEwithinterfaceS10 ConnectstoHomeSubscriberServer(HSSusedforauthenticationofUE)withinterface S6a ResponsibleforIDLEmodeUEtrackingandPAGINGprocedureincludingre transmissions. Authenticationofuser.ThisisachievedbyinteractingwithHSS. NASsignalingterminatesattheMME GenerationandallocationoftemporaryID'stoUE

EnforcesUEroamingrestrictionsandalsocheckstheauthorizationofUEtocamponthe serviceprovider'sPLMN Handlesthesecuritykeymanagementandistheterminationpointintheaccessnetwork forcipheringandintegrityprotectionforNASsignaling. InvolvesinbearerActivation/Deactivation ResponsibleforchoosingSGWforaUEduringtheInitialAttachandalsoduringthe IntraLTEHandoverwhichalsoinvolvesthecorenetworknoderelocation

ServingGW

ConnectstoPGWwithinterfaceS5/S8 ConnectstoSGSNwithinterfaceS3 ActsasMobilityanchorfortheUserplaneduringIntereNBhandover AnchorformobilitybetweenLTEandother3GPPtechnologies ForIdlestateUE's,theSGWterminatestheDLdatapathandtriggerspagingwhenDL dataarrivesfortheUE. ManagesandstoresUEcontext(parametersoftheIPbearerservice,network'sinternal routinginformation) Performsreplicationoftheusertrafficincaseoflawfulinterception

PDNGW

ActsastheentryandexitpointofTrafficfortheUE ProvidesconnectivitytotheUEtoexternalpacketdatanetworks UEcanhavemorethanonePDNGWforaccessingmultiplePDN's ConnectstoPCRFwithS7interface ConnectstoIMSwithGxinterface Performspolicyenforcement Packetfilteringwitheachuser Chargingsupport Packetscreeningandlawfulinterception Anchorformobilitybetween3GPPandnon3GPPtechnologies(WiMax)and3GPP2 (CDMA1xandEVDO) ThenextpostwillexplaintheRACHprocedure.

LTERACHProcedurewithCallFlow:

TheBasestationcontinuouslybroadcastMIB'sandSIB's.WhentheUEpowerson,itsyncsup withthenetworkanditlooksforthesemessages.Thebasicworkingcanbefoundatclickhere. TheLTEArchitecturecanbefoundatclickhere. Hereon,IwillattempttoexplainthetechnicalworkflowoftheinitialconnectivitywhentheUE ispoweredon. 1.TheUEhastosynchronizewiththenetworkattheframeandslotlevel. ThePrimarySynchronizationSignalisresponsibleforslotsynchronization. TheSecondarySynchronizationSignalisresponsibleforframesynchronization. TheSynchronizationSignalsaresentonlyontimeslots0and10ofeachframe. TheSynchronizationSignalsaresentonlyonthecenterof1.25MHzofanLTEchannel. 2.OnetheUEsynchronizeswiththenetwork,itthenrequiresthefollowinginfoforcampingon acell PLMNid TrackingAreaId CellId RadioandCoren/wcapabilities(foritsn/wselection) 3.TheaboveinformationisbeingbroadcastbythenetworkinordertohelptheUEforit's selectionprocess. 4.ThisbroadcastisknownasSYSTEMINFORMATIONwhichisMIBandSIB. ThecallflowfortheUEtoreadtheSysteminformationismentionedbelow:

UECellSelectionProcedure

5.AftertheaboveprocesstheUEissynchronizedwiththenetworkintheDownlink directionandnow,itneedstosynchronizeintheUplinkdirection 6.Forthistohappen,RAP(RandomAccessProcedure)isinitiated

RACHiscommoninFDDandTDD TherearetwotypesofRAP: ContentionbasedRAP NoncontentionbasedRAP

ContentionbasedRAP:
Incontentionbased,multipleUE'sattempttoconnecttothenetworkatthesametime.TheeNBis intelligentenoughtotacklethissituationbecauseeveryUEshouldbeuniquetothenetwork. TheUE'scanalwayssendthesamePreambleIDtothenetwork,therebyresultingoncollisions.Thiskind ofcollisioniscalled"Contention"andisknownas"Contentionbased"RACHProcess.Thenetworkwould gothroughadditionalprocesstoresolvethesecontentionandhencethisprocessiscalled"Contention Resolution"step. Thebelowmentionedcallflowwouldexplainelaborately:

ContentionbasedRACHprocedure 1.InthefirstmessagetheUEprovidesanindicationtothenetworkaboutitsresourcerequirement.This carriesthePreambleID,RARNTI,TA,SFN 2.TheeNBconveystheresourcesreservedforthisUEalongwiththeTimingAdvance(TA),PreambleID andTCRNTI(anumbergeneratedbyeNBandaskstheUEtosendtheRRCconnection) 3.UEsendstheRRCconnectionRequestusingresourcesgivenbytheeNB.Italsosendstheidentifierto theeNBwhichisusedtoresolvetheContention. 4.TheeNBrunsanalgorithmandgeneratesCRNTIwhichwillbeapermanentIDfortheUEtillthe connectionisalive.TheeNBsendstheUEidentifier.Inthisstep,theUEwhichhasreceivedtheID continueswhileotherUE'swilltryagain. Scenario: MultipleUE'sattempttoaccessthenetwork: 1.So,theUEsinitiatesRACH. 2.Therefore,theUEswillrecievethesameTCRNTIandresourceallocationfromeNB.

3.AllUEswouldsendRRCConnectionRequestmessagethroughthesameresourceallocationtothe Network. Nowthebigquestion:HowshouldtheeNBbehave? 1.One:ThesignalsactasinterferencetoeachotherandeNBdecodeneitherofthem.Inthiscase,none oftheUEwouldhaveanyresponse(HARQACK)fromeNBandallUEwillgobacktoStep1. 2.Second:TheeNBwouldsuccessfullydecodethemessagefromonlyoneUEandfailtodecodefrom others.ThedecodedUEwillgetHARQACKfromeNB.ThisHARQACKprocessisknownas"contention resolution"process.

NoncontentionbasedRAP:

Thisprocedureisalwaysinitiatedfromnetworkincaseofahandover.Forthisprocedure,theeNB reservesasetofpreambles.WhenthistypeofscenarioisencounteredtheeNBallocatesthesetfrom thisreservedpool. ThisentireprocedureiscontrolledbytheeNB.Hence.noquestionofcollision. Thecallflowismentionedbelow:

NonContentionBasedRAP

S1APMMEConfigurationUpdate Someinformationlike(MMEname,partofGUTI[GUMMEI],MMEcapacity)isprovidedbyMME throughinterfaceS1inanS1APMMEConfigurationUpdatemessage 5.ThiscommunicationhappensaftertheS1interfaceestablishmentbetweentheeNBand MME. Thecallflowcanbeidentifiedbelow:

S1APConfigurationUpdateProcedure ThenextpostwillbeonInitialAttachprocesswithmessageparameters.

Channels in LTE
WhyChannels? Inordertocarryinformationfromonelayertoother.ThisisapplicabletotheProtocolstackor betweenUEandeNB. TheProtocolStackofUEandtheassociatedchannelsarementionedbelow:

UEProtocolStack RLCusesLogicalchannelstotransferinformationtotheMACandlowerlayers;similarly,the MAClayerusestheLogicalchannelstotransferinformationtoRLCandupperlayers. MACusesTransportchannelstotransferinformationtothePHYandlowerlayers;similarly,the PHYlayerusestheTransportchannelstotransferinformationtoMACandupperlayers. ThePHYlayerusesthePhysicalChannelsinordertotransferinformationontheAirInterface.

AlltheabovechannelshaveDownlinkandUnlinkpurposes;whichmeansthatwhenthe informationisbeingtransferredfromtheUpperlayerstothelowerlayers(RRC>PDCP>RLC >MAC>PHY)theDownlinkChannelsareused. Similarly,UplinkchannelsareusedwheninformationispassedtoUpperlayersfromLower layers(RRC<PDCP<RLC<MAC<PHY). ThebelowtableliststheLTEchannelsforDLandUL:

Physical DL Channels
Physical broadcast channel (PBCH) Physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) Physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) Physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) Physical multicast channel (PMCH) Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH)

Physical UL Channels
Physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) Physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) Physical random access channel (PRACH)

Transport DL Channels
Broadcast Channel (BCH) Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH) Paging Channel (PCH) Multicast Channel (MCH)

Transport UL Channels
Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) Random Access Channel(s) (RACH)

Logical Control Channels

Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) Paging Control Channel (PCCH) Common Control Channel (CCCH) Multicast Control Channel (MCCH) Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH)

Logical Traffic Channels

Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH)

DownlinkChannels
The below diagram depicts the association of LTE Downlink Channels:

LTE Downlink Channels

1. Downlink Physical Channels: a. PBCH b. PCFICH c. PDCCH d. PDSCH e. PMCH

PBCH(PhysicalBroadcastChannel):ThePBCHisthephysicalchannelusedtocarryBCH(BCCH),in otherwordsonthischannelthesysteminformationcanbefound.Itwilluseafixedmappingonto resourceblocks.TherewillbeonePBCHpercell.

 PCFICH(PhysicalControlFormatIndicatorChannel):ThePCFICHislikethePDCCHapurephysicallayer controlchannel.ItindicateshowmanyOFDMsymbolsareusedtoencodethePDCCH.Sotheorderof decodingforaUEistoreadfirstthePCFICHtogetthePDCCHformat.ThenthePDCCHisdecodedto findoutwhichresourceblockstothePDSCHofinterestfortheUE.

PDCCH(PhysicalDownlinkControlChannel):Thisisapurephysicallayercontrolchannel.Itcontains theschedulersignalingtoinformtheUEsaboutthecomingdownlink(andmaybealsouplink)resource blockassignmentstoPDSCH.ThePDCCHwillbesentineachsubframeshortlybeforePDSCHstarts.

PDSCH(PhysicalDownlinkSharedChannel):ThePDSCHcancarryDLSCHorPCH.Thusthischannel typewillallocatemostofthecapacityinacell.ItisstillunderinvestigationhowmanyPDSCHsacellcan haveandhowmanyPCHandDLSCHasinglePDSCHcancarry.

PMCH(PhysicalMulticastChannel):ThischanneltypeisusedtocarryMCH.Itimplementstheoptionof MBSFNwhereaUEreceivesthePMCHfromseveralcellsoperatinginthesameareaonthesame frequencyband.AllthePMCHwillbejointlydecodedbytheUE.ThiswouldallowaUEtodocellre selectionwithoutinterruptingMBMSservices.

2.DownlinkTransportChannels:
a. BCH b. PCH c. MCH d.DL-SCH

BCH(BroadcastChannel):TheBCHisatransportchannelwithfixedtransportformat.Itisusedto transmittheBCCHintheentirecell.ItwillonlysupportQPSKmodulationandnoHARQorbeamforming isallowed.

DLSCH(DLSharedChannel):Thisisthemajortransportchannelinthedownlinkdirection.Itisusedto carrymainlyDCCHandDTCH.ButalsoBCCH,MCCHandifrequiredMTCHcanbesentonit.Thechannel supportsHARQ,beamformingandallmodulationschemesQPSK,16QAMand64QAM.TheDLSCHwill supportDRXandDTXonUEsidetoreducepowerconsumptionofendterminals.

PCH(PagingChannel):ThePCHisusedtocarrythePCCH.IncontrasttoBCHtheremightbebeam formingappliedtoPCH,butstillnoHARQisavailable.AlsothechannelsupportsatleastQPSKand 16QAMasmodulationschemeandDRX.

MCH(MulticastChannel):TheMCHisusedforbroadcastandmulticastMBMSservices.Itthuscarries MTCHandMCCH.ItwillallowatleastQPSKand16QAMasmodulationscheme,64QAMisunder investigation.ObviouslyHARQcannotbesupportedasMTCH/MCCHispointtomultipointchannels. Thischannelhasauniquespecialproperty,asUEsareabletocombineMCHsignalsfromdifferentcells usingthesamefrequency(MBSFN=MulticastBroadcastSingleFrequencyNetworks).Inthiscaseall MBSFNcellsmustusethesameMCHconfigurationandmustbesynchronizedwitheachother.

3. Downlink Logical Channels:

a. BCCH b. PCCH c. CCCH d. MCCH e. DCCH f. DTCH g. MTCH

InGeneraltheLogicalChannelsaresplitsintotwogroups.

BCCH(BroadcastControlChannel):TheBCCHisusedtotransmitsysteminformationregardingaccess andnoaccessstratum.ItallowstheUEtoretrievecellandnetworkconfigurationparameters(e.g. PLMNcode,cellidentity,cellreselectionparameters,etc.)requiredfornormaloperationwithin EUTRAN.

PCCH(PagingControlChannel):ThePCCHisusedtotransmitthepagingmessagesfromRRC.Henceitis adownlinkpointtomultipointchannelaUEisusingwhenitisinLTE_IDLEmode. CommonControlChannel(CCCH) TheCCCHisanuplinkanddownlinkchannel.RRCsignalingchannelusedbyUEstodotheinitial accesssignalingwhenitisinRRC_IDLEstateandwantstoenterRRC_CONNECTEDstate. TheUEwillsendonlyonemessage(RRCCONNECTIONREQUEST)andtherestofthe communicationtakesplaceonDCCH.

MCCH(MulticastControlChannel):TheMCCHisassociatedwithMBMS.ItallowstheeNBtoinformUEs thatwanttolistentobroadcastormulticastservicetrafficaboutavailabilityofsuchservicesandabout theassociatedMBMSradiobearer(pointtomultipoint)radiobearers.

DCCH(DedicatedControlChannel):TheDCCHisabidirectionalRRCsignalingchannelusedforpointto point(dedicated)RRCandNASsignalingprocedures.Itisthemainsignalingchanneltobeusedby RRC_CONNECTEDUEs.

DTCH(DedicatedTrafficChannel):TheDTCHisusedforuserradiobearerscarryingIPtraffic.TheeNB connectsDTCHswiththeirassociatedS1UtunneltotheSAEGW.DTCHcanbebidirectional,uplinkonly ordownlinkonly. DTCHareofcoursepointtopoint.

MTCH(MulticastTrafficChannel):TheMTCHisapointtomultipointtrafficchannelforMBMS.It carriesIPtrafficforbroadcastormulticastservicesdrivenbytheMBMSfeature.

Uplink Channels
The below diagram depicts the association of LTE Uplink Channels:

LTE Uplink Channels

1. Uplink Transport Channels:
a. UL-SCH b. RACH

ULSCH(ULSharedChannel):TheULSCHistheonlyuplinktransportchannelabletocarrylogical channeldata.ThusCCCH,DTCHandDCCHrunoverthischannel.ItsupportsHARQandatleastQPKS and16QAM.

RACH(RandomAccessChannel):TheRACHisusedasinitialaccessrequestbytheUEtothenetwork. Currentlyitdoesnotcontainlogicalinformation,rathertheRACHisformedbyaspeciallayer1 preamblethatactsasachannelrequestmessage.ItisunderinvestigationwhethertheRACHshouldbe abletocarrylogicalchannelinformation.

2. Uplink Physical Channels:

a. PUCCH b. PUSCH c. PHICH d. PRACH

PUCCH(PhysicalUplinkControlChannel):Thisisapurephysicallayercontrolchannel.Oneideaisto usethischannelforULcapacityrequestsandHARQACK/NACKindicationsbytheUEaswellasCQI (CarrierQualityIndication)feedbackinformationtooptimizeCDSandMIMO.

PUSCH(PhysicalUplinkSharedChannel):ThePUSCHisthemajoruplinkchannel,becauseonitwewill findthetransportblocksofULSCHonwhichallradiobearersuplinkoccur.LikePDSCHalsothePUSCHis dynamicallyassignedtouplinkresourceblocks.ThishappensviasocalledULAssignmentswhicharenot completelyspecifiedyet.ThePUSCHsupportsDTX,HARQandatleastQPSKand16QAM.64QAMis underinvestigationforthischannel.

PRACH(PhysicalRandomAccessChannel):ThePRACHcarriestheRACH.Currentlythismeans,thatthe PRACHsimplytransmitspreamblesequencesthatactasinitialaccessrequestforULandDLresources whentheUEisRRC_IDLE.