LTE system information is one of the key aspects of the air interface.

It consists of the Master

Information Block (MIB) and a number of System Information Blocks (SIBs). The MIB is
broadcast on the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), while SIBs are sent on the Physical
Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) through Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages. SIB1 is
carried by "SystemInformationBlockType 1" message. SIB2 and other SIBs are carried by
"SystemInformation (SI)" message. An SI message can contain one or several SIBs.

1.       The MIB is the first thing a UE looks for after it achieves downlink synchronization. The
MIB carries the most essential information that is needed for the UE to acquire other information
from the cell. It includes:

 The downlink channel bandwidth

 The PHICH configuration. The Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel carries the
HARQ ACKs and NACKs for uplink transmissions
 The SFN (System Frame Number) which helps with synchronization and acts as a timing
reference
 The eNB transmit antenna configuration specifying the number of transmit antennas at
eNB such as 1, 2, or 4, which is carried by CRC mask for PBCH

2.       SIB1 is carried in a SystemInformationBlockType1 message. It includes information

related to UE cell access and defines the schedules of other SIBs, such as:

 The PLMN Identities of the network

 The tracking area code (TAC) and cell ID
 The cell barring status, to indicate if a UE may camp on the cell or not
 q-RxLevMin, which indicates the minimum required Rx Level in the cell to fulfill the
cell selection criteria
 The transmissions times and periodicities of other SIBs

3.       SIB2 contains radio resource configuration information common for all UEs, including:

 The uplink carrier frequency and the uplink channel bandwidth (in terms of the number
of Resource Blocks, for example n25, n50)
 The Random Access Channel (RACH) configuration, which helps a UE start the random
access procedure, such as preamble information, transmit time in terms of frame and
subframe number (prach-ConfigInfo), and powerRampingParameters which indicates the
initial Tx power and ramping step.
 The paging configuration, such as the paging cycle
 The uplink power control configuration, such as P0-NominalPUSCH/PUCCH
 The Sounding Reference Signal configuration
 The Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) configuration to support the
transmission of ACK/NACK, scheduling requests, and CQI reports
 The Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) configuration, such as hopping
4.       SIB3 contains information common for intra-frequency, inter-frequency, and/or inter-RAT
cell reselection. This information does not necessarily apply to all scenarios; please refer to
3GPP TS 36.304 for the details. The basic parameters include:

 s-IntraSearch: the threshold for starting intra-frequency measurement. When s-

ServingCell (i.e., cell selection criterion for serving cell) is higher than s-IntraSearch, the
UE may choose not to perform measurement in order to save battery life.
 s-NonIntraSearch: the threshold for starting inter-frequency and IRAT measurements
 q-RxLevMin: the minimum required Rx level in the cell
 Cell reselection priority: the absolute frequency priority for E-UTRAN or UTRAN or
GERAN or CDMA2000 HRPD or CDMA2000 1xRTT
 q-Hyst: the hysteresis value used for calculating the cell-ranking criteria for the serving
cell, based on RSRP.
 t-ReselectionEUTRA: the cell reselection timer value for EUTRA. t-ReselectionEUTRA
and q-Hyst can be configured to trigger cell reselection sooner or later.

5.       SIB4 contains the intra-frequency neighboring cell information for Intra-LTE intra-
frequency cell reselection, such as neighbor cell list, black cell list, and Physical Cell Identities
(PCIs) for Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).  CSG can be used to support Home eNBs.

6.       SIB5 contains the neighbor cell related information for Intra-LTE inter-frequency cell-
reselection, such as neighbor cell list, carrier frequency, cell reselection priority, threshold used
by the UE when reselecting a higher/lower priority frequency than the current serving frequency,
etc.

SIB6 contains information for IRAT cell reselection to UTRAN, such as:

 Carrier frequency List: a list of neighboring UTRAN carrier frequencies

 Cell reselection priority: the absolute priority
 Q_RxLevMin: the minimum required Rx level
 ThreshX-high/ThreshX-low: threshold used by the UE when reselecting a higher/lower
priority frequency than the current serving frequency
 T-ReselectionURTA: cell reselection timer value for UTRAN
 Speed dependent reselection parameters

In UTRAN, the IRAT related information is broadcasted in SIBs 6, 18, 19, as well as SIBs 3 and
4. SIB 19 is new to 3GPP Release 8.

8.       SIB7 contains information for IRAT cell reselection to GERAN, such as:

 Carrier Frequency Info List: a list of neighboring GERAN carrier frequencies

 Cell reselection priority: the absolute priority
 Q_RxLevMin: the minimum required Rx level
 ThreshX-high/ThreshX-low: threshold used by the UE when reselecting a higher/lower
priority frequency than the current serving frequency
 T-ReselectionGERA: cell reselection timer value for GERAN
  Speed dependent reselection parameter

In GSM/GERAN, system information from second quarter is modified in 3GPP Release 8 to

include LTE-related cell-reselection parameters.

9.       SIB8 contains information for IRAT cell reselection to eHRPD (evolved High Rate Packet
Data, which is the 1xEV-DO Rev.A with the support of connectivity to Evolved Packet Core of
LTE), such as:

 Information for searching eHRPD: carrier frequencies, system time info for PN
synchronization, and the search window size
 Pre-registration info for eHRPD (optional): required or not. The pre-registration
procedure intends to minimize the service interruption time and accelerate the handover
by allowing the UE to pre-register with the CDMA 2000 eHRPD system when the UE is
still connected with the E-UTRAN. When the UE is connected to eHRPD, it may also
pre-register with E-UTRAN. The pre-registration may happen well ahead of the actual
handover. The registration Zone ID is also given (eHRPD or 1xEV-DO Sessions belong
to an RNC and hence apply to certain zones).
 Cell reselection thresholds and parameters: ThreshX-high, ThreshX-low, T-
reselectionCDMA2000, Speed dependent reselection parameter. The E-UTRAN can
prioritize the selection of the technology by the UE by setting the cell reselection
parameters properly.
 Neighbor cell list for monitoring potential eHRPD target cells.

10.   SIB9 contains a Home eNB name. The home eNB is the femto-cell in the context of LTE, a
small base station used in residential area or by small businesses. 

11.   SIB10 is for an ETWS (Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System) primary notification.
ETWS is a public warning system. The paging procedure is used to inform the ETWS capable
UEs in RRC idle and RRC connected modes to listen to SIB10 and SIB11.

12.   SIB11 is for an ETWS secondary notification.

The transmission time and periodicity for the MIB and SIB1 are fixed by the specifications. A
UE knows exactly when to listen for them. The transmission time and periodicities of other SIBs
are configurable and scheduled by SIB1. 

The periodicity of MIB is 40 ms.  A new MIB is sent every 40 ms when SFN mod 4 = 0 and
within the 40 ms period, the same MIB is repeated every 10 ms (SFN field in MIB does not
change, although the actual SFN=4n, 4n+1, 4n+2, and 4n+3). MIB is always sent in subframe 0.
Note that the SFN field in the MIB records only the most significant 8 bits of the actual SFN; the
remaining 2 bits are determined by which of the 4 repetitions the UE is looking at (00 for the
first copy, 01 for the second, and so on.)
 

SIB1 is sent with the periodicity of 80 ms when SFN mod 8=0 and is repeated when SFN mod 2
=0. In other words, a new SIB1 is sent every 80 ms and within the 80 ms period, the same SIB1
is repeated every 20 ms. SIB1 is always sent in subframe 5.

The periodicities of SIB2 and up are configurable, and can be set to 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 or
512 radio frames. These SIBs can be grouped into a set of SI (System Information) messages
which are transmitted with different periodicities. All of the SIBs contained within a single SI
message should have the same periodicity.

In order to make sure the SIBs are received by the UE, an SI-window is defined to enable
multiple transmissions of the SI message within the window. The length of the SI-window can be
set to 1, 2, 5 10, 15, 20 or 40 ms. Within an SI-window, only one SI message can be sent, and
may be repeated multiple times. When a UE tries to acquire an SI message, it listens from the
starting of the SI-window until the SI message is received.

The following figure shows an example of the configuration of the periodicities of SIBs 2, 3, 6,
and 7. Here, we use two SI messages, SI1 and SI2. SI1 contains SIB2 and SIB3 with a
periodicity of 16 radio frames, while SI2 contains SIB6 and SIB7 with a periodicity of 64 radio
frames. Assume that the SI-window length is 10 ms (1 radio frame).
How to calculate peak data rate in LTE?

You may hear it many times that the peak data rate of LTE is about 300Mbps? How is the
number calculated? What are the assumptions behind? Let's estimate it in a simple way. Assume
20 MHz channel bandwidth, normal CP, 4x4 MIMO.

 First, calculate the number of resource elements (RE) in a subframe with 20 MHz
channel bandwidth: 12 subcarriers x 7 OFDMA symbols x 100 resource blocks x 2 slots=
16800 REs per subframe. Each RE can carry a modulation symbol.
 Second, assume 64 QAM modulation and no coding, one modulation symbol will carry 6
bits. The total bits in a subframe (1ms) over 20 MHz channel is 16800 modulation
symbols x 6 bits / modulation symbol = 100800 bits. So the data rate is 100800 bits / 1
ms = 100.8 Mbps.
 Third, with 4x4 MIMO, the peak data rate goes up to 100.8 Mbps x 4 = 403 Mbps.
 Fourth, estimate about 25% overhead such as PDCCH, reference signal, sync signals,
PBCH, and some coding. We get 403 Mbps x 0.75 = 302 Mbps.

Ok, it is done through estimation. Is there a way to calculate it more accurately? If this is what
you look for, you need to check the 3GPP specs 36.213, table 7.1.7.1-1 and table 7.1.7.2.1-1.
Table 7.1.7.1-1 shows the mapping between MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) index and
TBS (Transport Block Size) index. Let's pick the highest MCS index 28 (64 QAM with the least
coding), which is mapping to TBS index of 26. Table 7.1.7.2.1-1 shows the transport block size.
It indicates the number of bits that can be transmitted in a subframe/TTI (Transmit Time
Interval). For example, with 100 RBs and TBS index of 26, the TBS is 75376. Assume 4x4
MIMO, the peak data rate will be 75376 x 4 = 301.5 Mbps.