Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology

Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering

LTE architecture we can divide LTE network into two parts first EPC give our packet and second E-UTRAN.
E-UTRAN are in all Universal mobile telecommunication system UTRAN basically consists of two nodes (UE
or mobile) and (eNodeB).
E-UTRAN LTE has got a flat architecture it is not like 3G in which we have RNC's that are connected to
eNodeB and in which RNC acts as a centralized node in E-UTRAN there is no centralized node.
eNodeB can do all the processing related to air interface protocols it is an independent entity 1eNodeB is
connected to multiple eNodeB through x interface eNodeB is connected to core network by means of Aspen
interface we can divide aspen interface into two parts first part S1-MME interface for control plane and second
part S1-U for user plane.
eNodeB is connected to MME our mobility management entity through S1-MME interface and to S-GW are
serving gateway through S1-U interface MME is responsible for control plane signaling (user plane our actual
user data flow).
MME is connected to a database called HSS our home subscriber server home subscriber server component has
been carried forward from UMTS and GSM and it is a central database that contains information about all the
network operator subscribers and the information that HSS has could be maximum data rate allowed for a
subscriber key to be used in security algorithm for subscriber.
serving gateway is connected to PDN gateway PDN gateway is the interface of the mobile network to the
external world PDN gateway is connected to the Internet and another media networks.
 Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering

functionalities of eNodeB first scheduling and dynamic allocation of resources to UE in both uplink and
downlink direction.
eNodeB schedules and allocates the resources to UE at every one millisecond (1 ms) TTI so eNodeB runs its
scheduling algorithm after every one millisecond and based on channel or radio conditions it allocates air
interface resources to the UEs that are connected to this eNodeB.
 Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering

Second task is eNodeB triggers state transition in the UE eNodeB which is from our IDLE to our C connected
state and vice versa.
eNodeB does the transition state based on the volume of the data transmitted by UE when there is no data flow
for a certain period of time eNodeB switches to the IDLE state in our IDLE state there is no wireless connection
as soon as there is data to be sent in UE UE triggers wireless connections set a process.

third task eNodeB handles mobility of the UE in connected mode we must note that a mobility in connected
mode is governed by handovers handover can be triggered either by eNodeB (eNB) or UE.
UE triggers handover when certain measurement criterion is met this criterion are sent by eNB to UE in
measurement controls if you look into signaling of wireless connection.
 Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering

buffering of the data at the time of handover at the time of handover buffering of the data and the forwarding of
the data to the target eNB is done by source eNB

Fifth task done by eNB is transmission control and congestion control whenever there is a request for some new
service for the UE or technically whenever there is a request for the UE from core network eNB runs it's
congestion control algorithm to see whether new service can be admitted or not based on the current UE and
eNB load.
 Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering

first task done by MME is handling mobility in IDLE mode

both MME and eNB are involved in connected mode handovers so MME always know which in would be a
mobile is connected to but if a UAE moves from one cell to another in IDLE mode then eNB and MME will not
come to know about this moment so the challenge is if the location of a UE in IDLE mode is not known to the
network then how network will pay such a UE if there is some call or message for this UE
so the solution every cell in LTE has been allocated and code called as tracking area code every cell sends this
tracking area code in its cell broadcast information whenever a UE moves to a new cell it decodes its broadcast
information as soon as UE comes to know that it has come to a cell which has got different tracking area code
you will trigger RC wireless connection and sends this new tracking area code to MME in an ask message and
releases its RC wireless connection this way MME always has latest information about the tracking area code of
the cell in which UE is present currently this whole process is called tracking very update there is also periodic
tracking area update done by UE
 Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering

second task and by MME is maintaining UE context during IDLE mode of the UE.
the transition from IDLE to connected mode or vice versa is local to E-UTRAN and it is entirely controlled by
eNB.
MME does not know anything about this a state transition if the transition is done just to save you a battery and
resources on air interface there could be multiple frequent state transitions during all these transitions UE
context that is information about all the services is currently used by UE is maintained by MME.

third task is NAS signaling and NAS signaling security NAS layer of protocol is presented in UE and MME.
MME is responsible for NAS signaling and security of NAS messages.
MME also does bearer management for the UE.
 Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering

serving gateway (S-GW) reserves as a local mobility anchor for the data bearers when the UE moves between
eNBs its role for data when UE is an idle mode there is no connection between UE and eNB at the time serving
it the first Downlink package coming from PDN gateway.
PDN (P-GW) gateway has got two main responsibilities;
first is allocation of IP address to the mobile when the data in your mobile to connect to LTE network an IP is
allocated to your mobile that IP is allocated by a PDN gateway.
second task done by PDN gateways filtering off downlink user IP packets into different QOS based bearer
different services or data flow in UE such as swipe call, video streaming, browsing have different delay
requirements for example swipe call is very delay sensitive and browsing is not very delay sensitive each delay
requirement can be mapped to and QAS profile so PDN gateway filters the data coming from Internet based on
its delay requirement.
 Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering
there is one more node call ends PCRF stands for policy and charging rule function;
its purpose and usage for example service providers can use PCRF to charge subscriber based on their volume
of uses of high bandwidth applications charge extra for QOS guarantees limit abuses while a user's roaming our
lower the bandwidth of the wireless subscribers using heavy bandwidth apps during peak usage time so all this
can be done by PCRF.
ARCH Summary
 Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering
 Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering