6/11/2018 Introduction to Carrier Aggregation

LTE Radio Access, Rel. LTE 18, Operating Documentation, Issue 02 (HTML) > LTE System > LTE Descriptions > LTE
System Description > Functional areas in LTE > Radio Resource Management > Carrier Aggregation (CA) > Carrier
Aggregation (CA)

Introduction to Carrier Aggregation

Carrier aggregation (CA) is used in LTE in order to increase the bandwidth, and thereby increase the bitrate;
each aggregated carrier is referred to as a component carrier (CC); in FDD the number of aggregated carriers
can be different in DL and UL; however, the number of UL component carriers is always equal to or lower
than the number of DL component carriers

Note:

Section Evolution and Interdependencies between features are being developed and will be available with
further releases.

Primary aim of a Carrier Aggregation (CA) functionality is to boost peak and mean user throughput via sending user
data simultaneously over two or more component carriers.

Cells (component carriers (CCs)) used by particular UE in terms of Carrier Aggregation functionality can be
distinguished basing on their roles:

Primary Cell (PCell) Cell in which UE has established its RRC Connection. It handles both GBR and
non-GBR user data as well as the DL and UL signaling.

Secondary Cell (SCell) Additional cell configured for particular CA-capable UE used for non-GBR data
transmission and PDCCH signaling.

PCell and all SCells used by the UE may be deployed on the same (intra-band CA) or different (inter-band CA)
frequency layers.

Carrier Aggregation functionality can be enabled on eNBs with different antenna configurations deployed including
1Tx-1Rx (SIMO), 2Tx-2Rx (2x2 MIMO) and 4Tx-4Rx (4x2 MIMO and 4x4 MIMO).

Combinations of 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz channels are supported.

Cells that are aggregated can be co-located and served by the same eNB (intra-eNodeB) or deployed on a different
eNBs (inter-eNodeB) if the appropriate feature is enabled. Co-located eNB connected via physical interface (for
example with a SRIO cable) are considered an LTE site. Inter-site CA is possible with the use of X2 interface.

Figure: Example of inter-site downlink carrier aggregation for non-GBR bearer with possible scenarios for carrier
locations on bands

Click buttons to display what interactivity is avaliable.

Intra-band contiguous

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6/11/2018 Introduction to Carrier Aggregation
Intra-band non-contiguous
Inter-band

Component carriers are on different

bands.

Non-GBR resource type For an EPS bearer, having a non-GBR resource type means that the bearer is a
bearer best effort type bearer and its bandwidth is not guaranteed. Non-GBR bearers can
suffer packet loss under congestion and are generally subject to admission control
within the network.

Carrier aggregation can be in downlink (DL) and in uplink (UL).

More on this topic

Two component carrier (2CC) CA
Whenever carrier aggregation (CA) involves two carriers only, it is considered 2CC CA. 2CC CA can be downlink
(DL) or uplink (UL), inter- or intra-band, inter- or intra-eNB. 3GPP TS 36.300 specification details supported carrier
bandwidths, band combination and band combination sets.
3CC carrier aggregation
When carrier aggregation (CA) involves three carriers, it is considered as a 3CC CA. Similar to 2CC, 3CC CA can
be downlink (DL) or uplink (UL), inter- or intra-band, and inter- or intra-eNB. The 3GPP TS 36.300 specification
details supported carrier bandwidths, band combination, and band combination sets. An increase in the number of
component carriers used in CA increases the capacity and improves load balancing capabilities.
Four/Five component carrier (4CC/5CC) CA
When carrier aggregation (CA) involves four or five carriers, it is considered 4CC or 5CC CA. Similar to 2CC, 4CC
and 5CC CA can be downlink (DL) or uplink (UL), inter- or intra-band, inter- or intra-eNB. 3GPP TS 36.300
specification details supported carrier bandwidths, band combination, and band combination sets. An increase in
the number of component carriers used in carrier aggregation increases capacity and improves load balancing
capabilities.

Id: DN208200010 © 2018 Nokia. All rights reserved.

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