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Interview Question & Answer - Carrier Aggregation - CA - LTE
Interview Question & Answer - Carrier Aggregation - CA - LTE
(CA) in LTE
Answer: Carrier Aggregation is a feature which came into 3GPP Release 10. It is part of the
feature of LTE- Advanced which is a common term used to describe the improvements in
LTE. The focus of Release 10 was to advance LTE towards providing better user experience by
providing higher data rates in cost-efficient way and in the same way maintaining backward
compatibility.
The two main functionalities that are brought to achieve this criterion for LTE-A are Carrier
Aggregation and Multi Antenna techniques.
Carrier Aggregation is a feature in LTE for providing very high data volumes and data rates by
the process of combining contiguous and non- contiguous spectrum bands. This can be
explained in a simple way. For Ex: A Mobile operator can have 10MHZ in L1800 Band and 10
MHZ in L900 band. So, by using the functionality of CA we can combine these two bands to
provide 20MHZ of Carrier Channel BW.
Figure shows an example of how CA can be used to combine five 20 MHz carriers to create
a virtual bandwidth of 100 MHz..
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1.CA is a key feature which allows operators to create virtual carrier bandwidth
2. It can help operators to increase individual carrier bandwidths for different layers by
combining them by implementing the CA functionality
4. As of now CA can provides bandwidth up to 100 MHZ (20 MHZ * 5 Component carrier)
5. Cross Component Carrier Scheduling is supported by CA, where we can use the control
channel of one carrier (PCC) to allocate resources (scheduling functionality) of another
carrier (SCC)
Answer: There are two main types of Carrier Aggregation (CA) in LTE:
• Intraband Non-Contiguous: Here Carriers from the same band is used, but they are
not continuous. So, the multi carrier signal can not be considered as a single signal.
For this reason, the design and implementation are a bit complex especially from the
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UE perspective. Unlike Intraband Contagious where only a single Transceiver is
needed, noncontiguous requires two transreceivers.
• The RRC Connection is only handled by the Primary serving cell, served by the
Primary component carrier(DL and UL PCC).it is also on the DL PCC that the UE
receives NAS information, such as security parameters. In idle mode the UE listens to
system information on the DL PCC. On the UL PCC PUCCH is sent.
• Random access procedure is performed over PCell.
• PDCCH/PDSCH/PUCCH/PUSCH can be transmitted.
• Measurements and mobility procedure are based on PCell
• Cannot be deactivated.
Secondary Cell (SCell): A cell that operates on a secondary frequency and carries only user
data.
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• The Secondary /Serving cells are those cells which are selected by the Network based
on the UE capability and the position/Location of the UE which can serve the UE
simultaneously along with the Primary Cell.
• The Secondary cells are Activated /De-activated by MAC Layer and get assigned to
the mobile device by higher layers. There can be more than one S-Cell per mobile
device.
• The SCCs are added and removed as required, while the PCC is only changed at
handover.
Question 6: How does the RRC layer handle CA configuration and deconfiguration?
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Answer: The RRC layer is responsible for adding, removing, and reconfiguring SCells. This is
done using dedicated RRC signalling.
• Need-based: The SCell is activated based on the amount of data transmission in the
RLC buffer of the UE.
• Coverage-based: The SCell is activated if the coverage of the current SCell is poor.
• Prohibit timer: The SCell can be activated if the prohibit timer is not running.
• RBS buffer: The amount of data in the RBS buffer for a UE is less than the threshold
value.
• Channel quality: The channel quality of the SCell is less than the threshold value.
• Prohibit timer: The prohibit timer is running.
Question 11: What is the difference between uplink CA and downlink CA?
Answer: Uplink CA is the aggregation of component carriers for uplink transmissions.
Downlink CA is the aggregation of component carriers for downlink transmissions.
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Answer: Uplink CA has the following limitations:
Question 13: What is the difference between FDD-FDD CA and FDD-TDD CA?
Answer: FDD-FDD CA is the aggregation of component carriers between two FDD cells. FDD-
TDD CA is the aggregation of component carriers between an FDD cell and a TDD cell.
• CA_25A-25A
two non-contiguous carriers from band 25
• CA_25A-41A
one carrier from band 25 and another carrier from band 41
• CA_23B
two contiguous carriers from band 23
aggregated B/W 25 RBs to 100 RBs
• CA_2C
two contiguous carriers from band 2
aggregated B/W 100 RBs to 200 RBs
• CA_25A-41C
one carrier from band 1 and two contiguous carrier from band 41
Answer:
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• Step 1: UE Registration: The user equipment (UE) initiates a registration process with
the eNodeB (eNB) to obtain network access. This involves sending a registration
request message to the eNB. The eNB verifies the UE's identity and capabilities, and
responds with a registration response message if the UE is authorized to access the
network.
• Step 4: RRC Connection Reconfiguration: Based on the UE's capabilities and the
available resources, the eNB triggers an RRC Connection Reconfiguration procedure.
This involves sending an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message to the UE. This
message includes information about the new component carriers to be aggregated
for the UE.
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• Step 5: RRC Connection Setup Complete: The UE sends an RRC Connection Setup
Complete message to the eNB acknowledging the receipt of the RRC Connection
Reconfiguration message. This message also includes information about the UE's
ability to support the new component carriers.
• Step 6: MAC and PDCCH Configuration: The UE and eNB exchange MAC and PDCCH
configuration information. MAC (Medium Access Control) layer configuration
parameters are used to manage the data transmission channels for the UE, while
PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) configuration determines how data is
transmitted on the component carriers.
Question 16: What are the functions of the MAC layer in CA?
Answer:
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The value of the ScellDeactivationTimer is configurable and can be set by the network
operator. The operator will typically set the timer to a value that is long enough to ensure
that the UE does not experience any disruptions to its service if it moves out of range of the
Scell. However, the operator will also want to set the timer to a value that is not too long, so
that the network does not waste resources on cells that are not being used.
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Answer: Carrier Aggregation (CA) bandwidth classes supported by LTE networks. The
bandwidth class is a measure of the total bandwidth that can be aggregated using CA. The
higher the bandwidth class, the more bandwidth can be aggregated and the higher the
theoretical peak data rate that can be achieved.
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Cross-carrier scheduling is beneficial in a number of scenarios, including:
• Inter-cell interference mitigation: When UEs are located near the edge of a cell, they may
experience interference from neighboring cells. This interference can reduce the data
rate and increase the latency of the UE's connection. Cross-carrier scheduling can be
used to mitigate this interference by scheduling data transmissions on different carriers
for the UE.
• Load balancing: When a large number of UEs are connected to a cell, the eNB may need
to schedule data transmissions on multiple carriers to avoid congestion. Cross-carrier
scheduling can be used to balance the load across the different carriers and ensure that
all UEs receive a fair share of the available bandwidth.
• Frequency diversity: Different frequency bands have different propagation
characteristics. For example, lower frequency bands have lower path loss but are also
more prone to interference from buildings and other obstacles. Higher frequency bands
have higher path loss but are also less prone to interference. Cross-carrier scheduling can
be used to take advantage of the different propagation characteristics of different
frequency bands to improve the performance of the UE's connection.
To implement cross-carrier scheduling, the eNB includes a carrier indicator field (CIF) in the
PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) messages. The CIF indicates which carrier the
scheduled data transmission is for. The UE then uses the CIF to decode the scheduled data
transmission.
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Cross-carrier scheduling is a complex technique that requires careful coordination between
the eNB and the UE. However, it can provide significant benefits in terms of performance
and interference mitigation.
Here are some additional details about cross-carrier scheduling:
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Overall, with above example the UE is capable of both intra-frequency CA and inter-
frequency CA. The operator can choose to use either type of CA depending on their specific
needs and requirements.
Question 20: What is the expected behaviour of the UE when it transitions from PCell to
SCell?
Answer:
When the UE transitions from PCell to SCell, it is expected to:
• Cross-carrier scheduling: The eNB can schedule data transmissions on both the PCell
and SCell for the same UE. This allows the UE to continue to receive and transmit
data on both cells even when it is transitioning between them.
• HARQ retransmissions: The eNB can retransmit HARQ messages on both the PCell
and SCell to ensure that the UE receives all of the data that was transmitted.
• Buffering: The UE can buffer data received on the PCell while it is transitioning to the
SCell. This ensures that the UE does not experience any loss of data during the
handover process.
Relevant valid points:
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• Carrier Aggregation (CA) can make inter-cell handover more challenging, due to the
increased number of cells involved.
• However, there are a number of mechanisms that can be used to ensure that inter-
cell handover is seamless even in CA scenarios.
In the context the UE is expected to seamlessly switch from the PCell to the SCell without
any noticeable disruption to service. This will be achieved through a combination of cross-
carrier scheduling, HARQ retransmissions, and buffering.
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