HANDOVER

IN LTE
 HANDOVER
Handover procedures are a key function of LTE enodeb.
In a definition way we can say that due to this function a proper handover of data and calls will take place from
one enodeb to another enodeb and its objective is to continuous the service without any disruption.
There are 3 Type of Handover in LTE.
1. Intra-Frequency Handover
Handover between two LTE cells on the same frequency.
Event A3 which is used for LTE Intra-Frequency handover.
2. Inter-Frequency Handover
Handover between two LTE cell on different frequency
Event A4 and A5 which is used for LTE Inter-Frequency handover.
3. Inter-RAT Handover
Handover between two cell, from LTE cell to non LTE cell(GSM/WCDMA/CDMA2000).
Event B1 and B2 which is used for I-RAT handover.
Event Type Description
A1 for Inter-Frequency (these events are used for stop
Event A1 Serving becomes better than threshold measurement)
A2 for Inter-Technology (these events are used for start
Event A2 Serving becomes worse than threshold measurement)
Event A3 Neighbor becomes offset better than serving A3 for Intra-Frequency and Inter-Frequency
Event A4 Neighbor becomes better than threshold A4 for Inter-Frequency
Serving becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbor becomes better
Event A5 than threshold2 A5 for Inter-Frequency
Neighbour become offset better than S Cell (This event is introduced
Event A6 in Release 10 for CA)
Event B1 Inter RAT neighbour becomes better than threshold B1 for Inter-Technology (Inter-RAT)
Serving becomes worse than threshold1 and inter RAT neighbour
Event B2 becomes better than threshold2 B2 for Inter-Technology (Inter-RAT
 LOG VIEW AND IE’SFOR INTRA FREQUENCY AND INTER FREQUENCY
HANDOVER

Step Direction Message Target Cell Memo

1 UE <---> SS < Power On and Registration > Cell 1
2 UE <---> SS < Now UE is in IDLE mode > Cell 1
3 UE <--- SS Paging Cell 1
4 UE ---> SS RRC Connection Request Cell 1
5 UE <--- SS RRC Connection Setup Cell 1
6 UE ---> SS RRC Connection Setup Complete Cell 1
7 UE <--- SS Security Mode Command Cell 1
8 UE ---> SS Security Mode Complete Cell 1
9 UE <--- SS RRC Connection Reconfiguration Cell 1 reactivating default EPS Bearer

10 UE ---> SS RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete Cell 1

11 UE <--- SS RRC Connection Reconfiguration Cell 1 Measurement Control for Target Cell

12 UE ---> SS RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete Cell 1

13 UE ---> SS Measurement Report Cell 1

14 UE <--- SS RRC Connection Reconfiguration Cell 1 Handover Command
15 UE ---> SS PRACH (MSG 1) Cell 2
16 UE <--- SS RACH Response (MSG 2) Cell 2
17 SS ---> UE UE Identification Message (MSG 3) Cell 2

18 UE ---> SS RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete Cell 2 PASS/FAIL

19 UE <--- SS ueCapabilityEnquiry Cell 2

20 UE ---> SS ueCapabilityInformation Cell 2

21 UE ---> SS ulInformationTransfer + Detach Request Cell 2

22 UE <--- SS RRC Connection Release Cell 2

o When target cell RSRP > serving cell.
o Serving cell sent measurement control in for of RRC Connection Reconfiguration. (ue enb)
RRC Connection Reconfiguration
Measurement Object
The objects on which the UE shall perform the measurements.

i.e. frequencies and cells. In other words: who should the UE measure?

These include intra- and inter- frequency neighbors, IRAT UMTS neighbors, IRAT GSM neighbors and IRAT CDMA2000
Intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurement object can specify individual cells to measure ,and individual cells to
exclude from measurements . Individual cells are referenced by their Physical layer Cell Identities(PCI).These objects can
also request the UE to report the Cell Global Identity(CGI) for specific PCI.
Carrier Frequency– DL carrier frequency mentioned here so UE get to know Band.
AllowedMesbandwidth 100mbh – It means what is the BW of cell 100mbw = 20Mhz, 75mbh=15Mhz, 50mbh=10Mhz,
25mbh=5Mhz, 15mbh=3Mhz, 6mbh=1.4Mhz
Inter-RAT UTRAN measurement object can specify individual cells to measure by listing their scrambling codes. This object
can also request the UE to report the CGI for specific PCI.
Inter-RAT GERAN measurement object specify which Network Color Code(NCC) the UE is permitted to measure. This
object can also request the UE to report the Cell Global Identity (CGI) for specific BSIC.
o Reporting Configurations
The criteria used by the UE to trigger the transmission of a measurement report and the quantities that
the UE includes in the report. In other words: when should the UE send a report? This trigger can either
be periodical or event-based.
Parameter Description

reportConfigEUTRA report information for LTE

eventA3 event A3 trigger and there information is present

a3offset The offset value for EventA3.

hysteresisa3 The hysteresis value for EventA3.

timeToTriggera3 The time the EventA3 criterion has to be fulfilled before the first measurement report is sent.

triggerQuantity rsrp It means A3 event is trigger on the basis of rsrp value

threshold min value (RSRP) required for trigger the Event

Measurement ID
It is a combination of measurement object id and report configuration.

Network provided multiple combination of measurement object id and report configuration. So that UE can trigger the event with
carrier frequency for Handover as per rf condition.
o RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete (ue enb)
o UE start scan the near by cell using measurement gap.
Measurement gap is a time period when UE stop listening PDCCH of serving cell but start
measure the cell power (signal quality) of the target cell and report it to the network, so that
network can make a decision whether to allow UE to handover to the target cell or not.
o MEASURMENT REPORT (ue enb)
measurement report is having the information of serving-cell rsrp, target-cell rsrp and
measurement id(measurement object id + report configuration)

How to calculation it
Event A3= it means Neighbor is offset better than Serving

= N-Offset > S

= -69-3 > -74

= -72 > -74

HO will perform
o After measurement report source enb sent HO Request to Target enb
o Target enb prepare for HO and revert back to Source enb HO Ack
o Source enb get the contention free preamble, Target-CRNTI, Target-DRB ID, AS Security Algorithm of Targe
enb
o Source enb sent RRC Connection Reconfiguration to UE with all the info which receive from Target-enb.
RRC Connection Reconfiguration
Target Cell contention Based Preamble

Total CFP= Total Preamble(0-63)

- Total CBP(0-52)
= 63-52
= 11 Preamble(53-63)
Contention Free Preamble in
T304 timer is Range of 53 TO 64
start from RRC Connection
reconfiguration
And in between timer value
HO procedure should be
completed (RRC Connection Target Cell contention Free Preamble
reconfiguration Complete)
other wise HO will be fail and
RRC Re- Establishment
Procedure will be start with
timer T311

Target Cell contention Based Preamble

 Contention Free RACH Process
UE Source Cell Target Cell

RRCONNECTION RECONFIGURATION

RRC CONNECTION RECONFIGURATION

MEASUREMENT REPORT
HANDOVER_REQUEST

HANDOVER_COMMAND

RRC CONNECTION RECONFIGURATION

RANDOM ACCESS PREAMBLE (MSG 1)

RANDOM ACCESS RESPONSE (MSG 2)

RANDOM ACCESS (MSG 3)

RRC CONNECTION RECONFIGURATION COMPLETE

After Contention Free RACH, UE get the UP Link resources to sent the RRC Connection Reconfiguration
complete.
In case of RRC connection reconfig complete not received before the expiry of timer304 will lead to ho failure as
well as RLF then T310 timer started on some time duration to get UE from out syn to in syn with network, if
T310 timer value had expired then Timer T311 started for Re Establishment Procedure. And then one more timer
start T301 for re establishment request.
Radio link failure
 RRC Connection Reestablishment Procedure
UE try to get the connection after radio link failure.
cause to initiation:
upon handover failure or
upon mobility from E-UTRA failure or
upon integrity check failure indication from lower layers or
upon an RRC connection reconfiguration failure

Upon initiation of the procedure, the UE shall:

stop timer T311 ( initiating the RRCconnection reestablishmentmprocedure up to Selection of a suitable E-UTRA cell
or a cell using another RAT.
start timer T301 (Transmission of RRCConnectionReestabilshmentRequest up to Reception of
RRCConnectionReestablishment or RRCConnectionReestablishmentReject message as well as when the selected cell
becomes unsuitable.
initiate transmission of the RRCConnectionReestablishmentRequest.
RRC Connection Reestablishment Procedure Log View
UE-------- ------>ENB

UE ----------------MSG1 --------------------------->ENB
UE <---------------MSG2 ----------------------------ENB
UE -----------------MSG3 -------------------------->ENB
UE <---------------MSG4 ---------------------------ENB
UE<----RRC Connection Reestablishment ------------ENB
(mac-MainConfig, pusch, ulpowerControl, srs, antenna Info, scheduling req and many more)

UE-------- ------>ENB

UE<----RRC Connection Reconfiguration ------------ENB

UE----RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete ---->ENB
 CORE NETWORK SIDE HANDOVER
There are two type of Handover.
1. X2 Handover
Handover perform where Source and Target eNB having X2 interface.
2. S1 Handover
Handover perform when no x2 interface in between Source and Target eNB and it performed using S1
interface through MME.
 X2 HANDOVER
X2 handover that is performed through the x2 interface in an intra-LTE environment. So, we
will assume both source and target eNBs are connected to the same MME/S-GW, and are
located in a TA
 S1 HANDOVER
S1 handovers are performed between a source eNB and a target eNB through the S1 interface,
which connects eNB and EPC. eNB communicates with MME through S1AP signaling in the
control plane, and communicates with S-GW through GTP tunnel in the user plane.
 INTER RAT HANDOVER
In the LTE-to-UMTS Inter RAT handover, the source eNodeB connects to the S-MME and S-SGW while the target RNC
connects to the T-SGSN and T-SGW; both the source and target SGWs connect to the same PGW.