WC : Module 5: Channel structure of LTE

MODULE 5

6.1 Introduction to LTE

• LTE was designed primarily for high-speed data services, which is why LTE is a
packetswitched network from end to end and has no support for circuit-switched services.
• The low latency of LTE and its sophisticated quality of service (QoS) architecture allow a
network to emulate a circuit-switched connection on top of the packet-switched framework of
LTE. For example voice over LTE or VoLTE.

6.1.1 Design Principles of LTE *** o Following are the basic design principles that were agreed
upon and followed in 3GPP while designing the LTE specifications. It includes
1. Network Architecture
2. Data Rate and Latency
3. Performance Requirements: Spectrum Efficiency, Mobility, Coverage, MBMS service
4. Radio Resource Management
5. Deployment Scenario and Co-existence with 3G
6. Flexibility of Spectrum and Deployment 7. Interoperability with 3G and 2G Networks
1. Network Architecture: o Basically LTE has flat network architecture. It was designed to support
purely packetswitched traffic with support for various QoS classes of services.
o LTE is different by use of clean slate design and supports packet switching for high data rate
services from the start.
o The LTE radio access network, E-UTRAN, was efficiently designed to have the minimum
number of interfaces and support for traffic belonging to all the QoS classes such as
conversational, streaming, real-time, non-real-time, and background classes.
2. Data Rate and Latency: o Data rate: The design peak data rate target in LTE for downlink 100
Mbps and uplink 50 Mbps, when operating at the 20MHz channel size.
o Latency: The one-way latency in the user plane is 5 ms in an unloaded network, that is, if only
a single UE is present in the cell. For the control-plane latency, the transition time from a
camped state to an active state is less than 100 ms, while the transition time between a
dormant state and an active state should be less than 50 ms.
3. Performance Requirements:
o The performance requirements for LTE are specified in terms of

i. Spectrum efficiency ii. Mobility iii. Coverage. iv. MBMS Service

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i. Spectrum Efficiency: The average downlink user data rate and spectrum efficiency target is 3 to
4 times that of HSDPA (3G) network. For uplink the average user data rate and spectrum
efficiency target is 2 to 3 times that of HSUPA network. The cell edge throughput should be 2
to 3 times that of HSDPA and HSUPA.
ii. Mobility: The mobility requirement for LTE is to be able to support mobility at different mobile
terminal speeds. Maximum performance at lower mobile speeds of 0 to 15 km/hr. With minor
degradation in performance at higher mobile speeds up to 120 km/hr. LTE is also expected to
be able to sustain a connection for mobile speeds up to 350 km/hr but with significant
degradation in the system performance.
iii. Coverage: Good performance should be met up to 5 km. Slight degradation of the user
throughput is tolerated cell ranges up to 30 km. Cell ranges up to 100 km should not be
precluded by the specifications. The above coverage performance depends on user mobility.
iv. MBMS Service: LTE should also provide enhanced support for the Multimedia Broadcast and
Multicast Service (MBMS) compared to UTRA (3G) operation.
4. Radio Resource Management(RRM): RRM requirements cover various aspects such as
 Enhanced support for end-to-end QoS
 Efficient support for transmission of higher layers
 Support for load sharing/balancing and policy management/enforcement across
different access technologies.

5. Deployment Scenario and Co-existence with 3G: LTE shall support the following two
deployment scenarios:
i. Standalone deployment scenario: where the operator deploys LTE either with no previous
network deployed in the area or with no requirement for interworking with 2g and 3g
networks.
ii. Integrating with existing UTRAN and/or GERAN deployment scenario: where the operator
already has either a UTRAN (3g) and/or a GERAN (2g) network deployed with full or
partial coverage in the same geographical area.
6. Flexibility of Spectrum and Deployment: o LTE was designed to be operable under a wide
variety of spectrum scenarios, including its ability to coexist and share spectrum with existing 3G
technologies.
o LTE was designed to have a scalable bandwidth from 1.4MHz to 20MHz.
o LTE was designed to operate in both FDD and TDD modes.

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7. Interoperability with 3G and 2G Networks:

o Multimode LTE terminals, which support UTRAN and/or GERAN operation with acceptable

terminal complexity and network performa nce.

6.1.2 Network Architecture ***

 Figure 6.2 shows the end - to - end network architecture of LTE and the various components of

the network.

 The entire LTE network is composed of

o The radio access network (E - UTRAN) and

o The core network (EPC) .

Figure 6.2 LTE end - to - end network architecture.

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The main components of the E-UTRAN and EPC are

[Link] (user Equipment): It I also called mobile terminal. It is an access device for user. Provides
measurements that indicate channel conditions to the network.
[Link]-B: It also called the base station. It interface UE to EPC and is the first point of contact
for the UE. The eNode-B is the only logical node in the E-UTRAN, so it includes some functions
such as

a. Radio bearer management,

b. Uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management
c. Data packet scheduling
d. Mobility management.
3. Mobility Management Entity (MME): MME is similar in function
to the control plane of legacy Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN). It manages mobility aspects
such as gateway selection and tracking area list management.

4. Serving Gateway (Serving GW): It terminates the interface toward E-UTRAN, and routes data
packets between E-UTRAN and EPC. It perform local mobility anchor point for inter-eNode-B
handovers and also provides an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. The Serving GW and the MME
may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. Other responsibilities
include
o Lawful intercept
. o Charging, and some policy enforcement.

5. Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN GW): Following are the responsibilities of PDN GW
o It terminates the SGi interface toward the Packet Data Network (PDN).

o It routes data packets between the EPC and the external PDN, and is the key node for policy
enforcement and charging data collection.
o It also provides the anchor point for mobility with non-3GPP accesses.

o The external PDN can be any kind of IP network as well as the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)
domain.
o The PDN GW and the Serving GW may be implemented in one physical node or separated
physical nodes.

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6. S1 Interface: The S1 interface is the interface that separates the E-UTRAN and the EPC. It is split
into two parts:
i. The SI-U: It carries traffic data between the eNode-B and the Serving GW.
ii. The S1-MME: It is a signaling-only interface between the eNode-B and the MME.

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7. X2 Interface: The X2 interface is the interface between eNode-Bs. It always exists between
eNode-Bs that need to communicate with each other, for example, for support of handover.
It
consisting of two parts:
i. The X2-C: It is the control plane interface between eNode-Bs.
ii. The X2-U: It is the user plane interface between eNode
-Bs.
8. Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF)
: It is for policy and charging control
.
9. Home Subscriber Server (HSS): It is responsible for the service authorization and user
authentication
10. Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN): It is for controlling packet sessions and managing the
mobility of the UE for GPRS networks.
6.1.3 Radio Interface Protocols
**
 The LTE radio interface is designed based on a layered protocol stack, which can be divid
ed
into Control Plane (CP) and User Plane(UP) protocol stacks and is shown in Figure 6.3.

Figure 6.3 TheLTE radio

interface protocol stack.

 The LTE radio interface protocol is composed of the following layers:

1. Radio Resource Control (RRC):
This layer performs the control plane functions including
o Paging
o Maintenanceand release of an RRC connection
o security handling
o mobility and QoSmanagement
2. Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP):There is only one PDCP entity at the eNode -B
and the UE per bearer. The main functions of the PDCP sublayer include
o IP packet header compression and decompression based on the RObust Header Compression
(ROHC) protocol
o Ciphering of data and signaling
o Integrity protection for signaling

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3. Radio Link Control (RLC): The main functions of the RLC sublayer are
o Segmentation and concatenation of data units.
o Error correction through the Automatic Repeat request (ARQ) protocol.
o In-sequence delivery of packets to the higher layers.
 It operates in three modes:
i. The Transparent Mode (TM): The TM mode is the simplest one, without RLC h ea der
addition, data segmentation or concatenation and it is used for specific purposes such as
random access.
ii. The Unacknowledged Mode (UM): This mode allows the detection of packet loss and
provides packet reordering and reassembly, but does not require retransmission of the
missing protocol data units (PDUs).
iii. The Acknowledged Mode (AM): The AM mode is the most complex one, and it is
configured to request retransmission of the missing PDUs in addition to the features
supported by the UM mode. There is onl y one RLC entity at the eNode B and
- the UE per
bearer.

4. Medium Access Control (MAC): There is only one MAC entity at the eNode -B and at the UE.
The main functions of the MAC sublayer include
o Error correction through the Hybrid-ARQ (H-ARQ) mechanism
o Mapping between logical channels and transport channels
o Multiplexing/demultiplexing of RLC PDUs on to transport blocks,
o Priority handling between logical channels of one UE
o Priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling.
o It responsible for transport format selection of scheduled UEs , which includes
i. Selection of modulation format
ii. Code rate
iii. MIMO rank and power level.

5. Physical Layer (PHY): The main function of PHY is the actual transmission and reception of
data in forms of transport blocks. The P HY is also responsible for various control mechanisms
such as
o Signaling of H-ARQ feedback
o Signaling of scheduled allocations
o Channel measurements.

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 The packet flow in the user plane is shown in figure below

Figure 6.4: The packet flow in the user plane.

6.2 Hierarchical Channel Structure of LTE
 LTE adopts a hierarchical channel structure to efficiently support various QoS classes of
services.
 There are three different channel types defined in LTE ***
1. Logical channels
2. Transport channels
3. Physical channels
 Each channel type associated with a service access point (SAP) between different layers.
 These channels are used by the lower layers of the protocol stack to provide services to the
higher layers. The radio interface protocol architecture and the SA Ps between different layers
are shown in Figure 6.5:

Figure 6.5 The LTE radio interface protocol

stack and architecture and the SAPs between
different layers between different layers.

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The radio interface protocol architecture and the SAPs between different layers.

 Logical channels provide services at the SAP between MAC and RLC layers
 Transport channels provide services at the SAP between MAC and PHY layers
 Physical channels are the actual implementation of transport channels over the radio
interface.

6.3 LTE Communication Channel*** :

 The information flows between the different protocols layers are known as channels. These are
used to segregate the different types of data and allow them to be transported across different
layers.
 These channels provide interfaces to each layers within the LTE protocol stack and enable an
orderly and defined segregation of the data.
 Channels are dist inguished based on kind of information they carry and by the way in which the
information is processed.
 LTE uses three classes of channels(see fig 6.6):
1. Logical channels: Define what type of information is transmitted.
2. Transport channels: Define how this information transmitted.
3. Physical channels: Define where to send this information.

Figure 6.6: LTE channel structure

6.3.1 Logical Channels: What to Transmit
 Logical channels are used by the MAC to provide services to the RLC.
 Each logical channel is defined based on the type of information it carries.
 In LTE, there are two categories of logical channels depending on the service they provide:
1. Logical Control Channels: Which carries the signaling information in control plane
2. Logical Traffic Channels: Which carries the date information in user plane

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1. The Logical Control Channels (LCC): which are used to transfer control plane information. Control Channel can be
either common channel or dedicated channel. A common channel means common to all users in a cell Point to
multipoint while dedicated channels means channels can be used only by one user Point to Point. It include the
following types:

a. Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH): These channels are used to broadcast system control information to the
mobile terminals in the cell, including downlink system bandwidth, antenna configuration, and reference signal
power. Due to the large amount of information carried on the BCCH, it is mapped to two different transport
channels: the Broadcast Channel (BCH) and the Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH).

b. Multicast Control Channel (MCCH): A point-to-multipoint downlink channel used for transmitting control
information to UEs in the cell. It is only used by UEs that receive multicast/broadcast services.

c. Paging Control Channel (PCCH): A downlink channel that transfers paging information to registered UEs in the
cell, for example, in case of a mobile-terminated communication session.

d. Common Control Channel (CCCH): A bi-directional channel for transmitting control information between the
network and UEs when no RRC connection is available, implying the UE is not attached to the network such as in
the idle state. Most commonly the CCCH is used during the randomaccess procedure.

e. Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH): A point-to-point, bi-directional channel that transmits dedicated control
information between a UE and the network. This channel is used when the RRC connection is available, that is,
the UE is attached to the network.

• The logical traffic channels, which are to transfer user plane information, include:

a. Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH): A point-to-point, bi-directional channel used between a given UE and the
network. It can exist in both uplink and downlink.

b. Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH): A unidirectional, point-to-multipoint data channel that transmits traffic data
from the network to UEs. It is associated with the multicast/broadcast service.

6.3.2 Transport Channels: How to Transmit

• The transport channels are used by the PHY to offer services to the MAC.

• These channel is basically characterized by how and with what characteristics data is transferred over the radio
interface, that is, the channel coding scheme, the modulation scheme, and antenna mapping.
Transport channels are classified in to [Link] Transport Channels
[Link] Transport Channels

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1. Downlink Transport Channels
a. Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH):
o These channel are used for transmitting the downlink data, including both control and traffic
data, and thus it is associated with both logical control and logical traffic channels.
o It supports H-ARQ, dynamic link adaption, dynamic and semi-persistent resource allocation,
UE discontinuous reception, and multicast/broadcast transmission.
o By sharing the radio resource among different UEs the DL-SCH is able to maximize the
throughput by allocating the resources to the optimum UEs.
b. Broadcast Channel (BCH):
o A downlink channel associated with the BCCH logical channel and is used to broadcast system
information over the entire coverage area of the cell.
o It has a fixed transport format defined by the specifications. c. Multicast Channel (MCH): o
These channels are associated with MCCH and MTCH logical channels
for the multicast/broadcast service.
o It supports Multicast/Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) transmission, which
transmits the same information on the same radio resource from multiple synchronized base
stations to multiple UEs.
d. Paging Channel (PCH):
o These are associated with the PCCH logical channel.

o It is mapped to dynamically allocate physical resources, and is required for broadcast over the
entire cell coverage area. o It is transmitted on the Physical Downlink Shared Channel
(PDSCH), and supports UE discontinuous reception.
2. Uplink Transport Channels
a. Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH):
o It can be associated to CCCH, DCCH, and DTCH logical channels.

o It supports H-ARQ, dynamic link adaption, and dynamic and semi-persistent resource
allocation.
b. Random Access Channel (RACH):
o A specific transport channel that is not mapped to any logical channel.

o It transmits relatively small amounts of data for initial access or, in the case of RRC, state
changes.
• The data on each transport channel is organized into transport blocks.
• The transmission time of each transport block, also called Transmission Time Interval (TTI).

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6.3.3 Physical Channels: Actual Transmission

 Each physical channel corresponds to a set of resource elements in the time-frequency grid
that carry information from higher layers.
 The basic entities that make a physical channel are resource elements and resource blocks.
 Physical channels are classified into
1. Downlink Physical Channels
2. Uplink Physical Channels
1. Downlink Physical Channels
a. Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH):
o It carries information abou t the transport format and resource allocation related to the
DL-SCH and PCH transport channels, and the H- ARQ information related to the DL-SCH.
o It also informs the UE about the transport format, resource allocation, and H ARQ -
information related to UL-SCH. It is mapped from the DCI transport channel.
b. Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH):
o This channel carries user data and higher-layer signaling. It is associated to DL-SCH.
c. Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH):
o It corresponds to the BCH transport chann el and carries system information.
d. Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH):
o It carriers multicast/broadcast information for the MBMS service.
e. Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH):
o This channel carries H-ARQ ACK/NAKs associated with uplink data transmissions. It is
mapped from the HI transport channel.
f. Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH):
o It informs the UE about the number of OFDM symbols used for the PDCCH. It is mapped
from the CFI transport channel.
2. Uplink Physical Channels
a. Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH):
o It carries uplink control information including Channel Quality Indicators (CQI), ACK
/NAKs for H-ARQ in response to downlink transmission, and uplink scheduling requests.
b. Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH):
o It carries user data and higher layer signaling. It corresponds to the UL-SCH transport
channel.
c. Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH):
o This channel carries the random access preamble sent by UEs.

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 Besides physical channels, there are signals embedded in the down link and uplink physical layer,
which do not carry information from higher layers. The physical signals defined in the LTE
specifications are
1. Reference signal : It is defined in both downlink and uplink for channel estimation that
enables coherent demodulat ion and for channel quality measurement to assist user
scheduling.
2. Synchronization signal : It is split into a primary and a secondary synchronization
signal, and is only defined in the downlink to enable acquisition of symbol timing and the
precise frequency of the downlink signal

6.3.4 Channel Mapping

 These all three types of channel are present in Downlink as well as Uplink direction. Mapping of
these channels is shown in below pictures.
 Need to exist a good correlation based on the purpose and the cont ent between channels in
different layers. This is achieved by
1. Mapping between the logical channels and transport channels at the MAC SAP.
2. Mapping between transport channels and physical channels at the PHY SAP.
 The allowed mapping between different chann el types is shown in Figure 6.6 and mapping
between control information and physical channels is shown in Figure 6.7.

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6.4 Downlink OFDMA Radio Resources***

 In LTE, the downlink and uplink use different transmission schemes due to different
considerations.
 The multiple access in the downlink is based on OFDMA. In each TTI, a scheduling decision is
made where each scheduled UE is assigned a certain amount of radio resources in the time and
frequency domain.
 The radio resources allocated to different UEs a re orthogonal to each other, which means there is
no intra-cell interference
 The following describes the frame structure and the radio resource block structure in the
downlink, as well as the basic principles of resource allocation and the supported MIMO modes.
6.4.1 Frame Structure:
 Frames are the common time domain elements shared by both downlink and uplink in LTE.
 Typical parameters used in LTE specification for down link as shown in table 6.2

 � is the basic time unit for LTE. � can be regarded as the sampling time of an FFT -based
𝑠 𝑠
� �
OFDM transmitter/receiver implementation with FFT size � = 2048.
𝐹𝐹𝑇

 As the normal subcarrier spacing is defined to be ∆� = 15𝑘𝐻

�
𝑧
𝑠 = (∆𝑓 x � = (15000x 2048) seconds or about 32.6 nanoseconds.
1 1 �
𝐹𝐹𝑇)
 � is defined as �
𝑠
� � �
 Downlink and uplink transmissions are organized into frames of duration
� = 307200 x �= 10ms
𝑓 𝑠
� �
 The 10 ms frames divide into 10 subframes. Each subframe divides into 2 slots of 0.5 ms.
 For flexibility, LTE supports both FDD and TDD modes , but m ost of the design parameters are
common to FDD and TDD in order to reduce the terminal complexity.

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 LTE supports two kinds of frame structures:

1. Frame structure type 1: It is for the FDD mode.
2. Frame structure type 2: It is for the TDD mode.
1. Frame Structure Type 1
 Frame structure type 1 is applicable to both full duplex and half duplex FDD.
 There are three different kinds of units specified for this frame structure, illustrated in Fig 6.8.

 Description of the frame:

o The smallest time unit is called a “slot” of length � 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑡 = 15360× � 𝑠 = 0.5𝑚𝑠.
o Two consecutive slots are defined as a “subframe”� of length 1𝑚𝑠. �
o Ten subframes or 20 slots, num bered from 0 to 19, constitute a one radio frame of 10 ms.
o Channel-dependent scheduling and link adaptation operate on a subframe level.
o The subframe duration corresponds to the minimum downlink TTI, which is of 1 ms duration,
compared to a 2 ms TTI for the UMTS (3G).
o A shorter TTI is for fast link adap tation and is able to reduce delay and better exploit the
time-varying channel through channel-dependent scheduling.
o Each slot carries a number of OFDM symbols including C yclic prefix (CP). With subcarri er
spacing ∆� = 15𝑘𝐻 , OFDM symbol time is ∆𝑓 ≈ 66.7𝜇𝑠.
1

� 𝑧
o LTE defines two different CP lengths (see Fig 6.8):
1. Normal CP:
 It corresponds to seven OFDM symbols per slot.
 The normal CP is suitable for urban environment and high data rate applications.

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 There are special subframes, which consist of three fields:

1. Downlink Pilot TimeSlot (DwPTS) : It is a shorter downlink subframe for downlink data
transmission. Its length can be varied from three up to twelve OFDM symbols.
2. Uplink Pilot TimeSlot (UpPTS): This is the uplink part of the special subframe, and has a
short duration with one or two OFD M symbols. It can be used for transmission of uplink
sounding reference signals and random access preambles.
3. Guard Period (GP) : GP field used to provide the guard period for the downlink -to-uplink
and the uplink-to-downlink switch.
 The total length of these three special fields has a constraint of 1 ms.
 LTE supports a guard period ranging from two to ten OFDM symbols, sufficient for cell size up
to and beyond 100 km.
 All other subframes are defined as two slots, each with length � 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑡 0.5 𝑚𝑠.
�
 Uplink and down link configurations are I llustrated in Table 6.3 . where "D" and "U" denote
subframes reserved for downlink and uplink, respectively, and "S" denotes the special
subframe.
 In the case of 5 ms switch-point periodicity, the special subframe exi sts in both half -frames,
and the structure of the second half-frame is the same as the first one depicted in Figure 6.9.
 In the case of 10 ms switch-point periodicity, the special subframe exists in the first half-frame
only.
 Subframes 0, 5, and the field DwPTS are always reserved for downlink transmission, while
UpPTS and the subframe immediately following the special subframe are always reserved for
uplink transmission.
 Table 6.3 Uplink - Downlink Configurations for the LTE TDD Mode

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6.3.2Physical esource
R Blocks for OFDMA
 The physical resource in the downlink in each slot is described
-frequency
by a time
grid, called
a” resource grid
”, as illustrated in Figure 6.10.
 Each column and each row of the resource grid correspond to one OFDM symbol
OFDM and one
subcarrier, respectively.
 The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame.
 The smallest time
-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted
“resource
as a element
”
 Each resource grid consists of a number
of “resource blocks
”, which describe the mapping of
certain physical channels to resource elements.

Fig6.10: The structure of downlink resource grid

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 Resource Element
o Ech resource element in the resource grid is uniquely identified by the index pair (𝑘, 𝑙) in a

slot, where k = 0,1,... , N 𝑁𝑅𝐵𝐷𝐿𝑁𝑆𝐶𝑅𝐵 − 1 and 𝑙 = 0,1, ... , 𝑁𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝐷𝐿 − 1 are indices in the
frequency and time domains, respectively. The size of each resource element depends on the
subcarrier spacing ∆𝑓 and the CP length.
 Resource Block
o The resource block is the basic element for radio resource allocation.

o The minimum size of radio resource that can be allocated is the minimum TTI in the time
domain, that is, one subframe of 1 ms, corresponding to two resource blocks.
o The size of each resource block is the same for all bandwidths, which is 180 kHz in the
frequency domain.
o There are two kinds of resource blocks defined for LTE: physical and virtual resource blocks,
which are defined for different resource allocation schemes.
6.4.3 Resource Allocation
• Resource allocation's role is to dynamically assign available time-frequency resource blocks
to different UEs in an efficient way to provide good system performance.
• In LTE, channel-dependent scheduling is supported, and transmission is based on the shared
channel structure where the radio resource is shared among different UEs.
• Multiuser diversity can be exploited by assigning resource blocks to the UEs with favorable
channel qualities.
• Resource allocation in LTE is able to exploit the channel variations in both the time and
frequency domain, which provides higher multiuser diversity gain.
• With OFDMA, the downlink resource allocation is characterized by the fact that each
scheduled UE occupies a number of resource blocks while each resource block is assigned
exclusively to one UE at any time.
• Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) and Virtual Resource Blocks (VRBs) are defined to support
different kinds of resource allocation types.
• The VRB is introduced to support both block-wise transmission (localized) and transmission
on non-conse0cutive subcarriers (distributed) as a means to maximize frequency diversity.
• The downlink scheduling is performed at the eNode-B based on the channel quality
information fed back from UEs, and then the downlink resource assignment information is
sent to UEs on the PDCCH channel.
• A PRB is defined as 𝑁𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝐷𝐿 consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain and

consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain, as demonstrated in Figure 6.10.

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 Each PRB corresponds to one slot in the time domain (0.5 ms) and 180 kHz in the frequency
domain.
 PRBs are numbered from 0 to � 𝑅𝐵 − 1 in the frequency domain.
𝐷𝐿

�
 The PRB number 𝜂𝑃𝑅 of a resource element (𝑘, 𝑙) in a slot is given by:
𝐵

 Resource Allocation Type : It specifies the way in which the scheduler allocate resource
blocks for each transmission. Just in terms of flexibility, the w ay to give the maximum
flexibility of resource block allocation would be to use a string of a bit map (bit stream), each
bit of which represent each resource block. This way you would achieve the maximum
flexibility, but it would create too much complicati on of resource allocation process or too
much data (too long bit map) to allocate the resources
 The LTE downlink supports three resource allocation types: type 0, 1, and 2.
1. Resource Allocation Type 0: This is the simplest way of allocation resources. First it divides
resource blocks into multiples of groups. This resource block group is called RBG (Resource
Block Group). The number of resource block in each group varies depending on the system
band width. It means RBG size gets different depending on the system bandwidth. The
relationship between RBS size (the number of resource block in a RBG) and the system
bandwidth as shown in Table 6.5.

 An exp of type 0, resource allocation is shown in Figure 6.11, where P = 4 and RBGs 0, 3, 4, ... ,
are allocated to a particular UE.
2. Resource Allocation Type 1: Here all the RBGs are grouped into a number of RBG subsets,
and certain PRBs inside a selected RBG subset are allocated to the UE. There are a total of P
RBG subsets, where P is the RBG size. An RBG subset p, wh ere 0 ≤ 𝑝 ≤ � consists of every P th
� consists of three
RBG starting from RBG p. Therefore, the resource assignment information
fields:
1. The first field indicates the selected RBG subset
2. The second field indicates whether an offset is applied, and

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 WC : Module 5: Channel structure of LTE

 The third field contains the bitmap indicating PRBs inside the selected RBG subset. This type of
resource allocation is more flexible and is able to provide higher frequency diversity, but it also
requires a larger overhead.

Figure 6.11 Examples of resource allocation type 0 and type 1, where the RBG size P= 4.

3. Resource Allocation Type 2: In type 2 resource allocations that are defined for the DCI
format 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D, PRBs are not directly allocated. Instead, VRBs are allocated, which
are then mapped onto PRBs. A VRB is of the same size as a PRB. There are two types of VRBs:
VRBs of the localized type and VRBs of the distributed type. For each type of VRB, a pair of
, 𝜂𝑉𝑅.
VRBs o f the localized type are mapped directly to physical resource blocks such that 𝐵
VRBs over two slots in a subframe are assigned together with a single VRB number
the
VRB number 𝜂𝑉𝑅 corresponds to the PRB number 𝜂𝑃𝑅𝐵 = 𝜂𝑉𝑅. For resource allocations
𝐵
of type 2, the resource 𝐵contiguousl y allocated
assignment information indicates a set of
localized VRBs or distributed VRBs. A one bit flag
- indicates whether localized VRBs or
distributed VRBs are assigned.

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 WC : Module 5: Channel structure of LTE
6.4.4 Supported MIMO Modes
• The downlink transmission supports both single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) and multiuser
MIMO (MU-MIMO).
• For SU-MIMO, one or multiple data streams are transmitted to a single DE through
space-time processing; for MU-MIMO, modulation data streams are transmitted to different
UEs using the same time-frequency resource.
• The supported SU-MIMO modes are listed as follows:
1. Transmit diversity with space frequency block codes (SFBC)
2. Open-loop spatial multiplexing supporting four data streams
3. Closed-loop spatial multiplexing, with closed-loop preceding as a special case when
channel rank = 1
4. Conventional direction of arrival (DOA)-based beamforming  The supported MIMO
mode is restricted by the UE capability.
• The PDSCH physical channel supports all the MIMO modes, while other physical
channels support transmit diversity except PMCH, which only supports single-antenna—port
transmission.
6.5 Uplink SC-FDMA Radio Resources
• For the [Link] uplink transmission, SC-FDMA with a CP is adopted.
• Nevertheless, the uplink transmission has its own properties. Different from the downlink,
only localized resource allocation on consecutive subcarriers is allowed in the uplink.
6.5.1 Frame Structure
• Frame structure type 1: Uplink radio frame consists of 20 slots of 0.5 ms each, and one
subframe consists of two slots, as in Figure 6.8.
• Frame structure type 2: It consists of ten subframes, with one or two special subframes
including DwPTS, GP, and UpPTS fields, as shown in Figure 6.9.
• A CP is inserted prior to each SC-FDMA symbol. Each slot carries seven SC-FDMA symbols in
the case of normal CP, and six SC-FDMA symbols in the case of extended CP.
6.5.2 Physical Resource Blocks for SC-FDMA
• Figure 6.12, illustrated a number of resource blocks in the time-frequency plane.
• The number of resource blocks in each resource grid, , depends on the uplink
transmission bandwidth configured in
𝑁𝑅𝐵𝑚𝑖𝑛.𝑈𝐿 ≤ 𝑁𝑅𝐵𝑈𝐿 ≤ 𝑁𝑅𝐵𝑚𝑎𝑥.𝑈𝐿

Where 𝑁𝑅𝐵𝑚𝑖𝑛.𝑈𝐿 = 6 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑁𝑅𝐵𝑚𝑎𝑥.𝑈𝐿 = 110 correspond to the smallest and largest uplink
bandwidth, respectively.

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 WC : Module 5: Channel structure of LTE

Figure 6.12: The structure of the uplink resource grid.

 There are � 𝑆𝑅𝐵× � 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏

𝑅𝐵
� 𝑆𝑅𝐵and
�𝐶 � �𝐶
resource elements in each resource block. The values of
�
𝑈𝐿

�
for normal and extended CP are given in Table 6.6.
𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏

 There is only one subcarrier spacing supported in the uplink, which is ∆� = 15 kHz.
�
 The DC subcarrier is used in the uplink, as the DC interference is spread over the modulation
symbols due to the DFT-based pre-coding.

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 WC : Module 5: Channel structure of LTE
• As for the downlink, each resource element in the resource grid is uniquely defined by

the index pair (k, 𝑙) a slot, where k = 0, ... , 𝑁𝑅𝐵𝑈𝐿 × 𝑁𝑆𝐶𝑅𝐵— 1 and 𝑙 = 0……….. 𝑁𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑈𝐿 − 1

are the indices in the frequency and time domain, respectively.

• For the uplink, no antenna port is defined, as only single antenna transmission is
supported in the current specifications.
• A PRB in the uplink is defined as 𝑁𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑈𝐿 consecutive SC-FDMA symbols in the time
domain and

� �𝑅𝐵
� consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain, corresponding to one slot in the time
� � and 180 kHz in the frequency domain.
�
domain
• The relation between the PRB number ling in the frequency domain and resource
elements
(𝑘, 𝑙) in a slot is given by:

6.5.3 Resource Allocation

• Resource allocation in the uplink is performed at the eNode-B.
• The eNode-B assigns a unique time-frequency resource to a scheduled UE based on the
channel quality measured on the uplink sounding reference signals and the scheduling
requests sent from UEs.
• Using timing advance such that the transport blocks of different UEs are received
synchronously at the eNode-B.
• SC-FDMA is able to support both localized and distributed resource allocation.
• In the current, only localized resource allocation is supported in the uplink, which preserves
the single-carrier property and can better exploit the multiuser diversity gain in the frequency
domain. specification
• Compared to distributed resource allocation, localized resource allocation is less sensitive to
frequency offset and also requires fewer reference symbols.
• The resource assignment information for the uplink transmission is carried on the PDCCH
with DCI format 0, indicating a set of contiguously allocated resource blocks.
6.5.4 Supported MIMO Modes
• The terminal complexity and cost are the major concerns in MIMO modes support in uplink.
• SC-FDMA support MU-MIMO, which allocates the same time and frequency resource to two
UEs with each transmitting on a single antenna. This is also called Spatial Division Multiple
Access (SDMA). The advantage is that only one transmit antenna per UE is required.
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 WC : Module 5: Channel structure of LTE

 To separate streams for different UEs, channel state information is required at the eNode -B,
which is obtained through uplink reference signals that are orthogonal between UEs.
 Uplink MU -MIMO also requires power control, as the near -far problem arises when multiple
UEs are multiplexed on the same radio resource.
 For UEs with two or more transmit antennas, closed -loop adaptive antenna, resource
allocation transmit diversity shall be supported.

. :

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