LTE Paging

Planning & Optimization

Ilesh Gandhi
June 2020
1 © 2018 Nokia Nokia internal use
LTE Paging
Planning & Optimization

Ilesh Gandhi
June 2020
<Document ID: change ID in footer or remove> <Change information classification in
2 © 2018 Nokia
footer>
Contents
 Paging Overview
 Paging Call Flow
 Paging Channel
 Paging Capacity
 Paging Occasion
 Paging DRX
 Paging Cycle
 Paging Monitoring
 Tracking Area Concept
 Tracking Area dimensioning

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Overview

•There is a downlink data for the UE which is not in connected state (RRC_Idle)

•The MME is responsible for sending paging records to the eNodeB using an S1 Application Protocol
(S1AP): Paging message

•The MME sends the paging records to all eNodeB with cells belonging to the relevant tracking area
(idle mode UE location is known on a tracking area basis)

•Paging records can originate from either the CS or PS core network domains

•The eNodeB collects, schedules and broadcasts the individual paging records.

eNB1
S-GW
MME
S11
TA1
Downlin
k data
Downlin
forkUE1
data
Downlin eNB2
forkUE1
data
Downlin
for UE1
k data
UE 4 UE 3 UE 2 UE 1
for UE4
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oter>
Paging call flow (Core End)
• The PGW receives downlink data from a PDN.
• The PGW forwards the data to the SGW. The SGW
buffers the downlink data, and established PDN
connection and identifies the MME serving the
UE.
• The SGW sends a Downlink Data Notification
message to the MME.
• The MME responds with a Downlink Data
Notification Acknowledge message to the SGW.
• The MME starts paging the UE corresponding TA
(Tracking area Code). As per UE’s last visiting
TAC.
• The UE responds to the paging and sends a
service request to the eNodeB.
• The eNodeB forwards the service request to the
MME, which returns the SGW IP address and TEID
or the MME IP address and TEID. These are used
The signalling when the network is paging the UE to switch by the eNodeB for uplink user payload towards
from the idle to connected state is shown in above figure the SGW or MME. The eNodeB also establishes
the radio bearer between the UE and eNodeB.
• The MME sends a Modify Bearer Request
message, per PDN connection to the SGW. The
message contains the IP address and TEID for
downlink user payload to the eNodeB or MME for
the EPS bearer to be modified. SGW uses this
5 © 2018 Nokia <Document ID: change ID in footer or remove> <Change information classification in fo
oter> information to establish or to re-establish the
Paging call flow • As mentioned in the figure, MME starts timer T3413 after sending
S1AP paging message for PS data call and LTE UE is addressed by
S-TMSI instead of IMSI
• eNodeB receives S1AP paging message from MME and constructs
RRC paging message. Single RRC can carry information from
multiple S1AP. Paging message can include multiple paging
records to page multiple UE
• UE in RRC IDLE mode checks for paging once every DRX cycle.
paging occasion within the paging frame defines specific
subframe during which a LTE UE checks for paging message.
• UE searches forP-RNTI within PDCCH of subframe belong to
paging occasion. P-RNTI has value of FFFE and indicates that UE
may have a paging message on PDSCH.
• UE finds P-RNTU in PDCCH, it will decode resource allocation
information
• This information directs UE to PDSCH RB where in paging
message has been sent.
• UE decodes RRC message from PDSCH RBs and checks UE
identity in all the records. If UE do not find its identity in paging
record then it will return to check PDCCH for P-RNTI at each of the
paging occasions.
• As shown in the figure, MME is responsible for the initiation of • If the UE find its identity, it will trigger random access procedure
LTE paging procedure. MME does this by forwarding S1AP to establish RRC connection.
paging message to one or more eNodeB
• UE sends RRC connection request message and eNodeB responds
• he location of a UE in ECM IDLE state is known by MME on a with RRC connection setup message
per tracking area basis. The MME has to forward S1AP paging
• The eNodeB forwards NAS message to MME which will stop T3413
message to all eNodeB within the relevant tracking area.
if it is running and will proceed to establish connection with UE.
• A paging retransmission will be triggered if T3413 gets expire
6 © 2018 Nokia prior to MME receiving a NAS message from UE
• UE checks for RRC paging message for SI modification flag and
Paging Channels
The PCCH logical channel (Paging Control Channel) is mapped onto
the PCH transport channel (Paging Channel).

The PCH transport channel is transferred across the air-interface

using the PDSCH physical channel.

The PCCH logical channel is used to transfer the RRC Paging

message which can be used to send paging records to initiate
mobile terminating connections.

The Paging message can also be used to inform UE about changes

to the content of System Information, i.e. it can be used to trigger
UE to re-read System Information.

In addition, the Paging message can be used to provide

notifications for the Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System
(ETWS) and for the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).

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Paging Capacity
• The maximum number of paging records which can be accommodated by a Paging message is specified by
3GPP as 16, e.g. transmitting a single Paging message per 10 ms radio frame results in a maximum paging
capacity of 1600 pages per second.
• The drawback associated with including a large number of paging records is that the number of Resource
Blocks required to transfer the Paging message increases, i.e. there is an increased impact upon the PDSCH
capacity available for end-user applications. The size of the Paging message is given as below

Paging Message Size = 8 × ROUNDUP((9 + 44 ×

•Number_Paging_Records) / 8) bits
9 = paging message header information.
• 44= size of a single paging record which includes the UE identity and core network domain (S-TMSI)

• PDSCH resource allocations for the PCH are made on the PDCCH using Downlink Control Information (DCI)
format 1C. This DCI format is able to signal a limited number of transport block sizes so the Paging message
size calculated from the equation above has to be rounded up to the next largest value. The set of transport
block sizes supported by DCI format C is presented below.

• The physical layer adds a 24 bit CRC to the transport block and then completes channel coding. Channel
coding uses a maximum Coding Rate (CR) defined by the maxcrPgDl parameter.
• The default value of 0.12 means that high quantities of redundancy are added before transmitting the
Paging message across the air-interface.
8 © 2018 Nokia
Paging Capacity
• Below table quantifies the number of PDSCH Resource Blocks as a function of the number of paging
records, assuming a coding rate of 0.12. The PDSCH is always modulated using QPSK when transferring a
Paging message.
Number of Paging Message Transport Block # bits after # Resource
# Resource Blocks
Paging Records Size (bits) Size (bits) channel coding Elements

1 56 56 667 334 3
2 104 120 1200 600 5
3 144 144 1400 700 6
4 192 208 1934 967 8
5 232 256 2334 1167 9
6 280 280 2334 1267 10
7 320 328 2934 1467 12
8 384 392 3467 1734 14
9 408 488 4267 2134 17
10 456 488 4267 2134 17
11 496 552 4800 2400 19
12 544 552 4800 2400 19
13 584 600 5200 2600 20
14 632 632 5467 2734 21
15 672 696 6000 3000 23
16 720 776 6667 3334 26

• The rate at which paging messages can be broadcast depends upon the definition of Paging Frames and
Paging Occasions.

9 © 2018 Nokia
Paging Occasion
• UE listen for paging messages during their Paging Frames
• UE specific Paging Frames occur when the following is true

SFN mod T= (T div N) × (UE_ID mod N)

T is the DRX cycle duration in radio frames
N is give by Min(T, nB) (pagingNb)
nB belongs to the set {T, T/2, T/4, T/8, T/16, T/32}
UE_ID is the IMSI/TMSI/S-TMSI unless a USIM is not present, then UE_ID = 0
• All attached UEs (N) are distributed on all Paging Frames within one Paging DRX cycle (based on
IMSI)
• Single Paging Frame contains single Paging Occasion (PO). Paging Occasion –within PF where
RRC Paging Message can be sent
• Paging Occasions are monitored in RRC Idle as well as in RRC Connected state (SI change for
example can be received in RRC Connected state)

10 © 2018 Nokia
Paging DRX
• The value of pagingNb determines the rate at which Paging Frames occur from the cell perspective, i.e. it
has an impact upon the paging capacity.
Paging Paging
Frame Frame

… …… …

UE 1 UE 2

The higher amount of Paging Frames the

more PDCCH and PDSCH resources may be
used for paging (paging capacity is
increased)

11 © 2018 Nokia
Paging Cycle
• UE in RRC Idle mode use Discontinuous Reception (DRX) to reduce power consumption
• The DRX cycle determines how frequently UE check for paging messages
• The default DRX cycle duration is broadcast in SIB 2
• The default DRX cycle is defined using the defPagCyc parameter
• defined in terms of radio frames (rf)

Name Range Default Description

defPagCyc 32rf (0), 64rf (1), 128rf (2) The default paging cycle defines the cell-specific paging
128rf (2), 256rf (3) DRX cycle duration. It also determines the maximum
paging DRX duration applicable in the cell.

12 © 2018 Nokia
Paging Counters (Monitoring)
Counter name Description
RRC_PAGING_REQUESTS The number of RRC paging requests (records) sent on
(M8008C1) Radio interface. RRC paging request corresponds to
single S1AP Paging message triggered by MME.
#8008 LTE RRC
Trigger event: Counter incremented with each paging
record of a RRC paging message (excluding pure
SysInfo message) from S1 interface during the
measurement period.
DISC_RRC_PAGING The number of discarded RRC paging requests
(M8008C2) (records). It defines number of pagings for which there
was no space in RRC Paging message.
#8008 LTE RRC
Trigger event: This counter is updated when the
maximum number of paging records is reached for the
nearest paging occasion that corresponds to the paging
request (RRC allows up to 16 paging records per paging
occasion) during the measurement period.

RRC_PAGING_MESSAGES Number of RRC Paging messages sent by eNB to UE

(M8008C3) during considered measurement period.

#8008 LTE RRC Trigger event: Counter incremented with each RRC
paging message sent from eNB to UE.

13 © 2018 Nokia
Paging Counters (Monitoring)
Counter name Description
EPS_PAGING_ATTEMPTS The number of Paging Attempts. Initial and repeated are
(M50C011) counted
Trigger event: Updated when a single PS paging attempt is
#50 EPS Mobility Management made in MME.

EPS_PAGING_SUCC The number of successfully performed EPS paging

(M50C012) procedures.
Trigger event: This counter is updated when a paging
#50 EPS Mobility Management response is received by the MME from the UE as response
to an EPS PS paging procedure.

EPS_PAGING_FAIL The number of failed EPS paging procedures.

(M50C013) Trigger event: Updated when all paging attempts are done
for a paging procedure and no answer has been received.
#50 EPS Mobility Management

14 © 2018 Nokia
Tracking Area planning
Tracking Area concept:
• Tracking Area (TA) is an equivalent of LA/RA
• TA consists of a set of contiguous cells
• TA is defined by TAI (Tracking Area Identity)

MCC MNC TAC

• TAs can be aggregated
TAI into Tracking Area List (TAL)
• Easier re-planning thanks to TAL concept (it is possible to
aggregate two or more TAs in one TAL instead of re-
planning of one TA)
• For future: TAL will be able to change dynamically, e.g.
last TA that UE was previously registered can be added to
new TAL that UE is now registered
• It should ensure that ping-pong effect will not appear

• From the Paging Capacity point of view amount of

cells/eNBs in TAL matters rather than association of
TA to TA list.

• While UE is moving within one TA(L) no TAU

(Tracking Area Update) is triggered
15 © 2018 Nokia
Tracking Area planning
Tracking Area concept:
• If TA(L) is used, paging to one UE must be send to each cell within one TA(L) – according to known
(reported) UE location accuracy.
• Paging load increases with bigger size of TA(L) [DL]
• One cell can belong to only one TA – TA can’t overlaps
• Tracking areas should be planned to be relatively large, rather than relatively small to minimize Tracking
Area Update
• Their size may be reduced subsequently if
the experienced paging load becomes high
• Existing 2G and 3G location area and routing area boundaries may be used as a basis for defining LTE
tracking area boundaries
• Tracking areas should not run close to and parallel to major roads nor railways. Likewise, boundaries
should not traverse dense subscriber areas (if possible)
• There might be specific requirements to coordinate Tracking Area planning with Location Area in case of
CS fallback procedure (CSFB)

16 © 2018 Nokia
Tracking Area dimensioning concept

1a Paging Capacity –
1 number of pagings/s • Blocking Probability
which can be served
by a single eNB in a
planned TA (PCeNB) 1c • max PCeNB

Paging traffic generated • Calculated based on the Traffic Model (PIeNB,TM) or1d
1b towards UEs that are
camped under one eNB – • Calculated based on counters (PIeNB,Counters) 1e
Paging Intensity (PIeNB)

Maximum Tracking Area: 3 4

Other Aspects:
PC
2 TAsizemax  eNB • Safety margin TA(L) size
PI eNB • CS Fallback

17 © 2018 Nokia
Tracking Area dimensioning concept
Paging Capacity and Paging TA1 PIeNB = 25 pagings/s
Intensity PCeNB = 100pagings/s
25pagings/s

Paging requests in RRC Paging Messages

Example:

•1a PCeNB = 100 pagings/s

25pagings/s
(assumption)
• 100 S1AP Paging Messages can
be handled and sent from each
25pagings/s
eNB towards UEs
1b

• PIeNB = 25 pagings/s
(assumption) 25pagings/s

• 25 unique S1AP Paging

Messages are assumed to be
sent from each eNB n * PIeNB ≤ PCeNB
• each unique S1AP Paging is where: n – number of eNBs in
duplicated and sent towards each TA
18 eNB in the Tracking Area
© 2018 Nokia
Tracking Area dimensioning concept
1c Blocking probability – 1/3

• Blocking probability has impact on PCeNB as it limits maximum number of Pagings that can be handled by
one eNB

• defPagCyc has an impact on Blocking Probability and in turn an indirect impact on PCeNB.
Nevertheless in further calculations constant value of blocking probability is assumed. Maximum
PCeNB is dimensioned with assumed constant level of blocking probability. As a result defPagCyc will
not affect further calculations.
• Poisson page-arrival model is considered for paging
• Up to 16 paging records in one PO (RRC Paging Message) are supported
• Blocking probability determines average number of records per one RRC Paging Message
INPUTS OUTPUTS
• Blocking probability with pagingNb provides paging capacity
• Blocking probability • Paging capacity
= 2%
• pagingNb = ¼ (PCeNB)
(default)
Paging
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
records/PO
Blocking
probability[%] ~0 ~0,1 ~0,3 ~0,6 ~1,2 ~2 ~3,4 ~5,3 ~7,5 ~10

pagingNb: Paging capacity [records/sec] (in the function of pagingNb)

1 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600

1/2 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800
1/4 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400

1/8 87,5 100 112,5 125 137,5 150 162,5 175 187,5 200
19 © 2018 Nokia
Tracking Area dimensioning concept
1c Blocking probability

• Blocking probability has impact on PCeNB as it limits maximum number of Pagings that can be handled by
one eNB

• defPagCyc has an impact on Blocking Probability and in turn an indirect impact on PCeNB.
Nevertheless in further calculations constant value of blocking probability is assumed. Maximum
PCeNB is dimensioned with assumed constant level of blocking probability. As a result defPagCyc will
not affect further calculations.
• Poisson page-arrival model is considered for paging
• Up to 16 paging records in one PO (RRC Paging Message) are supported
• Blocking probability determines average number of records per one RRC Paging Message
INPUTS OUTPUTS
• Blocking probability with pagingNb provides paging capacity
• Blocking probability • Paging capacity
= 2%
• pagingNb = ¼ (PCeNB)
(default)
Paging
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
records/PO
Blocking
probability[%] ~0 ~0,1 ~0,3 ~0,6 ~1,2 ~2 ~3,4 ~5,3 ~7,5 ~10

pagingNb: Paging capacity [records/sec] (in the function of pagingNb)

1 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600

1/2 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800
1/4 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400

1/8 87,5 100 112,5 125 137,5 150 162,5 175 187,5 200
20 © 2018 Nokia
Tracking Area dimensioning concept
1d Traffic Model
INPUTSTraffic Model (3 cells/eNB):
• TM provides network and UE specific
behavior for planning (e.g. TA • Users (RRC Connected + RRC Idle) per eNB – 450
planning) • MTC/MOC for VoIP – 50%/50%
• Note: variety of applications and • MTC/MOC for PS/background – 30%/70%
smartphone types cause that the real • VoIP holding time – 90 sec.
network behavior might be • PS data mean holding time – 312 sec.
significantly different comparing to
• PS data sessions per user per Busy Hour (BH) – 1
given TM that is taken for example
calculation purposes • VoIP sessions per user per BH – 1
• Background traffic per every user
• Paging repetition factor – 5%
• InactivityTimer: 10 sec.

OUTPUT:
• PIeNB,TM = 4,3 pagings/s/eNB - Paging traffic
generated towards UEs from one eNB

21 © 2018 Nokia
Tracking Area dimensioning concept
1e Counters INPUTSCounters/KPIs
• Counters define real network behavior • EPS Paging attempts/MME (M50C011) – 5145000
comparing to Traffic Model and can be • Average EPS EMM-REGISTERED users (flns_5035a) –
used for TA replanning, giving possibility 300000
to define average paging intensity
(PIeNB,Counters) per eNB • #eNBusers – 450

• Counter M50C011 and KPI flns_5035a can M 50C 011 eNBusers

be taken from MME. They are considered PI eNB ,Counters 
with one hour (BH) accuracy in considered flns _ 5035a 3600
example
Average #pagings per UE during BH
• #eNBusers is reflected in the average
OUTPUT:
number of users per eNB in considered
area • PIeNB,Counters = 2,14 pagings/s/eNB – Paging traffic
generated towards UEs from one eNB
M50C011 – EPS Paging attempts – the number of Paging Attempts. Initial and repeated are
counted.
flns_5035a – Avg EPS EMM-REGISTERED users – This KPI shows the average number of users in
EMM-REGISTERED state.

22 © 2018 Nokia
Tracking Area dimensioning concept

Tracking Area
size
PCeNB 300
TAsize   = 55 eNBs*
PI eNB 4,3 *20% of safety margin with respec
to maximum value assumed

PIeNB,TM = 4,3 pagings/sORPIeNB,Counters = 2,14 pagings/s

23 © 2018 Nokia