3G/4G Mobile Communications Systems

Dr. Stefan Brck Qualcomm Corporate R&D Center Germany

Chapter IV:

Radio Interface and Application Protocols

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Radio Interface and Application Protocols

Logical, Transport and Physical Channels Channel Mapping in UMTS and LTE Layer 3 Control Plane Protocol
Radio Resource Control (RRC)

Layer 2 Protocols
Radio Link Control (RLC) Medium Access Control (MAC)

MAC Architecture in HSPA and LTE

PDU Formats for MAC-hs, MAC-ehs, LTE MAC (DL-SCH)

Stop and Wait Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Protocol Example of an Application Protocol: X2 Application Protocol

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UMTS and LTE Channels

Downlink transmitted by UTRAN, received by UE Uplink transmitted by UE, received by UTRAN Common carriers information to/from multiple UEs Dedicated carries information to/from a single UE using dedicated resources Shared carries information to/from a single UE using shared resources Logical defined by what type of information is transferred, e.g., signaling or user data Transport defined by how data is transferred over the air interface, e.g., multiplexing of logical channels Physical defined by physical mapping and attributes used to transfer data over the air interface, e.g. spreading rate

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Channel Mapping UMTS Release 99 Channels

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Channel Mapping UMTS Dedicated Channels

These channels carry user and signaling data between UTRAN and an individual UE DCCH carries RRC and NAS signaling The number of DTCH assigned is determined by the application, e.g. for voice three DTCHs are assigned to one UE DCCHs and DTCHs are mapped to a single DCH or may be assigned an individual DCH In R99 deployments all DCHs are mapped to a single DPDCH The DPCCH carries information generated at PHY such as pilot, power control bits. There is always exactly one DPCCH

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Typical UMTS R99 Service Combinations

Service Combination Uplink
3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 64kbps + AMR Voice 12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 128kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 8kbps + PS Strm 64kbps+ AMR Voice 12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + AMR Voice 12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + CS 64kbps
Interactive & Background Streaming

Service Combination Downlink

3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 64kbps + AMR Voice 12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 384kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 8kbps + PS Strm 16kbps+ AMR Voice12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + AMR Voice 12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + CS 64kbps

I&B Strm

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HSDPA and HSUPA Channel Mapping

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Typical UMTS HSPA Service Combinations

Service Combination Uplink
3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 64kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 64kbps + CS 64kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 384kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B 8kbps + AMR Voice 12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS Strm 32kbps + PS I&B 8kbps+ AMR Voice 12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B EDCH EDCH signalling + PS I&B EDCH

Service Combination Downlink

3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B HSDSCH 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B HSDSCH + CS 64kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B HSDSCH 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B HSDSCH + AMR Voice 12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS Strm HSDSCH 32kbps + PS I&B HSDSCH + AMR Voice 12.2kbps 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B HSDSCH 3.4kbps signalling + PS I&B HSDSCH

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Channel Mapping LTE Downlink

Most DL data is carried on the DL-SCH and its corresponding PDSCH In contrast to UMTS, there are no dedicated transport channels in LTE

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Channel Mapping LTE Uplink

Most UL data is carried on the ULSCH and its corresponding PDSCH In contrast to R99 UMTS, there are no dedicated transport channels in LTE

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Layer 2 Overview

The Layer 2 consists of the following sublayers

Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) performs header compression and decompression of IP streams Broadcast/Multicast (BMC) supports cell broadcast functions Radio Link Control (RLC) performs segmentation, reassembly, concatenation and provides various data transfer mode Medium Access Control maps logical channels onto transport channels, performs traffic volume reporting, scheduling

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Layer 2 Overview SDUs and PDUs

Protocol Data Unit Unit of data exchanged between peer layers in a network May contain information, addressing, and data Service Data Unit Set of data sent by a user of the services of a given layer Transmitted to the peer service semantically unchanged

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Layer 2 Overview Data Flow Example (UMTS)

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Slide 14

UMTS Protocol Stack Control Plane

Radio Resource Control (RRC) Access stratum control System information processing Paging and notification RRC connection management NAS layer message routing Ciphering and integrity protection control Radio Bearer management RRC mobility Measurement control and reporting
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UMTS Protocol Stack User Plane

Physical Layer (PHY) Error detection on transport channels Forward error correction encoding/decoding Interleaving/deinterleaving of transport channels Multiplexing/demultiplexing of transport channels Rate matching Modulation/demodulation Spreading/despreading Measurements (e.g., FER, transmit power)

Radio Link Control (RLC) Segmentation, reassembly, concatenation, padding Retransmission control, flow control Duplicate detection, in-sequence delivery Error correction Ciphering acknowledged and unacknowledged mode

Medium Access Control (MAC) Mapping and multiplexing of logical to transport channels Priority handling of data flows UE identification on common channels Traffic volume measurements Random Access Channel procedure Scheduling Ciphering transparent mode

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RLC Overview Functions (TS 25.322, TS 36.322)

Radio Link Control Functions Transfer of user data and signaling Segmentation and reassembly Concatenation Padding Error correction In-sequence delivery of upper layers PDUs Duplicate detection Flow control Sequence number check Protocol error detection and recovery Ciphering (UM and AM only) SDU discard

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Slide 17

RLC Overview Architecture

The primary function of the RLC is to transfer user data and signaling Data flow to and from upper layers are carried by Radio Bearers and may carry either signaling data (Signaling Radio Bearer) or user data (Radio Access Bearer) Each Radio Bearer is mapped to a RLC entity, which operates in of the three data transfer modes: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode UM, or acknowledge mode (AM)

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Slide 18

RLC Overview Data Transfer Modes

Transparent Mode (TM) Unreliable service Separate receive and transmit entities Supports a set of fixed SDU sizes configured by RRC Unacknowledged Mode (UM) Unreliable service Separate receive and transmit entities Supports arbitrary SDU sizes Acknowledged Mode (AM) Reliable service Bidirectional entity Supports arbitrary SDU sizes

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Slide 19

RLC Overview Data Transfer Modes (cntd.)

Radio Bearers using RLC TM: BCCH, PCCH, CS Voice DTCH Radio Bearers using RLC UM: one DCCH, PS DTCH used for error tolerant and delay sensitive applications Radio Bearers using RLC AM: one DCCH, PS DTCH used for error sensitive and delay tolerant applications
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Slide 20

RLC Transparent Mode

In TM Mode, PDUs are transferred with little interaction by RLC
No header is added

Segmentation and reassembly

If the SDU size is too large to fit into a single PDU, it may segmented at Tx and reassembled at Rx side

Ciphering for logical channels is performed by the MAC

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Slide 21

RLC Unacknowledged Mode

A small header containing information about segmentation, concatenation and sequence number is added Segmentation and reassembly Sequence number check
Used during reassembly to detect corrupted SDUs

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Slide 22

RLC Acknowledged Mode

AM Mode provides reliable service based on ACKs and NACKs Segmentation and reassembly Error correction
PDUs received in error are retransmitted

In-sequence delivery
PDUs are delivered to upper layers in the same order as they were submitted to the transmitted RLC

Flow control
Configurable transmit and receive window sizes

Ciphering of logical channels is performed by RLC

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Slide 23

U-Plane Protocol Stack (System Simulator)

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Slide 24

Example: Parameters for DL 384 kbps / PS RAB

RLC SDU Size

Table taken from 3GPP TS 34.108, v5.3.0

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MAC Overview Functions (TS 25.321, TS 36.321)

Medium Access Control (MAC) Functions Logical and transport channel mapping Identification of UEs on common transport channels Prioritizing logical channels Multiplexing/de-multiplexing of logical channels Transport format combination selection (Scheduling) Ciphering (for RLC TM only) (Segmentation) (Reordering) (HARQ)

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Slide 26

UTRAN MAC Overview Architecture I/III

The MAC in R99 consists of three parts

MAC-c/sh: controls access to the common transport channels MAC-b: controls access to the broadcast channel MAC-d: controls access to the dedicated channels
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Slide 27

UTRAN MAC Overview Architecture II/III

The MAC in R5 was extended to support HSDPA

MAC-hs: This part of the MAC resides in the Node B to allow fast Hybrid ARQ. It is also responsible for scheduling of the HS-DSCH

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Slide 28

UTRAN MAC Overview Architecture III/III

The MAC in R6 was extended to support HSUPA

MAC-e: provides fast retransmissions by HARQ MAC-es: provides reordering functionalities

On the UTRAN the MAC is split between the Node B (MAC-e) and the RNC (MAC-es)
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Slide 29

MAC Entity and HARQ Entity in 3GPP

Common definitions in LTE and HSDPA
There is one MAC entity per cell There is one HARQ entity per supported UE
The HARQ entity handles the hybrid ARQ functionality for one user

A number of parallel HARQ processes are used to support the HARQ entity The HARQ processes are of stop and wait type
The HARQ process can be re-used if the associated ACK/NACK is received again

Definitions in HSDPA
There is one HARQ process per TTI for single stream transmission There two HARQ processes per TTI for dual stream transmission
This definition applies for MAC-ehs only

Definitions in LTE
A HARQ process is associated with one or two MAC PDUs

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MAC-hs Entity in the UTRAN (Rel5, Rel6)

M AC-d flow s MA C-hs Scheduling/Priority handling
Priority Queue distribution Priority Queue distribution

The queues store MAC-d PDUs which are also called MAC-hs SDUs In the MAC-hs only entire MAC-d PDUs from one priority queue can be mapped into one MAC-hs PDU Multiplexing and segmentation of MAC-d PDUs is not offered in the MAC-hs

Priority Q ueue

Priority Q ueue

Priority Q ueue

Priority Q ueue

M Control AC

H Qentity AR

TFR selection C

The MAC-hs header indicates the queue ID, the TSN and the MAC-d PDU sizes. The smallest size 21 bits

Associated Uplink Signalling

HS-DSCH

Associated Dow nlink Signalling

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MAC-ehs Entity in the UTRAN (Rel7)

M AC-d flow s MA C-ehs Scheduling/Priority handling
LCH MU -ID X LCH M X -ID U

The queues store MAC-d PDUs which are also called MAC-ehs SDUs A reordering SDU is a complete or a segment of a MAC-ehs SDU
MAC Control

Priority Queue

Priority Queue

A reordering PDU consists of several reordering SDUs of the same priority queue Finally, a MAC-ehs PDU consists of one or several reordering PDUs from up to three priority queues The MAC-ehs offers multiplexing and segmentation The MAC-ehs header indicates the logical channel ID, the TSN, segmentation and SDU sizes. The smallest size is 24 bits

Segment ation

Segment ation

HARQentity

TFRC selection

Associated U plink Signalling

H S-DSCH

Associated Downlink Signalling

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MAC-hs and MAC-ehs Entities in the UE

To M AC-d M AC-hs
Disassem bly Reordering Disassem bly Reordering MAC Control

The disassembly unit removes the MAChs/MAC-ehs header and potential padding bits
Padding is introduced since a finite set of MAC-hs/MAC-ehs PDUs is allowed New octed-aligned PDU sizes have been introduced together with MAC-ehs, i.e. the PDU sizes are multiples of one byte

Re-ordering queue distribution

HARQ

HS-DSCH Associated Downlink Signalling Associated Uplink Signalling

To M AC -d M AC-e hs
LC H -ID D em ux R easse mb ly R eo rdering LC H -ID D em ux R easse m b ly R eo rdering

M A C C o ntro l

The reordering queue distribution routes the received MAC-hs PDUs or the reordering PDUs to the correct reordering queues
based on the queue ID or received logical channel identifier

R e-o rde ring q ue ue distri b utio n D isasse m b ly HARQ

The reordering entity reorders received MAC-hs PDUs/reordering PDUs according to the received TSN The reassembly entity reassembles segmented MAC-ehs SDUs
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HS-DSC H Associate d Downlin k Signa llin g Associate d Up link Sign alling

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Why MAC-ehs Segmentation in HSDPA

In Rel. 5 6 the RLC PDU sizes was either fixed to 336 bits or 656 bits The RLC protocol applies a window based ARQ mechanism with a window size W of up to 4095 PDUs
The RLC protocol can send at most 4095 PDUs before a status report is received from the UE. Some UEs only support a window size of 2047 PDUs

In the RLC protocol the maximal throughput T is limited to

W PDU Size [bits] TRLC RTT + TTimer Status Prohibit

The RLC round trip time is typically in the order of 80ms 120ms in real world The timer status prohibit should be set to similar values as the RLC RTT

Therefore it is very difficult to achieve 14.4 Mbps in HSDPA with realistic parameter settings and window sizes of 2047 PDUs The flexible RLC PDU size (up to 1500 bytes) introduced in Rel. 7 together with MAC-ehs segmentation overcomes this bottleneck

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Differences of MAC-hs/ehs and LTE MAC

MAC-hs does not support segmentation MAC-ehs segmentation needed in HSDPA
The RLC protocol resides in the RNC The RLC does not have fast information about required MAC-ehs SDU sizes in the Node B

In LTE both RLC and MAC reside in the Node B

The MAC can inform the RLC about required MAC SDU sizes per TTI. Segmentation is done in the RLC

Additionally, no re-ordering is supported in the LTE MAC

Reordering to higher layers is done in the RLC

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MAC PDU Formats

VF Queue ID TSN SID1 N1 F1 SID2 N2 F2 SIDk Nk Fk

MAC-hs PDU
MAC-hs header MAC-hs SDU MAC-hs SDU Mac-hs payload Padding (opt)

LCH-ID1

L1

TSN1

SI1

F1

LCH-IDk

Lk

TSNk

SIk

Fk

MAC-ehs PDU
MAC-ehs header Reordering PDU Reordering PDU Mac-ehs payload Padding (opt)

LTE MAC PDU (DL-SCH)

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Slide 36

Stop and Wait HARQ Protocol in HSDPA and LTE

2 ms

DL transmission at NodeB

...

HARQ process #1

HARQ process #2

HARQ process #3

HARQ process #4

HARQ process #5

HARQ process #6
K eB AC No d /N o C K ck t A a b ed fe

HARQ process #1

HARQ process #2

...

DL reception at UE DL processing at UE

...

HARQ process #1

HARQ process #2

HARQ process #3

HARQ process #4

...

HARQ process #1 HARQ process #2

A HARQ process is in charge of the transmission (and possible subsequent re-transmission) of one MAC PDUs Once the MAC PDU is sent the HARQ process waits for the ACK/NACK from the UE to decide whether to schedule a re-transmission or a new MAC-hs PDU transmission. The round trip time delay is typically 6 TTI = 12 ms in HSDPA In LTE the round trip time is 8 TTI = 8 ms
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Horizontal Layers Vertical Planes

The protocol structure consists of two main layers, Radio Network Layer and Transport Network Layer
Vertically, the protocols are separated in control and user plane

All (E)-UTRAN related issues are visible only in the Radio Network Layer
The Transport Network Layer applies standard transport technology that is selected for (E)-UTRAN without any (E)-UTRAN specific requirements

Application protocols (AP) are control plane protocols in the Radio Network Layer of entities
They control the signaling to other entities

Examples of Applications Protocols in UTRAN

NBAP: Node B RNC RANAP: RNC SGSN/MSC RNSAP: RNC RNC

Examples for Applications Protocols in E-UTRAN

X2AP: eNB eNB S1AP: eNB MME

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LTE X2 Protocol Structure (TS 36.423)

Radio Network Layer Control Plane X2-AP User Plane User Plane PDUs
Transport Network User Plane

Transport Network Layer

Transport Network User Plane

Signaling Transport

GTP-U SCTP IP Data link layer Physical layer UDP

Data Transport

IP Data link layer Physical layer

Clear separation between radio network and transport network layers

The radio network layers defines interaction between eNBs The transport network layer provides services for user plane and signaling transport
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X2 Application Protocol (X2AP)

The X2AP is responsible for providing signaling between eNBs X2AP functions are executed by so called Elementary Procedures
Rel. 8 defines eleven EPs related to different X2AP functions In Rel. 9 four additional EPs have been defined Class 1: EPs with response (success or failure) Class 2: EPs without response

In LTE Rel. 8/9 limited load management functionality is supported

Its functionality is extended in Rel. 10
Function Mobility Management Elementary Procedure(s) a) Handover Preparation b) SN Status Transfer c) UE Context Release d) Handover Cancel a) Load Indication b) Resource Status Reporting Initiation c) Resource Status Reporting Error Indication Reset X2 Setup eNB Configuration Update Mobility Settings Change a) Radio Link Failure Indication b) Handover Report Cell Activation

Load Management

Release 8

Reporting of General Error Situations Resetting the X2 Setting up the X2 eNB Configuration Update Mobility Parameters Management Mobility Robustness Optimisation Energy Saving
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Release 9
Slide 40

X2 AP Load Management
The X2AP load management function is used by the eNBs to indicate resource status, overload and traffic load to each other The load management function consists of the EPs
Load Indication (class 2)
Purpose: Transfer load and interference coordination information between eNBs An eNB initiates the procedure by sending LOAD INFORMATION message to another eNB
eNB1 LOAD INFORMATION eNB2

Resource Status Reporting Initiation (class 1)

Purpose: Request the reporting of load measurements to another eNB The procedure is initiated with a RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST message sent from eNB1 to eNB2 and eNB2 answers with RESOURCE STAUS RESPONSE message
eNB1
RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST

eNB2

RESOURCE STATUS RESPONSE

Resource Status Reporting (class 2)

Purpose: Report the result of measurements admitted by eNB2 following a successful Resource Status Reporting Initiation procedure The eNB2 reports the results of the measurements in RESOURCE STATUS UPDATE message
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eNB1

eNB2

RESOURCE STATUS UPDATE

Slide 41

Information Elements of LOAD INFORMATION

UL Interference Overload Indication IE:
Indicates the interference level experienced by the indicated cell on all resource blocks, per PRB. Values: High Interference, Medium Interference, Low Interference

UL High Interference Indication IE:

Indicates, per PRB, the occurrence of high interference sensitivity, as seen from the sending eNB. The receiving eNB should try to avoid scheduling cell edge UEs in its cells for the concerned PRBs Values: High Interference Sensitivity, Low Interference Sensitivity

Relative Narrowband Tx Power (RNTP) IE:

Indicates, per PRB, whether downlink transmission power is lower than the value indicated by the RNTP Threshold IE Values: Tx power exceeding RNTP threshold, Tx power not exceeding RNTP threshold Detailed definition of interference, interference sensitivity are implementation specific

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RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST Message

The reporting can be periodic or event based In case of periodic reporting request, the RESOURCE STATUS UPDATE message is used
Periodicity is either 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s

Supported measurements
Radio Resource Status IE indicates the usage of the PRBs in Downlink and Uplink
DL GBR PRB usage, UL GBR PRB usage, DL non-GBR PRB usage, UL non-GBR PRB usage, DL Total PRB usage, UL Total PRB usage The report is an integer value ranging from 0 to 100

S1 TNL Load Indicator IE indicates the status of the S1 Transport Network Load experienced by the cell
Low Load, Medium Load, High Load, Overload

Hardware Load Indicator IE indicates the status of the Hardware Load experienced by the cell
Low Load, Medium Load, High Load, Overload

Composite Available Capacity Group IE indicates the overall available resource level in the cell in Downlink and Uplink.

Detailed definition of measurements are implementation specific

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