July 2014

Inter-Cell Interference
Coordination (eICIC)

TOPICS
Why is Interference a Problem?
Interference Mitigation Techniques
Why do we need eICIC?
Inter-cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) in LTE Release 8
Enhanced ICIC in LTE Release 10
ICIC for Carrier Aggregation
Further ICIC Enhancements in LTE Release 11
eICIC Testing Methods and Challenges


Interference and Mitigation Techniques


Interference Why is it a Problem?
4
Quality
Throughput
SINR
NOISE
The way these resources are used determines the spectral efficiency of the radio
transmission technology
The way these resources are controlled and shared determines the efficiency of the whole
system
One of the goals is to minimize interference
Radio transmission uses two resources:
Time and Frequency
Inter-cell Interference in LTE
5
In non-hierarchical (homogenous) cell deployments interference causes
problems mainly at cell edge




However, in hierarchical (heterogeneous) deployments interference happens
also between macro cells and small cells



Interference can be mitigated by:
Separation of interfering cells and/or frequencies by means of operator
provisioning
Dynamic cooperation between cells in order to coordinate
transmissions in such a way to minimize interference

LTE
LTE
LTE
LTE




LTE
Macro
LTE
Pico/
Femto
eICIC


Why do we need eICIC?
7
To provide more capacity and coverage, more and more cells
are required
Both homogenous and heterogeneous deployments suffer from
interference problems
Too much interference would cause the network capacity to actually
decrease
Operators can plan and manually configure networks in such a
way that interference is minimized
Static configuration does not allow to effectively use resources in case of
always changing traffic load distribution
Static configuration is inefficient in case of HetNets
Expensive
Operators need a way for the network to automatically detect
interference and mitigate it by reconfiguring itself accordingly
eICIC provides such a solution

Inter-cell Interference vs LTE design
8
LTE is designed for intra-frequency operation
Reference signals are repeated on every 6
th
subcarrier, or every 3
rd
for
MIMO operation; subcarriers used depend on the Physical Cell ID
Similarly the frequency position of some of the control channels (PHICH,
PCFICH) depends on the Physical Cell ID, and others (PDCCH) are
controlled to some extent by the eNB
Time shift between cells (T
cell
) to control interference in the time domain









11 0 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
10 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
8 0 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
7 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
5 0 2 2 2 2 2 2
4 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
3 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DL Reference signal
PHICH

PCFICH

Reserved in case of MIMO

Cell 0
Cell 1 Cell 2
s
u
b
c
a
r
r
i
e
r
s

symbols
Inter-cell Interference vs LTE design
9
LTE is designed for intra-frequency operation
Very robust coding is used for PBCH (coding rate ~100)
Zadoff-Chu sequences used for many control signals
All this however does not allow for efficient interference control
on the data channel (PDSCH)
Additional mechanisms to coordinate PDSCH transmission are needed
This is where ICIC becomes important
11 0 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
10 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
8 0 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
7 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
5 0 2 2 2 2 2 2
4 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
3 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DL Reference signal
PHICH

PCFICH

Reserved in case of MIMO

Cell 0
Cell 1 Cell 2
s
u
b
c
a
r
r
i
e
r
s

symbols
ICIC: Principles
10
ICIC (Inter-Cell Interference Coordination) has the task to manage radio resources
(radio resource blocks) such that inter-cell interference is kept under control
It is an optional network-based method which can be used to decrease interference
between resources used for data channel (PDSCH) of neighbouring eNBs
This is done by decreasing the power of selected DL frequency subcarriers, and
introducing a mechanism for eNBs to report their experienced UL interference to
neighbor eNBs
These subcarriers interfere much less with the same ones used by neighbor cells
Neighbor cells can use this information to perform interference-aware UE scheduling, especially
near the cell edge; cell edge SINR can therefore be improved

Cell 2 Cell 1
p
o
w
e
r

frequency
p
o
w
e
r

frequency
ICIC: eNB Coordination
11
Information about frequency/power restrictions and
uplink/downlink load conditions is dynamically exchanged
between eNBs over the X2 interface
X2-AP messages are used (3GPP TS 36.420)
Information can change, as cell load and radio conditions change
eNB ICIC behavior is not fully standardized; the eNBs should however
have a consistent view of how to set their interference-aware scheduling
policies

eNB 2
eNB 3
eNB 1
p
o
w
e
r

frequency
p
o
w
e
r

frequency
p
o
w
e
r

frequency
X2
X2
X2
ICIC: X2 Messages
12
The LOAD INFORMATION X2-AP message is used on the X2 interface to
exchange Information Elements about cell load conditions between
neighboring eNBs
UL Interference Overload Indication IE: indicates the interference level experienced
by the indicated cell on all resource blocks, per Physical Resource Block (PRB,
spanning 180kHz): high, medium, low
UL High Interference Indication (HII) 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
Relative Narrowband Tx Power (RNTP) IE: indicates, per PRB, the Tx power
threshold that the source cell is using in that frequency range and some other
information needed by a neighbour eNB for interference aware scheduling
The interaction between the indication of UL Overload and UL High
Interference, and their interpretation, are implementation specific

eNB1
LOAD INFORMATION
eNB2
Pico
cell
Femto
cell
ICIC and HetNet Scenarios
13
ICIC works well in case of cell edge interference, but not in case of
HetNet (heterogeneous network) scenarios
Small cells are often well in range of macro cells, so macro cell power reduction has
limited effect
Both control and data traffic can suffer from high interference








In Release 10, a method of interference coordination in the time-
domain was added to ICIC as part of LTE Advanced,
forming Enhanced ICIC (eICIC)




Macro
cell
Small
cell
UE2
eICIC: Principles
14
eICIC introduces the concept of Almost Blank Subframes (ABS) in 3GPP
Release 10. A macro cell cannot send data in configured ABS subframes; small
cells can use those subframes to schedule UEs connected to them
The eNB ensures backwards compatibility towards UEs by transmitting only necessary
control channels and physical signals as well as System Information in ABS
Is well suited to work with both FDD and TDD
Can be used together with ICIC
eICIC comes at the cost of hard, but reconfigurable, radio resources split

Macro
cell
UE1
ABS ABS
UE1 UE1 UE1 UE1 UE1 UE2 UE2
Macro cell subframes:
eICIC: Parameters
15
eICIC configuration parameters are exchanged between eNBs using the X2
interface. The same LOAD INFORMATION message as for ICIC is used, with
some new information elements:
ABS Information IE, containing:
ABS Pattern Info IE: indicates the subframes designated as almost blank subframes by the
sending eNB for the purpose of interference coordination. A pattern up to 40 (FDD) or 70
(TDD) subframes long can be indicated. The first position of the ABS pattern corresponds
to subframe 0 in a radio frame where SFN = 0. The ABS pattern is continuously repeated in
all radio frames
Measurement Subset IE: for the configuration in the receiving eNB of specific
measurements towards the UE
Invoke Indication IE: indicates which type of information the sending eNB would like
the receiving eNB to send back by invoking a return LOAD INFORMATION
procedure. In Release 10 it can only be set to "ABS Information


eNB1
LOAD INFORMATION
eNB2
Load Reporting for eICIC
16
The ABS pattern can be dynamically modified based on radio
resource conditions, load and scheduling patterns of the small cell
For this purpose the RESOURCE STATUS procedure is used on
the X2 interface
An eNB (typically macro cell) can request another eNB (typically small cell) to
provide its ABS Status
The ABS STATUS IE is returned in RESOURCE STATUS RESPONSE and
contains information about the percentage of used ABS resources and usable
ABS subset. The latter is a bitmap indicating which ABS subframes does the
small cell really use for its downlink scheduling

eNB
1
eNB
2

RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST
RESOURCE STATUS RESPONSE
UE Measurements for eICIC
17
Patterns based on ABSs are signaled to the UE to restrict the
UE measurements to specific subframes, called measurement
resource restrictions
The UE can be instructed to measure specific resource restrictions for the
PCell (Primary Cell), or also neighbor cells on the same frequency
Two subframe subsets can be configured per UE. The UE reports CSI
(Channel State Information) for each configured subframe subset.
Typically the two subframe subsets are chosen so that one subframe
subset indicates ABSs while the second subframe subset indicates non-
ABSs; this way the network knows how effective the eICIC configuration is

ABS ABS
1 3 4 5 7 2 6
Macro cell ABS pattern:
Small cell
UE Measurements for eICIC
18
The eNB configures measurements for eICIC using RRC signaling
Same mechanism and measurement types are used as for any other
measurement configuration
Two sets of measurement resource restrictions (measurement
subframe sets 1 and 2) can optionally be configured for CSI
(Channel State Information) reporting
Included as part of UE dedicated physical configuration
Should be reconfigured if the ABS pattern of the cell changes
CQI-ReportConfig-r10 ::= SEQUENCE {
...
csi-SubframePatternConfig-r10 CHOICE {
release NULL,
setup SEQUENCE {
csi-MeasSubframeSet1-r10 MeasSubframePattern-r10,
csi-MeasSubframeSet2-r10 MeasSubframePattern-r10
}
} OPTIONAL -- Need ON
}
PhysicalConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE {
...
cqi-ReportConfig-r10 CQI-ReportConfig-r10 OPTIONAL, -- Cond CQI-r10
...
}
UE Measurements for eICIC
19
Time-domain measurement resource restriction patterns can also be independently
configured for:
PCell measurements (for RSRP, RSRQ and the radio link monitoring).
Neighbor cell measurements (for RSRP and RSRQ)
MeasSubframePattern-r10 ::= CHOICE {
subframePatternFDD-r10 BIT STRING (SIZE (40)),
subframePatternTDD-r10 CHOICE {
subframeConfig1-5-r10 BIT STRING (SIZE (20)),
subframeConfig0-r10 BIT STRING (SIZE (70)),
subframeConfig6-r10 BIT STRING (SIZE (60)),
...
},
...
}
RadioResourceConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE {
...
measSubframePatternPCell-r10 MeasSubframePatternPCell-r10 OPTIONAL -- Need ON
}
MeasSubframePatternPCell-r10 ::= CHOICE {
release NULL,
setup MeasSubframePattern-r10
}
MeasObjectEUTRA ::= SEQUENCE {
...
measSubframePatternConfigNeigh-r10 MeasSubframePatternConfigNeigh-r10 OPTIONAL
-- Need ON
}
MeasSubframePatternConfigNeigh-r10 ::= CHOICE {
release NULL,
setup SEQUENCE {
measSubframePatternNeigh-r10 MeasSubframePattern-r10,
measSubframeCellList-r10 MeasSubframeCellList-r10 OPTIONAL -- Cond
measSubframe
}
}
ICIC for Carrier Aggregation


ICIC for Carrier Aggregation
21
Carrier Aggregation is one of the most important features of LTE Advanced. It allows to
aggregate two or more Component Carriers, where one is the PCC (Primary Component
Carrier) and others are SCCs (Secondary Component Carriers)
The PCell can be configured for cross-carrier scheduling, where its PDCCH control
channel schedules data on both the PCC and SCC
In this scenario PDCCH on the SCC is not used, so does not cause interference
To mitigate PDCCH interference, neighboring or overlapping cells can configure
component carriers for cross-carrier scheduling so that the PCC of one cell is the SCC
of the other
PCC1 (f1)
SCC1 (f2)
SCC2 (f1)
PCC2 (f2)
PDCCH
PDSCH
PDSCH
PCC1
SCC1
Freq#1
Freq#2
C
e
l
l

1

PDCCH PDSCH
PDSCH
PCC2
SCC2
Freq#1
Freq#2
C
e
l
l

2

No inter-frequency
PDCCH interference
Further eICIC Enhancements
LTE Release 11


FeICIC: Principles
23
Some of the work on eICIC was not completed in Release 10
and so the FeICIC (Further Enhanced ICIC) work item was
created in 3GPP for Release 11
FeICIC includes specification of enhanced UE receiver
performance requirements for scenarios involving a dominant
downlink interferer
This can include the macro cell or more interfering cells
The target is to increase receiver performance in presence of well defined
and known interfering signals. FeICIC mechanisms allow cell range
expansion by additional approximately 9dB
FeICIC also includes some RRC protocol enhancements
FeICIC: CRS Filtering
24
By knowing the interfering patterns, the UE receiver can try to filter them out
Even in ABS, where no data is transmitted by the Macro Cell, some signals
are transmitted for backwards compatibility with pre-Release 10 UEs not
supporting eICIC
One significant source of interference in the ABS is the CRS (Cell Reference
Signal)
This CRS assistance information can be provided to the UE by the eNB
This allows the UE to use this information to cancel unwanted CRS

Small
Cell 1
Macro
Cell 2
Cell 2 CRS cancellation
CRS assistance
data for Cell 2
FeICIC: Configuration
25
CRS assistance data is provided to the UE using RRC signaling
It is optional and can be sent as part of the UEs dedicated radio
resource configuration
Has to be pre-configured in each eNB
RadioResourceConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE {
...
neighCellsCRS-Info-r11 NeighCellsCRS-Info-r11 OPTIONAL -- Need ON
}
NeighCellsCRS-Info-r11 ::= CHOICE {
release NULL,
setup CRS-AssistanceInfoList-r11
}
CRS-AssistanceInfoList-r11 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxCellReport)) OF CRS-AssistanceInfo-r11

CRS-AssistanceInfo-r11 ::= SEQUENCE {
physCellId-r11 PhysCellId,
antennaPortsCount-r11 ENUMERATED {an1, an2, an4, spare1},
mbsfn-SubframeConfigList-r11 MBSFN-SubframeConfigList,
...
}
eICIC Testing Methods and Challenges


eICIC Testing
27

Several scenarios can be covered:
Non-CA eICIC and FeICIC scenarios
CA scenarios
Part of ICIC configuration happens in the network,
but several UE features can be tested as well:
RRM/RLM/CSI and measurement
configuration with time-domain restrictions
Receiver performance in presence of interference:
Unassisted for eICIC
Assisted for FeICIC

RTD allows to create and customize eICIC and FeICIC test cases for all
market segments

These and other scenarios can be tested using Anritsus ME7834 Mobile
Device Test Platform. CAT and PCT solutions are available


eICIC Conformance Testing
28
eICIC and FeICIC test cases are already defined in 3GPP TSG RAN4 and RAN5:
RF and RRM conformance and performance: eICIC and FeICIC
PCT (Protocol Conformance Testing): eICIC



8.3 Measurement configuration control and reporting
8.3.1.19 eICIC/ Measurement configuration control and reporting / CSI change
8.3.1.20 eICIC / Measurement configuration control and reporting / Event A3 / RSRP and RSRQ measurement / Neighbour ABS
8.3.1.21 eICIC / Measurement configuration control and reporting / Event A3 Handover / Neighbour RSRP measurement configuration change
8.3.1.28 eICIC / Measurement configuration control and reporting / Event A3 / RSRP and RSRQ measurement / Serving ABS
These test cases will be available on
Anritsus ME7834 Protocol
Conformance Test System


Non-CA eICIC Scenario
29
1. Configure Cell#1 as a Macro cell and Cell#2 as a small
cell
2. Make UE camp on Cell#2
3. Send interference signal (OCNG) from Cell#1 except for
ABS
Check if the correct measurement values are reported by the UE
4. Send a measurement reconfiguration message to UE
with restricted measurement subframes information
Check if the correct measurement values (and CSI feedback) are
reported by the UE
5. Send user data in Cell#2 in ABS subframes
Check if the correct data throughput can be achieved in Cell#2
6. Send interference signal (OCNG) from Cell#1 on ABS
Check if the correct measurement values are reported by the UE


Example sequence to test signaling,
RRM/RLM/CSI performance and throughput
Cell#1
(Macro/Agressor)
Cell#2
(Small/Victim)
Non-CA FeICIC Scenario
30
1. Configure Cell#1 as a Macro cell and Cell#2 as a small
cell
2. Make UE camp on Cell#2
3. Send user data in Cell#2 in ABS subframes
Check if the correct data throughput can be achieved in Cell#2
4. Send Cell#1 PRS assistance data to the UE on Cell#2
Check if the correct measurement values are reported by the UE
5. Send user data in Cell#2 in ABS subframes
Check if the data throughput is higher than in step 3
6. Decrease Cell#2 power by [9dBm]
7. Send user data in Cell#2 in ABS subframes
Check if the data throughput is similar to that in step 3
Example sequence to test interference
cancellation
Cell#1
(Macro/Agressor)
Cell#2
(Small/Victim)
Cell#1 PRS
assistance data
CA eICIC Scenario
31
1. Configure Cell#1/2 as a Macro PCell/SCell aggressor
cells and Cell#3/4 as PCell/SCell victim cells. Configure
dummy PDCCH transmissions on the aggressor cells
(OCNG)
2. Make UE camp on Cell#1 (PCell) and add Cell#2 as
SCell with cross carrier scheduling
3. Send user data in Cell#1 and Cell#2 in ABS
subframes
Check the data throughput
4. Switch off dummy PDCCH on Cell#3
5. Send user data in Cell#1 and Cell#2 in ABS
subframes
Check the data throughput, should be higher than in step #3
Example sequence to test throughput
performance with cross-carrier scheduling
Cell#1
(PCell/Agressor)
Cell#2
(SCell/Agressor)
Cell#3
(PCell/Victim)
Cell#4
(SCell/Victim)
Control
Region
PDSCH
PDSCH
Cell#1
PCell
Cell#2
SCell
Cell#3
SCell
Cell#4
PCell
Dummy
PDCCH
Freq#1
Freq#2
Freq#1
Freq#2
V
i
c
t
i
m

c
e
l
l
s

A
g
g
r
e
s
s
o
r

c
e
l
l
s

Dummy
PDCCH
Power off in Step3