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Abstract
The concept of multiple cell cites started with the first generation (1G) of cellular
technology. Though it was just the analog service with the use of higher frequency to
modulate the signal, it truly made communication device mobile. With the start of the
second generation (2G), cellular technology shifted itself to digital approach that
included digital encryption of voice hence increasing security. 2G also introduced
Short Messaging Service (SMS). GPRS service also started and was termed as 2.5G.
With the release of third generation (3G) cellular technology was no longer just about
voice calls and SMS. The mobile devices now started to connect with the internet and
also got enhanced on security and privacy. LTE (Long Term Evolution) started with
3G technology but its said to be the fourth generation (4G). To be a new generation
of cellular technology the difference should be that the latest and previous technology
doesnt share backward compatibility. So LTE over the same service provider is
termed as evolved 3G service but its marketed as 4G LTE. Justification of LTE to be
4G technology is that it is a fully packet based service which was not so in any of the
previous generation. Though 3G supports the packet data through HSPA and other
technology circuit switching mechanism is used for all the voice data. Most
distinctive feature of LTE is the ultra broadband internet connection thats meant to
revolutionize the mobile device.
LTE has evolved with the promises of increased downlink and uplink peak data rates,
scalable bandwidth of 1.4 to 20 MHz, improved spectral efficiency and most
important of all delayed latency which is scaled down to less than 10ms. Use of
OFDMA and MIMO technology provides an improved performance for the LTE
service. And to incorporate the high speed and low latency LTE has evolved new
system architecture which is generalized as System Architecture Evolution (SAE).
New interface such as S1 and X2 are developed for the interconnection of evolved
Nodes and service gateways or between evolved Nodes.
Porting the LTE services to the conventional 3G network is more of a technological
hitch. LTE is fully packet based and it tries to make circuit switching a history in
cellular technology. Some methods are devised to attempt to port the services which
are VoLTE (Voice over LTE), CSFB (Circuit Switched Fallback), and SVLTE
(Simultaneous Voice and LTE).
Of all the things mentioned about LTE, it is obvious that LTE is the technology of
tomorrow. Incorporating everything with packet based network it has just proven
itself to be a new improved window to access internet with ultra high speed providing
not just simple user experience that were mere attempt of 3G technology but to
provide a real life experience of virtual cyber space that modern mankind has created.
Contents
Abstract..........................................................................................................................1
Generations of Mobile Phones.......................................................................................4
First Generation..........................................................................................................4
Second Generation.....................................................................................................4
Third Generation........................................................................................................5
Fourth Generation......................................................................................................5
LTE Long Term Evolution..........................................................................................7
Background................................................................................................................7
Objective of LTE........................................................................................................7
Overview of the LTE Standard...................................................................................8
LTEs Evolution.........................................................................................................8
3GPP LTE technologies...........................................................................................10
OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex)...........................................10
MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output..............................................................10
SAE (System Architecture Evolution).................................................................10
Spectrum Flexibility.................................................................................................11
Network Architecture of LTE...................................................................................12
eNode B................................................................................................................13
The S1 Interface...................................................................................................14
The X2 Interface..................................................................................................15
Compatibility of LTE with existing Network...........................................................16
VoLTE (Voice over LTE)......................................................................................16
CSFB (Circuit Switched Fallback).......................................................................16
SVLTE (Simultaneous Voice and LTE)................................................................16
Second Generation
The second generation allowed for enhanced data services and also introduced short
messaging service (SMS). Since the introduction of 2G, voice communications were
digitally encrypted. This allowed for greater privacy, efficient data transfer and also
less expensive equipment. Two revisions or additions to this generation are sometimes
referred to 2.5G and 2.75G. The combined introduction of GPRS (General Packet
Radio Services) and the usage of CDMAone [1] networks collectively came to be
known as 2.5G. GPRS provided data transfer rates from 56-115kbit/s. So, services
like WAP [2](Wireless Application Protocol) and MMS [3] (Multimedia Messaging)
were introduced, along with Internet services. 2.75G was the name given to the
evolution of EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) or Enhanced GPRS
1 CDMAone : Brand name for the IS-95 standard for mobile communications. The first version, IS95A, has very limited abilities for data communications. The maximum data rate is 14.4 kbit/s. IS-95B
extended the data communication abilities to packet switching with a maximum data rate of in theory
115 kbit/s, and in practice of around 64 kbit/s. CDMA One makes use of radio channels with a
bandwidth of 1.25 MHz in the 850 and 1900 MHz band.
(EGPRS). This was due to the introduction of 8PSK [4] encoding, which facilitated
higher data transfer rates of up to 236.8kbits/s, almost triple of the previous rates. This
is the most widely used generation of mobile telecommunication networks. 2G was
commercially launched for the GSM standard in 1991 by Radiolinja, currently known
as Elisa Oyj, in Finland.
Third Generation
3G was initially limited in scope, it was a leap forward. 3G used completely different
radio frequencies from 2G, so it required different equipment to achieve the new high
data transfer rates. 3G data transfer rates are 384kbits/s to 2Mbits/s, so it allows for
previously unavailable services like video calls, video conferencing, online
conference call, mobile TV, online gaming etc. These speeds are broadband
equivalent, so the applications and capabilities are enhanced greatly. Along with these
services, 3G provides greater security and privacy. As with 2G, minor evolution of the
standards resulted in 3.5G and 3.75G. Again, these standards allowed for higher data
transfer rates, exceeding 2Mbits/s, reaching about 14Mbits/s.3G was introduced by
NTT DoCoMo in Japan, in 2001.
Fourth Generation
As we have seen there has been a massive increase in the data carried by the cellular
services and this will become even greater in the upcoming future. This phenomenon
is termed as Data Explosion. To cater for this and the increased demands for
increased data transmission speeds and lower latency, further development of cellular
technology have been required. The technology hence introduces is termed as LTE
(Long term Evolution). It is based on the GSM/EDGE [5] and UMTS/HSPA
[6] network technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using a different radio
interface together. The standard is developed by the 3GPP (3rd Generation
Partnership Project).
Prior to LTE, people send e-mails or browse the internet using high speed packet
access (HSPA) using HSPA. With LTE, the optimum usage of these techniques can be
obtained. The user experience such as mobile video, interactive TV and advanced
games is enhanced much further.
Objective of LTE
The following are the main objectives for LTE.
Scalable bandwidth
5 Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) is a digital mobile phone technology that allows
improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM. EDGE is considered a
pre-3G radio technology and is part of ITU's 3Gdefinition. EDGE was deployed on GSM networks
beginning in 2003 initially by Cingular (now AT&T) in the United States.
All IP network
Reduced latency:
LTEs Evolution
LTE Long Term Evolution is one of the latest communication technology that is
currently being tested and deployed. LTE falls under 3G dubbed as 3.99G and LTEAdvanced is 4G compliant. 3GPP Release 8 defines the standards for LTE and
Release 10 pertains to defining the standards for LTE-Advanced. LTE was formulated
as a result of study on e-UTRA(Universal Terrestrial Radio Access) [ 7] done by 3GPP.
LTE is considered as the evolution of universal mobile telephone system (UMTS),
hence LTEs equivalent components are thus named evolved UMTS terrestrial radio
access (E-UTRA) and evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN).
All these terms are used to describe RAN (Radio Access Network) which stands
between mobile station (MS) on one side and the core network (CN) on the other side.
The aim of 3GPP is to meet the needs for fast data transport media as well as support
higher voice capacity. The requirements of the next generation networks is targeted by
LTE within peak of more than 100 Mbps for downlink, 50 Mbps for uplink and less
than 10 ms for radio access network (RAN) round-trip time (RTT). LTE supports
flexible bandwidth from 1.4 up to 20 MHz for both frequency division duplex (FDD)
[8] and time division duplex (TDD) [9].
7 e-UTRA is the air interface of 3GPP's Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for mobile
networks. It is a radio access network standard meant to be a replacement of
the
UMTS, HSDPA and HSUPA technologies specified in 3GPP releases 5 and beyond. Unlike HSPA,
LTE's E-UTRA is an entirely new air interface system, unrelated to and incompatible with
8Frequency-division
duplexing (FDD)
means
that
the transmitter and receiver operate at different carrier frequencies. The term is
frequently used in ham radio (Amateur radio) operation, where an operator is
attempting to contact a repeater station. The station must be able to send and receive a
transmission at the same time, and does so by slightly altering the frequency at which
it sends and receives.
9 Time-division duplexing (TDD) is the application of time-division multiplexing to separate outward
and return signals. It emulates full duplex communication over a half duplex communication
link.Time-division duplexing has a strong advantage in the case where there is asymmetry of
the uplink and downlink data rates
WCDM
HSPA
HSPA+
LTE
HSDPA
(UMTS)
HSUPA
384 k
14 M
28 M
100M
128 k
5.7 M
11 M
50 M
Latency
round trip time
approx
150 ms
100 ms
50ms
(max)
~10 ms
3GPP releases
Rel
99/4
Rel 5 / 6
Rel 7
Rel 8
2003 /
4
2005 / 6
HSDPA
2007 / 8
HSUPA
2008 / 9
2009 / 10
Access methodology
CDMA
CDMA
CDMA
OFDMA / SCFDMA
10
LTE has introduced a number of new technologies when compared to the previous
cellular systems. They enable LTE to be able to operate more efficiently with respect
to the use of spectrum, and also to provide the much higher data rates that are being
required.
OFDM technology has been incorporated into LTE because it enables high data
bandwidths to be transmitted efficiently while still providing a high degree of
resilience to reflections and interference. The access schemes differ between the
uplink and downlink: OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access is
used in the downlink; while SC-FDMA(Single Carrier - Frequency Division Multiple
Access) is used in the uplink. SC-FDMA is used in view of the fact that its peak to
average power ratio is small and the more constant power enables high RF power
amplifier efficiency in the mobile handsets - an important factor for battery power
equipment.
One of the main problems that previous telecommunications systems has encountered
is that of multiple signals arising from the many reflections that are encountered. By
using MIMO, these additional signal paths can be used to advantage and are able to be
used to increase the throughput.
When using MIMO, it is necessary to use multiple antennas to enable the different
paths to be distinguished. Accordingly schemes using 2 x 2, 4 x 2, or 4 x 4 antenna
matrices can be used. While it is relatively easy to add further antennas to a base
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station, the same is not true of mobile handsets, where the dimensions of the user
equipment limit the number of antennas which should be place at least a half
wavelength apart.
With the very high data rate and low latency requirements for LTE, it is necessary to
evolve the system architecture to enable the improved performance to be achieved.
One change is that a number of the functions previously handled by the core network
have been transferred out to the periphery. Essentially this provides a much "flatter"
form of network architecture. In this way latency times can be reduced and data can
be routed more directly to its destination.
Spectrum Flexibility
One important part of the LTE requirements in terms of spectrum flexibility is the
possibility to deploy LTE-based radio access in both paired and unpaired spectrum.
Therefore,
LTE
supports
both
frequency
and
time-division-based
duplex
arrangements. Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) implies that downlink and uplink
transmission take place in different, sufficiently separated, frequency bands. Time
Division Duplex (TDD) implies that downlink and uplink transmission take place in
different, non-overlapping time slots. Thus, TDD can operate in unpaired spectrum,
whereas FDD requires paired spectrum. Related to the possibility to deploy the LTE
radio access in different frequency bands is the possibility of being able to operate
LTE with different transmission bandwidths on both downlink and uplink. The main
reason for this is that the amount of spectrum being available for LTE may vary
significantly between different frequency bands and also depending on the exact
situation of the operator. Furthermore, the possibility to operate in different spectrum
allocations gives the possibility for gradual migration of spectrum from other radio
access technologies to LTE. The basic radio access specification including the
physical-layer and protocol specifications, allows for any transmission bandwidth
ranging from roughly 1.4 MHz up to around 20 MHz.
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10 MME (Mobility management Entity) manages and stores UE context (for idle
Figure 3. LTE Architecture
state: UE/user identities, UE mobility state, user security parameters). It generates
temporary identities and allocates them to UEs. It checks the authorization whether
the UE may camp on the TA or on the PLMN. It also authenticates the user.
11Serving Gateway: The SGW routes and forwards user data packets, while also
acting as the mobility anchor for the user plane during inter-eNB handovers and as the
anchor for mobility between LTE and other 3GPP technologies (terminating S4
interface and relaying the traffic between 2G/3G systems and PDN GW).
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operation) and allows better performance over the radio interface. The termination of
Layer 2 protocols in eNodeB rather than in the RNC helps to decrease datatransmission latency by saving the delay incurred by the transmission of packet
repetitions. From a functional perspective, the eNodeB supports a set of legacy
features, all related to physical layer procedures for transmission and reception over
the radio interface:
Besides, the eNodeB includes additional features, coming from the fact that there are
no more Base Station controllers in the E-UTRAN architecture. Those features
include the following:
Radio interface full Layer 2 protocol: in the OSI Data Link way, the layer 2
purpose is to ensure transfer of data between network entities. This implies
detection and possibly correction of errors that may occur in the physical
layer.
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The S1 Interface
S1 is a standardized interface between eNB and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) [ 12].
S1 has two flavors, S1-MME for exchange of signaling messages between the eNB
and the MME and S1-U for the transport of user datagrams between the eNB and the
Serving Gateway (S-GW).
The X2 Interface
A new interface (X2) has been defined between eNodeB, working in a meshed way
(meaning that all Node Bs may possibly be linked together). The main purpose of this
interface is to minimize packet loss due to user mobility. As the terminal moves across
the access network, unsent or unacknowledged packets stored in the old eNodeB
queues can be forwarded or tunneled to the new eNodeB thanks to the X2 interface.
12 EPC: The EPC (Evolved Packet Core) is composed of several functional entities:The
MME (Mobility Management Entity)
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