Random Access Procedure:- In order to be synchronized with

the network, RACH procedure is used.

Suppose a UE wants to access the network, so first it will try to attach or syncronise
with the network. In LTE a separate channel PRACH ( Physical Random Access Channel)
is provided for initial access to the network.

When does UE need to perform Random Access Procedure :-

As per specifications, RACH can be performed in below mentioned scenarios :-

• Initial Access - UE is trying to access the network in RRC idle state.

• During RRC connection re-establishment procedure .
• Handover
• When uplink synchronization is lost :- It means from a certain duration network has not
received anything from UE in uplink.
• When UE does not have any PUCCH resources available for SR(Scheduling Request) .
• When timing advance is needed for positioning purpose in RRC connected state for UE.

To initiate the procedure UE lower layes will send a Random Access Request(RACH
Request) after receiving request from UE RRC.

UE receives a lot of information from eNodeB in System Information (SIB2). It's

important to understand those terminologies first.

You can also refer LTE(Long Term Evolution) SIB2 parameters section.
1. RACH Configurations
2. PRACH Configurations

How UE decides about when and where it needs to send RACH Request:-
It is decided on the basis of parameters received in SIB2 PRACH configurations.
UE can use 6 Resource blocks for sending the RACH Request.

From PRACH Config Index - There is a mapping in spec 36211 table 5.7.1-2 from which
UE can find the available subframes where it can send a RACH.
For example:- Prach Config index value = 7, From table it is clear that UE can send a
RACH Req in any system frame but subframe should be 2 and 7.

From PRACH Frequency Offset - This value is also received in SIB2 by UE. It governs
which frequency resource UE can use for the RACH Req.
Example:- If the value of PRACH Freq Offset is 10. UE can use the 6 PRB's starting from
PRB 10 for RACH Request.

What exactly RACH Request contains:-

1. Preamble Index :- There are total of 64 preambles available which are divided into
two groups Group A and Group B. UE decides the preamble index from a group on the
basis of parameters received in SIB2:-

numberofRaPreambles :- eNodeB sends this value in SIB2 which denotes the total
number of preambles available for UE to send a Rach Request.
sizeOfRaPreamblesGroupA :- It represents the number of preambles available within
Group A.

So number of preamble in Group B

= numberofRaPreambles - sizeOfRaPreamblesGroupA

MessageSizeGroupA :- It is used for selecting a preamble from a group. Its value is in

bits.

Now UE needs to decide the group from which it needs the preamble. Group is decided
on the basis of size of MSG3( RRC connection request ).

If Msg3 size > messageSizeGroupA , preamble will be selected from GroupB

else preamble will be selected from Group A

The actual formula for selecting a preamble is given in spec 36321 sec 5.1.2. That
contain factors other than MSG3 size as well. But mainly this is how UE decides the
Group. From the selected group, randomly UE selects a preamble index.

How UE decides the Power used for Rach request Transmission:-

Now UE need to decide the power which will be used for RACH Request transmission.
Power is decided on the factors received in SIB2 as:-

preambleInitialReceivedtargetPower:- Power factor which will be used for first

transmission of Rach Request.Value varies from -120dBm to -90 dBm .

powerRampingStep:- This is mainly used when eNodeB is not able to detect the Rach
Request then UE will re transmit the RACH Request by increasing the power
to powerRampingStep factor.

power used for Rach Request transmission =

preambleInitialReceivedTargetPower + DELTA_PREAMBLE +
(PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER – 1) *powerRampingStep

DELTA_PREAMBLE = This is preamble format based delta offset. There are four formats
available for preamble which are called as preamble formats. We will be explaining them in
detail later. Most of the time preamble format 0 is used.

For Example:-
In Sib2, preambleInitialReceivedtargetPower = -100
powerRampingStep = 2

First Transmission of Rach Request:-

PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER = 1
For preamble format 0, DELTA_PREAMBLE = 0
Power used = -100 + 0 + (1- 1) *2
= -100

Suppose eNodeB is not able to receive it

Second transmission of Rach request:-
PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER = 2
Power used = -100 + 0 + (2-1) * 2
= -98

UE will send the RACH Request containing these values in the specified subframe by
using the specified resources.

In nutshell, steps followed by UE for sending a Rach request:-

How eNodeB behaves after receiving Random Access Request:-

1. Allocation of temporary RNTI(Radio Network temporary Identifier) :- After

receiving RACH Request, enodeB allocates a temporary identity to the UE which is made
permanent after successful RACH procedure. The permanent identity is called as CRNTI
( Cell RNTI ). This TC-RNTI is transmitted to the UE as part of RACH Response which
will be used for further communication between the UE and the network.

2. Timing Advance :- After receiving RACH Request, eNodeB PHY(Physical layer)

calculates the timing advance which is transmitted to the UE as part of response
message.

As part of Rach response, absolute Timing advance value is transmitted.

Timing advance calculation for RACH Response message:-

 As per 3GPP spec,
Ts = 1/(15000 * 2048) seconds
NTA = TA * 16 where TA = 11 bit value for random access response varying from 0,1,2
.... 1282

NTA = Amount of time alignment

So transmission of uplink radio frame from the UE shall start =

(NTA + NTA offset) * Ts

NTA offset = 0 ( For type 1 frame structure)

= ((NTA + 0) * 1)/ (15000 * 2048)

= (TA * 16)/(15000 * 2048 )seconds

Mainly this timing advance fundamental is used for eNodeB PHY to receive the UE
message at correct timing. It is possible that UE is far away from the eNodeB , so for
eNodeB to receive the data from UE at correct timing this timing adjustments are done.

If timing advance is received in subframe n, UE should do the adjustment from

the starting of subframe (n +6) .

After the Random access response message, enodeB does not send absolute timing
advance value. It will send a value which UE will use to adjust the already stored timing
advance value. We will explain this in Timing advance section later.

Refer spec 36213 sec 4.2.3 and spec 36211 sec 8.1 for details about timing
adjustments

3. Allocate uplink Resources ( UL GRANT ):- eNodeB will provide the required
information in Random Access Response(RAR) message for UE to send the MSG3( RRC
Connection Request) .

UL Grant is a 20 bit message with contents from MSB to LSB as:-

• Hopping Flag :- This is 1 bit of information which governs whether frequency hopping is
enabled or not. If the value of the bit is 1 and resource block assignment is type 0 , UE
should perform PUSCH frequency hopping.
What is Frequency Hopping:-
As we know that RB allocation is contiguous in uplink which means eNodeB allocates
continuous RB's in frequency domain. As in downlink we have multiple resource
allocation policies to achieve frequency diversity.

So in uplink, to achieve frequency diversity Frequency Hopping is used. eNodeB

communicates required parameters to UE's in SIB2 which are needed for performing
frequency hopping at UE.

For Example:-
Suppose eNodeB has allocated 5 RB's to a particular UE in uplink as shown below.
 It is clear that the allocation in uplink in terms of RB is contiguous. But eNodeB has
enabled frequency hopping for this UE.

We are able to achieve frequency diversity in contiguous allocation as well due to

hopping. In the figure above, same color represents the hopping of UE data in different
slots for a particular RB.

There is a lot more to discuss in frequency hopping. we will be taking it later in that
particular section.

As of now,we can summarize it as :-

Frequency hopping is used to provide frequency diversity in uplink. Its main advantage
is, suppose in frequency domain at RB0 channel conditions are bad but at RB3
conditions are good. So in that case, UE can decode the data of RB0 after combining
the same colored data.

• Resource Block Assignment :- It is 10 bits of information embedded in UL Grant

message.
 How UE decodes the 10 bit RB Assignment :-
According to spec 36213 sec 6.1.1, UE decodes it as:-

If NULRB <= 44
Truncate the fixed size resource block assignment to its b least significant bits where,
b = ceiling ( log2(NULRB * (NULRB + 1)/2) )

and interpret the truncated resource block assignment according to the rules for a
regular DCI format 0

else
Insert b most significant bits with value zero where,
b = (ceiling ( log2(NULRB * (NULRB + 1)/2) )) - 10
and interpret the expanded resource block assignment according to the rules for a
regular DCI format 0

For Example :-
Lets assume the 10 bits of the information as :- 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Assume Total number of uplink RB's in system = 100

b = (ceiling ( log2(NULRB * (NULRB + 1)/2) )) - 10

= (ceiling ( log2(100 *101/2))) - 10
= (ceiling ( 12.3)) - 10
= 13 -10
=3

So, RB assignment will be :- 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

RB assignment ( value in decimal) = 127
Now we need to interpret it according to the rules of DCI format 0.

Number of RB's allocated = Floor( 127 /100 ) + 1

=1+1
=2
RB start index = 127 mod 100
= 27

• Modulation and Coding scheme to be used by UE:- It is 4 bits of information in UL

grant message whose value varies from 0 to 15. The modulation and coding is
determined by UE from MCS indices 0 to 15 in table 8.6.1.1 from spec 36213.
• Power used by UE for PUSCH :- It is indicated in 3 bits as a TPC command whose value
varies from 0 to 7. TPC command to power mapping is mentioned in table below
• UL delay :- 1 bit of information which can be set to 0 or 1. It indicates whether the
delay of PUSCH is introduced or not.
• CSI field :- This 1 bit of information determines whether an aperiodic CQI, PMI and RI
report can be included in the PUSCH transmission. For contention based Random access
CSI field is reserved.

eNodeB will prepare a response ( Random Access Response) with above

discussed fields and send it to UE. But we need to understand the timing of
response message corresponding to Rach Request.

Timing w.r.t to Rach Request and Random Access Response:-

RAR Response Window is the value transmitted in SIB2. You can refer the LTE basic
section for more details. Its value is in subframes.