LTE Frequently Asked Questions

Some Frequently asked LTE questions with their ansrwers.



What speed LTE offers?


Ans:- LTE provides downlink peak rates of at least 100Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s in the uplink and RAN (Radio Access Network) round-trip times of less than 10 ms.


What is LTE Advanced?


Ans:-LTE standards are in matured state now with release 8 frozen. While LTE Advanced is still under works. Often the LTE standard is seen as 4G standard which is not true. 3.9G is more acceptable for LTE. So why it is not 4G? Answer is quite simple - LTE does not fulfill all requirements of ITU 4G definition.


Brief History of LTE Advanced: The ITU has introduced the term IMT Advanced to identify mobile systems whose capabilities go beyond those of IMT 2000. The IMT Advanced systems shall provide best-in-class performance attributes such as peak and sustained data rates and corresponding spectral efficiencies, capacity, latency, overall network complexity and quality-of-service management. The new capabilities of these IMT-Advanced systems are envisaged to handle a wide range of supported data rates with target peak data rates of up to approximately 100 Mbit/s for high mobility and up to approximately 1 Gbit/s for low mobility.



What is EUTRAN?


The E-UTRAN (Evolved UTRAN) consists of eNBs, providing the E-UTRA user plane (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocol terminations towards the UE. The eNBs are interconnected with each other by means of the X2 interface. The eNBs are also connected by means of the S1 interface to the EPC (Evolved Packet Core), more specifically to the MME (Mobility Management Entity) by means of the S1-MME and to the Serving Gateway (S-GW) by means of the S1-U.

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Automatic Neighbour Relation in LTE

Manually provisioning and managing neighbor cells in traditional mobile network is challenging task and it becomes more difficult as new mobile technologies are being rolled out while 2G/3G cells already exist. For LTE, task becomes challenging for operators, as in addition of defining intra LTE neighbour relations for eNBs operator has to provision neighboring 2G, 3G, CDMA2000 cells as well.


According to 3GPP specifications, the purpose of the Automatic Neighbour Relation (ANR) functionality is to relieve the operator from the burden of manually managing Neighbor Relations (NRs). This feature would operators effort to provision 


Figure below shows ANR and its environment as per 3GPP. It shows interaction between eNB and O&M due to ANR.




The ANR function resides in the eNB and manages the conceptual Neighbour Relation Table (NRT). Located within ANR, the Neighbour Detection Function finds new neighbours and adds them to the NRT. ANR also contains the Neighbour Removal Function which removes outdated NRs. The Neighbour Detection Function and the Neighbour Removal Function are implementation specific.


An existing Neighbour cell Relation (NR) from a source cell to a target cell means that eNB controlling the source cell knows the ECGI/CGI and Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) of the target cell and has an entry in the NRT for the source cell identifying the target cell.


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How to calculete LTE peak capacity?

In this blog, I will look at the peak capacity of LTE. This is the maximum possible capacity which in reality can only be achieved in lab conditions. To understand the calculations below, one needs to be familiar with the technology (I will provide references at the end). But for now, let’s assume a 2×5 MHz LTE system. We first calculate the number of resource elements (RE) in a subframe (a subframe is 1 msec):


12 Subcarriers x 7 OFDMA Symbols x 25 Resource Blocks x 2 slots = 4,200 REs


Then we calculate the data rate assuming 64 QAM with no coding (64QAM is the highest modulation for downlink LTE):


6 bits per 64QAM symbol x 4,200 Res / 1 msec = 25.2 Mbps


The MIMO data rate is then 2 x 25.2 = 50.4 Mbps. We now have to subtract the overhead related to control signaling such as PDCCH and PBCH channels, reference & synchronization signals, and coding. These are estimated as follows:


1. PDCCH channel can take 1 to 3 symbols out of 14 in a subframe. Assuming that on average it is 2.5 symbols, the amount of overhead due to PDCCH becomes 2.5/14 = 17.86 %.


2. Downlink RS signal uses 4 symbols in every third subcarrier resulting in 16/336 = 4.76% overhead for 2×2 MIMO configuration.


3. The other channels (PSS, SSS, PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH) added together amount to ~2.6% of overhead.


The total approximate overhead for the 5 MHz channel is 17.86% + 4.76% + 2.6% = 25.22%.


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What is RTWP?

If you work with UMTS,'ve probably heard someone talk about RTWP. RTWP stands for Received Total Wideband Power. It represents a measure of UMTS technology: the total level of noise within the UMTS frequency band of any cell.


RTWP is related to uplink interference, and its monitoring helps control the call drops - mainly CS. It also has importance in the capacity management, as it provides information for the Congestion Control regarding Uplink Interference.


In UMTS, the uplink interference may vary due to several factors, such as the number of users in the cell, the Service, Connection Types and Conditions of Radio, etc..


As our goal is to always be as simple as possible, we will not delve in terms of formulas or concepts involved. We will then know the typical values, and know what must be done in case of problems.



Typical Values:


We know that RTWP can help us in checking the uplink interference, then we need to know its typical values.


In a network is not loaded, normal, acceptable RTWP Average value is generally around -104.5 and -105.5 dBm.



Values around -95 dBm indicate that the cell has some uplink interferers.


If the value is around -85 dBm, the situation is ugly, with strong uplink interferers.


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UMTS Performance Measurement - Guide to KPI for UTRAN

The radio technology behind UMTS is seen in two different varieties: Frequency duplex division (FDD also known as WCDMA) where uplink and downlink data is transmitted on two different frequency bands; and time division duplex (TDD), where uplink and downlink channels are separated using timeslots. TDD is beyond the scope of this book.


Performance measurement represents a new stage of monitoring data.In the past monitoring networks means decoding messages and filtering which messages belong to the same call.Performance measurement is an effective means of scanning the whole network at any time and systematically searching for errors, bottlenecks and suspicions behaviors. 

E-Book on Layer3 specification

This Technical Specification specifies the procedures used at the radio interface (Reference Point Um, see GSM TS 04.02) for Call Control (CC), Mobility Management (MM) and Radio Resource (RR) management.



The layer 3 procedures apply to the interface structures defined in TS GSM 04.03. They use the functions and services provided by layer 2 defined in TS GSM 04.05 and 04.06. TS GSM 04.07 gives the general description of layer 3 including procedures, messages format and error handling.

GSM and UMTS - The Creation of Global Mobile Communication

Contents:-

• GSM’s Achievements
• The Agreement on the Concepts and the Basic Parameters of the GSM Standard
• Evolving the Services and System Features to Generation 2.5 by the GSM Phase2+ Program (1993–2000)
• The UMTS Related Work of the European Commission, UMTS Taskforce, UMTS Forum and GSM Association
• The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
• Radio Aspects
• System Architecture Evolution
• The Subscriber Identity Module, Past, Present and Future
• Voice Codecs
• Security Aspects
• Short Message and Data Services
• Mobile Stations Type Approval
• Operation and Maintenance
• The Contributions of the GSM Association
• GSM and UMTS Acceptance in the World
• GSM Success Factors

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E-Book on WCDMA deployemt - Planning and Optimization Aspects

This book focuses on the knowledge needed to effectively deploy Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) networks and  provide as many answers as possible to the complex questions that planners or engineers encounter in their daily activities.

Contents:- 



1. Introduction to UMTS Networks

• UMTS Network Topology
• WCDMA Concepts
• WCDMA Network Deployment Options
• The Effects of Vendor Implementation

2. RF Planning and Optimization

• Overview of the Network Deployment Process
• Link Budgets
• Network Planning Tools
• Interference Considerations during Network Planning
• Parameter Settings and Optimization during Network Planning
• RF Optimization

3. Capacity Planning and Optimization

• Basic UMTS Traffic Engineering
• Effect of Video-Telephony and PS Data on Traffic Engineering
• Multiservice Traffic Engineering
• Capacity Planning
• Optimizing for Capacity

4. Initial Parameter Settings

• Physical Layer Parameters
• Intra-frequency Cell Reselection Parameters
• Access Parameter Recommendations
• Intra-frequency Handover Parameters

5. Service Optimization

• KPI and Layered Optimization Approach
• Voice Service Optimization
• Video-Telephony Service Optimization
• PS Data Service Optimization
• PS Data Parameters

6. Inter-System Planning and Optimization

• Inter-System Boundary Planning
• Inter-System Transitions in Connected Mode
• Inter-System Transitions in Idle Mode
• Test Setup for Inter-System Handover and Cell Reselection
• Optimizing Inter-System Parameters
• Additional Inter-System Planning and Optimization Issues

7. HSDPA

• HSDPA Concepts
• HSDPA Planning
• HSDPA Operation and Optimization
• HSDPA Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

8. Indoor Coverage

• Design Approach and Economic Considerations
• Coverage Planning and Impact on Capacity
• Optimizing Indoor Systems

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A document on LTE Advanced

LTE-Advanced is an evolution of LTE.


This Book covers following contents for LTE Advanced.



1. Generals on LTE-Advanced

• Definition of LTE-Advanced
• Major milestones for LTE-Advanced
• Requirements and targets for LTE-Advanced
• Current status of LTE-Advanced
• Bands identified for IMT-Advanced

2. Overview of LTE-Advanced Technologies

• Outlining of candidate technologies for LTE-Advanced
• LTE enhancement areas for LTE-Advanced
• Emerging technology areas for LTE-Advanced

3. More details on LTE-Advanced Component Technologies

• Spectrum and carrier aggregation
• Relay
• Enhanced DL MIMO
• UL MIMO
• CoMP

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GSM-UMTS Network migration to LTE

This paper reviews key considerations for introducing LTE technology into an existing GSM-UMTS network. LTE is an IP-based wireless technology that will drive a major network transformation as the traditional circuit-based applications and services migrate to an all-IP environment. LTE will open the door to new converged multimedia services; however, introducing complex voice and multimedia applications into a wireless network is not a trivial task. Introducing LTE will require the support and coordination between a complex ecosystem of application servers, devices/terminals and interaction with existing technologies.

Mobile phone major Nokia is planning to reduce up to 10,000 jobs globally by the end of 2013.


Nokia will reduce its Devices & Services non-IFRS operating expenses to an annualized run rate of approximately EUR 3.0 billion by the end of 2013. This is an update to Nokia's target to reduce Devices & Services non-IFRS operating expenses by more than EUR 1.0 billion for the full year 2013, compared to the full year 2010 Devices & Services non-IFRS operating expenses of EUR 5.35 billion. 


In addition to the already achieved annualized run rate saving of approximately EUR 700 million at the end of first quarter 2012, the company targets to implement approximately EUR 1.6 billion of additional cost reductions by the end of 2013.


The cut job cut is part of sharpening its strategy, improving its operating model and returning the company to profitable growth. 

IP for 4G

This book attempts to cover all the key technologies in the mobile space at a decent level of detail – between the horror of describing all the protocols and a shallow summary.


This books demystify the black art of 4th Generation wireless technology that will underpin human mobility and continue to transform the
way we interact.

Mobile Broadband - Including WiMAX and LTE

This book attempts to provide an overview of IP-OFDMA technology, commencing with cellular and IP technology for the uninitiated, while endeavoring to pave the way toward OFDMA theory and emerging technologies, such asWiMAX, LTE, and beyond. The first half of the book ends with OFDM technology, and the second half of the book is targeted at more advanced readers, providing research and development-oriented outlook by introducing OFDMA and MIMO theory and endto-end system architectures of IP- and OFDMA-based technologies.

3G Evolution: HSPA and LTE for Mobile Broadband

This very up-to-date and practical book, written by engineers working closely in 3GPP, gives insight into the newest technologies and standards adopted by 3GPP, with detailed explanations of the specific solutions chosen and their implementation in HSPA and LTE. 


The key technologies presented include multi-carrier transmission, advanced single-carrier transmission, advanced receivers, OFDM, MIMO and adaptive antenna solutions, advanced radio resource management and protocols, and different radio network architectures. Their role and use in the context of mobile broadband access in general is explained. Both a high-level overview and more detailed step-by-step explanations of HSPA and LTE implementation are given. An overview of other related systems such as TD SCDMA, CDMA2000, and WIMAX is also provided.


This is a 'must-have' resource for engineers and other professionals working with cellular or wireless broadband technologies who need to know how to utilize the new technology to stay ahead of the competition.

HSDPA radio network planning

Why HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access)

• Enhances peak download data rate from current 384 kbps up to a theoretical maximum downloading peak rate of 14.4 Mbps (10,7 Mbps with ¾ coding rate).
• Aimed for interactive and background services but streaming is also considered.
• Larger and cost efficient capacity in the radio network.
• Opportunity to deliver services - existing ones and new ones - at a lower cost of bit.
• Requires investments to R99/R4 UMTS (WCDMA) network.

FROM GSM TO LTE - AN INTRODUCTION TO MOBILE NETWORKS AND MOBILE BROADBAND

Wireless systems such as GSM, UMTS, LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth offer possibilities to keep people connected while on the move. In this flood of technology, From GSM to LTE: An Introduction to Mobile Networks and Mobile Broadband enables readers to examine and understand each technology, and how to utilise several different systems for the best results. This book contains not only a technical description of the different wireless systems available today, but also explains the rationale behind the different mechanisms and implementations; not only the 'how' but also the 'why' is focused on. Thus the advantages and also limitations of each technology become apparent.
Offering a solid introduction to major global wireless standards and comparisons of the different wireless technologies and their applications, this new edition has been updated to provide the latest directions and activities in 3GPP standardization reaching up to Release 10, and importantly includes a new chapter on LTE. The new LTE chapter covers aspects such as Mobility Management and Power Optimization, Voice over LTE, and Air Interface and Radio Network.

E-book on SC-FDMA (Single Carrier FDMA)

SC-FDMA is a new multiple access technique which Utilizes single carrier modulation, DFT-spread orthogonal frequency multiplexing, and frequency domain equalization.


It has similar structure and performance to OFDMA. SC-FDMA is currently adopted as the uplink multiple access scheme in 3GPP LTE.



A variant of SC-FDMA using code spreading is used in 3GPP2 UMB uplink.

LTE/LTE-Advanced Cellular Communication Networks

In this paper, survey of radio resource scheduling and interference mitigation in LTE is provided. Both are widely recognized as areas which can greatly affect the performance and spectrum efficiency of an LTE network. The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, a brief overview of some aspects of LTE, necessary to discuss scheduling in a meaningful way, is given. Radio resource scheduling methods proposed are discussed in Section 3.Methods based on interference mitigation to improve the QoS of cell-edge users are described in Section 4. Section 5 provides a brief discussion of LTE-Advanced, as the next step towards a 4G network.

LTE for UMTS – OFDMA and SC-FDMA Based Radio Access LTE

LTE can access a very large global market – not only GSM/UMTS operators, but also CDMA operators and potentially also fi xed network service providers. The potential market can attract a large number of companies to the market place pushing the economies of scale which enable wide scale LTE adoption with lower cost. This book is particularly designed for chip set and mobile vendors, network vendors, network operators, application developers, technology managers and regulators who would like to get a deeper understanding of LTE
technology and its capabilities.

High Speed Radio Access For Mobile Communications (HSDPA/HAUPA)

WCDMA radio access has evolved strongly alongside high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) and high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), together called ‘highspeed packet access’ (HSPA).

The HSDPA peak data rate available in the terminals is initially 1.8Mbps and will increase to 3.6 and 7.2 Mbps during 2006 and 2007, and potentially beyond 10Mbps. The HSUPA peak data rate in the initial phase is expected to be 1–2 Mbps with the second phase pushing the data rate to 3–4Mbps. 

1. HSPA standardization and background.

2. HSPA architecture and protocols

• Radio resource management architecture
• Impact of HSDPA and HSUPA on UTRAN interfaces
• Protocol states with HSDPA and HSUPA

3. HSDPA principles

• HSDPA vs Release 99 DCH
• Key technologies with HSDPA
• High-speed dedicated physical control channel
• BTS measurements for HSDPA operation
• HSDPA MAC layer operation
• L1 and RLC throughputs

4. HSUPA principles

• HSUPA vs Release 99 DCH
• Fast L1 HARQ for HSUPA
• Scheduling for HSUPA
• E-DCH transport channel and physical channels
• Physical layer procedures
• MAC layer
• Iub parameters
• UE capabilities and data rates

LG Debuts White Flavor Optimus LTE 2 Smartphone

LG is introducing an all-white flavor of the Optimus LTE 2 smartphone in South Korea. The earlier version, which came in black, had been available in the country since the latter part of May. It sold around 150,000 units in South Korea in only ten days, which makes it one of the most popular phones that LG ever released. It also carries the distinction of being the world’s first phone that offers 2 GB of RAM.


LG, which is based in Korea, seems to be enjoying some success in their home country, reportedly selling 410,000 smartphones monthly in the region, with 330,000 of them capable of LTE connectivity. Apparently, it wants to add to this success with the release of the white handset.



The specifications of the white Optimus LTE 2 are exactly the same as the black Optimus LTE 2. The Optimus LTE 2 sports a candybar form factor. Its capacitive IPS LCD boasts of True HD quality and spans 4.7 inches and has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at a pixel density of 312 ppi. It also comes with a full RGB matrix, which gives high-quality images comparable to those from the Samsung Galaxy S3’s PenTile technology. This screen supports multi-touch gestures and comes with a scratch-resistant glass, a light sensor, and a proximity sensor.

Nokia shipped 2.2 million Lumia smartphones in last quarter

Finnish handset maker Nokia shipped 2.2 million Lumia smartphones in the quarter ended in March, according to IDC.


The company is betting high on its Lumia portfolio to regain its lost position of market leader. The company has been vying with smartphone majors such as Apple and Android leader Samsung.


In order to solidify its battle with market incumbents, Nokia introduced multiple variants in its Lumia range. Meanwhile, the company plans to further expand its Lumia range by the end of third quarter of 2012.

So far, IDC said that the shipments of Lumia smartphones are relatively small. Presently, the market for Windows OS based smartphone is too small, which is expected to increase in coming years.


In comparison to the 35 million iPhones that Apple sold to customers in a single quarter, 2.2 million Lumia smartphones shipped seems too frail.


Recently, the company launched its NFC enabled Lumia 610smartphone. The smartphone is the first Microsoft Windows Phone device that INSIDE Secure, INSIDE Secure, a semiconductor solutions provider supported with MicroRead and Open NFC.

Nokia Siemens joins Global TD-LTE Initiative

Mobile broadband equipment vendor Nokia Siemens Networks has joined the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) Partner Forum. GTI advocates and promotes 4G mobile broadband using TD-LTE technology. 


As a member, Nokia Siemens Networks will engage with operators and other GTI members in steering the TD-LTE ecosystem.


Nokia Siemens has seven commercial TD-LTE deals around the world, in Asia, Middle East, South America and Europe.

"As more and more users demand high-speed connectivity to their favorite apps on-the-go, TD-LTE is gaining momentum as an efficient technology for superior mobile broadband. As one of the companies at the forefront of TD-LTE, Nokia Siemens Networks has always worked closely alongside the GTI. The company's membership further reiterates its commitment to TD-LTE as a major, global 4G mobile broadband standard," said Craig Ehrlich, chairman of GTI steering committee.

GTI technical taskforces address various issues of TD-LTE commercialization and deployment. This work includes network planning, voice solutions for TD-LTE handsets, co-existence of TDD and FDD, and multi-antenna solutions.

"We have significantly invested in advancing TD-LTE so operators can reap the benefits of delivering mobile broadband using unpaired spectrum. We have been major contributors to numerous initiatives at the GTI, and are excited about how we can provide further expertise going forward," said Tommi Uitto, head of the LTE business line at Nokia Siemens Networks.

An E-book on Beyond 3G – Bringing Networks, Terminals and the Web Together

Beyond 3G – Bringing Networks, Terminals and the Web Together - LTE, WiMAX, IMS, 4G Devices and the Mobile Web 2.0



Current 3.5G networks such as UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA 1xEvDO now deliver bandwidths of several megabits per second to individual users, and mobile access to the Internet from handheld devices and notebooks is no longer perceived as slower than a DSL or cable connection. Bandwidth and capacity demands, however, keep rising because of the increasing number of people using the networks and due to new bandwidth-intensive applications such as video streaming and mobile Internet access from notebooks. Thus, network manufacturers and network operators need to find ways to increase capacity and performance while reducing cost.



As we go beyond 3G network architectures, there is now also an accelerated evolution of core networks and, most importantly, user devices and applications. This evolution follows the trends that are already in full swing in the ‘fixed-line’ Internet world today. Circuit-switched voice telephony is being replaced by voice over IP technologies and Web 2.0 has empowered consumers to become creators and to share their own information with a worldwide audience. In the future, wireless networks will have a major impact on this trend, as mobile phones are an ideal tool for creating and consuming content. The majority of mobile phones today have advanced camera and video capabilities, and together with fast wireless access technologies, it becomes possible to share information with others instantly.

LTE Signaling - Troubleshouting and Optimization

LTE (Long-Term Evolution) of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service) is one of the latest steps in an advancing series of mobile telecommunication systems.



LTE was and is standardized in parallel to other radio access network technologies like EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM evolution) and HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access). This means that LTE is not a simple replacement of existing technologies. Rather it is expected that different kinds of radio access will coexist in operator networks.



Indeed, one of the major challenges of LTE signaling analysis will concern the analysis of handover procedures. Especially, the options for possible inter-RAT (Radio Access Technology) handovers have multiplied compared to what was possible in UMTS Release 99. However, also intra-system handover and dynamic allocation of radio resources to particular subscribers will play an important role.

Concepts of High Speed Downlink Packet Access(HSDPA)

Release 5 of the 3GPP W-CDMA specification adds HSDPA in an effort to make the system more efficient for packet data applications by increasing peak data rates and reducing packet latency. Although the theoretical peak data rate for HSDPA is approximately 14 Mb/s, the actual rates achieved will be much lower than that. The performance of HSDPA depends largely on the cell size. In macro cell applications, HSDPA may improve on W-CDMA data capacity only by perhaps 30 percent, with sustainable peak data rates for one user of maybe 1 Mb/s. But in micro and pico cell deployments where co-channel interference is minimal, HSDPA is capable of delivering much higher performance over basic W-CDMA. The exact improvement is very hard to predict since it depends on actual channel conditions and the real-time capabilities of the BTS–neither of which are standardized. However, some credible estimates for Release 5 suggest a cell capacity of up to 3 Mb/s rising to 5 Mb/s in Release 6, which includes a more advanced UE receiver and improved BTS packet scheduling. Peak user data rates might reach 3.6 Mb/s for short periods of time but are unlikely to be sustainable.



The result of adding HSDPA to W-CDMA is similar to that of adding E-GPRS to GSM: that is, the improvement in peak data rates and the overall increase in system capacity,particularly in small cells. Network operators are pushing for quick adoption of HSDPA, which means that design and test engineers require suitable test equipment to enable them to develop and test new HSDPA features in the BTS and UE.

White paper on WCDMA Evolved - HSDPA

As the penetration and use of packet-data services increases and new services are introduced, end-users will require higher data rates and improved quality of service (QoS). Operators will also require more capacity in their systems.


WCDMA 3GPP Release 99 provides data rates of 384 kbps for wide area coverage and up to 2 Mbps for hot-spot areas, which is sufficient for most existing packet-data applications. WCDMA 3GPP Release 5 extends the specification with HSDPA.


The term “WCDMA Evolved” describes the evolution of WCDMA addressing both operators need for efficiency and end-users demand for enhanced experience and simplicity. While the introductory phase is passed, end-user experience and enhanced system throughput is the focus of the first step of WCDMA Evolved i.e. HSDPA – High Speed Downlink Packet Access. Later, features to further enhance the uplink with improved coverage for high data rates, improved uplink capacity and reduced uplink delay will be part of the second step within WCDMA Evolved. Possible future steps are currently discussed and investigated within 3GPP.

UMTS NETWORK PLANNING, OPTIMIZATION, AND INTER-OPERATION WITH GSM

The present book provides a detailed description of the WCDMA air interface, the detailed radio planning, and the optimization and capacity improvement mechanisms for the FDD-mode, the QoS classes, and the end-to-end parameter interworking mechanisms, as well as an adequate coverage of the terrestrial and the core network design, dimensioning, and end-to-end data transfer optimization mechanisms based on the TCP protocol.


Contents:-

• UMTS System and Air Interface Architecture
• Multipath and Path Loss Modeling
• Formulation and Analysis of the Coverage-capacity and Multi-user Interference Parameters in UMTS
• Radio Site Planning, Dimensioning, and Optimization
• The Layered and Multi-carrier Radio Access Design
• Utilization of GSM Measurements for UMTS Site Overlay
• Power Control and Handover Procedures and Optimization
• Radio Resource and Performance Management
• Means to Enhance Radio Coverage and Capacity
• Co-planning and Inter-operation with GSM
• AMR Speech Codecs: Operation and Performance
• The Terrestrial Radio Access Network Design
• The Core Network Technologies, Design, and Dimensioning
• UMTS QoS Classes, Parameters, and Inter-workings
• The TCP Protocols, Issues, and Performance Tuning over Wireless Links
• RAN Performance Root Cause Analysis and Trending Techniques for Effective Troubleshooting and Optimization

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Understanding UMTS Radio Network Modelling, Planning and Automated Optimisation

The 3rd Generation (3G) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access network relies upon novel, more flexible and efficient communication methods, a consequence of which is that novel modelling and planning approaches become of prime importance to the network’s rollout success.


Contents:-

• Modern Approaches to Radio Network Modelling and Planning
• Introduction to the UTRA FDD Radio Interface
• Spectrum and Service Aspects
• Trends for the Near Future
• MODELLING
• Theoretical Models for UMTS Radio Networks
• Business Modelling Goals and Methods
• Fundamentals of Business Planning for Mobile Networks
• Fundamentals of Network Characteristics
• Fundamentals of Practical Radio Access Network Design
• Compatibility of UMTS Systems
• Network Design – Specialised Aspects
• Introduction to Optimisation of the UMTS Radio Network
• Introduction to Optimisation of the UMTS Radio Network
• Theory of Automated Network Optimisation
• Automatic Network Design
• Auto-tuning of RRM Parameters in UMTS Networks
• UTRAN Transmission Infrastructure Planning and Optimisation

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Self-Organizing Networks (SON) in 3GPP Long Term Evolution

Self-Organizing Networks (SON) in 3GPP Long Term Evolution



As every mobile network, LTE (Long Term Evolution) system also needs to be managed. Since LTE is an evolvement of UMTS, the management should also evolve from UMTS. There is a trend to simplify the management by auto-configuration and auto-optimization. However, the complexity of LTE system also place new demands on the Operations and Maintenances of the network. Self-Organizing Networks (SON) is seen as one of the promising area for an operator to save operational expenditures. SON is therefore currently discussed in 3GPP standardisation. This paper provides some background on SON principles, introduces different architectures that are considered and describes some exemplary procedures.


Main Drivers for SON:-

An E-book on Long Term Evolution (LTE)

LTE targets requirements of next generation networks including downlink peak rates of at least
100Mbit/s, uplink rates of 50 Mbit/s and RAN (Radio Access Network) round-trip times of less than 10ms.LTE supports flexible carrier bandwidths, from 1.4MHz up to 20MHz as well as both FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) and TDD (Time Division Duplex).



LTE further aspires to improve considerably spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services,
making use of new spectrum and refarmed spectrum opportunities, and better integration with other open standards. The resulting architecture is referred to as EPS (Evolved Packet System) and comprises the E-UTRAN (Evolved UTRAN) on the access side and EPC (Evolved Packet Core) via the System Architecture Evolution concept (SAE), on the core network side.

EDGE, HSPA, LTE - The mobile broadband Advantage

This paper discusses the evolution of EDGE, HSPA enhancements, 3GPP LTE, the capabilities
of these technologies, and their position relative to other primary competing technologies.


The following are some of the important observations and conclusions of this paper:



1. GSM/UMTS has an overwhelming global position in terms of subscribers, deployment, and services. Its success will marginalize other wide-area wireless technologies.
2. GSM/UMTS will comprise the overwhelming majority of subscribers over the next five to ten years, even as new wireless technologies are adopted.

3. HSPA Evolution provides a strategic performance roadmap advantage for incumbent GSM/UMTS operators. HSPA+ (in 5+5 MHz radio allocations) with 2x2 MIMO,successive interference cancellation, and 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) is more spectrally efficient than Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) Wave 2 with 2x2 MIMO and Evolved Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision B.
4. LTE specifications are being completed, and the 3GPP OFDMA approach matches or exceeds the capabilities of any other OFDMA system.
5. OFDMA approaches may provide higher spectral efficiency and higher peak rates.However, HSPA+ systems using advanced techniques are expected to nearly match the performance of highly optimized OFDMA-based approaches such as LTE in 5+5 megahertz (MHz) radio allocations.

LTE Overview & Deployment Consideration- Qualcomm

Contents:-


1. Introduction

• Overview of LTE
• Architecture
• Downlink
• Uplink

2. LTE Deployment Considerations

• Spectrum and Overlay
• Emissions and Load Balancing
• Coverage
• Link Budget
• Voice

MIMO in LTE Operation an Application Note

This application note will help you to understand MIMO radio operation as it applies to LTE. MIMO is also know as Spatial Multiplexing is one of several multiple antenna techniques that are being implemented in LTE; however, this application note will primarily focus on MIMO implementations.

Table of Contents:-


1 Introduction
2 Input & Output
3 The MIMO channel
4 Single User & Multi User MIMO
5 Single User & Multi User MIMO in Uplink
6 LTE Transmitter and Receiver Design and Test
7 Receiver Design & Test
8 Transmitter Design & Test
9 A Systematic Approach to Verifying Transmitter Quality


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Half the world will have LTE by 2017 – Ericsson

Swedish vendor predicts 15-fold increase in mobile data traffic from 2011-2017; mobile broadband subscriptions to hit 5 billion.



Global mobile data traffic will grow 15-fold to over 8,000 petabytes per month between 2011 and 2017, by which date it will be split evenly between mobile PCs/tablets and smartphones for the first time, according to a new report from Ericsson.


"We predict around 9 billion mobile subscriptions in 2017," of which 5 billion will be mobile broadband subscriptions, said Elin Pettersson, strategic marketing at Ericsson, presenting the Swedish vendor's latest traffic and market report in London on Wednesday.

As of the first quarter of this year mobile subscriptions worldwide numbered around 6.2 billion, with 1.1 billion being mobile broadband subscriptions, according to Ericsson, which defines mobile broadband as cdma2000 EV-DO, HSPA, LTE, mobile WiMAX and TD-SCDMA. It counts mobile subscriptions for end-user devices connected to cellular networks, but not machine-to-machine (M2M) connections.


By 2017 85% of the population will have access to 3G mobile coverage, Pettersson said, while 50% will have LTE coverage.


"If you have access to a device then you will have access to the Internet," she said.

White paper on LTE Protocol Overview

Long term evolution (LTE) is the next step forward in cellular 3G services. LTE technology is a based on a 3GPP standard that provides for a downlink speed of up to 150 megabits per second (Mbps) and an uplink speed of up to 50Mbps. Fixed wireless and wired standards are already approaching or achieving 100 Mbps or faster, and LTE is a way for cellular communications to operate at that high data rate.


This paper provides an introduction to how the LTE protocol stack operates. Because the final 3GPP specification will cover tens of thousands of pages, this paper touches only on the highest levels of protocol operation. The paper discusses the history and application requirements that determine the functions and priorities of LTE, examines the protocol stack in terms of the time domain and in terms of information moving through the stack, and finally discusses more specialized aspects of the Standard such as scheduling and quality of service, management and control functions, handovers and power save operation.

Contents:-

• LTE Architecture
• Life of an LTE Packet
• LTE Protocol Operation
• QoS Architecture
• Handover and Roaming
• Power Save Operation

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LCS Architecture for LTE EPS

In the LCS architecture, an Evolved SMLC is directly attached to the MME. The objectives of this evolution is to support location of an IMS emergency call, avoid impacts to a location session due to an inter-eNodeB handover, make use of an Evolved and support Mobile originated location request (MO-LR) and mobile terminated location request MT-LR services.





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Carrier Aggregation in LTE

To meet LTE-Advanced requirements, support of wider transmission bandwidths is required than the 20 MHz bandwidth specified in 3GPP Release 8/9. The preferred solution to this is carrier aggregation.


It is of the most distinct features of 4G LTE-Advanced. Carrier aggregation allows expansion of effective bandwidth delivered to a user terminal through concurrent utilization of radio resources across multiple carriers. Multiple component carriers are aggregated to form a larger overall transmission bandwidth.

Verizon may reduce 1,700 jobs

Verizon Communications may to cut its workforce by 1,700 people, or almost 1 percent.Recently, T-Mobile announced its plans to cut 900 jobs.The job reduction will be through a buyout offer for technicians and call-center employees.


The planned job cut is part of Verizon's vision to reduce costs in its declining traditional telephone business.

Verizon could resort to involuntary layoffs if too few employees accept the voluntary package.


Verizon has about 192,000 workers in total. The mobile major has been in talks for months with unions for labor contracts covering 45,000 employees, or about half its wireline business workforce. 


The company said that it made the offers because of a workforce surplus in certain parts of its wireline business.

Germany's T-Mobile, the fourth-largest wireless telecommunications company in the United States, will cut 900 jobs as part of a company-wide restructuring. 

Single Carrier FDMA in LTE

Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) is a promising technique for high data rate uplink communication and has been adopted by 3GPP for it next generation cellular system, called Long-Term Evolution (LTE). SC-FDMA is a modified form of OFDM with similar throughput performance and complexity. This is often viewed as DFT-coded OFDM where time-domain data symbols are transformed to frequency-domain by a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) before going through the standard OFDM modulation.





Contents:-

• Introduction
• 3GPP Long Term Evolution
• Uplink Transmission
• Why OFDM is most favored for broadband systems
• SC-FDMA Modulation
• OFDM
• OFDM to SC-FDMA
• Frequency Spread OFDM
• Subcarrier Mapping
• Single Carrier Modulation
• PAPR analysis

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Traffic Management in LTE (White paper by Qualcomm)

The purpose of this paper is to outline a host of options and alternatives for operators to meet data traffic demand and manage network congestion. This paper provides an overview of various innovations in 3G networks such as the enhancements in connection management, dynamic QoS Control and SIPTO techniques to maximize data capacity within the current macro networks to comprehensively meet data traffic demand. The paper also provides an overview of microcells, picocells, femtos and Wi-Fi access points as a means to offload data traffic from macro networks and discusses the applicability of each of the access points for various deployment scenarios.

LTE Call Flow- Voice over LTE

"Voice over LTE via Generic Access Network, or VoLGA for short, which is defined by the VoLGA forum2. Here, the concept is to connect the already existing Mobile Switching Centers to the LTE network via a gateway. As no fallback to a legacy network is required, call setup times are not increased and the user's quality of experience is consistent with that of the 2G or 3G voice environment.

A white paper on Multi-RAT Traffic Steering-LTE

Simultaneous deployment of multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs) and multiple bands of the same RATs in a given coverage area, call for an efficient utilization of the overall available resources to carry the complete offered user traffic, and to provide a superior user experience.



Why Traffic Steering? 


Traffic steering aims at distributing the offered load in an optimal manner across different RATs and bands in order to fulfill the desires of both the network operators and the end-users. This concise white paper presents the fundamental concepts involved in the design of generic traffic steering algorithms, and provides a brief description of some primitive traffic steering algorithms explaining the intuition behind them.

Uplink Performance Analysis in LTE

The consideration of realistic up-link inter-cell interference is essential for the overall performance testing of future cellular systems, and in particular for the evaluation of the radio resource management (RRM) algorithms. Most beyond-3G communication systems employ orthogonal multiple access in up-link (SC-FDMA in LTE and OFDMA in WiMAX), and additionally rely on frequency-selective RRM (scheduling) algorithms. This makes the task of accurate modeling of uplink interference both crucial and non-trivial. Traditional methods for its modeling (e.g., via additive white Gaussian noise interference sources) are therefore proving to be ineffective to realistically model the uplink interference in the next generation cellular systems.

GSM, EDGE & LTE Interworking – What is GELTE?

GSM, EDGE & LTE Interworking – What is GELTE? 

• Work items for the evolution of the 3GPP radio-access technology (RAT) towards a high-data-rate, low-latency and packet-optimized radio access on-going
• Many GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks deployed worldwide
• Need to provide continuity of service across an operator’s network, no matter which RAT is in use
• At the start of the E-UTRAN work on interworking with GERAN networks was foreseen
• General requirements for the co-existence and interworking between Long Term Evolution (LTE) and existing 3GPP RATs (including GERAN) were captured in TR 25.913.

Video Tutorial on 4G LTE and IMS KPI Performance Reporting

The use of multiple vendor technologies and an exponential rise in network elements creates new challenges in gaining end-to-end visibility of performance and availability for 4G LTE and IMS networks and services. In this whiteboard video, SevOne's Senior Systems Engineer, Matt Goldberg, explains 4G LTE and IMS and the KPIs you should monitor across all of the components in the data path including: eNodeB, PGW, SGW, MME, PCRF, CSCF, HSS, and IMS.

LTE handset shipment to reach 27.9 mn in 2012

 4G LTE capable handsets are becoming ever more popular as operators and device manufacturers compete in LTE ready markets. The 4G LTE mobile handset market is forecast by Visiongain to record strong and continuous growth over the next decade.


In its latest report The 4G LTE Mobile Handset Market 2012-2017 the research firm finds that mass deployment of 3G networks has accelerated the adoption of smart devices, conditioning users to access wireless data services on a daily basis.

The growing strain on current 3G networks has driven operators to start deploying 4G networks in order to cope with future demand. As a result, LTE has emerged as the prime candidate for 4G networks, prompting mass commitment and adoption on a global level.


The number of LTE subscribers is set for dynamic growth in the next five years, as operators build and trial LTE in order to cope with the massive amounts of data traffic which is steadily increasing on their networks. The successful launch of a number of LTE networks in the US, Asia and Europe is driving ever greater adoption of 4G services. Visiongain calculates that there will be 27.9 million 4G LTE handsets shipped globally in 2012.


Furthermore, governments worldwide have held 4G spectrum auctions or are planning to in the coming years, and many Tier 1 mobile operators are building, trialling and deploying commercial LTE services. LTE offers immense scope for the growth of the mobile value chain.

Overview of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution Physical Layer

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the next step forward in cellular 3G services. Expected in the 2008 time frame, LTE is a 3GPP standard that provides for an uplink speed of up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps) and a downlink speed of up to 100 Mbps. LTE will bring many technical benefits to cellular networks. Bandwidth will be scalable from 1.25 MHz to 20 MHz. This will suit the needs of different network operators that have different bandwidth allocations, and also allow operators to provide different services based on spectrum. LTE is also expected to improve spectral efficiency in 3G networks, allowing carriers to provide more data and voice services over a given bandwidth.

This technical white paper provides an overview of the LTE physical layer (PHY), including technologies that are new to cellular such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) data transmission.