An article written by me for the Mobile Europe magazine where I try and explain LTE-A without going in technical details. This also includes the state of market on who is doing what.
Showing posts with label LTE-Advanced. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LTE-Advanced. Show all posts
Sunday 18 November 2012
Tuesday 16 October 2012
Extended Access Barring (EAB) in Release 11 to avoid MTC overload
M2M is going to be big. With the promise of 50 Billion devices by 2020, the networks are already worried about the overloading due to signalling by millions of devices occurring at any given time. To counter this, they have been working on avoiding overloading of the network for quite some time as blogged about here.
The feature to avoid this overload is known as Extended Access Barring (EAB). For E-UTRAN, in Rel-10, a partial solution was implemented and a much better solution has been implemented in Rel-11. For GERAN a solution was implemented in Rel-10. The following presentation gives a high level overview of EAB for E-UTRAN and GERAN.
In Rel-11, a new System Information Block (SIB 14) has been added that is used specifically for EAB. Whereas in Rel-10, the UE would still send the RRCConnectionRequest, in Rel-11, the UE does not even need to do that, thereby congesting the Random Access messages.
The following is from RRC 36.331 (2012-09)
***
***
Here is my attempt to explain the difference in overload control mechanism in Rel-8, Rel-10 and Rel-11. Please note that not actual message names are used.
As usual, happy to receive feedback, comments, suggestions, etc.
The feature to avoid this overload is known as Extended Access Barring (EAB). For E-UTRAN, in Rel-10, a partial solution was implemented and a much better solution has been implemented in Rel-11. For GERAN a solution was implemented in Rel-10. The following presentation gives a high level overview of EAB for E-UTRAN and GERAN.
In Rel-11, a new System Information Block (SIB 14) has been added that is used specifically for EAB. Whereas in Rel-10, the UE would still send the RRCConnectionRequest, in Rel-11, the UE does not even need to do that, thereby congesting the Random Access messages.
The following is from RRC 36.331 (2012-09)
***
– SystemInformationBlockType14
The IE SystemInformationBlockType14 contains the EAB parameters.
SystemInformationBlockType14 information element
-- ASN1START
SystemInformationBlockType14-r11
::= SEQUENCE {
eab-Param-r11 CHOICE {
eab-Common-r11 EAB-Config-r11,
eab-PerPLMN-List-r11 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..6)) OF
EAB-ConfigPLMN-r11
} OPTIONAL, -- Need OR
lateNonCriticalExtension OCTET
STRING OPTIONAL, -- Need OP
...
}
EAB-ConfigPLMN-r11 ::= SEQUENCE {
eab-Config-r11 EAB-Config-r11 OPTIONAL -- Need OR
}
EAB-Config-r11 ::= SEQUENCE {
eab-Category-r11 ENUMERATED
{a, b, c, spare},
eab-BarringBitmap-r11 BIT
STRING (SIZE (10))
}
-- ASN1STOP
SystemInformationBlockType14 field descriptions
|
eab-BarringBitmap
Extended access class barring for AC
0-9. The first/ leftmost bit is for AC 0, the second bit is for AC
1, and so on.
|
eab-Category
Indicates the category of UEs for which EAB applies. Value a
corresponds to all UEs, value b corresponds to the UEs that are neither in their HPLMN nor in a
PLMN that is equivalent to it, and value c
corresponds to the UEs that are neither in the PLMN listed as
most preferred PLMN of the country where the UEs are roaming in the
operator-defined PLMN selector list on the USIM, nor in their HPLMN nor in a
PLMN that is equivalent to their HPLMN, see TS 22.011 [10].
|
eab-Common
The EAB parameters applicable for
all PLMN(s).
|
eab-PerPLMN-List
The EAB parameters per PLMN, listed in the same
order as the PLMN(s) occur in plmn-IdentityList
in SystemInformationBlockType1.
|
Here is my attempt to explain the difference in overload control mechanism in Rel-8, Rel-10 and Rel-11. Please note that not actual message names are used.
As usual, happy to receive feedback, comments, suggestions, etc.
Labels:
GSM,
LTE,
LTE-Advanced,
M2M,
Release 10,
Release 11,
Signalling,
Technical Details
Friday 5 October 2012
3D-Beamforming and 3D-MIMO
When I did the summary from Rel-12 workshop, one of the feature proposed by many companies was the feature on 3D MIMO/Beamforming. Here is a quick introduction from different presentations.
A presentation by China mobile lists the motivations and Challenges is embedded below:
A presentation by China mobile lists the motivations and Challenges is embedded below:
Labels:
China Mobile,
LTE-Advanced,
MIMO,
Release 12
Friday 28 September 2012
Wednesday 19 September 2012
"No-Edge Networks" and Multi-Stream Aggregation (MSA)
The following is from Huawei press release:
The LTE-Advanced Multi-Stream Aggregation (MSA) technology standard is capable of increasing data rates at the cell's edge. A key component of Huawei's "No-Edge Networks" concept, MSA technology coordinates macro cells to improve user data rates at the cell's edge and also between heterogeneous networking scenarios to improve peak rates and simplify mobile management to ensure a consistent user experience.
With the development of mobile broadband, operators are mostly concerned about user experience. With mobile coverage, should able to enjoy the same quality of services no matter where they are. However, with mobile communication systems, the most challenging issue is system performance at the cell's edge.
The concept behind Huawei's MSA technology is that the user is always able to receive downlink data and aggregate downlink data streams from a cell or cell group with the best signal quality. A similar method applies to uplink data, where the user always transmits uplink data to a cell or cell group with the best signal quality. The uplink data streams are aggregated on the network side.
Huawei's MSA technology reduces the number of handovers, lowering device power transmission and increasing device standby time. These advantages are in accordance with the concept of delivering a "borderless network" and "green" wireless communications. It's expected that MSA technology will improve system performance at the cell's edge by almost 30%.
MSA technology is especially suitable for macro-micro HetNets. In hotspot area, macro cells provide basic LTE coverage while the micro cells provides capacity enhancement. The use of MSA technology allows users to receive controlled signaling from macro cells and services from best quality HetNet cell. Users at any location within the network can then enjoy fast and stable data services with ultra broadband, zero waiting and ubiquitous connectivity. MSA technology brings users high speeds and high quality as well as a simple service experience.
The advanced MSA technology proposed by Huawei is set to become a key feature of the evolution to 3GPP LTE-Advanced standards. Huawei has contributed 293 core standards to the 3GPP LTE/LTE-Advanced standardization process, 20% of the global total and the most of any other company.
I wasnt able to find much information but there is this couple of slides that were submitted in Rel-12 workshop that is embedded below:
What do you think of this feature?
The LTE-Advanced Multi-Stream Aggregation (MSA) technology standard is capable of increasing data rates at the cell's edge. A key component of Huawei's "No-Edge Networks" concept, MSA technology coordinates macro cells to improve user data rates at the cell's edge and also between heterogeneous networking scenarios to improve peak rates and simplify mobile management to ensure a consistent user experience.
With the development of mobile broadband, operators are mostly concerned about user experience. With mobile coverage, should able to enjoy the same quality of services no matter where they are. However, with mobile communication systems, the most challenging issue is system performance at the cell's edge.
The concept behind Huawei's MSA technology is that the user is always able to receive downlink data and aggregate downlink data streams from a cell or cell group with the best signal quality. A similar method applies to uplink data, where the user always transmits uplink data to a cell or cell group with the best signal quality. The uplink data streams are aggregated on the network side.
Huawei's MSA technology reduces the number of handovers, lowering device power transmission and increasing device standby time. These advantages are in accordance with the concept of delivering a "borderless network" and "green" wireless communications. It's expected that MSA technology will improve system performance at the cell's edge by almost 30%.
MSA technology is especially suitable for macro-micro HetNets. In hotspot area, macro cells provide basic LTE coverage while the micro cells provides capacity enhancement. The use of MSA technology allows users to receive controlled signaling from macro cells and services from best quality HetNet cell. Users at any location within the network can then enjoy fast and stable data services with ultra broadband, zero waiting and ubiquitous connectivity. MSA technology brings users high speeds and high quality as well as a simple service experience.
The advanced MSA technology proposed by Huawei is set to become a key feature of the evolution to 3GPP LTE-Advanced standards. Huawei has contributed 293 core standards to the 3GPP LTE/LTE-Advanced standardization process, 20% of the global total and the most of any other company.
I wasnt able to find much information but there is this couple of slides that were submitted in Rel-12 workshop that is embedded below:
What do you think of this feature?
Labels:
HetNets,
Huawei,
LTE-Advanced,
Release 12
Tuesday 11 September 2012
New Carrier-Aggregation Proposed Bands
Carrier Aggregation (CA) the promised feature of LTE-A that will make it compatible to IMT-A is not fully exploited in Rel-10. There are only 2 bands supported for CA in Rel-10 and the same for Rel-11. The following are the bands for Rel-10
And the following for Rel-11
Unfortunately these are not enough for all the operators launching LTE/LTE-A. As a result there is currently a study on lots of other bands ongoing within 3GPP. Here is my understanding of the bands that would be needed and the region where they would be needed. Interested in knowing if there are other operators/regions where other bands need to be included.
Labels:
Carrier Aggregation,
LTE-Advanced,
Release 10,
Release 11,
Spectrum
Sunday 12 August 2012
LTE, LTE-A and Testing
Some months back R&S held a technical forum where there were many interesting talks and presentations. They have now uploaded video of all these presentations that can be viewed on their website (no embedding allowed).
Available to be viewed here.
Labels:
LTE,
LTE-Advanced,
Rohde and Schwarz,
Technical Details,
Testing,
Videos
Monday 30 July 2012
Heterogeneous Networks 3G and 4G / LTE-A
There is an excellent presentation and video on Hetnets by Qualcomm that is embedded below:
Labels:
HetNets,
LTE-Advanced,
Qualcomm,
Videos
Monday 18 June 2012
3GPP Release-12 and beyond
3GPP Recently held a workshop on "Release 12 and Onward" to identify common requirements for future 3GPP radio access technologies. The goal of the workshop is to investigate what are the main changes that could be brought forward to evolve RAN toward Release 12 and onward. It is recommended that presentations in the workshop include views on:
- Requirements
- Potential technologies
- Technology roadmap for Releases 12, 13 and after
The discussions from the workshop should be used to define the work plan for Release 12 and onward in TSG-RAN.
The list of presentations and links, etc. are below and I have also embedded the Summary and Draft report, both of which can be downloaded from 3GPP website or slideshare. Here is a list of different topics and the presentations that covered them:
AdHoc Networks
AdHoc Networks - RWS-120035
Antennas, Beamforming, Transmitters, Receivers
3D-beamforming - RWS-120002
Vertical sectorization/3D beamforming via AAS - RWS-120005
Advanced receivers and joint Tx/Rx optimisation - RWS-120005
Network assistance for IC receivers - RWS-120005
Support of Active Antenna Systems - RWS-120006
Advanced transmitter beamforming - RWS-120010
Advanced receiver cancellation - RWS-120010
Vertical and 3D beamforming - RWS-120011
MIMO Enhancements - RWS-120014
New antenna configurations and 3D MIMO - RWS-120014
UE AAS (Active Antenna System) [Detailed] - RWS-120015 / RWS-120049
Cloud of Antennas (CoA) Concept - RWS-120016
Support of Massive MIMO Technology - RWS-120016
Full Dimension MIMO (FD-MIMO) System [Detailed] - RWS-120021 / RWS-120046
Cloud-RAN: Benefits and Drawbacks - RWS-120021 / RWS-120046
Further Enhanced Receivers - RWS-120022
Multiple antenna evolution - RWS-120025
3D beamforming - RWS-120026
Vision of 3D MIMO - RWS-120029
Massive MIMO & 3D MIMO - RWS-120034
Potential MIMO Enhancements - RWS-120035
Advanced Antenna Technology - RWS-120035
DL MIMO Enhancement - RWS-120037
Performance Requirement for 8Rx at eNB - RWS-120037
UE Receiver Enhancements - RWS-120039
DL MU-MIMO Enhancement - RWS-120039
Enhancement of MIMO, CoMP - RWS-120040
Advanced MIMO - RWS-120040
MIMO and COMP - RWS-120041
Role of Advanced Receivers - RWS-120041
Advanced Interference Handling - RWS-120041
Interference Suppression Subframes (ISS) and IRC Receiver [Detailed] - RWS-120051
Applications (Apps)
Efficiency for diverse small data applications - RWS-120011
Device Service/Application Awareness - RWS-120018
I-Net:”I”-centric mobile network design philosophy - RWS-120024
Application Aware Comm - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
Backhaul and Relay
Relay backhaul enhancement - RWS-120011
LTE Backhaul - RWS-120013
Relay - RWS-120025
CoMP, backhaul and X2 interface - RWS-120027 / RWS-120048
Mobile Relay And Relay Backhaul Enhancement - RWS-120029
Baseband
Baseband resource pooling and virtualization - RWS-120011
Capacity and Coverage
Higher system capacity - RWS-120010
Capacity for Mobile Broadband: Requirements and Candidate technologies - RWS-120012
Increase N/W capacity by 1000 times - RWS-120020
Coverage Enhancement - RWS-120037
Capacity Enhancement - RWS-120038 / RWS-120047
Cell-edge Throughput Improvement - RWS-120038 / RWS-120047
Carrier Aggregation, Flexible Bandwidths and Multiflow
LTE multiflow / Inter-site CA - RWS-120002
LTE/HSDPA Carrier Aggregation - RWS-120002
Multiflow Enhancements - RWS-120002
Multi-Stream Aggregation - RWS-120006
Provide mechanisms for Flexible Bandwidth Exploitation - RWS-120008
Carrier aggregation enhancement - RWS-120019
Inter-eNB Carrier Aggregation - RWS-120021 / RWS-120046
Evolution of Carrier Aggregation - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
CA of Alternative Spectra - RWS-120042
Cells, Carriers, C/U Planes
C/U plane split & Phantom cell - RWS-120010
Phantom cell by single/separate nodes - RWS-120010
Phantom cell: Other topics - RWS-120010
New Carrier Type for Primary Component Carrier - RWS-120011
Flexible/Reconfigurable Cells - RWS-120023
New carrier-type (NCT) enhancements - RWS-120026
Amorphous cells - RWS-120034
New Carrier Types - RWS-120035
Non-Orthogonal Access - RWS-120039
Dynamic Area Construction for UE - RWS-120040
Cognitive Radio
Cognitive radio - RWS-120034
Cognitive Networking - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
Coordinated MultiPoint (CoMP)
CoMP Enhancements - RWS-120014
CoMP/ICIC enhancement - RWS-120019
CoMP Enhancements - RWS-120023
CoMP enhancements - RWS-120026
CoMP Technologies - RWS-120027 / RWS-120048
Enhanced CoMP - RWS-120029
Potential CoMP Enhancements - RWS-120035
CoMP - RWS-120037
CoMP Enhancement for Indoor Environment - RWS-120040
Overhauling DL CoMP - RWS-120042
Device, Handsets, UE's
Additional UE Enhancements - RWS-120018
Coordination : Multi-mode UE - RWS-120024
D2D / Device-to-Device
Device-to-Device - RWS-120003
LTE Device to Device - Proximity Based Services - RWS-120004
LTE device to device - RWS-120007
LTE direct communication - RWS-120007
Device-to-Device Communications - RWS-120014
D2D Discovery/Communication - RWS-120016
3GPP Proximity Services (ProSe) / D2D - RWS-120022
Device-to-Device communications - RWS-120026
Device-to-Device communication - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
Data Rates and Throughputs
Higher data rate and user-experienced throughput - RWS-120010
Fairness of user throughput - RWS-120010
Deployments
LTE in Local Area Deployments & Enhancements - RWS-120004
Energy Efficient Local Area Deployments - RWS-120004
Scaling for Mass Deployment - RWS-120008
Flexible and cost-efficient NW deployments - RWS-120010
Considerations on dense NW deployment - RWS-120019
Energy Consumption, Efficiency and Savings
Energy efficiency - RWS-120005
Reduce energy consumption - RWS-120008
Energy Saving - RWS-120014
UE Power Saving - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
NB Power Saving - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
Energy Saving Enhancements with CoMP - RWS-120040
Energy Saving with Centralized eNB - RWS-120040
Herogeneous Networks (HetNets)
Optimisation of Het Nets performance - RWS-120005
Improved Support for Heterogeneous Networks - RWS-120006
Network hyper-densification: LTE HetNet2.0 - RWS-120007
Multi-layer HetNet Deployments - RWS-120016
HetNet for HSPA - RWS-120017
HetNet Enhancements - RWS-120023
HetNet Mobility - RWS-120029
Small cells & HetNet - RWS-120031
HetNet - RWS-120037
HetNet Enhancements for HeNB - RWS-120040
HSDPA / HSUPA / HSPA+ Enhancements
HSPA UL Enhancements - RWS-120003
Uplink Enhancements - RWS-120006
UMTS evolution: enhancing CS voice on DCH - RWS-120007
High Speed Packet Access - RWS-120012
HSPA RRM enhancement - RWS-120024
HSPA+ further evolution - RWS-120034
Interworking (HSPA, LTE)
Coordination : HSPA/LTE e-interworking - RWS-120024
Inter-RAT Coordination/CA - RWS-120037
Local-Area Access (Small Cells)
Local-Area Access - RWS-120003
LTE in Local Area Deployments & Enhancements - RWS-120004
LTE Local Area Enhancements - RWS-120004
LTE Local Area Enhancement Areas - RWS-120004
enhanced Local Area (eLA) - RWS-120010
Local Area Enhancements - RWS-120022
Improved Local Area Mobility - RWS-120022
LTE
LTE for Nomadic and Fixed Use - RWS-120018
E-PDCCH enhancement - RWS-120019
Efficiency : Paging Optimization - RWS-120024
LTE Hotspot and Indoor Enhancements (LTE-Hi)
Hotspot and Indoor Enhancements (LTE-Hi) - RWS-120006
Hotspot/indoor Scenario (LTE-Hi) - RWS-120025
Indoor & Hotspot Enhancements (LTE-Hi) [Detailed] - RWS-120029
Possible Study Items for Indoor Environment - RWS-120040
M2M / Machine Type Communications (MTC)
Machine Type Communications - RWS-120003
Improved Support for MTC - RWS-120006
Machine-to-Machine: The Internet of Things - RWS-120014
Machine Type Communications: a new ecosystem - RWS-120014
Wireless MTC and RAN optimizations for MTC - RWS-120016
Low-Cost MTC UE - RWS-120017
MTC + eDDA (enhanced Diverse data application) - RWS-120019
Further Enhancements to Support MTC - RWS-120023
MTC - RWS-120025
MTC enhancements - RWS-120026
M2M - RWS-120029
MTC and migration of traffic from 2G - RWS-120031
Machine Type Communications enhancements - RWS-120034
Machine Type Communications - RWS-120035
Extension triggered by growing M2M traffic - RWS-120038 / RWS-120047
LTE-based M2M - RWS-120041
MBMS / eMBMS
eMBMS Enhancements - RWS-120007
eMBMS - RWS-120013
UHD Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
Mesh Networks
Mesh Networks - RWS-120018
Network Density
Network density: Scenarios - RWS-120010
Network Architecture and Operation
Easier network operation, tolerance to failure - RWS-120005
System Architecture - RWS-120032
Evolution of LTE Networks - RWS-120034
Positioning
Positioning Enhancements - RWS-120006
Public Safety
Public Safety - RWS-120030
Operation of Public Safety System via LTE - RWS-120031
Public safety’s future in LTE [Detailed] - RWS-120033
Self Organising Networks (SON) and Minimisation of Drive Testing (MDT)
SON Evolution - RWS-120002
Enhanced MDT - RWS-120011
Network Self-Optimisation - RWS-120014
SON and MDT - RWS-120017
HetNet SON - RWS-120029
MDT & Energy Saving - RWS-120029
Autonomous Interference Coordination - RWS-120029
Large scale multi-layer centralized cooperative radio - RWS-120034
MDT Enhancement - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
SON Enhancements - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
MDT and eDDA - RWS-120041
Small Cells (HNB/HeNB)
UMTS evolution: small cells - RWS-120007
Wide & Local area enhancements - RWS-120010
Small Cells - RWS-120014
Small Cell Enhancement in Rel-12 - RWS-120021 / RWS-120046
HeNB Enhancement - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
Efficient Usage of Macro and Small Cells - RWS-120038 / RWS-120047
Low-cost Low Power Nodes (LC-LPN) - RWS-120038 / RWS-120047
Small-Cell Improvements: System Aspects - RWS-120041
Spectrum
Enhanced spectrum efficiency - RWS-120005
Spectrum efficiency: eLA topics - RWS-120010
Scenarios for spectrum extension - RWS-120010
Spectrum and spectrum usage - RWS-120012
Wider Spectrum Utilization - RWS-120016
Spectral efficiency for LTE - RWS-120017
New Spectrum for Mobile Broadband Access - RWS-120021 / RWS-120046
Enabling Technologies for New Spectrum - RWS-120021 / RWS-120046
Radio Propagation - RWS-120021 / RWS-120046
Opportunistic Use of Unlicensed Spectrum for D2D Local Traffic - RWS-120023
Flexible Spectrum Utilization - RWS-120024
Spectrum Related: New Bands And CA Band Combinations - RWS-120029
Spectrum - RWS-120032
Hybrid access scheme - RWS-120034
Spectrum - RWS-120035
Spectrum and Transmission Efficiency - RWS-120039
Spectrum-Agile LTE - RWS-120041
TDD / TD-LTE
TD-LTE - RWS-120014
TDD-specific aspects - RWS-120014
TDD adaptive reconfiguration - RWS-120034
Efficient Usage of Dual Duplex Modes - RWS-120038 / RWS-120047
LTE TDD Small-Cell versus WiFi - RWS-120041
Testing
Testing and Certification - RWS-120022
Traffic and Signalling Overhead
Efficient support of diverse traffic characteristics - RWS-120005
Efficient support for variety of traffic types - RWS-120010
Enhancements for variety of traffic types - RWS-120010
Very high traffic (and signalling) scenarios - RWS-120017
Control Plane Overhead Reduction - RWS-120021 / RWS-120046
Further Enhancements to Support Diverse Data Applications - RWS-120023
Efficiency : Small data services in high mobility - RWS-120024
User Experience
Improve User experience - RWS-120009
User Challenges - RWS-120032
Video streaming, call
RAN Enhancements for Video Streaming QoE - RWS-120023
RAN Enhancements for Internet Video Call - RWS-120023
WiFi / WLAN
Cooperation between LTE/HSPA and WiFi - RWS-120005
Unlicensed spectrum: LTE & WLAN - RWS-120007
LTE integration with other RATs - RWS-120014
WiFi integration: For Beyond Rel-12 - RWS-120017
LTE-WLAN Interworking - RWS-120023
Coordination With WiFi - RWS-120029
Smarter opportunistic usage of Wi-Fi - RWS-120031
LTE TDD Small-Cell versus WiFi - RWS-120041
Others
Other identified techniques for LTE - RWS-120005
Efficient Transactions - RWS-120035
Link Enhancement Considerations - RWS-120035
Intra-RAT cooperation / Inter-RAT cooperation - RWS-120036 / RWS-120050
Here is the summary from the workshop:
Complete list of Presentations
More technically minded people want to explore the 3GPP website for the workshop links here: http://3gpp.org/ftp/workshop/2012-06-11_12_RAN_REL12/
Draft report that gives more insight into the presentations as follows:
Labels:
3GPP,
Ad-Hoc Networks,
Antennas,
Backhaul,
Carrier Aggregation,
CoMP,
D2D,
Environment and Green Issues,
HetNets,
HSPA+,
LTE,
LTE-Advanced,
M2M,
MDT,
MIMO,
Relays,
Release 12,
Small Cells,
SON
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