LTE Air Interface Operation
With the introduction of LTE came the development of a new radio technology based on OFDMA / SC-FDMA. This course focuses on the LTE Air interface and provides a detailed analysis of the structure and features of the physical layer, as well as the layer 2 and 3 protocols, before explaining how these are used in the operation of the radio link from initial attach, through service delivery and mobility. Finally, the concept and operation of LTE-M and NB-IoT are detailed.
Section 1 - LTE Air Interface
Topic areas covered include:
- Frequency Bands.
- 3GPP Spectrum Bands.
- EARFCN.
- E-UTRA Protocols:
- Uu Interface:
- RRC, PDCP, RLC and MAC.
- S1-MME Interface:
- S1AP and SCTP.
- S1-U Interface:
- GTP-U.
- X2 Interface:
- X2AP.
- UE and eNB Capabilities:
- eNB Capabilities.
- Home Evolved Node B.
- UE Capabilities.
- Air Interface Identities:
- UE Identities:
- IMSI, C-RNTI, GUTI, S-TMSI, IMEI and IP Address.
- E-UTRAN Identities:
- eNB ID, E-CGI, PCI and TAI.
- EPC Identities:
- GUTI, IP Addresses and FQDN.
- LTE-Advanced Features:
- LTE Releases.
- LTE-Advanced.
Section 2 - LTE Physical Layer Structure
Topic areas covered include:
- LTE Frame Structure:
- LTE FFT Sizes.
- Subcarriers and Reference Signals.
- Combating Interference in the Time Domain.
- Cyclic Prefix.
- Frame Structure:
- Ts (Time Unit).
- Type 1 Radio Frames, Slots and Subframes.
- Type 2 Radio Frames, Slots and Subframes.
- Resource Grid and Resource Blocks:
- Downlink PRB Parameters:
- RB and RE.
- Uplink PRB Parameters.
- Downlink Channel for Initial Access:
- Downlink Synchronization Signals (FDD):
- PSS and SSS.
- Downlink Reference Signals:
- Cell Specific Reference Signals:
- CRS-RS vs CSI-RS.
- UE Specific Reference Signals.
- The LTE Downlink Physical Channels:
- Broadcast Information.
- PCFICH.
- PDCCH.
- Enhanced PDCCH.
- PHICH.
- PDSCH.
- PMCH.
- LTE Uplink Physical Channels:
- Multiplexing of Control Signalling and UL-SCH Data.
- Uplink Data Transmission.
- PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel).
- PRACH:
- Preamble Codes.
- Uplink Reference Signals:
- Demodulation Reference Signal:
- DRS.
- Sounding Reference Signal:
- SRS.
- FDD/TDD Timing:
- FDD Operation.
- TDD Operation.
Section 3 - LTE Physical Layer Features
Topic areas covered include:
- Transmission Modes:
- Transmission Options.
- Transmit Diversity.
- MIMO.
- MU-MIMO.
- HARQ Operation:
- ARQ Operation.
- HARQ Operation.
- FDD Downlink HARQ.
- FDD Uplink HARQ.
- TDD HARQ.
- Feedback Mechanisms:
- Feedback Options in LTE.
- CQI (Channel Quality Indicator).
- PMI (Precoding Matrix Indicator).
- RI (Rank Indication).
- Carrier Aggregation:
- Carrier Aggregation in 3GPP.
- Carrier Aggregation Terminology.
- Carrier Aggregation Scheduling.
Section 4 - LTE Air Interface Protocols
Topic areas covered include:
- The E-UTRA Protocol Stack.
- E-UTRA Signalling:
- Stratums.
- NAS Messages.
- EMM and ECM States:
- EPS Mobility Management States.
- EPS Connection Management States.
- Radio Resource Control:
- RRC Messages.
- RRC States.
- RRC Connection.
- E-UTRA Radio Bearers:
- Signalling Radio Bearers.
- Dedicated Radio Bearers.
- Packet Data Convergence Protocol:
- PDCP Services.
- PDCP Profiles.
- PDCP Headers.
- Radio Link Control:
- Transparent Mode.
- Unacknowledged Mode.
- Acknowledged Mode.
- RLC PDU’s.
- Medium Access Control:
- Services expected from physical layer.
- LTE Logical and Transport Channels.
- RNTI Identities:
- MAC Headers.
- Random Access Process.
Section 5 - LTE Operational Procedures
Topic areas covered include:
- Connecting to a Cell:
- Cell Search.
- System Information.
- PLMN Selection.
- Cell Selection.
- Random Access Process.
- RRC Procedures at Initial Attach.
- Security:
- EPS Authentication and Key Agreement.
- Key Distribution in the EPS.
- Security Procedures.
- Algorithms.
- LTE Capabilities.
- Data Transfer:
- Uplink Scheduling.
- Downlink Scheduling.
- Discontinuous Reception (Paging).
- DRX in Active Mode.
- Timing Advance.
- Power Control.
- VoLTE Scheduling:
- Improving Coverage with TTI Bundling.
- Voice Scheduling and SPS.
Section 6 - LTE Air Interface Mobility
Topic areas covered include:
- Mobility Functional Architecture:
- eNB.
- MME.
- Tracking Area.
- LTE Measurements:
- RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power).
- RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator).
- RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality).
- LTE Idle Mode Mobility:
- LTE Cell Reselection.
- Priority Based Inter-RAT Cell Reselection.
- Reselection to a Higher Priority Frequency or RAT cell.
- Reselection to a Lower Priority Frequency or RAT cell.
- E-UTRA Measurements:
- Measurement Configuration Options.
- Basics of Measurement Objects.
- Basics of Report Configuration.
- LTE Events.
- RRC Measurement Configuration Example.
- Gap Configuration.
- Timing.
- Handover Process:
- X2 Handover Request and Response.
- RRC Connection Reconfiguration.
- Random Access.
- SN Status Transfer and Status Report.
Section 7 - LTE-M
Topic areas covered include:
- Fundamentals of LTE-M:
- LTE-M Benefits.
- LTE-M Device:
- Handset Categories.
- Category M1.
- LTE-M Channels:
- PBCH.
- MPDCCH.
- PDSCH (SIB1-BR).
- PDSCH.
- PUSCH.
- PUCCH.
- PRACH.
- LTE-M Operation:
- RRC Connection Establishment.
- Session Establishment.
- Mobility.
- Power Efficient Features:
- Power Save Mode.
- Extended Discontinuous Reception.
Section 8 - NB-IoT
Topic areas covered include:
- Fundamentals of NB-IoT:
- NB-IoT Benefits.
- Not Supported in NB-IoT.
- NB-IoT Device:
- NB-IoT Category.
- Power Category.
- NB-IoT Downlink Air Interface:
- Downlink NB-IoT Channels.
- Downlink Frame Structure.
- NRS (Narrowband Reference Signal).
- Narrowband Primacy Synchronization Signal.
- Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal.
- NPBCH / MIB-NB.
- LTE-NB NPDSCH and NPDCCH Mapping.
- LTE-NB for Guard Band / Standalone Deployment.
- NB-IoT Uplink Air Interface:
- NB-IoT Uplink Channels.
- NB-IoT Uplink Frame Structure.
- NPUSCH Resource Unit.
- NPUSCH DMRS.
- NPRACH.
- NB-IoT Operation:
- Scanning for NB-IoT.
- MIB/SIB and Scheduling.
- Cell Selection for NB-IoT.
- NB-IoT Attach.
- NB-IoT Access Procedure.
- Resource Allocation.
- Peak Data Rates.
- Multi Carrier.
- NB-IoT Optimization Features:
- CIoT Control Plane Delivery.
- Power Save Mode.
- Extended Discontinuous Reception.