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.
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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.