Carrier Aggregation: Fundamentals and Deployments
Presented by:
Manuel Blanco
Agilent Technologies
© 2014 Agilent Technologies
Agenda
LTE-Advanced
Carrier Aggregation
Design and test challenges
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 2
Industry background
263 LTE networks in more than 95 countries (+500 operators investing)
o Approximately 10% are TDD
o Less than 10% are using 20 MHz
www.gsacom.com
157.7 million LTE subscribers (112 million added in the past 12 months)
o More than half in North America (79 million)
Over 1,200 LTE capable devices available
o 40% can operate in Band 3 and Band 7
LTE is the fastest developing mobile technology ever
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 3
Why LTE-Advanced?
IMT-Advanced Requirements
Based on an all-IP packet switch network
Scalable channel bandwidths between 5 and 20 MHz
Interoperability with existing wireless standards
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 4
Item Subcategory IMT-Adv LTE
Spectral
efficiency
(b/s/Hz)
Downlink 15
(4x4 MIMO)
16.3 (4x4 MIMO)
Uplink 6.75
(2x4 MIMO)
4.32 (64QAM)
Data rate
(Mbps)
Downlink 1000 300
Uplink 100 75
LTE-Advanced New features
Carrier Aggregation Enhanced MIMO
Higher data rates
(bps) Higher spectral effiency
(bps/Hz)
Higher spectral effiency
per coverage area
(bps/Hz/Km2)
Het-Nets
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 5
LTE-Advanced New UE Categories
UE
Category
Data Rate DL/UL
(Mbps)
Downlink Uplink
Max number
of layers
Max number
of layers
Support for
64QAM
1 10 / 5 1 1 No
2 50 / 25 2 1 No
3 100 / 50 2 1 No
4 150 / 50 2 1 No
5 300 / 75 4 1 Yes
6 300 / 50 2 or 4 1 or 2 No
7 300 / 100 2 or 4 1 or 2 No
8 3000 / 1500 8 4 Yes
LT
E
LT
E-A
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 6
Agenda
LTE-Advanced
Carrier Aggregation
Design and test challenges
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 7
Carrier Aggregation – Fundamentals
Bandwidth extension by aggregating LTE component carriers (CC)
o Up to 5 CC can be allocated in both DL and UL – 100 MHz aggregated
o Components carriers are backwards compatible with Release 8 terminals
o Symmetric or asymmetric DL/UL CA configurations
Motivation
o Higher peak data rates
o Facilitate efficient use of fragmented spectrum
o Enable 150 Mbps (Category 4) in typical
deployments where 20MHz contiguous spectrum
is not an option
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 8
Aggregated
Data Pipe
10MHz
DL Carrier 1
10MHz
DL Carrier 2
Carrier Aggregation is the first step of LTE Advanced
PCC (Primary Component Carrier)
oHandle the RRC/NAS procedures
oMeasurement reports and mobility
oUEs using the same set of CCs, can have different PCC
oRole only changed with handover
oPUSCH is mandatory
SCC (Secondary Component Carrier)
oUE handles up to 4 SCC
oConfigured using RRC signaling procedures
oCan be dynamically activated/de-activated using a MAC control element
oActivated only when in CONNECTED mode
oPUSCH is optional - asymmetric CA
Carrier Aggregation – Fundamentals
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 9
SCC
SCC
PCC
Downlink
PCC
SCC
Uplink
Carrier Aggregation – Fundamentals
PCC UE
RRC Connection
MME
Attach Request
Authentication and NAS Security
AS Security
UE capabilities
Attach Accept + Default EPS
SCC
Release 8
PS Attach
Band 4 - 10 MHz Band 17 -10 MHz
Data Link (single carrier) 73 Mbps
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 10
Carrier Aggregation – Fundamentals
PCC
RRC Connection
MME
Attach Request
Authentication and NAS Security
AS Security
UE capabilities
Attach Accept + Default EPS
RRC Reconfiguration
+ Add SCC
SCC
Release 8
PS Attach
Release 10
SCC Addition
& Activation
Data Link (single carrier) 73 Mbps
Band 17 -10 MHz Band 4 - 10 MHz
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 11
UE
Carrier Aggregation – Fundamentals
Physical cell ID and
DL frequency
channel
Common configuration:
DL and UL channel BW,
uplink EARFCN,
antenna config,
physical channels config, power
control config
Dedicated configuration:
Transmission mode,
physical channels config,
cross-carrier scheduling,
CSI-RS config Source: 3GPP TS 36.331
SCC Configuration at RRC level Screen capture of the Agilent Trace log and debug application (Trace Spy II)
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 12
Carrier Aggregation – Fundamentals
PCC
RRC Connection
MME
Attach Request
Authentication and NAS Security
AS Security
UE capabilities
Attach Accept + Default EPS
RRC Reconfiguration
+ Add SCC
SCC
Release 8
PS Attach
Release 10
SCC Addition
& Activation
Data Link (single carrier) 73 Mbps
MAC control element
Data Link (2 CC aggregated) 147 Mbps
Band 17 -10 MHz Band 4 - 10 MHz
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 13
UE
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 14
Band A Band B
Intra -band
contiguous
Reso
urc
e b
lock
f
≈
Reso
urc
e b
lock
f
Intra-band
non-contiguous
Inter-band
non-contiguous
Reso
urc
e b
lock f
Band A
Band A
Modes and Deployments
Release 10: o Signaling to support up to 5 CC
o Scenarios limited to 2 CCs
o Maximum aggregated bandwidth is 40MHz
o Prioritized support intra band contiguous and inter band
o Rest of scenarios were postponed to later Releases
Intra - band Contiguous CA
E-UTRA CA
Band
E-UTRA operating
Band
Uplink (UL) band Downlink (DL) band
Duplex mode
UE transmit / BS receive Channel BW MHz
UE receive / BS transmit Channel BW MHz
FUL_low (MHz) – FUL_high
(MHz) FDL_low (MHz) – FDL_high
(MHz)
CA_40 40 2300 – 2400 [401)
] 2300 – 2400 [401)
] TDD
CA_1 1 1920 – 1980 40 2110 – 2170 40 FDD
[1) For the first phase of LTE TDD CA for UE side, with eventual goal for 50MHz]
Inter - band Non -Contiguous CA
E-UTRA CA Band
E-UTRA operating
Band
Uplink (UL) band Downlink (DL) band
Duplex mode
UE transmit / BS receive Channel BW MHz
UE receive / BS transmit Channel BW MHz FUL_low (MHz) – FUL_high
(MHz) FDL_low (MHz) – FDL_high
(MHz)
CA_1-5 1 1920 – 1980 10
1) 2110 – 2170 10
FDD 5 824 – 849 10
1) 869 – 894 10
1) Only one uplink component carrier is used in any of the two frequency bands at any time.
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 15
Inter-band Intra-band cont
1 2 3
CA
Band C
om
bin
atio
ns
Rel.10
Modes and Deployments
Release 11: o Maximum aggregated bandwidth is 40MHz
o Support multiple timing advances (required for UL CA)
o Core requirements for intra-band non-cont
o Performance requirements for new inter-band and
intra-band combinations
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 16
Inter-band Intra-band cont
Inter-band
1 2 3
CA
Band C
om
bin
atio
ns
24
CA
Band C
om
bin
atio
ns
Rel.10
Intra-band cont
Modes and Deployments
Intra non-cont
Rel-11 inter-band Carrier Aggregation Rapporteur
Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 7 TeliaSonera
Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 17 AT&T
Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 13 Ericsson (Verizon)
Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 12 Leap Wireless
Carrier Aggregation of Band 5 and Band 12 US Cellular
Carrier Aggregation of Band 7 and Band 20 Huawei
Carrier Aggregation of Band 2 and Band 17 AT&T
Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 5 AT&T
Carrier Aggregation of Band 5 and Band 17 AT&T
Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 20 Vodafone
Carrier Aggregation of Band 8 and Band 20 Vodafone
Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 5 SK Telecom
Carrier Aggregation of Band 4 and Band 7 Rogers Wireless
Carrier Aggregation of Band 11 and Band 18 KDDI
Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 18 KDDI
Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 19 NTT DoCoMo
Carrier Aggregation of Band 1 and Band 21 NTT DoCoMo
Carrier Aggregation of Band 3 and Band 8 KT
Rel.11
1 19 5
1
Release 12: o Core requirements uplink CA in inter-band
o Performance requirements for intra-band non-contiguous
o Core analysis for 3 component carriers in inter-band
o Maximum aggregated bandwidth is 50MHz
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 17
Inter-band Intra-band cont
19 Inter-band
1 2 3
CA
Band C
om
bin
atio
ns
24
CA
Band C
om
bin
atio
ns
48 12 Inter-band
25 Inter 3 CC
95
CA
Band C
om
bin
atio
ns
Intra-band cont
10 Intra non-cont
Rel.10
Rel.11
Intra-band cont
Modes and Deployments
Intra non-cont
5
Rel.12
Agenda
LTE-Advanced
Carrier Aggregation
Design and test challenges
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 18
Impact on higher layers:
o Enhanced user plane to support higher data rates
o Modifications and new additions on existing RRC procedures:
Reconfiguration message to support Addition/Release of SCC
Report of new UE categories and capabilities
Impact on UE design
NAS
RRC
PDCP
RLC
MAC
PHY
NAS
MME UE
RRC
PDCP
RLC
MAC
PHY
PCC SCC
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 19
- None
- Larger buffer
- None
- Addition and removal SCC
Carrier Aggregation impact
Impact on UE design
o Multiple PHY and aggregated MAC:
One PHY layer per CC
Data aggregation happens at MAC layer
MAC must handle scheduling on multiple CC
Support of cross-carrier scheduling
o Complex transceivers design:
Highly challenging radio environment in terms of spur and self-blocking
Front-end needs to be designed to support multiple frequency band
combinations
MIMO + multi chain makes antenna design even more challenging
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 20
PHY, MAC and RF are the most challenging
Design and Test Challenges
Challenge #1 : When Inter-Band aggregation and MIMO spatial multiplexing is
combined, test set-ups may become quite complex.
T2010A
LTE Wireless Communications Test Set
21
PCC
SCC
UE +
+
T2010A
Channel
Emulator
RF RX Performance Test Scenario
• 2CC aggregation
• MIMO 4x2
• Closed loop spatial multiplexing
• RF impairments
Channel
Emulator
Design and Test Challenges
TR 36.850 and 36.851 Inter-band carrier aggregation
Scope: To gather relevant background and studies to address Inter-band carrier
aggregation requirements (Release 11)
Class Description
A1 Low-high band combination without harmonic relation
between bands or intermodulation problem
A2 Low-high band combination with harmonic relation between
bands
A3 Low-low or high-high band combination without
intermodulation problem (low order IM)
A4 Low-low, low-high or high-high band combination with
intermodulation problem (low order IM)
A5 Combination except for A1 – A4
Harmonics may cause
degradation in the performance of
the high band receiver
The use of diplexers to split and
combine RF chains are very
challenging
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 22
Challenge #2 : Simultaneous transceiver chains lead to intermodulation
and cross-modulation within the UE.
Design and Test Challenges
710 MHz
Band 17 Band 4
Class A2 example: Band 4-17
Uplink
PCC SCC
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 23
740 MHz 2130 MHz
Downlink Downlink
Challenge #2 : Simultaneous transceiver chains lead to intermodulation
and cross-modulation within the UE.
Design and Test Challenges
3rd harmonic
Class A2 example: Band 4-17
710 MHz 740 MHz 2130 MHz
Band 17 Band 4
Uplink Downlink Downlink
PCC SCC
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 24
Challenge #2 : Simultaneous transceiver chains lead to intermodulation
and cross-modulation within the UE.
Design and Test Challenges
Ref. Sensitivity (dBm)
Release 8
Ref. Sensitivity (dBm)
Carrier Aggregation
Band 4 -96.3 -89.5
Band 17 -93.3 -92.8
Band 1 -96.3 -96.3
Band 5 -94.3 -94.3
Source: 36.851 and 36.521-1
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 25
D/A
D/A
A/D
A/D
A/D
A/D
A/D
A/D
D/A
D/A
A/D
A/D
Band A
Band A
Band B
Band B
Antenna
tuner
Sw
itch
Sw
itch
H3
Tra
p
Band 17
Band 4
Challenge #2 : Simultaneous transceiver chains lead to intermodulation
and cross-modulation within the UE.
D/A
D/A
A/D
A/D
A/D
A/D
A/D
A/D
D/A
D/A
A/D
A/D
Band A
Band A
Band B
Band B
Antenna
tuner
Sw
itch
Sw
itch
H3
Tra
p
Band 17
Band 4
Design and Test Challenges
Ref. Sensitivity (dBm)
Release 8
Ref. Sensitivity (dBm)
Carrier Aggregation
Band 4 -96.3 -89.5
Band 17 -93.3 -92.8
Band 1 -96.3 -96.3
Band 5 -94.3 -94.3
6.8dB due to noise floor increase
caused by harmonic
Note: This is an exception allowed when the
uplink active in the lower frequency operating
band.
Source: 36.851 and 36.521-1
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 26
Challenge #2 : Simultaneous transceiver chains lead to intermodulation
and cross-modulation within the UE.
D/A
D/A
A/D
A/D
A/D
A/D
A/D
A/D
D/A
D/A
A/D
A/D
Band A
Band A
Band B
Band B
Antenna
tuner
Sw
itch
Sw
itch
H3
Tra
p
Band 17
Band 4
Design and Test Challenges
Ref. Sensitivity (dBm)
Release 8
Ref. Sensitivity (dBm)
Carrier Aggregation
Band 4 -96.3 -89.5
Band 17 -93.3 -92.8
Band 1 -96.3 -96.3
Band 5 -94.3 -94.3
Source: 36.851 and 36.521-1
0.5 dB due to H3 trap filter
insertion loss
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 27
Challenge #2 : Simultaneous transceiver chains lead to intermodulation
and cross-modulation within the UE.
Design and Test Challenges
Ref. Sensitivity (dBm)
Release 8
Ref. Sensitivity (dBm)
Carrier Aggregation
Band 4 -96.3 -89.5
Band 17 -92.8 -92.8
Band 1 -96.3 -96.3
Band 5 -94.3 -94.3
0.5 dB due to H3 trap filter
insertion loss
Source: 36.851 and 36.521-1
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 28
Challenge #2 : Simultaneous transceiver chains lead to intermodulation
and cross-modulation within the UE.
LTE T4000S Test Systems
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 29
T4110S LTE Protocol Tester
T4020S LTE RRM Tester
ALL BASED ON THE SAME HARDWARE PLATFORM
T4010S LTE RF Tester
T2010A
LTE Wireless Communications Test Set
3GPP Conformance Status
• 63 New RF test cases
• 16 New RRM test cases
• 36 New Protocol test cases
Ongoing! CA test cases in a new WI which covers intra-band non-contiguous
• 13 New RF test cases
• 18 New Protocol test cases
New test cases for inter-band without UL CA and intra-band contiguous with and
without UL CA
Outlook! New CA test cases expected in Rel-12 (inter-band with 2 uplinks)
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 30
SUMMARY
Carrier aggregation is the first step of LTE Advanced enabling:
o Higher IP data rates
o Facilitate efficient use of fragmented spectrum
Inter-Band with 2 component carriers aggregated in the downlink is one of
the most demanded combinations today
Carrier aggregation is a huge topic in Conformance with a lot of new test
cases defined and more in the pipeline
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 31
• Unique receiver test Flexible channel allocation and closed-loop testing
• Trusted transmitter test X-Series measurement science
• Sustained bidirectional 300 Mbps / 50 Mbps E2E IP data
• Most highly integrated solution: multiple cells, carrier aggregation, 4x2 DL MIMO, integrated fading and built-in application server
Ensure realistic category 4 / 6 performance
Achieve design confidence
LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation
CAT 6
Device
DL: 300Mbps
UL: 50 Mbps
E7515A UXM Wireless Test Set Make a clear call
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 32
Join “Overcome LTE-A UE Design Test Challenges with Agilent’s New UXM” webcast here
© 2014 Agilent Technologies 33
Agilent Resources
• LTE-Advanced application and product info: www.agilent.com/find/lteadvanced
• T4000S LTE/LTE-A Conformance and DV Systems: www.agilent.com/find/t4000s
• E7515A UXM Wireless Test Set: www.agilent.com/find/E7515A
• 89600 VSA product information: www.agilent.com/find/vsa
• X-Series signal analyzer product information: www.agilent.com/find/xseries
• Signal Studio product information: www.agilent.com/find/signalstudio
LTE-Advanced Documents
• Application Note: http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5990-6706EN.pdf
• Requirements TR 36.913: http://www.3gpp.org/DynaReport/36913.htm
• Study Technical Report TR 36.912: http://www.3gpp.org/DynaReport/36912.htm
For more information…
THANK YOU!
© 2014 Agilent Technologies
Questions and Answers