12 LTE interview questions and answers

LTE and LTE advanced technology is fast evolving in cellular arena and demand in the industries
have been increased for LTE skilled engineers. These top 12 LTE interview questions and answers
help engineers seeking LTE technology job to crack the interview with ease. One can refer page
links mentioned on left side panel to learn more about LTE.
Question-1: What is the difference between LTE FDD and LTE TDD?
Answer-1:The difference lies in the LTE frame structure in both the FDD and TDD versions of the
LTE. In FDD there will be pair of frequencies assigned in the downlink and uplink directions and
hence transmissions from multiple subscribes can happen at the same time but on different
frequencies as mentioned. In TDD, one single frequency will be used at different time instants by
multiple subscriber terminals (UEs). Both frame versions of LTE will have 1 ms sub-frame duration
and 0.5 ms slot duration. Read more.
Question-2: What is resource block in LTE?
Answer-2:LTE frame is divided based on time slots on time axis and frequency subcarrier on
frequency axis. Resource block is the smallest unit of resource allocation in LTE system. It is of
about 0.5ms duration and composed of 12 subcarriers in 1 OFDM symbol. One time slot is equal to
7 OFDM symbols in normal cyclic prefix and 6 OFDM symbols in extended cyclic prefix. One full
resource block is equal to 12 subcarriers by 7 symbols in normal CP. Hence it consists of total 84
time/frequency elements referred as resource elements in LTE network. Refer LTE Terminology
.
Question-3: What are the LTE logical, transport and physical channels? Answer-3:All these channels
help LTE UE establish the connection with the eNodeB, maintain the connection and terminate the
same. Logical channels are characterized by the information that is transferred. Transport channels
are characterized by how the data are transferred over the radio interface. Physical channel
corresponds to a set of resource elements used by the physical layer. Channels are further divided
into control channel and traffic channel at logical channel stage. Read more.
Question-4: Explain the difference between Reference signal (RS) and synchronization signal (SS)
in the LTE? Also mention types of RS and SS.
Answer-4:Reference signal (RS) is used as pilot subcarrier in LTE similar to other broadband
wireless technologies such as WLAN, WIMAX etc. Synchronization signal is used as preamble
sequence in LTE for synchronization purpose. RS is used for channel estimation and tracking. SS
are of two types viz. P-SS and S-SS. P-SS is used for initial synchronization. S-SS is used for frame
boundary determination. RS are of two types viz. Demodulation RS (DRS) and Sounding RS (SRS).
DRS is used for sync and channel estimation purpose. SRS is used for channel quality estimation
purpose. DRS is used in both the uplink and downlink, while SRS is used only in the uplink.
Refer LTE PSS SSS
and LTE RS DMRS SRS
pages to know insight concepts of synchronization signal and reference signal.
Question-5: Explain LTE cell search procedure followed by UE.
Answer-5:LTE cell search procedure is used by UE to camp onto the LTE cell i.e. eNodeB. Refer
LTE UE cell search procedure and network entry procedure.
Question-6: What is the function of LTE physical broadcast channel i.e. PBCH?
Answer-6:After initial cell synchronization is completed, UE reads MIB (Master information block) on
PBCH (Physical channel). Broadcast channel is referred as BCH at transport level and BCCH at
logical level. MIB composed of downlink channel bandwidth in units of RBs, PHICH duration, PHICH
resource and system frame number. Read more.
Question-7: What is the advantage of using SC-FDMA in the LTE uplink?
Answer-7:The main advantage of SC-FDMA is low PAPR compare to OFDMA used in LTE downlink.
This increases the efficiency of power amplifier and hence increases the battery life. Read more.

Question-8: What is RSSI?

Answer-8:RSSI stands for Received Signal Strength Indication. It is used almost in all the RATs to
identify power received from the cell in idle as well as connected/dedicated modes. This helps UE
always camped on to the best cell all the time. In case of drop in power measured using RSSI, either
UE or network initiates the handover or cell re-selection is carried out. Read more.
Question-9: Explain Circuit Switch Fall Back i.e. CSFB with respect to LTE and GSM.
Answer-9:Framework allowing the provisioning of voice services by reuse of legacy GSM served CS
infrastructure when the UE is served by E-UTRAN (LTE).To provide voice call support, Circuit Switch
Fall Back is carried out to GSM RAT from LTE RAT to facilitate the voice over LTE (VoLTE)
feature. Read more.

Question-10: Explain LTE network architecture and various interfaces.

Answer-10:There are various entities forming the LTE network architecture, the main interfaces are
Uu between UE and eNB, X2 interface between eNBs and S1 interface between eNB and
EPC(Evolved Packet Core).Read more.
Question-11: What is SRVCC?
Answer-11:SRVCC is the short form of Single-Radio Voice Call Continuity. SRVCC handover is
supported from E-UTRAN (i.e. LTE) to UTRAN/GERAN (WCDMA/GSM). SRVCC procedure is used
for transferring an on-going PS voice call (IMS) in LTE to a CS voice call via Handover from LTE to
GERAN/UTRAN.Read more.
Question-12:What is the difference between LTE and LTE Advanced?
Answer-12:LTE is specified in 3GPP release 8 and release 9. LTE advanced is specified in 3GPP
release 10. The main difference between them is carrier aggregation is introduced in LTE advanced.
Number of antennas supported by MIMO has been increased to 8 in LTE advanced,Read more.

LTE Cell Search Procedure used by UE

This LTE tutorial covers LTE Cell Search Procedure used by UE.
A cell search procedure is used by the UE to acquire time and frequency synchronization with a LTE
cell and UE detects the physical layer Cell ID (PCI) of that cell. Two cell search procedures in LTE:
initial synchronization and detecting neighbor cells in preparation for handover LTE uses a
hierarchical cell search scheme similar to WCDMA

Step-1: After being powered on, UE tunes the RF and attempts to measure the wideband received
power (RSSI) for specific frequencies (channels as commanded by higher layer) over a set of
supported frequency bands one after another and ranks those cells based on signal strength.
Step-2: Then it uses downlink synchronization channels i.e. locally stored P-SS and S-SS to
correlate with received one. UE first finds the primary synchronization signal (PSS) which is located
in the last OFDM symbol of first time slot of the first and 5th sub-frames This enables UE to be
synchronized on sub-frame level.Primary Synchronization Signal helps for Slot Timing Detection and
Physical Layer ID (0,1,2) detection.
Step-3:: secondary synchronization symbols are also located in the same sub-frame of P-SS but in
the symbol before P-SS. From secondary SS, UE is able to obtain physical layer cell identity group
number (0 to 167) It helps for Radio Frame Timing detection, find Physical Layer Cell ID, cyclic prefix
length detection, FDD or TDD detection. The same is depicted in the LTE cell search
procedurefigure below.

Step-4: Once UE knows the PCI for a given cell, it also knows the location of cell Reference signals which are used for channel estimation, cell selection / reselection and handover procedures. After
channel estimation using RS(reference signal), MMSE equalization is performed to remove the effect
of channel impairment from the received symbols.

1. Which protocol is responsible for Scheduling of user data and

HARQ?
MAC
A Medium Access Control (MAC) Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest
(HARQ) layer with fast feedback provides a means for quickly correcting
most errors from the radio channel. To achieve low delay and efficient use
of radio resources, the HARQ operates with a native error rate which is
sufficient only for services with moderate error rate requirements such as
for instance VoIP. Lower error rates are achieved by letting an
outer Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) layer in the eNB handle the HARQ
errors.

2. Which protocol is responsible for ciphering of user data?

PDCP
The PDCP protocol maps the EPS bearer onto the E-UTRA Radio Bearer
and performs Robust Header Compression (ROHC).NAS messages are
protected using the ciphering and integrity protection services provided
by the PDCP layer.
The Packet Data Convergence Protocol supports the following functions:

 Header compression and decompression of IP data flows using the

ROHC (Robust Header Compression) protocol, at the transmitting and
receiving entity, respectively.
transfer of data (user plane or control plane). This function is used for
conveyance of data between users of PDCP services.
maintenance of PDCP sequence numbers for radio bearers for radio
bearers mapped on RLC acknowledged mode.
in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs at Handover
duplicate elimination of lower layer SDUs at Handover for radio bearers
mapped on RLC acknowledged mode
ciphering and deciphering of user plane data and control plane
data
integrity protection of control plane data
timer based discard
3. How does the frequency domain structure differ in UL compared
to DL?
In UL the frequency allocation must be continuous in order to preserve
the single carrier properties. This is not the case in DL, where noncontiguous resource blocks be be allocated to the same user.
4. How much can the data rate be increased with 2x2 MIMO
compared to a solution without MIMO?
Up to two times
With MIMO, multiple antennas and advanced signal processing such as
spatial multiplexing, the radio channel can be separated into several
layers, or data pipes. Up to four layers can be utilized. This corresponds
to up to four times higher data rates for a given bandwidth.
5. Explain the concepts of channel rank, layers, data rate
multiplication and codebook.
The radio channel properties decide the maximum channel rank that can
be used, i.e. how many layers the channel support at the moment. The
number of layers that can be transmitted over the radio channel is equal
to the data rate multiplication (e.g. two layers give two times the data

rate compared to a solution without MIMO). The complex weights that are
applied at each antenna port are selected from a finite
codebook. The codebook index is suggested and indicated by the UE.
6. How HARQ works?
Multiple simple stop-and-wait ARQ processes are processed by the HARQ
entity in the MAC protocol. The operation is very fast and has a short
round-trip-time thanks to the short TTI and the fact that it is located in
the eNodeB, close to the radio interface. Feedback from the receiver is
sent in terms of short ACK/NACK messages.
7. How to calculate the maximum theoretical physical peak data
rate in LTE radio interface?

Each OFDM symbol contains, if 64-QAM is used, 6 bits per subcarrier

(15kHz).
There are, if normal CP is used, 7 OFDM symbols
per slot. This ends up with 6*7 = 42 bits per slot. One slot is 0.5
ms which gives us 42/0.5ms = 84kbps per sub-carrier.
If the full bandwidth, 20MHz, is used, there are 20MHz/15kHz=1333 subcarriers.
However, only 1200 of these are used for user data. This corresponds to
100 resource blocks.
1200*84kbps = 100,8 Mbps.
With four MIMO layers, we should be able to achieve 403.2 Mbps of raw
data rate in the physical layer.
What about the user data rate? The data rates used for L1/L2 signaling,
reference signals, PBCH, SCH, layer 3 signaling and
protocol headers has to be subtracted from this figure. Then we end up
with approximately 320 Mbps of user data rate on RLC
level??

In UL we have approximately the same calculation, except that the gain

from MIMO cannot be included, since no SU-MIMO is used in
UL. Hence, approximately 80-100 Mbps of theoretical bitrate should be
possible to reach.

LTE Interview Questions?

1)

What happens when a LTE UE is powered on? From PHY Layer Point of view & NAS Point
of view?

2)

Explain attach procedure in LTE?

3)

Why there is two types of security in LTE?

4)

What are the measurement events in LTE?

Ans:
Intra/Inter Frequency Events:

Event A1 (Serving becomes better than threshold)

Event A2 (Serving becomes worse than threshold)
Event A3 (Neighbour becomes offset better than PCell)
Event A4 (Neighbour becomes better than threshold)
Event A5 (PCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than
threshold2)
Event A6 (Neighbour becomes offset better than SCell)

Inter RAT Events:

Event B1 (Inter RAT neighbour becomes better than threshold)

Event B2 (PCell becomes worse than threshold1 and inter RAT neighbour becomes better than
threshold2)

5)

What is DCI?

6)

What are the contents of DCI?

7)

What are the main difference between DCI0 and DCI1a?

8)

What is contention resolution?

9)

When Radio Link Failure is detected?

Ans:
Radio link failure to be detected:
1) upon T310 expiry
2) upon random access problem indication from MAC while neither T300, T301, T304 nor
T311 is running
3) upon indication from RLC that the maximum number of re-transmissions has been
reached

10) What is SRS used for?

Ans: UL reference signal used to measure the channel quality over a section of the
bandwidth.
Node B use this information for frequency selective scheduling and link adaptation
decisions.
11) What is DMRS/DRS?
Ans: DMRS/DRS is uplink reference signal.
Used for : 1)Channel Estimation and synchronization in UL
2)EnodeB can use DMRS for calculating TA command for each UE.
Two Types: 1) PUSCH DMRS.
2) PUCCH DMRS.
PUSCH DMRS:
1) Included in every resource block allocated to UE for PUSCH transmission.
2) Distributed only in Frequency domain to preserve the PAPR characteristic of SCFDMA.
3) 12 Resource element per resource block allocated to PUSCH DMRS.
PUCCH DMRS:
1) Included in every resource block allocated to UE for PUCCH transmission(if
transmitted).PUCCH occupies 2 resource block per 1 ms subframe when transmitted.
2) No of REs used for PUCCH DMRS depends on a) PUCCH format to be
transmitted and whether b) normal or extended cyclic prefix used.
3) PUCCH DRMS used more no of bits in case of format 1,1a,1b and less no of bits
in caseof format 2, 2a, 2b.

12) What is SPS? Explain SPS?

Ans: http://howltestuffworks.blogspot.in/2013/10/semi-persistent-scheduling.html
13) What is DRX?
14) Explain Connected mode DRX and Idle mode DRX?
15) Why PHICH configuration is mentioned in MIB?
16) In what are the scenario RACH is triggered?
17) What is RACH Procedure?
18) How UE come to know which RACH Preamble to USE?
19) Why there is no SOFT HO in LTE?
20) What PLMN Selection Order UE follows during Automatic PLMN selection and Manual
PLMN Selection?
21) What is Timing Advance? What happens if Timing Advance Timer Expires?
Ans: The timing of UL radio frame is relative to DL radio frame. EnB provides timing
advance command to each UE such that all UL transmissions arrive at the eNodeB in
synchronous manner.
If TA timer expires UE goes of reestablishment procedure or move to idle.
22) What is SR? What is the use of SR?
23) What is MAC CE?
24) What is BackOff Indicator? What is the use of Backoff indicator?
Ans :
Backoff Indicator is a special MAC subheader that carries the parameter indicating the time
delay between a PRACH and the next PRACH.

if the Random Access Response contains a Backoff Indicator subheader

set the backoff parameter value in the UE as indicated by the BI field of the Backoff
Indicator subheader
else,
set the backoff parameter value in the UE to 0 ms.

25) What is BSR?

Ans: The Buffer Status reporting procedure is used to provide the serving eNB with
information about the amount of data available for transmission in the UL buffers of the
UE.

26) At what scenario UE triggers BSR?

Ans:

UL data, for a logical channel which belongs to a LCG, becomes available for
transmission in the RLC entity or in the PDCP entity and either the data belongs to a logical
channel with higher priority than the priorities of the logical channels which belong to any
LCG and for which data is already available for transmission, or there is no data available
for transmission for any of the logical channels which belong to a LCG, in which case the
BSR is referred below to as "Regular BSR";
UL resources are allocated and number of padding bits is equal to or larger than the
size of the Buffer Status Report MAC control element plus its subheader, in which case the
BSR is referred below to as "Padding BSR"
retxBSR-Timer expires and the UE has data available for transmission for any of the
logical channels which belong to a LCG, in which case the BSR is referred below to as
"Regular BSR"

periodicBSR-Timer expires, in which case the BSR is referred below to as "Periodic

BSR".

27) When different types of BSR are Triggered?

Ans:
For Regular and Periodic BSR:

if more than one LCG has data available for transmission in the TTI where the BSR is
transmitted
report Long BSR
else,
report Short BSR.

For Padding BSR:

if the number of padding bits is equal to or larger than the size of the Short BSR plus its
subheader but smaller than the size of the Long BSR plus its subheader:
if more than one LCG has data available for transmission in the TTI where the BSR is
transmitted: report Truncated BSR of the LCG with the highest priority logical channel with
data available for transmission;
else
report Short BSR.
else if the number of padding bits is equal to or larger than the size of the Long BSR plus its
subheader,
report Long BSR.

28) What is the use of system info modification period?

29) What is the content of RAR?
Ans:

A MAC RAR consists of the four fields

Timing Advance Command

UL Grant

Temporary C-RNTI

30) What is the USE of UE specific Reference signal?

31) What is Cell Specific Reference Signal?
32) In what are the scenario UE Triggers RRC Connection Reestablishment?
Ans:
UE Triggers RRC Connection Reestablishment procedure on following condition:

Upon detecting Radio Link Failure

Handover Failure
Mobility From E-UTRA Failure
Integrity Failure Indication Received From Lower Layers
RRC Connection Reconfiguration Failure
33) What is GUTI?

34) What is the significance of S-TMSI?

35) What is the content of Paging Message?
36) When UE activates integrity and ciphering?
Ans:

The SECURITY MODE COMMAND message is used to command the UE for the
activation of AS security. E-UTRAN always initiates this procedure prior to the
establishment of Signalling Radio Bearer2 (SRB2) and Data Radio Bearers (DRBs).
AS security comprises of the integrity protection of RRC signalling (SRBs) as well as
the ciphering of RRC signalling (SRBs) and user plane data (DRBs). The integrity protection
algorithm is common for signalling radio bearers SRB1 and SRB2. The ciphering algorithm
is common for all radio bearers (i.e. SRB1, SRB2 andDRBs). Neither integrity protection nor
ciphering applies for SRB0.
The eNodeB sends integrity protected SECURITY MODE COMMAND message to the
UE. The UE shall derive KeNB and KRRCint which is associated with integrity protection
algorithm indicated in the SECURITY MODE COMMAND. Then, UE verifies the Integrity of
the received SECURITY MODE COMMAND by checking the Message Authentication
Code (MAC) in the SECURITY MODE COMMAND message. If the SECURITY MODE
COMMANDmessage fails the integrity protection check, then the UE sends SECURITY
MODE FAILURE to the eNodeB.
If the SECURITY MODE COMMAND passes the integrity protection check, then the
UE shall derive the encryption keys KRRCenc key and the KUPenc keys associated with the
ciphering algorithm indicated in theSECURITY MODE COMMAND.
The UE shall apply integrity protection using the indicated algorithm (EIA) and the
integrity key, KRRCintimmediately, i.e. integrity protection shall be applied to all subsequent
messages received and sent by the UE, including the SECURITY MODE
COMPLETE message.
The UE shall apply ciphering using the indicated algorithm (EEA), KRRCenc key and
the KUPenc key after completing the procedure, i.e. ciphering shall be applied to all
subsequent messages received and sent by the UE, except for the SECURITY MODE
COMPLETE message which is sent un-ciphered.
36) How many default and dedicated bearer possible in lte?
37) Can there be multiple default bearer to same PDN?
38) How the position of each SIB is calculated in LTE?
39) How measurement GAP calculation happens in LTE?

Voice over LTE - VoLTE Tutorial

- operation of Voice over LTE VoLTE system for providing a unified format of voice traffic on
LTE, and other systems including CSFB, and SV-LTE.
IN THIS SECTION
LTE Introduction
OFDM, OFDMA, SC-FDMA
LTE MIMO
TDD & FDD
Frame & subframe
Physical logical & transport channels
Bands and spectrum
UE categories
SAE architecture
LTE SON
VoLTE
SRVCC
Security
See also
4G LTE Advanced
The Voice over LTE, VoLTE scheme was devised as a result of operators seeking a standardised
system for transferring traffic for voice over LTE.

Originally LTE was seen as a completely IP cellular system just for carrying data, and operators
would be able to carry voice either by reverting to 2G / 3G systems or by using VoIP in one form or
another.

From around 2014 Phones like this iPhone6 incorporated VoLTE as standard
However it was seen that this would lead to fragmentation and incompatibility not allowing all phones
to communicate with each other and this would reduce voice traffic. Additionally SMS services are
still widely used, often proving a means of set-up for other applications.
Even though revenue from voice calls and SMS is falling, a format for voice over LTE and
messaging, it was as necessary to have a viable and standardized scheme to provide the voice and
SMS services to protect this revenue.

Options for LTE Voice

When looking at the options for ways of carrying voice over the LTE system, a number of possible
solutions were investigated. A number of alliances were set up to promote different ways of providing
the service. A number of systems were prosed as outlined below:

CSFB, Circuit Switched Fall Back:

The circuit switched fall-back, CSFB option for

providing voice over LTE has been standardised under 3GPP specification 23.272.
Essentially LTE CSFB uses a variety of processes and network elements to enable the
circuit to fall back to the 2G or 3G connection (GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000 1x) before a circuit
switched
call
is
initiated.
The specification also allows for SMS to be carried as this is essential for very many set-up
procedures for cellular telecommunications. To achieve this the handset uses an interface
known as SGs which allows messages to be sent over an LTE channel.

SV-LTE - Simultaneous Voice LTE: SV-LTE allows packet switched LTE services to run
simultaneously with a circuit switched voice service. SV-LTE facility provides the facilities of

CSFB at the same time as running a packet switched data service. It has the disadvantage
that it requires two radios to run at the same time within the handset which has a serious
impact on battery life which is already a major issue.

VoLGA, Voice over LTE via GAN: The VoLGA standard was based on the existing 3GPP
Generic Access Network (GAN) standard, and the aim was to enable LTE users to receive a
consistent set of voice, SMS (and other circuit-switched) services as they transition between
GSM, UMTS and LTE access networks. For mobile operators, the aim of VoLGA was to
provide a low-cost and low-risk approach for bringing their primary revenue generating
services (voice and SMS) onto the new LTE network deployments.

One Voice / later called Voice over LTE, VoLTE: The Voice over LTE, VoLTE scheme for
providing voice over an LTE system utilises IMS enabling it to become part of a rich media
solution. It was the option chosen by the GSMA for use on LTE and is the standardised
method for providing SMS and voice over LTE.

Voice over LTE, VoLTE formation

Originally the concept for an SMS and voice system over LTE using IMS had been opposed by many
operators because of the complexity of IMS. They had seen it as far too expensive and burdensome
to introduce and maintain.
However, the One Voice profile for Voice over LTE was developed by a collaboration between over
forty operators including: AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent.
At the 2010 GSMA Mobile World Congress, GSMA announced that they were supporting the One
Voice solution to provide Voice over LTE.
To achieve a workable system, a cut down variant of IMS was used. It was felt that his would be
acceptable to operators while still providing the functionality required.
The VoLTE system is based on the IMS MMTel concepts that were previously in existence. It has
been specified in the GSMA profile IR 92.

Voice over LTE, VoLTE basics

VoLTE, Voice over LTE is an IMS-based specification. Adopting this approach, it enables the system
to be integrated with the suite of applications that will become available on LTE.

Note on IMS:
The IP Multimedia Subsystem or IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem, IMS is an architectural framework for
delivering Internet Protocol, IP multimedia services. It enables a variety of services to be run seemlessly rather than
having several disparate applications operating concurrently.

Click for an IMS tutorial

In order that IMS was implemented in fashion that would be acceptable to operators, a cut down
version was defined. This not only reduced the number of entities required in the IMS network, but it
also simplified the interconnectivity - focussing on the elements required for VoLTE.

Reduced IMS network for VoLTE

As can be seen there are several entities within the reduced IMS network used for VoLTE:

IP-CAN IP, Connectivity Access Network: This consists of the EUTRAN and the MME.

P-CSCF, Proxy Call State Control Function: The P-CSCF is the user to network proxy. In
this respect all SIP signalling to and from the user runs via the P-CSCF whether in the home
or a visited network.

I-CSCF, Interrogating Call State Control Function: The I-CSCF is used for forwarding an
initial SIP request to the S-CSCF. When the initiator does not know which S-CSCF should
receive the request.

S-CSCF, Serving Call State Control Function:

The S-CSCF undertakes a variety of

actions within the overall system, and it has a number of interfaces to enable it to
communicate with other entities within the overall system.

AS, Application Server:

application.

It is the application server that handles the voice as an

HSS, Home Subscriber Server:

The IMS HSS or home subscriber server is the main

subscriber database used within IMS. The IMS HSS provides details of the subscribers to
the other entities within the IMS network, enabling users to be granted access or not
dependent upon their status.
The IMS calls for VoLTE are processed by the subscriber's S-CSCF in the home network. The
connection to the S-CSCF is via the P-CSCF. Dependent upon the network in use and overall
location within a network, the P-CSCF will vary, and a key element in the enablement of voice calling
capability is the discovery of the P-CSCF.
An additional requirement for VoLTE enabled networks is to have a means to handing back to circuit
switched legacy networks in a seamless manner, while only having one transmitting radio in the
handset to preserve battery life. A system known as SRVCC - Single Radio Voice Call Continuity is
required for this. Read more about SRVCC - Single Radio-Voice Call Continuity

VoLTE codecs
As with any digital voice system, a codec must be used. The VoLTE codec is that specified by 3GPP
and is the adaptive multi-rate, AMR codec that is used in many other cellular systems from GSM
through UMTS and now to LTE. The AMR-wideband codec may also be used.
The used of the AMR codec for VoLTE also provides advantages in terms of interoperability with
legacy systems. No transcoders are needed as most legacy systems now are moving towards the
AMR codec.
In addition to this, support for dual tone multi-frequency, DTMF signalling is also mandatory as this is
widely used for many forms of signalling over analogue telephone lines.

VoLTE IP versions
With the update from IPv4 to IPv6, the version of IP used in any system is of importance.
VoLTE devices are required to operate in dual stack mode catering for both IPv4 and IPv6.
If the IMS application profile assigns and IPv6 address, then the device is required to prefer that
address and also to specifically use it during the P-CSCF discovery phase.
One of the issues with voice over IP type calls is the overhead resulting from the IP header. To
overcome this issue VoLTE requires that IP header compression is used along with RoHC, Robust
Header Compression, protocol for voice data packet headers.
By Ian Poole