2012 7th International ICST Conference on Communications and Networking in China (CHINACOM)

A Physical Cell Identity Self-Organization

Algorithm in LTE-Advanced Systems
Jingjie Yu, Mugen Peng, Yue Li
Wireless Signal Processing and Network Laboratory
Key Laboratory of Universal Wireless Communication, Ministry of Education
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, 100876, China
Email: yujingjie@bupt.edu.cn

Abstract Self-conguration of radio parameters is one of the
key features in long term revolution advanced (LTE-Advanced)
systems. Physical cell identity (PCI) is cell identier on the
physical layer which can be used to create synchronization
signals, including Primary Synchronization Signals (PSS) and
Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS). PCI planning is one
of the most important parts of self-conguration because of its
signicant role in cell search. This paper aims to propose a
PCI allocation algorithm based on graph theory. The algorithm
works by utilizing Floyd algorithm to obtain cellular hops and
calculating the weight of each cell, and forming cell clusters
according to PCI allocation results. Finally, a simulation is
demonstrated to evaluate the performance of the PCI allocation
algorithm. The results show that the algorithm can achieve a
tradeoff between decreasing interference and increasing PCI
reuse.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Currently LTE is based on a at architecture compared
to 2G and 3G systems. The LTE radio access technology
is continuously evolving to meet future requirements. LTE
Release 10, sometimes known as LTE-Advanced, is not a new
radio access technology but the evolution of LTE to further
improve performance [1].
While LTE-Advanced network is developing at such a high
rate, however, the complexity of LTE-Advanced systems also
have new requirements to meet on operations and mainte-
nances of the network. Because of the complexity, Capital
Expenditures (CAPEX) and Operational Expenses (OPEX) for
LTE-Advanced system must be controlled. Self-Organization
Network (SON) is foreseen as a promising area which can
signicantly cut CAPEX and OPEX costs without reducing
performance of the network [2].
One of the most important parts of SON is self-
conguration. PCI (Physical Cell Identity) is an essential self-
conguration parameter of a radio cell. It corresponds to
a unique combination of one orthogonal sequence and one
pseudo-random sequence, and 504 unique PCI are supported-
leading to unavoidable reuse of the PCI in different cells [2].
Because of the limited number of PCIs, we have to reuse
PCI in the network. When a new evolved NodeB (eNodeB)
is brought into the eld, a PCI needs to be selected for
each of its supported cells, avoiding collision with respective
neighboring cells (the use of identical PCI by two cells results
in interference conditions hindering the identication and use
of any of them where otherwise both would have coverage).
Traditionally, the proper PCI is derived from radio network
planning and is part of the initial conguration of the node
[3].
In LTE-Advanced system, users connect to eNodeBs con-
trolling cells, and eNodeBs deal with the handovers primarily
by way of signaling with each other directly, while in 2G
and 3G network, handovers are handled via radio network
controller node. The cell broadcasts the identifying signature
Physical Cell Identity (PCI), which the mobiles use to identify
cells as well as time and frequency reference. In addition,
we propose to broadcast a globally unique cell identier
(GID), which can be detected and reported by User Equip-
ment (UE). Detecting the GID will be more difcult and
time consuming, which in turn implies restrictive use. Since
handover is distributed to the eNodeB, it benets from an
eNodeB managed neighbor cell relation (NCR) list of plausible
handover candidates with connectivity information (e.g. IP
address or X2 connection), as well as a mapping between the
PCI and global unique cell identier, GID. This enables the
mobile to identify cells in measurement reports only by the
PCI [4].
Traditionally, the proper PCI is derived from radio network
planning and is part of the initial conguration of the node.
Traditional PCI planning is based on the results of Metric
Drive Test (MDT). However it is a waste of time and money.
Whats more, on the basis of MDT, self-optimization seems
impossible.
In this paper, a neighbor relation matrix is established.
Furthermore, the shortest path between each pair of cells is
calculated. To save PCI and reduce interferences, an assign-
ment method according to shortest path is proposed.
Recently numerous algorithms about PCI allocation have
been proposed. Mehdi Amirijoo, from Wireless Access Net-
works, Ericsson Research, has proposed a PCI allocation
method based on UE measurement [5]. However, in the con-
guration period, there are not much UEs. UE measurement
is impossible in the conguration period, and it may be more
helpful in self-optimization.
T. Bandh, G. Carle from Munich, and his fellows, nd an
algorithm to allocate PCIs based on color graph [3]. In this
paper, cells are colored, and only the cells have the same color
can utilize the identical PCI. This algorithm can use a few PCIs

576 978-1-4673-2699-5/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE


Fig. 1. PCI collision and confusion
to congure the network, which is valuable in LTE-Advanced
systems. However, the interference from the co-PCI cells is
not considered.
The reminder of the paper is organized as follows. In
Section II, an overview of PCI allocation problem is presented.
Then the algorithm of PCI allocation is introduced in Section
III. The detailed operation of PCI assignment scheme is
presented in this section. In Section IV, the algorithm is
evaluated by a simulation. Finally, Section V concludes the
algorithm and this paper.
II. SYSTEM MODEL
The PCI assignment shall fulll following conditions,
collision-free and confusion-free. Collision-free means
that the PCI is unique in the area that the cell covers.
The collision-free condition is met if and only if any two
neighboring cells do not have the same PCI. Confusion-free
means a cell shall not have neighboring cells with identical
PCI. The confusion-free condition is met only and if only
none of the cells has two neighbors with identical PCI. The
collision-free and confusion-free conditions are illustrated as
Fig.1 [5].
To understand the PCI reuse concept, consider a cellular
system which has a total of S PCIs available for use. The
network consists of N cells. In a theoretical network, the
relationship between the cluster size and the total cells in the
network can be denoted as:
N = Ccluster Ncluster , (1)
where N represents the number of cells in the network,
Ncluster denotes the number of clusters in the network, and
Ccluster represents the number of cells in one cluster. The
cells in one cluster utilize different PCIs from each other.
In practical network, the number of cells in one cluster
is usually smaller than the number of PCIs, which can be
represented as:
Ncluster < S.
A larger cluster size causes the ratio between the cell radius
and the distance between co-PCI cells to decrease, leading to
weaker co-PCI interference. The co-PCI interference means
the interference caused by the cells with the identical PCI. The
larger the cluster is, the longer the cellular distance between
co-PCI cells is. However, a larger cluster size would be in
desperate need for PCIs. More PCIs are needed to ensure that
the cells in the same cluster do not use the identical PCI.
UEs measure the reference signal received power (RSRP)
from eNBs. Based on the hypothesis, the RSRP can be
calculated as:
Rij = Pi Lij Sij , (3)
where Ri is the RSRP of cell i measured by UE j, Pi
represents the transmitting power of cell i, Lij is the path
loss of cell i to UE j and Sij denotes shadow fading. For
simplicity, multi-path fading is not considered.
In order to evaluate the performance of the algorithm, co-
PCI interference is dened as:
S
SIN R=  , (4)
Ii + N
i
where S represents the Reference Signal Received Power
(RSRP) of donor cell, Ii is the RSRP of the cell i, which
has the identical PCI with the donor cell. This interference is
caused by PCI reuse.
III. PCI ASSIGNMENT
A neighbor relation Matrix of the network is established
in order to solve this problem. First, the cellular network is
transformed into a weighted undirected graph, so the PCI
allocation problem is transformed into the graph problem.
The shortest path algorithm of graph theory is utilized in this
method.
A. Establish the Graph of the Network
The network can be expressed as a graph. One cell is set
as one vertex in the graph. The neighbor relations can be
presented as weight of the edges between vertexes. If cell i and
cell j are neighbor cells, the weight of edge vi , vj  is set as
1. If cell i and cell j have no neighbor relation, the weight of
edge vi , vj  is set as , namely there is no edge vi between
and vj . The said graph will be stored as an adjacency matrix.
Assume that there are n vertexes in the graph G = (V, E),
so the adjacency matrix is a n n square matrix, which can
be denoted as:
1, if vi , vj  E
arcij = 0, if i = j (5)
, else
For example, a graph with four vertexes and its adjacency
matrix are illustrated as Fig.2.
The adjacency matrix of the graph in Fig.2 is denoted as:
(2) 0 1 1
1 0 1 1
arc = 1 0
(6)
1 1 0
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 Fig. 2. A graph with four vertexes

From the matrix, a simple neighbor relation list of each cell

can be obtained. The values of 1 means that there is an edge
between the two vertexes, namely the corresponding cells are
neighbor cells. So the matrix stores the relationships of the
network.
B. Calculate Cellular Hops by Floyd Algorithm
Next, the cellular hops between each couple of cells will be
calculated based on the adjacency matrix. The cellular hops
between each couple of cells is measured in cellular unit,
so the cellular distance will be presented as an integer. This
distance can be evaluated by shortest path between each couple Fig. 3. The relation between cluster size and cluster radius
of cells, which can be evaluated by Floyd Algorithm.
The cellular hops of each couple of cells will be stored in
of each cells neighbors. According to mathematical induction,
a matrix, which can be denoted as:
 the relation between the cluster size and the neighbors each
cellular hops, if i = j cell owns is concluded.
hij = (7)
0, if i = j The mathematical induction is used to solve the question. In
For example, the cellular distance matrix of the graph in a theoretical network, the relationship between the cluster size
Fig.2 can be calculated as: and the total number of cells in the network can be denoted
as:
0 1 2 1 c0 = 1
1 0 1 , (10)
1 cn cn1 = n m
H= 2 1 0
(8)
2 where n represents the radius of the cluster, which is the hops
1 1 2 0 from the center to the outmost cell, cn is the number of cells
The collision free and confusion free condition can be in the cluster, and m is the number of each cells neighbors.
presented as: The shape of the cell is set as square, equilateral triangle and
hexagon. In the said three shapes, there are three, four and
P CI[i] = P CI[j], if hij 2, (9) six neighbor cells for each shape. cn and n can be calculated
where P CI[i] denotes the PCI of cell i. by iteration in the equation (10). The results are illustrated in
If the relation between vertex i and vertex j is needed, Fig.3. However, in the practical network, different cells have
hij should be checked. If hij equals 1, there is a direct edge different numbers of neighbor cells. The shape of the cell is
between vertex i and vertex j, and the corresponding cells are irregular, so the shape of the cell could only be estimated
neighbors. In an undirected graph, the degree of the vertex v according to the average neighbors per cell owns appropriately.
refers to the number of edges connected to the vertex. In this First, the cluster size must be determined. Suppose there are
graph, the degree of vi represents the number of the neighbors p PCIs available in the network. Then
of cell i.
n, s.t cn < p cn + 1. (11)
C. Set the Reuse Cellular Hops
So according to the equation (11), cn and n could be calculated
It is essential to estimate the cluster size in order to set by iteration, under the condition m is the average neighbors
the reuse cellular hops. The cells with different PCIs form a of the cells, which can be denoted as:
cluster, which means that none cells in the same cluster use N
the identical PCI. m = i=1 m i (12)
N
Each cell has different numbers of neighbor cells. It can be
concluded the cluster size has something to do with the number where mi means the number of neighbors of cell i, N is the

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 TABLE I
total number of cells in the network, and m represents the
S IMULATION PARAMETERS
average neighbors of the cells.
Finally, the reuse cellular distance can be determined as: Parameters Assumption
h = 2n + 1, (13) eNB-to-eNB distance 2000m
path loss model L[dB]=128.1+37.6log10(R[km])
where h is PCI reuse hops in this network. Shadow fading off
After the parameter h is determined, the PCI allocation Fast fading off
algorithm could allocate the PCI according to the reuse cellular Penetration loss 20dB
hops which have been calculated. BS Tx power 46dBm
D. Allocate PCIs to Each Cell
In order to determine the order to allocate PCIs, the weight
of each cell should be calculated. First the sum of cellular
distance between cell and other cells is calculated.

si = hij (14)
j

where hij means the hops from cell i to cell j.

The cell i with the minimum si is the midpoint of the
network, which is always selected as the switching center. So
the cell with smaller value of s is closer to the heart of the
network. So the cell with smaller value of s has the priority
to be assigned a PCI rst. The cells would be put in order
according to the value of S.
Then we would allocate a PCI to each cell according to
the orders. Like the hexagonal cell conguration, cells are
Fig. 4. The PCI Clusters
hexagonal shaped and each cell has six neighbors. There are
many rings of cells in the hexagonal cell conguration. The
scenarios with ctitious deployed networks. The goal of the
inner most ring consists of only the center cell. The cells which
performance evaluation is to see whether the network is
are i hops from the center cell consist Ring i. Ring 1 is
classied into clusters and whether the interference caused
surrounded by Ring 2, which in turn is surrounded by Ring
by cells with identical PCI is decreased. We assume that
3 and so on. The cell which is congured now is considered
the existing eNBs are well designed and deployed in good
as the center cell. The PCIs used in Ring i are put in Seti .
condition. These new introduced eNBs have completed basic
The PCI is selected as follows, where h is calculated from
conguration and have already established the connection to
equation (13).

h1 the adjacent eNBs.
Step 1: If Seth \ Seti = , go to step 2; if not, choose Fig.4 shows the performance of forming clusters. There are
i=1

h1 30 PCIs available and 10 cells in this scenario. The cell utilizes
one PCI from (Seth \ Seti ). different PCI with other cells in the same cluster. From the
i=1
h
max 
h simulation, the PCI allocation task can be achieved with no
Step 2: If Seti \ Seti = , go to step 3; if not, confusion and coniction. There are proper hops between the
i=h+1 i=1 cells with identical PCI.
h
max 
h
choose one PCI from ( Seti \ Seti ), namely choose As Fig.5 shows, the co-PCI interferences decrease with
i=h+1 i=1 the increase of the hops of the reuse path. The simulation
a PCI from a cell whose hops is larger than d. parameters are illustrated in Table 1. With the increase of
Step 3: If there is any unused PCI, then assign an unused hops of reuse path, the cells with the identical PCI should
PCI to this cell; if not, go to step 4. have greater path loss to the UEs in donor cell. Under the

2
Step 4: We choose one PCI from the set (\ Seti ). If condition h=3, the performance is same as the result in [3].
i=1 Our algorithm is under the condition h=5. This can reduce PCI
and only if meet this condition, the collision free and confusion
coniction and confusion, which can signicantly improve the
free can be guaranteed.
The most difcult thing in this PCI allocation algorithm is QoS of the network. If high QoS is required, enough large hops
to calculate the reuse cellular hops. So it is critical to estimate of reuse path are essential. If a lot of PCIs have to be saved
the cluster size and conrm the reuse cellular hops. in the heterogeneous network, the hops of reuse path should
be reduced.
IV. SIMULATION As Fig.6 shows, no matter what the hops of reuse path
In order to illustrate and analyze the behavior of the are, the algorithm could utilize as less PCIs as possible to
proposed PCI allocation algorithm, we consider using two accomplish the PCI allocation task under confusion-free and

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 VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported in part by the Program for
New Century Excellent Talents in University, the State Ma-
jor Science and Technology Special Projects (Grant No.
2011ZX03003-002-01), and the Fok Ying Tong Education
Foundation Application Research Projects (Grant No. 122005).
R EFERENCES
[1] S. Parkvall. A. Furuskar, E. Dahlman, Evolution of LTE toward IMT-
Advanced, IEEE Communications Society, pp. 84-91, Feb., 2011.
[2] 3G Americas, The benets of SON in LTE - Self-optimizing and Self-
organizing networks, White Paper, December 2009.T.
[3] Bandh, T. Carle, G. Sanneck, L. C. Schmelz, R. Romeikat, B. Bauer,
Optimized network conguration parameter assignment based on graph
coloring, IEEE NOMS2010, pp 40-47, Apr., 2010.
[4] 3GPP, 3GPP TR 36.902, Technical Specication Release 9, 3GPP, 12
2010.
Fig. 5. co-pci interference under the different lengths of reuse path [5] M. Amirijoo, P. Frenger, F. Gunnarsson, Neighbor cell relation list and
physical cell identity self-organization in LTE, IEEE ICCW2008, pp.
37-41, May, 2008.
[6] Yanguang Liu; Wenjing Li; Heng Zhang; Likun Yu, Distributed
PCI assignment in LTE based on consultation mechanism, IEEE
WiCOM2010, pp. 1-4, Sep., 2010.
[7] T.H. Cormen, in Pan jingui, Introduction to Algorithms, China Machine
Press, pp 381-395, Sep., 2006.

Fig. 6. The collision and confusion rate under different PCI numbers used

collision-free conditions. The improper allocation rate in the

gure combines coniction rate and confusion rate together.
It can also be conclude the performance with shorter hops is
just little better under the condition PCIs are not enough.
V. CONCLUSION
An algorithm for automatic PCI assignment was presented
in this paper. According to the shortest path between cells,
a proper PCI set is provided for select a PCI to reuse or
use. A long hops of reuse path will contribute to reducing
the interference between cells. Several simulations have been
made to illustrate the correlation between reuse cellular hops
and the QoS of the network. However, a long hops of reuse
path will increase the number of PCI used. So a tradeoff must
be made between them by adjusting h.
In LTE-Advanced heterogeneous network, more PCIs will
be reused as more femtocells or picocells are overlaid with
the macrocells. In this condition, it is essential to save the PCI
consumption and decrease the interference due to reuse PCI in
different cells. Through the algorithm proposed in this paper,
a proper PCI assignment result can be achieved according to
the state of the network by adjusting h. In the future network,
the PCI allocation algorithm based on heterogeneous network
and PCI self-optimization algorithm will be studied.

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