Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rev. B 06/13
SPIRENT
1325 Borregas Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 USA
Email: sales@spirent.com
Web: http://www.spirent.com
Europe and the Middle East +44 (0) 1293 767979 • emeainfo@spirent.com
All of the company names and/or brand names and/or product names referred to in this
document, in particular, the name “Spirent” and its logo device, are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Spirent plc and its subsidiaries, pending registration in
accordance with relevant national laws. All other registered trademarks or trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice and does not
represent a commitment on the part of Spirent. The information in this document is believed
to be accurate and reliable; however, Spirent assumes no responsibility or liability for any
errors or inaccuracies that may appear in the document.
LTE Advanced - Carrier Aggregation
Introduction and Implications for Mobile Device Testing
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Why Carrier Aggregation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What is Carrier Aggregation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Carrier Aggregation Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Impacts of Carrier Aggregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Impact of Carrier Aggregation on the RRC Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
UE Capability Transfer Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Measurement Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
RRC Connection Reconfiguration Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Handover and RRC Connection Reestablishment Procedures . . . . . . . 8
The Impact of Carrier Aggregation on the MAC Sub-Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SCell Activation and Deactivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SCell and PCell Data Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Impact of Carrier Aggregation on the PHY Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Cross-Carrier Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Channel Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Downlink Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Timing Advance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Testing Carrier Aggregation In Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Functional Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Performance Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Acceptance Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Conformance Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Service Provider Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Test Solutions for Carrier Aggregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
CS8 Mobile Device Tester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
VR5 Channel Emulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Introduction
LTE-Advanced was introduced to meet the world’s demand for faster data delivery and
increased coverage. LTE-Advanced target parameters are defined in the 3GPP’s
TR 36.9131 document, but high-level requirements include:
• Peak Downlink throughput: 1 Gbps
• Peak Uplink throughput: 500 Mbps
• Peak Downlink spectrum efficiency: 30 b/s/Hz
• Peak Uplink spectrum efficiency: 15 b/s/Hz
• Improve cell edge throughput
A quick calculation shows that both the uplink and downlink require more than 20 MHz
of bandwidth to achieve these targets. However, finding sufficient contiguous spectrum
is usually not an option for those deploying LTE & LTE-Advanced.
The term “spectrum fragmentation” is one that is often used to describe the large
number of spectral bands expected to be used for LTE deployments around the
world, which is an issue with respect to global roaming. Spectrum fragmentation also
describes the lack of contiguous bands for deploying the high data rates required by
advanced wireless services.
As an example, Figure 1 depicts one LTE network operator’s holdings in a top-tier city.
Note that this operator’s holdings in the region amount to 50 MHz of spectrum, but a
single contiguous 20-MHz band cannot be constructed from the available holdings.
This problem is universal, and is addressed in 3GPP Release 10 by the concept of carrier
aggregation.
1 3GPP TR 36.913: “Requirements for further advancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
(E-UTRA) (LTE-Advanced)”
Having the flexibility to schedule data across multiple carriers to the same device
provides spatial and frequency diversity, allowing for more reliable communication to
the mobile. Also, with cross carrier scheduling, all carriers can be managed by one cell.
This introduces a new option for managing Inter Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC).
It should be noted that the strategy driving the LTE-Advanced feature set is meant to
address the need for increased flexibility in network planning and data scheduling.
Carrier aggregation is just one part of the holistic implementation of that strategy; other
aspects include modulation, spatial multiplexing and Transport Block Size (TBS).
Carrier aggregation permits the LTE radio interface to be configured with up to five
“component carriers” of any bandwidth. Release 10 initially limits the number of
carriers to two. Uplink and downlink may be independently configured, but the number
of uplink carriers must be less than or equal to the number of downlink carriers.
Each component carrier is equivalent to a Release 8 or Release 9 carrier. Three types
of carrier aggregation are defined: inter-band aggregation, contiguous intra-band
aggregation and non-contiguous intra-band aggregation.
Inter-Band
Carrier Aggregation
Intra-Band
Carrier Aggregation
(Contiguous)
Intra-Band
Carrier Aggregation
(Non-Contiguous)
The mobile is connected to a primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells
(SCells). The mobile establishes an RRC connection only to the primary cell and will only
transmit PUCCH (uplink control information) to the primary cell. The SCell(s) transmit
PDCCH and PDSCH (downlink control and data) and receives the PUSCH (uplink data).
SCells may optionally not use the PDCCH if a feature called cross-carrier scheduling is
supported by both the UE and the network; cross-carrier scheduling is a process where
scheduling for all the bearers are managed by one of them, namely the PCell bearer.
This reserves the SCell traffic “pipes” for data only.
In terms of network architecture, the main layers impacted by carrier aggregation are
the RRC, MAC and PHY layers. The core network, PDCP and RLC are not impacted by
carrier aggregation; in fact, from the perspective of the user plane, the aggregated
carrier is a single bearer just like any other.
As of Release 10, a UE should be able to indicate which bands it supports and should
be able to report on its carrier aggregation capability for each band. Table 2 and Table 3
show intra-band continuous carrier aggregation capabilities and inter-band capabilities
defined in the Release 10 specification.
CA Configuration / NRB_agg
Maximum
50RB+100RB 75RB+75RB 75RB+100RB 100RB+100RB Aggregated Bandwidth
CA E-UTRA (10 MHz + (15 MHz + (15MHz + (20 MHz + Bandwidth Combination
Configuration Band 20 MHz) 15 MHz) 20 MHz) 20 MHz) [MHz] Set
CA_1C 1 Yes Yes 40 0
CA_7C 7 Yes Yes
CA_38C 38 Yes Yes
CA_40C 40 Yes Yes Yes 40 0
CA_41C 41 Yes Yes Yes Yes 40 0
Table 2 - Release 10 carrier aggregation capabilities - contiguous intra-band
RRC signaling has been modified to support carrier aggregation messaging and
procedures. The following summarizes impacts to the RRC layer. Further details are
outlined in the 3GPP’s RRC protocol specification2 and UE radio access specification3.
The four most significant changes are to:
• Measurement events
• UE category:
Table 4 - UE categories
2 3GPP TS 36.331: “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC);
Protocol specification”
3 3GPP TS 36.306: “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio access
capabilities”
• Cross-Carrier Scheduling
• Multi-cluster PUSCH
• Event A6 support
–– Indicates that the UE can support an E-UTRAN handover directly into carrier
aggregation mode.
Further details can be found in the 3GPP’s specification for UE radio access
capabilities4.
Measurement Events
Measurement procedures and capabilities are used by the network to manage
network resources and perform different mobility procedures. Measurement event
A6 is introduced as an optional UE capability in release 10 to enable the addition and
removal of SCells. In Release 10, Events A3 and A5 are specific to PCells.
Table 5 describes events A3, A5 and A6.
4 3GPP TS 36.306: “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio access
capabilities”
• This procedure can only add an SCell after Access Stratum (AS) security has
been activated.
–– This IE indicates how many frames of inactivity on an SCell should cause the
UE to remove that SCell. More details are available in the 3GPP’s TS 36.331
document.
MAC procedures (e.g. power headroom reports, retransmissions, TTI bundling semi-
persistent scheduling, etc.) are modified to support carrier aggregation. Details
are best described in the Release 10 version of the 3GPP’s TS 36.321 MAC protocol
specification5.
Two major areas are significantly impacted and warrant special attention:
With Release 10, one formerly reserved value for the Logical Channel ID (LCID) is added
to the list of valid values used for MAC control element activation and deactivation:
LCID= 11011 is used by the UE to activate or deactivate the reception of SCells. PCells
cannot be deactivated. More details are available in section 5.13 of 3GPP TS 36.3215.
Each component carrier has a unique HARQ entity and independent HARQ processes.
For each component carrier one or two code-words may be generated depending on the
transmission mode. Figure 2 shows the changes introduced by carrier aggregation to
the MAC layer scheduling and HARQ process.
5 3GPP TS 36.321: “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Medium Access Control (MAC)
protocol specification”
Release 8 Release 10
Radio Bearers
Logical Channels
Multiplexing Multiplexing
MAC
UE1 MAC UE1
Transport Channels
DL-SCH DL-SCH
on CC1 on CCx
Figure 2 - Downlink Data Link layer (L2) structures in Release 8 (left) and Release 10 (right)6
With the introduction of the secondary cell, two major points become noteworthy:
• The PDCCH may optionally not be transmitted (on the SCell) if cross-carrier
scheduling is enabled. In this case the Downlink Control Information (DCI)
header includes a CIF that identifies the intended carrier.
6 3GPP TS 36.300: “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial
Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2”
Cross-Carrier Scheduling
Release 10 introduces an optional UE capability which allows for scheduling all carriers
via one carrier’s PDCCH. Enacting all scheduling on the PCell reserves SCells for user
data, minimizing SCell control channel overhead. It also enables coordinated scheduling
of data across multiple carriers, which in turn enables efficient network planning.
Channel Quality
Downlink channel quality is measured by the UE and reported to the base-station in
the Uplink Control Information (UCI). The UCI field includes a CIF that indicates which
component carrier is being referenced. This is used in the case when cross-carrier
scheduling is enabled.
Downlink Monitoring
Release 8 introduced the Radio Link Failure procedure. This procedure remains the
same with the introduction of carrier aggregation. The only clarification made in the
specification is that Radio Link Failure is only triggered by the UE upon failure of the
PCell, and is not triggered by failure of a SCell. Upon radio link reestablishment, all
SCells are deleted from the UE’s list of serving cells.
Timing Advance
Timing advance is a method in which a base-station requests that a mobile adjusts its
uplink timing (relative to downlink time) in order to mitigate the effect of propagation
delay. In carrier aggregation, only a single timing advance value is used by the
E-UTRAN; this value is applied to all carriers.
Functional Tests
MAC and - Decoding MAC control element to activate, deactivate the SCell
Physical - Deactivation of SCell based on the SCellDeactivation Timer
Layer - Deactivation of SCell because of radio link failure
- Deactivation of SCell because of mobility procedures
- Reception of downlink data from 2 component carriers
- Decoding of carrier indication field for cross-carrier scheduling
- Link quality monitoring and reporting for PCells and all SCells configured
- Verification of Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) on PCell and SCells
Performance Tests
Performance tests are system tests that are intended to characterize the RF and end-
to-end performance of a mobile under different scenarios and channel conditions. The
introduction of additional carriers provides new methods to reach target throughput
numbers, mainly by maintaining multiple streams from different carriers. This has a
direct impact on the mobile’s performance, since throughput is now dependent on other
factors; each carrier will experience different channel conditions (especially in the case
of inter-band aggregation) and loading. Examples of performance test cases:
Acceptance Testing
Acceptance testing can be divided into two main groups: Conformance Testing and
Service Provider Testing.
Conformance Testing
These are tests mandated by standards bodies for device certification, in this case
3GPP, GCF and PTCRB. All mobile equipment must pass these tests before being
commercially deployed. Test specifications 36.521 and 37.571 list different carrier
aggregation test cases testing different aspects of carrier aggregation.
CS8 Mobile Device Tester is multi technology network emulator solution that provides
Carrier Aggregation test capability for R10 LTE Chipset & Devices. CS8 is the only
“single box for two independent carriers with up to 4x2 MIMO for Carrier Aggregation
(CA) with independent fading”, with support for multiple band combinations. CS8
Hardware is 4x2 MIMO ready, for future deployments of Carrier Aggregation. Key
benefits of CS8 Device Tester for Carrier Aggregation:
Spirent also offers the market leading channel emulator, VR5, with the ability to support
up to 8 simultaneous RF channels with different MIMO configurations up to 6GHz.
With scalable bandwidth support up to 100 MHz, the VR5 can be used for Carrier
Aggregation testing of both LTE chipset & network infrastructure testing.
CONCLUSION
Recognizing the looming spectrum shortage and the need to boost LTE speeds,
operators on a global scale are shifting gears to ensure their LTE networks will be
compatible with LTE-3GPP Release 10, LTE-Advanced. Carrier aggregation has been
specified by 3GPP as the method for addressing the wireless industry’s requirement for
greater spectrum utilization and faster data delivery.
By enabling RRC connections with multiple cells at low protocol layers, this Release
10 feature creates wide-band bearers for delivery of higher data rates. With the
challenge of combining relatively disparate contiguous and non-contiguous bands of
spectrum into a single logical channel, comes the guarantee of significant complexity
in development and testing. When considering the various types of carrier aggregation
and the possible combinations, it is not difficult to imagine the numerous test cases
and scenarios that will need to be addressed.
This paper was produced to provide an overview of carrier aggregation, the impacts
of implementation on relevant protocol layers and a discussion on how implementing
carrier aggregation affects the requirements for mobile device testing during
development. With years of experience of bringing real-world network and radio
channel conditions into the lab, Spirent is well positioned to support device developers
in addressing the challenges of carrier aggregation implementation.
Acronyms
The following is a list of all acronyms/abbreviations used in this document: