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4G/LTE - LTE Advanced

Carrier Aggregation

Carrier Aggregation is a special form of LTE technology that enables UE and Network to use more than one carrier frequencies. Actually this is not a new concept in LTE. You might have used/heard Dual Carrier in WCDMA HSDPA (HSDPA DC) or similar mode in WiFi (I forgot the terminology in WiFi).

Followings are the list of topics to be described in this page.

E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for intra-band contiguous CA
E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for non-contiguous intra-band CA (with two sub-blocks)

Initial Motivation for Carrier Aggregation

You may be hearing more and more about LTE Advanced these days (approaching the end of 2012) and you may think "Do we really need such a huge bandwidth ? Is the current LTE BW not enough ? Do we have all the technologies mature enough for LTE Advanced Implementation ?"

To see the mature implementation of LTE advanced network or mobile phone, you should get firm "YES" to following quesitons first.

Is there any major LTE Network Operators who has strong willingness to deploy LTE Advanced Network(Feature) ?
Are all those components (especially baseband chipsets and RF devices) for LTE advanced device available and mature in the market ?
Are there any test equipment which are providing the test capability for the device ?

As of the end of 2012, I don't think I have firm "YES" to any of these questions. But I am hearing that a couple of LTE network operators will deploy LTE Advanced feature in very near future and some operators has already supported the feature. I think this is true, but the LTE advanced they talk about at this point is not the full fledged technology and it is mainly about Carrier Aggregation.

Does this mean that they already feel the current 20 Mhz LTE bandwidth is not enough ? As far as I know, it is not because of this. Even though the current LTE supports 20 Mhz BW in max, there are only a few network operators who is certified for such a wide bandwidth. The most common bandwidth that network operators has for LTE is 10 Mhz, which means they are not fully utilizing the LTE capability in terms of bandwidth. This is not because of technical restriction, it is purely because of licensing issues for the allocated bandwidth.

Even though there is not many Network Operators who has 20 Mhz BW, there are some network operators who has license multiple band (e.g, two separated 10 Mhz BW and two or more 5 Mhz BW). These network operators wants to combine those multiple bands to achieve wide BW (in most case 20 Mhz BW) LTE. It is the initial motivation for LTE Advanced for now and I don't think we will see the fully grown LTE advanced technology in any time soon. We still have a lot of things to be done even for the initial LTE (Release 8 LTE) and this maturing process would take a couple of more years. LTE Advanced will be introduced gradually in parallele to Release 8 LTE, but initial introduction of LTE advanced would be more about "Marketing motivation" rather than "Technical motivation".

Initial Deployment

You may heard from other sources or will see in this page a lot of fancy stories about LTE advanced (like the aggregation of 5 carriers with 20 Mhz BW each, 8 x 8 DL MIMO, 4 x 4 UL MIMO, 1G Data Rate etc). But as I mentioned above, the reality would not be as fancy as you may expect. As of Jan, 2013. The only type of deployment I am hearing that some network operators would deploy is as follows :

i) 2 DL Carriers (mostly 10 Mhz BW each, Inter band)

ii) NO UL Subcarriers

Following illustration shows some of possible carrier allocations for initial deployment.

Even this simple configuration there are many things to consider and following is some of the list.

What kind of data you would carry on the primary and secondary DL carrier ?

: Definately both channel can carry PDSCH. How about PDCCH ? Would both DL carry each of its own PDCCH seprately ? or Primary DL Carrier would carry PDCCH for both carrier and the secondary carrier carry only PDSCH ?. Both options are possible and it is upto network implementation.

How kind of data you would carry on UL carrier ?

: You may think there would be no differences in UL carrier if UL does not support multi carrier as in the initial deployment, but it would not be true. There would be no differences in terms of PUSCH, but how about PUCCH? Since UE is getting PDSCHs from two separate carriers, there should be questions of how to send HARQ ACK/NACK for each of the PDSCH. Should UE send separate PUCCHs(HARQ ACK/NACK for each DL carriers) or single PUCCH carrying the HARQ ACK/NACK for both channels. Both options are possible in terms of Rel 9/Rel 10 specification, but it is higher possibility to use a single PUCCH for carrying HARQ ACK/NACK for both DL carriers. It means that we will have new PUCCH format for this situation.

How to handle PRACH ?

: Since UE can have possibility of send Uplink to two different carrier and can receive the data from two separate carrier. Possible channels for PRACH procedure can be diverse as shown below.

PRACH via Primary Carrier and RAR via Primary Carrier
PRACH via Primary Carrier and RAR via Secondary Carrier
PRACH via Secondary and RAR via Secondary Carrier
and couple of others.

But I guess the first option would be the best candidate since it is easy and is the same as Rel 8 method we are currently using.

How to handle handover with dual carrier ?

: For this, we may also have easy option or tricky option.

Tricky option would be to handover the two carrier without any modification from one cell (source cell) to another (destination cell). but this will cause a lot of issues if it is not very carefully implemented.

Easy option would be to remove the secondary DL channel before handover and then perform handover and configure the secondary channel in the destination cell.

Of course, it is highly probable to take an easy option for initial deployment.

Overview of Carrier Allocation and Network Architecture

One of the most important/critical feature in LTE Advanced is that we use multiple carriers in downlink and possible in uplink as well. It may sound simple to use multiple carriers, but in reality, with the introduction of multiple carrier all the possible carrier/resource allocation in uplink and downlink has such a huge combinations as shown below.

This is not just a graphicaly complication -:). Just by looking at this illustration, a lot of questions would be boggling in your mind. How to allocated resources (number of RBs) in control channel ? Do we have to have separate HARQ process for each carrier ? or single-aggregated HARQ for the multiple carrier ? What about Uplink side ? How can I schedule the resource for Multiple SC-FDMA (Clustered SC-FDMA) ? etc... These are the topics I have to add later.. For now, just enjoy the illustration and use your imagination for all of these questions. Trying to get the solution based on your imagination would greatly help you to understand 3GPP specification. This is a kind of motivation step for the new study.

Another aspect of LTE Advanced is network architecture side. One of the key modification of LTE advanced is 'Relay Node' to improve data communication especially on cell boundary and increase cell coverage. Again, I just put the illustrations and I would like you to use your imagination to find the answers to the questions popping up in your mind. Do we need any RRC message or Information element to handle this Relay Node ? How a UE handle the situation as shown for UE C in the following illustration. This UE is getting the similar strength of signals both from eNodeB and Relay Node. Would it be possible to handover between two Relay Nodes ? Would the Relay Node have the same RF capability as eNB ? Would this Relay Node get involved in L1/PHY scheduling as well ? etc.

Layer 2 Structure of Carrier Aggregation

Many people asked me "Is there any way to direct a specific IP packet to PCC (Mirmary Component Carrier) and another specific IP packet to SCC (Secondary Component Carrier) ?".

The Answer is 'No'.

You may understand why the answer is 'NO' from L2 structure of 3GPP 36.300 as shown below (This figure may look a little too complicated. You will find clearer figure after this). As you may notice here, Carrier Layer Aggregation is MAC-PHY layer concept and it is not applied to higher layer.

< 36.300 Figure 6.4-1 : Layer 2 Structure for DL with CA Configured >

For clarity, let's suppose a case of a Carrier Aggregation with 2 CC(Component Carrier) and each carrier support SISO. Following is overal data path from IP to Physical layer. As you see, from IP through RLC, there is no separate path between PCC and SCC.

For clarity, let's suppose a case of a Carrier Aggregation with 2 CC(Component Carrier) and each carrier support MIMO. Following is overall data path from IP to Physical layer. As you see, from IP through RLC, there is no separate path between PCC and SCC.

What kind of Aggregated Carrier (Carrier Combination) is possible ?

Now the question you may ask is how can I know which band combination of bands a UE support in terms of Carrier Aggregation ?

It is also supposed to be reported to network by the UE via UE Capability Information message. Followings are some of the possible IEs a UE may use depending on its release status.

RF-Parameters-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE {

supportedBandCombination-r10 SupportedBandCombination-r10

}

RF-Parameters-v1090 ::= SEQUENCE {

supportedBandCombination-v1090 SupportedBandCombination-v1090 OPTIONAL

}

RF-Parameters-v1130 ::= SEQUENCE {

supportedBandCombination-v1130 SupportedBandCombination-v1130 OPTIONAL

}

The definition of these IE is described as below in 36.331. Generally it sounds OK.. but it is not very clear to me if I go into one step deeper. For example, this definition does not clearly explain on which item in the list can be a PCC (Primary Component Carrier) and which should be SCC (Secondary Component Carrier). As far as I know, there is no priority of these items in terms of determining PCC/SCC, meaning either one should be allowed to be PCC depending on situation. But you may see some UE that allows only specific PCC/SCC mapping.

bandCombinationListEUTRA : One entry corresponding to each supported band combination listed in the same order as in supportedBandCombination.

BandCombinationParameters-v1090 : If included, the UE shall include the same number of entries, and listed in the same order, as in BandCombinationParameters-r10.

BandCombinationParameters-v1130 :The field is applicable to each supported CA bandwidth class combination (i.e. CA configuration in TS 36.101 Section 5.6A.1 indicated in the corresponding band combination

One example of Carrier Combination information in UE Capability Information is as follows. This example shows the UE allows Carrier Aggregation between band 4 and band 17.

nonCriticalExtension

rf-Parameters-v1020

supportedBandCombination-r10: 1 item

Item 0

BandCombinationParameters-r10: 2 items

Item 0

BandParameters-r10

bandEUTRA-r10: 4

bandParametersUL-r10: 1 item

Item 0

CA-MIMO-ParametersUL-r10

ca-BandwidthClassUL-r10: a

bandParametersDL-r10: 1 item

Item 0

CA-MIMO-ParametersDL-r10

ca-BandwidthClassDL-r10: a

supportedMIMO-CapabilityDL-r10: twoLayers

Item 1

BandParameters-r10

bandEUTRA-r10: 17

bandParametersDL-r10: 1 item

Item 0

CA-MIMO-ParametersDL-r10

ca-BandwidthClassDL-r10: a

supportedMIMO-CapabilityDL-r10: twoLayers

Following Table from 36.101 V11.7.0 (2014-03) shows all the possible (allowed) band combination of inter-band CA case. This list is likely to get extended as time goes on. So try to refer to latest spec. I just put inter-band case since I see only inter-band CA which is really deployed as of now (Apr 2014). If you are interested in intra-band CA, refer to Table 5.6A.1-1, Table 5.6A.1-3 in 36.101.

< 36.101 Table 5.6A.1-1: E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for intra-band contiguous CA >

< 36.101 Table 5.6A.1-3: E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for non-contiguous intra-band CA (with two sub-blocks) >

36.101 Table 5.6A.1-2: E-UTRA CA configurations and bandwidth combination sets defined for inter-band CA

< Test Frequency Tables >

For the specific test fequencies for each of the band combination, we need to refer to following tables in 36.508 (A lot of tables :)

Table 4.3.1.1.1-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 1
Table 4.3.1.1.1A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_1C
Table 4.3.1.1.2-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 2
Table 4.3.1.1.3-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 3
Table 4.3.1.1.3A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_3C
Table 4.3.1.1.4-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 4
Table 4.3.1.1.5-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 5
Table 4.3.1.1.6-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 6
Table 4.3.1.1.7-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 7
Table 4.3.1.1.7A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_7C
Table 4.3.1.1.8-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 8
Table 4.3.1.1.9-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 9
Table 4.3.1.1.10-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 10
Table 4.3.1.1.11-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 11
Table 4.3.1.1.12-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 12
Table 4.3.1.1.13-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 13
Table 4.3.1.1.14-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 14
Table 4.3.1.1.17-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 17
Table 4.3.1.1.18-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 18
Table 4.3.1.1.19-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 19
Table 4.3.1.1.20-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 20
Table 4.3.1.1.21-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 21
Table 4.3.1.1.22-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 22
Table 4.3.1.1.23-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 23
Table 4.3.1.1.24-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 24
Table 4.3.1.1.25-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 25
Table 4.3.1.1.26-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 26
Table 4.3.1.1.27-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 27
Table 4.3.1.1.27A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_27B
Table 4.3.1.1.28-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 28
Table 4.3.1.1.29-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 29
Table 4.3.1.1.31-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 31
Table 4.3.1.2.1-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 33
Table 4.3.1.2.2-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 34
Table 4.3.1.2.3-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 35
Table 4.3.1.2.4-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 36
Table 4.3.1.2.5-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 37
Table 4.3.1.2.6-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 38
Table 4.3.1.2.6A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_38C
Table 4.3.1.2.7-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 39
Table 4.3.1.2.7A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_39C
Table 4.3.1.2.8-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 40
Table 4.3.1.2.8A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_40C
Table 4.3.1.2.9-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 41
Table 4.3.1.2.9A-1 : Test Frequencies for CA_41C
Table 4.3.1.2.10-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 42
Table 4.3.1.2.11-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 43
Table 4.3.1.2.12-1 : Test Frequencies for E-UTRA channel Bandwidth for operating band 44
Table 4.3.1.2.13-1: Test frequencies for E-UTRA channel bandwidth for operating band 45
Table 4.3.1.2.14A-1: Test frequencies for CA_46C
Table 4.3.1.2.14A-2: Test frequencies for CA_46D
Table 4.3.1.2.14A-3: Test frequencies for CA_46E
Table 4.3.1.2.14A-4: Test frequencies for CA_46A-46A
Table 4.3.1.2.15-1: Test frequencies for E-UTRA channel bandwidth for operating band 47
Table 4.3.1.2.16-1: Test frequencies for E-UTRA channel bandwidth for operating band 48

One of the UE capability information that may confuses you would be following IE. This IE shows you which band are supported by the UE in terms of single carrier. It is not about Carrier Aggregation.

rf-Parameters

supportedBandListEUTRA: 4 items

Item 0

SupportedBandEUTRA

bandEUTRA: 2

..0. .... halfDuplex: False

Item 1

SupportedBandEUTRA

bandEUTRA: 4

.0.. .... halfDuplex: False

Item 2

SupportedBandEUTRA

bandEUTRA: 5

0... .... halfDuplex: False

Item 3

SupportedBandEUTRA

bandEUTRA: 17

.... ...0 halfDuplex: False

Determining Channel Spacing for Intraband Contiguous CA

In case of Intraband Contiguous CA, figuring out channel spacing between two channels is not so easy because we need to put them togather without the guardband between each channel. The spacing between the two intraband contiguous CA channel can be calculated by following equation in 36.521-1 5.4.1A Channel spacing for CA

Based on this equation, I've calculated following cases.

Channel 1 BW	Channel 2 BW	Channel Spacing
20	20	19.8
20	15	17.1
20	10	14.4
20	5	11.7
15	15	15.0
15	10	12.0
15	5	9.3
10	10	9.9
10	5	7.2
5	5	4.8

NOTE : I used the following formula in Excel Spreadsheet to calculate these cases

You can check if my calculation is correct or not by referring to the test channel configuration specified in 36.508 as shown below.

< 36.508 - Table 4.3.1.1.1A-1: Test frequencies for CA_1C >

< 36.508 - Table 4.3.1.1.3A-1: Test frequencies for CA_3C >

< 36.508 - Table 4.3.1.1.7A-1: Test frequencies for CA_7C >

< 36.508 - Table 4.3.1.2.6A-1: Test frequencies for CA_38C >

< 36.508 - Table 4.3.1.2.7A-1: Test frequencies for CA_39C >

< 36.508 - Table 4.3.1.2.8A-1: Test frequencies for CA_40C >

< 36.508 - Table 4.3.1.2.9A-1: Test frequencies for CA_41C >

How a Network know if a UE support Carrier Aggregation ?

The most important thing you have to pay attention in UE Capability Information is CA Band combination as specified in RRC message as shown below.

Another important part is featureGroupIndicator (FGI) for r10. It has following items.

featureGroupIndRel10-r10: 00000000 [bit length 32, 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 decimal value 0]

0... .... = Indicator 101: DMRS with OCC (orthogonal cover code) and SGH (sequence group hopping) disabling - Not supported

.0.. .... = Indicator 102: Trigger type 1 SRS (aperiodic SRS) transmission (Up to X ports) - Not supported

..0. .... = Indicator 103: PDSCH TM9 when up to 4 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported

...0 .... = Indicator 104: PDSCH TM9 for TDD when 8 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported

.... 0... = Indicator 105: PUCCH RM2-0 when PDSCH TM9 is configured and RM2-1 when PDSCH TM9

and up to 4 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported

.... .0.. = Indicator 106: PUCCH RM2-1 when PDSCH TM9 and 8 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported

.... ..0. = Indicator 107: PUSCH RM2-0 when PDSCH TM9 is configured and RM2-2 when PDSCH TM9 and

up to 4 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported

.... ...0 = Indicator 108: PUSCH RM2-2 when PDSCH TM9 and 8 CSI reference signal ports are configured - Not supported

0... .... = Indicator 109: PUCCH RM1-1 submode 1 - Not supported

.0.. .... = Indicator 110: PUCCH RM1-1 submode 2 - Not supported

..0. .... = Indicator 111: Measurement reporting trigger Event A6 - Not supported

...0 .... = Indicator 112: SCell addition within the Handover to EUTRA procedure - Not supported

.... 0... = Indicator 113: Trigger type 0 SRS (periodic SRS) transmission on X Serving Cells - Not supported

.... .0.. = Indicator 114: Reporting of both UTRA CPICH RSCP and Ec/N0 in a Measurement Report - Not supported

.... ..0. = Indicator 115: Time domain ICIC RLM/RRM / ICIC RRM / ICIC CSI measurement sf restriction

for the serving cell / neighbour cells - Not supported

.... ...0 = Indicator 116: Relative transmit phase continuity for spatial multiplexing in UL - Not supported

Overall Sequence of Adding a Second Carrier

Following is an example for RRC Connection Reconfiguration for LTE advanced (Step 1). I just enabled all IE on ASN to give you full details of parameters, but it reality the implementation would start with very limited set of parameters enabled and leaving large portions of parameter to some 3GPP default or hardcoded configuration based on aggrement between UE maker and Network Operator.

First part you have to pay attention to this sample RRC message is sCellToAddModList-r10 which is for adding the SCC and next important thing is pucch-ConfigDedicated-v1020 which is for defining uplink control channel for reporting Ack/Nac for aggregated Carrier.

+-rrcConnectionReconfiguration-r8 ::= SEQUENCE [000101]

+-measConfig ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

+-mobilityControlInfo ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

+-dedicatedInfoNASList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit

+-radioResourceConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE [000101] OPTIONAL:Exist

| +-srb-ToAddModList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit

| +-drb-ToAddModList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit

| +-drb-ToReleaseList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit

| +-mac-MainConfig ::= CHOICE [explicitValue] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-explicitValue ::= SEQUENCE [000]

| | +-ul-SCH-Config ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-drx-Config ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-timeAlignmentTimerDedicated ::= ENUMERATED [infinity]

| | +-phr-Config ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE [01]

| | +-VERSION-BRACKETS1 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-VERSION-BRACKETS2 ::= SEQUENCE [1] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-mac-MainConfig-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [111] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-sCellDeactivationTimer-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [rf16] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-extendedBSR-Sizes-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-extendedPHR-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| +-sps-Config ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| +-physicalConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE [0000000000] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-pdsch-ConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-pucch-ConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-pusch-ConfigDedicated ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-uplinkPowerControlDedicated ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-tpc-PDCCH-ConfigPUCCH ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-tpc-PDCCH-ConfigPUSCH ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-cqi-ReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicated ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-antennaInfo ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-schedulingRequestConfig ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE [010]

| | +-VERSION-BRACKETS1 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-VERSION-BRACKETS2 ::= SEQUENCE [00000111111] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | +-antennaInfo-r10 ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | +-antennaInfoUL-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | +-cif-Presence-r10 ::= BOOLEAN OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | +-cqi-ReportConfig-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | +-csi-RS-Config-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | +-pucch-ConfigDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [1111] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-pucch-Format-r10 ::= CHOICE [channelSelection-r10] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-n1PUCCH-AN-CS-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-n1PUCCH-AN-CS-List-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..2) [2]

| | | | | +-N1PUCCH-AN-CS-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..4) [4]

| | | | | +-N1PUCCH-AN-CS-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..4) [4]

| | | | +-twoAntennaPortActivatedPUCCH-Format1a1b-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-simultaneousPUCCH-PUSCH-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-n1PUCCH-AN-RepP1-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..2047) [0] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | +-pusch-ConfigDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [000] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-betaOffsetMC-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | | +-groupHoppingDisabled-r10 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | | +-dmrs-WithOCC-Activated-r10 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | +-schedulingRequestConfig-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [0] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-sr-PUCCH-ResourceIndexP1-r10 ::= INTEGER OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-srs-AntennaPort-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]

| | | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicatedAperiodic-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-setup ::= SEQUENCE [11]

| | | | +-srs-ConfigIndexAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..31) [0]

| | | | +-srs-ConfigApDCI-Format4-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..3) [1] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-srs-AntennaPortAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]

| | | | | +-srs-BandwidthAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [bw0]

| | | | | +-freqDomainPositionAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..23) [0]

| | | | | +-transmissionCombAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..1) [0]

| | | | +-srs-ActivateAp-r10 ::= CHOICE [release] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-release ::= NULL

| | | +-uplinkPowerControlDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | +-deltaTxD-OffsetListPUCCH-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-deltaTxD-OffsetPUCCH-Format1-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [dB0]

| | | | +-deltaTxD-OffsetPUCCH-Format1a1b-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [dB0]

| | | | +-deltaTxD-OffsetPUCCH-Format22a2b-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [dB0]

| | | | +-deltaTxD-OffsetPUCCH-Format3-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [dB0]

| | | | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE

| | | +-pSRS-OffsetAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..15) [0] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-VERSION-BRACKETS3 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE [00]

| +-VERSION-BRACKETS1 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| +-VERSION-BRACKETS2 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

+-securityConfigHO ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

+-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE [01] OPTIONAL:Exist

+-lateNonCriticalExtension ::= OCTET STRING OPTIONAL:Omit

+-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE [001] OPTIONAL:Exist

+-otherConfig-r9 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

+-fullConfig-r9 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

+-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE [010] OPTIONAL:Exist

+-sCellToReleaseList-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit

+-sCellToAddModList-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..maxSCell-r10[4]) [1] OPTIONAL:Exist

| +-SCellToAddMod-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [111]

| +-sCellIndex-r10 ::= INTEGER (1..7) [1]

| +-cellIdentification-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-physCellId-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..503) [2]

| | +-dl-CarrierFreq-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..maxEARFCN[65535]) [5790]

| +-radioResourceConfigCommonSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [0] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-nonUL-Configuration-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [00]

| | | +-dl-Bandwidth-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [n50]

| | | +-antennaInfoCommon-r10 ::= SEQUENCE

| | | | +-antennaPortsCount ::= ENUMERATED [an2]

| | | +-mbsfn-SubframeConfigList-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | +-phich-Config-r10 ::= SEQUENCE

| | | | +-phich-Duration ::= ENUMERATED [normal]

| | | | +-phich-Resource ::= ENUMERATED [oneSixth]

| | | +-pdsch-ConfigCommon-r10 ::= SEQUENCE

| | | | +-referenceSignalPower ::= INTEGER (-60..50) [21]

| | | | +-p-b ::= INTEGER (0..3) [1]

| | | +-tdd-Config-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-ul-Configuration-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE

| +-radioResourceConfigDedicatedSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [1] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | +-physicalConfigDedicatedSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | +-nonUL-Configuration-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [1111] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-antennaInfo-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [1] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-transmissionMode-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [tm3]

| | | | | +-codebookSubsetRestriction-r10 ::= BIT STRING SIZE(ALIGNED) [00] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-ue-TransmitAntennaSelection ::= CHOICE [release]

| | | | +-crossCarrierSchedulingConfig-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-schedulingCellInfo-r10 ::= CHOICE [own-r10]

| | | | +-csi-RS-Config-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-csi-RS-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | | +-antennaPortsCount-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]

| | | | | | +-resourceConfig-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..31) [0]

| | | | | | +-subframeConfig-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..154) [0]

| | | | | +-zeroTxPowerCSI-RS-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-zeroTxPowerResourceConfigList-r10 ::= BIT STRING SIZE(16) [0000000000000000]

| | | | | +-zeroTxPowerSubframeConfig-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..154) [0]

| | | | +-pdsch-ConfigDedicated-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-p-a ::= ENUMERATED [dB-3]

| | | +-ul-Configuration-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [1111111] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-antennaInfoUL-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-transmissionModeUL-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [tm1] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-fourAntennaPortActivated-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-pusch-ConfigDedicatedSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-groupHoppingDisabled-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-dmrs-WithOCC-Activated-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-uplinkPowerControlDedicatedSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [11] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-p0-UE-PUSCH-r10 ::= INTEGER (-8..7) [-8]

| | | | | +-deltaMCS-Enabled-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [en0]

| | | | | +-accumulationEnabled-r10 ::= BOOLEAN [FALSE]

| | | | | +-pSRS-Offset-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..15) [0]

| | | | | +-pSRS-OffsetAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..15) [0] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-filterCoefficient-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [fc0] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-pathlossReferenceLinking-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [pCell]

| | | | +-cqi-ReportConfigSCell-r10 ::= SEQUENCE [111] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-cqi-ReportModeAperiodic-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [rm12] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-nomPDSCH-RS-EPRE-Offset-r10 ::= INTEGER (-1..6) [-1]

| | | | | +-cqi-ReportPeriodicSCell-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | | +-cqi-PUCCH-ResourceIndex-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..1184) [0]

| | | | | | +-cqi-PUCCH-ResourceIndexP1-r10 ::= INTEGER OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | | | | +-cqi-pmi-ConfigIndex ::= INTEGER (0..1023) [0]

| | | | | | +-cqi-FormatIndicatorPeriodic-r10 ::= CHOICE [widebandCQI-r10]

| | | | | | | +-csi-ReportMode-r10 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | | | | +-ri-ConfigIndex ::= INTEGER OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | | | | +-simultaneousAckNackAndCQI ::= BOOLEAN [FALSE]

| | | | | | +-cqi-Mask-r9 ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | | | | +-csi-ConfigIndex-r10 ::= CHOICE OPTIONAL:Omit

| | | | | +-pmi-RI-Report-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicated-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-srs-HoppingBandwidth ::= ENUMERATED [hbw0]

| | | | | +-freqDomainPosition ::= INTEGER (0..23) [0]

| | | | | +-srs-ConfigIndex ::= INTEGER (0..1023) [0]

| | | | | +-transmissionComb ::= INTEGER (0..1) [0]

| | | | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicated-v1020 ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-srs-AntennaPort-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]

| | | | +-soundingRS-UL-ConfigDedicatedAperiodic-r10 ::= CHOICE [setup] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-setup ::= SEQUENCE [11]

| | | | +-srs-ConfigIndexAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..31) [0]

| | | | +-srs-ConfigApDCI-Format4-r10 ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..3) [1] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | | +-srs-AntennaPortAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [an1]

| | | | | +-srs-BandwidthAp-r10 ::= ENUMERATED [bw0]

| | | | | +-freqDomainPositionAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..23) [0]

| | | | | +-transmissionCombAp-r10 ::= INTEGER (0..1) [0]

| | | | +-srs-ActivateAp-r10 ::= CHOICE [release] OPTIONAL:Exist

| | | | +-release ::= NULL

| | | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE

| | +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE

| +-EXTENSION ::= SEQUENCE

Evolution path of Carrier Aggregation / Possible Test Plan

It's already been over an year since the first LTE-A was deployed since July 2013 in Korea and now it is getting spreaded wider. I tried to list up possible evolution path of LTE-A development in terms of chipset development aspect and UE development. This can be a big picture of test plan. I would be good practice if you think on your own about why we need these test and what kind of challenge UE (or chipset) should overcome to pass each of these test. You don't have to get the answers to your question.. just think about it as much as possible and it would let you think about a lot of details.

2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 3, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUSCH
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 3, PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUCCH Format 1b
2 CC Aggregation - SISO with CSI Report - Periodic
2 CC Aggregation - SISO with CSI Report - Aperiodic
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Handover for SCC Change
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Handover for PCC Change
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Handover for both SCC and PCC Change
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 3, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUSCH
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 3, PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUCCH Format 1b
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 3, 40 Mhz Aggregated BandWidth, 200 Mbps Throughput at IP layer
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 4, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUSCH
2 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 4, PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUCCH Format 1b
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, MIMO, 20 Mhz Aggregated Bandwidth, 150 Mbps Throughput at IP layer
2 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, MIMO, 40 Mhz Aggregated Bandwidth, 300 Mbps Throughput at IP layer
2 CC Aggregation - TM 8
2 CC Aggregation - TM 9
3 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 6, 30 Mhz Aggregated BW, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUSCH
3 CC Aggregation - SISO, Cat 6, 30 Mhz Aggregated BW,PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUCCH Format 3
3 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, 30 Mhz Aggregated BW, PUSCH enabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUSCH
3 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, 30 Mhz Aggregated BW, PUSCH diabled : HARQ Ack/Nack is carried by PUCCH Format 3
3 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, 40 Mhz Aggregated BW
3 CC Aggregation - 2x2 MIMO, Cat 6, 60 Mhz Aggregated BW
3 CC Aggregation - 4x4,4x4,4x2 Cat 16, 60 Mhz Aggregated BW
4 CC Aggregation - All 2x2, 80 Mhz Aggregated BW
5 CC Aggregation - All 2x2, 100 Mhz Aggregated BW
5 CC Aggregation - All 4x4, 100 Mhz Aggregated BW