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Objective
Relationship between
Protocols
Architecture
Interfaces

Layer 2 Functions and Data Flow

Multiplexing of Channels
Channel Types
Logical
Transport
Physical

LTE Interfaces

Radio Interface and X2 Interface

Control Plane (CP) User Plane (UP)
TS 24.301

NAS Protocols

TS 36.331

(E)-RRC

User PDUs

TS 36.323

PDCP

TS 36.322

RLC

TS 36.321

MAC

TS 36.2xx

LTE-L1 (FDD/TDD-OFDMA/SC-FDMA)

TS 36.300

X2-CP
X2-UP
(Control Plane) (User Plane)
User PDUs

TS 36.423
TS 36.422
TS 36.421

X2-AP

GTP-U

SCTP

UDP

IP

IP

L1/L2

L1/L2

TS 36.420
[X2 general aspects & principles)

TS 29.281

TS 36.424
TS 36.421

LTE-Uu
Air interface of EUTRAN
Based on OFDMA in downlink and SCFDMA in uplink
FDD and TDD duplex methods
Scalable bandwidth: from 1.4 up to 20
MHz
Data rates up to 100 Mbps (DL), 50Mbps
(UL)

X2
Inter eNB interface
Handover coordination without involving
the EPC
X2AP: special signaling protocol
During HO, Source eNB can use the X2
interface to forward downlink packets still
buffered or arriving from the serving
gateway to the target eNB.
This will avoid loss of packets during intereNB handover.

S1-MME & S1-U Interfaces

S1-MME
Control interface between eNB and
MME
MME and UE will exchange non-access
stratum signaling via eNB through this
interface.
E.g.: if a UE performs a tracking area
update the TRACKING AREA UPDATE
REQUEST message will be sent from
UE to eNB and the eNB will forward the
message via S1-MME to the MME.
S1AP:S1 Application Protocol

TS 36.410
[S1 general aspects & principles]

S1-MME
(Control Plane)
TS 24.301

NAS Protocols

TS 36.413

S1-AP

TS 36.412

eNB

MME

SCTP
IP
TS 36.411

L1/L2

S1-U
(User Plane)
User PDUs

S1-U
User Plane interface between eNB and serving
gateway.
It is a pure user data interface
Which Serving GW a users SAE bearer will
have to use is signaled from the MME of this
user.

TS 29.281

GTP-U
UDP

TS 36.414
TS 36.411

IP
L1/L2

TS 36.410
[S1 general aspects & principles]

Serving
Gateway

EUTRAN and EPC - S1 Flex

eNB 1 Single S1-MME
Single S1-U
1

eNB 2 Single S1-MME

Multiple S1-US1Flex-U
2

eNB 3
Multiple S1-MMES1Flex
Single S1-U
eNB 4 (Not shown in picture)
- Multiple S1-MMES1Flex
- Multiple S1-US1Flex-U

S10 and S6a Interface

S6a
(Control Plane)

S10
(Control Plane)
TS 29.274

MME

GTP-C
UDP

S6a Appl.

MME

DIAMETER
TCP/SCTP

IP

IP

L1/L2

L1/L2

S10
Interface between different MMEs
Used during inter-MME tracking area
updates (TAU) and handovers
Inter-MME TAU: The new MME can
contact the old MME, to retrieve data
about identity (IMSI), security
information (security context,
authentication vectors) and active SAE
bearers (PDN gateways to contact,
QoS, etc.)
Obviously S10 is a pure signaling
interface, no user data runs on it.

TS 29.272
HSS

S6a
Interface between the MME and the
HSS
The MME uses it to retrieve
subscription and authentication
information from HSS
(handover/tracking area restrictions,
external PDN allowed, QoS, etc.) during
attaches and updates
The HSS can during these procedures
also store the users current MME
address in its database.

S11 Interface

MME
S11
(Control Plane)
TS 29.274

GTP-C
UDP
IP
L1/L2

Serving
Gateway

S11

Interface between MME and a

Serving GW
A single MME can handle multiple
Serving GW each one with its own
S11 interface
Used to coordinate the
establishment of SAE bearers within
the EPC
SAE bearer setup can be started by
the MME (default SAE bearer) or by
the PDN Gateway.

S5/S8 Interface

(3GPP Candidate based on GTP)

S5/S8 3GPP Alternative

Control
Plane

User
Plane
User PDUs

Serving TS 29.274
Gateway

GTP-C

GTP-U
UDP
IP

TS 29.281

PDN
Gateway

SGi

PDN

L1/L2

S5/S8 (3GPP candidate)

Interface between Serving GW and PDN GW

S5: If Serving GW and PDN GW belong to the same network (non-roaming
case)
S8:If this is not the case (roaming case)
S8 = S5 + inter-operator security functions
Mainly used to transfer user packet data between PDN GW and Serving GW
Signaling on S5/S8 is used to setup the associated bearer resources
S5/S8 can be implemented either by reuse of the GTP protocol from 2G/3G or
by using Mobile IPv6 with some IETF enhancements.

S5/S8 Interface

(IETF Candidate based on PMIPv6)

S5/S8 IETF Alternative

Control
Plane

User
Plane
User PDUs

Serving
Gateway

TS 29.275

PMIPv6

MIPv6
Tunneling
Layer (GRE)

TS 29.275

PDN
Gateway

SGi

PDN

IPv4/IPv6

IPv4/IPv6
L1/L2

S5/S8 (IETF candidate)

Interface between Serving GW and PDN GW
S5: If Serving GW and PDN GW belong to the same network (non-roaming
case)
S8:If this is not the case (roaming case)
S8 = S5 + inter-operator security functions
Mainly used to transfer user packet data between PDN GW and Serving GW
Signaling on S5/S8 is used to setup the associated bearer resources
S5/S8 can be implemented either by reuse of the GTP protocol from 2G/3G or
by using Mobile IPv6 with some IETF enhancements.

Gx and Gxc Interface

Gx (Control Plane)

Gxc (Control Plane)

TS 29.212

Gx Application

Gx Application
DIAMETER

PCRF

DIAMETER

SCTP

SCTP

IP

IP

L1/L2

L1/L2

TS 29.212

SGi
S-GW

Gxc

S5/S8

Interface between the S-GW and the

PCRF (Policy and Charging Rule
Function)
It is only needed in case the S5/S8
interface is based on PMIP (IETF
candidate)
The reason is that only in this case the
S-GW will perform the mapping
between IP service flows in S5/S8 and
GTP tunnels in the S1-U interface. The
information to do the mapping comes
directly from the PCRF

IMS/PDN

P-GW

Gx (S7)
Interface between the PDN GW and the
PCRF
It allows:
the PCRF to request the setup of a SAE
bearer with appropriate QoS
the PDN GW to ask for the QoS of an
SAE bearer to setup
to indicate EPC status changes to the
PCRF to apply a new policy rule.

Rx and SGi Interface

Rx

Rx
(Control Plane)
RX Application

TS 29.214

DIAMETER
PCRF

SCTP
IP
L1/L2

SGi

SGi
(User Plane)
Application

UDP or TCP
PDN
Gateway

IPv4/IPv6
L1/L2

Interface between PCRF (Policy &

Charging Rules Function) and the
external PDN network/operators IMS (in
general, towards the Service Domain)
Standardized in 3GPP TS 29.214:
Policy and Charging Control over the Rx
reference point (release 8)

PDN
TS 29.061

Interface used by the PDN GW to send

and receive data to and from the
external data network or Service
Platform
It is either IPv4 or IPv6 based
This interface corresponds to the Gi
interface in 2G/3G networks
Standardized in 3GPP TS 29.061:
Interworking between the Public Land
Mobile Network (PLMN) supporting
packet based services and Packet Data
Networks (PDN)

S9 Interface
S9
(Control Plane)
TS 29.215

hPCRF

S9 Application

DIAMETER
SCTP

vPCRF

IP
L1/L2

S9

Interfaces between the hPCRF and the vPCRF is used in roaming

cases.
It is used in the VPLMN for enforcement of dynamic control polices
from the hPLMN.
It is standardized in 3GPP TS 29.215: Policy and Charging Control
over the S9 reference point (Release 8).

S3 and S4 Interface
S3
(Control Plane)
TS 29.274

User PDUs

GTP-C

TS 29.274

UDP

MME

S3/S4

GTP-U

GTP-C

TS 29.281

UDP

IP
L1/L2

S4
(Control Plane + User Plane)

IP
2G/3G
SGSN

L1/L2
Serving
Gateway

Interfaces between EPC and 2G/3G packet switched core network domain
They would allow inter-system changes between EPS and 2G/3G
The S3 is a pure signalling interface used to coordinate the inter-system
change between MME and SGSN
The S4 contains user plane and control plane interface and it is located
between SGSN and Serving SAE GW.
These 2 interfaces are based on the Gn interface between the SGSN and the
GGSN.
This would allow to either forward packet data from EUTRAN via Serving SAE
GW to SGSN (and then to GGSN) or from 2G/3G RAN to SGSN to Serving SAE
GW to PDN GW.

S12 Interface
S12
(User Plane)
User PDUs

RNC

TS 29.281

GTP-U
UDP
IP

Serving
Gateway

L1/L2

S12

Interfaces between EPC and 3G Radio access network

It would allow inter-system changes between LTE and 3G
The S12 is the user plane interface used for tunneling user data
directly between the Serving GW and the RNC.
This would allow to forward packet data from 3G RAN to Serving GW
to PDN GW.
It is based on the Gn interface between the SGSN and the GGSN and
therefore uses the GTP-U protocol.

Summary Control Plane

Summary User Plane

Protocols Details

LTE Channels

Radio Interface

Channel Classification

Radio Protocols
The EUTRAN radio protocol model specifies the protocols terminated
between UE and eNB. The protocol stack follows the standard
guidelines for radio protocol architectures (ITU-R M1035)
The protocol stack defines three layers:
Physical Layer (layer 1),
Data Link Access Layer (layer 2)
layer 3 hosting the access stratum and non-access stratum
control protocols as well as the application level software

Physical Layer
Physical Layer

The physical layer forms the layer 1 of the protocol stack and
provides the basic bit transmission functionality over air.
In LTE the physical layer is driven by OFDMA in the downlink
and SC-FDMA in the uplink.
FDD and TDD mode can be combined in the same physical
layer.
Physical channels are dynamically mapped to the available
resources (physical resource blocks and antenna ports).
Physical Layer is a block oriented transmission service with
certain characteristics regarding bit rates, delay, collision risk
and reliability.
All resource mapping is dynamically driven by the Scheduler

MAC
MAC (Medium Access Control):

MAC is the lowest layer 2 protocol and its main function is to

drive the transport channels.
From higher layers MAC is fed with logical channels which are
in one-to-one correspondence with radio bearers.
Each logical channel is given a priority and MAC has to
multiplex logical channel data onto transport channels.
In the receiving direction de-multiplexing of logical channels
from transport channels take place.
Further functions of MAC will be collision handling and
explicit UE identification
An important function for the performance is the HARQ
functionality

RLC
RLC (Radio Link Control)
RLC instance working in either of the three modes:
UM (Unacknowledged)
AM (Acknowledged)
TM (Transparent)
Which mode is chosen depends on the purpose of the radio
bearer.
RLC can thus enhance the radio bearer with ARQ (Automatic
Retransmission on reQuest) using sequence numbered data
frames
The second functionality of RLC is the segmentation and
reassembly that divides higher layer data or concatenates
higher layer data into data chunks suitable for transport over
transport channels which allow a certain set of transport
block sizes.

PDCP
PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol)
Each radio bearer also uses one PDCP instance.
PDCP is responsible for header compression (ROHC
RObust Header Compression)
Ciphering/deciphering
Header compression makes sense for IP datagram's.

RRC
RRC (Radio Resource Control):

RRC is the access stratum specific control protocol for

EUTRAN.
Requirement
System Information Broadcasting: The NAS and access
stratum configuration of the network and the cell must be
available to any UE camping on a cell. This information is
coded as RRC message.
Paging: To locate an IDLE UE within a tracking area the
RRC protocol defines a paging signaling message and the
associated UE behavior.
RRC Connection Management: The UE can have two
major radio states: RRC_CONNECTED or RRC_IDLE. To
switch between the states an RRC connection establishment
and release procedure is defined.

RRC
Management of Point-to-Point Radio Bearers: RRC is
used to create, modify and delete such radio bearers including
the associated lower layer configuration (logical channels, RLC
mode, transport channels, multiplexing)
QoS Control: The RRC protocol will be QoS aware, allowing
implementation of radio bearers with different QoS within the
UE.

Transfer of NAS Messages: NAS messages are sent and

received through the EUTRAN protocol stack. RRC provides
carrier services for such messages.

Downlink Channels

DL Logical Channels

DL Logical Channels

Logical Channel
type of information
MAC priority
UE identification

Control Channel

Traffic Channel

signaling info (RRC)

user plane data (IP)

BCCH
broadcast control ch.
system information
downlink only

PCCH

DCCH
dedicated control ch.
dedicated RRC
signaling with one UE
bi-directional

DTCH
dedicated traffic
channel
IP user plane data
bi- or uni-directional

paging control ch.

paging message for
LTE_IDLE UE
downlink only

CCCH
common control ch.
initial access signaling
for RRC_IDLE UE

MCCH
multicast control ch.
MBMS control
information for MTCH
downlink only

DL Logical Channels

MTCH
multicast traffic ch.
MBMS traffic for
broadcast or multicast
MBMS services
downlink only

Downlink Channels

DL Transport Channels

DL Transport Channels

Transport Channel (TrCH)

transfer characteristics:
delay, collision risk
supported block sizes and number of blocks
support for HARQ
support for beam-forming
support for DRX/DTX
coding (reliability)
static | dynamic resource allocation
support for QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM

Downlink TrCH

BCH
broadcast channel
carries BCCH

PCH
paging channel
carries PCCH

MCH
multicast channel
carries MTCH, MCCH

DL-SCH
downlink shared channel
carries DCCH, DTCH,
BCCH, MTCH, MCCH
supports HARQ

DL Transport Channels

Downlink Channels

DL Physical Channels

DL Physical Channels

DL Physical Channels
Physical
Physical Channels
Channels // Signals
Signals
set
set of
of OFDM/SC-FDMA
OFDM/SC-FDMA resource
resource elements;
elements;
carry
carry higher
higher layer
layer data
data (physical
(physical channel
channel PhyCH)
PhyCH) or
or
used
used internally
internally by
by L1
L1 (physical
(physical channel/signal);
channel/signal);

Downlink
Downlink PhyCH
PhyCH

PBCH
PBCH

Downlink
Downlink Signal
Signal

DL
DL reference
reference signal
signal

PDSCH
PDSCH

pre-defined
pre-defined 2-dimensional
2-dimensional
orthogonal/pseudo-noise
orthogonal/pseudo-noise
sequence;
sequence;
used
used for
for DL
DL channel
channel
estimation,
estimation, demodulation;
demodulation;

phys.
phys. DL
DL shared
shared channel;
channel;
carries
carries PCH
PCH and
and DL-SCH;
DL-SCH;

DL
DL synch.
synch. signal
signal

physical
physical broadcast
broadcast ch.;
ch.;
carries
carries BCH
BCH (BCCH);
(BCCH);

PMCH
PMCH
phys.
phys. multicast
multicast channel;
channel;
carries
carries MCH;
MCH;

PDCCH
PDCCH
phys.
phys. DL
DL control
control channel;
channel;
L1
L1 control
control information
information
(scheduling
(scheduling assignments);
assignments);

PCFICH
PCFICH
phys.
phys. control
control format
format
indicator
indicator channel
channel
L1
L1 control
control information
information (no.
(no.
of
of ODFM
ODFM symbols
symbols used
used for
for
PDCCH);
PDCCH);

11 of
of 33 pre-defined
pre-defined
sequences
sequences (Zadoff-Chu);
(Zadoff-Chu);
associated
associated with
with cell-id;
cell-id;
used
used for
for cell
cell detection
detection and
and
initial
initial time/phase
time/phase synch.;
synch.;

Uplink
Uplink Signals
Signals

Demodulation
Demodulation ref.
ref. signal
signal
pre-defined
pre-defined sequence
sequence
sent
sent along
along with
with
PUSCH/PUCCH
PUSCH/PUCCH
used
used for
for uplink
uplink channel
channel
estimation,
estimation, demodulation;
demodulation;

Sounding
Sounding ref.
ref. signal
signal
pre-defined
pre-defined (long)
(long)
sequence
sequence sent
sent alone;
alone;
used
used by
by NW
NW to
to optimize
optimize
channel
channel dependent
dependent
scheduling;
scheduling;

Uplink
Uplink PhyCH
PhyCH

PUSCH
PUSCH
phys.
phys. UL
UL shared
shared channel;
channel;
carries
carries UL-SCH;
UL-SCH;

PUCCH
PUCCH
phys.
phys. UL
UL control
control channel;
channel;
L1
L1 information
information

PRACH
PRACH
phys.
phys. random
random access
access
(channel);
(channel);
carries
carries RACH
RACH (access
(access
request
request preamble);
preamble);
[in
[in TS
TS 36.211
36.211 referenced
referenced
as
as signal,
signal, not
not as
as channel]
channel]

Uplink Channels

UL Logical Channels

UL Logical Channels
Logical Channel
type of information
MAC priority
UE identification

Control Channel

Traffic Channel

signaling info (RRC)

user plane data (IP)

CCCH
common control ch.
initial access signaling
for RRC_IDLE UE

DCCH
dedicated control ch.
dedicated RRC
signaling with one UE
bi-directional

DTCH
dedicated traffic
channel
IP user plane data
bi- or uni-directional

Uplink Channels

UL Transport Channels

UL Transport Channels
Transport Channel (TrCH)
transfer characteristics:
delay, collision risk
supported block sizes and number of blocks
support for HARQ
support for beam-forming
support for DRX/DTX
coding (reliability)
static | dynamic resource allocation
support for QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM

Uplink TrCH

RACH
random access channel
carries no logical
channel
only for initial L1 access
request

UL-SCH
uplink shared channel
carries CCCH, DCCH,
DTCH
supports HARQ

Uplink Channels

UL Physical Channels

Channels
Physical
Physical Channels
Channels // Signals
Signals
set
set of
of OFDM/SC-FDMA
OFDM/SC-FDMA resource
resource elements;
elements;
carry
carry higher
higher layer
layer data
data (physical
(physical channel
channel PhyCH)
PhyCH) or
or
used
used internally
internally by
by L1
L1 (physical
(physical channel/signal);
channel/signal);

Downlink
Downlink PhyCH
PhyCH

PBCH
PBCH

Downlink
Downlink Signal
Signal

DL
DL reference
reference signal
signal

PDSCH
PDSCH

pre-defined
pre-defined 2-dimensional
2-dimensional
orthogonal/pseudo-noise
orthogonal/pseudo-noise
sequence;
sequence;
used
used for
for DL
DL channel
channel
estimation,
estimation, demodulation;
demodulation;

phys.
phys. DL
DL shared
shared channel;
channel;
carries
carries PCH
PCH and
and DL-SCH;
DL-SCH;

DL
DL synch.
synch. signal
signal

physical
physical broadcast
broadcast ch.;
ch.;
carries
carries BCH
BCH (BCCH);
(BCCH);

PMCH
PMCH
phys.
phys. multicast
multicast channel;
channel;
carries
carries MCH;
MCH;

PDCCH
PDCCH
phys.
phys. DL
DL control
control channel;
channel;
L1
L1 control
control information
information
(scheduling
(scheduling assignments);
assignments);

PCFICH
PCFICH
phys.
phys. control
control format
format
indicator
indicator channel
channel
L1
L1 control
control information
information (no.
(no.
of
of ODFM
ODFM symbols
symbols used
used for
for
PDCCH);
PDCCH);

11 of
of 33 pre-defined
pre-defined
sequences
sequences (Zadoff-Chu);
(Zadoff-Chu);
associated
associated with
with cell-id;
cell-id;
used
used for
for cell
cell detection
detection and
and
initial
initial time/phase
time/phase synch.;
synch.;

Uplink
Uplink Signals
Signals

Demodulation
Demodulation ref.
ref. signal
signal
pre-defined
pre-defined sequence
sequence
sent
sent along
along with
with
PUSCH/PUCCH
PUSCH/PUCCH
used
used for
for uplink
uplink channel
channel
estimation,
estimation, demodulation;
demodulation;

Sounding
Sounding ref.
ref. signal
signal
pre-defined
pre-defined (long)
(long)
sequence
sequence sent
sent alone;
alone;
used
used by
by NW
NW to
to optimize
optimize
channel
channel dependent
dependent
scheduling;
scheduling;

Uplink
Uplink PhyCH
PhyCH

PUSCH
PUSCH
phys.
phys. UL
UL shared
shared channel;
channel;
carries
carries UL-SCH;
UL-SCH;

PUCCH
PUCCH
phys.
phys. UL
UL control
control channel;
channel;
L1
L1 information
information

PRACH
PRACH
phys.
phys. random
random access
access
(channel);
(channel);
carries
carries RACH
RACH (access
(access
request
request preamble);
preamble);
[in
[in TS
TS 36.211
36.211 referenced
referenced
as
as signal,
signal, not
not as
as channel]
channel]

Additional Channels
Additional Physical Channels / Signals

Downlink PhyCH

Downlink Signal

Uplink Signals

PHICH
phys. HARQ indicator channel
ACK/NACK of UL Transmission over
PUSCH

PCFICH
phys. control format indicator
channel
L1 control information (no. of
ODFM symbols used for PDCCH)

DL reference signal
pre-defined 2-dimensional
orthogonal/pseudo-noise sequence
used for DL channel estimation,
demodulation

DL synch. signal
1 of 3 pre-defined sequences
(Zadoff-Chu)
associated with cell-id
used for cell detection and initial
time/phase synch.

Demodulation ref. signal

pre-defined sequence sent along
with PUSCH/PUCCH
used for uplink channel estimation,
demodulation

Sounding ref. signal

pre-defined (long) sequence sent
alone
used by NW to optimize channel
dependent scheduling

Summary
Relationship between
Protocols
Architecture
Interfaces

Layer 2 Functions and Data Flow

Multiplexing of Channels
Channel Types
Logical
Transport
Physical

HAPPY LEARNING
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