Modeling a 4G LTE System in MATLAB

Part 1:
Modeling & simulation

Houman Zarrinkoub PhD.

Signal Processing Product Manager
MathWorks
[email protected]

© 2011 The MathWorks, Inc.1

Agenda

 4G LTE and LTE Advanced

– True Global standard
– True Broadband mobile communications
– How it was achieved?
– What are the challenges?
 MATLAB and communications system design
– Modeling and simulation
– Simulation acceleration
– Path to implementation
 Case study:
– Physical layer modeling of an LTE system in MATLAB
 Summary

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4G LTE and LTE Advanced

3
4G LTE and LTE Advanced
Distinguishing Features
 Motivation
– Very high capacity & throughput
– Support for video streaming, web browsing, VoIP, mobile apps
 A true global standard
– Contributions from all across globe
– Deployed in AMER, EMEA, APLA

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4G LTE and LTE Advanced
Distinguishing Features
 A true broadband mobile standard
– From 2 Mbps (UMTS)
– To 100 Mbps (LTE)
– To 1 Gbps (LTE Advanced)

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How is this remarkable advance possible?

 Integration of enabling technologies with sophisticated

mathematical algorithms
– OFDM
– MIMO (multiple antennas)
– Turbo Coding

 Smart usage of resources and bandwidth

– Adaptive modulation
– Adaptive coding
– Adaptive MIMO
– Adaptive bandwidth

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What MATLAB users care about LTE?

 Academics
– Researchers contributing to future standards
– Professors
– Students
 Practitioners
– System Engineers
– Software designers
– Implementers of wireless systems
 Challenge in interaction and cooperation between these
two groups
 MATLAB is their common language

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Challenges:
From specification to implementation

 Simplify translation from

specification to a model as
blue-print for implementation
 Introduce innovative
proprietary algorithms
 Dynamic system-level
performance evaluation
 Accelerate simulation of large
data sets
 Address gaps in the
implementation workflow

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Where does MATLAB fit in addressing these
challenges?
 MATLAB and Communications
System Toolbox are ideal for LTE
algorithm and system design
 MATLAB and Simulink provide an
environment for dynamic & large
scale simulations
 Accelerate simulation with a
variety of options in MATLAB
 Connect system design to
implementation with
– C and HDL code generation
– Hardware-in-the-loop verification

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Communications System Toolbox
Over 100 algorithms for
– Modulation, Interleaving, Channels, Source Coding
– Error Coding and Correction
– MIMO, Equalizers, Synchronization
– Sources and Sinks, SDR hardware

Algorithm libraries in MATLAB Algorithm libraries in Simulink

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4G LTE and LTE Advanced

Existing demos of Work in-progress

Communications System toolbox
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 Case Study:
Downlink physical layer of LTE (Release 10)
codewords layers antenna ports

Modulation Resource element OFDM signal

Scrambling mapper
mapper generation
Layer
Precoding
mapper
Modulation Resource element OFDM signal
Scrambling mapper
mapper generation

© 2011 The MathWorks, Inc.

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What we will do today

1. Start modeling in MATLAB

2. Iteratively incorporate components such as Turbo Coding,
MIMO, OFDM and Link Adaptation
3. Put together a full system model with MATLAB & Simulink
4. Accelerate simulation speed in MATLAB at each step

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Modeling and Simulation

© 2011 The MathWorks, Inc.

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 LTE Physical layer model in standard

 Downlink Shared Channel

– Transport channel
Turbo Channel
Coding – Physical channel

MIMO OFDMA

Adaptation
of everything

Reference: 3GPP TS 36 211 v10 (2010-12)

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 LTE Physical layer model in MATLAB
a0 , a1 ,..., a A 1
>> Open LTE system model
Transport block
CRC attachment

b0 , b1 ,..., bB 1

Code block segmentation

Code block CRC attachment Turbo Channel
Coding
cr 0 , cr1 ,..., cr K r 1

Channel coding

d r(i0) , d r(1i ) ,..., d r(i)D

r 1

Rate matching
MIMO OFDMA
er 0 , er1 ,..., er Er 1

Code block
concatenation

codewords layers antenna ports

f 0 , f1 ,..., f G 1

Modulation Resource element OFDM signal

Scrambling mapper
mapper generation
Adaptation Layer
Precoding
of everything mapper
Modulation Resource element OFDM signal
Scrambling mapper
mapper generation

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Overview of Turbo Coding

 Error correction & coding

technology of LTE standard

 Performance: Approach the

channel capacity (Shannon
bound)

 Represents an evolution of
convolutional coding

 Based on an iterative
decoding scheme
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MATLAB Demo

=comm.ConvolutionalEncoder(

= comm.ViterbiDecoder(…
„InputFormat‟, „Hard‟,…

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MATLAB Demo

= comm.QPSKDemodulator(
„DecisionMethod‟,‟Log-Likelihood ratio‟

=comm.ViterbiDecoder…
„InputFormat‟, „Soft‟,…

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MATLAB Demo

= comm.TurboEncoder

= comm.QPSKDemodulator(
„DecisionMethod‟,‟Log-Likelihood ratio‟

= comm.TurboDecoder(…
„NumIterations‟, 6,…

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DL-SCH transport channel processing

a0 , a1 ,..., a A 1

Transport block
CRC attachment

b0 , b1 ,..., bB 1

Code block segmentation

Code block CRC attachment

cr 0 , cr1 ,..., cr K r 1

Channel coding

d r(i0) , d r(1i ) ,..., d r(i)D

r 1

Rate matching

er 0 , er1 ,..., er Er 1

Code block
concatenation

f 0 , f1 ,..., f G 1

3GPP TS 36.212 v10.0.0

>>commpccc
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Downlink Shared Channel - transport channel

a0 , a1 ,..., a A 1

Transport block
CRC attachment
Turbo Channel
b0 , b1 ,..., bB 1 Coding
MATLAB Function block
Code block segmentation
Code block CRC attachment

cr 0 , cr1 ,..., cr K r 1

Channel coding

d r(i0) , d r(1i ) ,..., d r(i)D

r 1

Rate matching

er 0 , er1 ,..., er Er 1

Code block
concatenation

f 0 , f1 ,..., f G 1

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OFDM Overview

 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

– Multicarrier modulation scheme (FFT-based)
 Sample the spectrum at uniform intervals called sub-carriers
– Transmit data independently at each sub-carrier
 Most important feature
– Robust against multi-path fading
– Using low-complexity frequency-domain equalizers

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OFDM & Multi-path Fading

 Multi-path propagation leads to frequency selective fading

 Frequency-domain equalization is less complex and perfectly
matches OFDM
 We need to know channel response at each sub-carrier – pilots

H(ω)
Frequency-selective fading
*ℎ2 , 𝑑2 }
G(ω)H(ω)
Multi-path
1
*ℎ0 , 𝑑0 }
ω
𝑁
*ℎ1 , 𝑑1 } y(n) = 𝑛=0 ℎ𝑛 x( 𝑛 − 𝑑𝑛 )

Y(ω) = H(ω)X(ω) ω
If G(ω𝑘 ) ≈ 𝐻 −1 (ω𝑘 )
Frequency-domain equalization G(ω𝑘 ) Y(ω𝑘 ) ≈ 𝑋

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 How Does LTE Implement OFDM?
…
Frequency
Nmax=2048

Interpolate
vertically
(Frequency)

Resource
element

Pilots

Resource
block

Interpolate
horizontally (Time)

Resource
grid
…
0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (msec)
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How to Implement LTE OFDM in MATLAB

Depending on
Channel Bandwidth
switch
prmLTEPDSCH.Nrb = 6*numRb + mod(v+vsh, 6) + 1;
Transmitter:
Case 25, N=512; Place pilots in regular intervals
Set Frequency-domain
FFT size
Case 100, N=2048;
= mean([hp(:,1,1,n) hp(:,3,1,n)])

= mean([hp(k,2,1,:) hp(k,4,1,:)])

X=ifft(tmp,N,1); Receiver:
Estimate channel by
Create OFDM signal interpolating in time &
frequency

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MIMO Overview

 Multiple Input Multiple Output

 Using multiple transmit and receive Y = H*X + n
antennas
h1,1

h2,1
H= h1,2
ℎ11 ℎ12 ℎ13 ℎ14
X Y
ℎ21 ℎ22 ℎ23 ℎ24
ℎ31 ℎ32 ℎ33 ℎ34
ℎ41 ℎ42 ℎ43 ℎ44

h4,4

Channel
Multiple Input Multiple Output
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Where is MIMO being used?

 Several wireless standards

– 802.11n: MIMO extensions of WiFi as of 2008
– 802.16e: As of 2005 in WiMax Standard
– 3G Cellular: 3GPP Release 6 specifies transmit diversity mode
– 4G LTE
 Two main types of MIMO
– Spatial multiplexing
– Space-Time Block Coding (STBC)

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Space-Time Block Codes (STBC)

 STBCs insert redundant data at transmitter

 Improves the BER performance
 Alamouti code (2 Tx, 2 Rx) is one of simplest
examples of orthogonal STBCs

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Spatial Multiplexing

 MIMO technique used in LTE standard

 Divide the data stream into independent sub-streams

and use multiple transmit antennas

 MIMO is one of the main reasons for boost in data rates

– More transmit antennas leads to higher capacity

 MIMO Receiver essentially solves this system of linear

equations

Y = HX + n

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 MIMO-OFDM overview Y=𝐻 ∗ 𝑋 + 𝑛

What if 2 rows are

linearly dependent?
𝐻=
ℎ1 ℎ2 ℎ3 ℎ4
ℎ1 ℎ2 ℎ3 ℎ4
ℎ31 ℎ32 ℎ33 ℎ34
X ℎ41 ℎ42 ℎ43 ℎ44
Y
Dimension =4; Rank =3;
H = singular (not invertible)

𝐻 = 𝑈𝐷𝑉 𝐻

subcarrier 𝑤𝑘 Singular Value Decomposition

To avoid singularity:
1. Precode input with pre-selected V
Time 𝑡𝑛 2. Transmit over antennas based on Rank
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Adaptive MIMO:
Closed-loop Pre-coding and Layer Mapping
Base station

Layer
Precoding(*) OFDM
Mapping

Channel Rank
Estimation
Rank Indicator
Precoder Matrix
Precoder Matrix Indicator Estimation mobile

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Adaptive MIMO in MATLAB

 In Receiver:
 Detect V = Rank of the H Matrix V=
 = Number of layers prmLTEPDSCH.numLayers;

Switch V

 In Transmitter: (next frame)

 Based on number of layers
 Fill up transmit antennas with case 4
out =
available rank complex(zeros(inLen1/2, v));
out(:,1:2) = reshape(in1, 2,
inLen1/2).';
out(:,3:4) = reshape(in2, 2,
inLen2/2).';

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 Cell-Specific Reference Signal Mapping

• Null transmissions allow for separable channel estimation at Rx

• Use clustering or interpolation for RE channel estimation

Figure 6.10.1.2-1, 3GPP TS 36.211 v10.0.0

R0 R0
One antenna port

R0 R0 4 CSR, 0 nulls /slot /RB

=> 8 CSR/160 RE
R0 R0

R0 R0
l0 l6 l0 l6

Resource element (k,l)

R0 R0 R1 R1
Two antenna ports

R0 R0 R1 R1
Not used for transmission on this antenna port
4 CSR, 4 nulls /slot /RB
=> 8 CSR /152 RE
R0 R0 R1 R1
Reference symbols on this antenna port

R0 R0 R1 R1
l0 l6 l0 l6 l0 l6 l0 l6

R0 R0 R1 R1 R2 R3
Varies per antenna port:
Four antenna ports

R0 R0 R1 R1 R2 R3 4 CSR, 8 nulls /slot /RB

=> 8 CSR / 144 RE
R0 R0 R1 R1 R2 R3

R0 R0 R1 R1 R2 R3 2 CSR, 10 nulls /slot /RB

l0 l6 l0 l6 l0 l6 l0 l6 l0 l6 l0 l6 l0 l6 l0 l6
=> 4 CSR / 144 RE
even-numbered slots odd-numbered slots even-numbered slots odd-numbered slots even-numbered slots odd-numbered slots even-numbered slots odd-numbered slots

Antenna port 0 Antenna port 1 Antenna port 2 Antenna port 3 34

Link Adaptation Overview
 Examples of link adaptations

– Adaptive modulation
 QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM

– Adaptive coding
 Coding rates from (1/13) to (12/13)

– Adaptive MIMO
 2x1, 2x2, …,4x2,…, 4x4, 8x8

– Adaptive bandwidth
 Up to 100 MHz (LTE-A)

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 LTE Physical layer model in MATLAB

Turbo Channel
Coding

MIMO OFDMA

Adaptation
of everything

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Put it all together …

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References
• Standard documents – 3GPP link
• 3GPP TS 36.{201, 211, 212, 213, 101, 104, 141}, Release 10.0.0, (2010-12).
• 3GPP TS 36.{201, 211, 212, 213, 101, 104}, Release 9.0.0, (2009-12).

• Books
• Dahlman, E.; Parkvall, S.; Skold, J., “4G LTE/LTE-Advanced for Mobile Broadband”, Elsevier,
2011.
• Agilent Technologies, “LTE and the evolution to 4G Wireless: Design and measurement
challenges”, Agilent, 2009.

• Selected papers
• Min Zhang; Shafi, M.; Smith, P.J.; Dmochowski, P.A., “Precoding Performance with Codebook
Feedback in a MIMO-OFDM System”, Communications (ICC), 2011 IEEE International
Conference on, pp. 1-6.

• Simonsson, A.; Qian, Y.; Ostergaard, J., “LTE Downlink 2X2 MIMO with Realistic CSI: Overview
and Performance Evaluation”, 2010 IEEE WCNC, pp. 1-6.

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Summary

 MATLAB is the ideal language for LTE

modeling and simulation
 Communications System Toolbox extend
breadth of MATLAB modeling tools
 You can accelerate simulation with a
variety of options in MATLAB
– Parallel computing, GPU processing,
MATLAB to C
 Address implementation workflow gaps
with
– Automatic MATLAB to C/C++ and HDL
code generation
– Hardware-in-the-loop verification

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Call to Action …

 Attend the 2nd part of this seminar

– Accelerating simulation speed
 Using GPUs
 MATLAB to C code generation
 Efficient algorithms

 Attend the 3rd part of this seminar

– Direct path from system model to implementation
 C and HDL code generation
 Fixed-point modeling
 Radio-in-the-loop with USRP2

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Thank You

Q&A

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