4G/LTE - Paging

Paging

Paging is the mechanism in which Network tells UE saying "I have something for you". The
content (Paging Cause) of the Paging message and UE has to initiate the appropriate the p

In most cases, this paging process happens while UE is in idle mode. This means that UE h
the networking is sending any paging message to it and it has to spend some energy(batt
"Monitoring" process.

If I have to run this "Monitoring" process continously even in the idle mode, isn't it too mu
Yes, it is.

Is there any way to prevent this kind of energy waste ? There would be no way to prevent
consumption completely (if you can come out with any idea to prevent this completely, yo
this any more.. just do early retire and enjoy your life whereever you want to go with huge
your patent -:), but there would be some way to reduce the consumption in great degree.W
be many different way to do this.. but most common method (probably easiest to realize)
'contract' between UE and Network.What kind of contract it would be like ? It is like "Hey..
the paging method continuously.. just transmit it in a kind of burst mode with a certain int
when you are not transmitting Paging and I will just wake up exactly at the time you are tr
message".This way UE can save the battery while it is in sleep and can get the paging me
means that UE is recieving some data from the network "discontinously". This kind of rece
called DRX (Discontinous Reception).Here we have an important question. How can UE kn
when the Network send the paging ? The simplest solution for this would be to make anot
"Paging transmission timing". you see the logic ?

 Overview on Paging Mechanism

 Paging Parameters in SIB2

 Paging Occasion and Paging Frame

  UE ID in Paging

 TTCN for Paging Cycle Calculation

 Examples of Paging Message

Overview on Paging Mechanism

i) During the idle mode, UE gets into and stay in sleeping mode defined in DRX cycle (Disc
Cycle). (This DRX is cycle is defined in SIB2)

ii) UE periodically wake up and monitor PDCCH in order to check for the presence of a pag
for any information encrypted by P-RNTI)

iii) If the PDCCH indicates that a paging message is transmitted in the subframe, then UE
the PCH to see if the paging message is directed to it.

Note : Paging messages are sent by a MME to all eNodeBs in a Tracking Area and those eN
Area is transmitting the same paging message.

Note : Each eNodeB can contain cells belonging to different tracking areas but each cell ca
Tracking Area.

Paging Parameters in SIB2

BCCH-DL-SCH-Message ::= SEQUENCE

+-message ::= CHOICE [c1]

+-c1 ::= CHOICE [systemInformation]

+-systemInformation ::= SEQUENCE

+-criticalExtensions ::= CHOICE [systemInformation-r8]

+-systemInformation-r8 ::= SEQUENCE [0]

+-sib-TypeAndInfo ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..maxSIB[32]) [1]

 | +- ::= CHOICE [sib2]

| +-sib2 ::= SEQUENCE [00]

......

| | +-pcch-Config ::= SEQUENCE

| | | +-defaultPagingCycle ::= ENUMERATED [rf128]

| | | +-nB ::= ENUMERATED [oneT]

Now it's time to get into the official specification.

Paging Occasion and Paging Frame

There are two most important terminologies which is PF(Paging Frame) and PO(Paging Occ
[7 Paging] explain this two terms as follows :

* Paging Occasion (PO) is a subframe where there may be P-RNTI transmitted on PDCCH a
message.

* Paging Frame (PF) is one Radio Frame, which may contain one or multiple Paging Occasi

As you know, LTE has two timing units as many of other technology. Timing Unit in Frame
Frame Number) is one unit and the timing unit in subframe level (Subframe Number). It m
know both SFN and Subframe Number to locate exact position in LTE time domain. Regard
PF(Paging Frame) + PO(Paging Occasion) let you know the exact timing when UE has to w
paging message being sent to it.

Let's tackle the PF first.

PF = SFN mod T = (T div N) x (UE_ID mod N)

Then where does T come from ? According to 36.304, T is defined as follows :

T is DRX cycle of the UE. T is determined by the shortest of the UE specific DRX value, if a
upperlayers, and a default DRX value broadcast in system information . If UE specific DRX
upperlayers, the default value is applied.

It means UE can get the T from two different source, one from the system information (SIB
defaultPagingCycle) and the one from upper layer. Then which value does UE has to use ?
situation. If upper layer send the value, it use the value from the uppder layer, otherwise
value from SIB2.

Then let's think about where does other values come from. These values are defined as fo
specification.

N = min(T, nB), which means the smaller one among T and nB.

nB can be any one of 4T, 2T, T, T/2, T/4, T/8, T/16, T/32, which comes from SIB2 (IE nB).

nB 4T 2T T 1/2 T 1/4 T 1/8 T 1/16 T 1/

N 1 1 1 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/

There is some rare cases where UE specifies "UE Specific DRX value" (as described in 36.3
Request or Tracking Area Update Request as shown below.
Refer to 24.008 10.5.5.6 DRX parameter for the details.

< 24.008 Table 10.5.139/3GPP TS 24.008: DRX parameter information element >
UE_ID = IMSI mod 1024, where IMSI should be used in Decimal format and is stored in USI

By this, we got PF now. Then what is the next step ? We have to get PO (Paging Occasion)

36.304 defines PO as follows :

As you see the table,

i) When Ns = 1, there can be only one paging occation (only one subframe where paging m
within a Paging Frame and the subframe number is 9.

ii) When Ns = 2, there can be two paging occations (two subframes where paging messag
Paging Frame and the subframe number is 4 and 9.

iii) When Ns = 4, there can be four paging occations (four subframes where paging messa
Paging Frame and the subframe number is 0,4,5 and 9.

From the table, we can figure out PO if we get i_s. Then how to get i_s ?

We already explained how to get N. We only have to know Ns now. 36.104 defines Ns as fo

Ns = max(1, nB/T), which means that Ns is the larger value between 1 and NB/T.

nB 4T 2T T 1/2 T 1/4 T 1/8 T 1/16 T 1/

Ns 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1

UE ID in Paging Message

If you see the ue-identity field (IE) of Paging message, you will see there are two choices,

Which type of UE ID is commonly used. The answer is s-TMSI. If everything is normal, Netw
s-TMSI, but if something (e.g, Network Failure) happens during registration and it fails to a
NW would send Paging with IMSI.

If UE get the paging with IMSI, it should tear down all the existing Bearer and delete TAI, T
get into EMM-DEREGISTERED status. And then redo 'Attach Request'.

TTCN for Paging Cycle Calculation

Even though I tried to explain clearly, exact paging cycle calcuation is pretty confusing pro
interested in exact steps of Paging Cycle Calculation, I would recommend you to refer to T
ETSI.

Refer to following two functions in EUTRA_Paging.ttcn

i) function f_EUTRA_GetPagingCycleValue ( DefaultPagingCycle_Type p_PagingCycle)

ii) function f_EUTRA_Calculate_PF_PO ( SystemFrameNumber_Type p_Sfn,

DefaultPagingCycle_Type p_T,

PCCH_Config.nB p_Nb,

hexstring p_Imsi,

EUTRA_FDD_TDD_Mode_Type p_Fdd_Tdd )

Refer to Where can I get TTCN and Viewer ? if you want to get TTCN source code and TTCN

Paging in Connected Mode

In most case, Paging message is transmitted from network and monitored by UE while UE
there are some cases where Paging is transmitted and should be monitored while UE is in
In this case how often (meaning at which timing) UE has to monitor Paging ? In case of WC
because when UE is in connected mode Paging is delivered to UE via DCCH. So UE doesn't
detection timing (actually UE does not monitor PCCH unless UE is in PCH), but in LTE UE ha
through PCCH regardless of whether it is in Idle mode or Connected mode. Therefore, in ca
timing of Paging need to be considered even in the connected mode.

There are roughly two different types of Paging. One is a Paging which is for only one spec
type is the Paging that applies to all UEs which are in a certain area (e.g, Tracking Area). O
paging that applies to all the UEs in a certain area is PWS message like CMAS/ETWS etc.

The behavior for each of these cases can be a little different between UE and Network.
< UE >

i) For Paging specific to the UE : UE would monitor Paging at a specific timing as described

ii) For Paging common to all the UE (like CMAS): ETWS and/or CMAS capable UEs in RRC_C
attempt to read paging at least once every defaultPagingCycle to check whether ETWS an
is present or not (36.331, section 5.2.1.3).

< Network >

i) For Paging specific to the UE : Networ would transmit the Paging at a specific timing as d
page.

ii) For Paging common to all the UE (like CMAS): Since Network does not know which UE in
CMAS/ETWS and which UE is camped on, the network may need to send paging messages
occasion used in the cell to let (possible) UE's know there's an ETWS or CMAS notification
statement is from LTE University(http://lteuniversity.com/ask_the_expert/f/59/t/3898.aspx
reasonable idea and I agree with this, but I haven't confirmed this in 3GPP spec.)

Examples of Paging Message

Example 1 > - Paging with s-TMSI

PCCH-Message ::= SEQUENCE

+-message ::= CHOICE [c1]

+-c1 ::= CHOICE [paging]

+-paging ::= SEQUENCE [1000]

+-pagingRecordList ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..maxPageRec[16]) [1] OPTIONAL:Exist

| +-PagingRecord ::= SEQUENCE

| +-ue-Identity ::= CHOICE [s-TMSI]

| | +-s-TMSI ::= SEQUENCE

| | +-mmec ::= BIT STRING SIZE(8) [00000001]

| | +-m-TMSI ::= BIT STRING SIZE(32) [00000000000000000000000000000001]

 | +-cn-Domain ::= ENUMERATED [ps]

+-systemInfoModification ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

+-etws-Indication ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

+-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

Example 2 > - Paging with IMSI

PCCH-Message ::= SEQUENCE

+-message ::= CHOICE [c1]

+-c1 ::= CHOICE [paging]

+-paging ::= SEQUENCE [1000]

+-pagingRecordList ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(1..maxPageRec[16]) [1] OPTIONAL:Exist

| +-PagingRecord ::= SEQUENCE

| +-ue-Identity ::= CHOICE [imsi]

| | +-imsi ::= SEQUENCE OF SIZE(6..21) [15]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [0]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [0]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [1]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [0]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [1]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [0]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [1]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [2]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [3]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [4]

 | | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [5]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [6]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [7]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [8]

| | +-IMSI-Digit ::= INTEGER (0..9) [9]

| +-cn-Domain ::= ENUMERATED [ps]

+-systemInfoModification ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

+-etws-Indication ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

+-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

Example 3 > - Paging for ETWS

PCCH-Message ::= SEQUENCE

+-message ::= CHOICE [c1]

+-c1 ::= CHOICE [paging]

+-paging ::= SEQUENCE [0110]

+-pagingRecordList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit

+-systemInfoModification ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist

+-etws-Indication ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist

+-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit

Example 4 > - Paging for system Info Modification

RRC_LTE:PCCH-Message
PCCH-Message ::= SEQUENCE

+-message ::= CHOICE [c1]

+-c1 ::= CHOICE [paging]

+-paging ::= SEQUENCE [0100]

+-pagingRecordList ::= SEQUENCE OF OPTIONAL:Omit

+-systemInfoModification ::= ENUMERATED [true] OPTIONAL:Exist

+-etws-Indication ::= ENUMERATED OPTIONAL:Omit

+-nonCriticalExtension ::= SEQUENCE OPTIONAL:Omit