Session 6

QoS in the LTE

network
ITU ASP COE Training on Technology,
Standardization and Deployment of Long
Term Evolution (IMT)
Sami TABBANE

9-11 December 2013 Islamic Republic of Iran

1

Agenda

1. QoS Issues
2. Quality of Service (QoS) and Policy Management
3. EPS Bearer

4. QoS parameters per EPSbearer

5. Scheduling

QoS Issues

1. QoS issues

Different definitions of QoS

QoS = set of characteristics related to the performance of the elements that provide the
services that have an effect into final end users perception.
SubjectiveQoS (or QoE): related to the user satisfaction relative to the service consumption,
beyond classical technical parameters such as Network-QoS.
NetworkQoS or Network Performance Key Performance Indicator (NP KPI)
The effect of performance into satisfaction is usually described as PQoS (Perceived QoS)
significantly differentiated by the type of delivered service, since different performance
situations will have different impacts into satisfaction.
4

3G versus LTE QoS parameters

Each bearer is identified by the LCID (Logical Channel ID)

Each bearer is associated with QoS parameters like :
Max bit rate and guaranteed bit rate
VoIP or not
H-ARQ usage
5

QoS and Services in 3GPP

Services classification according to their error and delay sensitivity

([3GPP 205])
6

QoS issues
Overview

The EPS QoS concept is based on two fundamental principles:

Network initiated QoS control
Class based mapping of operator services to user plane

packet forwarding processing.

Provides access network operators and service operators
with a set of tools to enable service and subscriber
differentiation.

QoS issues
QoS in LTE Networks

LTE and UMTS use different QoS mechanisms: LTE's EPS

bearers QCI parameters must be mapped to the four QoS
categories and associated parameters of Pre-Release 8 PDP
Contexts.
3GPP recommendations
Rules for mapping QoS
definitions between the systems.
QoS parameter sets in EPC concern how packets are handled
in the network.
More bandwidth at the edge of a network may solve some
capacity or congestion problems, but does not solve jitter or
traffic prioritization problems.
8

Techniques ensuring IP QoS

IP network
DiffServ/RSVP

QoS
per
flow

IP network DiffServ
IP network DiffServ

Priority
between
flows

No QoS

IP managed network

Internet
Internet access
email

Browsing

Premium access
E-learning, VoIP

HiFi Voice
Video

QoS issues
LTE and QoS
Each bearer (user data) path in LTE is assigned a set of QoS criteria.
If services with different QoS criteria, additional bearer paths may be
added.
LTE identifies a set of QoS criteria with QoS Class Identifiers (QCIs).
QCI, represents the QoS features an EPS bearer should be able to offer
for a Service Data Flow (SDF).
Each SDF is associated with exactly one QCI. Network operators may preconfigure all QCI characteristics in an eNB, for example, based on their
actual characteristics.
The parameters they choose to define these determine the allocation of
bearer resources in the E-UTRAN.

10

QoS issues
QoS handling at the eNB

QoS parameters per EPS-bearer

QoS Class Identifier (QCI)
Value for scheduling/RRM decisions
Identifies a particular service or class of services
Few values to be standardized (others will be proprietary)
Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP)
Used to accept/modify/drop bearers in case of resource limitation
Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR)
Only for GBR-bearers
QoS parameters per group of EPS-bearers
Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (AMBR)
Aggregate max bit rate per group of bearers (of a single user)
Only for non-GBR bearers

11

Network and protocol architecture

2. Quality of Service (QoS) and Policy Management

12

QoS issues

Policy Management
Policy management plays a fundamental role in implementing QoS in
mobile broadband.
Policy management = applying operatordefined rules for resource
allocation and network use.
Dynamic policy management sets rules for allocating network resources,
and includes policy enforcement processes.
Policy enforcement involves service data flow detection and applies QoS
rules to individual service data flows.
Policy management is critical in three closely-related areas:
Limiting network congestion
Enhancing service quality
Monetizing services

13

Policy Management

Policy is required because the total Transmission

Capacity Between Mobile Subscribers and External
Networks is Limited

14

Policy Management

Comparison of different services

15

QoS issues

Role of Functional Elements in Implementing Policy and QoS

QoS policy management implementation in multiple nodes in the EPC and
LTE.
PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function): policy server in the EPC. Takes
the available network information and operator-configured policies to
create service session-level policy decisions.
PCRF decisions = PCC (Policy Charging Control ) rules, forwarded to the
policy and charging enforcement function (PCEF) in the PDN-GW.
PCEF enforces policy decisions by:
Establishing bearers,
Mapping service data flows to bearers,
Performing traffic policing and shaping.

16

Policy Charging Control (PCC)

Introduced in September 2007 (3GPP PCC architecture), part

of the larger PCC architecture, which includes the Proxy Call
Session Control Function (P-CSCF) and the Policy and
Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF).
PCC elements provide: access, resource, and QoS control.
PCRF allows to charge subscribers based on their volume of
usage of high-bandwidth applications, charge extra for QoS
guarantees, limit application usage (e.g., user is roaming), or
lower the bandwidth of subscribers using heavy-bandwidth
apps during peak usage times.
PCRF Selection Function can be implemented in the HSS
and/or the 3GPP AAA server.

17

Policy Charging Control (PCC)

PCC functionality includes:
Policy and Charging Rules
Function (PCRF),
Policy and Charging
Enforcement Function (PCEF),
Bearer Binding and Event
Reporting Function (BBERF),
Online Charging System (OCS),
Offline Charging System (OFCS),
Subscription Profile Repository
(SPR),
Application Function (AF).
PCC enables a centralized control to ensure that the service sessions (called
IP-Connectivity Access Network, IP-CAN sessions) are provided with
appropriate bandwidth and QoS.
PCC provides a means to control charging on a per-service basis.
18

PCC Rules
Purpose: to detect a packet belonging to an SDF to map that packet to proper IP-CAN
bearer in DL and UL direction to provide appropriate applicable charging and to
provide policy control
2 different types of PCC rules:
Dynamic PCC rules - dynamically provisioned by PCRF to PCEF over Gx interface.
Pre-defined PCC rules - pre-configured in the PCEF. The PCRF can advise the PCEF to
activate a set of PCC rules over Gx interface.
A PCC rules consists of :
1. Rule name - reference a PCC rule during communication between PCRF and PCEF
2. Service identifier - identifies a service or service component the SDF relates to SDF
filter(s) - the SDF filters are used to select the traffic for which the rule applies
3. Precedence - order of the SDF filter; dynamic rule takes precedence over pre-defined
rule in case of same precedence
4. Gate status - whether the SDF detected should be allowed to pass or be blocked
5. QoS parameters - includes the QCI, the ARP and bitrates for UL and DL
6. Charging key and charging parameters - online or offline charging
7. Monitoring key - identifies a monitoring control instance that shall be used for usage
monitoring control of the SDFs.
19

PCC functions
Application Function (AF) (e.g. P-CSCF for IMS solution, or Video Streaming Server for
non-IMS solution): interacts with applications or services that require dynamic
PCC.
AF extracts session information from the application signaling and provides it to the
PCRF:
Subscriber Identifier
IP address of the UE
Media Type and Format
Bandwidth
Flow description (e.g. Source and Destination IP addresses and the protocol)
AF Application Identifier
AF Communication Service Identifier
AF Application Event Identifier
AF Record Information
Flow Status
Priority Indicator
Emergency Indicator

20

PCC functions
Subscription Profile Repository (SPR): contains
subscriber/subscription information. Information on per-PDN basis:
Subscriber's allowed services
Subscriber's allowed QoS (MBR and GBR)
Subscriber's charging related information
Subscriber category
Online Charging System (OCS): credit management system for prepaid charging. Within OCS lies a functional entity called Service Data
Flow Based Credit Control Function which performs online credit control
function. The PCEF interacts with OCS to check out credit.
Offline Charging System (OFCS): Receives charging events from PCEF
and generates Charging Data Records (CDRs) sent to the billing system.
Policy Charging and Enforcement Function (PCEF): in the PDN-GW.
Bearer Binding and Event Reporting Function (BBERF): located in the
Serving-GW.
21

PCC functions
Policy Charging and Rules Function (PCRF): network control regarding service data
flow detection, gating (blocking or allowing packets), QoS control and flow-based
charging towards the PCEF. The PCRF ensures that the PCEF user plane traffic mapping
and treatment is in accordance with the user's subscription profile which it receives
from SPR. The PCRF may reject the request received from the AF when the service
information is not consistent with subscription information.
The PCRF accepts input for PCC decision making from the PCEF, the BBERF (if
available), the SPR and the AF (if available) as well as its own pre-defined information.
These nodes provide the following information to the PCRF:
Subscriber Identifier
IP address of the UE
IP-CAN bearer attributes
Request Type (Initial, Modification, etc)
Type of IP-CAN (GPRS, etc)
Location of Subscriber
PDN ID
PLMN Identifier

22

IP CAN (Connectivity Access Network) bearer establishment

The PCEF encompasses Service Data Flow detection, policy

enforcement and flow based charging functionalities. Provides SDF
detection, user plane traffic handling, triggering control plane
session management, QoS handling, service data flow
measurement and online/offline charging interactions.
PCEF allows a particular SDF to pass through a PCEF only if the gating
function allows. Converts a QCI value to IP-CAN specific QoS
attribute values and vice-versa.
PCEF enforces the authorized QoS of a SDF according to an active
PCC rule, and that authorized QoS is mapped to the IP-CAN specific
QoS attributes.
For a SDF subject to charging control, the PCEF allows the SDF to
pass through if and only if there is corresponding PCC rule, and for
online charging, the OCS has authorized credit for the charging key.

23

PCRF

Examples of PCRF Rules

Cross service product offers

Bundle of 1000 MMS, 100 minutes voice and 10 GB data 2
Mb/s
Refill based bonus
Refill at least $50 and get free surf with 5 Mbps during the WE
Cross service bonus
Send 200 SMS and get 1 Mbps bandwidth
Send 400 SMS and get 3 Mbps bandwidth
Policies based on credit balance
Balance above $20 allows you to get 3 Mbps
Daily usage 2 MB data, lower speed to 64 kbps.
24

PCRF

PCRF PCC rule decisions may be based on one or more

of the following:
Information obtained from the Application Function
(AF), e.g. session, media and subscriber related
information
Information obtained from the PCEF, e.g. IP CAN
bearer attributes, request type and subscriber related
information,
Information obtained from the SPR, e.g. subscriber
and service related data,
Information obtained from the BBERF,
Own PCRF pre-configured information.
25

QoS issues

PCRF and PCEF

PCRF: network entity where the policy decisions are made

such as:
Allowing or rejecting the media request,
Using new or existing bearer for an incoming media request,
Checking the allocation of new resources against the maximum
authorized.

PCEF: provides operator-defined charging rules applicable to

each service data flow. Selects the relevant charging rules
based on information such as:
application identifier,
type of stream,
application data rate,
26

QoS issues

Role of Functional Elements in Implementing Policy and QoS (1)

PDNGW maps bearers to the underlying transport network.

Transport network = Ethernet based + MPLS.
Transport is not aware of the bearer concept and uses

standard IP QoS techniques, as DiffServ.

The PGW maps traffic onto EPC bearers (associated with QCIs)
which are mapped onto DiffServ Classes; re-marks packets IP
header to reflect priorities as close as possible
If congestion happens, core and backhaul routers drop
packets according to DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point)
27

QoS issues
Role of Functional Elements in Implementing Policy and QoS (2)

The eNodeB plays a critical role in end-toend QoS and policy enforcement.
It performs UL and DL rate policing, as well
as RF radio resource scheduling.
It uses ARP when allocating bearer
resources.
The UE also plays a role in policy in the
uplink direction, it performs the initial
mapping of service data flows to bearers.
28

QoS issues

Role of Functional Elements in Implementing Policy and QoS (3)

Functional Elements in the 3GPPs Policy and

Charging Control (PCC) Framework
29

EPS signaling procedures to control QoS functions

30

Userplane QoS functions in EPS

31

Example of SDF detection and mapping to IPCAN Bearers in DL

32

Bearer establishment

Initial bearer establishment

IMSI A:
Charging profile (CC, OCS address)
Policy profile (Rulebase list: A, B, C)
IMSI B:
Charging profile (CC, OCS address)
Policy profile (Rulebase list: Rulebase A)
IMSI C:
Charging profile (CC, OCS address)
Policy profile (Rulebase list: C)

3. Diameter CCR
(Subscriber ID = IMSI,
Charging-Rule-Report=RuleD)

2. PCEF checks user profile

- Finds PCRF for
the requested APN

Subscription profile database

PCRF

profile is retrieved from PCRF to PCEF

4. Diameter CCA
(Charging-Rule-Install = Rulebase A
Charging-rule-remove = RuleD)

Session Control
Local configuration:
For APN Internet = User profile PCRF

6. Apply policies
for bearer (TEID
C): PCC Rule =
A Gate open)

1. Default Bearer Creation

PCEF
7. Default Bearer Creation

5. Session Control received profile from PCRF:

It checks Rulebase A from local configuration
It finds a match == Gate open for all traffic
Activates correct rules for the user

Internet

Filter(s)

The PCEF is a S-GW

or a PDN-GW
33

UE

Bearer establishment
Subscription-Id
Bearer-Identifier
SPR
Bearer-Operation
IMSI, location (TAIs)
Framed-IP-Address
Category
MSISDN, IMEI
IP-CAN-Type
Pricing Plan
RAT type, Serving
3GPP-RAT-Type
Billing Plan
network
Event-Trigger User-Equipment-Info
AccumulatedCharge
MME IP & TEID (S11) or
Charging-Rule-Remove
QoS-Information
NotificationThreshold
1.
SGW IPs & TEIDs (S5, C&U)
6.Default
DefaultBearer
BearerCreation
Creation Answer
Charging-Rule-Install
TAI
ConsumptionLimit
4.PGW
IP, APN
3. Retrieve subscriber
Retrieve
subscriber
Charging-Information
Called-Station-ID
NotificationThreshold
EPS
Bearer
Id
profile request (IMSI
profile
response
Online
Online,
Offline
QCI
or MSISDN
APN-AMBR, QoS
Offline
TFT-Packet-Filterusedquota
PDN address req, PCO
QoS-Information
Information
useddownlinkquota
Charging-Rule-Report
useduplinkquota

PCEF

Usedtimequota
2.Credit-Control-Request-INITIAL_REQUEST
5.Credit-Control-Answer-INITIAL_REQUEST

PCRF

PCRF
store
PCRF
make
policy
evaluation
information

34

Network and protocol architecture

3. EPS Bearer

35

EPS bearers

Four types of EPS bearers:

GBR Bearer: resources permanently
allocated by admission control
NonGBR Bearer: no admission control
Dedicated Bearer: associated with
specific Traffic Flow Templates, TFT (GBR
or non-GBR)
Default Bearer: Non GBR, catch-all for
unassigned traffic
36

Data Transfert in EPS: EBearers

When communicating
Media data as Voice and Video are transmitted in other additional dedicated media
devices
For each support is assigned a QoS

Media devices implementation is controlled

PCRF for QoS and charging
MME (HSS) for UE (S/P)GW connection

37

Networkcontrolled Service Concept

AF: Application Function

38

Data Transfert in EPS: RAB/RB

"IP Bearer" support and its coupling to the E-Bearer are more
formalized in terms of QoS and IP traffic profile

39

EPS Bearer Definition (1)

EPS = connection-oriented transmission network,

Requires the establishment of a virtual connection between two entities

(e.g. a UE and a PDN-GW)

EPS Bearer

Provides a bearer service, i.e. a transport service with specific QoS

attributes.

The QoS parameters associated to the bearer are:

QCI (QoS Class Identifier),

ARP (Allocation and Retention Priority),

GBR (Guaranteed Bit Rate),

AMBR (Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate)

40

EPS Bearer Definition (2)

A data radio bearer carries the packets of an EPS bearer between a UE and an eNB.

When a data radio bearer exists, there is a one-to-one mapping between this data

radio bearer an the EPS bearer/E-RAB.

An S1 bearer carries the packets of an E-RAB between an eNodeB and a Serving GW.

An S5/S8 bearer transports the packets of an EPS bearer between a Serving GW and a

PDN GW.

41

Network and protocol architecture

4. QoS parameters per EPSbearer

42

LTE QoS Framework

The traffic running between a particular client

application and a service can be differentiated
into separate Service Data Flows (SDFs)
SDFs mapped to the same bearer receive a
common QoS treatment

Dedicated bearer

43

QoS issues
QoS Class Identifier

The QoS Class Identifier (QCI) is a reference to access nodespecific parameters that control bearer level packet
forwarding processing (e.g. scheduling weights, admission
thresholds, queue management thresholds, link layer

protocol configuration, etc.).

23.401 defines 9 standard QCIs, each one with specific
characteristics
Operators may define proprietary QCIs to introduce new
services.
44

QoS issues
QoS Class Identifier

Standardized QCI Characteristics [source TS 23.203]

45

MOS and QoS

MOS for AMR-NB

46

QCIs mapping to IP layer Differentiated Services Code Points (DSCP)

47

PBits used for prioritizing different types of traffic

p-bit: Priority bit QoS tag on Ethernet layer

48

QoS issues
Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP)

Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP) primarily allows one to decide whether a
bearer establishment request can be accepted or rejected in case of resource
limitations.
can be used by the eNodeB to decide which bearer(s) to drop in case of
resource limitations (e.g. at handover).
For example, emergency VoIP call with the highest ARP value should always
get established in the network, at the expense of lower ARP value bearers.
Each GBR bearer is additionally associated with the following bearer level QoS
parameter:
GBR = Guaranteed Bit Rate, the bit rate that can be expected to be provided
by a GBR bearer
MBR = Maximum Bit rate (MBR = GBR in Rel. 8)
Each non-GBR is additionally associated with the following bearer level QoS
parameter:
UE-AMBR = UE Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (in UL)
APN-AMBR = APN Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (in DL)
49

QoS issues
Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR)
Two major types of bearers:
Guaranteed bit rate
Nonguaranteed bit rate.

Guaranteed bit rate

For real-time services: conversational voice and video.
Minimum amount of reserved bandwidth,
Always consumes resources in a eNB regardless of whether it is used or
not.
GBR bearers will be defined with the lower latency and jitter tolerances
that are typically required by real-time services.
50

QoS issues
Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR)

NonGuaranteed bit rate

No specific network bandwidth allocation.
For best-effort services (file downloads, email, and
Internet browsing).
Experience packet loss if congestion.
A maximum bit rate for non-GBR bearers is not specified
on a per-bearer basis. However, an aggregate maximum
bit rate (AMBR) will be specified on a per-subscriber basis
for all non-GBR bearers.

51

QoS issues
Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR)

52

QCI and ARP

Difference between priority mapped from QCI and ARP based priority
1) QCI Priority = priority of resource allocation for a specific service i.e. if
the UE has a VoIP (higher QCI priority) session and browsing WWW
(lower QCI priority), the resources are assigned firstly to packets of VoIP
and then to WWW.

2) ARP priority = priority of allocation of a service / bearer, i.e. if the eNB

is highly loaded and a UE would like to setup VoIP (higher ARP priority)
and WWW (lower ARP priority), the eNB would set only VoIP session, in
order not to get overloaded. Or in other case if it is already overloaded it
would kick off the bearers / services with lower ARP priorities.
53

QoS Management

5. Scheduling

54

Scheduling principle
Data is allocated to the UEs in RB: a UE is allocated multiple numbers of RBs
in the frequency domain.
RBs do not need to be adjacent in the DL.
The scheduling decision can be made at each transmission time interval of 1
ms.
The scheduling decision is done by the eNodeB.
The scheduling algorithm takes into account:
radio link quality situation of different users,
interference situation,
QoS requirements,
service priorities, etc.

55

Scheduler overview

56

Scheduler model

57

DL Scheduler Structure

DL scheduler 3 functional parts:

Static Scheduler:
Assigns a fixed amount of Transport Blocks as well as PDCCH and PDSCH
resources for the BCCH over the DL-SCH Transport Channel. Resources
permanently allocated.
Semistatic Scheduler:
Assigns Transport Blocks as well as PDCCH and PDSCH resources for PCCH
and CCCH over the PCH and DL PDSCH SCH Transport Channels. Assigns a
regular set of Transport Blocks for all established VoIP bearers.
Dynamic Scheduler:
Assigns Transport Blocks as well as PDCCH and PDSCH resources for DCCH &
DTCH over the DL-SCH Transport Channels.
In charge of sending the MAC Control Timing Advance control messages in
order to keep the UE in the connected mode, synchronized with the
network.

58

DL Scheduler operation

The LTE DL scheduler is composed of 2 main algorithms:

A pre-booking stage which reserve resources over the PDSCH for
the static and semistatic schedulers.
A scheduling stage which assign the resources over the PDSCH for
effective traffic.

59

Algorithms classification

60

MAC Scheduler

Radio resource assignment consists

of:
Physical Resource Block (PRB)
Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS)

61

LTE Scheduling

Time-frequency resources are dynamically shared between

users in the uplink and downlink
Scheduler: part of the MAC layer for the allocation of
resources in the uplink and downlink
The uplink and
UL and DL scheduling are separated
downlink scheduling decisions can be taken independently
from each other (within the limits of shared uplink / downlink
for TDD)
The scheduling strategy is not specified in the standard
The scheduler can take advantage of different channel
conditions between the terminals and schedules
transmissions accordingly
62

Downlink scheduling

Each 1 ms, the downlink scheduler dynamically

determines the terminal that should receive
transmissions in the downlink and with which
resources
The basic unit in the scheduler is the Resource Block
Each 1 ms interval, the scheduler allocates Resource
Blocks to get a DL-SCH transmission
The scheduler is responsible for selecting the size of
the transport block, modulation and mapping of
antennas (in case of multi-antenna transmission)
63

Radio Resource Allocations

Described by:
Resource Block Locations
MCS
Valid for:
1 Transmit Time Interval (TTI) or Subframe
Longer than 1 TTI
Requires additional information allocation time,
allocation repetition factor etc. to specify
Also called SemiPersistent Scheduling
64

Dynamic and Persistent Allocations

Typical 1 TTI allocations are for 1 subframe only
Suitable for bursty, unpredictable, and download type of traffic
Every new allocation needs indication and channel capacity usage on PDCCH

Identical allocation needs to be done periodically:

For some bearers, like for VOIP, are periodic and happen every 20
ms for a deterministic pattern and size of allocation
Every packet carries identical amount of data
Subsequent transmissions use the same resources as the first
transmission
Allocation pattern and size
is DETERMINISTIC

65

Downlink scheduling

Scheduler MAC
(Downlink)

66

Downlink scheduling

Scheduler flow control Assigns RLC segmentation

and multiplexing of MAC scheduling decision
Frequency Selective Fading variation on the band
Exploit channel variations in frequency domain
better than in the time domain
Low speeds
Variations in the time domain
relatively slow compared to the time constraint of
some services
Better results in the frequency
domain
67

Downlink scheduling

Information on DL conditions for scheduling dependent

channel
CQI (ChannelQuality Indicator) sent to the
eNodeB
The CQI information:
Includes the instantaneous quality of the channel in the
frequency domain
Allows to determine the appropriate processing in case of
antenna spatial multiplexing

The CQI is measured on the reference signals of the DL

The scheduler takes into account the state of the buffering
and priority scheduling decisions
68

Factors affecting scheduling

Traffic volume for each bearer at each UE

Schedule UEs with bearers having backlog

QoS Requirements of each bearer at each UE

Priority Schedule, as well as allocate resources in
proportion to QoS guarantees

Radio conditions at Ues

Identified through:
Measurements made at the eNB, and/or
Measurements reported by the UE

Schedule radio resources as per good radio

conditions for UEs
69

Packet scheduler input parameters

Resources allocation
Channels occupancy status
Interference status in neighboring cells
RB quality
DL channel quality measurements
CQI reports
HARQ ACK/NACKs
QoS parameters
UE and Service QoS attributes
Scheduling priority indicator (SPI)
Others
Buffers occupancy
UE capacity
70
70

Scheduling algorithms

Techniques the most widely used in mobile

networks:

Round Robin (RR),

Proportional Fairness (PF),

Max C/I
71

Round Robin

Simplest scheduling
algorithm.
Time-based resource
sharing.
Same resource quantity
is allocated to each
user/process/queue/
independently of the
channel status.
72

Proportional fair scheduling

Principle: Schedule the channel for the UE that has the maximum of the
priority function:

T: data rate potentially achievable for the station in the present time slot.
R: historical average data rate of this station.
and tune the "fairness" of the scheduler.

By adjusting and , the scheduler adjusts the balance between

serving the best mobiles (best channel conditions) more often and
serving the costly mobiles enough to have an acceptable level of
performance.
In the extreme case ( = 0 and = 1) the scheduler acts as round
robin.
If = 1 and = 0 then the scheduler acts as Max(C/I).
PFS improves this technique by using a "memory constant".
73

Proportional fair scheduling

Proposed by Qualcomm (IS-856 or HDR, High Data Rate

standard, for DL traffic scheduling).
Allocates the resource blocks to users according to a
comparison between the theoretical assignment and the
actual assignment
r i (t )
i =
Based on the priority function:
Ri (t )
Where ri(t) is the current data bit rate and Ri(t) is obtained by
exponential smoothing average of the received bit rate of the
terminal i until slot t.
Exponential smoothing can be used with any discrete set of repeated measurements. The
raw data sequence is often represented by {xt}, and the output of the exponential
smoothing algorithm is commonly written as {st} which may be regarded as our best
estimate of what the next value of x will be. When the sequence of observations begins at
time t = 0, the simplest form of exponential smoothing is given by the formulas:
s0 = x0 and st = axt + (1-a)st-1
where is the smoothing factor, and 0 < < 1.
74

Proportional fair scheduling

The waiting queue with highest i(t) is served at slot t.

Average bit rate of the queue is updated using the
formula:
1
1
Ri (t + 1) = (1

Tc

) Ri (t ) + (

Tc

) r i (t )

Where Tc is the duration of the averaging sliding window.

The average bit rate of the queues not served at slot t is
updated with the formula:
1
Ri (t + 1) = (1

Tc

) R i (t )

Generally, Tc = 1 000 slots (1,66 seconds) in CDMA-HDR.

Advantage: PF is simple and efficient.
Drawback: PF does not guarantee QoS (delay, jitter) as it
has been elaborated initially for saturated queues with
non real time data traffic.
75

Proportional fair scheduling

PF assigning each users a scheduling priority that

is inversely proportional to its anticipated
resource consumption
High resource consumption

low priority

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Maximum C/I
Allocation of the highest bit rate possible, each TTI
(transmission time interval) to the UE experiencing the
best radio channel conditions.
High global cell bit rate, Low equity for the users.

Scheduling depending on the channel

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Performance comparison

78

Thank you

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