Content for TS 44.160 Word version: 16.0.0

1.1 General 1.2 Related documents 1.3 Use of logical control channels 1.4 Use of logical traffic channels 1.4a Use of transport channels 1.5 Conventions 3.1 Definitions 3.2 Symbols 3.3 Abbreviations
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1 Scope Word‑p. 12

1.1 General

The present document specifies procedures for the following layers of the radio interface (Um reference point), the interface between the GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) and the Mobile Station (MS) in GERAN Iu mode:

Radio Link Control (RLC).
Medium Access Control (MAC), including Physical Link Control functions.

1.2 Related documents

The following documents provide information related to the present document:

3GPP TS 43.051 is an overall description of the GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) in Iu mode.
3GPP TS 44.003 specifies channel types, access capabilities and channel configurations at the Um reference point.
3GPP TS 44.004 specifies services offered by the physical layer of the Um reference point. It also specifies control channels. RLC and MAC use these services and control channels.
3GPP TS 24.007 specifies, in general terms, this protocol's structured functions, its procedures and its relationship with other layers and entities. It also specifies the basic message format and error handling applied by layer 3 protocols.
3GPP TS 44.118 specifies the RRC procedures when operating in Iu mode.
3GPP TS 44.060 specifies RLC/MAC procedures specific to A/Gb mode as well as the procedures that are common to both A/Gb mode and Iu mode. It also specifies the messages and Information Elements for both modes.
3GPP TS 51.010-1 specifies test procedures for radio-interface signalling.

1.3 Use of logical control channels

3GPP TS 45.002 defines the following logical control channels:

Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH): downlink only, used to broadcast Cell specific information.
Packet Broadcast Control Channel (PBCCH): downlink only, used to broadcast Cell specific information.
Packet Paging Channel (PPCH): downlink only, used to send page requests to Mobile Stations (MSs).
Packet Random Access Channel (PRACH): uplink only, used to request GPRS resources.
Packet Access Grant Channel (PAGCH): downlink only, used to allocate GPRS resources.
Packet Associated Control Channel (PACCH): bi-directional, associated with a Temporary Block Flow (TBF).
Packet Timing advance control channel uplink (PTCCH/U): used to transmit random access bursts to allow estimation of the timing advance for one MS in transfer state.
Packet Timing advance control channel downlink (PTCCH/D): used to transmit timing advance updates for several MS. One PTCCH/D is paired with several PTCCH/U's.

1.4 Use of logical traffic channels Word‑p. 13

3GPP TS 45.002 defines the following logical traffic channels used by RLC and MAC:

Traffic Channel (TCH): bidirectional, carries encoded speech or user data using GMSK on a dedicated basic physical subchannel (DBPSCH). TCH can be full-rate (TCH/F) or half-rate (TCH/H).
Octal Traffic Channel (O-TCH): bidirectional, carries encoded speech using 8-PSK on a DBPSCH. O-TCH can be full-rate (O TCH/F) or half-rate (O-TCH/H).
Enhanced Traffic Channel (E-TCH): bidirectional, carries user data using 8-PSK on a DBPSCH.
Packet Data Traffic Channel (PDTCH): downlink or uplink, carries user data using GMSK or 8-PSK on a shared basic physical subchannel (SBPSCH) or a DBPSCH. PDTCHs can be full-rate (PDTCH/F) or half-rate (PDTCH/H).

1.4a Use of transport channels |R6|

For the flexible layer one (FLO) TS 45.002 defines the following transport channel type:

Dedicated Channel (DCH): carries user or control data using GMSK or 8-PSK on a DBPSCH. A mobile station may have one or more transport channels of type DCH active at the same time in each direction.

In the present document, the following notations are used:

UDCH: refers to a transport channel of type DCH used exclusively for carrying RLC/MAC blocks for data transfer belonging to user-plane;
CDCH: refers to a transport channel of type DCH used exclusively for carrying RLC/MAC blocks for data transfer belonging to control-plane. The signalling TFC (see TS 44.118) shall be used when CDCH is active;
ADCH: refers to a transport channel of type DCH used exclusively for carrying RLC/MAC blocks for control message transfer. The signalling TFC (see TS 44.118) shall be used when ADCH is active.

1.5 Conventions

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the following conventions apply:

The notations "further study", "FS" or "FFS" indicate the annotated text is not normative.
References to "PDCH" also apply to "SBPSCH" and vice-versa.

2 References

The following documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of the present document.

References are either specific (identified by date of publication, edition number, version number, etc.) or non specific.
For a specific reference, subsequent revisions do not apply.
For a non-specific reference, the latest version applies. In the case of a reference to a 3GPP document (including a GSM document), a non-specific reference implicitly refers to the latest version of that document in the same Release as the present document.

[1]

TR 21.905: "Vocabulary for 3GPP Specifications".

[2]

TS 23.003: "Numbering, addressing and identification".

[3]

TS 43.013: "Discontinuous Reception (DRX) in the GSM system".

[4]

TS 24.002: "GSM-UMTS Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) access reference configuration".

[5]

TS 44.003: "Mobile Station - Base Station System (MS - BSS) interface; Channel structures and access capabilities".

[6]

TS 44.004: "Layer 1 - General requirements".

[7]

TS 44.118: "Mobile radio interface layer 3 specification; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol Iu mode".

[8]

TS 45.002: "Multiplexing and multiple access on the radio path".

[9]

TS 45.003: "Channel coding".

[10]

TS 45.008: "Radio subsystem link control".

[11]

TS 45.010: "Radio subsystem synchronization".

[12]

TS 51.010-1: "Mobile Station (MS) conformance specification; Part 1: Conformance specification".

[13]

TS 51.021: "GSM radio aspects base station system equipment specification".

[14]

TS 25.331: "Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification".

[15]

TS 25.133: "Requirements for support of radio resource management (FDD)".

[16]

TS 25.123: "Requirements for support of radio resource management (TDD)".

[17]

TS 43.051: "GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN); Overall Description; Stage 2".

[18]

TS 44.060: "General Packet Radio Service (GPRS); Mobile Station (MS) - Base Station System (BSS) interface; Radio Link Control/ Medium Access Control (RLC/MAC) protocol".

[19]

TS 51.010-2: "Mobile Station (MS) conformance specification; Part 2: Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement (ICS) proforma specification".

[20]

TS 51.010-3: "Mobile Station (MS) conformance specification; Part 3: Layer 3 (L3) Abstract Test Suite (ATS)".

[21]

TS 51.010-4: "Mobile Station (MS) conformance specification; Part 4: SIM application toolkit conformance specification".

[22]

TS 35.201: "Specification of the 3GPP confidentiality and integrity algorithms; Document 1: f8 and f9 specifications".

[23]

TS 24.008: "Mobile radio interface Layer 3 specification; Core network protocols; Stage 3".

[24]

TS 44.018: "Mobile radio interface layer 3 specification; Radio Resource Control Protocol".

[25]

TS 45.005: "Radio transmission and reception".

[26]

TS 43.064: "Overall description of the GPRS radio interface; Stage 2".

[27]

TS 24.007: "Mobile radio interface signalling layer 3; General Aspects".

[28]

TR 45.902: "Flexible Layer One".

3 Definitions, symbols and abbreviations Word‑p. 15

3.1 Definitions

For the purposes of the present document, the terms and definitions given in TS 44.060 and the following apply:

Active transport channel:

a transport channel is active during a TTI if it carries an RLC/MAC block. This definition applies to FLO only.

Block period:

sequence of timeslots on a SBPSCH or a DBPSCH used to convey one radio block. There are 4 timeslots in this sequence for PDTCH, PACCH, SACCH, SDCCH, TCH/AHS, E-FACCH. There are 6 timeslots in this sequence for FACCH/H. There are 8 timeslots in this sequence for TCH/AFS and FACCH/F. There are 22 timeslots in this sequence for (E-)TCH/F.

CDCH TBF Mode:

refers to a TBF belonging to a signalling radio bearer and using FLO.

DCCH TBF mode:

refers to a TBF mapped onto a FACCH, SACCH or SDCCH.

Radio block:

sequence of normal bursts carrying one RLC/MAC protocol data unit (see TS 44.004). (The one exception is a radio block occasionally used on PACCH consisting of a sequence of four access bursts, each carrying a repetition of one short RLC/MAC block.). There are 4 normal bursts in this sequence for PDTCH, PACCH, SACCH, SDCCH, TCH/AHS, E-FACCH. There are 6 normal bursts in this sequence for FACCH/H. There are 8 normal bursts in this sequence for TCH/AFS and FACCH/F. There are 22 normal bursts in this sequence for (E )TCH/F.

RLC non-transparent mode:

refers to either RLC acknowledged mode or RLC unacknowledged mode.

TCH TBF mode:

refers to a TBF mapped onto a TCH.

Transport format:

configuration of a transport channel, including for instance block size and CRC. This definition applies to FLO only.

Transport format combination:

allowed combination of transport format(s) of the different transport channels that are multiplexed together on a basic physical subchannel

Signalling TFC:

transport format combination that shall be used for signalling (ADCH, CDCH). It may also be used for user-plane data (UDCH). On each DBPSCH, the signalling TFC is the lowest TFC in the TFCS of this DBPSCH (see TS 44.118).

Transport format combination set:

set of allowed transport format combinations on a basic physical subchannel

Transport format set:

set of all transport formats defined for a particular transport channel.

Transmission time interval:

rate at which RLC/MAC blocks are exchanged between the physical layer and the MAC sublayer on a transport channel: 20ms. This definition applies to FLO only.

UDCH TBF mode:

refers to a TBF belonging to a user-plane radio bearer and using FLO.

3.2 Symbols

For the purposes of the present document, the following symbols apply:

Interface between a BSS and a 2G MSC

Interface between a BSS and a 2G SGSN

Interface between a BSS or an RNC and a 3G MSC or a 3G SGSN

Iu-cs

Interface between a BSS or an RNC and a 3G MSC

Iu-ps

Interface between a BSS or an RNC and a 3G SGSN

Interface between an MS and the GERAN

3.3 Abbreviations Word‑p. 16

For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations given in TR 21.905 and TS 43.064, and the following apply:

ADCH

Associated DCH

ARQ

Automatic Repeat reQuest

BCCH

Broadcast Control CHannel

BSS

Base Station Subsystem

CBCH

Cell Broadcast CHannel

CCN

Cell Change Notification

CDCH

Control-plane DCH

Core Network

CS-i

GPRS Coding Scheme i

DBPSCH

Dedicated Basic Physical Sub CHannel

DCH

Dedicated CHannel

ECSD

Enhanced Circuit Switched Data

EDGE

Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution

EGPRS

Enhanced General Packet Radio Service

FACCH

Fast Associated Control CHannel

FLO

Flexible Layer One

GERAN

GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network

GPRS

General Packet Radio Service

GRA

GERAN Registration Area

G-RNTI

GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity

GSM

Global System for Mobile communications

HFN

Hyper Frame Number

IMSI

International Mobile Subscriber Identity

LCS

LoCation Services

MAC

Medium Access Control

MCS-i

EGPRS Modulation and Coding Scheme i

Mobile Station

MSC

Mobile Switching Centre

NAS

Non Access Stratum

NSAPI

Network-layer SAPI

NT-RLC

RLC non-transparent mode

PBCCH

Packet BCCH

PDCH

Packet Data CHannel

PDCP

Packet Data Convergence Protocol

PDP

Packet Data Protocol

PDTCH

Packet Data TCH

PDU

Protocol Data Unit

PLMN

Public Land Mobile Network

PTCCH

Packet Timing-advance Control CHannel

P-TMSI

Packet TMSI

QoS

Quality of Service

Radio Bearer

RBid

Radio bearer identity

RLC

Radio Link Control

RNC

Radio Network Controller

Radio Resource

RRBid

Reduced RBid

RRC

Radio Resource Control

SACCH

Slow Associated Control CHannel

SAP

Service Access Point

SAPI

Service Access Point Identifier

SBPSCH

Shared Basic Physical Sub CHannel

SDCCH

Stand-alone Dedicated Control CHannel

SDU

Service Data Unit

SGSN

Serving GPRS Support Node

SRB

Signalling Radio Bearer

TBF

Temporary Block Flow

TCH

Traffic Channel

Transport Format

TFC

Transport Format Combination

TFCS

Transport Format Combination Set

TFS

Transport Format Set

TMSI

Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

TrCH

Transport CHannel

T-RLC

RLC transparent mode

TTI

Transport Time Interval

UDCH

User-plane DCH

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

URB

User Radio Bearer

USF

Uplink State Flag

UTRAN

UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network