DOWNLINK SYNC

Agenda:

1. Synchronization signals and procedure:

2. SSB Block –PSS &SSS

3. 5G-NR cell: physical cell id

4. Location of ssb in frequency domain &global synchronization channel number

5. Location of ssb in time domain

6. Ssb brust set

7. Syncronintion procedure

8. Log analysis

SSB BLOCK:
 1- In time domain, it consist of 4 OFDM symbols, and in Freq domain it consists of 20 RBs. (20x12
= 240 sub carrier) , 1RB = 12 subcarrier

OFDM symbol 0 = PSS (sub carrier range from 56 to 182)

OFDM symbol 1 = PBCH (sub carrier range from 0 to 239)
OFDM symbol 2 = SSS (sub carrier range from 56 to 182)
symbol 2 = PBCH(0 to 47 and 192 to 239)
OFDM symbol 3 = PBCH (sub carrier range from 0 to 239)

PSS occupies first OFDM symbol and span over 127 subcarriers.

 SSS is located in the third OFDM symbol and span over 127 subcarriers.
 PBCH occupies two full OFDM symbols (second and fourth) spanning 240 subcarriers
and in the third OFDM symbol spanning 48 subcarriers below and above SSS.

PSS (Primary Sync Signal):

SSS (Secondary SYNC signal):

NR Physical cell id:

Location of SSB in frequency domain and GSCN:

Why we need GSCN;

The concept of GSCN or synchronization raster is employed in 5G NR to efficiently search for the
SSB, reducing search time and improving UE performance compared to LTE's fixed 100 kHz
channel raster. For 5G NR, a wider frequency width is used to scan the entire frequency
spectrum.
When mobile is switched on for the first time, we don’t know at what frequency the
endb is transmitting.

Q: how we can search:

UE scans the frequency band on sync raster based on which frequency band the UE is
performing cell search on and is defined by 3GPP 38.104 section 5.4.3.3 to tune specific
frequency. The synchronization raster indicates the frequency positions of the synchronization
block that can be used by the UE for system acquisition when explicit signalling of the
synchronization block position is not present
When we can use the synchronization raster means whenever your mobile is fixed for particular
band lets say 400mhz then it scan for 400 mhz and decode the cell information.
 for each band

This defines the GSCN number defined in 3GPP.

Example;
Lets take the example for b2 range from 1930 to 1990 MHZ.
Example 3:
 SSB details in Time Domain

 Each SSB spans across 4 OFDM symbols in the time domain.

 An SSB is periodically transmitted with a periodicity of 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms
or 160ms.

 While longer SSB periodicities enhances network energy performance, the shorter
periodicities facilitate faster cell search for UEs.

 A UE can assume a default periodicity of 20ms during initial cell search or idle mode
mobility.

SSB Burst:
An SS burst set comprised of a set of SSBs, each SSB potentially be transmitted on a
different beam.

 SS burst set consists of one or more SSBs.

 SSBs in the SS burst set are transmitted in time-division multiplexing fashion.

 An SS burst set is always confined to a 5ms window and is either located in first-half or
in the second-half of a 10ms radio frame.

 The network sets the SSB periodicity via RRC parameter ssb-
PeriodicityServingCell which can take values in the range {5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms,
80ms, 160ms}.
 The maximum number of candidate SSBs (Lmax) within an SS burst set depends upon the
carrier frequency/band as shown in the table below.

 Within a 5ms half frame, the starting OFDM symbol index for a candidate SSB within SS
burst set depends upon subcarrier spacing (SCS)

Max. No. of Candidate SSBs

Carrier Frequency
within SS Burst Set (L ) max

fc ≤ 3 GHz* 4

3 GHz* < fc ≤ 6 GHz 8

fc > 6 GHz 64

OFDM starting fc ≤ 3 GHz* 3 GHz* < fc ≤ 6

fc > 6 GHz
SCS symbols of the Lmax = 4 GHz
Lmax = 4
candidate SSBs Lmax = 8

CaseA: n= n = 0, 1, 2,
15 kHz 0,1 {2,8,16,22 3 {2,8,16,22,30,3
{2,8} + 14n NA
} 6,
44,50}
CaseB: {4,8,16,20} + 28n n = 0,
n= 1 {4,8,16,20,32,3
NA
30 kHz 0 {4,8,16,20} 6,
44,48}
n = 0, 1, 2,
n = 0,
CaseC: 3 {2,8,16,22,30,3
{2,8} + 14n 1 {2,8,16,22 NA
30 kHz 6,
}
44,50}
n=0,1,2,3,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,13,1
CaseD:
5,
120 {4,8,16,20} + 28n NA NA
16,17,18
kHz
{4,8,16,20 … 508,512,520,524}

CaseE:
{8,12,16,20,32,36,40,4 n=0,1,2,3,5,6,7,8
240 NA NA
4} + 56n {8,12,16,20 … 480,484,488,492}
kHz
Log Analysis:

ServingCellConfigCommon ::= SEQUENCE {

....,
ssb-PositionsInBurst CHOICE {
shortBitmap BIT STRING (SIZE (4)),
mediumBitmap BIT STRING (SIZE (8)),
longBitmap BIT STRING (SIZE (64))
},
ssb-periodicityServingCell ENUMERATED { ms5, ms10, ms20, ms40,
ms80, ms160,
spare2, spare1 }
..
}
Example 1 >

If the bitmap is set as follows in RRC Connection Reconfiguration of LTE Anchor to add
an NR cell is set as below, it means the SSB pattern of this NR cell is sub 3Ghz Case A or
Case B since it defines only 4 bits (4 SSBs) and the NR Cell transmit every SSBs because
every bit is set to be '1'.

ssb-PositionsInBurst CHOICE {
shortBitmap = 1111
},

Example 2 >

If the bitmap is set as follows in RRC Connection Reconfiguration of LTE Anchor to add
an NR cell is set as below, it means the SSB pattern of this NR cell is sub 3Ghz Case A or
Case B since it defines only 4 bits (4 SSBs) and the NR Cell transmit the first SSB
(SSB#0) and the third SSB(SSB#2).

ssb-PositionsInBurst CHOICE {
shortBitmap = 1010
 },

Example 3 >

If the bitmap is set as follows in RRC Connection Reconfiguration of LTE Anchor to add
an NR cell is set as below, it means the SSB pattern of this NR cell is Case A or Case B
between 3Ghz and 6Ghz since it defines 8 bits (8 SSBs) and every SSBs are transmitted
because all the bits are set to be 1.

ssb-PositionsInBurst CHOICE {
mediumBitmap = 11111111
},

Example 4 >

If the bitmap is set as follows in RRC Connection Reconfiguration of LTE Anchor to add
an NR cell is set as below, it means the SSB pattern of this NR cell is Case A or Case B
between 3Ghz and 6Ghz since it defines 8 bits (8 SSBs) and SSB#0,#2,#4,#6 are
transmitted.

ssb-PositionsInBurst CHOICE {
mediumBitmap = 10101010
},

Example 5 >

If the bitmap is set as follows in RRC Connection Reconfiguration of LTE Anchor to add
an NR cell is set as below, it means the SSB pattern of this NR cell is Case A or Case B
between 3Ghz and 6Ghz since it defines 8 bits (8 SSBs) and SSB#0,#1,#2,#3 are
transmitted.

ssb-PositionsInBurst CHOICE {
mediumBitmap = 11110000
},

Beam Sweeping by SSB

This is about how beam sweeping is implemented by changing beam direction for each
SSB transmission. I think following illustration would be intuitive and self-sufficient. You
may need much explanation on this. First take a look at this illustration and try to make
your own story out of it.

NOTE : For the simplicity of the drawing, I used SSB for sub 6 Ghz even though
Beamforming /Sweeping would not be such a critical functionality as in mmWave.
Let me make my own story out of this illustratioin (I hope you already had your version
of stories). This is the mechanism by which UE measure and identifies the best beam for
a UE.

i) Multiple SSBs are being transmitted with a certain interval.

ii) Each SSB can be identified by a unique number called SSB index
iii) Each SSB is transmitted via a specific beam radiated in a certain direction
iv) Multiple UEs are located at various places around a gNB.
v) UE measures the signal strength of each SSB it detected for a certain period (a
period of one SSB Set).
vi) From the measurement result, UE can identifies the SSB index with the
strongest signal strength. This SSB with the strongest signal strength is the best
beam for the UE 1. (For example, Beam #1 is the best beam(the selected beam
for UE1 and Beam#7 is the best beam for the UE 2)
DL Synchronization procedure:
cellBarred (1-bit): Carried within MIB. This field indicates whether or
not UEs in the cell are allowed to access the cell; 'barred'
indicates, the UEs are not allowed to access the cell.

MIB:

1) Mib is transmitted over bch|pbch physical channel

Where exactly mib is transmitted in SSB

Mib is distributed 1 ( 0 to 239) 2 (0 to 47 &192 to 239) 3(0 to 239

) subcarriers OFDM symbols of ssb block.

2) MIB uses the QPSK modulation scheme

3) Periodicity of MIB is 80 msec
4)
Log anaylsis:
MIB ::= SEQUENCE {
systemFrameNumber BIT STRING (SIZE (6)),
subCarrierSpacingCommon ENUMERATED {scs15or60,
scs30or120},
ssb-SubcarrierOffset INTEGER (0..15),
dmrs-TypeA-Position ENUMERATED {pos2, pos3},
pdcch-ConfigSIB1 INTEGER (0..255),
cellBarred ENUMERATED {barred, notBarred},
intraFreqReselection ENUMERATED {allowed, notAllowed},
spare BIT STRING (SIZE (1))
}
SSB -SuncarrierOffset : frequency domain offset between the ssb and the
overall resource block grid in the number of subcarriers.( how much offset
is there for ssb to start in frequency domain).

Keysight snippet:

MIB:
Links: https://www.sqimway.com/nr_refA.php

https://www.techplayon.com/5g-nr-ssb-positioning-time-and-frequency-resources/

https://www.sqimway.com/nr_band.php