NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

7 Control channel coverage

This section describes the process for evaluating control channel
coverage.
Control channel coverage depends on a number of things: which physical
channel that is used for sending control information, the size of the control
message, quality requirement of the message (BLER, delay requirements)
and antenna gain. The same physical channel can be used for various
control messages or data, all with different quality requirements. For
example, PUSCH can be used to transmit UL data, Message 3 control
information, CSI feedback, RLC status or SRS). Therefore, the control
channel link budget needs to be done per control message to get a full
picture of what is limiting cell range.
In NR it is assumed that control channels are time synchronized, meaning
that PDSCH/PUSCH will not interfere control channels, and vice versa.
This also means that the control channel load, QCCH, can be different than
PDSCH or PUSCH load (QPDSCH or QPUSCH).
The resulting link budget from UL and DL calculations must be verified
with link budgets for common channels to secure that common channels
are not limiting the link budget. The UE and BS must be able to decode
control channels to not drop the connection.
Control channel coverage is checked by calculating maximum allowed
control channel signal attenuation (given a certain control channel noise
rise, antenna gain and SINR target). Maximum control channel coverage
is then compared to the signal attenuation from the uplink and downlink
link budget:
 If the maximum signal attenuation for the control channels is larger the
one from the uplink and downlink link budget, the link budget is ok.
 If the maximum signal attenuation for control channels is smaller than
the one from the uplink and downlink link, the signal attenuation must
be reduced, and the link budget must be redone starting from the
uplink link budget again.

7.1 Control messages

7.1.1 Initial access

At initial access the following control messages are sent, see Figure 22.
 Synchronization using PSS/SSS and PBCH
 MSG 1 (PRACH)
 MSG 2, Random Access Response (RAR) carried on PDSCH with
associated PDCCH
 MSG 3 (RRC connection, resume or re-establishment) carried on
PUSCH

56(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

Figure 22. Control messages sent at initial access.

7.1.2 Connected mode

In connected mode, when transmitting data in UL or DL, the following
messages are sent.
UL data
Connected mode UL data:
 Scheduling request (SR) on PUCCH
 Grant carried on PDCCH
 Data on PUSCH
DL data
Connected mode DL data:
 Assignment carried on PDCCH
 ACK/NACKs (and SR) carried on PUCCH
 Data on PDSCH
SRS and CSI feedback
Sounding Reference Symbols (SRS) are sent in UL when non-codebook
beamforming is used. Non-codebook beamforming enabled more accurate
beamforming than codebook-based beamforming. When SRS coverage is
lost in the UL, the BS and UE switches to codebook-based beamforming
using CSI feedback. SRS is only used for mid-band. For high-band
codebook-based beamforming is used all the time based on CSI
feedback. Both SRS and CSI feedback is sent on PUSCH.

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 57(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

7.2 Antenna gain

The AAS antenna gain for control channels can be different compared to
the antenna gain for traffic channels (PUSCH/PDSCH), different for
different control channels and also depend on if the UE is in the initial
access procedure or in connected mode. The AAS antenna gain for
control channels also depends on product design, which may be different
depending on which frequency band the product is intended for.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional RBS

For NR solutions using conventional panel antennas, all channels

(control and data) have the same antenna gain.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Common channels can be transmitted using different beam types (see

section 3.5):
 Common beam
 Wide beam
 Narrow beam
Note that the provided antenna gain figures for common channels in
the following sections are just examples. The antenna gain may vary
from product to product and must be checked before creating the link
budget. Please also note that the AAS product normally can be configured
to use different common beam configurations, e.g. macro, hot-spot, high
rise, resulting in different common beam shapes and antenna gains.

Antenna gains must be checked with product sheet before

creating the link budget.

7.3 Downlink control channel coverage

The downlink control messages are:
 PSS/SSS
 BCH
 Message 2 sent on PDCCH
 PDCCH
Since the antenna gain for the common channel can differ from the one
calculated for data channels, the first step is to convert the signal
attenuation resulting from the uplink and downlink link budget to
corresponding signal attenuation for the downlink common channel:

58(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

𝐿 , , =𝐿 , + 𝐺 , −𝐺 , (51)
where Ga,cch is the antenna gain for the common channel. The antenna
gain for common channels will depend on how control channels are
transmitted:
 Common beam, 𝐺 , =𝐺 ,

 Wide beam, 𝐺 , =𝐺 ,

 UE specific beamforming, 𝐺 , =𝐺 , (in this case Lsa,cc,celledge =

Lsa,celledge)
The second step is to calculate maximum signal attenuation for the
common channel given a certain noise rise, BIDL,celledge,cch:
𝐿 , , , =𝑃 , −𝑆 , −𝐵 , , (52)
where SUE,cch is the UE sensitivity for the common channel [dB]
The following relation describes the UE sensitivity per resource block:
𝑆 , = 𝑁 +𝑁 , + 10𝑙𝑜𝑔 (𝑊 ) + 𝛾 =𝑁 , +𝛾 (53)
where γcch is the SINR at common channel BLER target [dB].
The downlink control channel noise rise is calculated as:
, ,
𝐵 , , =1+𝛺 (54)
, , ,

where
Qcch,DL is the downlink common channels load. Note that in a time-
synchronized network, control channels are only interfered
by control channels in other cells. Therefore, Qcch,DL can be
different than Qpdsch.
Ωcch is a model tuning factor included to match noise rise formula
with system simulations. The factor includes various effects,
such as: simplified “F-model”, “flash light effect”, etc.
Lsa,celledge,cch is the path loss at the cell edge for the control channel
for which noise rise is calculated. Note that the path loss
may vary between control channels since different control
channels may be transmitted with different antenna gain.

Note that PSS/SSS and BSCH are traffic independent (always

transmitted). Therefore Qcch,DL is always 100% for these channels.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional RBS
For a conventional RBS deployment equation 54 can be simplified as:
, ,
𝐵 , , =1+ (55)
, ,

Where Lsa,celledge is the path loss assuming conventional panel antenna

(see equation 20).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 59(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

The model tuning factor for control channels, Ωcch, currently approximated
by:
𝛺 =𝐺 , −𝐺 , (56)
where Ga,CB is the common beam BS antenna gain (assuming a one cell
wide beam similar to a conventional three-sector site) in the forward
direction of the antenna. Ga,CB can be estimated as 18 dBi. The reason for
using the gain for a conventional three-sector antenna is that F values
have been derived with this antenna type.
The maximum signal attenuation, 𝐿 , , , , for the common
channel is then compared to common channel signal attenuation resulting
from the link budget, 𝐿 , , .

The common channel has coverage if:

𝐿 , , , >𝐿 , ,

7.3.1 PSS/SSS
SINR targets for PSS/SSS, γpss/sss, can be found in Table 11. The SINR
values can be inserted to equation 53 to calculate UE sensitivity for
PSS/SSS.

Table 11. PSS/SSS SINR at 10% miss detection mid-, and high-band.
Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h.
SINR @ 10% miss detection (γpss/sss)

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

-6.0 dB -6.0 dB

Table 12 gives an example of antenna gain for PSS/SSS.

Table 12. PSS/SSS transmission type and antenna gain in mid-, and high-
band.
PSS/SSS antenna gain and beam type

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

Common beam Wide beam

18 dBi 19 dBi

The antenna gain for PSS/SSS depends on frequency band. For mid-band
PSS/SSS is transmitted with common beam. For high-band, wide beam is
used.

60(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

7.3.2 PBCH
SINR targets for PBCH, γpbch, can be found in Table 13. The SINR values
can be inserted to equation 53 to calculate UE sensitivity for PBCH.

Table 13. PBCH SINR at 10% BLER mid-, and high-band. Assumptions:
channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h.
SINR @ 10% BLER (γpbch)

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

-6.0 dB -6.0 dB

Table 14 gives an example of antenna gain for PBCH.

Table 14. PBCH transmission type and antenna gain in mid-, and high-
band.
PSS/SSS antenna gain and beam type

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

Common beam Wide beam

18 dBi 19 dBi

The antenna gain for PBCH depends on frequency band. For mid-band
PBCH is transmitted with common beam. For high-band, wide beam is
used.

7.3.3 Random Access Response, Message 2

Random access response, MSG 2, is transmitted on the downlink using
PDCCH (see section 7.3.4) to assign a data channel and PDSCH to
transmit the MSG 2 data payload.
SINR targets for MSG 2, γmsg2, can be found in Table 15. The SINR values
can be inserted to equation 53 to calculate UE sensitivity for PBCH.

Table 15. MSG 2 SINR at 10% BLER mid-, and high-band. Assumptions:
channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h.
SINR @ 10% BLER (γmsg2)

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

-1.5 dB -4.6 dB

Table 16 gives an example of antenna gain for MSG2.

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 61(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

Table 16. MSG 2 transmission type and antenna gain in mid-, and high-
band.
PSS/SSS antenna gain and beam type

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

Common beam Wide beam

18 dBi 19 dBi

The antenna gain for MSG 2 depends on frequency band. For mid-band
MSG 2 is transmitted with common beam. For high-band, wide beam is
used.

7.3.4 PDCCH
The mapping of Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to REs is
subject to a certain structure. The structure is based on Control Channel
Elements (CCE). Six REGs are grouped in one CCE. A Resource Element
Group (REG) consists of one Resource Block (RB), or 12 REs.
PDCCH can be sent on 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 CCEs, where 16 CCEs gives the
best coverage, but also requires the largest bandwidth. Before doing the
link budget for PDCCH it is important to calculate how many CCEs that fits
into the available carrier bandwidth6. This will set a limitation on which
PDCCH format that can be used in the link budget. For mid-band the
calculation is based on worst case, both UL and DL grant are sent to the
same UE.

Table 17. Bandwidth for 2, 4, 8 and 16 CCEs in mid-, and high-band.

CCEs Sub-carriers (SCs) Carrier bandwidth

Mid-band SCS1 = High-band SCS1 =

30 kHz 120 kHz

4 288 18 MHz 35 MHz

8 576 35 MHz 70 MHz

16 1152 70 MHz 140 MHz

1
Sub Carrier Spacing

6 Please note that a product may consists of several carriers aggregated together. For example, a 400 MHz product
could be built up by 4 x 100 MHz using 4 subcarriers and carrier aggregation, The PDCCH carrier allocation must fit
into one sub-carrier, i.e. in this example 100 MHz. Check product sheets for information on carrier bandwidth.

62(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

PDCCH is transmitted in two modes. At initial access (MSG3) and cell

change, before beam management is up and running, system information
is sent on PDCCH using common beam or beam sweep. Thereafter, once
beam management is up and running, UE specific beamforming is used,
increasing PDCCH antenna gain. The number of information bits sent on
PDCCH may also vary depending on whether PDCCH is used for initial
access or in connected mode.
In the link budget coverage must be guaranteed for the worst case,
therefore PDCCH coverage is calculated for both cases, initial access and
connected mode.
For high-band the link budget is different for initial access and connected
mode. SINR targets are lower at initial access than at connected mode
due to less data to transmit. Antenna gains also vary. Wide beam is used
at initial access and narrow beam is used in connected mode.
For mid-band the link budget is the same for initial access and connected
mode.
Connected mode
SINR targets for PDCCH, γpdcch, can be found in Table 18. The SINR
values can be inserted to equation 53 to calculate UE sensitivity for
PDCCH.

Table 18. PDCCH SINR at 1% BLER for 2, 4, 8 and 16 CCEs in mid-, and
high-band. Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3km/h.
CCEs SINR @ 1% BLER (γpdcch)

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

2 3.6 dB 5.7 dB

4 1.9 dB 0.8 dB

8 -1.7 dB -2.4 dB

16 -4.4 dB -5.1 dB

Table 21 gives an example of antenna gain for PDCCH.

Table 19. PDCCH transmission type and antenna gain in mid-band, and
high-band.
PDCCH antenna gain and beam type

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

Common beam Narrow beam

18 dBi 24.5 dBi

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 63(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

The PDCCH antenna gain depends on frequency band. For mid-band

PDCCH is transmitted with common beam. For high-band, narrow beam is
used in connected mode.
Initial access, Message 2
PDCCH is used at initial access to assign a data channel for MSG 2. For
high-band the amount of data for MSG 2 is smaller than what is
transmitted on PDCCH in connected mode. This will reduce SINR values
to be used in link budget. For high-band the antenna gain is also smaller
at initial access when wide beam is used compared connected mode
using narrow beam. For mid-band same SINR values and antenna gain is
valid as in connected mode.

Table 20. High-band MSG3 initial access PDCCH SINR at 1% BLER for
2, 4, 8 and 16 CCEs. Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns
CCEs SINR @ 1% BLER (γpdcch,msg3)

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

4 1.9 dB 0.2 dB

8 -1.7 dB -3.0 dB

16 -4.4 dB -5.7 dB

Table 21 gives an example of antenna gain for PDCCH at initial access.

Table 21. PDCCH transmission type and antenna gain in mid-band

(macro configuration), and high-band.
PDCCH antenna gain and beam type

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

Common beam (macro conf.) Wide beam

18 dBi 19 dBi

The PDCCH antenna gain depends on frequency band. For mid-band

PDCCH is transmitted with common beam. For high-band, wide beam is
used for initial access.

7.4 Uplink control channel coverage

The uplink control messages are:
 PRACH
 MSG 3 sent on PUSCH
 PUCCH used for ACK/NACK and Scheduling Request (SR)

64(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

 CSI feedback sent on PUSCH

 Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) used for mid-band
 RLC status reports sent on PUSCH
The uplink control channel coverage will depend on SINR target, antenna
gain and control channel bandwidth. Due to adaptive bandwidth allocation
in the uplink, it can be assumed that the UE will transmit all its power on
the bandwidth used by the control channel. This makes the bandwidth
important in the uplink link budget. The smaller the bandwidth, the higher
TX power per subcarrier and the better uplink control channel link budget.
The uplink control channel link budget is made in the same way as for
downlink, see section 7.3.
The first step is to convert the signal attenuation resulting from the uplink
and downlink PUSCH and PDSCH link budget to corresponding signal
attenuation for the uplink common channel, see equation 51:
L , , =L , + G , −G ,

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional RBS
For at a conventional BS the signal attenuation for common channels
always equals the signal attenuation for data channels: L , , =
L ,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second step is to calculate maximum signal attenuation for the

common channel given a certain noise rise, BIUL,cch:
𝐿 , , , =𝑃 , −𝑆 , −𝐵 , (57)
where SBS,cch is the BS sensitivity for the common channel [dB].
The following relation describes the BS sensitivity per resource block:
𝑆 , =𝑁 +𝑁 , + 10𝑙𝑜𝑔 (𝑊 )+𝛾 =𝑁 , +𝛾 (58)
where
γcch is the SINR at CCH BLER target [dB]
Wcch is the bandwidth for the control channel [Hz]. See section
7.4.1 and 7.4.3.
The uplink control channel noise rise, BIUL,cch, is calculated using the
following equation:
, ,
𝐵 , = 10𝑙𝑜𝑔 1+ (59)
,

where:

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 65(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

Qcch,ul is the uplink common channels load. Note that in a time-

synchronized network, control channels are only interfered
by control channels in other cells. Therefore, Qcch can differ
from Qpusch.
IUL,cch is the average inter-cell interference for control channels
expressed in a linear scale.
Approximate values for average inter-cell interference per resource block,
IRB,UL,cch7 can be found using Figure 16 and Figure 17. Since the control
channels can occupy a bandwidth larger than one resource block, inter-
cell interference values need to be scaled with allocated bandwidth. The
average inter-cell interference for control channels is calculated as:
𝐼 , =𝐼 , , + 10𝑙𝑜𝑔 (60)
where:
IRB,UL,cch is the average inter-cell interference per resource block
found in Figure 16 and Figure 17.
WRB is the bandwidth for the recourse block, calculated as: 𝑊 =
12 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆
Usually IRB,UL,cch is lower than IRB,UL, see section 5.4.3. The reason for this is
that control channels normally have lower power control target and signal
attenuation to cell border is higher (due to lower antenna gain).
The maximum signal attenuation, 𝐿 , , , , for the common
channel is compared to common channel signal attenuation resulting from
the link budget, 𝐿 , , .

The common channel has coverage if:

𝐿 , , , >𝐿 , ,

7.4.1 PRACH
3GPP allows PRACH to be sent with many different formats. In the
Ericsson system, format B4 is chosen for mid-band. Format A3 is chosen
for high-band.
The PRACH bandwidth is calculated as:
𝑊 = 139 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆 (61)
Where SCS is the sub carrier spacing.
SINR targets for PRACH, γprach, can be found in Table 22. The SINR
values can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate AAS sensitivity for
PRACH.

7 Note that even though PRACH is not power controlled in the same way as PUSCH and PUCCH, PRACH interference
is estimated with same power control target, P0, as PUCCH.

66(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

Table 22. PRACH SINR at 10% BLER mid-, and high-band. Assumptions:
format B4 is used for mid-band, format A3 is used for high-band, channel
model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h.
SINR @ 10% BLER (γprach)

Format B4 Format A3
Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

-14.3 dB -11.3 dB

Table 23 gives an example of antenna gain for PRACH.

Table 23. PRACH reception type and antenna gain in mid-, and high-
band.
PRACH reception type & antenna gain

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

Common beam Wide beam

22 dBi 19 dBi

The antenna gain for PRACH depends on frequency band. For mid-band
PRACH is received with common beam. Note that common beam gain is
higher in UL than DL due to a more advanced receiver (4 sub-sector
beams per polarization). For high-band, wide beam is used.

7.4.2 Message 3
Message 3 (MSG 3) is used for RRC connection, resume or re-
establishment request. MSG 3 is carried on PUSCH.
Message 3 message size and SINR is depending on if NR is used in
Stand Alone (SA) or Non-Stand Alone (NSA) mode. The first NR
deployments are expected to run in NSA mode. See Table 24.

Table 24. Message 3 bandwidth

Band Mode Msg size Bandwidth, Wmsg3

Mid-band NSA 3 bytes 12 * 30 kHz

SA 7 bytes 24 * 30 kHz
High-band NSA 3 bytes 24 * 30 kHz
SA 7 bytes 48 * 30 kHz

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 67(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

SINR targets for MSG 3, γmsg3, can be found in Table 25. The SINR values
can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate AAS sensitivity for PRACH.

Table 25. MSG 3 SINR at 10% BLER mid-, and high-band. Assumptions:
channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h.
SINR @ 10% BLER (γmsg3)

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

NSA 3 bytes -5.5 dB -0.4 dB

SA 7 bytes -7.4 dB -1.4 dB

Table 23 gives an example of antenna gain for MSG 3.

Table 26. MSG 3 reception type and antenna gain in mid-, and high-band.
MSG 3 reception type & antenna gain

Mid- band High-band

SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

Narrow beam Wide beam

23.2 dBi 19 dBi

The antenna gain for MSG 3 depends on frequency band. For mid-band
MSG 3 is received with narrow beam. For high-band, wide beam is used.

7.4.3 PUCCH
PUCCH is used to carry HARQ acknowledgements (ACK/NACK) and
scheduling requests (SR).
3GPP allows PUCCH to be transmitted in different formats:
 Short PUCCH
PUCCH is sent in 1 – 2 symbols in the time domain.
 Long PUCCH
PUCCH is transmitted in 4 – 14 symbols in the time domain.
Long PUCCH has better coverage than Short PUCCH but has also longer
delay and overhead. Long PUCCH should therefore only be used when
PUCCH is limiting coverage. Currently Long PUCCH is used for mid-band
and Short PUCCH for high-band.

PUCCH formats:
Mid-band: Long PUCCH, 14 symbols
High-band: Short PUCCH, 1 symbol

68(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

The SINR target is different for scheduling requests (SR) and ACK/NACK
messages depending on the number of information bits needed to send
with PUCCH.
Scheduling request
SINR targets for SR using Long PUCCH, γpucch, can be found in Table 27
and for Short PUCCH in Table 28. The SINR values can be inserted to
equation 58 to calculate AAS sensitivity for PUCCH.
The PUCCH bandwidth is calculated as:
𝑊 = 12 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆 (62)
where SCS is the sub carrier spacing.

Table 27. SR, Long PUCCH, 14 symbols, SINR at 1% BLER mid-band.

Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h, 1 bit payload.
SINR @ 1% BLER (γpucch,SR)

Mid-band
SCS = 30 kHz

-6.9 dB

Table 28. SR, Short PUCCH, 1 symbol, SINR at 1% BLER high-band.

Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h, 1 bit payload.
SINR @ 1% BLER (γpucch,SR)

High-band
SCS = 120 kHz

7.0 dB

HARQ acknowledgement – mid-band

SINR targets for ACK/NACK using Long PUCCH, γpucch, can be found in
Table 29. The SINR values can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate
AAS sensitivity for PUCCH.
The PUCCH bandwidth is calculated as Wpucch = 12 * 30 kHz = 360 kHz.

Table 29. ACK/NACK, Long PUCCH, 14 symbols, SINR at 1% BLER mid-

band. Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h, 4 bit payload.
SINR @ 1% BLER (γpucch,ACK/NACK)

Mid-band
SCS = 30 kHz

-5.4 dB

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 69(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

HARQ acknowledgement – high-band

For high-band PUCCH is scheduled with either 1 or 2 symbols and 1 or
2 PRBs depending on how many information bits that needs to be
transferred. The number of needed information bit depends on number of
scheduled UEs and number of carriers used in BS8:
Table 30 provides SINR, γpucch,ACK/NACK, targets for ACK/NACK using Short
PUCCH. The SINR values can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate
AAS sensitivity for PUCCH.

Table 30. ACK/NACK, Short PUCCH, SINR at 1% BLER high-band.

Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h, SCS = 120 kHz.
No. of Payload No. of No. Of SINR @ 1% BLER
carriers PRBs symbols (γpucch,ACK/NACK)

1 1 bit 1 1 7.0 dB

2, 3, 4 5 bits 2 1 6.7 dB

The PUCCH bandwidth is calculated as:

𝑊 = 12 ∙ 𝑛 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆 (63)
where 𝑛 is the number of used PRBs (found in Table 30).
Antenna gain
Table 31 gives an example of antenna gain for PUCCH.

Table 31. PUCCH reception type and antenna gain in mid-, and high-
band.
PUCCH reception type & antenna gain

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

Common beam Narrow beam

23 dBi 24.5 dBi

The antenna gain for PUCCH depends on frequency band. For mid-band
PUCCH is received with common beam. Note that common beam gain is
higher in UL than DL due to a more advanced receiver (4 sub-sector
beams per polarization). The common beam gain for PUCCH is higher
than PRACH du to coherent combining between polarizations. For high-
band, UE specific beamforming is used.

8 Note that the number of carriers in for example a 800 MHz product is four (4 x 200 MHz).

70(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

7.4.4 Sounding Reference Signal

Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) is used for mid-band UL when non-
codebook beamforming is used. When SRS coverage is dropped, the
system automatically switches to codebook beamforming with CSI
feedback reporting. This means that it is not necessary to create a link
budget for SRS. The UL link budget will never be limited by SRS.
SRS is used by the BS to estimate the channel quality and path loss.
Sounding can be sent on a part of the frequency band (sub-band SRS) at
the time, or for the whole frequency band at once. Sub-band SRS will
reduce the amount of information sent and therefore improve the link
budget, but at the same time be less accurate. The sounding bandwidth
will be a tradeoff between coverage and accuracy. Sub-band SRS is
assumed in this document and it is assumed that ¼ of the bandwidth is
sounded at once.
SINR targets for SRS, γSRS, can be found in Table 32. The SINR values
can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate AAS sensitivity for PUCCH.

Table 32. SRS, SINR at 10% BLER mid-band. Assumptions: channel

model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h, sounding on ¼ of bandwidth.
SINR @ 10% BLER (γSRS)

Mid-band
SCS = 30 kHz

-14 dB

The SINR is given in antenna space (not beam space) meaning that only
subarray gain should be used as antenna gain for SRS link budget, see
Table 33.

Table 33. SRS reception type and antenna gain in mid-band.

SRS reception type & antenna gain

Mid-band
SCS = 30 kHz

Sub-array gain
10.7 dBi

7.4.5 CSI feedback

CSI feedback is used for beam management and link adaptation. The first
product will use aperiodic CSI feedback on PUSCH.
Mid-band
CSI feedback can be sent reporting CQI and PMI for the whole band
(wideband CSI feedback), or by reporting CQI and PMI per subband

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 71(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

(subband CSI feedback). Subband measurements are more detailed and

enables frequency selective features, for example frequency selective
scheduling. The drawback with subband measurements is that more
information bits are required to be transmitted. This degrades the link
budget. Therefore, it is recommended to use wideband CSI feedback in
link budget calculations.
SINR targets for CSI feedback using mid-band can be found in Table 34
for wideband and subband CSI feedback. The SINR values can be
inserted to equation 58 to calculate AAS sensitivity for CSI feedback.

Table 34. CSI feedback on PUSCH, SINR at 1% BLER (no

retransmission) mid-band. Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns,
3 km/h, SCS = 30 kHz. Recommended CSI type for link budgets shaded.
CSI type No. of bits No. of PRBs SINR @ 1% BLER
(𝒏𝑷𝑹𝑩 ) (γCSI)

Wideband 10 1 1.1 dB

Subband 100 16 -4.5 dB

The CSI feedback bandwidth is calculated as:

𝑊 = 12 ∙ 𝑛 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆 (64)
where 𝑛 is the number of used PRBs (found in Table 34).
Table 35 gives an example of antenna gain for CSI feedback in mid-band.

Table 35. CSI feedback reception type and antenna gain in mid-band.
CSI feedback, type & antenna gain

Narrow beam
23.2 dBi

High-band
CSI feedback is used for beam management and link adaptation.
Beam management functionality can be divided into different steps, where
control information sis sent from UE to BS:
 Initial wide beam
Initial wide beam choice based on SSB beam sweeping. UE reports
the best wide beam index implicitly via PRACH.
 Beam refinement
After initial set up on wide beam, narrow beam CSI-RSs are
measured, and the best beam is reported by the UE using CSI
feedback.
 Narrow beam tracking
Periodically a CSI-RS RSRP measurement report is triggered to find n

72(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

best narrow beams of the possible narrow beams corresponding to

currently used wide beam. Report fed back as UCI on PUSCH.
 Wide beam tracking
Periodically an SSB measurement report is triggered to find the m best
wide beams of the possible wide beams. Report fed back as UCI on
PUSCH. If best wide beam is different than currently used wide beam,
then trigger a new narrow beam sweep.
The number of information needed information bits for CSI feedback
varies between the different beam management message types, resulting
in different SINR targets. Antenna gain also varies. At initial set-up, at
narrow beam refinement, wide beam is used to transmit CSI feedback. In
all other cases narrow beam is used.
Beam refinement
After initial set up on wide beam, narrow beam CSI-RSs are measured,
and the best beam is reported by the UE using CSI feedback.
SINR targets for CSI feedback using high-band can be found in Table 36.
The SINR values can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate AAS
sensitivity for CSI feedback.

Table 36. CSI feedback, beam refinement SINR at 1% BLER high-band.

Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h, SCS = 120 kHz.
No. of PRBs (𝒏𝑷𝑹𝑩 ) SINR @ 1% BLER (γCSI)

8 -2.6 dB

The CSI feedback bandwidth is calculated as:

𝑊 = 12 ∙ 𝑛 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆 (65)
Where 𝑛 is the number of used PRBs (found in Table 36).
Table 37 gives an example of antenna gain for CSI feedback in high-band.

Table 37. CSI feedback, beam refinement, reception type and antenna
gain in high-band.
CSI feedback, type & antenna gain

Wide beam
19 dBi

Narrow beam tracking

Narrow beam tracking is triggered periodically to keep track of the best
narrow beam.
SINR targets for CSI feedback using high-band can be found in Table 38.
The SINR values can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate AAS
sensitivity for CSI feedback.

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 73(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

Table 38. CSI feedback, narrow beam tracking, SINR at 1% BLER high-
band. Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h, SCS =
120 kHz.
No. of PRBs (𝒏𝑷𝑹𝑩 ) SINR @ 1% BLER (γCSI)

8 1.4 dB

The CSI feedback bandwidth is calculated as:

𝑊 = 12 ∙ 𝑛 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆 (66)
Where 𝑛 is the number of used PRBs (found in Table 38).
Table 39 gives an example of antenna gain for CSI feedback in high-band.

Table 39. CSI feedback, narrow beam tracking, reception type and
antenna gain in high-band.
CSI feedback, type & antenna gain

Narrow beam
24.5 dBi

Wide beam tracking

SSB wide beam tracking is triggered periodically to keep track of the best
wide beam.
SINR targets for CSI feedback using high-band can be found in Table 40.
The SINR values can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate AAS
sensitivity for CSI feedback.

Table 40. CSI feedback, wide beam tracking, SINR at 1% BLER high-
band. Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h, SCS =
120 kHz.
No. of PRBs (𝒏𝑷𝑹𝑩 ) SINR @ 1% BLER (γCSI)

8 0.2 dB

The CSI feedback bandwidth is calculated as:

𝑊 = 12 ∙ 𝑛 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆 (67)
Where 𝑛 is the number of used PRBs (found in Table 40).
Table 41 gives an example of antenna gain for CSI feedback in high-band.

74(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08
ERICSSON NR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

Table 41. CSI feedback, wide beam tracking, reception type and antenna
gain in high-band.
CSI feedback, type & antenna gain

Narrow beam
24.5 dBi

Link adaptation
Link adaptation is needed for all configured carriers9 (max 4). UE reports
CQI and PMI per carrier. UE also reports buffer status (BSR) and power
headroom (PHR) at the same time. SINR target depends on the number of
configured carries.
SINR targets for CSI feedback using high-band can be found in Table 42.
The SINR values can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate AAS
sensitivity for CSI feedback.

Table 42. CSI feedback, link adaptation, SINR at 1% BLER high-band.

Assumptions: channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h, SCS = 120 kHz.
No. of carriers No. of PRBs (𝒏𝑷𝑹𝑩 ) SINR @ 1% BLER (γCSI)

1 4 1.7 dB

2 4 3.6 dB

3 8 0.3 dB

4 8 1.0 dB

The CSI feedback bandwidth is calculated as:

𝑊 = 12 ∙ 𝑛 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆 (68)
Where 𝑛 is the number of used PRBs (found in Table 42).
Table 43 gives an example of antenna gain for CSI feedback in high-band.

Table 43. CSI feedback, link adaptation, reception type and antenna gain
in high-band.
CSI feedback type & antenna gain

Narrow beam
24.5 dBi

9 For example, a 400 MHz product using 4 x 100 MHz has four configured carriers.

19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08 ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION – 75(106)
 NR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY DIMENSIONING

7.4.6 RLC status feedback

RLC status feedback needs to be transmitted in uplink using PUSCH.
The RLC feedback using PUSCH bandwidth is calculated as:
𝑊 = 12 ∙ 𝑛 ∙ 𝑆𝐶𝑆 (69)
Where SCS is the sub carrier spacing and 𝑛 is the number of used
PRBs, see Table 44.

Table 44. RLC status using PUSCH, number of used PRBs, mid-, and
high-band.
No. of PRBs (𝒏𝑷𝑹𝑩 )

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

1 PRB 3 PRBs

SINR targets for RLC status feedback on PUSCH, γpusch,RLC, can be found
in Table 45. The SINR values can be inserted to equation 58 to calculate
AAS sensitivity for RLC status feedback.

Table 45. RLC status using PUSCH SINR at 10% BLER mid-, and high-
band. Assumptions: Channel model TDL-A 100 ns, 3 km/h.
SINR @ 10% BLER (γpusch,RLC)

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

0 dB -1.3 dB

Table 46 gives an example of antenna gain for RLC status feedback on

PUSCH.

Table 46. RLC status using PUSCH reception type and antenna gain in
mid-, and high-band.
RLC status using PUSCH reception type & antenna gain

Mid-band High-band
SCS = 30 kHz SCS = 120 kHz

Narrow beam Narrow beam

23.2 dBi 24.5 dBi

The antenna gain for RLC status on PUSCH depends on frequency band.
Narrow beam is used for both mid- and high-band.

76(106) - ERICSSON INTERNAL INFORMATION 19/1550-10/FCP 131 9969 Uen Rev PC3 2019-04-08