9.6 OTA Transmitted signal quality

37.1053GPPActive Antenna System (AAS) Base Station (BS) transmission and receptionRelease 17TS

9.6.1 General

Unless otherwise stated, the requirements in clause 9.6 apply during the transmitter ON period.

9.6.2 OTA Frequency Error

9.6.2.1 General

OTA frequency error is the measure of the difference between the actual AAS BS transmit frequency and the assigned frequency. The same source shall be used for RF frequency and data clock generation.

The OTA frequency error requirement is defined as a single direction requirement at the RIB and shall be met within the OTA coverage range.

9.6.2.2 Minimum requirement for MSR operation

The minimum requirement for a UTRA OTA frequency error is the same as defined in subclause 9.6.2.3.

The minimum requirement for an E-UTRA OTA frequency error is the same as defined in subclause 9.6.2.4.

The minimum requirement for an NR OTA frequency error is the same as that for BS type 1-O defined in 3GPP TS 38.104 [28] subclause 9.6.1.2.

9.6.2.3 Minimum requirement for single RAT UTRA operation

The single RAT UTRA FDD AAS BS of wide area BS class shall fulfil the frequency error minimum requirements for wide area BS described in 3GPP TS 25.104 [6], subclause 6.3.1.

The single RAT UTRA FDD AAS BS of medium range BS class shall fulfil the frequency error minimum requirements for medium range BS described in 3GPP TS 25.104 [6], subclause 6.3.1.

The single RAT UTRA FDD AAS BS of local area BS class shall fulfil the frequency error minimum requirements for local area BS described in 3GPP TS 25.104 [6], subclause 6.3.1.

9.6.2.4 Minimum requirement for single RAT E-UTRA operation

The single RAT E-UTRA AAS BS of wide area BS class shall fulfil the frequency error minimum requirements for wide area BS described in 3GPP TS 36.104 [8], subclause 6.5.1.1.

The single RAT E-UTRA AAS BS of medium range BS class shall fulfil the frequency error minimum requirements for medium range BS described in 3GPP TS 36.104 [8], subclause 6.5.1.1.

The single RAT E-UTRA AAS BS of local area BS class shall fulfil the frequency error minimum requirements for local area BS described in 3GPP TS 36.104 [8], subclause 6.5.1.1.

9.6.3 OTA Time alignment error

9.6.3.1 General

This requirement applies to frame timing in:

– UTRA single/multi-carrier transmissions and their combinations with MIMO or TX diversity.

– E-UTRA single/multi-carrier transmissions and their combinations with MIMO or TX diversity.

– E-UTRA carrier aggregation, with or without MIMO or TX diversity.

– NR single/multi-carrier transmissions, and their combinations with MIMO.

– NR Carrier Aggregation, with or without MIMO.

Frames of the WCDMA/LTE/NR signals present in the radiated domain are not perfectly aligned in time. In relation to each other, the RF signals present in the radiated domain may experience certain timing differences.

For a specific set of signals/transmitter configuration/transmission mode, the OTA Time Alignment Error (OTA TAE) is defined as the largest timing difference between any two different E-UTRA signals or any two different UTRA signals or any two different NR signals belonging to different reference symbols (e.g. CRS0 or CRS1 for E-UTRA, PDSCH DMRS on ports 1000 and 1001 for NR) in the radiated domain. The OTA time alignment error requirement is defined as a single direction requirement at the RIB and shall be met within the OTA coverage range.

9.6.3.2 Minimum requirement for MSR operation

The minimum requirement for a UTRA time alignment error is the same as defined in subclause 9.6.3.3.

The minimum requirement for an E-UTRA time alignment error is the same as defined in subclause 9.6.3.4.

The minimum requirement for an NR time alignment error is the same as that for BS type 1-O defined in 3GPP TS 38.104 [28] subclause 9.6.3.2.

9.6.3.3 Minimum requirement for single RAT UTRA operation

This requirement applies to frame timing in Tx diversity, MIMO transmission, DC-HSDPA, DB-DC-HSDPA, 4C-HSDPA, NC-4C-HSDPA, 8C-HSDPA and their combinations.

The OTA TAE between any two reference symbols shall not exceed the specified minimum requirements described in 3GPP TS 25.104 [6], subclause 6.8.4.1.

9.6.3.4 Minimum requirement for single RAT E-UTRA operation

This requirement applies to frame timing in TX diversity, MIMO transmission, carrier aggregation and their combinations.

The OTA TAE between any two reference symbols shall not exceed the specified minimum requirements described in 3GPP TS 36.104 [8], subclause 6.5.3.1.

9.6.4 OTA Modulation quality

9.6.4.1 General

OTA modulation quality is defined by the difference between the measured carrier signal and a reference signal. Modulation quality can be expressed e.g. as Peak Code Domain Error (PCDE) or Relative Code Domain Error (RCDE) or Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) for UTRA and Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) for E-UTRA.

The OTA modulation quality requirement is defined as a single direction requirement at the RIB and shall be met within the OTA coverage range.

9.6.4.2 Minimum requirement for MSR operation

The minimum requirement for a UTRA modulation quality are defined in subclause 9.6.4.3.

The minimum requirement for an E-UTRA modulation quality are defined in subclause 9.6.4.4.

The minimum requirement for an NR modulation quality is the same as that for BS type 1-O defined in 3GPP TS 38.104 [28] in subclause 9.6.2.2.

9.6.4.3 Minimum requirement for single RAT UTRA operation

The Error Vector Magnitude is a measure of the difference between the ideal waveform and the measured waveform. This difference is called the error vector. Both waveforms pass through a matched Root Raised Cosine filter to the considered chip rate and roll-off α=0.22. Both waveforms are then further modified by selecting the frequency, absolute phase, absolute amplitude and chip clock timing to minimize the error vector. The EVM result is defined as the square root of the ratio of the mean error vector power to the mean reference power expressed as a percentage.

For UTRA FDD the measurement interval is one timeslot as defined by the C-PICH (when present) otherwise the measurement interval is one timeslot starting with the beginning of the SCH. The requirement is valid over the total power dynamic range as specified in subclause 9.4.4. The minimum requirements are the same as those in 3GPP TS 25.104 [6], subclause 6.8.2.1.

For UTRA FDD the Peak Code Domain Error is computed by projecting the error vector onto the code domain at a specified spreading factor. The Code Domain Error for every code in the domain is defined as the ratio of the mean power of the projection onto that code, to the mean power of the composite ideal waveform. This ratio is expressed in dB. The Peak Code Domain Error is defined as the maximum value for the Code Domain Error for all codes. The measurement interval is one timeslot as defined by the C-PICH (when present) otherwise the measurement interval is one timeslot starting with the beginning of the SCH. The minimum requirements are the same as those in 3GPP TS 25.104 [6], subclause 6.8.3.1.

For UTRA FDD the Relative Code Domain Error is computed by projecting the error vector onto the code domain at a specified spreading factor. Only the active code channels in the composite ideal waveform are considered for this requirement. The Relative Code Domain Error for every active code is defined as the ratio of the mean power of the error projection onto that code, to the mean power of the active code in the composite ideal waveform. This ratio is expressed in dB. The measurement interval is one frame. The minimum requirements are the same as those in 3GPP TS 25.104 [6], subclause 6.8.5.1.

The requirement for Relative Code Domain Error is only applicable for 64QAM modulated codes.

9.6.4.4 Minimum requirement for single RAT E-UTRA operation

For E-UTRA, the minimum requirement for modulation quality, EVM, is specified in 3GPP TS 36.104 [8], subclause 6.5.2.

9.6.5 OTA Transmit pulse shape filter

9.6.5.1 General

Transmit pulse shape filter for single RAT UTRA operation in FDD and for MSR operation in UTRA FDD is defined in 3GPP TS 25.104 [6] subclause 6.8.1.

Transmit pulse shape filter is not defined for a single RAT E-UTRA operation, nor for MSR operation using E-UTRA and/or NR.