Overview

Course name: Self-Organizing Networks for LTE

Duration: 1 Day

Requirements: Fundamentals of wireless communication, LTE Basics.

Overview: Third Generation partnership project (3GPP) introduced Long Term Evolution (LTE) as a new air interface for future wireless mobile networks. One of the prominent features of LTE is Self-Organizing Networks (SON). The self-organizing network (SON) is of vital interest for the operators to minimize capital and operational expenditures at one hand and improving the quality of network at the other. Therefore, SON functionalities are receiving high attention in the standardization of LTE and LTE Advanced (LTE-A). The purpose of this course is to cover SON vision, requirements and challenges, framework, use cases and also current research trends in SON.

Objective: After the course the trainees will have general level understanding of the fundamentals related to Self-Organizing Networks. This includes SON functionalities (i.e. self-configuration, self-optimization and self-healing) and their specification status; evolved SON architecture, use cases and many more

Schedule and content

(excluding coffee and lunch breaks)

INTRODUCTION

Warm up (30 mins)
Trainer, company and trainee introduction, discussion and assignment related to capital and operational expenditures of a cellular wireless network, issues face by today’s operators, challenges and how those could be addressed in general and in terms of LTE. Contents and objectives for the course.

Background (45 mins)
LTE Deployment (press releases from operators and device manufacturers), evolution of 3GPP Technologies, LTE specification schedule, compelling reasons that push need to automate cellular networks, SON requirements and challenges.

SON IN LTE

Introduction (30 mins)
Vision of SON along with expected gains and benefits. Also further deepening SON requirements and challenges associated with them. Briefly touches the concept of coordination and what it requires.

SON Architecture (25 mins)
Three architectures for SON are covered. Each of them are presented in detail through their advantages and compromises. Furthermore different cases are elaborated with the help of use cases examples.

SON Framework (30 mins)
Three major domains of SON are self-configuration, self-optimization and self-healing that correspond to the life cycle of cellular network.

SON Use Cases (1 hour)
Description of various use cases for SON. Cases are carefully determined (i.e by 3GPP, NGMN and Socrates) in such a way that each of the three major domains of SON will be well-represented.

Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) (30 mins)
Notion of drive testing, what is MDT,  main goals, types of MDT – logged, immediate, MDT metrics.

Research Trends in SON (20 mins)
Current research trends in 3GPP and Academia in the respect of SON will be described.

WRAP UP

Discussion and recap (15 mins)
Learnings of the day, key findings, what’s to expect in the future, feedback