Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS)

Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS)

As the importance of supporting voice in LTE networks (VoLTE) increases, concerns arise regarding the number of simultaneous voice calls that can be handled. One of the primary constraints is the amount of capacity on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). As a quick review, the PDCCH carries all allocation information for both the downlink and uplink shared channels, PDSCH and PUSCH respectively. Each allocation is carried as Downlink Control Information (DCI) and the size of the DCI depends upon several factors including whether it is for uplink or downlink allocation.

Since the PDCCH is limited size (generally, 3 OFDM symbol times), there is a limit as to how many DCIs can be carried in a subframe (1 ms). This can in-turn limit the number of UEs which can receive an allocation for that subframe when using dynamic scheduling (a 1:1 PDCCH-to-PxSCH method.

In order to support more allocations, without increasing the size of the PDCCH, we can use semi-persistent scheduling (SPS). With SPS, the UE is pre-configured by the eNB with an SPS-RNTI (allocation ID) and a periodicity. Once pre-configured, if the UE were to receive an allocation (DL / UL) using the SPS-RNTI (instead of the typical C-RNTI), then this one allocation would repeat according to the pre-configured periodicity.

During SPS, certain things remain fixed for each allocation : RB assignments, Modulation and Coding Scheme, etc. Because of this, if the radio link conditions change, a new allocation will have to be sent (PDCCH). Also, any incremental redundancy (HARQ subsequent transmissions) will be separately scheduled using dynamic scheduling. Also, to avoid wasting resources when a data transfer is completed, there are several mechanisms for deactivating SPS (explicit, inactivity timer, etc.).

So, with SPS which is well suited to periodic communication like voice, we can support many more allocations with the same PDCCH resource. This can allow more simultaneous VoLTE calls.