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LTE DCI (Downlink Control Information) Formats Explained

By RF Wireless Expert Team

Last Updated: August 25, 2026

This page describes LTE DCI (downlink control information) formats, including DCI-0, DCI-1, DCI-1A, DCI-1B, DCI-1C, DCI-1D, DCI-2, DCI-2A, DCI-3, and DCI-3A.

LTE DCI Format	Use Case
DCI-0	Uplink scheduling assignment
DCI-1	Downlink scheduling for 1 PDSCH codeword (SISO/SIMO modes)
DCI-1A	Compact version of format 1 scheduling for 1 PDSCH codeword or Dedicated preamble assignment to initiate random access
DCI-1B	Very compact DL scheduling for 1 PDSCH code-word used in MIMO mode No.6
DCI-1C	Very compact DL scheduling for paging OR system information
DCI-1D	Compact DL (Downlink) scheduling for 1 PDSCH code-word including MIMO precoding+power offset information needed for Multi-User MIMO
DCI-2	DL Scheduling assignment for MIMO including closed loop spatial multiplexing
DCI-2A	DL scheduling assignment for MIMO including open loop spatial multiplexing
DCI-3	Transmit power control (TPC) information for PUCCH/PUSCH with 2-bit power adjustment value
DCI-3A	TPC information for PUCCH/PUSCH with 1-bit power adjustment

LTE DCI Contents

The following are LTE DCI format contents which include DCI-0, DCI-1, DCI-1A, DCI-1B, DCI-1C, DCI-1D, DCI-2, DCI-2A, DCI-3, and DCI-3A.

LTE DCI 0

LTE DCI 1A

LTE DCI 1B

LTE DCI 1C

LTE DCI 1D

LTE DCI 1

LTE DCI 2A

LTE DCI 2

LTE DCI 3A

LTE DCI 3

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