Accessibility in Ericsson
CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................3
2 ACCESSIBILITY................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Idle Mode..................................................................................................................................................4
2.2 Call Establishment Process......................................................................................................................4
4 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS.........................................................................................................13
4.1 Admission Control.................................................................................................................................13
4.1.1 Admission Policy..............................................................................................................................................13
4.1.2 Resources to be monitored...............................................................................................................................14
4.1.2.1 RF Power............................................................................................................................................14
4.1.2.2 Code Tree Consumption.....................................................................................................................14
4.1.2.3 DL and UL ASE.................................................................................................................................14
4.1.2.4 SF Code Limit (Code Hystogram).....................................................................................................14
4.1.2.5 HSDPA and EUL connections Limit..................................................................................................14
4.1.2.6 UL and DL Channel Elements...........................................................................................................15
4.1.3 RRC Admission Blocks....................................................................................................................................15
4.1.4 RAB Admission Blocks....................................................................................................................................15
5 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................20
6 ANNEX I: UE Idle Mode Procedures..............................................................................................21
6.1 PLMN Selection and Reselection..........................................................................................................21
6.2 Reading System Information.................................................................................................................22
6.3 Cell Selection and Reselection...............................................................................................................23
6.3.1
6.3.2
6.3.3
6.3.4
Cell Selection....................................................................................................................................................24
Cell Reselection................................................................................................................................................24
Location/Routing Area Update.........................................................................................................................25
Paging Procedure..............................................................................................................................................25
1 INTRODUCTION
This series of Optimization Guidelines covers all the main topics regarding
Performance Monitoring & Analysis
Configuration settings
Troubleshooting
Refer to the internal Claro document Optimization Process (DEO.OTM.IOP3000), for a summary of 3G
WCDMA Radio Access Network Optimization Basics.
This specific document focuses on ACCESSIBILITY and its specifics within ERICSSON infrastructure
(Release P7.1).
Target users for this document are all personnel requiring a detailed description of this process
(Accessibility Optimization), as well as configuration managers who require details to control the
functions and optimize parameter settings. It is assumed that users of this document have a working
knowledge of 3G telecommunications and are familiar with WCDMA.
Date
Author
13-Nov-2009
QCES/Ericsson
Changes
First Release of the document
Update from P7 to P7.1:
NAS signalling phase counters added, both to
CSSR KPIs and Medium Level KPIs
01
12-Mar-2010
QCES/Ericsson
Corrections/Additions::
pmNoLoadSharingRrcConnCs/Ps added to
CSSR KPIs
Iu Signalling connection phase added to CSSR
KPIs
CS and PS CSSR now correctly expressed in
terms of SUM of all CS / PS RAB types
Additional formulas for GoS metrics
New sections added in Annex for Core
Negotiation and RAB Setup and
Reconfiguration phases
2 ACCESSIBILITY
Accessibility is the ability of a service to be obtained within specific tolerances and other given
conditions, when requested by the user. In other words, the ability of a user to obtain the requested
service from the system.
Target is to get a 100% Accessibility, i.e., all users always get the service they request.
Poor Accessibility is typically due to
some form of congestion (before or after Admission Control?)
hardware/software fault (Check ALARMS, Cells Downtime, tickets in REMEDY)
misconfiguration (AUDIT the settings in RNC)
other reasons (for instance, it is also possible that there is some external source of interference
(such as a microwave link on the same frequency) affecting the accessibility)
Accessibility is to be monitored independently for the different RAB types (e.g. Speech, CS Video, PS
Interactive R99, PS Interactive HSDPA, etc.) as in certain situations only one of the RAB types will be
affected.
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
CsSucc
(pmTotNoRr
cConnectRe
qCs - pmNoLoadSh
aringRrcCo
nnCs)
pmNoRabEst
ablishSucc
ess(RAB)
(RAB)
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mpt(RAB)]- pmNoDirRet
ryAtt
(RAB)
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
PsSucc
(pmTotNoRr
cConnectRe
qPs - pmNoLoadSh
aringRrcCo
nnPs)
pmNoRabEst
ablishSucc
ess(RAB)
(RAB)
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mpt(RAB)
(RAB)
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish a PS call between UEs and PS domain CORE.
Similar formulas can be used for each specific RAB CSSR, i.e., PS Streaming CSSR (%) or PS Interactive
CSSR (%).
Refer to the internal Claro doc. Optimization Guidelines: Capacity in Ericsson (DEO.OTM.IOP3041) for
further details regarding the Ericsson features Load Sharing and Directed Retry.
From P7.1 (P7 FP), current release in Claro, new counters are available for monitoring the performance
of the NAS Signalling phase (i.e. after IU Signalling Connection establishment and before RAB
Assignment Request).
New formulas will also cover the Iu Signalling Connection phase performance through counters
already available before P7.1 in MO RNCFunction; therefore, the same Iu Sig. Conn. Success Rate value
is to be applied to all UtranCells under the same RNC.
As the new formulas below will compute failures in these 2 additional phases (see next figure), a slight
degradation in these KPIs might be observed after their introduction when comparing to old formulas
above.
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
CsSucc
stablishSu
ccessCs
* pmNoIuSigE
*
pmNoIuSigE
(pmTotNoRr
cConnectRe
qCs - pmNoLoadSh
aringRrcCo
nnCs)
stablishAt
temptCs
ablishSucc
ess(RAB)] pmNoDirRet
rySuccess pmNoInCsIr
atHoSucces
s
[ pmNoRabEst
pmNoSystem
NasSignRel
easeCs
(RAB)
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
CsSucc
[ pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mpt(RAB)] pmNoInCsIr
atHoAtt
(RAB)
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
PsSucc pmTotNoRrc
ConnectSuc
cessIratCe
llResel pmTotNoRrc
ConnectSuc
cessIratCc
Order
(pmTotNoRr
cConnectRe
qPs - pmNoLoadSh
aringRrcCo
nnPs) pmTotNoRrc
ConnectAtt
IratCellRe
sel pmTotNoRrc
ConnectAtt
IratCcOrde
r
ablishSucc
ess(RAB)
pmNoRabEst
pmNoIuSigE
stablishSu
ccessPs
NasSignRel
easePs
(RAB)
pmNoSystem
* 1
*
pmNoIuSigE
stablishAt
temptPs
PsSucc
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mpt(RAB)
pmTotNoRrcConnectReq
(RAB)
The OSAC criterion will be based on a weighted averaging of the accessibility for the CS and PS services
supported by the cell. The weighting factors will be chosen to be the demand for the service given by
the number of RAB Establish attempt for that service.
pmNoRabEstablishSuccessSpeech
+pmRabEstablishEcSuccess
pmNoRabEst
abl
i
s
hAtte
mptSpeech
pmTotNoRrcConnectReqCsSucc +pmNoRabEstablishSuccessCs64
*
pmNoRabEstabl*is+hSucc
pmRabEstab
l
i
s
hEcAtte
mpt
essSpeech
pmTotNoRrc
pmTotNoRrcConnectReq
Cs ConnectReq
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptSpeech
CsSucc
lishEcSucc
+
pmNoRabEst
abl
i
s
hAtte
mptCs64
*
+
pmRabEstab
ess
+
pmRabEstab
l
i
s
hEcAtte
mpt
pmTotNoRrcConnectReqCs
+
pmNoRabEst
abl
i
s
hSucc
essCs64
+pmNoRabEstablishAttemptCs64
pmTotNoRrc ConnectReq
pmNoRabEst
PsSuccablishSuccessPacketInteractive
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
PsSucc
*
pmNoRabEst
abl
i
s
hSucc
essPacketI
nteracti
v
e
*
* pmNoRabEstablishAtte mptPacketInteractive
Ps ConnectReq
pmNoRabEstPsablishAttemptPacketInteractive
pmTotNoRrcConnectReq
pmTotNoRrc
100*
OSAC = 100 * [(CS CSSR * CS RAB Assignment Request) + (PS CSSR * PS RAB Assignment Request)] /
Sum(# CS & PS RAB Assignment Request)
where:
CS/PS CSSR = Call Setup Success Rate, as described in the previous section.
Or simplifying:
Simplifying:
100*
lislihEcAtte
ishAttemptSpeech
mptSpeech++pmRabEstab
pmRabEstab
shEcAttemptmpt++
pmNoRabEst
pmNoRabEstablablishAtte
ishAttemptCs64
mptCs64++pmNoRabEst
pmNoRabEstablablishAtte
ishAttemptPacketI
mptPacketInteracti
nteractiveve
pmNoRabEst
pmNoRabEstablablishAtte
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
Success
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
- (pmNoLoadS
haringRrcC
onn - pmNoOfRetu
rningRrcCo
nn)
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish a generic radio connection between UEs and RNC
starting from idle mode state.
Notes:
RRC connection attempts are not corrected for emergency calls redirections. Counters
pmNoOfRedirectedEmergencyCalls and pmNoOfReturningEmergencyCalls (MO RNCFunction)
could be used to estmate their contribution at RNC level.
Due to the fact that the UE may perform cell re-selection during the RRC Connection
establishment (it may repeat RRC Connection Request message N300 times which may arrive
at different cell) and the fact that WCDMA RAN (the RNC) does not double count the duplicated
RRC Connection Request messages received, there is a chance that the RRC access success
rate for some cells may show values above 100%. The access success rate better than 100%
happens when the attempt is registered in a cell different to the cell where the success is
registered. The end result is a slightly better success rate for the cell that completes the access
and a slightly worst success rate for the cell where the access was attempted/started.
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
CsSucc
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
Cs - pmNoLoadSh
aringRrcCo
nnCs
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish a radio connection between UEs and RNC starting
from idle mode state in particular affecting CS services (speech and video calls).
3.2.1.2 RRC Connection Success Rate PS (%)
(For PS connection requests)
100*
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
PsSucc
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
Ps - pmNoLoadSh
aringRrcCo
nnPs
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish a radio connection between UEs and RNC starting
from idle mode state in particular affecting PS services.
pmNoIuSigE
stablishSu
ccessCs pmNoIuSigE
stablishSu
ccessPs
pmNoIuSigE
stablishAt
temptCs pmNoIuSigE
stablishAt
temptPs
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish the Iu part of the Control Plane between the RNC
and CORE.
Note these counters are in MO RNCFunction (hence, only available at RNC level).
3.2.2.1 Iu-CS Signalling Establishment Success Rate (%)
(For CS connection requests)
100*
pmNoIuSigE
stablishSu
ccessCs
pmNoIuSigE
stablishAt
temptCs
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish the Iu part of the Control Plane between the RNC
and CS domain CORE.
3.2.2.2 Iu-PS Signalling Establishment Success Rate (%)
(For PS connection requests)
100*
pmNoIuSigE
stablishSu
ccessPs
pmNoIuSigE
stablishAt
temptPs
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish the Iu part of the Control Plane between the RNC
and PS domain CORE.
3.2.3 NAS Signalling Establishment Success Rate (%) from P7.1(For all connection requests)
100*
pmNoSystem
NasSignRel
easeCs pmNoSystem
NasSignRel
easePs
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
CsSucc pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
PsSucc
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish the Iu part of the Control Plane between the RNC
and CORE.
Note these counters are in MO RNCFunction.
3.2.3.1 NAS CS Signalling Establishment Success Rate (%) from P7.1(For CS connection requests)
100*
pmNoSystem
NasSignRel
easeCs
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
CsSucc
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish the Iu part of the Control Plane between the RNC
and CS domain CORE.
3.2.3.2 NAS PS Signalling Establishment Success Rate (%) from P7.1(For PS connection requests)
NasSignRel
easePs
pmNoSystem
100* 1
PsSucc
pmTotNoRrcConnectReq
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish the Iu part of the Control Plane between the RNC
and PS domain CORE.
pmNoRabEst
ablishSucc
ess(RAB)
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mpt(RAB)
Low value (e.g. <95%) indicates problems to establish a RAB after the RAB assignment coming from the
CORE network.
pmNoPageDi
scardCmpLo
adC pmNoPaging
AttemptUtr
anRejected
pmCnInitPa
gingToIdle
Ue pmCnInitPa
gingToIdle
UeRa pmCnInitPa
gingToIdle
UeLa pmNoPageDi
scardCmpLo
adC
High value (e.g. >2%) indicates problems to send paging through the radio network due to overload.
Formula above is valid if URA_PCH state is disabled (current situation in Claro). In case it is enabled, the
Formula should be replaced by the following one:
100*
Implemented through the GRADE OF SERVICE (GoS): Probability of a call in a circuit group being blocked
or delayed for more than a specified interval, expressed as a common fraction or decimal fraction.
1-
pmNoRrcCsR
eqDeniedAd
m
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
Cs
* 1
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
Speech
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptSpeech
High value (e.g. >2%) indicates problems to establish a Voice call mainly related to Admission Control,
i.e., due to some kind of capacity shortage (DL TX Power, CE, OVSF codes,).
This metric could be used to identify a wider range of reasons behind access failures: not only RN
admission blocking (as above), but also TN congestion or TN failure (as in the alternative formula
below):
pmNoRrcCsReqDeniedAdm pmNoRrcConnReqBlockTnCs
*
1
pmTotNoRrcConnectReqCs
100* 1 -
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
Speech
pmNoRabEst
BlockTnSpe
echBest
pmNoRabEstablishAttemptSpeech
1-
pmNoRrcPsR
eqDeniedAd
m
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
Ps
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
Interactiv
e
* 1
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptPacketI
nteractive
High value (e.g. >2%) indicates problems to establish a Voice call mainly related to Admission Control,
i.e., due to some kind of capacity shortage (DL TX Power, CE, OVSF codes,).
This metric could be used to identify a wider range of reasons behind access failures: not only RN
admission blocking (as above), but also TN congestion or TN failure (as in the alternative formula
below):
pmNoRrcPsReqDeniedAdm pmNoRrcConnReqBlockTnPs
*
1
pmTotNoRrcConnectReqPs
100* 1 -
pmNoRabEstablishAttemptPacketInteractive
GoS can be estimated for other RABs in a similar way: CS, PS Streaming DCH, PS Streaming HS.
This KPI provides the number of Radio Resource Control (RRC) or Radio Access Bearer (RAB)
establishment requests failed after being admitted by Admission Control (AC).
100*
pmNoFailed
AfterAdm
pmTotNoRrc
ConnectReq
High value (e.g. >5%) indicates problems accessibility problems happening once the RRC or RAB has
been admitted by AC. These issues are analyzed later in this document.
4 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
Following the Hierarchical KPIs methodology described in the internal Claro doc. Optimization Process
(DEO.OTM.IOP3000), once identified areas/nodes/cells showing bad performance through the overall
KPIs defined above, analysis to find out the cause root of the problem should be performed. To do so, we
move towards an in-depth analysis based in more detailed and specific raw counters (Low Level KPIs).
In the case of Ericsson infra, this analysis for Accessibility issues will explore in 3 different directions:
Note: A 4th line of investigation has been added at the end of the section to cover those Accessibility
issues not detected by counters.
pmTotNoRrcConnectReqCs,
then
check:
If
low
pmTotNoRrcConnectPsReqSucc
pmNoRrcPsReqDeniedAdm
pmTotNoRrcConnectReqPs,
then
check:
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
Speech
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptSpeech
100*
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
Cs
(pmNoRabEs
tablishAtt
emptCs64
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptCs57)
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
Interactiv
e
100*
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptPacketI
nteractive
100*
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
PsStreamin
g
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptPacketS
tream
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
Hs
100*
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptPacketI
nteractive
Hs
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
Eul
100*
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptPacketI
nteractive
Eul
100*
pmNoOfNonH
oReqDenied
PsStr128
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptPacketS
tream128
Note: RAB admission blocks could have more impact on accessibility compared to RRC blocks, especially
for PS services, since the required resources during the RAB assignment are higher.
TN failure reasons
pmNoRabEst
BlockTnSpe
echBest
100*
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptSpeech
Videocall:
100*
pmNoRabEst
BlockTnCs6
4Best
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptCs64
PS R99:100*
pmNoRabEst
BlockTnPsI
ntNonHsBes
t
(pmNoRabEs
tablishAtt
emptPacket
Interactiv
e - pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptPacketI
nteractive
Hs)
HSDPA:
100*
pmNoRabEst
BlockTnPsI
ntHsBest
pmNoRabEst
ablishAtte
mptPacketI
nteractive
Hs
Possible solutions:
This issue will require support from the Operation and Maintenance department (OMC) in order to
determine the reasons for that high utilization over Iu-CS and Iu-PS links.
4.3.3 Failure after Admission: Hardware Usage (Channel Elements)
Lack of channel elements could be due to insufficient UL (RAX board) or DL (TX board) hardware
capacity. Channel element capacity could be also software limited. Admission control is restricted by
ulHwAdm and dlHwAdm parameters. They should be set at 100% so no hardware is limited for RRC/RAB
setup.
Possible indicators:
High number of AC block events on LackDlHw would indicate issues with TX board and LackUlHw
would indicate issues with RAX board.
Congestion at RAX or TX could be indicated by RBS counters pmUlCredits and pmDlCredits
respectively.
Congestion per spreading factor (SF) can be also measured using pmSetupFailureSfXX RBS counters
from the BasebandPool (BBP) on the uplink (UL BBP) and the downlink (DL BBP).
Possible solutions:
Check that ulHwAdm and dlHwAdm parameters are set to 100%
Check numHsResources, numEulResources at the node B (long term solution)
Reduce value of sf8Adm to 0 (short term solution)
Check for hardware failures on RAX and TXB boards and given the case, order its replacement.
Order an additional new RAX or TXB board, depending on the specific case.
4.3.4 Failure after Admission: Channelization Codes
This could also be a reason for Failures after Admission, but it is expected to be correlated with high
figures also in the counter for admission blocks due to lack of channelization codes
(pmNoFailedRabEstAttemptLackDlChnlCode).
Possible solutions:
Reduce the AC threshold for connections with low SF (specially 8 in DL, 4 in UL). Short Term Solution.
Real need for additional OVSF codes (purely due to increase in traffic) will require of new
carrier/sector/site analysis. [Refer to doc. Optimization Guidelines: Capacity in Ericsson
(DEO.OTM.IOP3041), for further details regarding the methodology to decide the best option
between New Carrier or New Sector or New Site].
4.3.5 Failure after Admission: Others
If a site shows none of the previously described issues, then it is likely to be a more complicated
problem to solve; often relating to a software/hardware fault, or perhaps an external source of
interference in the area.
Check for neighboring sites: Remember that neighboring sites having AAL2 congestion can cause other
cells to have high number of failures after admission (due to soft handover)
Check that software revisions are up to date at the Node B
Check for unexpected figures in counter pmNoInvalidRabEstablishAttempts.
RANAP RAB Assignment message is received for RABs to be setup/modified and the received QoS
parameters cannot be mapped to a supported RAB type or if the data in the message contains a
critical logical error.
Some kinds of RRC failures could not be detected by counters or other traces. This typically happens
when the RRC Connection Request messages from the UE cannot reach the RNC. In this case the
accessibility KPIs are not able to reveal the problem, but it could be reported by
users claims or
drive test activities or
variations of the traffic level.
Typical causes are:
4.4.1 HW Problems in the RBS
Antenna system failures
RAX boards failures
Cell unavailability
Most of the related problems should raise an alarm.
4.4.2 UL Interference
Strong UL Interference could also be the cause of some Accessibility issues not clearly detected by
counters described so far. It can be monitored by checking:
90th percentile of pmAverageRssi > -90 dBm or (pmSumUlRssi / pmSamplesUlRssi) > -95 dBm
4.4.3 RACH misconfiguration
Check RACH parameters to look for a wrong setting:
aichPower
powerOffsetP0
powerOffsetPpm
preambleRetransMax
maxPreambleCycle
constantValueCprach
maxTxPowerUl
4.4.4 Cell Unavailability
Check Cell unavailability through the following counters:
pmcellDownTimeAuto
pmCellDownTimeMan
4.4.5 Node Blocking
Counters: pmNoRabEstBlockNode<RAB>, where <RAB> = Speech, Cs64, Cs57, PsIntNonHs, PsIntHs,
PsStrHs
These counters are stepped when the establishment of a RAB fails due to node configuration error, node
limitation, or transport network layer service unavailability.
Additional detail can be obtained for the impact of Node blocking on RRC:
pmNoRrcConnReqBlockNodeCs
pmNoRrcConnReqBlockNodePs
5 REFERENCES
[1] WCDMA (UMTS) Deployment Handbook. Planning and Optimization Aspects. Christophe Chevallier,
Christopher Brunner, Andrea Garavaglia, Kevin P. Murray, Kenneth R. Baker (All of QUALCOMM
Incorporated California, USA). Ed. John Wiley & Sons. 2006
[2] Radio Network Planning and Optimisation for UMTS. Jaana Laiho and Achim Wacker [Both of Nokia
Networks, Nokia Group, Finland] & Toma s Novosad [Nokia Networks, Nokia Group, USA]. Ed. John
Wiley & Sons. 2006
[3] WCDMA Radio Access Network Optimization. LZT 123 8297 R1C. Ericsson 2006.
[4] Accessibility-Analysis and Monitor Rev4. Guidelines delivered by Ericsson Brazil to Claro in Nov.2009
[5] Introduction to UMTS Optimization. Wray Castle, 2004
[6] ALEX libreries, Ericsson Documentation. P7 & P7.1.
Radio Network Controller (RNC) 3810 (CXP 901 2011 RXX)
RXI 820 ATM R4.1 (CXP 901 102/3 RXX)
Radio Base Station (RBS) 3202/3206/3402/3412 (CXP 901 0811/X RXX)
WCDMA RAN (CXS 101 06/4 RXX)
2.
3.
4.
5.
PLMNs in the User Controlled PLMN Selector with Access Technology data field in the SIM in
priority order.
PLMNs in the Operator Controlled PLMN Selector with Access Technology data field in the SIM in
priority order.
Other PLMNs that meet the high-quality criterion in random order.
Other PLMNs that do not meet the high-quality criterion in order of decreasing signal quality.
Once a PLMN is selected this is indicated to the AS along with the selected radio access technology.
To inform the UE if a change in System information has occurred, the MIB also delivers a value tag for
each SIB.
To inform UEs in idle mode, Cell_PCH and URA_PCH of a change in the system information, paging
(Paging type 1) is used to deliver the IE BCCH modification info to notify the new value tag for the
MIB. WCDMA RAN can also inform of the change in the system information with a System Information
Change Indication message on the FACH transport channel.
If the LAs/RAs are small, there will be more LAUs/RAUs in the system and a high number of border RBSs.
On the other hand, if the LAs/RAs are large the number of paging messages will increase.
If the same LAI/RAI is used for the GSM and WCDMA networks, the consequence is heavy paging load in
3G arising from the GSM subscribers.
RRC MODES and STATES
LA/RA UPDATE vs. CELL UPDATE vs. URA UPDATE
RRC manages radio resources, including allocation, deallocation, and configuration of Logical, Transport,
and Physical Channels, measurement reporting, security procedures, and overall management of the
Access Stratum.
7.3.1 RRC connection Request & Setup
The RRC Connection Setup establishes SRBs (Signalling Radio Bearers) to carry dedicated signalling.
This phase of the call establishment is identical for CS and PS calls (both MO and MT) and it is always
composed by next three messages:
1.
2.
3.
It is important to note that this signalling is also needed when the UE performs Periodic Registration/
LAU/RAU/Detach as part of the Mobility Management. In these cases, the purpose of the RRC connection
setup is not to establish a call (CS or PS), and therefore, there will not be RAB setup phase.
The RRC connection request contains the UE identity, optional cell measurement results, and the
establishment cause.
For speech AMR service, this cause is recorded as either Originating Conversational Call or
Terminating Conversational Call. For PS service, this cause is recorded as Originating/Terminating
Interactive/Background Call.
Successfully establishing the RRC connection is the most challenging part of call setup. This can be
attributed to two factors: the admission control implementation and the size of the RRC Connection
Setup message. The latter is the main challenge. During admission control implementation, an RRC
connection reject is sent if no resources are available for allocation, or if the call should be redirected to
a different system or carrier.
After successful resource allocation, the RRC Connection Setup messagewhich contains SRB
information including the mapping details of dedicated logical, transport, and physical channelsis sent
on the Forward Access Channel (FACH) (over [Downlink Secondary Common Control Physical Channel]
[DL SCCPCH]). This RRC Connection Setup message contains a significant amount of information, and it
spans multiple frames while not yet operating in closed loop power-controlled condition. This makes it
difficult for the UE to receive the message, especially if the SCCPCH power allocation is not set to
accommodate low geometry.
After the RRC Connection Setup message is received, the UE can set up the low data rate DCH according
to the RRC Connection Setup message. First, only the PDCCH containing Transmit Power Control (TPC)
and Pilot bits are sent to allow the inner loop power control to converge. Afterwards, the RRC Connection
Setup Complete message is used to acknowledge the setup message and send UE-capability
information to the network. At this point, the UE should have transitioned from Idle state to CELL DCH
state. At this time, the connection is power-controlled and may support handover, depending on the
Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) implementation. Both features improve the
reliability of the connection.
Layer 2. Channel coding, Radio Link Control (RLC) parameters, TTI, BLER targets,
Transport Format Combination Set (TFCS)
Layer 1. Spreading Factor (SF), OVSF code, Scrambling Code, frame offset, power control
parameters
At this point, the radio link is completely established; however, the end-to-end connection is not yet
fully established:
The Alerting message is sent from the network to the UE for MO calls, or from the UE to
the network for MT calls.
The directions for Connect and Connect ACKnowledge (ACK) are reversed, depending on
the call type.
The Connect message is sent by the UTRAN for MO calls, but by the UE for MT calls.
The RB Setup message can also be used as a reconfiguration message because the existing SRBs are,
from this point forward, multiplexed with RAB onto a single physical dedicated channel.