BSSPAR

BSSPAR - Measurement Processing

Training Document BSSPAR - Measurement Processing

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The information in this document is subject to change without notice and describes only the product defined in the introduction of this documentation. This document is intended for the use of Nokia Networks' customers only for the purposes of the agreement under which the document is submitted, and no part of it may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or means without the prior written permission of Nokia Networks. The document has been prepared to be used by professional and properly trained personnel, and the customer assumes full responsibility when using it. Nokia Networks welcomes customer comments as part of the process of continuous development and improvement of the documentation. The information or statements given in this document concerning the suitability, capacity, or performance of the mentioned hardware or software products cannot be considered binding but shall be defined in the agreement made between Nokia Networks and the customer. However, Nokia Networks has made all reasonable efforts to ensure that the instructions contained in the document are adequate and free of material errors and omissions. Nokia Networks will, if necessary, explain issues which may not be covered by the document. Nokia Networks' liability for any errors in the document is limited to the documentary correction of errors. Nokia Networks WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE IN ANY EVENT FOR ERRORS IN THIS DOCUMENT OR FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL (INCLUDING MONETARY LOSSES), that might arise from the use of this document or the information in it. This document and the product it describes are considered protected by copyright according to the applicable laws. NOKIA logo is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. Other product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks of their respective companies, and they are mentioned for identification purposes only. Copyright Nokia Oyj 2003. All rights reserved.

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Contents

1 Module Objectives................................................................................4 2 Introduction To Measurements...........................................................5 2.1 Measurement Coding .........................................................................6 2.2 Mobile Station Measurements In Idle Mode.........................................7 2.3 Mobile Station Measurements In Dedicated Mode..............................8 3 Measurement Processing..................................................................10 3.1 Measurement Pre-Processing In BTS...............................................11 3.2 Averaging And Sampling In BSC.......................................................12 3.3 Fast Averaging for Handover ............................................................13 4 DTX And Weighting............................................................................19 5 Processing and Book Keeping In BSC.............................................20 6 FER Measurement Feature ...............................................................22 7 Key Learning Points...........................................................................24 8 Review Questions ..............................................................................27

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Module Objectives
At the end of the module, the participant should be able to: Explain the measurements carried out by the BTS and MS State how measurements are coded for transmission Show why and how pre-processing is performed at the BTS Explain the fast averaging method and associated parameters

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Introduction To Measurements
The Mobile Station and Base Station perform measurements as part of the Radio Subsystem Link Control. These measurements include received signal level and channel quality. The measurements are sent to the BSC via BTS. The Base Station is continuously measuring all the time slots in the uplink direction in every TRX. Thus, there is nothing special in the uplink measurements, because the Base Station knows the frequencies that it measures, and the measurement process is continuous. The Mobile Station has to measure the downlink direction, and that is a little more complicated. In addition to the serving cell, the Mobile Station is also required to measure all the adjacent cells. The measurements carried out by the Mobile can be divided into two classes according to the status of the Mobile Station: 1. Idle mode measurements and 2. Dedicated mode measurements Idle mode measurements are primarily used for are used to select the best base station from the neighbourhood. In the dedicated mode i.e. on a TCH or SDCCH with respective SACCH/FACCH, measurement data is transmitted as measurements report on the SACCH to the base station. These reports are used for handover and power control purposes (to be discussed in subsequent modules).

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2.1

Measurement Coding
GSM uses two parameters to describe the levels and quality of a channel: 1. Received Signal Level (RXLEV) is measured by MS and BTS in each burst and expressed in dBm. It has a range of -110 dBm to -48 dBm. 2. Received Signal Quality (RXQUAL) is measured as Bit Error Rate (BER) percentage before any error correction techniques are applied. This can be estimated from the training sequences Measurements transmitted in dBm or BER in measurement reports will require large bandwidth. Hence, the measurements are coded into levels as shown in Figure 1.
LEVEL
Hz 900 M MHz 1800

QUALITY BSC LEV 0 1 BER (%) RANGE < 0.2 0.2-0.4 0.4-0.8 0.8-1.6 1.6-3.2 3.2-6.4 6.4-12.8 > 12.8 BS C BER (%) QUAL MEAN 0.14 0.28 0.57 1.13 2.26 4.53 9.05 18.1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

P( dBm ) -110 -109 -108 . . . -49 -48 -47

FS (dBuV/m) 27 28 29 . . . 88 89 90 32 33 34 . . . 95

61 62 63

P=Power FS= Field Strength LEV= Level

FS (dBuV/m) = RxLev(dBm) +77,2+20Log[ freq(MHz)]

Figure 1. Coding of Received Signal Level and Quality

A received signal level, which is between -110 and -109 dBm, will be coded as Level 1. Similarly, if the BER of a received signal between 0.4-0.8%, it will be coded as signal quality of 2.

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2.2

Mobile Station Measurements In Idle Mode

In Idle mode, the Mobile receives information of the frequencies of the adjacent cells, which is sent on BCCH. The main purpose is to assign a mobile station to a cell whose BCCH carrier it can decode reliably. The Mobile has to decode the BCCH of the serving cell every 30 s, and the BCCH of the adjacent cells every 5 min. The Mobile also has to presynchronise and decode the BSIC of the serving cell once in 30 s. The list of the Adjacent cells (six best adjacent cells) is updated every 60 s, and if a new cell appears in the list, the Mobile has to decode the BCCH of this new cell in 30 s. In Idle mode, the Mobile has enough time to measure the adjacent cells, because there is no traffic between Mobile Station and Base Station. Actually, the Mobile measures the serving cell only when the Base Station sends paging messages to the paging group of Mobile Station. In summary, MS Measurements in Idle Mode (GSM Specs) are

MS has to decode BCCH of serving (camped)cell every 30 s MS has to decode BCCH of 6 best neighbours cells at least every 5 min Pre-synchronization and BSIC-decoding of 6 best neighbours cells

Once in 30 s

List of 6 best neighbours is updated every 60 s New neighbour

BCCH decoding in 30 s

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2.3

Mobile Station Measurements In Dedicated Mode

In the Dedicated mode, channel measurements of the mobile station occurs over an SACCH interval, which comprises of 104 TDMA Frames in the case of TCH channel. The Mobile Station does not have so much time to make adjacent cell measurements, because the Mobile has to transmit and receive data to and from the serving Base Station, as shown in Figure 2.
26-F R AME MU LTIF R AME 120 ms S AC C H P E R IO D = 480 ms

T DMA F R AME S :
TDM A F R AM E 4.615 ms

TC H
M EAS

S ACC H

IDLE

RX

TX

M E AS

RX

TX

RX

TX

M E AS

BS IC decoding of at least one neighbour P re-S ynchronization on S C H M easures the BA frequencies (S ystem Info 5) Measures the Lev and Q ual of the S erver Detects whether DTX is used

Figure 2. Mobile Station Measurements in Dedicated mode

The Mobile Station measures the receiving level of the serving cell and receives data from serving cell simultaneously. When receiving the data from the serving Base Station, the Mobile also detects if DTX is used or not. After receiving the data, the Mobile in its turn transmits data to the serving Base Station. After transmitting and before receiving the next frame, the Mobile has a short time to measure the adjacent cell frequencies. The Mobile gets a list of them on System Info 5. During the idle slot, the Mobile has a longer time to make the adjacent cell measurements, and during this time, the Mobile pre-synchronises itself to the frequency of the adjacent cell and tries to decode the BSIC of the adjacent cell. In Dedicated mode the Mobile has to pre-synchronise and decode the BSIC of the adjacent cells once in 10 s. When a new adjacent cell is taken in the list, presynchronisation and BSIC decoding has to happen in 5 s. If it is not successful, the Mobile will use the old neighbour list and again try to decode the BSIC of the new adjacent cell.

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The Mobiles sends a list of the six best adjacent cells every half second (exactly every SACCH period, i.e. 480 ms) to the Base Station, which pre-processes and sends the measurement results to the Base Station Controller (BSC). In summary:

Pre-synchronization and BSIC-decoding of adjacent cells once in 10s New neighbour

5s decoding BSIC + Pre-synchronization If not successful -> Old neighbour list + New try

Measurement results of 6 best neighbours sent to BSC every SACCH period 480 msec

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Measurement Processing
The measurement reports transmitted by the BTS and MS need to be processed further before they can be used by handover and power control algorithms. Most measurement processing takes place in the BSC. However, some preprocessing, to reduce signalling and processing the load in the BSC, is carried out by each BTS.
EnaFastAveCallSetup EnaFastAvePC EnaFastAveHO

MS + BTS Measurements Measurements

Averaging Averaging
ho/pc_ Averaging_ Lev/Qual_ UL/DL WindowSize Weight msDistanceAveragingParameter WIndowSize DTXMode Handover ?

BtsMeasAverage

Measurements Measurements MS

Averaging Averaging
AveragingWindow SizeAdjCell AllAdjacentCellsAveraged NumberOfZeroResults

BSC

Bookkeeping Bookkeeping

Figure 3. Measurement Processing

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3.1

Measurement Pre-Processing In BTS

Pre-processing is the task of the BTS and means that the measurement results (both uplink and downlink) can be averaged over 1, 2, 3 or 4 SACCH periods. This averaging is carried out to reduce the signalling load and the BSC processing load. Reducing the signalling load is necessary in the A-bis interface where 16-kBit signalling is used. The parameter btsMeasAver (BMA)(BTS) is used to set the number of SACCH periods used for the averaging process. If this parameter is set to 1, then pre-processing (averaging) is not performed at the BTS. Pre-processing also causes delay (btsMeasAver-1) x 480 ms in the final measurement processing in the BSC.

F or M S and BTS measurements Average measurements over 1, 2, 3 or 4 S AC C H-period C ause a delay ( btsMeasAver x 480 ms -1) R educe a transmission load and a processing load in BS C Needed in Abis interface when 16 kbit signalling is used with Half R ate (decreases load on A-bis -a sliding window process not ) Parameter btsMeasAver Value 1 ... 4 SACCH

Figure 4. Pre-processing in the BTS

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3.2

Averaging And Sampling In BSC

After the pre-processing, the results are sent to the BSC where the final processing is carried out. An important phase in the processing in the BSC is averaging and sampling. Averaging can be controlled by the parameters: ho/pcAveragingLev/QualDL/UL which included windowSize (1 .. 32): weighting (1 .. 3): which tells how samples are averaged and weighted due to the DTX msDistanceAveragingParam (MSWS)(HOC) for handover due to distance Averaging is done after each measurement result (after each SACCH period) so that the averaging window is sliding. An example of the averaging process is shown in Figure 5. The parameters used in this example are given below. In this example, no pre-processing is performed at BTS, which means that all averaging is performed at BSC. The first average is worked out after 5 measurements are received, as the window size is 5. This average (40) is above the Handover Threshold Level of 33 dBm, so the P value is set to 0. This averaging process is repeated on the next 5 measurements resulting in an average of 35dBm. Px represents the number of parameters that have to be lower than or equal to a threshold before handover or power control is initiated. Thus after 3 averages in which P=1 has been observed, a handover attempt can be initiated.

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50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 AVE R AG E =40, P =0 AVE R AGE =35, P =0 AVE R AGE =30, P =1 AVE R AGE =25, P =2 AVE R AG E =20, P =3

480 ms

Handover trigger HoThresholdLevDL = 33 (= -77 dBm) WindowS ize = 5, Weighting = 1 P x = 3, Nx = 4 btsMeasAver = 1 (no pre-processing in BTS )

Parameter

Value

ho/pc_Averaging_L ev/Qual_UL /DL WindowSize 1 32 Weight 1 3 msDistanceAveragingParameter WindowSize 1 32

Figure 5. Averaging and Sampling

3.3

Fast Averaging for Handover

Fast averaging for handover is a feature that became available in software release S6. As the cells become smaller and smaller (microcells), a faster handover algorithm is needed. The need for a quick handover decision, particularly in a handover between adjacent microcells, resulted in the development of this technique. This method allows faster handover decisions especially where power control commands are normally being executed. The newer method is an alternative, it is based on the existing handover algorithm and parameters, and even the same values can be used. The newer handover measurement averaging method for serving cell can be used the following situations: a) In the call setup phase (SDCCH) by enabling the parameters: enaFastAveCallSetup (EFA)(HOC)(Yes/No) b) After a power control command by enabling the parameter: enaFastAvePC (EFP)(HOC)(Yes/No) c) At the start of a new channel (TCH) by enabling the parameter: enaFastAveHO (EFH)(HOC)(Yes/No) The newer handover measurement-averaging method for neighbouring cell measurements is always used and is very useful for IUO and DR.

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After a PC command the power control comparison is started again, but handover comparison is continued and only measurements before PC are initialised. The trigger thresholds remain and a newer averaging method is used, as in Figure 6, which shows the difference between the older and newer methods.
a. N ew m ethod D L pow er control (RR) D L handover (RR) ... 0 1 1 1 0 ... 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 = HO threshold not triggered 1 = HO threshold triggered

Px 4 Nx 6
Old triggered thresholds

b. O ld m ethod D L pow er control (RR) D L handover (RR) ... 0 1 1 1 0 ... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1

Triggered thresholds after PC

Px 4 Nx 6

Figure 6. Initialisation of the triggered thresholds

The existing Handover & Power Control algorithm uses a sliding window technique in order to average the measurements. The sliding window technique takes into account up to a maximum of 32 most recent measurement samples. The averaging procedure can start as soon as possible as the required number of samples is available. However, in some cases, it is reasonable to calculate the averaging value before the measurement averaging window size is fulfilled. The newer technique enables the Handover & Power Control algorithm to calculate averaging values beginning from the first measurement, and enables reliable averaging values for the handover algorithm (e.g. for Channel Allocation to Super-reuse Channel in IUO-feature (C/I calculation)). The following example (Figure 7.) presents the newer method.

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Averaging window size full (size = 4)

27 23 26 24 27 24 27/1 (27+23)/2 (27+23+26)/3 (27+23+26+24)/4 when the averaging window size is fulfilled, a normal sliding window technic is used as in the following example: (23+26+24+27)/4 (26+24+27+24)/4 ...
Figure 7. Newer averaging method

The newer averaging method averages new measurements before the averaging window size is fulfilled as an average value of new measurements. By using this method new measurements can be averaged although the averaging window size is not fulfilled The newer method enables faster handover decisions and prevents consecutive PC commands where handover is needed. After the averaging window is fulfilled, the averaging algorithm works as before (the average window is used).

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Nokia'sFast Averaging for Handover feature introduces a new handover algorithm capable of making faster handover decisions in environments where quick decisions need to be made, e.g. handovers between neighbouring microcells .

Feature Evaluation Algorithm based on existing handover

algorithm and parameters
-73 -70 -73 -77 -79

Handover executed
-74 -69 -65 -67 -68 -70 -73

After a handover the averaging process can AVE R AG E = -72 Averaging window full start as soon as the first measurement is received from the new cell without having AVE R AG E = -73 to wait for the averaging window to fill up n(x)=1 AVE R AG E = -79/1 before the first averaged measurement is available for the comparison process Measurements are averaged over the number of measurements available Algorithm works until the averaging window is full after which the normal sliding window technique is re-employed
n(x)=2 AVE R AG E = (-79 + -74)/2 n(x)=3 AVE R AGE = (-79 + -74 + -69)/3

AVE R AG E = -72 AVE R AG E = -72

Normal sliding window averaging process resumes

Figure 8. Enable Fast Averaging for Handover

Nokia'sFast Averaging for Power Control feature use a new handover algorithm capable of (i) introducing fast averaging for signal quality measurements and (ii) scaling of signal level measurements, just after the increase/decrease in MS/BTS power
P C step due to R X LE V (4dB inc.)

Feature Evaluation - Scaling of Signal Level

-78 -80 -81 -83 -79 -78 -76 -75 -73 -76 -77 BS C scales the signal level measurement resultspreceeding power change so that the AVE R AG E = -79 : p=0 pcLowerThresholdLevU L = -80dBm they correspond to the new power level of the nx(1) :px (1) MS /BTS . (e.g uplinksignal level measurements AVE R AG E = -81 : p=1 scaled by 4dB after M Sstep of 4dB) pc

BS C does not need to start averaging of signal without Preceeding measurements level measurement results from the beginning interuption pc threshold & scaled by 4dB comparison - process can continue without interruption Handover threshold comparison continues without interruption - P C threshold comparison starts from beginning F eature enabled using enaFastAveraingPC parameter
process starts again
AVE R AGE = -78 : p=0 AV E R AG E = (-77 + -79 + -79)/3

Averaging process continues

AVE R AG E = -79 : p=0 A VE R A G E = (-79 + -79 + -78)/3

Figure 9. Enable Fast Averaging for PC

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Nokia's Fast Averaging for Power Control feature use a new handover algorithm capable of (i) introducing fast averaging for signal quality measurements and (ii) scaling of signal level measurements, just after the increase/decrease in MS/BTS power

Feature Evaluation - Fast Averaging of Signal Quality B S Cinitialises signal quality measurements preceeding S /B TS step and starts averaging M pc process from beginning using fast averaging A veraging process can start as soon as the first measurement afterstep is received without pc having to wait for the averaging window to fill up before the first averaged measurement is available for the comparison process Handover threshold comparison continues without interruption - P C threshold comparison starts from beginning F eature enabled usingenaFastAvePC the parameter
3 0 1 1 2

P C step due to R X Q U A L
0 0 1 3 6 7 7

AVE R AG E = 2 AVE R AG E = 1

A veraging window full

AVE R AG E = 2/1 AVE R AG E = (2 + 0)/2 AVE R AG E = (2 + 0 + 0)/3 AVE R AG E = 0 AVE R AG E = 2

Normal sliding window averaging process resumes

Figure 10. Enable Fast Averaging for PC

Length of averaging window size is changed according to MS speed information Fast mobile has short averaging window size -> mobiles may hand over to target cell faster Slow mobile has long averaging window size msS peedDetectionS tate ho between macro micro layer 1.. 100: the scaling factor for averaging window size (%). 0:

BT S slow M Ss
meas_ res

Cell

S low mobile 2 F ast mobile

S caling is 50%

B SC fast M Ss
meas_ res

BT S

Time

Figure 11. Various Window Sizes with MS_SPEED_DETECTION

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The BS C may use the information on the speed of the mobile station to do the following by means of the parameter MsSpeedDetectionState : 0 MS speed information is used to control traffic between separate layers

1 - 100 MS speed information is used to scale the values of the averaging parameters. The range is from 1% to 100%. That is, if the value is, for example, 80% it means that the averaging window is 80% of the normal window size.

Figure 12. Parameter Range

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DTX And Weighting

When DTX is used, only "SUB" measurement results are reported to the BSC, which means that averaging is done over 12 time slots (or 3 data blocks). This "SUB" measurement averaging process is controlled by the parameter weighting (1 .. 3) as in the following example.
DTX is allowed just on TCH (only for speech call, not for data call) SUB- measurement results are reported when DTX is used

Sample :
pcAveragingLevUL windowSize 8 = weighting 2 =

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 35 42 33 36 39 40 39 35

DTX used : uplink level :

2x35 + 1x42 + ... + 2x35 =36 AV_ RXLEV_ UL_ PC = 2+1+2+2+1+1+1+2 Parameter DTXMode 0 1 2 Value M S may use DTX M S shall use DTX M S shall not use DTX

Figure 13. DTX and Weighting Example

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Processing and Book Keeping In BSC

The BSC gets all the serving cell and adjacent cell measurement results from the BTSs after pre-processing. It makes averaging calculations and comparisons to thresholds such as the parameter hoThresholdsLevDL (-110- -47 dBm), including px (1. 32) and nx (1 .. 32). Threshold comparisons are always made in the BSC as a part of the BSC processing. All the handover and power control thresholds will be given in the subsequent Modules on Handover Processing and Power Control. The capacity of the BSC is related to the number of the adjacent cells processed in the BSC simultaneously. The Nokia BSC can simultaneously maintain measurements from up to 32 samples of 32 different adjacent cells. This is referred to as book keeping. All the adjacent cells can be averaged, or just the six best ones controlled by the parameter: allAdjacentCellsAveraged (AAC)(HOC)(Yes/No) The BTS sends only the six best measurement results to BSC, and the rest is being given a zero level (-110 dBm). Thus, even some good adjacent cells can be given a zero result, as shown in the example below. These adjacent cells however can still be taken into account (up to 7 zero results) with the parameter numberOfZeroResults (NOZ)(HOC)(0 .. 7).
BSC is able to maintain up to 32 last measurement results of 32 adjacent cells Mobile reports to BSC 6 best results and the rest are 0 (= -110 dBm) Zero results can be eliminated from averaging ( up to 7 ) All adjacent cells can be averaged or just 6 best (reported by the MS in last measurements)
S ample: E xample allAdjacentCellsAveraged = No numberOfZeroResults =2 WindowSize 8 =

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 -65 -73 -77 -85 -90 -97

2 -67 -75 0 -83 -94 -99

3 -71 -74 -80 -87 -91 -98

4 -69 -75 -79 -88 -90 -99

5 -72 -76 -81 -84 -95 -96

6 -70 -77 -79 0 -93 -97

7 -73 -75 0 -86 -92 0

8 -71 -77 -80 -87 -90 0

Parameter averagingWindowSizeAdjacentCells numberOfZeroResutlts allAdjacentC ellsAveraged

Value 1 32 0 7 Y /N

Figure 14. Book Keeping

Now, even if there are two zero results in the samples of the adjacent cell 3, the average of that cell can still be calculated, and the cell remains in the group of the six best adjacent cells.

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MS DATA (MEASURED BY BTS)

3 TIMING ADVANC E 2 2 3 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 5 6 5 6 7 6 01000011010001110 DTX US E D 00020021030455100 QUAL_ U L 444136 33302832 56 5454504851454347 32 R XLE V _ U L

EXAMPLES:

1. HO AVERAGING AND C OMPARISON W indow S ize = 8, Weighting = 2 HoThresholdLevDL = 38 (-72 dB m), P x = 1 Nx = 1 2. ABTS AVERAGING AND PBGT C OMPARISON W indowS izeAdjaC ell = 7 hoP eriodP BG T = 8 S AC C H (= 4 s) hoMarginP BG T = 6 dB

BTS DATA (MEASURED BY MS)

00001110000000000 DTX US E D 01000012235644322 QUAL_ DL 444540 33343536 5454 5252464840 4244 35 R XLE V _ DL 404948464543 4240403938 AV_ R X LE V_ DL_ HO

ABTS DATA (MEASURED BY MS) LE V_ NC E LL(n)

0 25 30323240384244 434850 6058565456 333538404244 4851535456

AV_ R X LE V_ NC E LL(n)

Figure 15. BSC Measurement Data Processing

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FER Measurement Feature

FER measurement provides an ability to report the UL FER from the BTS to the BSC. This provides more realistic measure of voice quality in the system and enables to perform handovers and power control based in FER rather than BERbased RxQuality. This feature can then provide more capacity and better quality. Additionally, DL FER is estimated using the correlation between UL FER and UL BER values and applying these to the DL BER values. Both UL FER values and estimated DL FEP (Frame Erasure Probability) values are available in the new FER measurement. In addition to handover and power control algorithms, feature provides also significant improvements to network quality statistics. Frame Erasure Rate is the best available indicator in a GSM system to assess the Voice Quality provided in a network. It represents the percentage of frames being dropped due to high number of non corrected bit errors in the frame. The BER figure currently reported to the system is not a good indication of the quality of the network, especially when efficiency of the error correction mechanism changes due to functionality introduced in the network such as frequency hopping or dynamic channel coding: Frequency Hopping spreads out the fading and interference problems, effectively allowing the decoding mechanism to restore the original information via the Error Correction process. Not only the correlation between BER and FER will change when Frequency Hopping is in use, but different frequency hopping schemes (depending in the reuse and number of frequencies to hop over) will have a different BER to FER correlation. The figure below shows this effect measured in an operational network for the DL path. The area of interest is the one showing the correlation of RXQUAL 4 to 6 and the voice quality degradation (FER>5%).

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Figure 16. RX Quality / FER Correlation for hopping and non-hopping cases

The Channel Coding algorithm in use has a direct impact in the Error Correction performance. Depending how robust the channel coding is, it associated performance will vary. A clear example of this will take place when different coding schemes are implemented simultaneously in AMR networks. Again the correlation between BER and FER will change, and this time it will potentially do it dynamically according to the conditions.

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Key Learning Points

The Mobile Station and Base Station perform measurements as part of the Radio Subsystem Link Control. These measurements include received signal level and channel quality. The measurements are sent to the BSC via BTS. The Base Station is continuously measuring all the time slots in the uplink direction in every TRX. The MS measurements can be classified into: (a) Idle mode measurements, which are primarily used to select the best base station from the neighbourhood. (b) Dedicated mode measurements, which are used for handover and power control purposes. GSM uses two parameters to describe the levels and quality of a channel: Received Signal Level (RXLEV), is measured by MS and BTS in each burst and expressed in dBm. It has a range of -110 dBm to -48 dBm Received Signal Quality (RXQUAL), is measured as Bit Error Rate (BER) percentage before any error correction techniques are applied In idle mode, the Mobile receives information of the frequencies of the adjacent cells, which is sent on BCCH. The Mobile has to decode the BCCH of the serving cell every 30 s, and the BCCH of the adjacent cells every 5 min. The Mobile also has to pre-synchronise and decode the BSIC of the serving cell once in 30 s. The list of the Adjacent cells (six best adjacent cells) is updated every 60 s, and if a new cell appears in the list, the Mobile has to decode the BCCH of this new cell in 30 s. In Dedicated mode the Mobile has to pre-synchronise and decode the BSIC of the adjacent cells once in 10 s. When a new adjacent cell is taken in the list, presynchronisation and BSIC decoding has to happen in 5 s. If it is not successful, the Mobile will use the old neighbour list and again try to decode the BSIC of the new adjacent cell. The Mobiles sends a list of the six best adjacent cells every half second (exactly every SACCH period, i.e. 480 ms) to the Base Station, which pre-processes and sends the measurement results to the Base Station Controller (BSC). Pre-processing at BTS is carried out to reduce the signalling load and the BSC processing load. The BTS parameter btsMeasAver (BMA)(BTS) is used to set the number of SACCH periods used for the averaging process. If this parameter is set to 1, then pre-processing (averaging) is not performed at the BTS. Averaging at BSC is done by computing the average of window size measurement samples from BTS with appropriate weighting if DTX is used. Averaging can be performed for handover and power control, receiver levels and quality, downlink and uplink. It can be controlled by the following parameters:

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ho/pcAveragingLev/QualDL/UL which includes windowSize (1 ... 32): weighting (1 ... 3): which tells how samples are averaged and weighted due to the DTX

msDistanceAveragingParam (MSWS)(HOC) for handover due to distance The fast averaging method averages measurements as they are received before the window size is filled with measurements. The new method enables faster handover decisions and prevents consecutive PC commands where handover is needed. After the averaging window is filled, the conventional averaging algorithm starts working. Fast averaging is used for a number of tasks using the following parameters: enaFastAveCallSetup (EFA)(HOC)(Yes / No): for call set-up phase enaFastAvePC (EFP)(HOC) (Yes / No): for power control command enaFastAveHO (EFH)(HOC)(Yes / No): When DTX is used, only "SUB" measurement results are reported to the BSC, which means that averaging is done over 12 time slots (or 3 data blocks). This "SUB" measurement averaging process is controlled by the parameter weighting (1 .. 3). Pre-processed BTS data is sent to BSC, which makes averaging calculations and comparisons to thresholds. Nokia BSC can simultaneously maintain measurements from up to 32 samples of 32 different adjacent cells. All the adjacent cells can be averaged or just the six best ones controlled by the parameter allAdjacentCellsAveraged (AAC)(HOC)(Yes/No). BTS sends only the six best measurement results to BSC, with the rest being given a zero level (-110 dBm). These adjacent cells however can still be taken into account using parameter numberOfZeroResults (NOZ)(HOC)(0 .. 7).

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Param eter btsMeasAver ho/pc_Averaging_L ev/Qual_UL /DL WindowSize Weight msDistanceAveragingParameter WindowSize EnaFastAveCallSetup EnaFastAvePC EnaFastAveHO DTXMode Y /N Y /N Y /N

Value 1 ... 4 SACCH 1 32 1 3 1 32 SACCH

M S may use DTX 0 1 M S shall use DTX 2 M S shall not use DTX 1 32 0 7 Y /N

averagingWindowSizeAdjacentCells numberOfZeroResutlts allAdjacentCellsAveraged

Figure 17. Parameter Overview

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Review Questions
Q1. Which of the following measurements are performed by the MS? ... (a) Idle mode measurements to select the best base station. (b) Dedicated mode measurements, which are used for handover and power control purposes. (c) Averaging measurements to reduce load on the BTS. (d) All of the above. (e) Choices (a) and (b) only. Q2. Which of the following is measured as BER? (a) Received Signal Level (RXLEV) (b) Received Signal Quality (RXQUAL) (c) Voice quality. (d) Handover failure rate. (e) All of the above choices. Q3. Which of the following is true in idle mode? (a) The Mobile has to decode the BCCH of the serving cell every 30 s. (b) The Mobile has to decode the BCCH of the adjacent cells every 5 min. (c) The Mobile has to pre-synchronise and decode the BSIC of the serving cell once in 30 s. (d) The Mobile has to decode the BCCH of every new cell in 30 s. (e) All of the above. Q4. Which of following is true about measurement pre-processing at the BTS? (a) It is carried out to reduce the BTS signalling and processing load. (b) The BTS parameter btsMeasAver (BMA)(BTS) is used to set the number of SACCH periods used for the averaging process. (c) If btsMeasAver (BMA)(BTS) = 1, then weighted averaging is performed. (d) All of the above. (e) Choices (a) and (b) only.

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Q5. Which of the following dictates how many samples are used for averaging at the BSC? a) b) c) d) e) f) ho/pcAveragingLev/QualDL/UL which includes windowSize (1..32): weighting (1..3): msDistanceAveragingParam (MSWS)(HOC) Px All of the above.

Q6 What is the purpose of the fast averaging method? a. It averages measurements as they are received before the window size is filled with measurements. b. It enables faster handover decisions and prevents consecutive PC commands where handover is needed. c. After the averaging window is filled, the conventional averaging algorithm starts working. d. It is faster than the conventional algorithm. Q7. Which of the following parameters are associated with fast averaging? a) b) c) d) e) ho/pcAveragingLev/QualDL/UL btsMeasAver (BMA)(BTS) enaFastAveHO (EFH)(HOC)(Yes/No): All of the above. None of the above.

Q8. A Nokia BSC can average all 32 adjacent cells or just the six best ones controlled by the use of the parameter: (a) allAdjacentCellsAveraged (AAC)(HOC)(Yes/No) (b) numberOfZeroResults (NOZ)(HOC)(0..7) (c) btsMeasAver (BMA)(BTS) (d) enaFastAveHO (EFH)(HOC)(Yes/No) (e) None of the above.

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