Radio Fine Tuning PDF

B11 Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning- Page 1
All Rights Reserved Alcatel-Lucent 2008

Base Station Subsystem
B10 Introduction to Radio Fine
Tuning
STUDENT GUIDE
3FL10493AEAAZZZZA Issue 3
All rights reserved Alcatel-Lucent 2008
Passing on and copying of this document, use and communication of its
contents not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel-Lucent
B11 Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning
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Terms of Use and Legal Notices
1. Safety Warning
Both lethal and dangerous voltages may be present within the products used herein. The user is strongly advised not to
wear conductive jewelry while working on the products. Always observe all safety precautions and do not work on the
equipment alone.
The equipment used during this course may be electrostatic sensitive. Please observe correct anti-static precautions.
2. Trade Marks
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All other trademarks, service marks and logos (Marks) are the property of their respective holders, including Alcatel-
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All rights reserved Alcatel-Lucent 2008
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Course Outline
About This Course
Course outline
Technical support
Course objectives
1. Topic/Section is Positioned Here
Xxx
Xxx
Xxx
1. Radio Fine Tuning
1. Typical Radio Problems
2. Algorithms and Associated Parameters
3. Other Algorithms
4. Algorithms Dynamic Behaviors
5. Case Studies
6. Annexes
6
Course Outline [cont.]
7
Course Objectives
Welcome to Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning B10
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
Characterize the usual radio problems and decide on the appropriate maintenance team
List and describe BSS radio algorithms and related parameters
List radio parameters and verify conformity with Alcatel standards
Estimate the qualitative impact of an algorithm parameter change
Propose algorithm parameter setup to solve typical radio problems for conventional
networks
Hierarchical, dual-band, frequency hopping, concentric cell and GPRS networks are not covered.
8
Course Objectives [cont.]
9
About this Student Guide
Conventions used in this guide
Where you can get further information
If you want further information you can refer to the following:
Technical Practices for the specific product
Technical support page on the Alcatel website: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
Note
Provides you with additional information about the topic being discussed.
Although this information is not required knowledge, you might find it useful
or interesting.
Technical Reference
(1) 24.348.98 Points you to the exact section of Alcatel-Lucent Technical
Practices where you can find more information on the topic being discussed.
Warning
Alerts you to instances where non-compliance could result in equipment
damage or personal injury.
10
About this Student Guide [cont.]
11
Self-assessment of Objectives
At the end of each section you will be asked to fill this questionnaire
Please, return this sheet to the trainer at the end of the training
Instructional objectives
Yes (or
globally
yes)
No (or
globally
no)
Comments
1 To be able to XXX

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Contract number :
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Did you meet the following objectives ?
Tick the corresponding box
Please, return this sheet to the trainer at the end of the training

12
Self-assessment of Objectives [cont.]
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Globally
yes)
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Comments

Thank you for your answers to this questionnaire
Other comments

Section 1 Module 1 Page 1
3JK11052AAAAWBZZA Issue 3.0
Do not delete this graphic elements in here:
11
Module 1
Typical radio problems
Section 1
Tuning
3FL10493AEAAZZZZA Issue 3.0
Base Station Subsystem B10 Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning
B10 Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning Typical radio problems
1 1 2
Blank Page
First edition Last name, first name YYYY-MM-DD 01
Remarks Author Date Edition
Document History
1 1 3
Module Objectives
Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:
Characterize typical radio problems in order to trigger an intervention of the
appropriate team
1 1 4
Module Objectives [cont.]
1 1 5
Table of Contents
Page
1 Theoretical Presentation 7
2 Coverage Problem 9
3 Interference Problem 18
4 Unbalanced Power Budget Problem 32
5 TCH Congestion Problem 38
6 Deducing the Right Team for Intervention 43
1 1 6
Table of Contents [cont.]
1 1 7
1 Theoretical Presentation
1 1 8
Justification
Several sources of information can alert RFTM team:
QoS indicators
Customers complaints
Drive tests
Other teams information (NSS statistics)
As many symptoms are common to several causes, it can be necessary
to:
Consolidate standard sources of information
Carry out specific examinations
Deduce the appropriate team for intervention
1 1 9
2 Coverage Problem
1 1 10
2 Coverage Problem
Definition and Symptoms
Definition: Bad coverage
A network or cell facing coverage problems presents a bad RxLev and RxQual
at the same time on some areas.
Symptoms:
Customers complain about dropped calls or/and no network
OMC QoS indicators
TCH failure rate
Call drop rate
Low proportion of better cell HO
High rate of DL quality HO
A interface indicators
High rate of Clear Request messages, cause radio interface failure
No information is available on non-covered parts of the network, as there are non-mobiles making calls over
there!
Nevertheless, cells in border of non-covered zones do have a particular behavior:
Cell A will mainly perform Better Cell handovers towards its neighbors, whereas cell B, bordering the non-
coverage area, will perform emergency handovers for MSs exiting the network.
For these MSs, mainly DL Quality HO will be triggered:
DL because MS antenna is less efficient than BTS one,
Quality rather than Level since Qual has a greater priority in Alcatel-Lucent HO causes.
A
B
1 1 11
2 Coverage Problem
Examination
Depending on the information sources you have:
Radio Measurement Statistics (RMS)
(RxLevel , RxQuality) matrix
Radio Link Counter S vector
Number of calls with DL/UL bad coverage (bad RxLev, bad RxQual)
Abis interface (for example with COMPASS)
bad quality > 5%
bad level RxLev < - 95 dBm and RxQual > 4
OMC-R or A interface
unexpected high traffic, induced by call repetition
Billing information
High recall rate detected
RMS:
Provides statistics from any area in the network which are available at any time.
Cost-effective.
Easier and cheaper to perform than Drive test or Abis Trace.
The operator can tune 54 parameters (based on RxLev, BFI, C/I, Radio Link Counter S, Path Balance, etc.)
to define up to 16 templates (depending on cell type rural, urban, etc. for example).
Trigger from the OMC-R.
NPO can save up to 15 days of RMS for the complete network.
Templates can be designed in NPO.
Default result reports are available in NPO.
1 1 12
2 Coverage Problem
Typical Causes
If the actual coverage is not the one predicted by RNP tools:
check antenna system
increase or decrease antenna down-tilt
check BS_TXPWR_MAX
to be increased if value different from RNP power budget
If the actual coverage is OK compared to the predicted ones:
indoor traffic, to be handled by specific means
if black spot close to cell border, ease outgoing HO
1 1 13
2 Coverage Problem
Investigation with Abis Trace
Example of an Abis trace analysis
TRX index RxLev_UL RxLev_DL RxQual_UL Path_loss_UL Path_loss_DL delta_Path_loss Delta_quality AV_MS_PWR Nb_of_samples RxQual_DL
TRX index Qual0 Qual1 Qual2 Qual4 Qual5 Qual6 Qual7 Bad_Quality Qual3
TRX index Qual0 Qual1 Qual2 Qual4 Qual5 Qual6 Qual7 Bad_Quality Qual3
1 -89.29 -84.67 0.42 123.82 123.67 -0.15 -0.01 34.53 3074 0.43
2 -89.77 -89.09 0.41 124.87 128.09 3.21 0.03 35.11 10 253 0.38
3 -83.15 -79.15 0.69 116.05 121.22 5.16 -0.16 32.9 5339 1.12
DISTRIBUTION OF UPLINK QUALITY
1 86.50% 3.19% 2.50% 1.92% 2.08% 0.98% 0.26% 3.32% 2.57%
2 88.11% 1.82% 1.91% 2.14% 2.17% 1.15% 0.19% 3.51% 2.51%
3 77.70% 4.30% 4.30% 3.56% 3.56% 1.70% 0.17% 4.36%
1 88.29% 1.82% 2.05% 1.30% 1.46% 1.76% 0.94% 4.16% 2.37%
2 87.50% 2.98% 2.60% 2.11% 1.14% 0.74% 0.50% 2.38% 2.43%
3 71.30% 3.82% 4.02% 4.16% 4.30% 4.23% 3.16% 4.89%
DISTRIBUTION OF DOWNLINK QUALITY
5.43%
11.73%
It could have been coverage problems if this trace was made for 3 mono-TRX cells. In this case, the 3 lines
are uncorrelated. Anyway, delta path loss of frequency 111 is greater than 5dB, showing a problem on this
TRX.
If this is a 3-TRX cell, it cannot be a coverage problem as the three TRXs are not impacted. It will be either
interference or malfunction of one TRE.
If the trace is done on 3 mono-TRX cells, in that case, it could be a coverage problem. Be careful when
interpreting this result table: even if average levels in the UL and the DL are high and a lot of Quality
problems are seen, nobody can say that samples with bad quality have a good level! The level seen is just
an average
One should have a look at the next slide
Note: Delta Path Loss = Path Balance (as computed in NPO)
= (BTS TXPWR RXLEV DL) (MS TXPWR RXLEV UL)
= (39 89.09) (35.11 89.77) = 3.21
1 1 14
2 Coverage Problem
Investigation with Abis Trace [cont.]
Thresholds
Bad Coverage
RxLev -95
RxQual > 4
Interference
RxLev > -95
RxQual > 4
3 -88.00 6
3 -95.33 3
1 -71.00 3
1 -80.00 6
1 -80.00 3 -80.00 3
5
7
11
1
12 12
Number_UL: 10 253
Number_DL: 10 253
Int_UL: 2
BC_UL: 358
Int_DL: 0%
0.02%
3.49%
67 -
104.64
2 0
48 -
107.50
5 1
Number_UL: 5339
Number_DL: 5339
Int_UL: 0
BC_UL: 290
Int_DL: 0%
BC_DL: 626
0.00%
5.43%
Samples <Lev> BSIC
63 -101.54 2
Samples <Lev> BSIC Neigh_Cell_Nb
Samples <Lev> BSIC Neigh_Cell_N
b
<RxLev_Serving>= -102.17 dBm 3.74% BC_DL: 115
57 -100.53 2 0
45 -98.71 2 10
34 -98.03 6 5
33 -98.61 3 7
<RxLev_Serving>= -106.56 dBm
BC_DL: 244 2.38% <RxLev_Serving>= -106.17 dBm
Frequency: 92
Frequency: 111
11.73%
Neigh_Cell_N
b 10
All samples are Bad Coverage samples (BC). None is interference, showing that this cell is not facing any
interference problem.
By the way, if the cell is:
mono-TRX, this is a coverage problem.
3 TRXs, this is a malfunction of the TRE (shown also by the high value of delta_path_loss).
1 1 15
2 Coverage Problem
Investigation with RMS
Suspecting a cell coverage problem
Distribution of samples per RxQual value and RxLev band
Distribution of samples per RxLev band
0
1
2
4
5
7
[-110,
-104[
[-104,
-98[
[-98,
-92[
[-92,
-86[
[-86,
-80[
[-80,
-74[
[-74,
-68[
[-68,
-62[
[-62,
-56[
[-56,
-47[
RxQuality (Nb)
RxLevel
(dB)
[0, 14 793]
]14 793, 23 446]
]23 446, 29 586]
]29 586, 34 348]
]34 348, 38 239]
]38 239, 41 529]
]41 529, 44 378]
]44 378, 46 892]
Out of Range X
Interval of number
of samples
Downlink Samples Matrix in log scale
3
6
Not acceptable coverage limit:
too low level
too bad quality
A coverage problem is observed when a significant amount of the traffic of a cell is suffering from both low
level and bad quality (RxQual).
To confirm, distribution of samples per RXLEV band should be also considered to know the proportion of
calls which are experiencing a low signal level.
If a lot of samples of low level and bad quality are observed for only a sub-part of the TRXs (can be one
only) then a BTS hardware problem or a problem on the antenna should be suspected.
If all the TRXs are experiencing a lot of samples of low level and bad quality then a coverage problem must
be suspected.
These RMS indicators are provided on the NPO tool per TRX, per Cell:
Matrix of Number of Measurement Results per DL RxQual value and per DL RxLev band
RMQLDSAM = RMS_DL_RxQuality_RxLevel_sample
Vector of Percentage of Samples per DL RxLev band
RMQLDLVDV = RMS_DL_RxLevel_distrib
Vector of Percentage of Samples per DL RxQual band
RMQLDQUDV = RMS_DL_RxQuality_distrib
1 1 16
2 Coverage Problem
Investigation with RMS [cont.]
Suspecting a cell coverage problem
Average TA values per RxQual value and RxLev band
16.00%
14.00%
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
0
1
/
1
2
/
2
0
0
1
0
1
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
0
2
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
0
3
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
0
4
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
0
5
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
0
6
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
0
7
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
0
8
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
0
9
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
1
0
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
1
1
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
1
2
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
1
3
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
1
4
/
0
1
/
2
0
0
2
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
%N > TA thres TA max
Maximum Timing Advance and TA > threshold
N > TA thres
TA max
TA threshold
Acceptable
coverage limit:
sufficient level and
good quality
Not acceptable
coverage limit:
too low level and
too bad quality
% of TA value
over TA threshold
has also to be
considered
0
1
2
4
5
7
[-110,
-104[
[-104,
-98[
[-98,
-92[
[-92,
-86[
[-86,
-80[
[-80,
-74[
[-74,
-68[
[-68,
-62[
[-62,
-56[
[-56,
-47[
RxQuality (Nb)
RxLevel
(dB)
[0, 2]
]2, 4]
]4, 6]
]6, 8]
Out of Range
Interval of average
Timing Advance
Uplink average TA Distribution
3
6
X
Down
In order to know if the coverage problem is due to a big amount of traffic at the cell border or rather to
indoor calls, the average TA value per RXQUAL value and RXLEV band as well as the Percentage of TA
values over TA threshold should be observed:
Matrix of Average TA per UL RxQual value and per UL RxLev band
RMQLUTAM = RMS_UL_RxQuality_RxLevel_TimingAdvance
Rate of Measurements Results whose TA is greater than the TA threshold
RMTAGTR = RMS_TimingAdvance_greater_threshold_rate
Maximum TA value of all values reported in Measurement Results
RMTAMXN = RMS_TimingAdvance_max
1 1 17
2 Coverage Problem
Investigation with RMS [cont.]
Suspecting a local cell coverage problem
RxQual and RxLev per TA bands
5
4
3
2
0
1
2.5
[0,5[ [6,11[ [55,63[ [49,54[ [43,48[ [37,42[ [31,36[ [25,30[ [19,24
[
[12,18
[
-47
- 60
- 70
- 80
- 110
- 90
- 59
[0,5[ [6,11[ [55,63[ [49,54[ [43,48[ [37,42[ [31,36[ [25,30[ [19,24
[
[12,18
[
Bad quality
and bad Level
for a specific TA band
Coverage problem
In order to know if the coverage problem is due to a big amount of traffic at the cell border or rather to
indoor calls, the average TA value per RXQUAL value and RXLEV band as well as the Percentage of TA
values over TA threshold should be observed:
Matrix of Average TA per UL RxQual value and per UL RxLev band
RMQLUTAM = RMS_UL_RxQuality_RxLevel_TimingAdvance
Rate of Measurements Results whose TA is greater than the TA threshold
RMTAGTR = RMS_TimingAdvance_greater_threshold_rate
Maximum TA value of all values reported in Measurement Results
RMTAMXN = RMS_TimingAdvance_max
1 1 18
3 Interference Problem
1 1 19
Definition: Interference
A network facing interference problems presents good RxLev and bad RxQual
at the same time on some areas.
Symptoms
Customers complain about bad speech quality (noisy calls) and/or call drops
OMC QoS indicators:
SDCCH/TCH Drop
Low proportion of better cell HO
High rate of DL/UL quality HO and interference HO
Low HO success rate
DL/UL depends on the way on which the interference is present.
Mainly, interferences are in the DL, due to bad frequency planning introducing interferences in the
network. And this problem will not change till the frequency plan is not returned
Sometimes, interference can be in the UL in very dense area (for example, microcell area), since MSs are
very close.
Finally, sometimes interferences are not coming from BS or MS but from another radio equipment, either in
the UL or the DL.
1 1 20
Examination with RMS
Radio Measurement Statistics (RMS)
RxQual/RxLev matrix
CFE/RxLev matrix
C/I vectors for neighbors
C/I vectors for MAFA frequencies
MAFA is a new standardized GSM feature for mobiles
MAFA mobiles can provide C/I measurements from non-neighbor cells
Number of calls with DL/UL interference (good RxLev, bad RxQual)
Number of noisy calls (bad RxQual) with bad voice quality (bad FER)
A high rate use of the most robust AMR codecs also denounces interferences
problems. But be careful, this can also be due to a pessimistic choice of the
thresholds used for codec change.
The feature Radio Measurement Statistics (RMS) is designed to make far easier the work for planning and
optimization of the network by providing the operator with useful statistics on reported radio
measurements.
In fact these statistics give directly the real cell characteristics by taking into account the MS distribution.
Thanks to this feature, the operator is able to:
detect interfered frequencies.
assess the quality of the cell coverage.
detect and quantify cell unexpected propagation.
assess the traffic distribution in the cell from statistics on reported neighboring cells.
evaluate the voice quality in the cell.
etc.
In regards to the RTCH Measurements Observation (measurement type 11), the Radio Measurement
Statistics feature (RMS) brings the following advantages:
smaller report files.
the report files always have the same maximum length no matter what the measurement duration is.
every measurement is taken into account (no sampling).
no more need for measurement post-processing tools for statistics. Directly available with NPO.
1 1 21
Examination with RMS [cont.]
Suspecting a cell interference problem
Number of samples per RxQual value and RxLev band
Quality problems are obvious at any
level of RMS data
Interference highlighted
Network fine tuning needed
0
1
2
4
5
7
[-110,
-104[
[-104,
-98[
[-98,
-92[
[-92,
-86[
[-86,
-80[
[-80,
-74[
[-74,
-68[
[-68,
-62[
[-62,
-56[
[-56,
-47[
RxQuality (Nb)
RxLevel
(dB)
[0, 14 793]
]14 793, 23 446]
]23 446, 29 586]
]29 586, 34 348]
]34 348, 38 239]
]38 239, 41 529]
]41 529, 44 378]
]44 378, 46 892]
Out of Range X
Interval of number
of samples
Downlink Samples Matrix in log scale
3
6
Average RxQual value per RXLev band
has also to be considered
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
[-110,
-104[
[-104,
-98[
[-98,
-92[
[-92,
-86[
[-86,
-80[
[-80,
-74[
[-74,
-68[
[-68,
-62[
[-62,
-56[
[-56,
-47[
RxQuality (Nb)
RxLevel
(dB)
Downlink average RxQuality per RxLevel
RxQuality
Average
5
Average DL RxQuality = 2.81
1 1 22
Suspecting a Voice Quality problem
Number of samples per BFI band and RxLev band
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
[-110,
-104[
[-104,
-98[
[-98,
-92[
[-92,
-86[
[-86,
-80[
[-80,
-74[
[-74,
-68[
[-68,
-62[
[-62,
-56[
[-56,
-47[
Average CFE
RxLevel (dB)
Uplink average Consecutive Frame Erasure per RxLevel
7
8
Average RxQual
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
CFE
Average
RxQuality
Average
Consecutive Frame Erasure (BFI) is a
measurement based on loss of consecutive
speech frames over one SACCH mw.
It is directly linked to Voice Quality.
RxQual to be compared with CFE since Bad
RxQual does not always mean bad VQ.
[0, 1[
[1, 2[
[2, 4[
[6, 8[
[8, 10[
[14, 18[
[-110,
-104[
[-104,
-98[
[-98,
-92[
[-92,
-86[
[-86,
-80[
[-80,
-74[
[-74,
-68[
[-68,
-62[
[-62,
-56[
[-56,
-47[
CFE (Nb)
RxLevel
(dB)
[0, 14 793]
]14 793, 23 446]
]23 446, 29 586]
]29 586, 34 348]
]34 348, 38 239]
]38 239, 41 529]
]41 529, 44 378]
]44 378, 46 892]
Out of Range X
Interval of number
of samples
Consecutive Frame Erasure Matrix in log scale
[4, 6[
[10, 14[
[14, 18[
[14, 18[
[22, 25[
[18, 22[
[14, 18[
Matrix of Number of Measurements Results per CFE band (or BFI band) and per UL RxLev band
RMFEM = RMS_UL_ConsecutiveFrameErasure_RxLevel_sample
Vector of Average number of Consecutive Frame Erasure per UL RxLev band
RMFEBFAV = RMS_UL_ConsecutiveFrameErasure_avg_per_RxLevel
Vector of Average UL RxQual per RxLev band
RMQLUQUAV = RMS_UL_RxQuality_avg_per_RxLevel
1 1 23
Suspecting a local interference problem
RxQual and RxLev per TA bands
5
4
3
2
0
1
2.5
[0,5[ [6,11[ [55,63[ [49,54[ [43,48[ [37,42[ [31,36[ [25,30[ [19,24
[
[12,18
[
Bad quality
and good Level
for a specific TA band
interference problem
-47
- 60
- 70
- 80
- 110
- 90
- 59
[0,5[ [6,11[ [55,63[ [49,54[ [43,48[ [37,42[ [31,36[ [25,30[ [19,24
[
[12,18
[
Matrix of Number of Measurements Results per CFE band (or BFI band) and per UL RxLev band
RMFEM = RMS_UL_ConsecutiveFrameErasure_RxLevel_sample
Vector of Average number of Consecutive Frame Erasure per UL RxLev band
RMFEBFAV = RMS_UL_ConsecutiveFrameErasure_avg_per_RxLevel
Vector of Average UL RxQual per RxLev band
RMQLUQUAV = RMS_UL_RxQuality_avg_per_RxLevel
1 1 24
Typical Causes
GSM interference
co-channel
adjacent
Non-GSM interference
other Mobile Networks
other RF sources
1 1 25
GSM Interference: Co-Channel
GSM Interference
Co-Channel interference
If C/I < 12dB (9dB according to GSM), then the call suffers bad quality
Level
Frequency
F(BTS1)
-12 dB
F(BTS2)
F(BTS1) = F(BTS2)
- 12dB
1 1 26
GSM Interference: Co-Channel [cont.]
Co-channel interference
Symptom
Usually downlink interference
High rate of quality HO, call drop and call failure
Examination
Neighbor cells in Abis trace (only for BCCH)
Non-neighbor cells in RMS (MAFA frequencies)
Frequency planning C/I < 12 dB
Correction
Downtilt increase of interferer, or even change of antenna orientation
Reduction of BS power, Change of frequency
Concentric cell implementation (1 extra TRX needed if traffic cannot be supported
by Outer+Inner configuration)
1 1 27
GSM Interference: Adjacent Channels
Adjacent channel interference
If C/I < -6dB (-9dB according to GSM), then the call suffers bad quality
Level
Frequency
F(BTS1)
6 dB
F(BTS2)
F(BTS1) = F(BTS2)+1
- 6dB
1 1 28
GSM Interference: Adjacent Channels [cont.]
Adjacent channel interference:
Symptom
Usually downlink interference
High rate of quality HO, call drop (due to HO but mainly due to radio) and TCH
assignment failure
Examination
Neighbor cells in Abis trace (only for BCCH)
Non-neighbor cells in RMS (MAFA frequencies)
Frequency planning C/(I adjacent) < -6dB
Correction
Downtilt increase of interferer, or even change of antenna orientation
Reduction of BS power if necessary, Change of frequency (best solution)
Concentric cell implementation (1 extra TRX needed if traffic cannot be supported
by Outer+Inner configuration)
1 1 29
GSM Interference: cellular
GSM interference: cellular
BTS1: ARFCN 5
BTS2: ARFCN 6
MS1 indoor
RxLev_UL: - 90 dBm
MS2 outdoor, connected to BTS2
1: no level on BTS1
(BTS 1 under-roof)
2: - 80 dBm on BTS1:
interferer UL/DL
3: no level on BTS1
cell algo prevents BTS2->BTS1 HO
MS 1
(indoor)
MS 2
(outdoor)
1
2
3
BTS 1
(Micro)
BTS 2
When interferences are created by frequency planning, its not so hard to detect them. But frequency
planning tools mainly consider DL C/I and coverage.
Some problems are more difficult to predict. For example, lets consider a microcell layer:
A and B are 2 microcells with the coverage described before in dense urban environment.
Even if both cells A & B are using adjacent frequencies (5 and 6), the overlapping area is far from cell A
antenna. Thus, in this area C/I is lower than 6 dB.
A red MS is connected to cell A. When the MS starts its call, it transmits full power and a PC algorithm
quickly reduces MS power as the received level is very good (microcell coverage). When MS A enters the
building, it faces a loss of signal of 20 dB. Then, the MS power increases to MS_TXPWR_MAX.
A second mobile B is connected to cell B and moves down in the coverage area of cell B. The MS power
of B decreases quickly down to MS_TXPWR_MIN as the MS is close to the antenna. But when MS B arrives
outside the building where A is sitting, A and B are close and transmitting on adjacent frequencies Then B
has to increase its power to avoid dropping its call. By the way, global level of freq B is increased in all cell
B creating interference in the UL.
A
B
1 1 30
GSM Interference: Forced Directed Retry
GSM Interference: Forced Directed Retry
The MS should connect to cell2, but no TCH
available
The MS connects to cell 1 with forced
directed retry
The MS is emitting at high level (far from
BTS1)
UL interference for BTS 3
BTS 1 is emitting at high level
DL interference at BTS 3
C
e
l
l

2
: 45
C
e
ll 3:
2
3
C
e
l
l

1
:

2
4
MS
BTS 2
BTS 1
BTS 3
Another more difficult case of interference: FDR
When examining the preceding situation of planning tool: no problem of C/I. No risk of interference.
The FDR algorithm allows an MS connected on an SDDCH on a cell without any free TCH to make an
SDCCH-TCH handover (cause 20) so that it takes a TCH on its neighbor. As seen from the user, this is not a
handover (call establishment phase, no impact on speech quality), and this algorithm is very efficient to
avoid cell congestion cases.
This algorithm is mainly based on neighbor level compared to parameter L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR (n). If the
level greater than this threshold, the TCH is to be seized on neighbor.
FDR is mandatory for dual layer or dual band networks (and very easy to configure in this case), since we
have capture handovers. Capture handovers send traffic to lower or preferred band cells. In case these
cells are congested, calls may not be established, even if upper or non-preferred band cells are free (due
to MS idle mode selection, advantaging microcell for example). With the FDR algorithm, the MS takes an
SDCCH in the preferred cell, and FDR is used to take a TCH on the non-preferred cell in case of congestion.
This situation highlights a good network behavior, since the MS is at the same time in the coverage area of
both cells (preferred and not preferred).
The situation described on the slide corresponds to the usage of FDR in a single layer network. This is in
that case a heavy-to-tune algorithm presenting of lot of interference and bad quality call risks, since the
mobile will be connected to a cell when being not in its service area.
umbrella
microcell
FDR capture
1 1 31
Non-GSM Interference
Other mobile networks: TACS/AMPS/NMT900
Inter-modulation with GSM BS/MS receiver
Spurious RACH for AMPS (AMPS Tx bands close to GSM uplink band)
Examination
TASC: coverage hole with 600 m from TASC BTS
AMPS => 50% reduction of range if AMPS/GSM BTS collocated
Other RF interferers (Radar, shop anti-theft mechanisms, medical
device, etc.)
Other RF interferers:
medical devices: GSM equipment disturb them more than the opposite!
anti-theft mechanisms.
Example:
The Microcell is showing a very high call drop rate. On one frequency, very small call duration.
No problem seen in the frequency plannig. No potential interferer.
Abis trace:
The Spectrum analyzer connected on the antenna feeder highlights a peak on GSM freq 6 in the UL
Anti-theft mechanism turned off: no more problem
shop
Microcell
antenna
Qual
Level
Qual
Level
DL
UL
interference
1 1 32
4 Unbalanced Power Budget Problem
1 1 33
Definition: Unbalanced power budget
A cell facing unbalanced power budget problems presents a too high path-
loss difference between UL and DL (often DL>UL)
Rule: try to have delta as small as possible to avoid access network possible
only in 1 direction (usually BTS->MS: OK and MS->BTS: NOK)
Symptoms:
OMC QoS indicators
High rate of Uplink quality Handover causes
Low incoming HO success rate (no HO Access triggered on the uplink)
Degradation of TCH failures and OC call drop indicators
O&M Alarms
Voltage Standing Wave Ratio BTS Alarm (VSWR)
TMA Alarm (in case of G2 BTS or Evolium BTS with high power TRE)
UL Quality HO is triggered:
UL since the problem is in the UL.
Quality as Quality has greater priority than level.
1 1 34
Examination
RMS:
Path Balance vector per TRX
Number of calls with abnormal bad FER (good RxQual & bad FER)
Abis monitoring:
|delta path-loss| > 5dB
Check if problem is occurring for 1 TRX or all
Problem on 1 TRX: FU/CU or TRE problem or ANY problem or cables connected to this equipment.
All TRXs: problem on antenna, feeder, jumper or common equipment (e.g., ANX, ANC).
1 1 35
Abis Trace
106 -94.52 -87.19 0.43 127.55 130.19 -2.64 0.18 33.03 2066 0.25
Frequency Qual0 Qual1 Qual2 Qual4 Qual5 Qual6 Qual7 Bad_Quality Qual3
Frequency Qual0 Qual1 Qual2 Qual4 Qual5 Qual6 Qual7 Bad_Quality Qual3
89 -84.29 -75.17 0.65 115.32 118.17 -2.85 0.21 31.03 2001 0.44
118 -90.75 -83.36 0.46 123.22 126.36 -3.14 0.04 32.46 3193 0.41
124 -88.89 -85.30 0.29 120.48 128.30 -0.37 31.59 2931 0.67
DISTRIBUTION OF UPLINK QUALITY
106 84.75% 4.07% 3.68% 1.36% 1.50% 0.92% 0.53% 2.95% 3.19%
89 81.41% 1.70% 2.95% 6.35% 2.55% 1.30% 0.10% 3.95% 3.65%
118 83.62% 4.23% 4.23% 1.57% 1.79% 0.97% 0.25% 3.35%
106 90.27% 3.44% 2.08% 0.92% 1.36% 0.34% 0.05% 1.74% 1.55%
89 80.16% 6.45% 7.00% 1.50% 0.50% 0.45% 0.10% 1.05% 3.85%
118 86.78% 2.72% 3.95% 1.41% 1.13% 1.19% 1.00% 1.82%
DISTRIBUTION OF DOWNLINK QUALITY
3.01%
3.32%
Frequency RxLev_UL RxLev_DL RxQual_UL Path_loss_UL Path_loss_DL delta_Path_loss Delta_quality AV_MS_PWR Nb_of_samples RxQual_DL
-7.82
124 90.79% 1.06% 2.18% 1.77% 1.30% 0.48% 0.07% 2.35% 1.84%
124 77.14% 4.37% 5.87% 3.48% 1.36% 0.82% 1.02% 5.94% 3.21%
1 1 36
RMS Data
Suspecting a TRX hardware problem
Average Path Balance
A fair average Path Balance at Cell level can hide a bad value for one TRX
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
[-110,
-20[
[-20,
-10[
[-10,
-6[
[-6,
-3[
[-3,
0[
[0,
3[
[3,
6[
[6,
10[
[10,
20[
[20,
110[
Nb Samples
PathBalance
(dB)
Nb
Samples
PathBalance Distribution
Average Cell Path Balance = - 0.9 dB
Vector of the Number of Measurement Results per Path Balance band
RMPBV = RMS_PathBalance_sample
Average Path Balance value
RMPBAN = RMS_PathBalance_avg
1 1 37
Typical Causes
Antennas or common RF components, TMA (pb common to all TRXs of
the BTS)
TRX RF cables/LNA ... if problem located on only 1 FU
Every BTS has its proper architecture and the diagnosis must be adapted.
1 1 38
5 TCH Congestion Problem
1 1 39
Definition: TCH Congestion
TCH Congestion rate (TCH Assignment Phase) is too high (more than 2%)
Rule: try to meet the offered traffic (asked by users) by providing the right
number of resources (TRX extension)
Symptoms:
Customers complain about Network busy
OMC QoS indicators
High TCH Congestion rate
Low incoming Intra/Inter BSC HO success rate (no TCH available)
High Directed Retry rate if activated
A interface indicator: BSS Congestion failure in OC
High rate of Assignment Failure messages, No radio resource available
1 1 40
Examination and Typical Causes
Examination: TCH Congestion
On a per cell basis examination, check the evolution of the TCH Congestion
rate.
Typical causes:
Special events:
Foreseeable: football match, important meeting
Activate some TRXs already installed (and use Synthesized FH)
Add special moving BTSs
Not foreseeable: car crash on the highway
Cells on wheel operational by several operators around the world for special events coverage & capacity:
IRMA (SFR) connected to Caens BSC.
Orange coverage / Football WC 1998 for Paris Stade de France :
Specific cells covering Paris Stadium. During games, only small capacity (using joker frequencies).
During breaks, some TRX off-cells around are turned off, and frequencies are reused for stadium cells.
1 1 41
Typical Causes
Daily periodic problems
At peak hour, the cell is not correctly dimensioned.
Hardware solution (refer to Annex)
Estimate the offered traffic:
At OMC-R level: Traffic in Erlang/(1- TCH Congestion rate)
Use the B-Erlang law to estimate the number of TCHs required for a 2%
blocking rate, thus the target configuration
Add TRXs to reach the new target configuration and find joker frequencies
and / or implement concentric cells
Warning: offered traffic is not the capacity delivered by the system but the traffic asked by the users.
1 1 42
Typical Causes [cont.]
Daily periodic problems
At peak hour, the cell is not correctly dimensioned.
Software solution
Use specific densification features
Half Rate
Forced Directed Retry
Traffic handover
Fast Traffic handover
Candidate Cell Evaluation (FREEFACTOR / LOADFACTOR)
Half rate may not only mean SW solution. Need of G2 BSC/TC, Evolium TRE or G2 DRFU.
1 1 43
6 Deducing the Right Team for
Intervention
1 1 44
6 Deducing the Right Team for Intervention
Process
Problem characterization
Make assumption causes
Check the tuning of default radio parameters
Consult the config. db Choose an (other) classical algo
Identify the tunable parameters
Impact estimation
Standard setting ?
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Call expert
- Microcell, multiband
- Concentric
=N
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Parameters modification
Database updating
Impact simulation of a
parameter modification
No
- Hopping
- Marketing
Yes
QOS alarm on the network,
on a BSC or some cells
- Indicators (% call drop)
- Field measurements/planning
- Subscriber complains
QOS team
DHCP
END
Drive test team
DHCP
END
Dimensionning team
OK
Correction
action
Maintenance team
Planning team
NOK
Cell corrected ?
Neighbor cell ?
RFT team - Interferences
- Coverage (indoor)
- Power budget
- Congestion (TCH, SDCCH)
- BSS problem
Investig problem ?
Planning/BSS causes
Standard parameters ?
On
purpose
System
problem ?
Simulation
OK ?
Recurrent problem ?
N times
Check ?
With QOS ?
1 1 45
Coverage Problem
In case of coverage problem:
If the field reality does not match the RNP prediction
Maintenance team to change physical configuration (tilt, azimuth, antenna height,
etc.) and drive test team to check it
If the field reality matches the RNP prediction
Deployment team to add sites (tri-sector, micro cellular, indoor cells)
1 1 46
Other Problems
In case of interference problem:
Planning team to identify the interference source and correct it (joker
frequency, new frequency planning, etc.)
In case of unbalanced power budget problem:
Maintenance team to check the impacted BTS (antennas, TMA, RF cables,
LNA, diversity system, etc.)
In case of TCH congestion problem:
Traffic team (theoretically always in relation with the marketing team) to
manage the need of TRX extension, densification policy, etc.
1 1 47
Exercise
Match the symptoms listed below with the corresponding problem.
High rate of UL QUAL HO
causes
Good RxLev and Bad RxQual
VSWR alarm (OMC-R)
(Voltage Standing Wave Ratio)
Bad RxLev and Bad RxQual
OMC QOS indicators:
% TCH ASS failure high
% call drop high
% QUAL HO
% call drop
% call failure
Unbalanced
Power Budget
Bad coverage Interferences
TCH
Congestion
High Path-loss difference
between UL and DL
Low incoming HO success
rate
Time allowed:
10 minutes
1 1 48
Self-assessment on the Objectives
Please be reminded to fill in the form
Self-Assessment on the Objectives
for this module
The form can be found in the first part
of this course documentation
1 1 49
End of Module
Typical radio problems

12
Module 2
Algorithms and Associated Parameters
Section 1
Tuning
B10 Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning Algorithms and Associated Parameters
1 2 2
Blank Page
Document History
1 2 3
Module Objectives
Describe the Power control and Handover algorithms
List the associated parameters
1 2 4
1 2 5
Table of Contents
Page
2 Idle Mode Selection and Reselection 9
3 Radio Measurement Principles 17
4 Radio Measurement Data Processing 24
5 Radio Link Supervision and Power Control 32
6 Handover Detection 57
7 Handover Candidate Cell Evaluation 141
8 Exercise 153
1 2 6
Page
1 2 7
1 2 8
Justification
When the detected problem does not concern another team (Network
planning and frequency planning, Dimensioning, Radio engineering,
Maintenance) or when the other teams cannot give any solution (too
tight frequency planning, no additional TRX available, no financial
budget for new sites, etc.), the Radio Fine Tuning team has to find a
compromise between:
High traffic density (Erl/km/Hz)
High quality of service (Call drop, CSSR, Speech quality, indoor, etc.)
Its role: take charge of radio resources management process
This process can be fully described by MS Selection/Reselection, Power
Control and Handover algorithms.
In-depth knowledge of these algorithms is required for tuning
1 2 9
2 Idle Mode Selection and Reselection
1 2 10
Selection and Reselection Principles
At startup (IMSI Attach), the MS selects a cell with:
best C1
once camped on one cell (in idle mode)
the MS can decide to reselect on another one if:
C1 criterion is too low
the MS cannot decode downlink messages
the current cell is becoming forbidden (e.g. barred)
the MS cannot access the cell
there is a better cell, regarding C2 criterion
Idle Mode
Status null: the Mobile Station (MS) is off
Status search BCCH: the MS searches a broadcast channel with the best signal level (cell selection and
reselection)
BCCH list: up to 36 BCCH frequencies plus BSIC can be saved on SIM per visited network.
Look if frequencies of the BCCH list can be used.
No entries in the BCCH list, or the location is completely different: scan frequency band.
Status BCCH: the MS is synchronized on a BCCH. The MS camps on a cell.
The BTS sends the neighbor cells list (BCCH allocation BA) on BCCH in System Information (SI) 2,
2bis and 2ter if BSS parameter EN_INTERBAND_NEIGH in dual band networks:
O GSM900 serving cell
GSM900 neighbor cells put into SI 2
GSM1800 neighbor cells put into SI 2ter/2bis
O GSM1800 serving cell
GSM900 neighbor cells put into SI 2ter
GSM1800 neighbor cells put into SI 2/2bis
The MS measures RXLEV from BCCH of the serving and neighbor cells.
Camping on a cell is performed using C1 criterion only (the chosen cell is the one with the best
C1)
O The MS needs to have access to the network.
O The MS needs to be accessible by the network.
Reselection is done using the mechanisms referenced above.
O handover algorithms in idle mode
1 2 11
C1 Criteria
C1
Ensures that, if a call was attempted, it would be done with a sufficient downlink and
uplink received level
Based on 2 parameters, broadcasted on BCCH
RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN [dBm] (default -100dBm)
MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH [dBm] (default 43dBm for GSM900, 30dBm for DCS1800)
Evaluated every 5 sec (minimum)
C1 = (RxLev - RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN) - Max(0, MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH - P)
If C1 < 0, then "No Network Available" displayed on the phone.
What happens if MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH is kept at default value in GSM900 cells?
When the MS is at the cell border and receives -91dBm,
C1 = (-91 + 100) Max(0, 43 33) = 9 10 = -1
The MS cannot establish a call in this cell !! Set MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH to 33dBm
RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN [dBm] = minimum level to access the cell
MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH [dBm] = maximum level for MS emitting
With:
P: max power of the MS depending on its class (99.9% of MS = 33dBm in GSM900 and = 30dBm in DCS1800)
RxLev: current measurement of the DL_RxLev
1 2 12
C2 Criteria Normal setting
C2
CELL_RESELECT_PARAM_IND= not present
THEN C2=C1
CELL_RESELECT_PARAM_IND= present
THEN C2 = C1 + CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET - TEMPORARY_OFFSET (T)
With:
TEMPORARY_OFFSET (T) = TEMPORARY_OFFSET if T < PENALTY_TIME
TEMPORARY_OFFSET (T) = 0 if T > PENALTY_TIME
T is the duration a neighbour cell has spent in the neighbour list.
It starts from 0 when the neighbour has just been detected.
Note:
CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET: from 0 to 126 dB, step 2dB
PENALTY_TIME: from 0=20s to 30=620s, step: 20s; 31=infinite
TEMPORARY_OFFSET: from 1=10dB to 6=60dB; 7 = infinite
Cell Selection and Cell Reselection Considering CELL_BAR_QUALIFY
In case of phase 2 MS and CELL_RESELECT_PARAM_IND=1, it is possible to set priorities to cells
CELL_BAR_QUALIFY
Two values:
0 = normal priority (default value)
1 = lower priority
CELL_BAR_QUALIFY Interacts with CELL_BAR_ACCESS (barring cell)
A phase 2 MS selects the suitable cell with the highest C2 (C1>0) belonging to the list of normal priority.
If no cell with normal priority is available then the MS would select the lower priority cell with the
highest C2 (C1>0).
1 2 13
C2 Criteria Special setting
C2
CELL_RESELECT_PARAM_IND= present
PENALTY_TIME = infinity
THEN C2 = C1 - CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET
This handicap is always applied, whichever the value of T.
If a cell is parametered with PT=31, it will be penalized compared to ALL its
neighbors.
This parameter is not recommended because it requires special care and
could be misunderstood by your colleagues.
You can have the same result by giving a bonus to neighbour cells rather than
giving a handicap to this particular cell.
Note:
1 2 14
C2 Criteria Different Location Areas
C2
The MS will reselect a neighbour cell (n) as soon as:
if cells belong to same LA
C2(n) > C2(s)
if cells from a different LA
C2(n) > C2(s) + Cell_Reselect_Hysteresis
Note:
1 2 15
Exercise 1
On this network example
List the parameters involved in the selection / reselection process
Time allowed:
5 minutes
Cell
S
e
ctorized ce
ll
CI=6169
GSM900
C
o
ncentric c
e
ll
(8
564, 1964
)
(8
564, 6169
)
(8557, 1823
)
Cell
CI=6271
GSM900
CI=6270, GSM900
CI=1823
GSM900
CI=1964
GSM900
1 2 16
Exercise 2
Find the selected cell by the MS
Cell 1
Cell 2
CI=6169
GSM900
Cell 3
(8
564, 1964
)
(8
564, 6169
)
(8557, 1823
)
Cell
CI=6271
GSM900
CI=6270, GSM900
CI=1823
GSM900
CI=1964
GSM900
Measurements RxLev (cell 1) RxLev (cell 2) RxLev (cell 3)
1
2
3
4
5
-80
-84
-88
-88
-89
-96
-90
-90
-87
-85
-104
-100
-87
-82
-78
The same parameters setting is applied in all the cells:
Rxlev_Access_min = -103 dBm for all cells
Cell_Reselect_Offset = 0 dB
Temporary_Offset = 0 dB
Penalty_Time = 0 (20 s)
Cell_Reselect_Hysteresis = 6 dB
1 2 17
3 Radio Measurement Principles
1 2 18
Radio Measurement Mechanisms
MS connected (TCH or SDCCH)
The serving cell gives the MS the list of the neighbor cells to listen to
Every SACCH, the MS reports to the serving cell via a measurement
report message:
Received level of 6 best cells
(which can change)
DL level and quality
of serving cell
B
e
s
t
c
ell
B
e
st ce
ll
B
e
s
t
cell
B
e
st ce
l
l
Cell
Cell
B
e
st ce
ll
Cell
B
e
st ce
ll
S
e
r
v
i
n
g

c
e
ll
SYS_INFO_5
message (list)
MS reporting
The BTS sends a SYS_INFO_5 message that contains the list of neighbor cells for connected mode (The
SYS_INFO_2 message contains the list of neighbor cells for idle mode).
Sys info 2bis, 2ter, 5bis and 5ter are also used for multiband networks.
MS reporting depends on EN_INTERBAND_NEIGH and on MULTIBAND_REPORTING parameters.
The MS may report:
6 strongest cells of any band (MULTIBAND_REPORTING=0), or
5 strongest cells of the serving band + 1 strongest cell of another band
(MULTIBAND_REPORTING=1), or
4+2 (MULTIBAND_REPORTING=2), or
3+3 (MULTIBAND_REPORTING=3).
RXLEV
Range: [-110dBm, -47dBm]
Binary range: [0, 63]; 0=-110dBm, 63=-47dBm
The higher the physical or binary value, the higher the receiving level
RXQUAL
Range: [0.14%, 18.10%]
Binary range: [0, 7]; 0=0.14%, 7=18.10%
The lower the physical or binary value, the lower the bit error rate, the better the quality
0-2=excellent; 3=good; 4=ok; 5=bad; 6=very bad; 7=not acceptable
1 2 19
Radio Measurement Mechanisms [cont.]
For each MS connected to the BTS
(TCH or SDCCH)
UL received level and quality is
measured every SACCH
The Timing Advance (TA) is
computed
The UL information is gathered
into the measurement report
This is the message result sent by
the BTS to the BSC
BSC
MS
D
L

m
e
asurem
e
n
t
s
U
L
+
D
L
m
easure
m
e
n
t
s
BTS
Measurement
report
Measurement
result
Candidate cell
evaluation
Measurements
Active channel
preprocessing
Candidate cell
evaluation
HO & PC
decision
Candidate cell
evaluation
PC execution
HO execution
The BSC is computing algorithms usually using average value (sliding
window) of these measurements
The BTS starts sending MEASUREMENT RESULT messages as soon as it receives the RL ESTABLISH INDICATION message from the MS.
The BTS stops sending MEASUREMENT RESULT messages upon receipt of one of the two following messages:
DEACTIVATE SACCH
RF CHANNEL RELEASE
Every SACCH multiframe, the BTS:
receives the MEASUREMENT REPORT message from the MS. For power control and handover algorithms, this message contains
downlink measurements and, in the layer 1 header, the power used by the MS.
does uplink measurements.
reports the uplink and downlink measurements to the BSC in the MEASUREMENT RESULT message.
Input flows
Uplink radio signal: radio signal received on the Air interface.
BS_TXPWR_CONF: BS transmit power currently used by the BS.
DTX_DL: indicator of downlink DTX use.
Output flows: Abis MEASUREMENT RESULT message
Internal flows:
Radio measurements.
Air MEASUREMENT REPORT message (DL) containing DL MS radio measurements.
Uplink radio measurements (quality and level) and a flag indicating whether DTX was used in the downlink (DTX/DL).
Timing advance: last TA calculated by the BTS.
MS_TXPWR_CONF: last reported value of MS power (reported by the MS).
BS_TXPWR_CONF: value of the BS transmit power currently in use.
BFI_SACCH: bad frame indicator of the SACCH block produced every SACCH multiframe (# 480ms):
O 0 = SACCH frame successfully decoded
O 1 = SACCH frame not successfully decoded
1 2 20
Structure of a Measurement Result
CHAN_NUMBER_IEID
FREQ(5) / BSIC(5) / RXLEV_NCELL(6)
Meas_result_number_IEID
Meas_result_number
Element Identifier
Length
{2} / RXLEV_UL_SUB_
{2} / RXQUAL_UL_FULL / RXQUAL_UL_SUB
BS_POWER_IEID
{3} / BS_POWER
Element Identifier
MS_TXPWR_CONF / R{3}
TOA / R{2}
Element Identifier
Length
Length
BA_USED / DTX_UL / RXLEV_DL_FULL
0 / MEAS_VALID / RXLEV_DL_SUB
0 / RXQUAL_DL_FULL / RXQUAL_DL_SUB / NO_NCELL_M
NO_NCELL_M / RXLEV_NCELL(1)
FREQ(1) / BSIC(1)
BSIC(1) / RXLEV_NCELL(2)
RXLEV_NCELL(2) / FREQ(2) / BSIC(2)
RXLEV_NCELL(3) / FREQ(3) / BSIC(3)
0 / Message Type{7}
RXLEV_NCELL(5) / FREQ(5)
SACCH_BFI / DTX_DL{1} / RXLEV_UL_FULL
CHANNEL_NUMBER
MSG_TYPE
MSG_DISK
TI {4} / Prot. Disc{4}
FREQ(6) / BSIC(6)
L1 Info
L3 Info:
Measurement
report from
the MS
Basically, the MEASUREMENT RESULT message is composed of:
L1 info: SACCH Layer 1 header containing MS_TXPWR_CONF and TOA.
L3 info: MEASUREMENT REPORT from the MS. This message contains the downlink measurements and
neighbor cell measurements.
Uplink measurements performed by the BTS.
BTS power level used.
SUB frames correspond to the use of DTX:
if the mobile is in DTX, the rxlevsub or rxqualsub is used to avoid measuring the TS where there is
nothing to transmit in order not to distort measurements.
else rxlevfull is used that is to say all TSs are measured.
MS TXPOWER CONF: which is the actual power emitted by the MS.
TOA is timing advance.
SACCH BFI: bad frame indicator; 2 values 0 or 1; 0 means that the BTS succeeded in decoding the
measurement report.
How the neighbor cells are coded:
BCCH1 index in BA list / BSIC1; BCCH2 index in BA list / BSIC2
why? because it does not receive LAC/CI (too long) but BCCH and replies with BCCH/BSIC
1 2 21
EXtended Measurement Reporting (EMR)
Extended Measurement Reporting mechanisms
Extended Measurement
Order includes the
MAFA frequencies the
MS is asked to measure
EMO sent once to the
MS on SACCH after TCH
seizure
Extended Measurement
Results include the
average signal level
measured on each
MAFA frequency over
one SACCH mf duration
EMR received once per
call on SACCH
Channel Activation Acknowledge
Assignment Request
Physical Context Request
Physical Context Confirm
Channel Activation (TCH)
(EMO included)
TCH ESTABLISHMENT
TCH
Assignment Complete
Assignment Complete
Assignment Complete
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH (EMO)
(MAFA Freq. List)
SACCH (EMR)
(MAFA Freq. RxLev)
TCH ASSIGNMENT (OC or TC)
MS BTS BSC MSC
When the BTS receives a CHANNEL ACTIVATION with the Extended Measurement Order (EMO) included, it
must send this information on the SACCH to the corresponding mobile only once.
When the BTS has to send this information, it must replace the sending of system information 5, 5bis,
5ter or 6 by this information. At the next SACCH multiframe, the BTS must resume the sending of this
system information by the replaced one.
The EMO must be sent after 2 complete sets of SYS_INFO5 and 6, i.e. after the 2
nd
SYSINFO 6 after the
reception of SABM. This guarantees the MS has received a complete set.
Then, the BTS normally receives from the MS an EXTENDED MEASUREMENT RESULT with the level of the
frequencies to monitor. The BTS must make the correlation between these levels and the frequencies
contained in the latest EMO information, after having decoded them, according to the order of the
ARFCN. The EXTENDED_MEASUREMENT_RESULT is NOT forwarded to the BSC, instead a
MEASUREMENT_RESULT with indication no_MS_results is sent to the BSC.
In particular, the BTS must identify the level of the BCCH frequency of the serving cell (which must
always be part of the frequencies to monitor) and apply it as the RXLEV_DL in the Radio Measurement
Statistics. The other frequencies will be considered in the same way as the BCCH frequency of neighbor
cells: they will be linked to the neighbor level and C/I statistics.
1 2 22
Exercise 1
(BSIC, BCCH index)/(LAC, CI) problem
As LAC and CI information take up too much space, the MS only reports the
decoded BSIC and the BCCH index when it sends measurement on the
adjacent cell.
The BSC makes the correspondence between the couple (BSIC, BCCH index)
and the real neighbord cell concerned [completely defined by (LAC,CI)].
WHAT IS THE RISK?
Time allowed:
5 minutes
1 2 23
Exercise 2
Explain why cell 2 has a very high outgoing HO unsuccessful rate and a
high call drop.
Cell 2
Cell 1
Cell
(7, 62)
CI=1964
GSM900
Cell 3
CI=6169
GSM900
(7, 62)
(3, 46)
Cell
CI=6169
GSM900
2006
1 2 24
4 Radio Measurement Data Processing
1 2 25
Functional Entities
BSC
Active Channel
Pre-processing
BTS
Radio Link
Measurements
Assignment of radio measurements data processing functions in the ALCATEL BSS
The active channel pre-processing function calculates average values of signal levels, qualities and
timing advance provided by the radio link measurements function.
The pre-processing is based on a sliding window averaging technique. The averaging is either weighted or
unweighted depending on the type of the input parameters.
1 2 26
Active Channel Pre-Processing
Active channel pre-processing
ACTIVATED EACH TIME A MEASUREMENT IS RECEIVED
AVERAGING VALUES OF SIGNAL LEVELS, QUALITIES, TIMING ADVANCE
USING SLIDING WINDOW TECHNIQUE
BUILDING A BOOK-KEEPING LIST OF neighbor CELLS
The MS is reporting the 6 best cells at one time
They can change from 1 measurement to another
Maximum for 1 call: last 32 best ones (among 64 maximum declared as neighbor)
1 2 27
Active Channel Pre-Processing - Principles
HANDLED by the BSC
ACTIVATED when the BSC receives:
ESTABLISH INDICATION from the MS on SAPI 0, or
HANDOVER FAILURE from the MS, or
ASSIGNMENT FAILURE from the MS (in case of intracell handover)
STOPPED when a HANDOVER COMMAND is emitted in the serving BSC
AVERAGING VALUES OF SIGNAL LEVELS, QUALITIES, TIMING ADVANCE
USING SLIDING WINDOW TECHNIQUE
The pre-processing function is stopped when a HANDOVER COMMAND is emitted by the serving BSC. At
this time, the MEASUREMENT RESULT messages are ignored by the pre-processing function and no update
of the book-keeping tables or averaging is done anymore.
The pre-processing function is enabled again (in case of failure of an intracell or intercell handover)
after reception of either messages listed above, and the old measurements are kept in the book-keeping
list and taken into account in the new averaging.
The pre-processing function is completely handled by the BSC. The input parameters of this function are
provided by the BTS every SACCH multiframe in the MEASUREMENT RESULT message.
The function calculates average values of levels, qualities and timing advance. The pre-processing
method is based on a sliding window averaging technique. The pre-processing is done for every
measurement sample, i.e. every SACCH multiframe. The averaging intervals are expressed in terms of
SACCH multiframe periods and their range is between 1 and 31.
The averaging process for any variable can start as soon as A_YYYY_XX (YYYY stands for LEV, QUAL,
PBGT or RANGE and XX for HO, DR, PC or MCHO) samples, each with MEAS_VALID bit set to
0 (validity indicator reported by the MS in the MEASUREMENT REPORT message), are actually available
except in case of the averaging of the received level from the neighbor cells and the averaging of
AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO, AV_BS_TXPWR_HO and AV_BS_TXPWR_DR.
1 2 28
Measurement Averaging
Avoid reacting too early to some atypical measurement(s)
75.00
80.00
85.00
90.00
95.00
100.00
105.00
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The calculation of levels, qualities and timing advance (i.e. distance information) uses a variety of
averaging window sizes as well as specific weighting factors for quality estimates.
One separate window exists for:
power control on the uplink and the downlink (A_LEV_PC , A_QUAL_PC),
emergency handover (A_LEV_HO , A_QUAL_HO , A_RANGE_HO),
fast emergency handover for microcells (A_LEV_MCHO),
better cell handover and better zone handover (A_PBGT_HO) for intra-layer, interlayer and interzone
handovers,
forced directed retry (A_PBGT_DR),
neighbor filtering and ranking for all HOs (A_PBGT_HO),
codec adaptation (A_QUAL_CA_HR_FR , A_QUAL_CA_FR_HR).
1 2 29
Measurement Averaging [cont.]
Objective: average measurements to avoid reacting to transient
degradation
Principle: sliding window: level/quality/distance values are averaged for N
last samples
N = A_LEV_HO samples for uplink and downlink level
N = A_QUAL_HO samples for uplink and downlink quality
N = A_RANGE_HO samples for distance
N = A_PGBT_HO for level used in power budget equation
Example (A_LEV_HO=6, A_QUAL_HO=4, A_PBGT_HO=8)
Experiences
some experiments have shown that the number of HOs is very sensitive to
modification of these values
DL Level
AV-RxLev
AV-Lev-PGBT
DL Qual
AV-RxQual
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Meas
2 3 3 4
3
7
4
-95
7
5
-99 -90 -92 -93 -98 -100 -98 -90 -80
-97 -96 -94
-95 -94
7 5 2
6 7 5
-75 -72 -71 -110 -70
-90 -86 -81 -83 -80
-92 -89 -86 -87 -83
1 1 0 6 0
4 2 1 2 2
-69
-78
-80
0
2
-68 -78 -88 -95
-77 -78 -81 -78
-77 -77 -78 -81
0 0 1 2
2 0 0 1
-98
-83
-85
3
2
-100-110-110
-88 -95 -100
-83 -88 -93
6 7 7
3 5 6
-110
-104
-99
7
7
At BSC level,
Input flows
MEASUREMENT RESULT
Control flows
active channel pre-processing configuration parameters for PC:
O A_LEV_PC, W_LEV_PC, A_QUAL_PC and W_QUAL_PC,
active channel pre-processing configuration parameters for HO:
O A_LEV_HO, W_LEV_HO, A_PBGT_HO, W_PBGT_HO, A_QUAL_HO, W_QUAL_HO, A_RANGE_HO, A_LEV_MCHO,
W_LEV_MCHO, A_PBGT_DR.
cells list for book-keeping:
O BA_IND_SACCH: indicator of the change of the BA_allocation,
O NBR_ADJ: number of declared adjacent cells of the serving cell denoted by n,
O for n=1 to NBR_ADJ: BSIC(n) and FREQ(n).
Output flows
Averaged measurements for power control:
O AV_RXQUAL_UL_PC ; AV_RXLEV_UL_PC: MS power control/threshold comparison,
O AV_RXQUAL_DL_PC ; AV_RXLEV_DL_PC: BS power control/threshold comparison.
Averaged measurements for handover detection:
O AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO, AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO, AV_RXLEV_UL_MCHO,
O AV_RXLEV_UL_HO, AV_RXLEV_DL_HO, AV_RXLEV_DL_MCHO,
O AV_LOAD , averaged traffic load
O AV_BS_TXPWR_HO, AV_RANGE_HO,
O AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO, AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n), AV_RXLEV_NCELL_BIS(n).
O AV_RXLEV_PBGT_DR,
O AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n), n=1..BTSnum.
O BFI_SACCH
O AV_RXQUAL_xx_CA_HR_FR, AV_RXQUAL_xx_CA_FR_HR
MS_TXPOWER_CONF / BS_POWER: last power level reported by the MS and transmit power currently used by the BS.
1 2 30
Neighbor Cell Measurement Book-Keeping
The MS reports the measurements of the NO_NCELL_M ( 6) best cells every
multi-frame
The adjacent cells reported by the MS can change from one measurement to
another
The book-keeping function keeps a table of the last 32 reported adjacent
cells
Clearing process of non-reported neighbors during 10s (signal level=0)
An MS is required to measure the BCCH power level of a number of BCCH frequencies. These
measurements are used for the power budget computation in the BSC and the candidate cell evaluation
in the BSC.
The MS reports to the BTS, in the MEASUREMENT REPORT message, the measurements of the
NO_NCELL_M (NO_NCELL_M <= 6) best cells it receives (RXLEV_NCELL, BCCH frequency index and BSIC
number) for each multiframe. In case of multiband capability, the mobile reports the best cells of each
supported frequency band (if available). This reporting is allowed at BSS level by the flag
EN_INTERBAND_NEIGH and it is specified by the parameter MULTIBAND_REPORTING.
The adjacent cells reported by an MS can change over the averaging interval. The book-keeping function
keeps a table composed of the last 32 reported adjacent cells, the maximum number of which is
NBR_ADJ. The total number of adjacent cells for which measurements reported by the MSs are available
within the average interval is BTSnum.
The BSC G1 maintains a table of up to 150 cells, from which up to 64 can be declared as adjacent cells to
a given cell.
The BSC G2 maintains a list of up to 1000 cells, from which up to 64 can be declared as adjacent cells to
a given cell.
Because the maximum number of adjacent cells may be greater than 32, the number of adjacent BCCH
frequencies is limited to 32. Moreover, a mechanism for overwriting obsolete entries in the book-keeping
table, when new cells are reported, is provided.
When the variable BTSnum reaches its maximum value of 32 and at least one new cell has to be entered
in the list, then the BSC sorts out all cells in the book-keeping list, which have been reported with signal
level = 0 for the last 20 measurements (10 seconds).
This is done by summing the raw measurement values over the last 20 samples. All the corresponding cell
entries are cleared from the bookkeeping list, BTSnum is decreased by the number of cleared entries and
some of the vacant entries are used to include the new cells.
The end of the comment is on the next page...
1 2 31
Exercise
Measurements averaging
With averaging window
excel sheet:
Compute averaging on quality,
distance and level
Make charts with different sliding
averaging windows
Time allowed:
10 minutes
Raw measurements
Average measurements
AV_RXLEV_DL_HO
A_LEV_HO=8
A_LEV_HO=2
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1
-75
-80
-85
-90
-95
Number of
measurements
Level
AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO
3
A_QUAL_HO=8
A_QUAL_HO=2
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1
4
3
2
1
0
Quality
AV_RANGE_HO
10
12
15
A_RANGE_HO=8
A_RANGE_HO=2
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1
25
20
15
10
5
Distance
DL Level
A_LEV_HO=8
A_LEV_HO=4
A_LEV_HO=2
DL Level
A_QUAL_HO=8
A_QUAL_HO=4
A_QUAL_HO=2
DL Level
A_RANGE_HO=8
A_RANGE_HO=4
A_RANGE_HO=2
-80
2
10
-78
2
11
-84
3
9
-87
3
11
-80
2
13
-75
1
12
-77
4
14
-94
4
15
-79
3
16
-77
1
17
-78
2
18
-84
3
17
-89
3
19
-90
3
20
-91
4
19
DL Level
DL Quality
Distance
-80
-76
-82
-82
-86
-82
-81
-87
-82
-82
-78
-81
-82
-78
-81
-80
-81
-82
-82
-87
-84
-85
-90
-85
-89
-91 -81
-82
-86
-82
-84
-82
-78 -79
A_LEV_HO=4
Number of
measurements
Number of
measurements
3
2
3
3
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
3
3
4
3
3
4
3
3
2
3
3
2
3
3
2
2
3
3 2 3
A_QUAL_HO=4 3
13
14
16
13
16
17
15
17
18
15
17
18
16
18
18
17
19
20
18
19
20
11
12
11
13
13
13
14
11 10
A_RANGE_HO=4 10
Fill up the table with average function. The chart will be automatically processed
The fact that there may not be enough cleared entries to store new measurements is excluded, see
justification below:
Because the MS must resynchronize at most every 10s with the neighbor cells it monitors, it is useless to
keep cells in the book-keeping list which have not been reported for more than 10s, it will be impossible
to make a handover towards these cells.
Therefore, the overwriting mechanism described above will function correctly if there are less than 32
cells reported in every 10s, which makes an average rate of 3 new cells per second.
The potentiality of overflow of the book-keeping list is therefore excluded.
The book-keeping is performed according to the BSIC and BCCH frequency couple. This function updates
the table every multiframe except if the measurement report is missing or Measurement Valid Bit is set
to not valid. When the level of a cell is not reported, a zero must be entered as measurement value. For
each multiframe and for each of the NO_NCELL_M cell measurements it receives, the function has to
check the BSIC number and the BCCH frequency index (FREQ(n)).
When the couple (BSIC, BCCH frequency) is not in the reference list (received from the OMC), the
corresponding measurements should be discarded.
The BTSnum variable is updated every multiframe except if the measurement report from the MS is
missing. It is incremented by the number of new couples (BSIC number, BCCH frequency index) registered
as described above.
Remark: Two cells can have the same BSIC number or the same BCCH frequency index. Therefore, the
couple of these parameters is needed to define a cell.
1 2 32
5 Radio Link Supervision and Power
Control
1 2 33
5 Radio Link Supervision and Power Control
Functional Entities
BSC BTS
Radio Link
Supervision
PC Command
PC Threshold
Comparison
Radio Link
Command
Radio Link
Measurements
Active Channel
Pre-processing
Assignment of PC functions in the ALCATEL BSS
The two main functions specified in this document and implemented in the Alcatel-Lucent BSS are:
Radio link supervision and radio link command:
These functions handle the detection of the radio link failure so that calls which fail either from
loss of radio coverage or unacceptable interference are satisfactorily handled by the network. The
radio link supervision is responsible for detection of the loss of the radio link, based on incorrectly
received SACCH frames. The radio link command is responsible for commanding to set the power at
a maximum level for radio link recovery or to clear the call when the radio link has failed.
The radio link recovery can be activated or not, depending on a configuration flag (EN_RL_RECOV).
The radio link failure procedure is always running and clears the call when the radio link has failed.
Power control:
This function handles the adaptive control of the RF transmit power from the MS and the BS. The RF
power control aims at minimizing the co-channel interference and also at reducing the DC power
consumption of the MS. This function is in charge of detecting a need for a power command and then of
applying this power command. Therefore it can be divided into two processes: PC threshold comparison
and PC command. MS and BS power control are operating independently, they can be activated or not,
depending on configuration flags (EN_MS_PC and EN_BS_PC).
All these functions require directly or indirectly input parameters provided by the function in charge of
the radio link measurements.
Most of the input data required by the power control functions are provided by the Active channel pre-
processing function.
The figure depicts in a general way:
the interconnections between all these functions,
the implementation of these functions in the Alcatel-Lucent BSS.
1 2 34
Radio Link Supervision
Principles
Detection (by BTS) of a radio link failure with an MS
notification to BSC for radio resource release
Try to recover an MS when radio becomes poor
optional mechanism radio link recovery
by requiring BTS and MS to transmit at maximum power
Equivalent mechanism in MS for Radio Link Failure detection
The determination of the radio link failure is based on a counter. According to the GSM Technical
Specification 05.08 for the BSS, the criterion for incrementing/decrementing this counter should be
based:
either on the error rate on the uplink SACCH,
or on RXLEV/RXQUAL measurements of the MS.
In the Alcatel-Lucent BSS, it is based on the number of SACCH frames which cannot be decoded.
It must be stressed that this criterion is related to the first one recommended above but it is not exactly
the same. The Alcatel-Lucent criterion is in fact the one recommended by the GSM Technical
Specification 05.08 for the MS.
1 2 35
Principles of Radio Link Supervision
For each active radio channel, a counter S is:
decremented by 1 each time an SACCH frame cannot be decoded (BFI=1)
incremented by 2 each time a valid SACCH frame is received
There is one counter S at MS side and another one at BTS side
The value of S gives a measure of the quality of uplink radio link
The initial value of S is RADIO_LINK_TIMEOUT_BS (at BTS side) and
RADIO_LINK_TIMEOUT (at MS side)
if S reaches N_BSTXPWR_M, a radio link recovery is triggered (optional)
if S reaches 0, a radio link failure is detected
RADIOLINK_TIMEOUT_BS RADIOLINK_TIMEOUT is important because the
mobile must release the radio channel first
New Radio link Timeout parameters has been introduced for AMR MSs
RADIO_LINK_TIMEOUT_BS_AMR
RADIO_LINK_TIMEOUT_AMR
B10
The radio link supervision function is performed in the BTS and it uses three parameters given to the BTS
in the TRX configuration data message:
EN_RL_RECOV: flag enabling/disabling the sending of CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION by the BTS
when the need for radio link recovery is detected.
N_BSTXPWR_M: threshold for the radio link recovery.
RADIOLINK_TIMEOUT_BS: threshold (number of SACCH messages) for the radio link failure.
RADIOLINK_TIMEOUT_BS_AMR: threshold (number of SACCH messages) for the radio link failure of calls
using an AMR codec.
In addition, the function handles a counter named S. RADIOLINK_TIMEOUT_BS is the initial and maximum
value of S.
For each SACCH not decoded, S is decremented by 1 while for each SACCH decoded, it is incremented
by 2. The incrementation or decrementation is performed if the following condition is met:
RADIOLINK_TIMEOUT_BS(_AMR) >= counter S >= 0.
As soon as the counter S is equal to the threshold N_BSTXPWR_M, the radio link recovery is triggered if
EN_RL_RECOV = ENABLE. Therefore, in the case where the shadowing is so strong that all SACCH frames
are lost, the radio link recovery will be triggered after (RADIOLINK_TIMEOUT_BS(_AMR) - N_BSTXPWR_M)
SACCH periods.
The parameter N_BSTXPWR_M must be set according this simple behavior.
If the radio link recovery is not successful, as soon as S reaches 0, the radio link failure procedure is
applied.
As soon as a radio link failure is detected, the radio link supervision must be started again in the BTS.
1 2 36
Principles of Radio Link Supervision [Cont.]
SACCH
number
S value
29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
0
5
10
15
20
25
RADIO_LINK_TIMEOUT_BS
N_BSTXPWR_M
S
BFI
S = f [ BFI(t) ]
1
Received Events
Activate supervision: activation of the radio link supervision from the BTS telecom layer 3,
SACCH, BFI = 1: not decoded SACCH frame,
SACCH, BFI = 0: decoded SACCH frame.
Note: the BFI flag is internal to the BTS and does not deal with the BFI flag defined by the GSM.
Deactivate supervision: deactivation of the radio link supervision by the BTS telecom layer 3.
Transmitted Events
Radio link recovery: indication sent to the radio link command function in order to set the BS and MS
powers to the maximum.
Radio link failure: indication sent to the radio link command function in order to release the call.
These events are sent to the BSC in the CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION message:
In case of Radio link recovery, the BTS sends only once (to avoid overload of the Abis interface) the
CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION message to the BSC with cause "set MS/BS-TXPWR-M (value: '001
1111', reserved for National use). This action (message formatting) is performed by the GSM layer 3.
In case of Radio link failure, the BTS sends the CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION message with cause
'Radio link Failure' to the BSC.
Thus, the CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION message on Abis is not showing any call drop. One should
look at the cause of CONFAIL.
1 2 37
Principles of Radio Link Supervision [Cont.]
B10
RLT = 18
RLT_AMR = 18
AMR an non AMR Call Drop
Start of AMR communication
Audio degradation
Start of non AMR communication
Audio degradation
VQ improvment
provided by AMR
Non AMR Call Drop
RLT = 18
RLT_AMR = 26
AMR Call Drop
Start of non AMR
communication
Audio degradation
Start of non AMR
communication
Audio degradation
Audio degradation
Audio degradation
Extension of the degradation period
1 2 38
Radio Link Recovery
The BTS sends a Connection Failure Indication message
Cause 001 1111 reserved for national usage (Alcatel-Lucent: RLR)
On K1205: set MS/BS_TXPWR_MAX (Alcatel-Lucent only)
The BSC sends BS and MS POWER CONTROL messages
Required for maximum possible values
The MS required level is embedded in the SACCH header in the downlink
Optional mechanism
EN_RL_RECOV =ENABLE
useless without power control
master vs. power control
The action consists in increasing the power of the MS and of the BTS to their maximum, in a single step,
if the link is failing, i.e. the BTS is not able to decode the SACCH anymore for some period of time.
This functionality is performed upon reception of the CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION message (cause
set MS/BS-TXPWR-M) from the BTS. This message can be sent by the BTS only if EN_RL_RECOV =
ENABLE. Upon reception of this message, the radio link command function:
1. sends to the BTS a power increase command up to BS_TXPWR_MAX (BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER if the MS is
on the inner zone of a concentric or multiband cell) in the BS POWER CONTROL message.
2. sends to the MS a power increase command up to min(MS_TXPWR_MAX,P) (min
(MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER,P) if the MS is in the inner zone of a concentric or multiband cell) in the
message MS POWER CONTROL.
When a radio link recovery occurs, the radio link command function gives an indication to the power
control function once the power increase has been commanded.
The maximum power increase of the MS is 2dB per 60 ms. Thus, if MS_TXPWR_MAX=33dBm and
MS_TXPWR_MIN=13dBm, the MS coming from MIN to Max will take 600 ms.
Note: the BS Power Control process does not interfere with the recovery procedure since the former
comes to a halt when no SACCH multiframe is received. Thus, the BS power control process does not take
into account the radio link recovery event.
1 2 39
Radio Link Failure
The BTS sends a Connection Failure Indication message
Cause radio link failure
The BSC notifies the loss to the MSC
Usually Clear Request radio interface failure
The BSC releases locally the radio resource (TCH or SDCCH)
Radio frequency Channel Release message sent to BTS
The call is dropped!
The task of the radio link command consists in informing the call control function to release the call.
Concentric Cell or Multiband Cell
The power value BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER is applied in case of radio link recovery for an MS in the inner
zone. The power value BS_TXPWR_MAX is applied in case of radio link recovery for an MS on an outer
zone channel.
Note: the radio link supervision procedure will function also if SACCH frames are not lost continuously,
but with a longer reaction time.
1 2 40
Exercise: Radio Link Supervision
With the RLS excel sheet, taking
into account the measurements
with BFI and the parameter values
(N_BSTXPWR_M and
RADIOLINK_TIMEOUT_BS), indicate
when:
A radio link recovery is triggered
A radio link failure is triggered
Time allowed:
5 minutes
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
18
5
17
18
18
18
18
17
16
15
14
12
11
13
12
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
7
6
10
6
8
17
18
4
11
7
3
13 Radio Link Recovery
BFI S Action
Radio Link Supervision
N_NSTXPWR_MAX
RLTO_BS
13
18
Parameters:
N_BSTXPWR_M
1 2 41
Power Control
Aims of Power control
Reduce emitted power to the minimum
possible
Minimum power levels:
GSM: 11dBm, 9dBm, 7dBm and 5dBm
DCS: 2dBm, 0dBm
Ensuring quality and received level of
peer entity
Adapted in real-time
For Uplink PC: decrease UL interference
and save MS battery
For Downlink PC, decrease DL
interference
Output Power (dBm)
GSM-900
Output Power (dBm)
DCS-1800
Power
level
14
15
16
17
18
19
15
13
11
9
7
5
2
0
-
-
-
-
BTS MS
U
p
lin
k
R
X
LE
V
_U
L
M
S
_T
X
P
W
R
D
o
w
n
lin
k
B
S
_T
X
P
W
R
R
X
LE
V
_D
L
The main objective of the power control, in connection with handover algorithms, is to allow a maximum
number of MSs to operate in the network while maintaining a minimum interference level.
The algorithms must ensure that any mobile is connected with the cell in which the output powers from
the MS and the BS are as low as possible (to reduce MS power consumption and interference in the
network) while keeping a satisfactory link quality.
When on a sufficient duration, the propagation conditions keep worsening, then action must be taken.
The first action is to increase the output power levels at the MS or the BS. When the maximum allowed
value has been reached, a handover may become necessary.
To reflect this philosophy in macrocells (not in microcellular environment), the algorithm allows for
handover on quality and strength reasons only when the last step of power control has been reached. If
propagation conditions worsen rapidly when the MS is at low power, the power control algorithm allows
to reach quickly the maximum power.
Nevertheless great care must be taken in choosing the relative values of the thresholds for power control
and handover as well as the averaging window sizes (smaller window size and higher threshold for power
control than for handover). It must be remembered that, although it is desired that the MS transmits
with the lowest possible power, it is more important not to lose a call. Thus early triggering for the
power control is possible by choosing small values for the averaging window sizes and higher comparison
thresholds.
1 2 42
Power Control Principles
Based on a threshold comparison mechanism
Decrease emitted power when received level AND quality measured by
peer entity are better than a given value
Increase emitted power when the received level OR quality is lower
than a given value
Does not decrease power if the resulting level is below the low level
threshold
FEATURE REAL FAST PC GIVES REACTIVITY TO THE ALGORITHMS
The threshold comparison process detects the need to change the MS power level. This detection is done
by comparison between the averaged values produced by the active channel pre-processing function and
thresholds.
1 2 43
Power Control Detection
MS Power control (for BS PC, replace MS by BS and UL by DL)
U_RXQUAL_UL_P
L_RXQUAL_UL_P
1
2
-95 -93 -85
L_RXLEV_UL_P
POW_RED_STEP_SIZE
U_RXLEV_UL_P
Quality
Level
-90 -75 -86
3
2
A need for a PC command is detected when one of the conditions above is true. Then, the information
for the execution of the PC command is given to the PC command process.
The MS power control function can be disabled with a flag EN_MS_PC. This flag is changeable from the
OMC-R.
Note: The GSM coding of quality is contra-intuitive, since the value 0 codes for the best quality and 7 for
the worst. Thus, the comparison between two quality values must be understood in the opposite way in
terms of quality.
Note: POW_RED_STEP_SIZE is used in two ways: for PC_COMMAND (decrease of MS power) and for
PC_THRESHOD_COMPARISON (to avoid ping-pong effect).
1 2 44
MS PC Threshold Comparison
MS Power increase:
If AV_RXQUAL_UL_PC > L_RXQUAL_UL_P + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
Or AV_RXQUAL_UL_PC L_RXQUAL_UL_P + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
And AV_RXLEV_UL_PC < L_RXLEV_UL_P
Then PC_COMMAND (MS, INC, MS_P_INC dB, <min(MS_TXPWR_MAX, P))
MS Power decrease:
If AV_RXQUAL_UL_PC < U_RXQUAL_UL_P
And AV_RXLEV_UL_PC L_RXLEV_UL_P + POW_RED_STEP_SIZE
Or AV_RXQUAL_UL_PC L_RXQUAL_UL_P + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
And AV_RXQUAL_UL_PC U_RXQUAL_UL_P
And AV_RXLEV_UL_PC > U_RXLEV_UL_P
Then PC_COMMAND(MS, RED, MS_P_RED dB, >MS_TXPWR_MIN)
A
B
C
D
OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH is an internal variable that is equal to 0 in case of Non-Hopping cell and
OFFSET_HOPPING_PC in case of BBH or RH.
1 2 45
MS PC Threshold Comparison [cont.]
Locate the cases in the correct cells
Link each case with its proper definition
A B C D
U_RXQUAL_UL_P
L_RXQUAL_UL_P
1
2
-95 -93 -85
L_RXLEV_UL_P
POW_RED_STEP_SIZE
U_RXLEV_UL_P
Quality
Level
-90 -75 -86
3
2
Too bad uplink quality cause
Too low uplink level cause
Too good downlink quality cause
Too high downlink level cause
A
B
D
C
U_RXQUAL_UL_P
L_RXQUAL_UL_P
1
2
-95 -93 -85
L_RXLEV_UL_P
POW_RED_STEP_SIZE
U_RXLEV_UL_P
Quality
Level
-90 -75 -86
3
A
B
C
D
OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH is an internal variable that is equal to 0 in case of Non-Hopping cell and
OFFSET_HOPPING_PC in case of BBH or RH.
1 2 46
MS Power Control Command
MS Power command philosophy:
Target received level TARGET_RXLEV_UL
middle threshold between U_RXLEV_UL_P and L_RXLEV_UL_P
Adaptive power step size
According to the average received level
Limited power step size to MAX_POW_INC and MAX_POW_RED
If only Quality problem: fixed power step size
O POW_INC_STEP_SIZE and POW_RED_STEP_SIZE
Two weighting factors to modify the algorithm reactivity when level problem
O POW_INC_FACTOR for power increase
O POW_RED_FACTOR for power decrease
Whenever any of the threshold conditions occurs, a PC command must be sent to the MS over the air
interface.
In order to compute the adaptive power step size, the middle threshold between the upper threshold
U_RXLEV_UL_P and the lower threshold L_RXLEV_UL_P is considered.
This threshold is regarded as the target received level around which the MS should always stay. The
following algorithm tries to maintain and bring the MS power closer to this target threshold. The size of
the power step is limited to MAX_POW_INC for an increase of the MS power and MAX_POW_RED for a
decrease of the MS power.
When the received level is between the two thresholds U_RXLEV_UL_P and L_RXLEV_UL_P (i.e. no need
to change the level) and a power control on quality cause is triggered, fixed power step sizes are
applied: POW_INC_STEP_SIZE for power increase and POW_RED_STEP_SIZE for power decrease.
Two weighting factors POW_INC_FACTOR (for power increase) and POW_RED_FACTOR (for power
decrease) allow to modify the reactivity of the algorithm (the more POW_INC_FACTOR is nearby 1, the
greater the reactivity of the algorithm is and the larger the power step size is).
The target received level is TARGET_RXLEV_UL for the uplink path.
TARGET_RXLEV_UL corresponds to the next higher multiple of 1 dB from (U_RXLEV_UL_P +
L_RXLEV_UL_P)/2.
1 2 47
Fast and Normal Comparison
Example: Example
480 0 960 1440 1920 2400
-110
-100
-90
-80
20 dB
Time
(ms)
Power level
(dB)
6 dB (POW_INC_STEP_SIZE)
4 SACCH =
1 Measurement Report (MR)
MR 2 MR 3 MR 4
Need for PC Command detected
PC Command
Normal Power Control
Fast Power Control
1 2 48
MS Power Increase Command Computation
PC_COMMAND (MS, INC, MS_P_INC dB, < power max) means:
If MS_TXPWR < power max
Then increase MS_TXPWR by min(MS_P_INC, MAX_POW_INC, powermax - MS_TXPWR)
Where MS_P_INC is evaluated by the following algorithm:
If (AV_RXLEV_UL_PC < L_RXLEV_UL_P) (Level too low)
If (AV_RXQUAL_UL_PC L_RXQUAL_UL_P + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH) ( & sufficient
quality)
MS_P_INC = roundup[ POW_INC_FACTOR* (TARGET_RXLEV_UL - AV_RXLEV_UL_PC)]
Else ( & quality too poor)
MS_P_INC = roundup[ MAX ( POW_INC_FACTOR * (TARGET_RXLEV_UL -
AV_RXLEV_UL_PC ), POW_INC_STEP_SIZE )]
Else (Quality too poor only)
MS_P_INC = POW_INC_STEP_SIZE
In the equations:
MS_TXPWR is the last MS_TXPWR_CONF value reported by the BTS.
roundup means round to its next higher multiple of 2 dB.
rounddown means round to its next lower multiple of 2 dB.
The rate of change of MS power is required to be one nominal 2 dB step every 60 msec. Thus a 30 dB step
change should be accomplished in 900 msec. The operator should be warned of this as it may impact on
the choice of settings for MS_P_CON_ACK and MS_P_CON_INT.
Then the ordered value of the MS transmit power, called MS_TXPWR, is sent to the MS as follows:
The BSC sends the MS POWER CONTROL message to the BTS (i.e. to the TRX handling the relevant
channel) which then forwards the PC command to the MS in the Layer 1 header.
The MS applies the PC command and confirms this action by transmitting the applied power value
(MS_TXPWR_CONF) on the uplink SACCH in the layer 1 header.
On SACCH channel, the MS may not send the MEASUREMENT REPORT message (e.g. in case of transmission
of Short Message).
In this case, the BSC receives a MEASUREMENT RESULT message which does not contain the
MEASUREMENT REPORT. The BSC takes into account the MS_TXPWR_CONF variable.
1 2 49
MS Power Decrease Command Computation
PC_COMMAND (MS, RED, MS_P_RED dB, > power min) means:
If MS_TXPWR > power min
Then decrease MS_TXPWR by min(MS_P_RED, MAX_POW_RED, MS_TXPWR - power min)
Where MS_P_RED is evaluated by the following algorithm:
If (AV_RXLEV_UL_PC > U_RXLEV_UL_P) (Level too strong)
If (AV_RXQUAL_UL_PC U_RXQUAL_UL_P) ( & fair quality)
MS_P_RED = rounddown[ MAX(POW_RED_FACTOR* (AV_RXLEV_UL_PC-
TARGET_RXLEV_UL), 2dB)]
Else ( & very good quality)
MS_P_RED = rounddown[ MAX ( POW_RED_FACTOR * (AV_RXLEV_UL_PC-
TARGET_RXLEV_UL), POW_RED_STEP_SIZE )]
Else (Quality too good only)
MS_P_RED = POW_RED_STEP_SIZE
In the equations:
MS_TXPWR is the last MS_TXPWR_CONF value reported by the BTS.
roundup means round to its next higher multiple of 2 dB.
rounddown means round to its next lower multiple of 2 dB.
The rate of change of MS power is required to be one nominal 2 dB step every 60 msec. Thus a 30 dB step
change should be accomplished in 900 msec. The operator should be warned of this as it may impact on
the choice of settings for MS_P_CON_ACK and MS_P_CON_INT.
Then the ordered value of the MS transmit power, called MS_TXPWR, is sent to the MS as follows:
The BSC sends the MS POWER CONTROL message to the BTS (i.e. to the TRX handling the relevant
channel) which then forwards the PC command to the MS in the Layer 1 header.
The MS applies the PC command and confirms this action by transmitting the applied power value
(MS_TXPWR_CONF) on the uplink SACCH in the layer 1 header.
On SACCH channel, the MS may not send the MEASUREMENT REPORT message (e.g. in case of transmission
of Short Message).
In this case, the BSC receives a MEASUREMENT RESULT message which does not contain the
MEASUREMENT REPORT. The BSC takes into account the MS_TXPWR_CONF variable.
1 2 50
Frequency Hopping Cases
OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
This variable allows to take into account the frequency hopping in the RxQual
evaluation (see Annex)
Defined on a per cell basis
Algorithm:
If Frequency Hopping applied
Then OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = Offset_hopping_PC
Else OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = 0
In order to take into account the frequency hopping in the RXQUAL evaluation, the variable
OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH is introduced.
If Frequency hopping is applied on the corresponding channel then OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH =
Offset_Hopping_PC otherwise OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = 0
Offset_Hopping_PC is a parameter defined on a per cell basis.
PC Downlink in Frequency Hopping Case
In this case, the BSC inhibits the BS power control on all the channels which use the BCCH carrier. The
entity performing the BS power control in the BSC gets all the information concerning a new channel and
decides whether to activate the BS power control for this channel. The power control must be inhibited
when the frequency used by the new channel is the same as the frequency used for the BCCH in the BTS
(cell) in which the channel is activated.
For any channel which has the BCCH frequency in its hopping sequence (MA), the MS is measuring a
very good downlink level each time it hops on the BCCH. To avoid that this results in a too optimistic
average, it is possible to require from the MS not to include the BCCH measurement in the averages. This
is achieved by setting the PWRC flag to 1 in the SYSTEM INFORMATION type 6 message sent by the BSS on
the SACCH.
If the channel is hopping only on the BCCH frequency (after a transmitter failure), it is considered as a
non-hopping channel and it is concerned by the non-frequency hopping case.
1 2 51
Power Control Timers
Timers
T_SDCCH_PC allows the inhibition of PC on SDCCH
When a new power is required, the confirmation is awaited:
MS_P_CON_ACK
BS_P_CON_ACK
As soon as the new power is acknowledged, a fixed duration is awaited to
trigger a new change of power, if necessary:
MS_P_CON_INT
BS_P_CON_INT
The timer T_SDCCH_PC allows to inhibit the MS and BS power control on SDCCH:
This timer is changeable at the OMC-R level on a per cell basis. It is triggered upon receipt of the
ESTABLISH INDICATION message after SDCCH activation for immediate assignment procedure. As long as
the timer runs, the power control is inhibited on SDCCH.
If the timer expires, the power control will be enabled again on SDCCH.
If the timer is running at the sending of the RF CHANNEL RELEASE message, the timer is stopped.
T_SDCCH_PC is useful in case of long SDCCH phases.
During SDCCH for call establishment, PC disabled should be preferred with a view to secure call setup.
Nevertheless, if SMS usage is very high, SDCCH phases may be long. In this case, to avoid interference, PC
will be enabled after T_SDCCH_PC expiry (about 5s).
After any PC command is sent to the MS, some time must be expected before MS_TXPWR_CONF (power
confirmation sent by the MS on the uplink SACCH) can reach the desired value. The timer MS_P_CON_ACK
is triggered after any power modification command to monitor that the desired transmission power
MS_TXPWR is reached.
If MS_P_CON_ACK elapses before the expected value of MS_TXPWR_CONF is received, the power
control decision process is resumed immediately with the last MS_TXPWR_CONF received.
If the expected value of MS_TXPWR_CONF is received before the timer MS_P_CON_ACK is elapsed, the
timer MS_P_CON_ACK is stopped and the timer MS_P_CON_INT is triggered. Then the MS PC threshold
comparison process is resumed with MS_TXPWR_CONF for the same MS as soon as MS_P_CON_INT expires.
1 2 52
Power Control Timers [cont.]
IF xx_P_CON_ACK is expiring, it is a system problem:
Wrong setting of xx_P_CON_ACK (too short)
No reception of power command by the MS
a radio link recovery can be activated
Problem on Abis
repetition of BS power command
The expiry of P_CON_INT is a normal mechanism
1 2 53
Extra Information
LEVEL and QUALITY USED in EQUATION are average ones with window
size A_QUAL_PC and A_LEV_PC
BS POWER CONTROL INHIBITED ON BCCH frequency
All timeslots using "BCCH frequency" must be emitted at the max power
MS dynamic constraint (3GPP)
minimum 2dB every 60 ms
Emitted power can be changed by radio link supervision algorithm
Radio link supervision has a greater priority
Activation of power control can slow down HO decision
Emergency causes are triggered only if the transmission is at max power
Interaction with Radio Link Command
The MS power control function is informed of a radio link recovery by the radio link command function.
Once the indication is received, the PC command process is resumed immediately:
timer MS_P_CON_ACK is started (or reset and started if running),
If MS_P_CON_ACK elapses before the expected value of MS_TXPWR_CONF is received, the power
control decision process is resumed immediately with MS_TXPWR_CONF = min(MS_TXPWR_MAX,P).
According to GSM Technical Specification 05.08 section 7.1, the BCCH carrier must be broadcast with a
constant power in the cell. In this release of the Alcatel-Lucent BSS, this constant value is set to the
maximum power allowed in the cell that is defined by the parameter BS_TXPWR_MAX.
This means that all dedicated channels (TCH, SDCCH) which are on the BCCH frequency must always be
transmitted with the maximum power, i.e. the BCCH power must not be changed by the BS power control
function.
1 2 54
Exercise: Power Control
Power control UL
(Remark: Use the default parameters document)
What happens if we do not use Frequency Hopping?
Why is it better to have A_LEV_PC=A_LEV_HO/2?
Thresholds:
Lower QUAL of RX uplink = 3
High QUAL of RX uplink = 2
Lower LEV of RX uplink = -90dBm
Upper LEV of RX uplink = -75dBm
POW_RED_STEP_SIZE= 4
POW_INC_STEP_SIZE= 6
Put the right threshold in the next slide chart
Time allowed:
25 minutes
1 2 55
Exercise: Power Control [cont.]
Power control UL
For each case:
PC triggered?
Step size value?
With POW_INC_FACTOR = 0,6
and POW_RED_FACTOR = 0,6
and MAX_POW_INC = MAX_POW_RED = 8
Quality
Level
Nb of case
AV RXQUAL UL PC
AV RXLEV UL PC
Power control
Delta value
1 2 3 4 5 6
0 1 2 6 3 4
-98 -80 -73 -69 -86 -91
1 2 56
Exercise: Power Control [cont.]
Power control DL
Thresholds:
L_RXLEV_DL_P = -85dBm POW_INC_FACTOR = 0.6
U_RXLEV_DL_P = -75dBm POW_RED_FACTOR = 0.8
L_RXQUAL_DL_P = 2.9 MAX_POW_INC = 16dB
U_RXQUAL_DL_P = 1 MAX_POW_RED = 16dB
A_QUAL_PC = 4 BS_P_CON_ACK = 3s
A_LEV_PC = 4 BS_TXPWR_MIN = -16dB
Using the Trace Abis Excel file, find each parameter value:
POW_INC_STEP_SIZE = ? BS_P_CON_INT = ?
POW_RED_STEP_SIZE = ? OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = 0 or 1 ?
Which phenomenon can you observe as regards the successive PC
commands?
1 2 57
6 Handover Detection
1 2 58
Handover Main Objective
Send connected MS to another cell
When needed: rescue/emergency handover
If useful: better cell handover
Toward the best cell
From a radio point of view
Power budget
Level
From a traffic point of view
Less loaded target
From a dynamic point of view
MS speed
History of the call
From an operator point of view
Emergency Intercell Handovers
These handovers are triggered when the call conditions deteriorate significantly in order to rescue the
call. The causes are:
"too low quality" ,
"too low level",
" too long MS-BS distance",
too short MS-BS distance,
"consecutive bad SACCH frames",
"level dropping under high threshold".
Better Cell HO
These handovers are triggered to improve the overall system traffic capacity. This spans: interference
reduction, signaling load reduction, traffic unbalance smoothing. The basic assumption for these
handovers is that they should respect the cell planning decided by the operator.
The causes are:
"power budget",
"high level in neighbor lower layer cell for slow mobile",
"high level in neighbor cell in the preferred band" ,
traffic handover.
1 2 59
Principle
The BSC analyzes averaged measurement results:
active channel pre-processing (measurements averaging and book-keeping)
To detect need/utility to handover
Handover detection process
To choose/rank target cells according to several criteria
Candidate cell evaluation process
To perform the handover
Handover management process
1 2 60
Functional Entities
BSC BTS
Radio Link
Measurements
HO Detection
Active Channel
Pre-processing
HO Preparation
HO Candidate
Cell Evaluation
HO Management
HO Protocol
MSC
Assignment of HO functions in the ALCATEL BSS
The HO Preparation function can also be named "handover algorithms" as the algorithms described are
the "heart" of this function.
The Alcatel-Lucent handover preparation is derived from the basic algorithm found in Annex A of the
GSM Technical Specification 05.08.
The handover preparation is in charge of detecting a need for handover and proposing a list of target
cells. Therefore it can be divided into two processes: handover detection and handover candidate cell
evaluation.
The handover detection process analyzes the radio measurements reported by the BTS and triggers the
candidate cell evaluation process each time a handover cause (emergency or better cell type) is fulfilled.
The handover candidate cell evaluation works out a list of possible candidate cells for the handover. This
list is sorted according to the evaluation of each cell as well as the layer they belong to (in a hierarchical
network) and the frequency band they use (in a multiband network).
Once the handover preparation is completed, the handover decision and execution (handover
management entity) is performed under the MSC or BSC control. The directed retry preparation is
performed by the handover preparation function. Once the directed retry preparation is completed, the
directed retry is performed either under the BSC control (internal directed retry) or under the MSC
control (external directed retry).
An example of implementation of these functions except for directed retry is given in the GSM Technical
Specification 05.08.
The handover preparation requires indirectly input parameters provided by the function in charge of the
radio link measurements.
Most of the input data required by the handover functions are provided by a function called: Active
channel pre-processing.
The figure above depicts in a general way:
the interconnections between these functions,
the implementation of these functions in the Alcatel-Lucent BSS.
1 2 61
Handover Causes Detection
Based on the contents of the measurement results
The BSC is computing the need or utility to trigger a handover
25 HO causes, split into 2 main categories:
Emergency handover
quality, level, distance, etc.
Better cell handover
power budget, traffic, etc.
Some are specific to hierarchical and concentric architectures
The process is achieved in the BSC.
Each time a set of pre-processed (averaged) measurements is available, this process checks whether a
handover is needed. If the need for a handover is detected, the target cell evaluation process is
triggered.
In case of a handover alarm, the handover detection process gives to the cell evaluation process:
the preferred target cell layer: lower, upper or none.
the raw candidate cell list, which can be either all neighbors, or the subset which verifies the handover
causes (plus other specific cells in particular cases). With each cell is given one of the handover causes
which have been verified.
The cause of handover.
Four main handover categories are provided, depending on the cause of handover and the context of
application. The context of application for a handover is either "intercell" (the handover is performed
between two different cells) or "intracell" (the handover is performed in the same cell).
The detection of a need for handover is performed through handover causes which are going to be
detailed.
The cause of handover is based either on a situation of emergency (this cause is therefore called
"emergency cause") or on the existence of better conditions. In this last case, the name of the cause
depends on the context of application: for intercell handovers, it is called "Better cell cause". For
intracell handovers, it is called "Better zone cause", as it is applied only in the case of interzone
handovers in concentric or multiband cells.
1 2 62
Handover Causes
16 HO causes for standard networks (26 on the whole)
B10
Emergency HO
Cause 2
Cause 3
Cause 4
Cause 5
Cause 6
Cause 15
Cause 16
Cause 26
Too low quality on the uplink
Too low level on the uplink
Too low quality on the downlink
Too low level on the downlink
Too long distance between the
MS and the BTS
High interference on the uplink
(intracell HO)
High interference on the downlink
(intracell HO)
AMR channel adaptation HO
(HR to FR)
Better conditions HO
Cause 12
Cause 20
Cause 23
Cause 24
Cause 27
Cause 28
Cause 29
Power budget evaluation
Forced directed retry
Traffic
General capture
AMR channel adaptation
HO (FR to HR)
Fast traffic HO
TFO HO
30 Move from PS to CS zone
HO causes for Extended Cells:
Emergency causes:
cause 22: too short MS-BTS distance
HO causes for hierarchical or multiband network:
Emergency causes
cause 7: consecutive bad SACCH frames received in a microcell
cause 17: too low level on the uplink in a microcell compared to a high threshold
cause 18: too low level on the downlink in a microcell compared to a high threshold
Better causes
cause 14: high level in neighbor lower layer cell for slow mobile
cause 21: high level in neighbor cell in the preferred band
HO causes for Concentric cells:
Emergency causes
cause 10: too low level on the uplink in the inner zone
cause 11: too low level on the downlink in the inner zone
Better causes
cause 13: Outer zone level uplink and downlink
HO causes inter techno:
Cause 31: 2G to 3G HO
Cause 32: 2G to GAN HO (Generic Access Network, usually refers to WiFi 802.11 networks)
1 2 63
Handover Causes 2: UL Quality
CAUSE 2: too low quality on the Uplink
AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO > L_RXQUAL_UL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
and AV_RXLEV_UL_HO RXLEV_UL_IH
and MS_TXPWR = min (P, MS_TXPWR_MAX)
and EN_RXQUAL_UL= ENABLE
Size of window for averaging quality: A_QUAL_HO
Size of window for averaging level: A_LEV_HO
Quality
Level
Quality and Level causes (2, 3, 4, 5, 15, 16)
The aim of these causes is to keep the call going when the radio link is degrading otherwise the radio link
failure might be detected and the call released. These causes wait generally for the power control
process to increase the BTS and MS power to their maximum values, except for the causes specific to
microcellular environment.
Handover on "too low level" is used to avoid situations where the interference level is low, while the
attenuation is quite high. These conditions may appear for example in big city streets which enable a
line of sight propagation from the BTS antenna. There is in this case a risk of abrupt quality degradation,
if the MS moves away from the line of sight street.
In case of simultaneous low-level and low-quality signals, an intercell handover is requested.
1 2 64
Handover Causes 3: UL Level
CAUSE 3: too low level on the uplink
AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO L_RXQUAL_UL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
and AV_RXLEV_UL_HO < L_RXLEV_UL_H
and MS_TXPWR = min (P, MS_TXPWR_MAX)
and EN_RXLEV_UL= ENABLE
Quality
Level
1 2 65
Handover Causes 4: DL Quality
CAUSE 4: too low quality on the downlink
AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO > L_RXQUAL_DL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
and AV_RXLEV_DL_HO RXLEV_DL_IH
and BS_TXPWR = BS_TXPWR_MAX
and EN_RXQUAL_DL= ENABLE
Quality
Level
1 2 66
Handover Causes 5: DL Level
CAUSE 5: too low level on the downlink
AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO L_RXQUAL_DL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
AV_RXLEV_DL_HO < L_RXLEV_DL_H
BS_TXPWR = BS_TXPWR_MAX
and EN_RXLEV_DL= ENABLE
Quality
Level
1 2 67
Handover Causes 6: Distance
CAUSE 6: Too long distance between the MS and the BTS
AV_RANGE_HO > U_TIME_ADVANCE
and EN_DIST_HO= ENABLE
Size of window for distance averaging: A_RANGE_HO
Too long distance
BTS
Good level but
This cause is used when a dominant cell provides a lot of scattered coverages inside other cells, due to
propagation conditions of the operational network. The consequence of these spurious coverages is the
probable production of a high level of co-channel interference.
This cause is different from the others as it is more preventive. It does not make use of the propagation
conditions of a call. It just does not allow an MS to talk to a BTS if it is too far away.
It may happen for example that some peculiar propagation conditions exist at one point in time that
provide exceptional quality and level although the serving BTS is far and another is closer and should be
the one the mobile should be connected to if the conditions were normal.
It may then happen that these exceptional conditions suddenly drop and the link is lost, which would not
have happened if the mobile had been connected to the closest cell. So for these reasons, this cause
does not wait for the power control to react.
1 2 68
Handover Causes 12: Power Budget
CAUSE 12: Power Budget Handover (= Better Cell HO)
Decision based mainly on comparison of serving and neighbor cells for:
downlink level of serving and neighbor cells
maximum emitting level of MS
Aiming at decreasing UL & DL emitted power
Should be the normal handover type
no matter of emergency
In this case, there is another cell with a better power budget i.e., the link quality can be improved or
maintained with a reduced transmit power of both the MS and the BTS. The radio link is not degraded
but there is the opportunity to decrease the overall interference level by changing the serving cell of the
given MS.
In conjunction with power control, it presents the advantage to keep the interference as low as possible,
since it minimizes the path loss between the BTS and the MS.
This cause is especially designed to cope with the requirement that the mobile should be connected with
the cell with which the lowest possible output powers are used. To assess which of the cells is this "best
cell", the algorithm performs every measurement reporting period the comparison of the path loss in the
current and in the neighbor cell. This is a feature special to GSM which is made possible because the
mobile measures the adjacent cell signal levels and reports the six best ones.
This power budget gives the difference in path loss between the current cell and the adjacent cells
reported by the mobile.
When PBGT(n) is greater than 0, then the path loss from cell n is less than the path loss from the serving
cell and thus the radiated power in the downlink direction, and therefore in the uplink direction as well,
will be lower in cell n than in the current cell.
However it would not be advisable to hand over the MS to another cell as soon as PBGT is greater than 0,
because the MS would probably oscillate between the two adjacent cells as the propagation conditions
vary. An hysteresis mechanism is implemented to avoid this undesirable effect.
No PBGT between different layers.
Ok between different bands if EN_INTERBAND_PBGT_HO = 1
1 2 69
Handover Causes 12: Power Budget [cont.]
CAUSE 12: Power budget (PBGT) computation
PBGT(n) = AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO
- (BS_TXPWR_MAX AV_BS_TXPWR_HO)
- (MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) MS_TXPWR_MAX)
- PING_PONG_MARGIN(n, call_ref)
The MS may be handed over from the serving cell indexed 0 to a neighbor cell indexed n only if the
power budget exceeds the handover Margin(0,n). The handover Margin(0,n) can be modified according to
the traffic situation in the serving cell and the neighbor cell n. In this way, power budget handover can
be delayed towards a loaded cell and traffic load handover can be triggered from a loaded cell. Once the
MS is handed over, the same algorithm is applied in the new cell, and a new PBGT is computed (which
will be close to the opposite value of PBGT in the old cell) and compared to a new HOMargin. (Thus, the
global hysteresis (from cell 0 to cell n and back to cell 0) is the sum of the two HOMargins).
However, it is still possible that a ping-pong mechanism is created by different handover causes, for
instance a handover may be triggered towards a neighbor cell for bad quality, but in the neighbor cell, a
handover back may be triggered for power budget reasons. In order to avoid this, an additional anti-ping-
pong mechanism is implemented in the power budget calculation. It enables to penalize for a certain
time the cell on which the call has been before.
In case of handover from SDCCH to SDCCH, this cause does not take the traffic situation into account.
In multiband cell environment, the mobile can operate in a different band than the frequency band of
the BCCHs. This can lead to circular ping-pong handovers from the inner zone if the new band is DCS
1800 or to the impossibility to trigger PBGT handovers from the inner zone if the preferred band is GSM
900.
To avoid this problem, when the MS is in the inner zone of a multiband cell, it may be handed over from
the serving cell indexed 0 to a neighbor multiband cell indexed n only if the power budget exceeds the
handover Margin(0,n) plus the offset handover margin which allows to handicap or favor the PBGT (In the
inner zone, the cause power budget is only checked between multiband cells, in a way to maintain the
MS in the preferred band).
The offset handover margin can possibly be used in concentric cells.
1 2 70
CAUSE 12: Power budget
AV_RXLEV_NCELL
received level of BCCH of neighbor cell
AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO
received level of serving cell (BCCH or not)
AV_RXLEV_NCELL - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO
the highest is the best neighbor cell
but serving might not be at the maximum level (with DL power control)
O necessity to have a corrective factor
BCCH = AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) - (AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO + C)
with C = BS_TXPWR_MAX - AV_BS_TXPWR_HO.
This corresponds to the difference of received BCCH signal levels.
A correction factor C is taken into account for the serving cell, because the received signal level (i.e.
AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO) may not be measured on BCCH.
1 2 71
BS_TXPWR_MAX AV_BS_TXPWR_HO
BS_TXPWR_MAX are attenuations, not absolute level
O = (bts_max_power+BS_TXPWR_MAX) -
(bts_max_power+AV_BS_TXPWR_HO)
AV_BS_TXPWR_HO: average of BS_POWER over A_PBGT_HO measurements
corrective factor used to compensate for the fact that the serving cell may not emit
at the maximum level
AV_RXLEV_NCELL-[AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO+(BS_TXPWR_MAX-
AV_BS_TXPWR_HO)]
compare received level of neighbor and serving cells as if the serving one was
emitting at the maximum level
1 2 72
MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)
maximum emitting power for the MS in neighbor cell n
MS_TXPWR_MAX
maximum emitting power for the MS in the serving cell
MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX
Corrective factor to compensate for the difference of maximum power of each cell
MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX = bts_max_power(n) - bts_max_power
which should be the case if delta_path_loss is equilibrated
if not exact, can be corrected with HO_MARGIN(0,n)
Then, another correction factor must be taken into account because the maximum BS powers of the
serving and neighbor cells may be different:
TXPWR= MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX.
As the first step of calculation is based on the downlink parameters, this correction factor should be
based on the maximum BS powers used in the serving and neighbor cells.
Two reasons (which are not completely de-correlated) for not using the BS powers can be envisaged:
for a given cell, the GSM does not specify formally the maximum BS power of the neighbor cells. Only
BS_TXPWR_MAX is defined (it is sent on the air interface),
it is not easy for the evaluating BSC to know the maximum BS powers of the neighbor cells.
The use of the maximum MS powers requires that the difference of MS powers is equal to the difference
of BS powers. This condition is met in most cases. If it is not the case, the difference can be corrected by
the operator with the HO_MARGIN(0,n) parameter (HO hysteresis).
PBGT >0: the neighbor cell is more advantageous as the path loss is lower than in the current cell.
PBGT <0: the serving cell is more advantageous than the current cell.
1 2 73
Hysteresis to avoid ping-pong HO
Static hysteresis defined for each couple of cells:
HO_MARGIN (0,n)
can also be used to correct delta_path_loss
Dynamic penalty for call coming from cell n: ping_pong_margin(n,call_ref)
penalty PING_PONG_HCP
applied during a limited duration: T_HCP
not used if call arrived with a forced directed retry
penalty defined on a cell basis
The main drawback of this handover category is the risk of "ping-pong " effect, which is an oscillating
back and forth handover between two (or three) cells. As the "better cell" handovers are meant to find
the "best cell", the variation of the radio conditions will trigger a big amount of better cell handovers, if
the algorithms have a too sensitive reaction. Hence, some mechanisms are forecast, in order to prevent
these oscillations from occurring repeatedly at given places.
PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref) is a penalty put on the cell n if:
it is the immediately precedent cell on which the call has been,
this cell belongs to the same BSC as the serving cell,
the call has not performed a forced directed retry towards the serving cell,
less than T_HCP seconds have elapsed since the last handover.
In this case PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref) = PING_PONG_HCP
If the call was not precedently on cell n, or if the preceding cell was external, or if the call has just
performed a forced directed retry, or if the timer T_HCP has expired, then
PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref) = 0
1 2 74
ping_pong_margin example
Cell Cell Cell
Case 1
Case 3
Case 2
OK 1
Ping-pong case A OK with Static margin (HO_MARGIN)
Not a ping-pong case
OK due to T_HCP expiry
2
3
Ping-pong case B
This chart shows the efficiency of the anti-ping-pong mechanism.
But, never forget that the anti-ping-pong mechanism distorts the serving areas of the cells.
This is why interference problems might occur when enabling this mechanism. Tuning PING_PONG_HCP
parameter is thus very important.
Warning: this mechanism is not applied for emergency handovers (new mechanism in B7 exists for
capture HO, based on T_INHIBIT_CPT timer).
1 2 75
CAUSE 12: HO Detection
If EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n) = ENABLE
Then PBGT(n) > HO_MARGIN(0,n) + OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER
+ max(0, DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n))
Else PBGT(n) > HO _MARGIN(0,n) + OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER
AND AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO RXLEV_LIMIT_PBGT_HO
AND EN_PBGT_HO = ENABLE
Size of window for level averaging: A_PBGT_HO
Cause 12 HO is correlated with HO cause 23. This is why there are two equations according to the
activation of HO cause 23 (EN_TRAFFIC_HO).
1 2 76
Mechanism to avoid PBGT HO if the level from the serving cell is high enough
RXLEV_LIMIT_PBGT_HO: threshold above which it is not necessary to trigger a
handover on power budget
AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO: average of the received levels over A_PBGT_HO
measurements
Specific to particular algorithms (not mentioned in this course)
OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER: offset which allows to take into account the
radio differences between outer and inner zones (especially in case of multi-
band cells)
RXLEV_LIMIT_PBGT_HO: Dense Network Handover Regulator features
The feature aims at optimizing the better cell handovers, especially in the microcellular environment.
In very dense networks, there is a lot of overlapping between adjacent cells: a better cell handover will
be realized very often. Since B6, the Alcatel-Lucent BSS tunes the number of handovers performed to the
accurate need by taking into account the level received by the serving cell.
Therefore, the best trade-off between quality of speech and intempestive handovers is achieved.
Why?
Especially in microcellular environment (where cell radius is smaller), the better cell HO (based on
Power Budget) is likely to be performed at a high rate to the detriment of the quality.
But it is necessary to maintain the better cell HO.
How?
With a modification of the power budget triggering cause.
Principles
HO cause 12 (Power Budget HO) is modified and takes into account the received downlink level of the
serving cell (new criterion): if the received level is high enough, there is no need to perform an HO.
Consequence
Less HOs when the number of overlapping cells is high.
1 2 77
Specific to traffic considerations
DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) is evaluated according to the traffic situation of the serving cell
and the neighbor cell n (Traffic_load(n)) in the following way:
If Traffic_load(0) = high and Traffic_load(n) = low,
Then DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) = - DELTA_DEC_HO_margin
If Traffic_load(0) = low and Traffic_load(n) = high,
Then DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) = DELTA_INC_HO_margin
Else DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) = 0
Philosophy
This mechanism aims at penalizing cause 12 detection when the traffic in the
serving cell is low and is high in the cell n.
DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) is evaluated according to the traffic situation of the serving cell and the
neighbor cell n (Traffic_load(n)) in the following way:
If Traffic_load(0)=high and Traffic_load(n)=low
DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n)= -DELTA_DEC_HO_margin
If Traffic_load(0)=low and Traffic_load(n)=high
DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n)= DELTA_INC_HO_margin
else DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n)=0
where DELTA_DEC_HO_margin allows the cause 23 (traffic handover) detection.
When the traffic in the serving cell is high and is low in the cell n:
DELTA_INC_HO_margin allows to penalize the cause 12 detection when the traffic in the serving cell is
low and is high in the cell n.
Note:
In the case of concentric or multiband cells, if the channel is in the inner zone (ZONE_TYPE = INNER),
BS_TXPWR_MAX and MS_TXPWR_MAX in equation must be replaced by BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER and
MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER respectively.
If the channel is in the outer zone (ZONE_TYPE = OUTER), the formulation of equation is not changed.
Note: The value of PBGT(n) is calculated every SACCH period for each neighbor cell n whose measures
are kept in the book-keeping list.
1 2 78
Traffic_load() is a function managed for every cell of a BSC
Traffic_load() can have three values:
high: cell is loaded
low: cell is unloaded
indefinite: cell is neither loaded nor unloaded
Traffic_load() value is modified according to the long-term traffic
evaluation algorithm using the following parameters:
A_TRAFFIC_LOAD, N_TRAFFIC_LOAD, HIGH_TRAFFIC_LOAD,
IND_TRAFFIC_LOAD, LOW_TRAFFIC_LOAD: can be modified per cell
TCH_INFO_PERIOD: cannot be modified
TCH_INFO_PERIOD = 5s period used by the BSC to count the number of free TCHs.
More details are provided in Annex.
1 2 79
Handover Causes 23: Traffic
CAUSE 23: Traffic Handover
Handover that speeds up departure to a better cell, under certain
traffic conditions !
DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) < 0dB
AND PBGT(n) > HO_MARGIN(0,n) + OFFSET_HO_MARGNIN_INNER +
DELTA_HO_MARGIN (0,n)
AND EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n) = ENABLE
Size of window for level averaging: A_PBGT_HO
The principle of this handover is to reduce the size of the serving cell when it is high-loaded relatively to
a low-loaded cell.
When the mobile moves away from the BTS, the power budget will increase and a better cell handover
will be triggered earlier.
It is recommended to inhibit Traffic handover towards 1-TRX cells. These cells do not have enough
resources to receive incoming handovers due to congestion of neighbor cells. Moreover because of the
great variation of traffic in the 1-TRX cells, traffic load is never considered as low.
This cause is inhibited for handover from SDCCH to SDCCH.
Cause 23 is checked over all the neighboring cells belonging to the same layer. It means that it is
checked between cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE is single or upper, between cells whose
CELL_LAYER_TYPE is lower, and between cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE is indoor.
In addition to the condition on the cell layer type, the cell frequency band condition for checking Cause
23 is as follows whether or not the MS is in the inner zone of a multi-band cell:
a) The MS is not in the inner zone of a multi-band cell:
If the flag EN_MULTI-BAND_PBGT_HO is set to disabled, Cause 23 must not be checked between
cells which use different frequency bands (i.e cells having different CELL_BAND_TYPE).
If the flag EN_MULTI-BAND_PBGT_HO is set to enabled, Cause 23 will be checked over all the
neighboring cells without any cell frequency band restriction.
b) The MS is in the inner zone of a multi-band cell:
If the flag EN_MULTI-BAND_PBGT_HO is set to disabled, Cause 23 is checked over all the
neighboring cell multi-band cells (FREQUENCY_RANGE= PGSM-DCS1800 or EGSM-DCS1800) which
belong to the same BSC as the serving cell.
If the flag EN_MULTI-BAND_PBGT_HO is set to enabled, Cause 23 will be checked over all the
neighboring cells without any cell frequency band restriction.
1 2 80
Handover Causes 23: Traffic [cont.]
CAUSE 23: Traffic Handover
DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) computation is already described in Cause 12 HO
DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) < 0dB means that
The serving cell is loaded
The target cell is unloaded
PBGT(n) > HO_MARGIN(0,n) + OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER
+ DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) (n=1BTSnum)
This constraint is less discriminative than Cause 12
In specific traffic distribution, this cause is triggered before cause 12
1 2 81
Handover Causes 12 & 23 Interworking
Cause 12 & 23: A dynamic way to handle traffic load
PBGT (n2)
PBGT (n1)
Traffic_load
Traffic_load(n2)=high
Traffic_load(n1)=low
Other cases Traffic_load(n2)=low
Traffic_load(n1)=high
HO_MARGING(n1, n2) + DELTA_INC_HO_margin
HO_MARGING(n1, n2)
HO_MARGING(n1, n2) - DELTA_DEC_HO_margin
HO_MARGING(n2, n1) - DELTA_DEC_HO_margin
HO_MARGING(n2, n1)
HO_MARGING(n2, n1) + DELTA_INC_HO_margin
PBGT Handover
PBGT Handover
2 x HO_MARGIN
+ DELTA_INC_HO_margin
- DELTA_DEC_HO_margin
2 x HO_MARGIN
PBGT Handover
Traffic Handover
PBGT Handover
Traffic Handover
Handover from n1 to n2
Handover from n2 to n1
N2 loaded
N1 loaded
The figure represents the triggering areas of PBGT and traffic handovers according to the traffic load in
the serving cell and in the neighbor cell.
1 2 82
Directed Retry Principles
Directed Retry is:
an SDCCH to TCH intercell handover
Triggered during call setup procedure
If the serving cell is completely congested, the MS is allocated an
SDCCH
If no TCH is available, the MS is queued
Under certain conditions, the MS obtains TCH in another cell
SDCCH-TCH handover on:
better condition or emergency causes = Directed Retry
cause 20 = Forced Directed Retry
Internal and External Directed Retries are possible
1 2 83
Directed Retry
Directed Retry
Set on a per cell basis with parameter EN_DR
Same behavior as TCH HO
Intercell handover causes are checked (i.e. all HO causes except 10, 11 and
13 (concentric cells) and causes 15 and 16 (intracell HO))
Candidate cell evaluation process: same as for TCH HO
1 2 84
Forced Directed Retry: Cause 20
CAUSE 20: Forced Directed Retry
AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) > L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n)
And EN_FORCED_DR = ENABLE
EN_FORCED_DR value is only relevant if EN_DR = true
AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) is calculated with A_PBGT_DR window
if less than A_PBGT_DR samples are available, the average value is
calculated with the available samples and the averaging window is filled in
with -110 dBm
1 2 85
Forced Directed Retry: Cell Candidate Evaluation
Pre-ranking
using PREF_LAYER, PRIORITY(0,n), frequency band
Filtering process
AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) > RXLEVmin(n)
+max(0,MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - P)
Number of free TCHs t(n) > FREElevel_DR(n)
Remaining cells are sorted according totheir PBGT_DR(n) (averaging
window A_PBGT_DR)
PBGT_DR(n) = AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_DR
- (BS_TXPWR_MAX - BS_TXPWR)
- (MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX)
1 2 86
Forced Directed Retry: Parameters
L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n): level required in the neighbor cell n
The parameter considered is the one set in the neighbor cell
The default value depends on network architecture
See next slide
Freelevel_DR(n): number of free TCH channels required in the
neighbor cell n
The parameter considered is the one set in the neighbor cell
Default value = 0 to 4 TCHs (linked to the nb of TRXs)
A_PBGT_DR: Averaging window
Default value = 4 SACCHs
1 2 87
Cause 24: General Capture
Capture handover
Modified in B8: Inhibition of capture handovers for Single layer serving cell
May be triggered
From all cells
Towards all cells except serving
Can be used to capture traffic by any cell, whatever its type, band, etc.
S
erving ce
ll
Cell
Cell
Cell
Cell
1 2 88
Cause 24: General Capture [cont.]
CAUSE 24: general capture
AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) > L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) +
max (0, [MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - P])
and Traffic_load(0) = CAPTURE_TRAFFIC_CONDITION
and Traffic_load(n) HIGH
and EN_GENERAL_CAPTURE_HO = ENABLE
Size of window for averaging level: A_PBGT_HO
CAPTURE_TRAFFIC_CONDITION can take 3 values: ANY_LOAD (default),
HIGH, NOT_LOW
Anti ping-pong: not checked if T_INHIBIT_CPT is running new in B8 for
single layer
Case the serving cell is in the upper or single layer (CELL_LAYER_TYPE(n
0
) = upper or single):
Condition 1:
The immediately preceding cell n
-1
is in the indoor or lower layer, i.e. CELL_LAYER_TYPE(n
1
) = lower or
indoor, or the frequency band of the immediately preceding cell n
-1
is different from the frequency band
of the serving cell n
0
, i.e. CELL_BAND_TYPE(n
1
) <> CELL_BAND_TYPE(n
0
).
Condition 2:
The call has previously performed i) an emergency internal handover on quality (Cause 2, 4, and 7)
towards the serving cell or ii) an external handover with the A interface GSM cause uplink quality or
downlink quality and there is a bi-directional adjacency link between the preceding external cell n
-1
and
the serving cell n
0
.
If Conditions 1 and 2 are fulfilled the timer T_INHIBIT_CPT is started
1 2 89
Handover Cause 28: Fast Traffic HO
CAUSE 28: Fast Traffic HO
Push out of a cell a mobile in dedicated mode to allow a queued request to
be served in the serving cell
Complement the current traffic HO (Cause 23), for sudden traffic peaks (no
averaging window used)
More efficient where the overlap of adjacent cells is reduced
Most appropriate MS
to be pushed out
N
e
w
c
all attem
p
t
Congested
Serving cell
N
eighbor cell
Cell
N
eighbor cell
Cell
Upper layer cell
HO
HO
Most appropriate MS
to be pushed out
N
e
w
c
all attem
p
t
Congested
Serving cell
AV_RXLEV_NCELL( n) > L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR( n) + max(0,[MS_TXPWR_MAX( n)-P])
The threshold L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) is the observed level from the neighbor cell n at the border
of the area where fast traffic handovers are enabled. This threshold fixes the size of the
overlapping area where fast traffic handovers can be performed. It should be greater than
RXLEVmin(n).
And t(n) > FREElevel_DR(n)
FREElevel_DR(n) is the minimum threshold of free TCHs in the neighbor cell n for forced directed
retry and fast traffic handover.
t(n) is the absolute number of free (dual rate) TCHs in the neighbor cell n.
For external cells, t( n) is fixed to the arbitrary value t(n) = 255. Therefore, setting
FREElevel_DR(n) to 255 for an external cell inhibits outgoing external fast traffic handover
towards this cell. Setting FREElevel_DR(n) to any other value will allow outgoing external fast
traffic handover towards this cell.
EN_CAUSE_28 = enable
The flag EN_CAUSE_28 is not an OMC flag but a HOP flag.
1 2 90
Handover Cause 28: Fast Traffic HO [cont.]
CAUSE 28: Fast Traffic Handover
Cause 28 is only checked if the channel of the candidate MS can support the
channel rate (HR or FR) required by the queued request:
HO is triggered when a request is queued at the top of the queue
FR FR (Whatever the TRX type)
HR , or FR on dual rate TRX
Queued Request Candidate MS
HR
1 2 91
CAUSE 28: Fast Traffic Handover equation
AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) > L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) + max(0,[MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)-P])
AND t(n) > FREElevel_DR(n)
AND EN_CAUSE_28 = ENABLE
AND EN_FAST_TRAFFIC_HO = ENABLE
Size of window for averaging level: A_PBGT_DR
Same thresholds and window as Cause 20 (Forced Directed Retry)
EN_CAUSE_28 is an internal HOP process variable
1 2 92
CAUSE 28: Fast Traffic Handover process
DHCP
END
- Cause number 28
- Reference of the call to handover
(which corresponds to the first
candidate MS received)
Start HO
Assignment request queued - Queued request reference
- Channel rate of queued request
Fast Traffic HO Request
Yes
EN_CAUSE_28=enable
EN_CAUSE_28=disable
HO alarm:
cause 28?
NOK
DHCP
END
Request
still queued?
Resource Allocation
Management
Handover
Preparation
T_FILTER
is started
Handover
Management
OK
Check first
2 conditions of cause 28
- Queued request reference
- Reference of MS can perform HO
Fast Traffic HO Acknowledge
Yes
No
NO
HO cause 28 process:
If EN_FAST_TRAFFIC_HO = enable, when an assignment request (or external emergency HO request) is
queued, the RAM process sends to the HOP process a Fast Traffic HO request which contains the queued
request reference and its channel rate.
Then, HO cause 28 becomes checkable (EN_CAUSE_28=enable).
Once an HO alarm for cause 28 is triggered, the flag EN_CAUSE_28 is set to disable so as not to
perform more than one handover. In the same time, the HOP process gets back to the RAM process a Fast
Traffic HO Acknowledge which contains the queued request reference and the reference of the MS that
can perform HO.
If several answers are sent to the RAM process, only the first one corresponding to the queued request
is taken into account. The RAM process checks if the request is still queued. If that is so, the RAM process
asks the HOP process to start HO for this mobile; otherwise the process is stopped.
Once the HOP process receives this message, the first two conditions of Cause 28 (good enough level,
enough free resources in the target cell) are checked one more time. If the conditions are fulfilled, the
HOP process sends an alarm to the HOM entity and the timer T_FILTER is started ; otherwise the process
is stopped.
Note: the first two conditions of cause 28 are tested twice in order to be sure that the candidate cells
are still valid when the cause 28 start HO message is received from the RAM process.
1 2 93
Handover Cause 15: UL Interference
CAUSE 15: High interference on the uplink
Intracell HO
AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO > THR_RXQUAL_CAUSE_15 + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
AND AV_RXLEV_UL_HO > RXLEV_UL_IH
AND [ no previous intracell handover for this connection failed
OR EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED = ENABLE ]
THR_RXQUAL_CAUSE_15 and EN_CAUSE_15 are not parameters but variables defined just after.
In B7:
New causes (26 & 27) introduced due to AMR support
Cause 26 is an emergency condition:
Intracell HO: speech codec from AMR-HR to AMR-FR
Cause 27 is a better condition
Intracell HO: speech codec from AMR-FR to AMR-HR
Causes 15 & 16 are modified due to AMR support
Specific enablers and thresholds for AMR calls
AMR emergency HO (cause 26) is triggered if cause 15 or 16 has already been triggered
Cause 29 is created for intracell handover due to TFO
Codec sharing and optimization for MTM calls
1 2 94
Handover Cause 16: DL Interference
CAUSE 16: High interference on the downlink
Intracell HO
AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO > THR_RXQUAL_CAUSE_16 + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
AND AV_RXLEV_DL_HO > RXLEV_DL_IH
AND [ no previous intracell handover for this connection failed OR
EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED = ENABLE ]
THR_RXQUAL_CAUSE_16 and EN_CAUSE_16 are not parameters but variables defined after.
1 2 95
Causes 15 & 16: Parameters
THR_RXQUAL_CAUSE_15 (or 16) and EN_CAUSE_15 (or 16) are specific
to HOP
THR_RXQUAL_CAUSE_15 (or 16) =
L_RXQUAL_XX_H for a non AMR call (same threshold as CAUSE 2 or CAUSE 4)
L_RXQUAL_XX_H_AMR for an AMR call
EN_ CAUSE _15 (or 16) =
EN_INTRA_XX for a non AMR call
EN_INTRA_XX_AMR for an AMR call
XX = UL or DL
For a non-AMR call, the thresholds used are identical to the ones used for CAUSE 2 and CAUSE 4.
In this case and if EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED = DISABLE, when aN HO CAUSE 15 (or 16) fails, it can be
modified as UPLINK (or DOWLINK) QUALITY, HO CAUSE 2 (respectively HO CAUSE 4).
1 2 96
GSM Standard Codecs
Principles:
Two consecutive encodings: speech coding and channel coding
With current codecs, the share of each coding is FIXED (not optimized)
Speech protection
"against degradation"
22.8 Kbit/s (FR TS)
Speech protection
"against degradation"
11.4 Kbit/s (HR TS)
Channel coding
Channel coding
F
I
X
E
D
F
I
X
E
D
F
I
X
E
D
Radio
Radio
Speech coding
Speech information "useful part"
13 Kbit/s
ou 12.2 Kbit/s
(FR)
(EFR)
Speech information "useful part"
5.6 Kbit/s (HR)
Speech coding
Voice
Voice
Speech coding contains speech information (the useful part).
Channel coding protects speech information (against radio degradations).
The main speech codec currently used in GSM networks, speech Full Rate, is quite old. It has been
specified more than 10 years ago. Around 1992, to increase network capacity, GSM has specified a half
rate speech codec. But this codec showed strong limitations in terms of speech quality, especially for
mobile to mobile calls (double transcoding degrades very much the speech quality of the half rate codec)
and under poor radio conditions.
Recently, studies on AMR have been launched to provide a solution to:
Increase speech quality in full rate and half rate,
Increase network capacity by offering a good half rate solution,
Use a long-term solution, to avoid adding more and more codecs handled independently from the
others.
1 2 97
Adaptative Multi-Rate
Speech frame (20 ms)
Speech coding
N bits
Channel coding
456 (FR) or 228 (HR) bits
FR AMR WideBand:
N =
132 6.6 kbit/s
177 8.85 kbit/s
253 12.65 kbit/s
FR AMR (NarrowBand):
N =
95 4.75 kbit/s
103 5.15 kbit/s
118 5.9 kbit/s
134 6.7 kbit/s
148 7.4 kbit/s
159 7.95 kbit/s
204 10.2 kbit/s
244 12.2 kbit/s
HR AMR (NarrowBand):
N =
95 4.75 kbit/s
103 5.15 kbit/s
118 5.9 kbit/s
134 6.7 kbit/s
148 7.4 kbit/s
159 7.95 kbit/s
B10
In order to adapt the intermediate rate, a set of speech codecs has been defined by ETSI to be used by
AMR:
When radio conditions are good, increases speech information.
When radio conditions are bad, protects speech information.
Full Rate AMR-NB: Alcatel-Lucent implementation is fully compliant with GSM recommendations. All
these AMR FR codec modes are supported. In particular, the Alcatel-Lucent BSS has implemented the
7.95, 5.9 and 4.75 codec modes which use polynomials of constraint length 7 to ensure a high protection.
Half Rate AMR-NB: Alcatel-Lucent implementation supports 5 out of 6 AMR HR codec modes (AMR HR
7.95 is not supported) which are fully compliant with GSM recommendations. In particular, the Alcatel-
Lucent BSS has implemented the 4.75 codec mode which uses polynomials of constraint length 7 to
ensure a high protection.
AMR-WB: Defined in 3GPP Release 5, its described in 3GPP TS 26.171 as follow:
OFR AMR-WB : known as FR sv4 [Not supported in ALU BSS B10]
O Uses a FR channel with 8-PSK
O 5 codec modes are defined : 23.85 kbit/s, 15.85 kbit/s, 12.65 kbit/s, 8.85 kbit/s, 6.60
kbit/s
FR AMR-WB : known as FR sv5
O Uses a FR channel with GMSK
O 3 codec modes are defined : 12.65 kbit/s, 8.85 kbit/s, 6.60 kbit/s
OHR AMR-WB : known as HR sv4 [Not supported in ALU BSS B10]
O Uses a HR channel with 8-PSK
O Same codec modes as FR AMR-WB
1 2 98
SF
(20 ms)
Speech
Coding
Channel
Coding
N bits
bit rate
R
456 (FR)
or
228 (HR) bits
AMR-NB Sampling rate: 8 kHz
AMR-WB Sampling rate: 16 kHz
The main difference between AMR WideBand (AMR-WB) and AMR-NB is the
sampling rate.
In 2G, AMR-WB allows to improve voice quality and enables 3G service
continuity.
The AMR-WB feature is used with the new MT-120WB transcoder board.
TFO is a prerequisite for AMR-WB. Indeed, without TFO, all benefits from WB
speech coding are lost because of transcoding from AMR-WB to AMR-NB.
Adaptative Multi-Rate: [Cont.]
B10
For AMR-NB, during a call, only a subset out of the 8 codecs (in case of FR) or 6 codecs (in case of HR) is
used.
The Active Codec Set (ACS) can include from 1 to 4 codecs. It is up to the operator to define its own
codec subset with the following O&M parameters: AMR_FR_SUBSET and AMR_HR_SUBSET.
The ACS will be relevant only if FR AMR-NB is activated: EN_AMR_FR = Enable (resp HR AMR-NB is
activated: EN_AMR_HR = Enable)
In particular, he can define a codec subset limited to the common codec modes supported by all the BSSs
of its network (some BSSs may not be able to support all of them due to implementability problems).
The codec subset defined by the operator is the same in the uplink and in the downlink.
For AMR-WB, there is no need to define an ACS. Only the flag EN_AMR-WB_GMSK to be set to Enable
Codec Mode Adaptation:
dynamic change from one codec to another, using the same channel (FR or HR).
metric used: C/I (Carrier over interference ratio).
Channel Mode adaptation:
change from one FR channel to an HR one and vice-versa independently from the codec mode.
metric used: RX_QUAL uplink and downlink.
1 2 99
Codec Mode Adaptation
Based on adaptive trade-off between the share of throughput given to
speech coding and the one given to channel coding (speech protection)
Depends on radio conditions estimated in real-time
Medium
radio conditions
Bad
radio conditions
Good
radio conditions
Speech coding = speech information
Channel coding = speech protection
The AMR principle is to have a set of codecs and, for any radio conditions, to use the one with the best
speech quality.
Under good radio conditions, a codec with a high bit rate is used. Speech is encoded with more
information so the quality is better. In the channel coding, only little place is left for redundancy.
Under poor radio conditions, a codec with a low bit rate is chosen. Speech is encoded with less
information, but this information can be well protected due to redundancy in the channel coding.
The BSS adapts dynamically the codec in uplink direction and in downlink direction, taking into account
the C/I measured by the BTS (for uplink adaptation) and by the MS (for downlink adaptation).
The codec used in the uplink and used in the downlink can be different: the adaptation is independent in
each direction.
This permits to use an optimal codec for each C/I value of each direction, as indicated in the figure
below.
1 2 100
Codec Mode Adaptation [Cont.]
For AMR-NB, only a subset of 4 codecs can be used per channel type
(FR/HR)
The same codec subset is used for Uplink and Downlink
For both AMR (NB and WB), codec mode adaptation is performed as
follow:
In Uplink, for each SACCH frame, the BTS compares C/I value to the threshold
corresponding to the current codec (belonging to the codec subset defined by
the operator)
In downlink, its the same process as uplink adaptation. Nevertheless, the
BTS remains the master
Unrelated processes uplink and downlink codecs may be different at
a given time
1 2 101
Codec Mode Adaptation: AMR-NB
The Codec mode can be modified on one frame out of two (CMI / CMC-
CMR).
Decision based on thresholds (OMC-R settable), for the uplink and the
downlink.
CODEC_MODE_4
(less robust)
CODEC_MODE_3
CODEC_MODE_2
CODEC_MODE_1
(most robust)
High
Low
C/I norm
AMR_FR_THR_1 + AMR_FR_HYST
AMR_FR_THR_1
AMR_FR_THR_2
AMR_FR_THR_3
1 2 102
Codec Mode Adaptation: AMR-WB
The Codec mode can be modified on one frame out of two (CMI / CMC-
CMR).
Decision based on thresholds (OMC-R settable), for the uplink and the
downlink.
C/I norm
High
Low
AMR_WB_GMSK_THR_2 + AMR_WB_GMSK_HYST_2
AMR_WB_GMSK_THR_2
AMR_WB_GMSK_THR_1 + AMR_WB_GMSK_HYST_1
AMR_WB_GMSK_THR_1
CODEC_MODE_3
(less robust)
CODEC_MODE_2
CODEC_MODE_1
(most robust)
B10
1 2 103
Codec Mode Adaptation
Uplink adaptation
Downlink adaptation
Codec Mode Request
(new codec mode)
Codec Mode Indication
(new codec mode)
Codec Mode Request
(new codec mode)
MS BTS TC
(new codec mode)
C/I evaluation &
thresholds comparison
(new codec mode)
Codec Mode Command
(new codec mode)
MS BTS TC
(new codec mode)
C/I evaluation &
thresholds comparison
1 2 104
AMR-NB Channel Mode Adaptation
The choice between HR AMR-NB and FR AMR-NB is called: Channel mode
adaptation
Its done at call setup and during the call through HO causes 26 & 27
1 2 105
AMR Gain
AMR: always gives end user the best satisfaction
Comparison between different codecs in terms of capacity and quality:
FR
EFR
HR
FR AMR-NB
HR AMR-NB
FR AMR-NB + HR AMR-NB
FR AMR-WB without TFO
FR AMR-WB with TFO
Speech quality
requirement
Capacity
requirement
new B10
new B10
B10
The main speech codec currently used in GSM networks, speech Full Rate, is quite old. It has been
specified more than 10 years ago.
Around 1992, to increase network capacity, GSM has specified a half-rate speech codec. But this codec
showed strong limitations in terms of speech quality, especially for mobile-to-mobile calls (double
transcoding degrades very much the speech quality of the half-rate codec) and under poor radio
conditions.
A few years later, when GSM started to be introduced in North America, American operators asked for an
improved speech codec for full rate channels. Indeed speech quality was a major argument for customers
used to have a good speech quality with analog systems. For that issue, EFR was specified for GSM.
Recently, studies on AMR have been launched to provide a solution to:
Increase speech quality in full rate and half rate,
Increase network capacity by offering a good half rate solution,
Use a long-term solution, to avoid adding more and more codecs handled independently from the
others,
Take into account Tandem Free Operation (TFO), especially between MSs on half rate on one side and
on full rate on the other side.
1 2 106
AMR: TCH Allocation
FR / HR discrimination
Cell load AV_LOAD() computed from
load samples = NB_BUSY_TS / NB_TS * 100
non sliding window (LOAD_EV_PERIOD) averaging process
THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV1=80%
THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV3=60%
THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV1=50%
THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV3=40%
AV_LOAD
Time
100%
FR for any MS
HR for AMR MS
FR for other MS
HR for any MS
HR for AMR MS
FR for other MS
FR for any MS
Load samples are computed by the BSC every TCH_INFO_PERIOD = 5 seconds.
LOAD_EV_PERIOD is the averaging window size for cell load computation. It is equal to 12 but can be changed at the
OMC-R level on a per cell basis. Therefore cell load process has a periodicity of 1mn by default
(TCH_INFO_PERIOD*LOAD_EV_PERIOD). The allocation of Half rate resources is decided upon the load evaluation in
the serving cell.
AMR HR (HR SV3) offers a better speech quality than HR SV1. The Alcatel-Lucent BSS offers thus the possibility to
define a set of thresholds specific for AMR. If the load increases, AMR HR capable MSs can be the first to be allocated
in HR (HR SV3) for load reasons, and if the load still increases, then all the HR capable MSs can be allocated in HR
(HR SV1 & HR SV3) for load reasons.
This is why two variables of load are defined: LOAD_SV3 and LOAD_SV1.
Each load variable is calculated through its own threshold set: the thresholds related to the variable LOAD_SV3
(THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV3 and THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV3) are less restrictive than the ones related to the variable LOAD_SV1
(THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV1 and THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV1).
As a consequence, if the load of the cell increases, then the variable LOAD_SV3 will first equal TRUE, and if the load
still increases, the variable LOAD_SV1 will then equal TRUE.
The variable LOAD_SV1 corresponds to a level of load where it is important to put as many MSs on half rate TCH as
possible: HR SV3 or HR SV1.
The same computation is done to compute LOAD_SV3 with the thresholds: THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV3 and
THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV3 with the following relations:
THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV3 THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV3
THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV3 THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV1
THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV3 THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV1
Previous state
AV_LOAD
LOAD_SV1 = FALSE LOAD_SV1 = TRUE
AV_LOAD THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV1 LOAD_SV1 = FALSE LOAD_SV1 = FALSE
THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV1 <
AV_LOAD
THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV1
LOAD_SV1 = FALSE LOAD_SV1 = TRUE
THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV1 < AV_LOAD LOAD_SV1 = TRUE LOAD_SV1 = TRUE
1 2 107
Cause 26: AMR HR to FR HO
CAUSE 26: AMR channel adaptation HO (HR to FR)
Cause 26 is triggered if :
Current channel rate is HR
Current channel is dual rate and changes are allowed
AMR_FR speech codec is allowed:
-EN_AMR_FR = ENABLE
1 2 108
Cause 26: AMR HR to FR HO [cont.]
CAUSE 26: AMR channel adaptation HO (HR to FR) equation
[ previous intracell HO (15) or (16) already triggered in serving cell
OR (EN_INTRA_DL_AMR = DISABLE AND EN_INTRA_UL_AMR = DISABLE) ]
AND [ ( AV_RXQUAL_UL_CA_HR_FR > THR_RXQUAL_CA + OFFSET_CA +
OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
AND AV_RXLEV_UL_HO > RXLEV_UL_IH )
OR
( AV_RXQUAL_DL_CA_HR_FR > THR_RXQUAL_CA + OFFSET_CA
+ OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
AND AV_RXLEV_DL_HO > RXLEV_DL_IH ) ]
AND EN_AMR_CA_HR_FR = ENABLE
Size of window for averaging quality: A_QUAL_CA_HR_FR
B10
2 different flags in order to activate cause 26 and cause 27 separately.
In B10, EN_AMR_CA has been removed and replaced by 2 parameters:
EN_AMR_CA_FR_HR
EN_AMR_CA_HR_FR
HO algorithms in the BSC is modified so that cause 26 and cause 27 are enabled separately.
EN_AMR_CA_HR_FR: This flag enables/disables intracell HO for AMR channel adaptation (Handover
Cause 26) (cell parameter)
1 2 109
THR_RXQUAL_CA and OFFSET_CA are set as follows:
if LOAD_SV3(0) = false
then THR_RXQUAL_CA = THR_RXQUAL_CA_NORMAL
OFFSET_CA = OFFSET_CA_NORMAL
if LOAD_SV3(0) = true
then THR_RXQUAL_CA = THR_RXQUAL_CA_HIGH
OFFSET_CA = OFFSET_CA_HIGH
1 2 110
Calculation of LOAD_SV3(0):
If previous value of LOAD_SV3 = false then
If AV_LOAD > THR_FR_LOAD_U_SV3
Then LOAD_SV3 = true
Else LOAD_SV3 = false
If previous value of LOAD_SV3 = true then
If AV_LOAD <= THR_FR_LOAD_L_SV3
Then LOAD_SV3 = false
Else LOAD_SV3 = true
More details are provided in Annex.
1 2 111
Cause 27: AMR FR to HR HO
CAUSE 27: AMR channel adaptation HO (FR to HR)
Cause 27 is triggered if:
Current channel rate is FR
Current channel is dual rate and changes are allowed
AMR_HR speech codec is allowed:
-EN_AMR_HR = ENABLE
1 2 112
Cause 27: AMR FR to HR HO [cont.]
CAUSE 27: AMR channel adaptation HO (FR to HR) equation
AV_RXQUAL_UL_CA_FR_HR <= THR_RXQUAL_CA + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
AND AV_RXQUAL_DL_CA_FR_HR <= THR_RXQUAL_CA
+ OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH
AND EN_AMR_CA_FR_HR = ENABLE
Size of window for averaging quality: A_QUAL_CA_FR_HR
B10
2 different flags in order to activate cause 26 and cause 27 separately.
In B10, EN_AMR_CA has been removed and replaced by 2 parameters:
EN_AMR_CA_FR_HR
EN_AMR_CA_HR_FR
HO algorithms in the BSC is modified so that cause 26 and cause 27 are enabled separately.
EN_AMR_CA_FR_HR: This flag enables/disables intracell HO for AMR channel adaptation (Handover
Cause 27) (cell parameter)
1 2 113
Cause 26 & 27 Interworking
THR_RXQUAL_CA_NORMAL
Quality
THR_RXQUAL_CA_NORMAL +
OFFSET_CA_NORMAL
THR_RXQUAL_CA_HIGH
THR_RXQUAL_CA_HIGH +
OFFSET_CA_HIGH
Bad quality: 7
Good quality: 0
Load = False Load = True
Half Rate
Full Rate
Half Rate
Full Rate
HO cause 26
HO cause 27
HO cause 26
HO cause 27
1 2 114
Introduction to TFO
Tandem Free Operation (TFO) solution
ITU-T G.711 A-Law/
? -Law
Compressed Speech Compressed Speech
Transcoding
Function
Transcoding
Function
Decoding
Encoding
Encoding
Decoding
MS B MS A
GSM Codec at 8 or 16 Kbit/s GSM Codec at 8 or 16 Kbit/s PSTN Codec at 64 Kbit/s
Double Transcoding without TFO
Compressed Speech Compressed Speech
Transcoding
Function
Transcoding
Function
TFO
TFO
Encoding
Decoding
MS B MS A
No Transcoding with TFO
Compressed Speech
EFR, FR, HR, FR AMR-WB
B10
The Tandem Free Operation (TFO) feature is a way to avoid double transcoding in mobile to mobile
speech calls.
Indeed, without TFO one GSM codec type is used between the first mobile and the first transcoder, then
the speech is transcoded into A/ law between transcoders and finally this speech is transcoded again
into a second GSM codec type (which may be the same as the first one) between the second transcoder
and the second mobile.
With TFO, after call establishment, both BSSs at each side are able to negotiate a common GSM codec
type which is then used from one mobile to the other mobile. This negotiation is performed through in-
band signaling between transcoders.
1 2 115
Introduction to TFO [cont.]
Applicability: Only MS-to-MS speech calls
TFO is based on information exchanged between transcoders
TRAU
MS MS BTS
64 Kbit/s Speech Sample carrying:
- TFO frames on the LSB containing:
- compressed speech samples
- control bits
- TFO messages
- original PCM speech samples on the MSB
TRAU
BSC
IPE
MSC
IPE
MSC
BTS
BSC
1 2 116
TFO Principles
In the case of first allocation (normal assignment at call setup, inter-
BSS handover, intra-BSS handover where no TFO was previously on-
going):
Exchange of Codec capabilities
New call setup
Match
Found
Yes No
Look for common codec
No Yes
Normal operation TFO mode ON
Intracell HO
1 2 117
Cause 29: TFO HO
CAUSE 29: TFO HO
Intracell HO used in case of codec mismatch between two MSs calling, in
order to match their speech codec
No radio measurements needed No priority and may be triggered at any
time
Conditions:
HO_INTRACELL_ALLOWED = ENABLE
AND
EN_TFO_MATCH = ENABLE
1 2 118
Cause 29: TFO Parameters
EN_TFO
enables/disables the feature, per cell
EN_TFO_MATCH
enables/disables resolution of codec mismatch, per cell
EN_TFO_OPT
enables/disables codec optimization, per cell
FORCE_TFO_VS_AMR
enables/disables the basic functions of TFO for GSM EFR, FR and HR codec
types when the current codec is FR AMR-NB or HR AMR-NB
FORCE_TFO_HR_WHEN_LOADED
controls the establishment of TFO in HR when the cell is loaded
KEEP_CODEC_HO
indicates if the BSC tries to keep the same codec in case of internal intercell
HO
B10
modified B10
Codec Mismatch
At call setup for a mobile-to-mobile speech call, when both BSSs do not use the same codec type, a codec mismatch occurs. If a common codec type
can be found, either one or possibly both BSSs perform an intracell handover to use the common codec type found. Afterwards TFO can be started
using this common codec type. Codec mismatch resolution is authorized in the BSC using an O&M flag: EN_TFO_MATCH. This flag is forwarded to the
TC, via the BTS.
Codec Optimization
Once a first common codec type found, it can occur that a better speech quality would be provided with another common codec type.
If both BSSs operate in Tandem Free, they exchange their complete codec capabilities, to try to find a better codec type than the current one. Codec
optimization is authorized in the BSC using an O&M flag : EN_TFO_OPT. This flag is forwarded to the TC, via the BTS.
Immediate Codec type Optimization
The Codec Type Optimisation described previously is performed in a late phase of the protocol and may require significant time for transmission; the
optimisation may be delayed by a significant amount of time. Furthermore, if TFO was already established before optimisation, a switch to the
preferred
codec type may disturb the ongoing speech call. To avoid these drawbacks, the codec type optimisation can be performed immediately during TFO
establishment, i.e., in a very early stage of the TFO protocol. This procedure is triggered only if immediate TFO is possible on a currently used codec
type, but also on a supported codec type with a higher preference level (see 3.2.6.1), then TFO shall not be started on the used codec type, but only
after switching to the preferred codec. Immediate Codec Type Optimisation becomes only effective in TFO version 5 or higher.
Classification of Codec Types
In all cases, TFO is considered better as any tandeming configuration. In TFO, AMR-WB is considered better than EFR, EFR is considered as better than
FR, considered as better than HR.
Force TFO vs. AMR
TFO + AMR-NB is not supported in this implementation of TFO. In the normal operation, a call established with AMR-NB will not initiate a TFO
negotiation. The goal of the function Force TFO vs. AMR is to allow a call, established with AMR-NB to initiate a TFO negotiation and, if possible, to
change of codec type to FR, HR or EFR to establish TFO.
In-Path Equipment (IPE)
TFO can only be activated if TFO frames (at 8 or 16 Kbit/s) can be sent transparently through the public switching network. In-path equipments are
equipments such as echo cancellors or A/ law converters that modify the 64 Kbit/s speech signal. Such equipment need to be deactivated for TFO
calls.
1 2 119
Cause 29: TFO Parameters [cont.]
EN_TFO_OPT: enables/disables codec optimization, per cell
Allows new TFO negotiation on an on-going MTM call to find a better common
codec
For example, HR is used on both sides, but FR is possible too
HO cause 29 will be triggered on both sides towards the best codec
EN_TFO_AMR_WB : enable, disable the use of TFO in case of AMR
WideBand, per cell
B10
1 2 120
FORCE_TFO_VS_AMR:
TFO AMR-NB not specified
Call setup in AMR is not followed by TFO negotiation
FORCE_TFO_VS_AMR enables HO cause 29 after AMR call establishment towards the
best TFO codec
EFR + TFO
The MS A can only use HR/EFR/FR
The MS B can use HR/EFR/FR
C
ell cap: C
ell cap:
The MS A using AMR-NB, could use HR/EFR/FR
MS A MS B
TFO not possible
Enable (Alcatel patent)
FORCE_TFO_VS_AMR
Disabled
(ETSI implementation)
AMR-NB / HR / FR / EFR HR / FR / EFR
B10
1 2 121
FORCE_TFO_HR_WHEN_LOADED:
Gives control on load regulation precedence vs. TFO
3 values: TFO_HR_NOT_FORCED, TFO_HR_ONLY, TFO_HR_PREFERRED enable
different behaviours in case of loaded cell
HR + TFO
The MS A can only use HR
L
oaded cell
M
S
/cell cap
:
U
nloaded ce
ll
M
S
/cell cap
:
The MS A can use HR/EFR/FR
MS A MS B
EFR + TFO
Enable (Alcatel patent)
FORCE_TFO_HR_
WHEN_LOADED
Disabled
(ETSI implementation)
H
/EFR/FR
H
R/EFR/FR
1 2 122
KEEP_CODEC_HO
keeps the same codec type in the new cell in case of internal intercell HO in
order to avoid resolving a new mismatch codec situation
Avoids double speech quality transition:
TFO --> non-TFO --> TFO
3 possible behaviors:
TFO_CALLS_ONLY: codec is preferably kept in case of internal intercell HO for TFO
calls only
ALL_CALLS: codec is preferably kept in case of internal intercell HO for all calls
(whatever the TFO state)
FREE: the choice of the codec type is free and depends on the situation in the target
cell
1 2 123
Cause 30: Move from PS to CS Zone
If EN_RETURN_CS_ZONE_HO = enable
AND a CS call is inside both
The Non pre-emptable zone and
The MAX_SPDCH_LIMIT_ZONE then
An intra cell HO cause 30 is triggered
TRX3 TRX1
BCCH SDCCH PS PS PS PS CS CS CS
Non pre-emptable zone
MAX_SPDCH_HIGH_LOAD zone
MAX_SPDCH_LIMIT zone
PS traffic zone
HO cause 30
PS PS
The enabling/disabling of Cause 30 is independent of the flag HO_INTRACELL_ALLOWED.
MAX_SPDCH_HIGH_LOAD zone: this zone corresponds to the MAX_SPDCH_HIGH_LOAD consecutive PS
capable timeslots that are preferred for PS allocation. In this zone, allocated TBFs cannot be pre-
empted. If the value of MAX_SPDCH_HIGH_LOAD is not modified, this zone remains unchanged.
Non pre-emptable PS zone: this zone is always inside the MAX_SPDCH_HIGH_LOAD zone. In this latter
zone, we search for the rightest timeslot allocated to the MFS and used. Then, all timeslots situated at
its left define this non pre-emptable PS zone.
MAX_SPDCH_LIMIT zone: this zone corresponds to the MAX_SPDCH_LIMIT consecutive PS capable
timeslots that are preferred for PS allocation.
PS traffic zone: this zone corresponds to the larger zone between the non pre-emptable PS zone and the
MAX_SPDCH_LIMIT zone.
1 2 124
Handover Causes Priorities
Emergency Handover
Uplink Quality Cause 2
Downlink Quality Cause 4
Uplink Level Cause 3
Downlink Level Cause 5
Distance Cause 6
Too Low Level UL Inner Cause 10
Too Low Level DL Inner Cause 11
HR to FR Channel Adaptation Cause 26 intracell
Uplink Interference Cause 15 intracell
Downlink Interference Cause 16 intracell
Better Condition Handover
Capture Handover Cause 24
Power Budget Cause 12
Traffic Cause 23
Outer UL/DL Level Cause 13
FR to HR Channel Adaptation Cause 27 intracell
Forced Directed Retry Cause 20
Fast Traffic HO Cause 28
HANDOVER PRIORITIES
The causes 24, 12 and 23 have the same priority. Nevertheless, if a cell is a candidate for both causes,
triggered at the same time, it is kept only for cause 12.
Dealing with all available causes, we get the following list:
Emergency: 7 > 17 > 18 > 2 > 4 > 3 > 5 > 6 > 22 > 10 > 11 > 26 > 15 > 16
Better conditions: 21=14=24=12=23 > 13 > 27 > 20 > 28
29,30 and 31 has no priority (can be detected at any time)
1 2 125
Exercise 1
Emergency causes
What is the HO cause 2?
Which is the flag to activate the HO cause 2?
Time allowed:
45 minutes
1 2 126
Exercise 2
Emergency causes
Complete the diagram below and fill in the chart with:
L_RXQUAL_UL_H = 3
RXLEV_UL_IH = -70 dBm
P=MS_TXPWR_MAX=33dBm
Quality
Level
Nb of case
AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO
AV_RXLEV_UL_HO
Current MS power
HO cause 2: YES/NO?
1 2 3 4 5 6
4 1 3 4 4 4
-81 -79 -75 -70 -69 -72
33 33 33 33 33
29
(0.8 w)
1 2 127
Exercise 3
Better condition causes (simple case)
There are only 2W cells and 2W MS
EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n) =Disable
No Ping-Pong margin
HO_MARGIN(0,n) =5 dB
NO DL PC,
RXLEV_LIMIT_PBGT_LIMIT=-47dBm,
The serving is not a concentric cell.
Fill in the chart:
Nb of case
AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n)
AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO
PBGT(n)
HO cause 12: YES/NO?
1 2 3 4 5 6
-70 -70 -80 -70 -70 -75
-80 -70 -75 -75 -79 -96
S
e
rving ce
ll
N cell
1 2 128
Exercise 4
Better condition causes (ping-pong case)
EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n) =Disable
Ping-Pong margin
PING_PONG_HCP=15db
T_HCP =15s
A_PBGT_HO = 8 SACCH
A n to 0 HO has just been triggered, what happens after 4s?
N cell
S
e
rving ce
ll
?
Nb of case
AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n)
AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO
PBGT(n)
HO cause 12: YES/NO? PBGT>HO margin
PING_PONG_HCP=15 -> PBGT(n)
HO cause 12:YES/NO?
1 2 3 4 5 6
-70 -70 -80 -70 -70 -75
-80 -70 -75 -75 -79 -96
10 0 -5 5 9 21
YES NO NO NO YES YES
1 2 129
Exercise 5
Handover Detection
Better condition causes (traffic case)
EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n) =Enable
No Ping-Pong margin
DELTA_DEC_HO_margin =5dB
DELTA_INC_HO_margin =5dB
N cell
S
e
rving ce
ll
HO
1 2 130
Exercise 5 Cont.
Better condition causes (traffic case)
Fill in the chart:
N cell
S
e
rving ce
ll
HO
?
Nb of case
AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n)
AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO
Traffic distribution
PBGT(n)
DELTA_HO_MARGIN (0, n)
Cause 12 HO: YES/NO?
Cause 23 HO: YES/NO?
1 2 3 4
-71 dBm -71 dBm -76 dBm -71 dBm
-80 dBm -80 dBm -80 dBm -80 dBm
0: traffic low
N: traffic high
0: traffic high
N: traffic low
0: traffic high
N: traffic low
0: traffic low
N: traffic low
1 2 131
Exercise 7
Channel adaptation (cause 26 and cause 27)
Why is it recommended to have A_QUAL_CA_FR_HR A_QUAL_CA_HR_FR?
An operator may be willing to:
- Under normal load, use only HR calls for quality 0
- Under high load, use HR calls for qualities 0 to 3, with an hysteresis of 1
Find the thresholds and offsets for normal and high load:
THR_RXQUAL_CA_NORMAL = ? OFFSET_CA_NORMAL = ?
THR_RXQUAL_CA_HIGH = ? OFFSET_CA_HIGH = ?
1 2 132
Exercise 8
Channel adaptation (cause 26 and cause 27)
EN_INTRA_XX_AMR = Disable
RXLEV_XX_IH = -110 dBm
OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = 0
A_QUAL_CA_FR_HR =4 and A_QUAL_CA_HR_FR = 2
Use the previous thresholds and fill in the chart:
UL_QUAL 0 1 2 3 3 1 1 0 0 1
DL_QUAL 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 4 3
LOAD_SV3 False False False False True True True True True True
AV_RXQUAL_UL_CA_HR_FR
AV_RXQUAL_DL_CA_HR_FR
AV_RXQUAL_UL_CA_FR_HR
AV_RXQUAL_DL_CA_FR_HR
CHANNEL TYPE FR FR FR

1 2 133
Exercise 9
Capture HO (Cause 24 )
There are only 2W cells and 2W MS
L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) = -85dBm
EN_GENERAL_CAPTURE_HO = ENABLE
Fill in the chart:
N cell
S
e
rving ce
ll
HO
?
Nb of case 1 2 3 4 5 6
AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) - 70 - 70 - 80 - 70 - 70 - 85
CAPTURE_TRAFFIC_CONDITION NOT_LOW HIGH ANY_LOAD HIGH HIGH
TRAFFIC_LOAD(0) HIGH LOW INDEFINITE HIGH LOW HIGH
TRAFFIC_LOAD(n) HIGH LOW INDEFINITE LOW LOW LOW
HO cause 24: YES/NO?
NOT_LOW
1 2 134
Exercise 10
Fast Traffic HO (cause 28)
Find the appropriate candidate MS for this queued request:
Channel rate required: HR
L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) = -85 dBm (whatever n)
FREElevel_DR(n) = 1 (whatever n)
Channel rate: MS1FR on Full rate TRX, MS2HR, MS3FR on Dual rate TRX
t(n) for neighbor cells: t(1)=1, t(2)=2, t(3)=2
AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) in dBm:
Neighbors
MS 1
MS 2
MS 3
1 2 3
- 82 dBM
- 79 dBM
- 90 dBM
- 85 dBM
- 86 dBM
- 82 dBM
- 78 dBM
- 92 dBM
- 89 dBM
1 2 135
Exercise 11
TFO HO (cause 29): after call setup
Find the 2 speech version types of the following MS-to-MS call:
EN_TFO = enable, EN_TFO_MATCH = enable
FORCE_TFO_HR_WHEN_LOADED = TFO_HR_NOT_FORCED
L
o
aded cell
M
S
/cell ca
p
:
U
n
loaded ce
ll
M
S
/cell ca
p
:
MS A MS B
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
After
call setup
After TFO
negociation
H
R/EFR/F
R EFR/FR
1 2 136
Exercise 12
FORCE_TFO_HR_WHEN_LOADED = TFO_HR_ONLY
L
oaded cell
M
S
/cell ca
p
:
U
nloaded ce
ll
M
S
/cell ca
p
:
MS A MS B
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
After
call setup
After TFO
negociation
H
R/EFR/FR EFR/FR
1 2 137
Exercise 13
FORCE_TFO_HR_WHEN_LOADED = TFO_HR_PREFERRED
L
oaded cell
M
S
/cell ca
p
:
U
nloaded ce
ll
M
S
/cell ca
p
:
MS A MS B
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
After
call setup
After TFO
negociation
H
R/EFR/FR EFR/FR
1 2 138
Exercise 14
L
oaded cell
M
S
/cell ca
p
:
U
nloaded ce
ll
M
S
/cell ca
p
:
MS A MS B
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
TCH =
?
After
call setup
After TFO
negociation
H
R/EFR/FR
H
R/EFR/FR
1 2 139
Exercise 15
TFO HO (cause 29): after handover
Find the speech version types of the following MS-to-MS call:
1. KEEP_CODEC_HO = TFO_CALLS_ONLY
2. KEEP_CODEC_HO = FREE
?
?
L
oaded cell
M
S/cell ca
p
:
U
nloaded ce
ll
M
S/cell ca
p
:
MS 1
U
nloaded ce
ll
M
S/cell ca
p
:
MS 2
HO
?
MS 2
Call setup +
TFO negociation
MS 2
HO
?
TFO
?
TFO
H
R/EFR/F
R
H
R/EFR/F
R
H
R/EFR/F
R
1 2 140
Exercise 16
TFO HO (cause 29): after handover
Find the speech version types of the following MS-to-MS call:
KEEP_CODEC_HO = TFO_CALLS_ONLY
1. EN_TFO_OPT = disable
2. EN_TFO_OPT = enable
?
?
U
n
loaded ce
ll
M
S/cell ca
p
:
L
oaded cell
M
S/cell ca
p
:
MS 1
U
n
loaded ce
ll
M
S/cell ca
p
:
MS 2
HO
?
MS 2
Call setup +
TFO negociation
MS 2
HO
?
TFO
?
TFO
H
R/EFR/FR
H
R/EFR/FR
H
R/EFR/FR
1 2 141
7 Handover Candidate Cell Evaluation
1 2 142
Principles
Used to rank potential target cells:
Ranking based on radio characteristics
Ranking based on operator preferences
Ranking based on traffic intensity
Handover Candidate Cell Evaluation
The process is performed in the BSC.
Once a need for handover is detected, this process looks for possible target cells (except if it is an
intracell handover or an interzone handover) and provides the BSC entity in charge of the HO decision
and execution entity with a list of candidate cells and their respective HO cause.
1 2 143
Evaluation Process
Measurement
Preprocessing
A_LEV_HO
A_QUAL_HO
A_PBGT_HO
A_RANGE_HO
HO Detection
Cause 2: uplink quality
Cause 3: uplink level
Cause 4: downlink quality
Cause 5: downlink level
Cause 6: distance
Cause 12: power budget
Performed every SACCH
Performed every SACCH
Pre-ranking
Priority (0, n) = 0
Cell 2: cause C2
Cell 3: cause C2
Cell 4: cause C2
Priority (0, n) = 1
Cell 1: cause C2
Priority (0, n) = 2
Priority (0, n) = 3
Cell 5: cause C2
Cell 6: cause C2
Cell 7: cause C2
Cell 8: cause C2
Priority (0, n) = 4
Priority (0, n) = 5
Priority (0, n) = 0
Cell 2: cause C2
Cell 3: cause C2
Cell 4: cause C2
Priority (0, n) = 1
Priority (0, n) = 2
Priority (0, n) = 3
Cell 6: cause C2
Cell 8: cause C2
Priority (0, n) = 4
Priority (0, n) = 5
PBGT filtering
HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)
Grade
Priority (0, n) = 0
Cell 4: cause C2
Cell 2: cause C2
Cell 3: cause C2
Priority (0, n) = 1
Priority (0, n) = 2
Priority (0, n) = 3
Cell 6: cause C2
Cell 8: cause C2
Priority (0, n) = 4
Priority (0, n) = 5
Order
Priority (0, n) = 0
Cell 4: cause C2
Cell 3: cause C2
Cell 2: cause C2
Priority (0, n) = 1
Priority (0, n) = 2
Priority (0, n) = 3
Cell 6: cause C2
Cell 8: cause C2
Priority (0, n) = 4
Priority (0, n) = 5
Cell evaluation process (Order or Grade)
HO Candidate Cells Evaluation
Max
every SACCH
Preprocess
measurement
Measurement
result
Raw cell list
Cell 1: cause C2
Cell 2: cause C2
Cell 3: cause C2
Cell 4: cause C2
Cell 5: cause C2
Cell 6: cause C2
Cell 7: cause C2
Cell 8: cause C2
... max 32 cells
The HO candidate evaluation process is run after all intercell handover alarms.
In case of intracell handover alarm (HO causes 10, 11, 13, 15, 16), the candidate cell evaluation process
is skipped: the target cell is the serving cell.
The handover detection gives as indication the raw cell list (built from book-keeping list) and the
preferred layer for the handover. In case of emergency handover alarms or cause 20 alarm, the cell
evaluation will order the cells given in the raw list, putting in the first position the cells belonging to the
preferred layer, having the highest priority (if EN_PRIORITY_ORDERING=ENABLE) and/or having the same
frequency band type as the serving cell. In case of an intercell handover alarm, if the serving cell
belongs to the raw cell list (emergency handover from the DCS 1800 inner zone of a multiband cell), this
cell is put at the end of the candidate cell list with the MS zone indication OUTER.
In case of better condition handover alarms (except cause 20), the cell evaluation will order the cells
given in the raw list, putting in the first position the cells belonging to the preferred layer and having the
highest priority (if EN_PRIORITY_ORDERING=ENABLE).
1 2 144
Pre-Ranking for HO EM, (20) and (28)
Pre-ranking:
For emergency handover and causes 20 and 28 only.
Priority(0,n) = 0 Cell_layer_type = Pref_layer
Cell_band_type = serving_cell
Priority(0,n) = 1
Priority(0,n) = 5
Cell_band_type = serving_cell
Priority(0,n) = 1
Priority(0,n) = 5
List of
candidate
cells n
1 2 145
Pre-Ranking for HO BC
Pre-ranking:
For all better condition HO.
Priority(0,n) = 1
Priority(0,n) = 5
Priority(0,n) = 1
Priority(0,n) = 5
List of
candidate
cells n
1 2 146
Pre-Ranking: Pref_Layer
Pref_Layer has no impact in this course
Because we are studying only standard networks (monoband,
monolayer, single cells)
CELL_LAYER_TYPE = SINGLE
Better condition HO cause
Emergency HO cause
Conclusion: All neighbour cells are classified with the same Pref_Layer
upper + single PREF_LAYER
subset of cells verifying the HO causes Raw cell list
upper + single PREF_LAYER
all neighboring cells Raw cell list
1 2 147
Pre-Ranking: Priority(0,n)
With priority(0,n) settings, the operator can, for each couple of cells:
Tag the target cell with a defined priority (from 0 = max to 5 = min)
Impact the first step of cell evaluation !
Possible usages in std networks:
Force a flow of handovers along a certain path (highway, train,)
Indicate preferred rescue cell (Caution: Priority works for EM & BC HO)
S
e
rving ce
ll
C
a
ndidate ce
ll
1
C
a
n
didate ce
ll
2
Priority
P1
P0
RxLev: - 80 dBm
PBGT: + 7 dB
RxLev: - 72 dBm
PBGT: + 15 dB
Note that increasing the priority between two cells A and B will NOT increase the number of HO detected
!
The impact is that the cell B is most likely to be the best candidate for those HO.
1 2 148
PBGT Filtering
Characteristics:
Optional: with EN_PBGT_FILTERING = Enable / Disable
Goal: filter out cells with low DL_RxLev from the target list
inhibited for better cell handovers (except Fast Traffic HO)
based on the PBGT of the neighbour cells
PBGT(n) > HO_MARGIN_XX (0,n) + OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER
With:
HO_MARGIN_XX (0,n) = HO_MARGIN_QUAL (0,n)for cause 2,4
HO_MARGIN_XX (0,n) = HO_MARGIN_LEV (0,n) for cause 3,5,28
HO_MARGIN_XX (0,n) = HO_MARGIN_DIST (0,n) for cause 6
OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER is only applied when the MS is in the inner zone of a
concentric or multi band cell
The averaging window is A_PBGT_HO
The filtering process allows to filter out cells from the target list before sending them to the ORDER or
GRADE evaluation process.
It can be enabled/disabled on-line on a per cell basis from the OMC-R with the flag EN_PBGT_FILTERING.
The candidate cells are filtered on their power budget in relation to a handover margin threshold based
on the handover cause.
Note: the averaging window used for this process is A_PBGT_HO (even for emergency handovers, where a
handover alarm could have been raised through A_LEV_HO or A_QUAL_HO samples)
1 2 149
Grade Evaluation
GRADE cell evaluation process
Cell "n" is ranked among other accordingly:
If EN_LOAD_ORDER = ENABLE and cell n is internal to the BSC
GRADE (n) = PBGT(n) + LINK_FACTOR(0,n) + LOADfactor(n)
Link_factor (0,n) is an operator parameter to give a bonus/penalty to a cell
LOADfactor(n) is a weighting factor that takes into account the relative load of
traffic channels in a cell
If EN_LOAD_ORDER = DISABLE or cell n is external to the BSC
GRADE (n) = PBGT(n) + LINK_FACTOR(0,n)
Cell "n" is kept if:
AV_RXLEV_NCELL (n) > RXLEVmin(n)
+ max [0;(MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)-P)]
CELL_EV = GRADE
Recommended
Two types of cell evaluation algorithms can be used: ORDER and GRADE.
ORDER and GRADE are two different methods of cell ranking. They both consist in giving a mark or figure
of merit to each candidate cell.
For any handover cause, the first cell in the list is taken as a target cell, i.e. the cell with the highest
value of GRADE(n). The cells do not need to fulfill any other condition.
If no cell fulfills the condition and the serving cell does not belong to the target cell list, the target cell
list is empty and no further action is carried out.
Note: the A_PBGT_HO averaging window is used for this process. (see annex for more details)
LINKfactor(0,n) is a parameter set by OMC command for each cell(n).
LINKfactor(n1,n2) allows the operator to handicap or to favor the cell n1 with respect to its neighbor cell
n2. In particular, it can be used to disadvantage an external cell when an internal cell is also a possible
candidate.
For any handover cause, the first cell in the list is taken as a target cell, i.e. the cell with the highest
value of GRADE(n). If no cell fulfills the condition and the serving cell does not belong to the target cell
list, the target cell list is empty and no further action is carried out.
1 2 150
Order Evaluation
ORDER cell evaluation process
Cell "n" is ranked among other accordingly:
If EN_LOAD_ORDER = ENABLE and cell n is internal to the BSC
ORDER (n) = PBGT(n) + LINK_FACTOR(0,n) + FREEfactor(n) -
FREEfactor(0)- HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)
Link_factor (0,n) is an operator parameter to give a bonus/penalty to a cell
ex: avoid external HO, decrease incoming flow of HO to a cell from another
FREEfactor is TCH traffic based bonus/penalty to rank cells
If EN_LOAD_ORDER = DISABLE or cell n is external to the BSC
ORDER (n) = PBGT(n) + LINK_FACTOR(0,n) - HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)
Cell "n" is kept if:
AV_RXLEV_NCELL (n) > RXLEVmin (n)
+ max [0;(MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)-P)] [dBm]
CELL_EV = ORDER
The basic differences between ORDER and GRADE are that:
with ORDER:
The candidate cell evaluation process interacts with the handover detection by use of cause-
dependent handover margins.
The candidate cell evaluation process takes into account the number of free TCHs in the
candidate cells.
with GRADE:
The candidate cell evaluation process does not interact with the handover detection.
The candidate cell evaluation process takes into account the relative load of traffic channels in
the candidate cells.
The type of cell evaluation is chosen by the operator on a (serving) cell basis and is provided to the BSC
with the parameter CELL_EV.
1 2 151
Exercise 1
Emergency HO detected
With the Candidate evaluation.xls excel sheet...
Filtering simulation for a list of candidate cells
Ranking simulation for a list ofcandidate cells
Candidate Cell Evaluation
Serving cell Cell 1 Cell 2 Cell 3 Cell 4 Cell 5 Cell 6
RxLev_cell1 Mk RxLev_DL Cell_Nb1 BSIC_cell1 Cell_Nb2 BSIC_cell2RxLev_cell2 Cell_Nb3 BSIC_cell3RxLev_cell3 Cell_Nb4 BSIC_cell4 RxLev_cell4 Cell_Nb5 BSIC_cell5RxLev_cell5 Cell_Nb6 BSIC_cell6 RxLev_cell6
-102 ** 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-99 ** 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-99 ** 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-98 AssCmd 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-110 AssCmp 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-76 ** 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-96 ** 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-95 ** 14 3 -91 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-93 ** 14 3 -92 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-93 ** 1 0 -89 14 3 -91 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-93 ** 1 0 -90 14 3 -94 0 0 -110 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-93 ** 1 -0 -88 14 3 -94 3 1 -101 0 0 -110 0 0 -110
-94 ** 8 7 -93 1 0 -93 14 3 -96 3 1 -103 0 0 -110
-96 ** 1 0 -93 8 7 -95 14 3 -99 3 1 -106 0 0 -110
-96 ** -1 0 -91 8 7 -95 14 3 -99 3 1 -104 0 0 -110
-98 ** 1 0 -92 14 3 -98 8 7 -99 3 1 -107 0 0 -110
-101 ** 8 7 -97 1 0 -97 14 3 -102 3 1 -107 0 0 -110
-101 HOCMD 8 7 -96 1 0 -99 14 3 -103 3 1 -108 0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
0 0 -110
HO Cause
A_PBGT_HO
GRADE EVALUATION
Priority(0,n)
HO_MARGIN_LEV(0,n)
RX_LEV_MIN(n)
LINK_FACTOR(0,n)
LoadFactor(n)
DL Level
6
0 for all neighbor cell
0
-100
0 for all neighbor cell
0
Time allowed:
15 minutes
1 2 152
Exercise
Emergency HO detected
1 Book-keeping list
Book-keeping list
(14;3) (1;0) (8;7) (3;1)
2 Averaging measurement
Averaged measurements and PBGT(n)
AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO
AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO
(14;3)
(1;0)
(8;7)
(3;1)
-100
-95
-96
-106
PBGT(n)
-2
3
2
-8
3 PBGT Filtering
PBGT(n)
(1;0)
(8;7)
3
2
PBGT Filtering
4 GRADE evaluation process
GRADE(n)
(1;0)
(8;7)
3
2
GRADE evaluation process
5 Target Cell
(1;0)
? ?
?
?
?
1 2 153
8 Exercise
1 2 154
8 Exercise
Exercise
List all the parameters involved in the detection of cause 23
List all the causes impacted by the parameter DELTA_INC_HO_MARGIN
List all the causes impacted by the parameter L_RXQUAL_UL_H
List all the causes impacted by the parameter BS_TXPWR_MAX
List all the causes impacted by the parameter BS_P_CON_ACK
Time allowed:
10 minutes
1 2 155
for this module
1 2 156
End of Module
Algorithms and Associated Parameters
13
Module 3
Resource and Allocation Management
Section 1
Tuning
B10 Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning Resource and Allocation Management
1 3 2
Blank Page
Document History
1 3 3
Module Objectives
Describe TCH resource allocation
List the associated parameters
1 3 4
1 3 5
Table of Contents
Page
1 TCH Resource Allocation Algorithm 7
Radio Allocation and Management 8
Radio Timeslot of a Cell: Operator View 9
Radio Timeslot of a Cell: RAM View 10
Radio Timeslot: OMC-R / RAM Mapping 11
Definition of a TCH/SPDCH TS 12
TCH Pools 14
TCH Sub-Pools 15
TCH Allocation Process Details before Allocation 16
TCH Allocation Process Details during Queuing 17
TCH Pre-Selection 18
TCH Selection 1: TRX Selection 19
TCH Selection 2a: Pure TCH or TCH/SDCCH TS 20
TCH selection 2b: TCH/SPDCH TS 21
Exercise 1 22
Self-assessment on the Objectives 25
End of Module 26
1 3 6
1 3 7
1 TCH Resource Allocation Algorithm
1 3 8
Radio Allocation and Management
Radio resource Allocation and Management (RAM) aims at:
Managing pools of TCH radio resources by:
defining TCH radio timeslots as a function of the cell radio configuration from the
operator
sorting these TCH TSs according to their radio capabilities (FR or DR, frequency band
(G1 or GSM/DCS))
Allocating dedicated TCH radio resources by:
selecting the TCH pool in which the TCH should be chosen according to:
the requested channel rate (FR or HR)
the radio capability of the mobile
the TRE DR capability and the TRE band
selecting the best TCH resource among the available TCH channels of this pool
according to several criteria
1 3 9
Radio Timeslot of a Cell: Operator View
On the OMC-R the operator can configure the following Radio TS per
cell:
Main BCCH timeslot (BCC): TS carrying FCCH + SCH + BCCH + CCCH
Main combined BCCH timeslot (CBC): TS carrying FCCH + SCH + BCCH + CCCH +
SDCCH/4 + SACCH/4
Main combined BCCH with CBCH (CBH) : TS carrying FCCH + SCH + BCCH + CCCH +
SDCCH/3 + SACCH/3 + CBCH (cell broadcast)
Secondary BCCH timeslot (CCH) : TS carrying BCCH + CCCH (mCCCH feature)
Static SDCCH timeslot (SDC): TS carrying SDCCH/8 + SACCH/8
Static SDCCH timeslot combined with CBCH (SDH): TS carrying SDCCH/7 + SACCH/7 +
CBCH (cell broadcast)
Dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot (SDD): TS carrying TCH + SACCH or SDCCH/8 + SACCH/8
TCH timeslot (TCH): TS carrying TCH + SACCH or used as a PS timeslot (PDCH)
B10
The operator has to choose between a Combined BCCH (CBC TS) or a Non-combined BCCH configuration
(BCC TS).
A PDCH is a radio timeslot used for PS traffic or signaling.
It can carry either PS traffic or PS signaling but not both.
If it carries traffic it is called a Slave PDCH (SPDCH) TS and it carries the logical channels
PDTCH+PACCH+PTTCH.
If it carries signaling it is called a Master PDCH (MPDCH) TS and it carries:
either the logical channels PBCCH+PPCH+PAGCH+PRACH: it is then called a Primary MPDCH
or only PPCH+PAGCH+PRACH: it is then called a Secondary MPDCH
SDD TS can carry either TCH or SDCCH channels but not both at the same time.
TCH TS can carry either CS traffic channel TCH or PS logical channels but not both at the same time.
1 3 10
Radio Timeslot of a Cell: RAM View
In the BSS the RAM software module maps the OMC-R cell radio
configuration to its own types of TS:
Pure BCCH timeslot: BCC TS carrying only common CS signalling (BCCH+CCCH)
Pure SDCCH timeslot: CBC or SDC TS carrying only dedicated CS signalling (SDCCH)
Pure TCH timeslot: TCH TS carrying only TCH traffic
TCH/SDCCH timeslot: SDD TS carrying either CS traffic (TCH) or dedicated CS signalling
(SDCCH)
TCH/SPDCH timeslot: TCH TS carrying either CS traffic (TCH) or PS traffic (SPDCH
channels)
MPDCH timeslot: TCH TS carrying common PS signalling (PBCCH+PCCCH or PCCCH only)
(not used)
B10
1 3 11
NB_TS_MPDCH MPDCH TS are defined on the BCCH TRX:
on the timeslots configured as TCH TS on the OMC-R
having the lowest timeslot index
TCH/SPDCH TS are defined as being part of an SPDCH group
Pure TCH timeslots are OMC-R TCH TS neither defined as MPDCH TS nor
in an SPDCH group
Radio Timeslot: OMC-R / RAM Mapping
OMC-R
radio TS
RAM
radio TS
BCC
CCH
CBC
SDC
SDD
TCHC
Pure BCCH
Pure SDCCH
TCH/SDCCH
TCH/SPDCH
MPDCH
Pure TCH
B10
MPDCH TS are defined on the BCCH TRX even if the corresponding TRX_PREF_MARK is different from 0.
1 3 12
Definition of a TCH/SPDCH TS
For PS traffic resource allocation, an SPDCH group is defined on a per
TRX basis and is made up of consecutive timeslots:
mapped on OMC-R TCH TS
located on a PS capable TRX (TRX_PREF_MARK = 0)
not defined as MPDCH TS
having the same radio configuration (MA, MAIO)
If several SPDCH groups can be defined on a given TRX, the BSS chooses
the SPDCH group of timeslots having the highest number of consecutive
timeslots.
A radio timeslot belonging to one of the different SPDCH groups of the
cell is identified in RAM as a TCH/SPDCH timeslot.
The timeslots shall be consecutive on a given TRX, which means that there shall be no hole in the SPDCH
group.
If several SPDCH groups can be defined on the same TRX and having the same number of consecutive
timeslots then the group that is located on the left side of the TRX (i.e. the timeslots having the lowest
index) shall be chosen.
1 3 13
Definition of a TCH/SPDCH TS [cont.]
A non-hopping cell is configured on the OMC-R
Find the radio TS configuration in RAM if NB_TS_MPDCH= 0
BCC TCH SDC TCH
SDD TCH SDC TCH
TCH TCH TCH TCH
TCH TCH TCH TCH
TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH
TRX1
TRX2
TRX3
TRX4
TRX_PREF_MARK
0
0
0
1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
TRX1
TRX2
TRX3
TRX4
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
MPD
PBC
PSD
PTC
TSD
TSP
: MPDCH
: Pure BCCH
: Pure SDCCH
: Pure TCH
: TCH/SDCCH
: TCH/SPDCH
The timeslots shall be consecutive on a given TRX, which means that there shall be no hole in the SPDCH
group.
If several SPDCH groups can be defined on the same TRX and having the same number of consecutive
timeslots then the group that is located on the left side of the TRX (i.e. the timeslots having the lowest
index) shall be chosen.
1 3 14
TCH Pools
2 pools of TCH resources are managed per cell:
"Pure TCH & TCH/SPDCH" pool: contains all the free TCH sub-channels (FR or
HR) free on the pure TCH TS and on the TCH/SPDCH TS of the TRXs
"TCH/SDCCH" pool: contains all the free TCH sub-channels (FR or HR) free on
the TCH/SDCCH TS of the TRXs
Any pure TCH, TCH/SPDCH, TCH/SDCCH TS can be:
Busy: if it is not free to serve an FR TCH request
Free: if it is free to serve an FR TCH request
A DR TS (timeslot on a DR TRX) is free if no FR TCH or HR TCH is allocated for a call on this timeslot.
A DR TS is busy if at least one TCH is allocated for a call on this timeslot:
1 FR TCH, or
1 HR TCH (HR 0 TCH or HR 1 TCH), or
2 HR TCHs (HR 0 TCH and HR 1 TCH).
1 3 15
TCH Sub-Pools
FR TCH channels can be allocated on both FR and DR TRXs
HR TCH channels can only be allocated on DR TRXs
Each of the three TCH pools is divided in three sub-pools:
FR sub-pool: contains all the free FR TCH sub-channels available on the FR
TRX
DR: sub-pool: contains all the free FR TCH sub-channels available on the DR
TRX
HR sub-pool: contains all the free HR TCH sub-channels whose mate HR TCH
sub-channel is busy (always located on the DR TRX)
1 3 16
TCH Allocation Process Details before Allocation
TCH Request
TCH Allocation
- Radio capability of the mobile
- Channel type (FR, HR, DR)
- Speech version (FR, HR, EFR, AMR FR, AMR HR)
- Request type (NA or HO)
- Cell channel type capability
- Cell codec type capability
- Cell load
TCH selected
TCH free?
Yes
Queuing?
Select TCH pool
Select TCH sub-pool
TCH rejected TCH queued
Yes No
No
P
r
e
-
S
e
l
e
c
t
i
o
n
Inputs for TCH allocation function:
radio capability of the MS:
The BSS knows the radio capability of the mobile from the MS CLASSMARK after the Radio Link Establishment
procedure
requirements from the MSC:
Channel type (mandatory) is one of the following:
List of preferred speech version (optional):
GSM full rate speech version 1 = FR
GSM full rate speech version 2 = EFR
GSM full rate speech version 3 = AMR FR
GSM half rate speech version 1 = HR
GSM half rate speech version 3 = AMR HR
capabilities of the cell:
FR TCHs only if only FR TRXs / FR+HR TCHs if some DR TRXs
codec supported among: FR, EFR, AMR FR, HR, AMR HR
FR Full Rate only
HR Half Rate only
DR FR P NCA Dual Rate Full Rate Preferred No Changes Allowed after first channel allocation
as a result of the request
DR FR P CA Dual Rate Full Rate Preferred Changes Allowed after first channel allocation as a
result of the request
DR HR P NCA Dual Rate Half Rate Preferred No Changes Allowed after first channel allocation
as a result of the request
DR HR P CA Dual Rate Half Rate Preferred Changes Allowed after first channel allocation as a
DR SV P NCA Dual Rate No Changes of channel rate Allowed after first channel allocation as a
DR SV P CA Dual Rate Changes of channel rate Allowed after first channel allocation as a
1 3 17
TCH Allocation Process Details during Queuing
TCH Allocation
TCH free?
Queuing?
TCH selected
Select TCH pool
Select TCH sub-pool
TCH rejected TCH queued
Yes No
Yes No
ALLOC_ANYWAY
T11
T11_FORCED
T_QHO
NUM_TCH_EGNCY_HO
P
r
e
-
S
e
l
e
c
t
i
o
n
The timer T11 corresponds to normal assignment with queuing authorised.
The timer T11_FORCED corresponds to normal assignment:
either when the queuing is not authorized by the MSC but forced by the BSC (QUEUE_ANYWAY = TRUE),
or when the queuing is not authorized but the request has its pre-emption indicator set and has already
forced the release of a lower priority pre-emptable on-going call.
The QUEUE_ANYWAY flag is checked by the Normal Assignment (NASS) entity.
The timer T_QHO corresponds to an external channel change with queuing authorized or to an external
channel change when the queuing is not authorized but the request has its pre-emption indicator set and
has already forced the release of a lower priority pre-emptable on-going call.
NUM_TCH_EGNCY_HO: Number of RTCHs reserved for incoming HO. These RTCHs cannot be allocated for
call establishment. (from the user point of view, it can be better to avoid a drop rather than to allow a new
call).
ALLOC_ANYWAY: set to TRUE, it allows to use an RTS normally reserved for incoming HO
(NUM_TCH_EGNCY_HO) for call establishment. But only after having waited T11 in the queue.
3 queues: 3 different timers
T11: maximum time a request can be kept in queue.
T11_FORCED: maximum time a request can be kept in queue when the queue is forced.
T_QHO: maximum time an incoming HO request can be kept in queue.
1 3 18
TCH Pre-Selection
Selection of pool and sub-pool
"Pure TCH & TCH/SPDCH" pool preferred
If FR request: FR subpool preferred, then DR subpool
If HR request: HR subpool preferred, then DR subpool
"Preferred" means the pool is selected as long as there is at least 1 TS non-busy.
Then, the BSS pre-selects a set of candidate TCH among all the unused TCH
available
Each step outputs the list of candidates to the next step
1. All the unused TCH in the pool are possible candidates
2. All the unused TCH in the sub-pool are possible candidates
3. If pool = "Pure TCH & TCH/PDCH", and if at least 1 "Pure TCH" is free, then all unused
"Pure TCH" are possible candidates.
At the end of this pre-selection, several timeslots are candidates. The next
step will find the best one!
TCH allocation without list of preferred speech versions:
FR request: FR pool DR pool
HR request: HR pool DR pool
DR FR preferred request:
cell load=False: FR pool DR pool HR pool
cell load=True: HR pool DR pool FR pool
DR HR Pref. request: HR pool DR pool FR pool
TCH allocation with a list of preferred speech versions (TFO):
FR SV then HR SV: FR pool DR pool HR
HR SV then FR SV: HR pool DR pool FR
FR SV only: FR pool DR pool
HR SV only: HR pool DR pool
EGSM_RR_Alloc_Strategy = 0 (default) (Different behavior for EGSM-capable MS):
The BSS handles differently EGSM capable MS from PGSM only capable MS in EGSM cells; this means that not all GSM900
MS in the network are assumed to be E-GSM capable. G1 and PGSM TRX are not managed in the same way.
EGSM_RR_Alloc_Strategy = 1 (Same behavior for EGSM capable MS):
The BSS handles in the same way PGSM capable only MS as EGSM-capable MS in EGSM cells; this means that all GSM900
MS in the network are assumed to be E-GSM capable. No difference made between a G1 TRX and a PGSM TRX.
So, if PGSM only capable MS have to be supported, the parameter must be set to the value 0. Otherwise 1.
1 3 19
TCH Selection 1: TRX Selection
The TCH is chosen from the selected sub-pool according to the
following criteria:
EGSM_RR_ALLOCATION = 0
Step 2
TCH candidates of the selected
TCH sub-pool
[B11] IP Mode
[MxBSC] CCP of TRX not congested
[B11] Abis IP Mode
If MS = EGSM, G1 TRX first
change TRX if HO cause 15/16
not used in B10
not used in B10
EGSM_RR_ALLOCATION = 1
EN_4_DR_TRE_PER_TCU
= Dynamic
1) In order to limit the CPU load on a CCP board, the total number of TCH established on this CCP shall
never exceed the MAX_TCH_PER_CCP value. No distinction is made between TCH/FR and TCH/HR.
As one cell might be mapped on more than one CCP, this check can actually be done only once a cell
has been chosen, and TRX needs to be selected on this cell.
If EN_4_DR_TRE_PER_TCU = Static CCP can never be congested
If EN_4_DR_TRE_PER_TCU = Dynamic CCP can be congested (# TRX = 200, but nb of TCH can exceed MAX_TCH_PER_CCP )
2) In case of an allocation for an intracell HO cause 15/16, then TCH in a different TRX (than before the HO)
3) TCH on TRX that belongs to the G1 band, if EGSM_RR_ALLOCATION = 0, if TRX contains only G1 frequencies and if MS can support
EGSM band.
In other words, EGSM_RR_ALLOCATION = 0 and dedicated G1 TRX are allocated to EGSM MS.
Other setting is: EGSM_RR_ALLOCATION = 1 All TRXs are considered equal, the frequencies G1 and PGSM are mixed, no
priority is given to G1 frequencies.
1 3 20
TCH Selection 2a: Pure TCH or TCH/SDCCH TS
following criteria:
Non hopping cell Biggest Mobile Allocation EN_MA_SELECTION = true
TCH selected
Highest TS index
HR 0 TCH sub-channel
From step 1
FR allocation or
HR allocation on busy TS
Best Interference Band
Highest TRX Identity
Highest TRX PREF MARK
The BSS chooses the best TCH among the sub-channels of the selected TCH sub-pool applying criteria below
in the specified order of priority:
0. TCH on TS with the highest TRX Preference Mark
The range of TRX_PREF_MARK will be from 0 (lowest priority) to 7 (highest priority).
The TCH selection function favors the channels with the highest TPM.
Note: a few Pure TCH TS should be available in a cell on a TRX of TRX_PREF_MARK value of 0
1. TCH on TRX that belongs to the G1 band, if EGSM_RR_ALLOCATION = 0, if TRX contains only G1
frequencies and if MS can support EGSM band.
In other words, EGSM_RR_ALLOCATION = 0 and dedicated G1 TRX are allocated to EGSM MS.
2. TCH on TS with the biggest Mobile Allocation (for hopping cell only)
Considering that the number of frequencies is a key factor for the average quality of channels, the
TCH selection function favors the TS with the biggest MA (i.e. with the most frequencies in their
frequency hopping sequence). Enabled/disabled via the flag EN_MA_SELECTION.
3. TCH on TS from the best Interference Band
TCH selection function favors the TS belonging to the best Interference Band (IB). Five IBs are
defined through 5 parameters INTFBD1 to INTFBD5 where INTFBD(i)< INTFBD(i+1) and INTFBD5 = -47
all changeable at the OMC-R.
N_TCH_HO is used to keep some less-interfered TS for incoming HO. In case of normal assignment
and less than N_TCH_HO are available, those "special" timeslots are preempted anyway, without
prior queuing (unlike NUM_TCH_EGNCY_HO).
4. TCH on TRX with the highest TRX identity
5. TCH on TS with the highest TS index
6. HR 0 TCH if the two sub-channels remaining candidates are the 2 HR TCHs of the same free TS
1 3 21
TCH selection 2b: TCH/SPDCH TS
following criteria:
TRX rank is determined by the TRX Ranking algorithm described in the GPRS
& EGPRS Radio Algorithms Description training course
Highest TRX Rank
TCH selected
FR allocation or
HR allocation on busy TS
HR 0 TCH sub-channel
Highest TS index
From step 1
The BSS tends to allocate to the MFS the TCH/SPDCH timeslots so as to avoid conflicts between CS and PS
allocations on PS capable TRX.
In order to be able to allocate as much slave PDCHs as possible to a given TBF, it is important to avoid any
mix of allocation between TCHs and SPDCHs (e.g. avoid on a TRX a configuration such as TCH TCH SPDCH
SPDCH TCH SPDCH SPDCH SPDCH). For that purpose, a TRX rank is assigned to each PS capable TRX.
The TRX having the highest TRX rank is preferentially selected for TCH allocations, whereas TRX having the
lowest TRX rank is preferentially selected for SPDCH allocations
This rule only applies on PS capable TRX. On a given PS capable TRX, TCH are preferentially allocated on
the right side of the TRX (highest TS index), whereas SPDCH are preferentially allocated on the left side
(lowest TS index).
1 3 22
Exercise 1
A cell is configured on the OMC-R and TREs are mapped by BSS.
Time allowed:
10 minutes
BCC SDC TCH TCH
SDD TCH TCH TCH
TCH TCH TCH TCH
TCH TCH TCH TCH
SDC TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH
TRX1
TRX2
TRX3
TRX4
TRX_PREF_
MARK
0
0
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TRX5 1
TRE
G4 MP FR
G4 MP DR
G3 DR
G4 MP FR
G3 DR
1 3 23
Exercise [cont.]
Find the radio TS configuration in RAM if NB_TS_MPDCH= 0
MPD MPDCH
PBC Pure BCCH TS
PSD Pure SDCCH TS
PTC Pure TCH TS
TSD TCH/SDDCH TS
TSP TCH/SPDCH TS
TRX1
TRX2
TRX3
TRX4
TRX_PREF_
MARK
0
0
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
TRX5 1
TRE
G4 MP FR
G4 MP DR
G3 DR
G4 MP FR
G3 DR
MPDCH is no more supported since B10. It has never been used on the field anyway.
1 3 24
Exercise [cont.]
Find which TCH sub-channel is allocated:
1. For MS1: E-GSM, DR
2. For MS2: P-GSM, DR
3. For MS3: P-GSM, FR
4. For MS4, MS5, ., MSn: E-GSM, DR
n = ?
Pure TCH TS
TCH/SPDCH TS
TCH/SDDCH TS
as TCH TS
F
H
P
Cell load = true
: FR TCH call
: HR TCH call
: SPDCH TS
TSD P P P
P P P
P F
F F F F F F
P P P P P P P
TRX1
TRX2
TRX3
TRX4
TRX_Rank
2
3
-
1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
F F TRX5 -
TRE
FR, PGSM
DR, PGSM
DR, PGSM
FR, PGSM
DR, G1
H
H H H H H H H
EGSM_RR_ALLOCATION = 0 (= distinction made btw G1 and PGSM TRX)
1
2
3
4
8
9
5 6 7
10 11
12 13
14
15 16 TSD P P P
P P P
P F
F F F F F F
P P P P P P P
TRX1
TRX2
TRX3
TRX4
TRX_Rank
2
3
-
1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
F F TRX5 -
TRE
FR, PGSM
DR, PGSM
DR, PGSM
FR, PGSM
DR, G1
H
H H H H H H H
EGSM band = PGSM band (124 channels) + G1 band (50 channels)
1 3 25
for this module
1 3 26
End of Module
Resource and Allocation Management
14
Module 4
Algorithms Dynamic Behaviours
Section 1
Tuning
B10 Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning Algorithms Dynamic Behaviours
1 4 2
Blank Page
Document History
1 4 3
Module Objectives
Estimate qualitatively the impact of parameters change
1 4 4
1 4 5
Table of Contents
Page
2 Examples and Exercises 9
2.1 Overview 10
2.2 Optimization of Handover Algorithms 11
2.3 Power Control Algorithms Optimization 16
2.4 Traffic Load Sharing 19
1 4 6
1 4 7
1 4 8
Justification
Tuning is not an exact science
The optimizer has to control every parameter change and predict
qualitatively what the consequences will be
Note: Each change of parameter and its justification have to be
registered in a database for operation convenience
1 4 9
2 Examples and Exercises
1 4 10
2.1 Overview
Example 1: Optimization of handover algorithms
Sliding averaging window
Example 2: Optimization of power control algorithms
Sliding averaging window
Example 3: Traffic load sharing
Parameters qualitative influence
1 4 11
2.2 Optimization of Handover Algorithms
Search for best tuning of HO parameters to decrease call drop
Call drop
HO/Call
1 4 12
2.2 Optimization of Handover Algorithms [cont.]
Main Objective: make the HO algorithm as efficient as
possible
Minimize call drop rate
trigger HO soon enough
toward the best neighbour
While keeping a good speech quality
avoid HO due to quality: too late
avoid having HO/call rate too high
1 4 13
Method
Collect Abis trace chart, and search for HO level to avoid quality lower than 4
(or even 3)
sufficient number of bad quality samples
low standard deviation
problem when HO already activated
<R x Q u a l _ D L>=f ( A V _ R x Le v_ D L)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
N b _ s a m p l e s
0
2 0 0
4 0 0
6 0 0
S t a n d a r d D e vi a t i o n
0
0 .5
1
1 .5
2
<R x Q u a l _ U L>=f ( A V _ R x Le v_ U L)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
N b _ s a m p l e s
0
2 0 0
4 0 0
6 0 0
8 0 0
1 0 0 0
S t a n d a r d D e vi a t i o n
0
1
2
3
RxQual_DL vs. RxLev_DL RxQual_UL vs. RxLev_UL
Number of Samples Number of Samples
Std Deviation Std Deviation
RxQual limit = 3
RxLev_DL = -101dBm
RxLev_UL = -105dBm
Nb of samples is low
Emergency HO triggered only for few
calls (so, better KPI overall)
Std Deviation is about 2
It proves that, at this RxLev, 50%
calls have a RxQual between 1 and
5.
More measurements could be done
to obtain a smaller deviation.
Never forget that Abis information takes into account the traffic distribution in the cell. Any parameter
tuning done after an Abis study has to be checked periodically as the distribution in the cell can change
from one week to another.
Use the pivot table function (Excel) to build this graph.
1 4 14
Method [cont.]
Then tune according to QoS indicators (OMC-R) by repetitive process
A_PBGT_HO/A_LEV_HO/A_QUAL_HO
L_RXLEV_UL_H, L_RXLEV_DL_H, L_RXLEV_UL_P, L_RXLEV_DL_P
OK as soon as HO success rate stabilized
Never forget that Abis information takes into account the traffic distribution in the cell. Any parameter
tuning done after an Abis study has to be checked periodically as the distribution in the cell can change
from one week to another.
Use the pivot table function (Excel) to build this graph.
1 4 15
Neighbouring relationship cleanup
Remove useless relationships (A interface statistics, PM Type 180)
Remove the common BCCH/BSIC couple
Add new relationships when a new site is created
Finally, check the main QoS indicators
Call drop rate
HO failure rate
HO/call rate
Radio Link Failure rate
(the strong rate of radio link failure can denounce a lack of vicinity relation
between cells)
1 4 16
According to the Abis results and some parameters
already set, tune qualitatively the sliding averaging windows:
A_QUAL_HO
A_LEV_HO
Time allowed:
5 minutes
Level at RxQual=3 - 80 dBm - 96 dBm - 90 dBm
L_RXLEV_DL_H
A_QUAL_HO
A_LEV_HO
- 85 dBm
6
?
- 90 dBm
6
?
- 90 dBm
?
4
1 4 17
2.3 Power Control Algorithms Optimization
Optimization of Downlink Power Control
Decrease of downlink interference
Risks of delay of HO (without fast power control)
Optimization of Uplink Power Control
Decrease of Uplink interference
MS battery saving
Risks of delay of HO (without fast power control)
1 4 18
2.3 Power Control Algorithms Optimization [cont.]
The main tuning problem is the interaction with handover,
which can slow down HO decision, and debase call drop rate
Power control threshold must be within HO ones
Dynamic step size must be activated if possible
In the example below, a dynamic MS PC is activated. The MS power changes are really reactive and control
the UL level between -80 and -90dBm. In this example, the HO threshold is -98 dBm.
1 4 19
2.3 Power Control Algorithms Optimization [cont.]
Explain qualitatively the impacts of some parameter changes
What happens if:
we increase POW_INC_FACTOR?
we increase MAX_POW_INC?
We increase A_LEV_PC?
Time allowed:
5 minutes
1 4 20
2.4 Traffic Load Sharing
Used to unload cell with too high traffic, without HW
extension
Trade-off between traffic sharing/radio quality
Different algorithms
Fast Traffic Handover: Cause 28
Traffic Handover: Cause 23 and 12 with DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n)
Static (couple of cells): HO_MARGIN, LINK_FACTOR
On a local traffic basis:
Load_Factor/Free_Factor
1 4 21
2.4 Traffic Load Sharing [cont.]
DELTA_HO_MARGIN (0,n)
CHANGE DYNAMICALLY TRAFFIC DISTRIBUTION WITH HO:
Traffic HO Cause 23
Ease outgoing better condition HO on a traffic point of view
Slow down outgoing better cell HO (to be tuned for a given couple
of cells)
When the better cell in radio condition is the worst cell in traffic terms
Optimization method (repetitive process)
Tune DELTA_DEC_HO_MARGIN and DELTA_INC_HO_MARGIN
Apply new values, check traffic, QoS indicators and possibly speech
quality
1 4 22
The Pros and cons of DELTA_HO_MARGIN (0,n) method
Efficiency depends on:
Traffic location in the loaded cell
Cells overlap
Capacity of neighbour cells
Increase the number of HO/call
Cannot be used to send traffic toward a cell external to the serving
BSC
The call has to be first established on a loaded cell, before being
exported
It can be rejected
Easy to tune (dynamic process)
Adaptability to instantaneous and long-term traffic modifications
1 4 23
HO_MARGIN / LINK_FACTOR
CHANGE STATICALLY TRAFFIC DISTRIBUTION WITH HO:
Ease outgoing better cell HO (to be tuned for a given couple of
cells)
Decrease HO_MARGIN (can make a cell candidate)
Increase LINK_FACTOR (used to rank candidate cells)
Look for neighbour cells able to carry extra traffic
Use Abis trace to check if these cells are candidate
if yes, use LINK_FACTOR to favor them
if not, use HO_MARGIN and LINK_FACTOR
Apply new values, check traffic, QoS indicators and possibly speech
quality
1 4 24
The Pros and cons of LINK_FACTOR/HO_MARGIN
Can be efficient (up to 20% increase of capacity) in some cases
Cell overlap
Increase the number of HO/call
The call has to be first established on a loaded cell, before being
exported
It can be rejected
Heavy to tune (has to be done for each couple of cells)
No adaptability to instantaneous and long-term traffic modifications
Can be used to send traffic toward a cell external to the serving
BSC
1 4 25
FREE_FACTOR/LOAD_FACTOR
Taking into account the current load of cells, send the MS
toward the less loaded cell with HO
Ease outgoing better cell HO, according to:
Load_Factor (% of TCH occupancy) of serving and target cells
Free_Factor (number of free TCHs) of serving and target cells (order only)
cannot make a candidate cell, only change ranking
Tuning method (repetitive)
to be activated locally for each cell with default parameter setting
look for QoS indicators (esp. traffic intensity and blocking rate)
tune tables accordingly
1 4 26
The Pros and cons of load/free factors method
Lower efficiency compared to LINK_FACTOR/HO_MARGIN
Calls have to be established on a loaded cell before being
exported
Tuning is performed on a cell-per-cell basis
Cannot be used to send traffic toward an external cell
Adapted to dynamic change of traffic and capacity (for
Load_Factor)
No increase of HO/call rate
1 4 27
Fast Traffic HO
Useful in case of sudden traffic peaks as the process response is
instantaneous (no averaging window)
The principle is to force handover towards neighbour cells which
have lower traffic when a request is queued in the serving cell.
Interaction with Forced DR due to the use of same thresholds
Tunes L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n), FREElevel_DR(n), HO_MARGIN_LEV(0, n)
Applies new values, checks traffic peaks, QoS indicators
1 4 28
The Pros and cons of Fast Traffic HO
Efficiency depends on:
Traffic location in the loaded cell
Increase of the number of HO/call
Increase of incoming HOs fail rate (risk of ping-pong effect, call
returning to best serving cell)
In case of internal HO: use PING_PONG_HCP with T_HCP
or/and enable HO CAUSE 23
Heavy to tune (has to be done for each couple of cells)
Adapted to instantaneous traffic modification
Can be used to send traffic towards a cell external to the serving
BSC
Adapted to hierarchical network, but also to standard ones
1 4 29
Forced directed retry method
Mechanisms
The MS is connected on an SDCCH of cell1
It must switch on TCH
No TCH is free on cell1
There is at least 1 neighbour cell which has:
sufficient DL level seen by the MS
enough free TCHs
The MS is handed over to TCH towards this cell
if there are several cells, the one with the best PBGT is selected
1 4 30
Method: trade-off between traffic
and radio quality
Mainly L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n)
parameter to tune
the lower, the better the traffic sharing
the lower, the higher the interference
risks
QoS indicators and field tests (speech
quality) are necessary for tuning
C
e
l
l

2
: 45
C
e
ll 3: 2
3
C
e
l
l

1
:

2
4
The following condition is checked every measurement reporting period and if at least one input pre-
processed parameter AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) is available.
CAUSE = 20 (high level in neighbour cell for forced directed retry)
AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) > L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) (n = 1 ... BTSnum)
and EN_FORCED_DR = ENABLE
The threshold L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) is the observed level from the neighbour cell n at the border of the
area where forced directed retry is enabled. This threshold fixes the size of the overlapping area where
forced directed retry can be performed. It should be greater than RXLEVmin(n).
1 4 31
The Pros and cons of Forced directed retry
Highest efficiency (up to 30%)
No increase of HO/call rate
Can be used to send traffic toward an external cell
Adapted to dynamic change of traffic
Adapted to hierarchical networks, but also to standard
ones
Tuning is performed on a cell-per-cell basis
Increase of incoming HOs fail rate (risk of ping-pong
effect, call returning to best serving cell)
In case of internal HO: use PING_PONG_HCP with T_HCP
or/and enable HO CAUSE 23
1 4 32
Draw qualitatively the new serving areas on the pseudo map when
enabling traffic HO with:
DELTA_DEC_HO_MARGIN=6dB
DELTA_INC_HO_MARGIN=4dB
PBGT(0) = 5
0 5 5
PBGT(0) PBGT(n)
PBGT(n) = 5
Traffic_load
Loaded cell 0 Unloaded cell n
EN_TRAFFIC_HO = 0
Cause 12 Cause 12
Time allowed:
5 minutes
1 4 33
What happens when EN_FAST_TRAFFIC_HO = ENABLE and
EN_TRAFFIC_HO(n,0) = DISABLE?
Time allowed:
5 minutes
Queued
Assignment
Request
PBGT(0) = 5
0 5 5
PBGT(0) PBGT(n)
PBGT(n) = 5
Traffic_load
Av_Rxlev_Ncell(n) = -82 dBm Av_Rxlev_Ncell(0) = -74 dBm
Av_Rxlev_PBGT_HO = -82 dBm
L_RLEV_NCELL_DR(n) = -85 dBm
1 4 34
What happens when EN_FAST_TRAFFIC_HO = ENABLE and
EN_TRAFFIC_HO(n,0) = ENABLE?
Time allowed:
5 minutes
Queued
Assignment
Request
PBGT(0) = 9
0 9 -1
PBGT(0) PBGT(n)
PBGT(n) = -1
Traffic_load
Av_Rxlev_Ncell(n) = -82 dBm Av_Rxlev_Ncell(0) = -74 dBm
Av_Rxlev_PBGT_HO = -82 dBm
5 5
1 4 35
for this module
1 4 36
End of Module
Algorithms Dynamic Behaviours
15
Module 5
Case Studies
Section 1
Tuning
B10 Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning Case Studies
1 5 2
Blank Page
Document History
1 5 3
Module Objectives
propose a set of parameters to solve typical radio problems
1 5 4
1 5 5
Table of Contents
Page
2 Eight Case Studies 9
2.1 Tunnel Case 10
2.2 Radar Case 11
2.3 Tower Case 12
2.4 Resurgence Case 13
2.5 Forest Case 14
2.6 Highway Case 15
2.7 TCH/SDCCH Congestion Case 16
2.8 Indoor Cell Congestion Case 17
1 5 6
1 5 7
1 5 8
Justification
Some typical problems due to particular field configuration always
occur in a GSM network
1 5 9
2 Eight Case Studies
1 5 10
2.1 Tunnel Case
Radiating cable in a tunnel
Question:
Risks of such a configuration
Tune the right parameters for the tunnel cell
Catch quickly car traffic
Avoid the pedestrian traffic
Indoor BTS
Outdoor BTS
Pedestrian
mobile
1 5 11
2.2 Radar Case
Radar situation
A radar cell situated on top
of a hill provides a wide
coverage area.
An industrial zone in the
valley is covered by small
cells but also by the radar
cell. The serving areas in the
IZ are not clearly defined.
Objective
Give a parameter set to
prevent the radar cell from
catching any traffic in the
industrial zone by HO
assignment
1 5 12
2.3 Tower Case
Tower situation
The indoor mobile selects in idle mode the
outdoor cell (same LA)
Objective
Define a set of parameters to avoid that
effect
O
utdoor cell
Indoor
antenna
Indoor
mobile
1 5 13
2.4 Resurgence Case
Resurgence situation
In rural network, especially
in hilly landscape, many
resurgences occur from very
far cells.
Objective
Define a set of parameters
to avoid radio link
establishment to those cells
and TCH traffic on those
cells
Cell A
Resurgence
from cell A
Cell B
2
5
K
m
1 5 14
2.5 Forest Case
Forest situation: a highway crosses a forest
High call drop rate (radio cause) on the cell and drive tests: strong level
attenuation at the entrance of the forest
Objective
Define a set of parameters to avoid radio link failure
-75 dBm
-90 dBm
Forest
(ATT = 10 dB every 100 m)
H
i
g
h
w
a
y
BTS
1 5 15
2.6 Highway Case
Highway situation:
A highway is slightly covered (best coverage on 200m) by an orthogonal
cell (cell C on the map)
Objective
Define a set of parameters to avoid traffic in the orthogonal cell
1 5 16
2.7 TCH/SDCCH Congestion Case
SDCCH congestion situation
A railway station is located at the frontier of two LAs. Every train stopping
in this station comes from LA 1 and then returns to LA 1 after the stop.
Objective
Define a set of parameters to avoid
SDCCH congestion on cell B (LA 2)
L
A
f
r
o
n
t
ie
r
LA 1
LA 2
Cell A
Cell B
1 5 17
2.8 Indoor Cell Congestion Case
An indoor microcell has been
introduced within a multi-layer
network (macro + micro)
When the indoor microcell is
congested, FDR may not be
working as some the MSs can be
covered only by this cell
Define parameter settings to find a
good solution in case of indoor cell
congestion
City center
Micro-cells
Macro-Cell
Macro-Cell Macro-Cell
1 5 18
for this module
1 5 19
End of Module
Case Studies

16
Module 6
Annexes
Section 1
Tuning
B10 Introduction to Radio Fine Tuning Annexes
1 6 2
Blank Page
Document History
1 6 3
Module Objectives

1 6 4
1 6 5
Table of Contents
Page
1 Erlang B law 7
2 Frequency Hopping influence on PCHO process 21
3 Load & Traffic evaluation 26
4 Handover Management 37
5 LCS 46
6 Dynamic SDCCH Allocation 63
7 Handover Detection for Concentric Cells 73
1 6 6
Page
1 6 7
1 Erlang B law
1 6 8
1 Erlang B law
Erlang definition
ERLANG: unit used to quantify traffic
Example:
1 TCH is observed during 1 hour
one can observe 1 call of 80 sec and 1 call of 100 sec
the observed traffic is T = (80+100)/3600 = 0.05 ERLANG
Erlang definition
T =
total observation duration
resource usage duration
(Erlang)
1 6 9
ERLANG <-> CALL MIX
CALL MIX EXAMPLE
350 call/hour
3 LU/call
TCH duration: 85 sec
SDCCH duration: 4.5 sec
ERLANG COMPUTATION
TCH = (350 * 85)/3600 = 8.26 ERLANG
SDCCH = [ (350 + 350*3) * 4.5 ] / 3600 = 1.75 ERLANG
1 Erlang B law
Call mix definition
350 calls * 85 sec / 1 hour(3600 sec):
TCH = (350 * 85)/3600 = 8.26 ERLANGS
350 calls means 350 SDCCH phases.
3 LU/call means 3 * 350 LUs so 1050 SDCCH phases more.
1 SDCCH phase is 4.5 sec:
SDCCH = [ (350 + 350*3) * 4.5 ] / 3600 = 1.75 ERLANG
1 6 10
1 Erlang B law
Erlang B (1/5)
Erlang B law
Relationship between
offered traffic
number of resources
blocking rate
In a telecom system, call arrival frequency is ruled by the POISSON LAW
1 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 97
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Call
Second
The offered traffic is the traffic asked by the customers.
The graph gives the number of connection requests per second during 35 seconds.
83/30s => 83 * 2 * 60 = about 10 000 / hour
Real example in Paris on 1 BSC (LA FOURCHE).
1 6 11
1 Erlang B law
Erlang B (2/5)
Call request arrival rate (and leaving) is not stable
Number of resources = average number of requests * mean duration
Is sometime not sufficient => probability of blocking
=> 1 Erlang B law
Pblock: blocking probability
N: number of resources
E: offered traffic [Erlang]
Good approximation when
the blocking rate is low (< 5%) Pblock =

N
k=0
E
k
k !
E
N
N !
Erlang B law
1 6 12
There is two different ways to use this law
Using Abacus
Using SW (here Excel)
Pblock = f (T, Nc)
Offered = f (Nc, Pblock)
Channels = f (T, Pblock)
1 Erlang B law
Erlang B (3/5)
1 6 13
1 Erlang B law
Erlang B (4/5)
Example:
We have a BTS of 8 TRXs (about 60 channels (Nc))
We do not want more than 2% of blocking (Pblock)
=> The traffic is not to be greater than 50 Erlangs (T)
83% of resources used to reach 2% of blocking
1 6 14
1 Erlang B law
Erlang B (5/5)
But be careful, the law is not linear:
In B4, we use for example a combined BCCH with a micro BTS.
4 SDCCHs, Pblock = 2% => T = 1.1 E
25% of resources used to reach 2% of blocking
In B5, if we decide to provide SMSCB (Cell Broadcast information)
1 subchannel SDCCH is therefore used.
3 SDCCHs, Pblock = 2% => T = 0.6 E
25% of resources less => 50% of Traffic less !!
1 6 15
CELL DIMENSIONING
Given an Offered traffic, compute the number of TRXs (and SDCCHs) needed
to carry it
Default blocking rate
RTCH: 2%
SDCCH: 0.5%
(TTCH: 0.1%)
1 Erlang B law
Cell dimensioning (1/5)
1 6 16
CELL DIMENSIONING
To handle an offered traffic of 12 Erlangs (TCH), compute the number of
channels, then the number of TRXs
Channels (12;2%) = 19
Example: 3 TRXs , 21 TCHs, 1 BCCH, 2 SDCCH8
1 Erlang B law
1 6 17
CELL DIMENSIONING, based on field measurement
One is measuring a traffic of 15 Erlangs, with a blocking rate of 10%
How to dimension the cell?
Offered traffic = 15 / (1-10%) = 16.7 Erlangs !!!!
Channels (16.7;2%) -> 25 TCHs -> 4 TRXs needed
1 Erlang B law
1 6 18
FORECASTING TRAFFIC/CRITICAL TRAFFIC
Traffic forecasting must be calculated according to offered traffic
@ not directly on measured traffic
In order to plan necessary actions soon enough, one must calculate regularly
the date when the traffic of a cell will become critical
Critical traffic: when offered traffic will induce 2% of blocking
1 Erlang B law
1 6 19
1 Erlang B law
WARNING: in case of too high blocking rate
First check that there is no outage on the BTS
Before starting a dimensioning/tuning action
1 6 20
1 Erlang B law
Training exercise
Training exercise
Complete this form in order to get less than 2% of blocking in all cases.
Erlang TCH
offered traffic
450 call/hour
Mean TCH call duration: 80 sec
Blocking rate TCH: 0.8%
12,743 10.08 Erlang TCH
30% offered traffic
increase
13.1 Erlang TCH -> 20 TCH
3 TRX
Call mix info Cell Traffic forecast Proposed configuration
12,675
12,865
330 call/hour
Blocking rate TCH: 4%
600 call/hour
Blocking rate TCH: 8%
30% offered traffic
increase
30% offered traffic
increase
cell cell cell cell call call call call mix info mix info mix info mix info Erlang TCH Erlang TCH Erlang TCH Erlang TCH traffic traffic traffic traffic forecast forecast forecast forecast proposed proposed proposed proposed config config config config
12, 743 450 call/hour
mean TCHcall duration : 80
sec
blocking rate TCH : 0.8%
10 Erlang TCH
(450*80)/3600
=10
10/.992=10.08
1
30 % TCH increase
10,081*1.3=13.1
13,1 Erlang TCH - >20
TCH
3 TRX
12,675 330 call/hour
mean TCHcall duration 129
sec
blocking rate 4%
(330*129)/360
0
=11.825/0.96
=12.3177
30 % TCH increase
12.3177*1.3 =16
16 Erlang TCH->24 TCH
4 TRX
12,865 600 call/hour
mean TCHcall duration 96
sec
blocking rate 8 %
(600*96)/3600
=16/.92 =17.4
30 % TCH increase
17.4*1.3 =22.6
22.6 Erlang TCH ->31 TCH
5 TRX
1 6 21
2 Frequency Hopping influence on PCHO
process
1 6 22
2 Frequency Hopping influence on PCHO process
(1/4)
Signal decoding process
In a GSM system, the number of frames that are not erased are sent as an
input to the voice decoder
Inside the mobile station
Decoder
Encoder
Deinterleave
Error Correction
Frame Erasure
Decision
RXQUAL Frame Erasure Rate
Demod.
Voice
Decoder
Air
1 6 23
Quality impact of frequency hopping on the reception chain
In non-hopping networks, the RXQUAL and voice quality are correlated
In hopping networks, the voice quality is sooner correlated to the FER. This
is due to interferer averaging and due to the non-linear mapping of BER to
RXQUAL values.
(2/4)
1 6 24
Quality impact of frequency hopping on the reception chain
FER is improved when frequency hopping is activated (cyclic or random)
RxQual is not impacted whereas the speech quality is better
(3/4)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
RxQ Average
0.00%
0.50%
1.00%
1.50%
2.00%
2.50%
FER Average
Ref Cyclic Random
RxQ Average
FER Average
1 6 25
Conclusion
When frequency hopping is activated
We can accept in Power Control and Handover processes, a threshold
increase:
OFFSET_HOPPING_PC and
OFFSET_HOPPING_HO
Conclusion (4/4)
1 6 26
3 Load & Traffic evaluation
1 6 27
Cell TCH radio resource evaluation usage
FREEfactor
LOADfactor
Load
evaluation
Speed discrimination for hierarchical network
Full Rate/Half Rate channel allocation
Power budget Handover
Traffic Handover
Multiband capture Handover
General capture Handover
N_TRAFFIC_LOAD x A_TRAFFIC_LOAD x TCH_INFO_PERIOD
Short
term
Medium
term
Long
term
LOAD_EV_PERIOD x TCH_INFO_PERIOD
TCH_INFO_PERIOD
Period Usage
1 6 28
Load evaluation (1/5)
Nb of free TCHs
LOADfactors
FREEfactors
Load evaluation
TCH_INFO_PERIOD sec
LOAD_EV_PERIOD
Non-sliding average
Medium term measurement of the load of a cell
Corresponds to function AV_LOAD(cell)
A new sample of the Nb free TCH in the cell is available every
TCH_INFO_PERIOD seconds
AV_LOAD() is a non-sliding window load average from Nb free TCH samples
updated every LOAD_EV_PERIOD x TCH_INFO_PERIOD sec
1 6 29
AV_LOAD(cell n) calculated from N Nb free TCH samples available during
LOAD_EV_PERIOD x TCH_INFO_PERIOD sec
LOADfactors and FREEfactors also determined from Nb free TCH samples
every TCH_INFO_PERIOD seconds (short term evaluation)
LOADlevels are boundaries of load intervals associating a LOADfactor (db) to
a Nb of free TCH samples
FREElevels are boundaries of Nb of free TCH intervals associating a
FREEfactor (db) to a Nb of free TCH samples
AV_LOADdefinition
AV_LOAD =
Nsamples
1

Nsamples
i = 1
(1 -
Nb total TCH (n)
Nb free TCH (n)
) x 100
1 6 30
LOADfactor determination:
LOADlevel in %
LOADfactor in dB
LOADfactor
LOADfactor_1
LOADfactor_2
LOADfactor_3
LOADfactor_4
LOADfactor_5
t = (1 - Nb free TCH/Total Nb TCH) x 100
t <= LOADlevel_1
LOADlevel_1 < t <= LOADlevel_2
LOADlevel_4 < t
1 6 31
FREEfactor determination:
FREElevel in absolute number of TCH
FREEfactor in dB
FREEfactor
FREEfactor_1
FREEfactor_2
FREEfactor_3
FREEfactor_4
FREEfactor_5
Nb free TCH
t <= FREElevel_1
FREElevel_1 < t <= FREElevel_2
FREElevel_4 < t
1 6 32
Example: cells with 4 TRXs (28 TCHs)
In cell evaluation of cell n for outgoing HO from cell 0:
In GRADE(n): + LOADfactor(n) = +0 = 0 dB
In ORDER(n): + FREEfactor(n) FREEfacfor(0) = +7 (-8) = +15 dB
LOADfactor
+10 dB
+5 dB
0 dB
-10 dB
-15 dB
Load = (1 - Nb free TCH/Total Nb TCH) x 100
t <= 10%
10% < t <= 25%
25% < t <= 50%
50% < t <= 80%
80% < t
FREEfactor
-16 dB
-8 dB
0 dB
+7 dB
+10 dB
Nb free TCH
t <= 3
3 < t <= 8
8 < t <= 15
15 < t <= 21
21 < t
Cell n Cell 0
HO
?
Nb free TCHs = 4
Load = 85.7%
LOADfactor(0) = -15 dBm
FREEfactor(0) = -8 dBm
Nb free TCHs = 20
Load = 28.6%
LOADfactor(n) = 0 dBm
FREEfactor(n) = +7 dBm
1 6 33
Traffic evaluation (1/4)
Long term measurement of the load of a cell
Corresponds to function Traffic_load(cell)
Traffic_load() value is determined from a number N_TRAFFIC_LOAD of
consecutive non-sliding window load averages AV_TRAFFIC_LOAD calculated
from Nb of free TCH samples updated every A_TRAFFIC_LOAD x
TCH_INFO_PERIOD sec
Nb of free TCHs
LOADfactors
FREEfactors
Traffic evaluation
TCH_INFO_PERIOD sec
A_TRAFFIC_LOAD
(N_TRAFFIC_LOAD non-sliding average)
TRAFFIC_EV_PERIOD
1 6 34
3 possible values for Traffic_load(): high, low, indefinite
Initialization: Traffic_load() = indefinite
Traffic_load() becomes:
High if the last N_TRAFFIC_LOAD consecutive
AV_TRAFFIC_LOAD load averages are all greater than
HIGH_TRAFFIC_LOAD threshold
Low if the last N_TRAFFIC_LOAD consecutive
AV_TRAFFIC_LOAD load averages are all lower than
LOW_TRAFFIC_LOAD threshold
Traffic load
Thresolds comparison
with N_TRAFFIC_LOAD
averages
AV_TRAFFIC_LOAD
Averaging on
A_TRAFFIC_LOAD
load samples
Load samples
HIGH_
TRAFFIC_LOAD
LOW_
TRAFFIC_LOAD
IND_
TRAFFIC_LOAD
1 6 35
Traffic_load() becomes indefinite if:
Traffic_load() was high and the last AV_TRAFFIC_LOAD load average is
lower than LOW_TRAFFIC_LOAD (or IND_TRAFFIC_LOAD if not 0%)
Traffic_load() was low and the last AV_TRAFFIC_LOAD load average is
greater than HIGH_TRAFFIC_LOAD (or IND_TRAFFIC_LOAD if not 0%)
Traffic_load(n) is always equal to indefinite if cell n is external to BSC
HIGH_TRAFFIC_LOAD IND_TRAFFIC_LOAD LOW_TRAFFIC_LOAD
1 6 36
HIGH_TRAFFIC_LOAD
Variation of
AV_TRAFFIC_LOAD
IND_TRAFFIC_LOAD
LOW_TRAFFIC_LOAD
Traffic_load = high
Traffic_load =
indefinite
Traffic_load =
indefinite
Traffic_load = low Traffic_load = low
Traffic_load =
indefinite
Traffic_load =
indefinite
Traffic_load = high
IND_TRAFFIC_LOAD = 0 IND_TRAFFIC_LOAD <> 0
Example with N_TRAFFIC_LOAD = 3
1 6 37
4 Handover Management
1 6 38
Handover Management made up of:
Cell Filtering Process (according to call history)
Handover Decision (according to the best cell in the list)
Handover Management followed by:
Handover Protocol
Principles
Radio
Link
Measurements
Active
Channel
Pre-processing
BTS BSC
HO Detection
HO Candidate
Cell Evaluation
HO
management
MSC
HO
protocol
HO Preparation
1 6 39
Global Handover Process
Handover preparation
Handover
detection
Handover management
Cell
filtering
process
Handover
protocol
External
or internal
channel
change
Candidate
cell
evaluation
Handover
decision
Raw
cell list
Ordered
target
cell list
Filtered
target
cell list
Execution
target
cell list
1 6 40
Three cell lists:
Ordered target Cell list
target cells provided by Candidate Cell Evaluation
REJ_CELL_LIST
cells internally rejected by the MSC or BSC
MS_CELL_REJ_LIST
cells to which the MS failed to hand over
Cell Lists usage
Since B6 release, some changes have been provided to the HO management process which is in charge of the
HO execution triggering, when the need of handover is detected by the HO preparation process.
These changes are :
use of the T_FILTER parameter in a different way than for B5,
the parameter NBR_HO_ATTEMPTS which was used for internal HO in B5 is removed,
use of the T7 parameter and of the REJ_CELL_LIST list also for internal HO in B7,
same behavior in case of internal and external HO in B7,
immediate attempt after rejection or failure without waiting for a new alarm in case of internal and
external HO in B7,
implicit rejection of cells in B7 with the help of the target cell identity in the HO command received from
the MSC.
1 6 41
T_FILTER: controls the global handover procedure
started: when a cell list is to be sent by Candidate Cell Evaluation
expiry empty target cell list sent to the Handover Management
T7: controls the clean-up of REJ_CELL_LIST
started: when a target cell list is to be sent to Handover Protocol
expiry empty REJ_CELL_LIST
T_MS_CELL_REJ: clean-up of MS_CELL_REJ_LIST
started: when an MS reports a failure to seize the target channel
expiry empty MS_CELL_REJ_LIST
T_HO_REQ_LOST: to supervise answer of MSC (no HANDOVER REQUIRED REJECT
message sent)
Started: HO REQUIRED sent
Stopped: HO COMMAND received
Expiry external channel change procedure is terminated.
Timers usage
If the candidate cell list provided by the candidate cell evaluation process is different from the previous one
(the number of cells is different or same number of cells but new cells in the list), an alarm is sent to the
HOM process. In B7, if T_FILTER expires, it means that the HO is no more necessary.
For both internal and external HOs in case of HO failure from the MS, the cell is filtered until the expiry of
the T_MS_CELL_REJ timer. When the T_MS_CELL_REJ timer expires, the rejected cell may be a candidate.
In B7 release, T7 timer is used to manage the REJ_CELL_LIST list and a subsequent HO REQUIRED can be sent to
the MSC before T7 expiry if the target cell list has changed (new cell or removed cell).
The REJ_CELL_LIST list is used for both internal and external Hos.
T_HO_REQD_LOST Expiry
This timer is used to supervise response from the MSC. It is started when sending the first HANDOVER
REQUIRED to the MSC and it is stopped in the following cases:
when HANDOVER COMMAND is received from the MSC or
when HANDOVER REQUIRED REJECT is received from the MSC only if the same number of HANDOVER
REQUIRED REJECT messages have been received from the MSC than the number of HANDOVER REQUIRED
messages sent to the MSC for this channel change procedure) (i.e. no message crossing over A interface).
In case where more HANDOVER REQUIRED messages have been sent to the MSC, the timer
T_HO_REQD_LOST is not stopped upon HANDOVER REQUIRED REJECT receipt, as there is no way for the BSC
to know if the received HANDOVER REQUIRED REJECT is a response to the last HANDOVER REQUIRED
message or a response to a previous one (message crossing over A interface).
On expiry, an O&M error report is raised only when no message has been received from the MSC since the
last HANDOVER REQUIRED message, and the external channel change procedure is terminated.
1 6 42
Handover Execution Process
Handover preparation
Cell filtering process
remove cells previously rejected
from MSC or BSC
remove cells previously rejected
for MS failure reason
remove cells not suitable due to
O&M reason
Filtered
target
cell list
Cell 4
Cell 2
Cell 8
Filtered
target
cell list
Cell 2
Internal
Handover
Internal
Handover
Handover
protocol
Handover decision
Relevant handover protocol is
chosen according to the type of
GSM procedure ongoing and the
first target cell of the list
T7 is started
List of cells
previously rejected
for MS failure
Cell 8
MS_CELL_REJ_LIST list
cleared at
T_MS_CELL_REJ expiry
List of cells
previously rejected
from MSC or BSC
Cell 4
REJ_CELL_LIST list
cleared at T7 expiry
1 6 43
HO execution example
Handover management
Ordered
target cell list
Cell 1
Cell 2
Cell 3
Rejected lists
MS empty
BSC/MSC empty
Ordered
target cell list
Cell 1
Cell 2
Cell 3
Update
Cell 1 -> MS
rejected list
Handover management
Ordered
target cell list
Cell 1
Cell 2
Cell 3
Rejected lists
MS cell 1
BSC/MSC empty
Ordered
target cell list
Cell 1
Cell 2
Cell 3
Handover
protocol
HO fails
on cell 2
ROC
Update
T_MS_CELL_REJ
expires
MS rejected list
empty
Update
Cell 2 -> MS
rejected list
Cell 1 -> BSC
rejected list
Handover management
Ordered
target cell list
Cell 1
Cell 2
Cell 3
Rejected lists
MS cell 2
BSC/MSC cell 1
Ordered
target cell list
Cell 1
Cell 2
Cell 3
Handover
protocol
HO to
cell 3
Handover
protocol
HO fails
on cell 1
ROC
1 6 44
End of Handover procedure = T_FILTER timer expiry
T_FILTER restarted each time a target cell list is to be sent by Candidate Cell
Evaluation to the Handover Management (same list than the one previously
sent or not)
The target cell list is sent to the Handover Management if different from the
last target cell list previously sent
T_FILTER expiry means no handover is needed anymore
T_FILTER controls HO procedure (1/2)
1 6 45
T_FILTER controls HO procedure (2/2)
Is T_FILTER running?
Yes No
Restart T_FILTER
New candidate cell list from the
candidate cell evaluation function
Start T_FILTER:
an HO alarm containing the
candidate cell is sent to the
HO management entity
Yes No
Is the candidate cell list
different from the previous one?
Restart T_FILTER:
an HO alarm containing the
candidate cell is sent to the
HO management entity
No Handover is on-going A Handover is on-going
A Handover is now on-going
T_FILTER is restarted
each time the alarm is still on
1 6 46
5 LCS
1 6 47
5 LCS
Definitions
New end-user services which provide the geographical location of an
MS:
On MS request to know its own location
On network request (especially during Emergency calls)
On external request (LCS Client)
Several positioning methods:
Cell-ID or Cell-ID + TA (Timing Advance)
Conventional (standalone) GPS
Assisted GPS (with A-GPS server help to compute location)
MS-based (MB): the MS is able to perform a pre-computation
MS-assisted (MA): the MS sends info, Network computes
Assisted GPS Method:
Mobile-based: The MS performs OTD signal measurements and computes its own location estimate. In this
case, the network provides the MS with the additional information such as BTS coordinates and the RTD
values. These assistance data can be either broadcast on the CBCH (using SMSCB function) or provided by
the BSS in a point-to-point connection (either spontaneously or on request from the MS).
Mobile-assisted: The MS performs and reports OTD signal measurements to the network and the network
computes the MSs location estimate.
With
OTD: Observed Time Difference: the time interval that is observed by an MS between the receptions of
signals (bursts) from two different BTSs.
RTD: Real Time Difference: This means the relative synchronization difference in the network between
two BTSs.
Finally, 4 methods are possible for positioning:
Cell ID+ TA.
This is the simplest method for determining the location of a mobile. It relies on the hypothesis that the
geographical coverage of a cell corresponds to that predicted by radio coverage studies. When an active
mobile is connected to a base station, the mobile is assumed to be located geographically within the area
predicted to be best served by this base station
Conventional (MS equipped with GPS System).
MS-based Assisted GPS.
MS-Assisted GPS.
1 6 48
5 LCS
Architecture
MS Request 1
Network Request 2
External Request 3
A-GPS
GMLC
LCS
SMLC
: Assisted GPS
: Gateway Mobile Location Center
: Location Services
: Serving Mobile Location Center
BTS
Abis
MFS
BTS
OSP
SMLC
A-GPS
server
GPS receivers
reference network
GMLC
External
LCS client
MSC
BSC
HLR
Abis
A Lg Le
Lh
Lb
Emergency call
2 3
SAGI
Where is
the accident?
Where is
my son?
Where
am I?
1
SMLC function integrated in MFS:
- receives the location request from
the GMLC through the MSC/BSC
- schedules all the necessary actions
to get MS location
- computes MS location
- provides the result back to the GMLC
1 6 49
5 LCS
LCS Positioning Procedure
BTS
MFS
BTS
OSP
SMLC
GMLC
MSC
BSC
HLR
Location
request
1
Routing
information
2
Provide
subscriber
location
3
Paging,
authentication,
ciphering,
notification
4
Provide
subscriber location
5
Individual
positioning
6 Location report
7 7
Location
response
8
If the MS is in idle mode, the MSC first performs a CS paging, authentication and ciphering in order to
establish an SDCCH with the MS. The MS subscriber is not aware of it, i.e. no ringing tone, except towards
GPRS MS in Packet Transfer Mode which may suspend its GPRS traffic in order to answer to the CS Paging
(i.e. not fully transparent for the subscriber).
When the MS is in dedicated mode (after a specific SDCCH establishment for location, or during an on-going
call), the MSC sends the location request to the BSC in the existing SCCP connection for the current call,
which forwards it to the SMLC.
1 6 50
5 LCS
LCS Protocols
BSC
SMLC
(MFS)
Um Lb
L1-GSL
L2-GSL
BSSLAP
L2-GSL
BSSAP-LE
L1-GSL L1
L2
(LAPDm)
RR
Relay
RRLP
(04.31)
BSSLAP
(08.71)
BSSAP-LE
(09.31)
Target MS
L1
RR
(04.18)
L2
(LAPDm)
RRLP
(04.31)
1 6 51
5 LCS
LCS Protocols [cont.]
Example: Mobile terminated location request success (External request)
MS BTS BSC SMLC MSC GMLC HLR
Adequate positioning method
chosen by SMLC with
optional additional scenario
Starts
T_Location
Stop
T_Location
LCS Service Request
Send_Routing_Info request
Send_Routing_Info response
Provide_Subscriber_Location
Authentication + Ciphering
BSSMAP Perform_Location_Request
BSSAP-LE Perform_Location_Request
BSSAP-LE Perform_Location_Response
BSSMAP Perform_Location_Response
Provide_Subscriber_Location Result
LCS Service Response
MSSMAP Clear Command and Release
LCS client
Paging
T_location_Longer used in case of optional additional scenario (see graph):
Upon receipt of the MS POSITION COMMAND message from the SMLC (optional additional scenario), the BSC stops the
T_Location timer, and starts instead the T_Location_Longer timer. This timer is stopped only at the end of the location
procedure in the BSC, i.e. when an 08.08 PERFORM LOCATION RESPONSE message is sent back to the MSC.
Aborts:
Abort by MSC
Depending on the location procedure and its current state of execution, upon PERFORM LOCATION ABORT message
receipt, the BSC sends immediately to the MSC a PERFORM LOCATION RESPONSE message (when no exchange on the Lb
interface is on-going), or to the SMLC either a PERFORM LOCATION ABORT or an ABORT message. The BSC starts the
timer T_Loc_abort to supervise the SMLC response.
Abort by BSS
The BSC must send either a PERFORM LOCATION ABORT message or a ABORT message to the SMLC and starts the timer
T_Loc_abort, if an ongoing location request is interrupted at the BSC level for the following reasons:
by an inter-BSC handover, or
if the main signaling link to the target MS is lost or released, or
the SCCP connection on the A interface is released, or
if the timer T_Location expires,
The useful B8 content of the received PERFORM LOCATION REQUEST message is:
Location type,
Classmark information 3,
Requested QoS: provides service requirement concerning geographic positioning and response time
accuracy, the response time category (Low Delay or Delay Tolerant),
Current Cell Id + TA information are always provided to the SMLC.
The time of transfer of the assitance data on the SDCCH is estimated about 14s for a 1000 octets information.
1 6 52
5 LCS
Positioning Methods: CI+TA Positioning
Principles of CI + TA Positioning Method
LCS_LONGITUDE
LCS_LATITUDE
LCS_AZIMUTH
(Main Beam Direction
given by the azimuth)
HALF
P
W
R
_
B
E
A
M
_
W
I
D
T
H
S
e
r
v
i
n
g

c
e
l
l

(
C
I
)
TA
3dB point
given by the azimuth
and the HPBW
3dB point
given by the azimuth
and the HPBW
5
5
3
m
MS
estimated location
With the TA positioning method, no signaling exchange is required between the SMLC and the MS (i.e. RRLP protocol is
not required). The TA positioning method is applicable to all the MSs (supporting LCS or not).
Based on:
Cell Identity (CI) of the serving cell and
Timing Advance (TA) value reported by MS
intersection point of a line from the BTS antenna in its main direction with a circle which radius is corresponding
with the propagation delay (timing advance) is the MS estimated position
Omni-directional cells: MS position = site position
Parameters:
EN_LCS flag to enable/disable the Location Services per BSS
0 = Enabled; 1= Disabled; Default = 0
IF EN_LCS=1, CI+TA method is enabled in all the BSS cells
LCS_LATITUDE: Latitude of the BTS supporting the cell
LCS_LONGITUDE: Longitude of the BTS supporting the cell
LCS_AZIMUTH: Antenna direction orientation for the sector supporting the cell
HALFPWR_BEAM_WIDTH: Antenna half power beamwidth for the sector supporting the cell
Optimization parameters:
ARC_SIZE_FACTOR: Factor used in the computation of the width in degree of the ellipsoid arc returned by the MFS
when computing location estimate based on TA positioning method.
MIN_RADIUS_FACTOR: Factor used in the computation of the minimum radius of the ellipsoid arc returned by the
MFS when computing location estimate based on TA positioning method.
MAX_RADIUS_FACTOR: Factor used in the computation of the maximum radius of the ellipsoid arc returned by the
MFS when computing location estimate based on TA positioning method.
1 6 53
5 LCS
Positioning Methods: Conventional Positioning
Conventional GPS location procedure
This optional location procedure is chosen by the SMLC (if the MS supports
it) upon reception of a Perform Location Request message from the BSC
Perform
Location
Request
MS BTS BSC SMLC
Measurement Position Request
Measurement Position Response (X,Y)
Perform
Location
Response (X,Y)
(X,Y):
computed position
(X,Y)
Location
Request
Location
Response
The MS continuously computes its position.
The terminal searches for satellites, acquires all the GPS data, computes its own position and finally
provides the location estimation to the SMLC.
1 6 54
5 LCS
Positioning Methods: Assisted GPS Positioning
Assisted GPS Positioning Method (A-GPS)
Assisted GPS Positioning Method is split into:
MS Based A-GPS method
MS Assisted A-GPS method
- GPS acquisition assistance
- Navigation model
(almanac, ephemeris)
- Ionospheric model
- Time integrity
GPS MS A-GPS
server
GPS receivers
reference network
Assistance data on request
Assistance data gathered from a GPS reference network receiver is broadcast to the GPS MS.
Flags/Parameters
EN_LCS = 1
EN_MS_BASED_AGPS enables/disables the positioning method MS Based A-GPS per CELL
0 = disabled; 1 = enabled; default = 0
EN_MS_ASSISTED_AGPS enables/disables the positioning method MS Assisted A-GPS per CELL
0 = disabled; 1 = enabled; default = 0
1 6 55
5 LCS
Positioning Methods: Assisted GPS Positioning [cont.]
A-GPS location procedure / MS Based A-GPS
Perform
Location
Request
MS BTS BSC SMLC
Location
Request
A-GPS
Server
GPS info
Request
GPS info
Response
Assistance Data
Assistance Data Acknowledge
Measurement Position Response (X,Y)
Perform
Location
Response (X,Y)
Location
Response
Position
Request
Position
Response
Assistance
Data
(X,Y)
(X,Y):
computed position
Positioning calculation:
latitude, longitude
and altitude
Using assistance data, the MS computes by itself the position and sends it back to the SMLC.
1 6 56
5 LCS
Positioning Methods: Assisted GPS Positioning [cont.]
A A- -GPS location procedure / MS Assisted A GPS location procedure / MS Assisted A- -GPS GPS
(X,Y):
computed position
Pseudo-range
measurements (M)
Position
Response
Perform
Location
Request
MS BTS BSC SMLC
Location
Request
A-GPS
Server
GPS info
Request
GPS info
Response
Assistance Data
Assistance Data Acknowledge
Perform
Location
Response (X,Y)
Location
Response
Position
Request
Assistance
Data
(X,Y)
Measurement Position Response (M)
GPS Location
Request (M)
GPS Location
Response (X,Y)
Using a reduced set of assistance data, the MS makes pseudorange measurements and sends the result to
the A-GPS server, which fixes the position in the end.
1 6 57
5 LCS
LCS Impact on HO
HO preparation
Inhibition of better cell handovers
Other HO
Starts
T_Location
Emergency
HO
detection
LCS Service Request
Send_Routing_Info request
Send_Routing_Info response
Provide_Subscriber_Location
Authentication + Ciphering
BSSAP-LE Perform_Location_Request
LCS client
Paging
BSSLAP - Reset
HO needed during LCS procedure
1 6 58
5 LCS
LCS Impact on HO [cont.]
HO management
Internal HO
HO
complete
LCS client
BSSLAP - Reset
Intra BSC
HO
on going
BSSMAP perform location response (cause = "Intra-BSC Handover Complete)
Mobile in communication
1 6 59
5 LCS
LCS Impact on HO [cont.]
HO management
External HO
MS BTS Serving BSC SMLC MSC GMLC HLR
External
BSC HO
BSSAP-LE Perform_Location_Abort
LCS client
BSSMAP HO required
1 6 60
5 LCS
BSS Parameters
Timers
T_Location
T_Location_longer
T_Loc_Abort
T_LCS_delay_tolerant
T_LCS_LowDelay
T_RRLP_low_delay
T_RRLP_delay_tolerant
FLAGS
EN_LCS
EN_SAGI
OPTIMIZATION DATA
ARC_SIZE_FACTOR
MIN_RADIUS_FACTOR
MAX_RADIUS_FACTOR
BSS PARAMETERS
EN_LCS (BSC)
Flag which enables or disables the LCS feature in the BSS.
EN_SAGI
Flag indicating whether SAGI is configured or not for this BSS.
T_Location:
BSC timer on a per call basis to guard the response from the SMLC in case of Location Request, when no RRLP exchange is
triggered with the MS.
T_Location_longer:
BSC timer on a per call basis to guard the response from the SMLC in case of Location Request, when an RRLP exchange is
triggered with the MS. Replace T_Location timer in case of Conventional GPS, MS-Assisted A-GPS, MS-Based A-GPS.
T_Loc_Abort
BSC timer to guard the response from the SMLC in case of Location Abort.
T_LCS_LowDelay
SMLC timer to guard the calculation of the MS position (including the RRLP message exchange with the target MS) in case of a Low
Delay Location Request.
T_LCS_DelayTolerant
SMLC timer to guard the calculation of the MS position (including the RRLP message exchange with the target MS) in case of a
Delay Tolerant Location Request.
T_LCS_LowDelay
SMLC timer to guard the calculation of the MS position (including the RRLP message exchange with the target MS) in case of a Low
Delay Location Request.
T_RRLP_Low_delay
Timer to guard the RRLP exchange between the SMLC and the MS.
T_RRLP_delay_tolerant
Timer to guard the RRLP exchange between the SMLC and the MS.
Optimization data:
ARC_SIZE_FACTOR
Factor used in the computation of the width in degree of the ellipsoid arc returned by the MFS when computing location estimate
based on TA positioning method.
MIN_RADIUS_FACTOR
Factor used in the computation of the minimum radius of the ellipsoid arc returned by the MFS when computing location estimate
MAX_RADIUS_FACTOR
Factor used in the computation of the maximum radius of the ellipsoid arc returned by the MFS when computing location estimate
1 6 61
5 LCS
Cell Parameters
SITE DATA
LCS_LATITUDE
LCS_LONGITUDE
LCS_SIGNIFICANT_GC
LCS_AZIMUTH
HALF_POWER_BANDWIDTH
EN_CONV_GPS
EN_MS_ASSISTED_AGPS
EN_MS_BASED_AGPS
FLAGS
CELL PARAMETERS
EN_CONV_GPS
Flag to enable/disable the Conventional GPS positioning method.
EN_MS_ASSISTED_AGPS
Flag to enable/disable the MS Assisted A-GPS positioning method.
EN_MS_BASED_AGPS
Flag to enable/disable the MS Based A-GPS positioning method.
LCS_LATITUDE
Latitude of the BTS supporting the cell (used by the MFS to compute location estimate based on TA
positioning method).
LCS_LONGITUDE
Longitude of the BTS supporting the cell (used by the MFS to compute location estimate based on TA
positioning method).
LCS_SIGNIFICANT_GC
Indicates whether latitude and longitude are significant or not.
LCS_AZIMUTH
Antenna direction orientation for the sector supporting the cell (used by the MFS to compute location
estimate based on TA positioning method).
HALF_POWER_BANDWIDTH
Half power beam width of the antenna for the sector supporting the cell (used by the MFS to compute
location estimate based on TA positioning method).
Remark: To have LCS supported for a cell, the operator must activate LCS on the BSS handling this cell but
he must also activate GPRS for this cell (i.e. setting of MAX_PDCH to a value > 0, the cell being kept locked
for GPRS if the operator does not want to have GPRS running on this cell) and configure all the required
transmission resources (Ater and Gb resources) on the GPU(s) connected to this BSC.
1 6 62
5 LCS
Positioning Methods: CI+TA Positioning
Ellipsoid arc definition:
Point (O)= serving BTS site coordinate
= serving cell antenna azimuth - /2
=A*width of serving cell sector in [],
calculated from bisector angles
of co-sited antenna azimuths
r1= inner radius of
TA ring-(B-0.5)*554 in [m]
R2=(B+C)*554 in [m]
A: ARC_SIZE_FACTOR
B: MIN_RADIUS_FACTOR
C: MAX_RADIUS_FACTOR
S
e
r
v
i
n
g

c
e
l
l

(
C
I)
E
North
S
W

r1
r2
Point (O)
An ellipsoid arc is a shape characterized by the co-ordinates of an ellipsoid point o (the origin), inner radius
r1, uncertainty radius r2, both radii being geodesic distances over the surface of the ellipsoid, the offset
angle () between the first defining radius of the ellipsoid arc and North, and the included angle () being
the angle between the first and second defining radii. The offset angle is within the range of 0 to
359,999 while the included angle is within the range from 0,0001 to 360. This is to be able to describe
a full circle, 0 to 360
For CI+TA method which is default one, the answer is given by description of "ellipsoid arc".
Optimization parameters:
ARC_SIZE_FACTOR
Factor used in the computation of the width in degree of the ellipsoid arc returned by the MFS when
computing location estimate based on TA positioning method.
MIN_RADIUS_FACTOR
Factor used in the computation of the minimum radius of the ellipsoid arc returned by the MFS when
MAX_RADIUS_FACTOR
Factor used in the computation of the maximum radius of the ellipsoid arc returned by the MFS when
1 6 63
6 Dynamic SDCCH Allocation
1 6 64
Purpose
SDCCH/8 time slots can be dynamically allocated on demand on a cell-
per-cell basis.
Dynamic SDCCH/8 time slots
Static SDCCH time slots
Min
Max
Static SDCCH
timeslots
Allocated
Dynamic SDCCH/8
timeslots
0
TCH Capacity
A Static SDCCH timeslot is a physical timeslot fixed allocated on the air interface. It contains 3, 4, 7 or 8
SDCCH sub-channels depending on whether the timeslot is an SDCCH/3, SDCCH/4, SDCCH/7, or SDCCH/8
timeslot.
1 6 65
Principles
Principles
Too few SDCCH time slots could result in high blocking rate on SDCCH
(Configuration 1)
Too many SDCCH time slots could lead to a lack of TCH resources
(Configuration 2)
SDCCH
time slots
T
C
H
CAPACIT
Y
SDCCH
time slots
TCH Capacity TCH Capacity
Configuration 1 Configuration 2
Low signaling capacity
More TCH capacity
High signaling capacity
Less TCH capacity
Definition
An SDCCH is a logical SDCCH sub-channel mapped on a Static SDCCH timeslot or a Dynamic SDCCH/8
timeslot.
Signaling Load Cases
Timeslot split between signaling and traffic channels depends on the network signaling load. The main
cases are:
Normal signaling load cells:
Rural area cells in center of Location Areas
(e.g. 1 SDCCH timeslot for a 3-TRX cell)
High signaling load cells:
Urban or suburban area cells in the center of a Location Area
Rural area cells at the border of Location Areas
(e.g. 2 SDCCH time slots for a 3-TRX cell)
Very high signaling load cells:
Urban or suburban area cells at the border of a Location Area
Cells with high SMS load (more than one SMS per call)
(e.g. 3 SDCCH time slots for a 3-TRX cell)
1 6 66
Principles [cont.]
Allocation and de-allocation of Dynamic SDCCH/8 time slots
An additional dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot is allocated by the BSC if there is no
SDCCH sub-channel free in the cell.
A dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot is de-allocated by the BSC after
T_DYN_SDCCH_HOLD (10s) delay if all of its SDCCH sub-channels become free
BCC SDC TCH TCH
TCH TCH TCH TCH
TCH TCH TCH TCH
TCH TCH TCH TCH
TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH Cell
Allocation of
Dynamic SDCCH/8
times slots
BCC SDC
SDD TCH
TCH TCH
BCC SDC
SDD TCH
SDD TCH
BCC
SDC
SDD
: BCCH
: Static SDCCH
: Dynamic SDCCH
The location of the Dynamic SDCCH/8 time slots are fixed by O&M configuration.
1 6 67
Timeslot Types
NEW TIMESLOT TYPES:
SDCCH
Pure SDCCH or static SDCCH
TCH
Pure TCH
TCH/SDCCH
dynamic SDCCH
TCH/SPDCH
MPDCH
The OMC-R provides the BSC with the following O&M type of radio timeslots:
Main BCCH timeslot (BCC): It is a timeslot carrying FCCH + SCH + BCCH + CCCH.
Main combined BCCH timeslot (CBC): It is a timeslot carrying FCCH + SCH + BCCH + CCCH + SDCCH/4 + SACCH/4.
Static SDCCH timeslot (SDC): It is a timeslot carrying SDCCH/8 + SACCH/8.
Dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot (SDD): It is a timeslot carrying TCH + SACCH or SDCCH/8 + SACCH/8.
TCH timeslot (TCH): It is a timeslot carrying TCH + SACCH or PDCH.
From RAM point of view, a radio timeslot can be defined as:
Pure BCCH timeslot: The BCCH timeslot is the radio timeslot configured as BCC by O&M. Such a timeslot only carries
common CS signaling.
Pure SDCCH timeslot: A pure SDCCH timeslot is a timeslot configured as a CBC or SDC by O&M. Such a timeslot can
carry SDCCH traffic.
Pure TCH timeslot: A pure TCH timeslot is a timeslot configured as TCH by O&M. Such a timeslot only carries TCH
traffic.
TCH/SDCCH timeslot: A TCH/SDCCH timeslot is a timeslot configured as SDD by O&M. Such a timeslot is dynamically
allocated as TCH or as SDCCH depending on the usage of the timeslot. It can carry TCH traffic or SDCCH traffic.
TCH/SPDCH timeslot: A TCH/SPDCH timeslot is a timeslot configured as TCH by O&M. Such a timeslot is dynamically
allocated as TCH or as SPDCH depending on the usage of the timeslot. It can carry TCH traffic or PS traffic.
MPDCH timeslot: A MPDCH timeslot is a timeslot configured as TCH by O&M. Such a timeslot can only carry common
PS signaling.
A pure SDCCH timeslot can carry x SDCCH sub-channels where x equal to:
4 in case of combined CCCH and when CBCH is not configured on the timeslot,
7 in case of non-combined CCCH and when CBCH is configured on the timeslot,
3 in case of combined CCCH and when CBCH is configured on the timeslot,
8 for a normal SDCCH timeslot.
When allocated as SDCCH, a TCH/SDCCH timeslot can carry up to 8 SDCCH sub-channels.
1 6 68
Allocation Algorithms
SDCCH Request
SDCCH mapped on "TCU very high load state" removal
Are they any free SDCCH sub-channel
among Static SDCCH timeslots?
Selection of one
SDCCH sub-channel
Yes No
Are they any free SDCCH sub-channel
among Dynamic SDCCH/8 already allocated?
Selection one
SDCCH sub-channel
Yes
Are they any Dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslots
available and free in the cell?
No
Allocate one Dynamic
SDCCH/8 timeslot
Yes No
SDCCH Request
rejected!!!
Principle 1: Preference is given to pure SDCCH timeslots
Principle 2: Balance TCU processor load between different TCUs
In fact before entering in this algorithm (see slide) the first step is: Removal of all the SDCCH subchannels
mapped on TCU in Very High Overload state.
Principle 3: FR TRX preference
1 6 69
SDCCH Sub-Channel Selection
Pure SDCCH Timeslot
TS with LOWEST TCU LOAD
TS with MAXIMUM FREE SDCCH Sub channels
TS with lowest index on TRX with lowest TRX_ID
TCH/SDCCH TS allocated as SDCCH
TS on FR TRX
TCH/SDCCH TS allocated as TCH
TS with LOWEST TCU LOAD
TS on FR TRX
Note that a SDCCH request cannot access the timeslots reserved by NUM_TCH_EGNCY_HO. If all remaining
TCH/SDCCH timeslots are reserved by NUM_TCH_EGNCY_HO, then the SDCCH request shall be rejected.
1 6 70
De-Allocation Algorithm
GENERAL CASE:
all SDCCH sub-channels of a TCH/SDCCH timeslot become back free.
the T_DYN_SDCCH_HOLD timer (10s, not tunable) is started.
If the timeslot is still free of SDCCH sub-channel when the timer expires, it is
de-allocated (it becomes back TCH).
SPECIAL CASE:
Several TCH/SDCCH timeslots are allocated as SDCCH
One of them becomes free of SDCCH sub-channels. Its timer starts.
A subsequent one becomes free of SDCCH sub-channels too before expiration
of the first ones timer (10s).
One of them is immediately de-allocated (the one with lowest priority: see
previous slide in reverse order) and becomes back TCH.
For the last one, its timer is restarted (it will be de-allocated in 10s).
The de-allocation algorithm ensures that:
TCH/SDCCH timeslots are not allocated too fast to TCH after de-allocating them
TCH/SDCCH timeslots are not re-allocated too frequently to SDCCH
Note: while T_DYN_SDCCH_HOLD is running:
the dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot marked as HOLD is still considered as allocated to SDCCH (and cannot be
allocated to TCH).
If a subsequent dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot (used as SDCCH and in the same cell) becomes free:
If this just freed dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot has a higher priority, T_DYN_SDCCH_HOLD is re-started
and precedent dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot in HOLD state is de-allocated immediately.
If this just freed dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot has lower priority, and T_DYN_SDCCH_HOLD is re-started
and the just freed dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot is de-allocated immediately.
1 6 71
O&M Configuration
Selection of static or dynamic
SDCCH
Timeslot configuration menu
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
2
4
7
3
1
10
9
6
12
8
5
11
Massive modification by script
10 templates
Template customization
Template launched through PRC
Dynamic SDCCH Rules
The CBCH must be configured on a static SDCCH/8 or SDCCH/4 timeslot.
Combined SDCCHs (SDCCH/4 + BCCH) are always static.
To avoid incoherent allocation strategy between SDCCH and PDCH, a dynamic SDCCH/8 timeslot cannot
have the characteristic of being a PDCH (it cannot carry GPRS traffic).
The operator must configure at least one static SDCCH/8 or SDCCH/4 timeslot on BCCH TRX in a cell.
In cells with E-GSM, only the TRX, which do not belong to the G1 band, can support dynamic and static
SDCCHs.
In multiband and concentric cells, only the TRX, which belongs to the outer zone, can support dynamic
and static SDCCHs.
Up to 24 static/dynamic SDCCH sub-channels can be configured per TRX.
1 6 72
O&M Configuration [cont.]
Default configuration for a cell which has only Full rate TRX
Number of TRX
in the cell
Number of
Static SDCCH
Number of
Dynamic SDCCH
Total number
of SDCCH
Maximum
SDCCH/TRX
ratio
Is BCCH/CCCH
combined with
SDCCH?
1
2
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
4
4
8
8
8
8
8
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
24
24
24
8
8
16
16
24
24
24
24
24
32
32
32
40
40
40
48
48
12
12
24
24
32
32
32
40
40
48
48
48
56
56
64
72
72
12.0 (note 1)
6.0
12.0
8.0
8.0
6.4
5.3
5.7
5.0
5.3
4.8
4.4
4.7
4.3
4.6
4.8
4.5
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Note1: For one TRX, dynamic SDCCHs are over-dimensioned because of the granularity of 8. According to
the Alcatel-Lucent traffic model, all dynamic SDCCHs will not be used.
Note2: An additional dynamic SDCCH/8 must be provided for each DR TRX (these are expected mainly on
small cells).
Rules:
At least one static SDCCH/4 or SDCCH/8 on BCCH TRX.
Up to 24 static/dynamic SDCCH sub-channels per TRX.
Up to 32 static/dynamic SDCCH sub-channels per TCU.
Up to 88 static/dynamic SDCCH sub-channels per CELL.
1 6 73
7 Handover Detection for Concentric
Cells
1 6 74
7 Handover Detection for Concentric Cells
Algorithms
Emergency handovers specific to concentric cells
Intracell handovers from inner to outer zone
cause 10: too low level on the uplink in inner zone
cause 11: too low level on the downlink in inner zone
May be triggered
From inner zone of a concentric cell
Towards outer zone, same cell
C
o
n
c
e
ntric

c
e
l
l
I
n
n
e
r z
o
n
e
O
u
ter zo
n
e
1 6 75
Handover Algorithm Cause 10
CAUSE 10: too low level on the uplink in the inner zone
AV_RXLEV_UL_HO < RXLEV_UL_ZONE
and MS_TXPWR = min (P, MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER)
Averaging window: A_LEV_HO
1 6 76
CAUSE 11: too low level on the downlink in the inner zone
AV_RXLEV_DL_HO < RXLEV_DL_ZONE
and BS_TXPWR = BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER
Averaging window: A_LEV_HO
1 6 77
CAUSE 13: too high level on UL and DL in the outer zone
Better condition intracell handover
If the cell is a multi-band cell, cause 13 is checked only for multi-band MSs
May be triggered
From outer zone of a concentric cell
Towards inner zone, same cell
C
o
n
c
e
ntric

c
e
l
l
I
n
n
e
r z
o
n
e
O
u
ter zo
n
e
1 6 78
Handover Algorithm Cause 13 [cont.]
CAUSE 13: too high level on UL and DL in the outer zone
AV_RXLEV_UL_HO > RXLEV_UL_ZONE +
+ ZONE_HO_HYST_UL +
+ (MS_TXPWR -
MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER) +
+ PING_PONG_MARGIN(0,call_ref)
and AV_RXLEV_DL_HO > RXLEV_DL_ZONE +
+ ZONE_HO_HYST_DL +
+ (BS_TXPWR -
BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER) +
+ PING_PONG_MARGIN(0,call_ref)
and AV_RXLEV_NCELL_BIS(n) <= neighbour_RXLEV(0,n)
and EN_CAUSE_13 = ENABLE (B7)
and EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO = ENABLE
Averaging windows: A_LEV_HO and A_PBGT_HO (for n)
1 6 79
ZONE_HO_HYST_UL
UL static hysteresis for interzone HO from outer to inner
In case of multi-band cell, should take into account the difference of propagation
between GSM and DCS
Added to cause 10 threshold RXLEV_UL_ZONE
ZONE_HO_HYST_DL
DL static hysteresis for interzone HO from outer to inner
In case of multi-band cell, should take into account the difference of propagation
between GSM and DCS and the difference of BTS transmission power in the two bands
Added to cause 11 threshold RXLEV_DL_ZONE
1 6 80
PING_PONG_MARGIN(0,call_ref)
Penalty PING_PONG_HCP put on cause 13 if
The immediately preceding zone in which the call has been is the inner zone of the
serving cell
And The last handover was not external intracell
And T_HCP is still running
PING_PONG_MARGIN(0,call_ref) = 0
If the call was not previously
in servings inner zone
Or T_HCP has expired
C
o
n
c
e
ntric

c
e
l
l
I
n
n
e
r z
o
n
e
O
u
ter zo
n
e
1 6 81
neighbour_RXLEV(0,n)
Concentric cells are designed to
create an INNER zone
protected from external interferers
and creating no interferences on other cells
to be able to face more aggressive frequency reuse in INNER zone TRXs
neighbour_RXLEV(0,n) tuning enables to avoid handovers if the MS position
will lead to interferences
the condition is checked towards all neighbor cells belonging to the same
layer and band as the serving cell
C
o
ncentric ce
ll
Outer zone
?
Inner zone
interferer 1
Inner zone
interferer 2
I nner zone
1 6 82
EN_CAUSE_13
Load balance between inner and outer zones may be allowed by setting
EN_LOAD_BALANCE = ENABLE
If EN_LOAD_BALANCE = ENABLE
If INNER zone is less loaded than OUTER,
EN_CAUSE_13 = ENABLE
If INNER zone is more loaded than OUTER,
EN_CAUSE_13 = DISABLE
If EN_LOAD_BALANCE = DISABLE
EN_CAUSE_13 = ENABLE
1 6 83
Outgoing Intercell Handovers from Concentric Cell
Outgoing intercell handovers from concentric cells
As explained here before, the MS located in a concentric cell can make
intercell, emergency or better condition HO regardless their current zone
For example, an MS located
in the INNER zone of a
concentric cell can make
directly an HO cause 12
towards another cell,
WITHOUT having to
trigger any cause 10 or 11
to the OUTER zone before.
C
oncentric ce
ll
Outer zone
Inner zone
C
o
ncentric ce
ll
Outer zone
In
ner zone
C
oncentric cell
Outer zone
Inner zone
The only restrictions are linked to EN_MULTI-BAND_PBGT_HO and EN_BI-BAND_MS parameters.
1 6 84
Incoming Intercell Handovers from Concentric Cell
Incoming intercell handovers towards a concentric cell
In case an MS makes an incoming handover towards a concentric cell (due to
outer PBGT measurements,etc.), a TCH may be allocated
either in the INNER or in the OUTER zone, as for call setup
depending on radio conditions
In case of a multi-band cell, if the MS is not multi-band, it will always be sent
to the OUTER zone
C
o
ncentric ce
ll
Outer zone
In
ner zone
Cell
?
?
1 6 85
Incoming Intercell Handovers from Concentric Cell [cont.]
Use part of Handover cause 13 algorithm on each potential target
IF Cell(n) is external
The MS is directed to the OUTER zone of (n)
ELSE (cell(n) is internal)
IF
AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) > RXLEV_DL_ZONE + ZONE_HO_HYST_DL +
+ (BS_TXPWR - BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER)
and EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO = ENABLE
The MS is directed towards the INNER zone
ELSE
The MS is directed towards the OUTER zone
1 6 86
for this module
1 6 87
End of Module
Annexes

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