GSM Network Capacity Planning

Trunking
Traffic Theory
-- Traffic Intensity
-- Grade of Service
Traffic Channels Dimensioning
SDCCH Channels Dimensioning

Company Confiden

10/4/99

Trunking

LOCAL
SWITCH

GATEWAY
SWITCH

So, What is the objective behind Capacity Planning ?

Estimating the optimum number of resources required in a

system to meet the desired performance requirements.

Company Confiden

10/4/99

Traffic Theory
Terminologies

Traffic Intensity

Busy Hour

Request Rate ( BHCA )

Set-up Time

Holding Time

Blocked Call

Grade of Service (GoS)

Company Confiden

10/4/99

Traffic Theory
Traffic Intensity

TRAFFIC INTENSITY IS MEASURED ON 1 CALL

PER-HOUR BASIS OR 1 CALL PER MINUTE BASIS

THE UNIT OF MEASUREMENT IS ERLANGS

Au = uH
Au : Traffic in Erlang generated by each user
H : Average duration of call / 60 (per hour basis)
u : Average no of calls per hour

A = UAu
A : Total traffic offered by the system
U : Total number of users

Company Confiden

10/4/99

Traffic Theory
Traffic Intensity ... Contd.
In GSM, we have two types of Traffic Intensities
TCH Traffic Intensity = Avg no of calls x Avg duration of call
Average duration of call = 120 secs
Average number of calls = 0.75 -- 1.5 ( range )
Traffic generated on TCH will range between 0.025 -- 0.05 erlang

Company Confiden

10/4/99

Traffic Theory
Traffic Intensity ... contd
and ...
SDCCH Traffic Intensity = Avg no of SDCCH usages x Avg usage time

Avg no of SDCCH usage = 1(for a TCH call) + 3 updates = 4

Average usage time = 4 secs
Traffic generated on SDCCH will be typically 0.0044 erlang

Company Confiden

10/4/99

Traffic Theory
Busy Hour

1 Hour of the day in which Traffic is maximum

Also referred to as Peak Hour.
Busy Hour is not a fixed hour, its timing will vary in
different locations

Busy Hour may also be different for different resources

SDCCH busy hour
-- typically morning hours ( frequent on/offs and updates)
TCH busy hour
-- heavy call traffic hour ( could be back-home hours )
Company Confiden

10/4/99

Traffic Theory
Request Rate ( BHCA )

No of requests(or attempts) for a resource in the busy hour

SDCCH Request Rate
-- No of RACH's + No of Handover Requests for SDCCH
TCH Request Rate
-- No of RACH's in a cell with cause as MOC or MTC
+ No of Handover Request for TCH

Company Confiden

10/4/99

Traffic Theory
Set up Time

Average time spent on a resource before getting response

from the called end.
Typically 3 - 5 secs for GSM ( up to POI setup)
Holding Time
Average time spent on any dedicated resource.
SDCCH Holding time ( typically 3 - 4 secs)
TCH Holding time ( actuall call duration + Alerting )
Company Confiden

10/4/99

Traffic Theory
Blocked Call
A call request rejected due to unavailability of resource.
Indication of Congestion

In GSM a call can be blocked due to unavailability of :

AGCH
SDCCH
TCH
How many blocked calls can you tolerate ?
Company Confiden

10/4/99

10

Traffic Theory
Grade of Service
Percentage requests blocked in an hour

Ability of the user to access the system

during busiest hour
Benchmark to define desired system
performance

GOS and blocking are same.

A network is non-blocking if the communication resources

equals the number of users.

Conventionally used value of GOS is 2 %

Company Confiden

10/4/99

11

TYPES OF TRUNKING SYSTEM

Blocked Calls Cleared System
Requested is immediately cleared (forgotten) at blocking

Erlang B table is used to estimate traffic for a GOS

No. of
channels C

Capacity (Erlangs) for GOS

= 1%
= 1.5 %
=2%

= 5%

2
7

.153
2.50

.190
2.74

.223
2.94

.381
3.74

3.13

3.40

3.63

4.54

14

7.35

7.82

8.20

9.73

15

8.11

8.61

9.01

10.6

16

8.88

9.41

9.83

11.5

22

13.7

14.3

14.9

17.1

30

20.3

21.2

21.9

24.8

37

26.4

27.4

29.6

31.6

Company Confiden

10/4/99

12

Types of Trunking Systems

Assumptions deciding Erlang B table :

A request for channel may come at any time.

All free channels are fully available for servicing calls until all
channels are occupied.

Call durations are exponentially distributed. Longer calls are less

likely to happen.

Traffic requests also follows exponentially distribution of inter-arrival

times. Mulitple requests will not occur at regular intervals.

Inter-arrival times of call requests from different users are

independent of each other.

There are finite number of channels available in the trunking pool.

Company Confiden

10/4/99

13

Types of Trunking Systems

Blocked Calls Delayed System

GOS ( delay calls) = exp ( - ( C - A ) t / H )

C = No of channels,
A = Traffic Intensity obtained from chart,
t = Time (secs ) for which call is delayed
H = Average duration of calls
GOS ( blocked delayed calls ) = GOS x GOS (delay calls)
GOS = Targetted GOS

Company Confiden

10/4/99

14

Traffic Channel Dimensioning

Calculation of no of TCH required in a cell* depends on :
GOS & Traffic Intensity
Traffic Intensity = No of users x Traffic Intensity per user
No of users depends on demographic data as :
Population Distribution

Car usage distribution

Income

Fixed Line data

Service cost

Mobile Phone cost

* Cell area depends on propagation factors

Company Confiden

10/4/99

15

Estimating No of users and Traffic

Example : Car usage distribution

1L

1L

1L
2L

2L
1L

4L

2L
1L

4L streets = 1.1 Km
2L streets = 2.1 km
1L streets = 6.4 km
Avg Spacing between
vehicles = 10m
Total vehicles in 100%
street congestion case
= 1500
For 50% penetration
= 750 users

Traffic = 750 x 0.025 = 18.5 erl;

corresponds to 27 TCH's
Company Confiden

10/4/99

16

Estimating Channels from last case

Traffic Intensity = 750 x 0.025 = 18.5 erlangs
At GOS of 2 %, we need 27 TCH's
& 9 SDCCH's.
A cell configured with 4 ARFCN with B+D & 1 D config,
will provide 12 SDCCH's and 30 TCH's which satisfies.
Another method of achieving is with 2 sectors, each having
2 ARFCN's , with B & D config, which will give 8 SDCCH and
14 TCH in each sectored cell .

Company Confiden

10/4/99

17

Cell Configuration

1L

1L

1L
2L

2L
1L

4L

2L
1L

Company Confiden

10/4/99

18

CONNECTIVITY PLANNING

Company Confiden

10/4/99

19

WHAT TO CONNECT ?

MSC -----

PSTN

MSC -----

BSC

MSC -----

TRANSCODER *

BSC -----

TRANSCODER *

BSC -----

BTS

Company Confiden

10/4/99

20

Speech on Terrestrial circuit

Transcoder

BSC

BTS
Abis
S

A
0 1 2 3

16 Kbps

0 1 2 3

16 Kbps

13 Kbps
64 Kbps

0
1 A
2
3

MSC

Company Confiden

10/4/99

21

Air Interface
BTS

13 Kbps

TCH/SDCCH are the traffic resources

8 PCHN on 1 ARFCN

Minimum 1 PCHN required for CCCH / and SDCCH

1 ARFCN gives 7 TCH max and 4 SDCCH min.

TCH's and SDCCH's can be altered by adding carriers

and channel configurations

Company Confiden

10/4/99

22

Abis Interface
E1 / T1

Abis is a G.703 interface. It could be E1 or T1

Abis carriers Traffic information of all the mobiles in the cells controlled by the
BTS.
Abis also carries signaling information between BTS and BSC
Signaling over Abis is done by LAPD protocols
LAPD has several modes of implementation
--- LAPD
--- LAPD Concentrated
--- LAPD Multiplexed
Each TCH/F on Air Interface requires 16kbps sub-channel on Abis.
16 kbps subchannel on Abis is a nailed connection also known as RTF

Company Confiden

10/4/99

23

Abis Interface
LAPD Modes
LAPD

Signaling for each TRX is on a dedicated 64 Kbps circuit

Maximum Signalling for 10 Transceivers on 1 E1 link

64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Sync
TRX Signaling
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
TRX Signaling
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
TRX Signaling
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels

Company Confiden

} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX

10/4/99

} 1 TRX
24

Abis Interface
LAPD Modes

LAPD Concentrated mode 1

Signaling for 4 TRX's is on a dedicated 64 Kbps ciruit

Maximum Signalling for 13 Transceivers on 1 E1 link

64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64kbps

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Sync
4 x TRX Signaling
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 x TRX Signaling

Company Confiden

} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX

10/4/99

25

Abis Interface
LAPD Modes

LAPD Concentrated mode 2

Signaling for All TRX's is on a dedicated 64 Kbps circuit

Maximum Signaling for 15 Transceivers on 1 E1 link

64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Sync
ALL TRX Signaling
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels

Company Confiden

} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX

10/4/99

26

Abis Interface
LAPD Modes
LAPD Multiplexed

Signaling for each TRX is on 16kbps subchannel.

Maximum signaling for 15 TRX's on

64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps
64 kbps

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Sync
TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels
TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels
4 Traffic Channels

Company Confiden

10/4/99

} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX
27

Abis Interface Capacity

Capacity on Abis is the number of 64 kbps circuits required

For Local Transcoding

Capacity = No of TCH at BTS + No LAPD signaling circuits + OML*

For Remote Transcoding

Capacity = No of TCH at BTS / 4 + No LAPD signalling circuits + OML*

Capacity = Number of 64 kbps circuits

No of TCH = Sum of all TCH's in each sector at the BTS
No of LAPD circuits = Depends on LAPD mode
OML = optional ( vendor dependent )

Company Confiden

10/4/99

28

Abis Interface Capacity

Example

1 cell = 15 x 16 kbps speech channels

3 cells = 45 x 16 kbps speech channels
= 12 x 64 kbps speech channels
1 BTS = 12 + 1 ( RSL ) = 13 x 64 kbps
channels

15 speech ch
C1

BSC
C3

C2

15 speech ch

15 speech ch

Company Confiden

10/4/99

29

Exercise !!!

A BTS has 3 sectored cells.

Each cell has a subscriber capacity of 600, calculate the
number of TCH and SDCCH required at GOS 2 % and also
calculate the capacity on the Abis interface with LAPD
concentrated mode 2 signaling.

Company Confiden

10/4/99

30

BSC Capacity

Maximum BTS's

Capacity on "A" interface

Company Confiden

10/4/99

31

BSC Capacity
Maximum BTS's

No of BTS's supported by the BSC is vendor specific

It is generally based on either or both of below :
1. Maximum number of TRX's BSC can support
(in terms of traffic)
2. Maximum number of PCM interfaces BSC can support.

Max PCM interfaces can be optmized by selecting BTS configurations

Company Confiden

10/4/99

32

BSC Capacity
BTS configuration
Star Configuration

BTS
BTS

BTS

BSC

BTS

BTS

Company Confiden

10/4/99

33

BSC Capacity
BTS configuration
Chain Configuration

BSC

26 x 64 kbps
ch
1 x E1

BTS

Company Confiden

13 x 64 kbps
ch
1 x E1

10/4/99

BTS

34

BSC Capacity
BTS configuration
Loop configuration

BTS
A

B
B

BSC

B
A

BTS
B

Company Confiden

10/4/99

35

Exercise !
Each BTS needs 13 x 64 kbps circuits

BTS

BTS
BTS

L
N

BTS
BTS

M
O

BTS

BTS

BTS

BTS

BTS

BSC

BTS

BTS

BTS

BTS

Calculate the Number of E1 Links for each of the links ?

Company Confiden

10/4/99

36

BSC Capacity
Capacity on "A" Interface
Capacity on A interface depends on Traffic of BSC at targeted GOS.
Traffic of BSC = No of Subscribers under BSC x Traffic per Subscriber
From calculated traffic, using Erlang B table calculate the
number of circuits required.
For Local Transcoding

Capacity = No of Speech Circuits + Signaling Circuits

For Remote Transcoding

Capacity = No of Speech Circuits/4 + Signaling Circuits

Company Confiden

10/4/99

37

BSC Capacity
Signalling Circuit Capacity on A interface
Signaling circuits
SS7 "A" Link : Used for MSC - BSC signaling
OML : For OMC
TBL : Transcoder BSC Link
Capacity for SS7 link

Calculate the BHCA per second

BHCA : No of SDCCH attempts ( call+updates) x No of Subscribers .

On average each attempt requires 6 signaling messages

No of messages per second = 6 x BHCA per second
On average each message is of 25 octets
Capacity of Signaling circuit ( kbps ) = 25octets x No of messages per second

Company Confiden

10/4/99

38

Transcoder - MSC Cpacity

MSC

TRANS
CODER

BSC

= 1 x E1 = 112 x 16 kbps chs

= 1 x E1 = 30 x 64 kbps chs
4 x E1 = 120 x 64 kbps chs

Company Confiden

10/4/99

39

MSC Capacity
MSC Capacity = No of Subscribers x Traffic per subscriber
Long term calculation is based on Population Penetration

--- Population Penetration is the mobile population

out of total population of PLMN ( city )
Population Penetration = Total Population x Penetration rate
MSC Capacity = Population Penetration x Traffic per subscriber
Example : For a city population of 10,000000 with penetration
rate of 2 %.
Population Penetration = 200000
MSC Capacity = 10,000 Erlangs

Company Confiden

10/4/99

40

Network Elements Capacity

MSC - PSTN Link Capacity

---------

Estimate the % of PSTN calls from Total calls

Calculate the PSTN Traffic based on above estimation
Set a GOS
Calculate the no of channels by using Erlang B Table

Company Confiden

10/4/99

41