Measurement of co-channel interfering signals in GSM Cellular Networks

Hamish Butler Queensferry Microwave Division Hewlett Packard In any cellular radio system where frequency reuse is used to increase capacity of the network, there is a risk that co-channel interference is present. As the demand for better coverage and increased capacity rises, Wireless Network Operators are continually splitting larger cells and installing smaller micro and Pico cells in their place. Each time the network is changed in this way the frequency reuse plan must be updated. Each time the plan is changed there is a risk that an error could result in a co-channel interference condition arising and causing problems in the network. Co-channel interference arises when two Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) are broadcasting on the same frequency, each within range of a given Mobile Station (MS). In normal circumstances the frequency plan is arranged such that this situation does not occur. The GSM standards state that a MS should operate correctly for a wanted primary signal in the presence of an unwanted secondary signal that is 9dB or more below the wanted signal. If the received signal level from the secondary signal is within 9dB of the primary signal the ability of the mobile to communicate with the primary BTS is not guaranteed. Traditional phone based optimization tools use a mobile phone and are thus limited by the behavior characteristics of the phone itself. In the presence of co-channel interference the phone will be unable to distinguish the primary and secondary signals and its measurement capability will be impaired. The Hewlett Packard E7475A GSM based drive test system incorporates a portable digital receiver that can use sophisticated signal processing techniques to allow network operators to diagnose and rectify co-channel interference problems. To understand how these measurements work we must first consider the signal environment for any given MS. The total signal power at the antenna of a MS can be composed of combinations of the following components: Direct path signal

Long Path Short Path Direct Co-Channel

Short multi-path components Long multi-path components Co-channel components

The direct path signal is defined as the signal arriving from the BTS by the most direct path. Short fading components are signal components that may have reflected from nearby objects and are delayed from the direct path component by less than 1 symbol period. The symbol period is the time taken to transmit 1 symbol, in this case 1 bit. GSM has a data rate of 270.833 Kbits/second, giving a symbol period of 3.69 microseconds. Long path components are signal components that have reflected from more distant objects such as hills and mountains and are delayed from the direct path component by greater than 1 symbol period. The co-channel component is a signal received from a second BTS transmitting on the same frequency as the primary signal. These components are shown in the diagram, above. In an ideal environment there would be no cochannel signal and no multi-path components. In this situation the received signal strength from the primary BTS would be constant at a given location and would decrease with distance from the BTS. In typical real life situations this is not the case. Each of the signal components combine to produce a signal that varies over short distances. As an MS moves over even relatively short distances the angle of incidence of the short fading components changes by a greater amount than for long fading components. This results in changing phase and amplitude relationship for each of the components.

The E7475A system uses the digital receiver to sample 11 frames of the GSM signal. Sampling 11 frames ensures that the sampled data will always contain an FCH/SCH sequence of the GSM BCH. The sample rate is such that the relationship for individual samples is quasi-stationary, however over the 11 frames of sampled data the vehicle will have moved a short distance and the sampled signal will show the characteristics of all contributing signal components. An example of the resultant signal trend is shown below.

The key to further analysis of the signal components is the constellation pattern produced by GMSK modulated signals such as GSM. Once the sampled data has been symbol locked we are able to analyze the constellation pattern for the middle 48 bits of the SCH midamble. For an ideal signal with only a direct path component it is possible to rotate each point on the constellation such that each point lines up at a single reference position. Rotating the vectors to a reference position in the presence of short fading results in a constellation similar to the one shown above. The direct path

The dotted line in the diagram shows the estimated direct path signal component in an ideal situation. The impact of variations in the short path components is shown by the rolling amplitude variation of the signal over a short distance. The impact of long path components and co-channel components is shown as noise superimposed upon the rolling signal resulting from the direct path and short path components. In order to analyze the received data and make measurements of the signal components we must first find a reference point within the sampled data. This is done using standard techniques to find the FCH/SCH pattern within the sampled data. Having found the FCH/SCH the sampled data is adjusted to correct for carrier and symbol lock. The received data is filtered and peak detected to estimate the trend of the direct path and short fading components. The identity of the received signal can be found be demodulating and convolutional decoding of the SCH data to extract the Base Station Identity Code (BSIC) for the transmitted signal. The BSIC consists of the Network Color Code (NCC) and the Basestation Color Code (BCC) thus helping to identify the BTS transmitting the signal.

vectors align but there is a small variation in the alignment of the short path components due to the change in these components over the period of the 48 symbols. This results in a smear of the short path vector. The path of the resultant vector is the signal trend arising from the direct and short path components. The co-channel and long path components appear uncorrelated with the primary and short path components and would plot on the diagram as a constellation around the resultant vector. Partitioning of the signal in this way allows a measurement of the Carrier to Interference ratio (C/I) , where the Carrier is the primary signal and the interferer consists of all uncorrelated components such as long path components and co-channel interfers. The diagram above shows the impact of cochannel and long path components on the constellation diagram. In practice the constellation for long-path and co-channel components will describe a circle around the resultant vector due to the rotation applied to each point to align the direct path components. Long path components are time shifted images of the direct path signal. A correlative modeling technique is used to construct the best fit for the long path components. The

E7475A application uses this data to graphically show the delay spread of long path components. This data can now be removed from the signal data leaving only direct, short and co-channel components. Short path components can be removed by analyzing the smeared vector component resulting from the short path. Each short path vector is removed by applying an equal amplitude component out of phase by 180 degrees. The final stage of the analysis is to remove the direct path component. This measurement is only done provided that the C/I ratio is between 2dB and 10dB. If the ratio is less than 2dB the interference is so great that the algorithm cannot separate the signals. If the ratio is > 10dB the interfering signal is so far below the wanted signal that it would not present a problem for correct operation of a MS. The final analysis of the co-channel signal is done by moving the constellation to the origin. The co-channel signal is now left as a ring around the origin. Applying the reverse rotation to that applied to each point in the earlier stages returns the constellation points to their correct position reconstructing the received co-channel signal and allowing analysis of the co-channel component. We can now apply some of the processing techniques used earlier to attempt to identify the co-channel interfere. The co-channel signal is searched for the FCH/SCH pattern to synchronize to the signal. If the FCH/SCH is found the SCH is then demodulated and decoded to extract the BSIC. Depending upon the speed of the vehicle and the fading conditions present at the instant the data is sampled it is not always possible to achieve synchronization to the FCH/SCH, even when synchronization is achieved there may be bit errors present in the SCH data. The E7475A system provides measurement status information to qualify the measurement data. In low fading conditions or when the vehicle is stationary we have found that greater than 95% of measurements are completed and the accuracy of the BSIC decode is also > 95%. As fading increases or the vehicle speed increases the number of successful measurements decreases, more of the measurements will report either No FCH, No SCH or Bit Errors on the secondary signal. At seeds greater than 50km/h approximately 33% of measurements complete with No Error. Of these

measurements we have observed that > 95% decode the BSIC of the interfering signal accurately. These features provided by the E7475A system are a breakthrough in the detection of cochannel interference in GSM cellular networks. Previously only much larger and much more expensive measurement systems could be used to investigate this type of problem. These other systems are also much less convenient to use. The E7475A system presents the following results to the operator:

Total Power Primary Power Primary/Fading (Short path) Primary/Interference Primary BSIC Secondary BSIC Measurement Status Channel presented

The delay spread results are graphically, as shown above.

All of the above results are logged in the system database along with the geographic location of the measurement. The results can be replayed within the application or can be exported to GIS post-processing software for in-depth geographic analysis.