CDMA Drive Test and Optimization

CDMA Optimization Subjects Course objectives: To master air interface protocols and signal procedure To master DT test data analysis To master Monolog, access failure, call drop, handoff failure, FER analysis and solutions Contents 1. DT Introduction ,Analyzing Method Features ,Test Introduction ,Test Equipment and Test Classification 2. DT Test Analyzing Procedures, Flow chart, Flow Note DT Test Analyzing Application in Optimization,coverage analyzing and How to evaluate network 3. coverage performance 4 Popular optimization methods to improve coverage and Analyzing Application in Call Failure 5. CDMA Call failure reasons analyzing CDMA Call failure caused by wireless link fading and Call failure caused by forward and reverse 6. imbalance 7 .CDMA Call failure caused by access and handoff collision and Call failure caused by resource limitation CDMA Call failure caused by too narrow MS search window and Call failure caused by low paging 8. channel gain 9. CDMA Call failure caused by unsuitable access parameters 10. Some analyzing when MS termination call is not successful 11. Drive Test Application in Call Drop Analyzing 12 Call Drop reason analyzing and Call drop Caused by Access and Handoff Collision 13 Call drop caused by Forward and Reverse Imbalance and Call drop caused by Forward Interference 14 Call drop caused by Reverse Interference and Call drop caused by F-TCH Power Limitation

DT Introduction ,Analyzing Method Features ,Test Introduction ,Test Equipment and Test Classification
DT Introduction DT test is the main method in CDMA network optimization. DT (drive test) is the method that MS moves on specific route of the coverage area and records the performance data and position DT analyzing is using the related software to give analyzing for DT data and give the judgment for network quality in coverage, also gives solution or other scheme to improve. DT Analyzing Method Features 1. Advantage

 According to DT the whole area signal coverage quality can be known. According to DT analyzing software, the coverage quality can be given a statistics result and this can be used to judge if the real coverage reach to the designing requirement; According to DT software processing, where the coverage quality is good and where the coverage quality is bad, it is very clear. This can help engineer to adjust working scheme for the entire network; DT test can record the real signal state and geography information for all the events (origination, handoff, drop calls). This will be very helpful to the event problem analyzing; In DT test, the geography features and real transmission environment can be observed; this is very helpful to give judgment for problem; According to DT test, optimization engineer can experience the subscriber feeling and can get the directed information to locate the problem; 2. Disadvantage Be absent of OMC traffic statistics data; Be limited in wireless side to analyze; DT Test Equipment For voice and data DT test, the necessary equipments are shown as Table

Note: DT test software is TEMS, NEMO, ZXPOS CNT1, analyzing software is ACTIX,NEMO ANALYZER ZXPOS CNA1; In data DT, test mobile and data card should be selected only one, and also confirm it can get to the suitable data speed. Usually prefer to select data card. In data DT according to operators requirement, FTP downloading and uploading, or iperf software are all suitable. Attention to select suitable FTP server in FTP downloading test. DT Test Classification 1. Voice DT test: It includes coverage quality; origination quality; drop call; call quality and handoff.

2. Data DT test: It includes average data transmission speed; forward and reverse average data transmission speed. DT Test Method Classification 1. According to loading information, it can be divided to test with load and test without load. 2. According to call holding time, it can be divided to long call test and sequence call test. Test with load and test without load The evaluation test can be implemented in one of the three loading method: busy hour, unloaded (light load) hour or loaded hour. Busy hour test means the test implemented when the current network traffic is busiest. This test is suitable for the network that has already been operating for a period and can facilitate finding out existing problems in the network.

Unloaded (light load) test is implemented when there is no user or a small number of users. For a network that has not undergone large scale of number allocation, the test can be implemented in the normal period. But for a network that has already undergone large scale number allocation, the test can only be conducted at midnight when the traffic is small. Loaded test check the network performance by simulating fixed loading condition through adding loads in forward and reverse links. In the forward link, simulate traffic load by utilizing the orthogonal channel noise simulator (OCNS); in the reverse link, apply the signal attenuator to simulate the load. For a network which has not undergone large scale number allocation, the loaded test can be implemented in normal traffic period. While for a network with large scale number allocation undergone, the test can only be done at midnight when the traffic is small, which can accurately simulate the load and on the other hand can reduce the influence the test brings on the subscribers.

The forward OCNS loading can only reflect the network performance at the wireless side, while it can not reflect the processing capability of the system. The best reverse loading method is to use a noise simulator to add noise at the receiving end of the base station. However, as it is difficult to add a noise simulator to each base station, add reverse load through reverse load simulator. For a network that has been operating for a period, generally busy hour test is adopted.

Long call test and sequence call test 1. Voice data test In the continuous long- time calling test, the call holding time is set to be the maximum value and automatic recall will originate when a call drop occurs. This kind of calling features a small number of calling times, and can better reflect the system handoff performance. It can be used to in the tests for some parameters such as coverage ratio, call drop rate, handoff success rate and handoff zone rate, etc. In a sequence calling test, the call setting-up time, call holding time and call interval are set

respectively to fixed values, and calls are originated periodically to test the network performance. The periodical test can better reflect the system processing capability and the test result is closer to the actual user situation. It can be used to test parameters such as call completion rate, paging response rate and call drop rate, etc. 2. Data DT test According to the type of service, it can set with periodical call or continuous long-time call. Generally, the former is used in testing the call completion rate of data service; while the latter is to test the items such as data throughput of single subscriber and signal sector, data service handoff, etc. and the specific call duration can vary with the tested item. DT test route selection According to test area, DT test can be divided to urban DT test and main roads DT test. Urban DT test is used to get the network performance in urban area; Main roads DT test is used to get the network performance in the main roads, railway, and waterway According to test range, DT test can be divided to the entire area DT test and part area DT test. The entire area DT test is used to get to know the whole network performance; The part area DT test is used in specific area for one problem. DT test route designing principle: Test path should be within the coverage range and avoid to repeating the same stretch; For the BTE whose coverage is connected to repeater, test route should cross their related coverage area to check the handoff performance; For BSC overlap area, test route should cross two BSC to check the handoff between two BSC; For sing carrier and multiple carriers combined network, the test route for carrier handoff should move to single carrier area from multiple carrier area and MS should use nonfundamental carrier; Each single carrier coverage test route is same as before; According to designing, the test route can be drawn or printed in map. The DT engineer and driver should be familiar to the route and the driving speed is better in even speed (30~50km/h).

DT Test Analyzing Procedures

1. Requirement analyzing 1) Network coverage requirement information; 2) The current network cell site information; 3) System parameters configuration; 4) The existing problem in current network; 5) Confirm the acceptance standard of the project; 6) Confirm the interface with the customer;

2. Decide DT test plan DT test plan needs negotiation with customer. Commonly the following items need confirming; 1) Confirm test date;

2) Confirm test parameters: Calling mode is long call test or sequence call test; bury hour test, without load test or with load test? 3) Confirm test route:

3. Preparation for DT test 1) Confirm vehicle is available and smoke lighter is OK; 2) Check all the equipments for DT test and prepare the cell site information table for software; 3) Some other accessories (like backup battery for handset);

4. DT test According to the designing test route, start test. Attention the following points in test: 1) DT test engineer should cooperate with driver well in test, and help driver to be clear about the route; 2) Save the test data correctly and the save file is better to use xxxxx year xx month xx day xx place xx objective format. 3) In DT test procedure, attention to observe the related parameters: Ec/Io, Rx Power, Tx Power, Tx-Adj, FFER and this can help to understand the possible problem of network in time; 4) Attention the environment geography change in test: 5) If there is sudden drop call, origination failure or handoff failure, write down the position and go back here to teat again after all DT test, this is better to accumulate data for analyzing; 6) In test procedure, if than abnormal things happen, like replacing handset battery and notebook battery or other things, it is better to process in the same place, in order to keep the test data integrity.

5. DT data analyzing After test, the right analyzing for test data is the key and this analyzing also can reflect the optimization engineer technical level very much. According to the data analyzing with software, the network coverage quality and problem can be found and then the adjustment scheme will be decided to solve and improve the problem; The detailed analyzing procedures will be discussed next.

6. Decide adjustment scheme According analyzing result, decide adjustment scheme. For the concrete problem, there may be several schemes to select. List them in priority;

7. Adjustment scheme implement Give the scheme to operator to implement. Because the adjustment is very important, so optimization engineer should take part in implementation if necessary.

8. Validate DT test Judge if the adjustment is effective according to validate test;

9. Judge if the requirement is satisfied. According to validate test result, judge if the original optimization requirement is satisfied, or locate the problem reasons and then write the optimization report, the optimization project is finished; If can not, the new adjustment scheme should be decided or analyze the test data again,

DT Test Analyzing Application in Optimization,coverage analyzing and How to evaluate network coverage performance
DT test application in coverage analyzing According DT test, the following data can be got and they can be used as coverage performance parameters: The strongest pilot strength (Ec/Io dB): - MS Rx power (dBm): the total power received by MS inside 1.23MHz bandwidth including interference. MS Tx power (dBm): MS transmitting power in calling or access statate. MS Tx-Adj (dB): MS adjustment parameter in transmitting power. For 800MHz system, TxPwr= -73 RxPwr +Tx-Adj; For 1.9GHz system, TxPwr= -76 RxPwr + Tx-Adj F- FER (%): Forward frame error rate How to evaluate network coverage performance with DT test data Single index analyzing 1. MS received power (RxPwrdBm) MS received power is one index to measure forward link coverage deepness. MS received sensitivity is -105dBm, consider 5dB edge coverage margin, for different environment DT test data should satisfy the following requirement: Rx Power > -100dBm is the range for outdoor coverage; Rx Power > -85dBm is the range for indoor coverage; Rx Power > -80dBm is the range for dense indoor coverage;

2. MS transmitting power (TxPwrdBm) MS transmitting power is one index to measure reverse link coverage deepness. MS maximum Tx power is 23dBm, consider 5dB edge coverage margin, for different

environment DT test data should satisfy the following requirement: Tx Power < 18dBm is the range for outdoor coverage; Tx Power < 3dBm is the range for indoor coverage; Tx Power < -2dBm is the range for dense indoor coverage;

3. The strongest pilot (Ec/IodB) Pilot Ec/Io is one important index to measure forward link coverage performance. Usually the cell threshold is >-15dB. In order to guarantee reliable demodulation, the maximum pilot threshold need >-13dB. Pilot power ratio usually can not be changed.

4. MS (Tx-AdjdB) Tx_Adj reflects closed-loop power control adjustment. Usually, Tx_Adj range should be 0~10dBm. Too high or too low Tx_Adj value are all abnormal phenomena and indicate forward and reverse link are not balanceable. Too low Tx_Adj indicates reverse link is better than forward link, or reverse link initial power is too high; too high Tx_Adj indicates forward link is better than reverse link, or there is reverse interference.

5. Forward frame error rate (Fwd FER %) Forward FER reflects forward link coverage integrated quality. In CDMA system, the ideal objective FER is about 1% for 8K voice service. For data service the FER can be a little high. The actual objective should be adjusted by operators requirement. For voice service, FER increase will lead to bad voice quality. In coverage edge area, because of bad signal, FER may be high. Integrated analyzing Use Tx, Rx and Ec/Io to evaluate coverage ratio: Urban DT test: calculate the average result for test data in 0.1km*0.1km Bin and get the average Tx, Rx and strongest Ec/Io. Record the total Bin ratio that can satisfy Tx<=3dBm, Rx>=-85dBm and Ec/Io>-12dB simultaneously, that is the integrated coverage ratio. Main roads DT test: directly use test data to calculate the ratio: Tx<=3dBm, Rx>=85dBm and Ec/Io>-12dB, then combine them to get the integrated coverage ratio.

The popular optimization methods to improve coverage

The popular optimization methods to improve coverage 1. Adjust antenna azimuth, down tilt, height; 2. Replace antenna type and adjust antenna gain, beam width, adopt electric-down tilt antenna; 3. Adjust cell power; 4. Clear out outside interference;

5. Add new BTS or radio-remote station or repeater; 6. Add indoor distribution system; 7. Move BTS and adjust network topology structure; DT Test Analyzing Application in Call Failure MS calling principle MS call includes out-going call and in-going call; they are all included to origination procedure. One subscriber dials another subscriber; it is called as one origination. If the connection between two subscribers can not be setup in defined time, it is called as one origination failure. For example: MS voice out-going call. Its call procedure is shown as Fig

The signal procedure is like the following:

During the call procedures, if any one step is not finished, the call will be failed. Integrated Analyzing Call successful ratio is used for network integrated evaluation. Increase successful ratio will increase subscribers confidence for network and network equipments utilizing ratio. Call successful ratio includes origination successful ratio and termination successful ratio. For the large-scale commercial network, call successful ratio observed from OMC is more accurate; for the network without load or light load, DT test can be used to acquire call successful ratio, adopt sequence call test in DT test.

Call successful ratio= (total call successful number/total call attempt number)*100% Commonly for urban area, 98% is a good performance index; for rural area this index should be a little low. Attention: The concrete index for call successful ratio is finally decided by operators requirement.

Call failure reasons analyzing

Call failure caused by equipment problems Strictly speaking, equipment problems should be solved before network optimization, but actually a lot of equipment problems are found in optimization.

Typical phenomena The problems are sudden: the previous network works normally, and the problems happen suddenly. The problems are universal: after DT test, it can be found that the problems happen in large area. Analyzing: Inquire if there is hardware changing recently, like boards replacing or transmission changing and so on; Inquire if there is software changing recently, like the software version updating or parameters adjustment;

If there are software and hardware adjustment, check the adjustment and consider resuming these adjustments, observe if the problem will happen;

If there is no adjustment recently, start single cell checking and judge if there is problem in hardware; Single cell checking can find the obvious equipment problem, but some secluded problems are hard to find. At this time, boards resetting and replacement can be used to locate the problem.

Solution: Because the reason is equipment problem, so the solution can not be called as optimization, it is just like troubleshooting. In troubleshooting, TRX, CHM, CCM, and antenna feeder system are the key points we should care for. Note: The operation for software and hardware should be very cautious. For commercial network, the operation should be carried out by operators engineers after operators permission; All the operation for equipment should be after midnight, if there is problem in operation, everything should be resumed in time.

Call failure caused by poor coverage Typical case: MS Rx power is about -100dBm or less; MS Tx power tends to 23dBm; The strongest pilot Ec/Io is <-15dB; After MS sends origination message, it is hard to access successfully, finally it is shown: call failure; Analyzing: MS call failure caused by poor coverage is normal phenomenon. In the edge of coverage, MS receive power is very low and usually Rx power is about -100dBm or less, the strongest pilot Ec/Io is -15dB or less; MS Tx power will tend to the maximum 23 dBm.

When MS starts origination in the edge of coverage, the signal transmission between BTS and MS can not be received correctly for the bad air link and the call will be failed. In addition, even if MS starts origination in good coverage area, it will take some time to access for MS. When MS moves fast to outside or cell (cars or railway stations), MS may have reached outside of the coverage before access completion, this will lead to call failure.

Note: In CDMA protocol MS maximum Tx power is 23dBm (0.2W). But MS is produced by different manufactures; the real maximum Tx power may exceed 23 dBm in practice. Optimization solution: The ultimate way for this kind of problem is add new BTS or repeater in blind coverage area or poor coverage area. If adding new BTS is not possible, other methods also can be used to improve coverage, like increase antenna height, select large gain antenna, and adjust antenna azimuth and down tilt. But these methods can not solve problems ultimately, and it should be very careful when change these parameters.

CDMA Call failure caused by wireless link fading and

Call failure caused by forward and reverse imbalance Call failure caused by wireless link fading Typical case: In the beginning of origination, MS forward and reverse signal are normal, but finally the call is failed; In this period MS received signal fades greatly ( MS is in the corner of street or goes into subway).

Analyzing: When MS is in the corner of the street or goes into subway, the radio environment will change greatly and signal fade very fast. Usually both forward and reverse link will fade at the same time. If MS starts access at this time, it is very possible to meet access failure for signal losing. Note: For the signal losing, MS and BTS sides will transmit again. If the fading time is short, access procedure can be continued; but if the fading time is too long, the retransmitted signal may be lost and the access will be failed.

Solution: Optimize network topology structure and decrease the area where signal fades greatly.

Call failure caused by forward and reverse imbalance Typical case: MS received power and strongest pilot Ec/Io maintain in good state, such as Rx Power>100dBm, Ec/Io>-15dB; After MS origination, reverse Tx power is increasing continuously, until 23dBm, but access is failed; After access failure, MS will stay in previous pilot; When MS is nearer to BTS, MS call can be successful. Observe Tx_Adj, it is a positive value. (Note: only when MS acquires F-TCH and reverse closed-loop power control starts working, Tx_Adj value will be efficient)

Analyzing: In the above case, MS Rx power and pilot Ec/Io are all good, and this means the forward link is good. But in MS origination procedure MS is increasing transmitting power until maximum, and this means the reverse link is bad. That is forward and reverse imbalance. Tx_Adj>0 also means forward is better than reverse. Because forward is better than reverse, so in the edge of coverage BTS can not receive the signal from MS correctly and call is failed.

Optimization method: Find the rootstock of imbalance: Judge if the cell power configuration is too high: Judge if the pilot gain is too high: Judge if there is reverse interference;

Some analyzing when MS termination call is not successful

Some analyzing when MS termination call is not successful Typical case: Originated MS signal is normal; Originated MS finally can here voice record: the number you dialed is not reachable.

Analyzing: Commonly the reason may be the following: The terminated MS is not in service area or the signal coverage is poor; The terminated MS just crosses LAC and does not start location update registration; The terminated MS is just in idle handoff state. In order to confirm which reason causes the problem, need analyze the condition and locate the problem. Acquire if the terminated MS is in coverage area and judge if the reason is MS has moved over coverage area or signal is too bad; Acquire if the terminated MS is in the border of two LACs, judge if the reason is MS does not make registration in time (Signal tracing can be used to analyze), usually one city should be assigned only one LAC area, except for very big city; If the above two cases can be excluded, it is very possible that MS is just in idle handoff and can not be terminated successfully. In IS-95A 6.6.2.1.4.2 protocol: In idle handoff, MS will go into non-slot mode. After idle handoff, MS will throw away all the messages from the old BTS, which has not been processed. This means: when BTS sends paging message to MS, MS is just in idle handoff and MS can not receive the message correctly; furthermore, even if MS has received the message, it can still not send paging response. These two cases will lead that MS can not be terminated successfully. This is why we often meets the case: the first dialing to other MS, we will hear voice record: the number you are dialing is not reachable (because MS is just in idle handoff); but the second dialing will be successful (because MS has finished idle handoff).

Note: System not support access handoff also can cause terminated call failure. When MS is paged successfully and MS is just moving from the current cell to another cell, MS will access failure because the system does not support access handoff and the current cell pilot fades too fast. In this case, MSC side often sends voice record to origination MS like: The network is busy now, please redial later. Certainly different operators may send different voice records.

Optimization method: If the reason is coverage, it is normal; If the reason is crossing LAC, check LAC planning. Usually the border of LAC should be set in the low traffic area; If the reason is idle handoff, it is normal phenomenon. If the problem is very heavy, consider adjusting the network topology structure and changing idle handoff area.

Drive Test Application in Call Drop Analyzing

Drive Test Application in Call Drop Analyzing Call drop is the interruption of call and it is caused by BTS or MS releasing traffic channel without user permission. Call drop mechanism CDMA system is a closed-loop system, the closed-loop signal link is very necessary between BTS and MS in data or voice transmission. Some important process, like power control and handoff, all need one closed-loop link. If this link is broken for any reason, MS will lose control and need initialization again and go back to idle state. When closed-loop signal link is broken, call drop mechanism will be started. Closed-loop signal link includes forward link and reverse link, any one link is broken can cause call drop.

1 MS drop mechanism

1. MS bad frame If the mobile station receives N2m consecutive bad frames on the Forward Traffic Channel, it shall disable its transmitter. Thereafter, if the mobile station receives N3m consecutive good frames, the mobile station should re-enable its transmitter. (Extracted from 95 standard 6.4.4) In 95 standards, N2m is defined as constant 12; N3m is defined as constant 2.

2. MS fading timer The mobile station shall establish a Forward Traffic Channel fade timer. The timer shall be enabled when the mobile station first enables its transmitter when in the Traffic Channel Initialization Sub state of the Mobile Station Control on the Traffic Channel State. The fade timer shall be reset for T5m seconds whenever N3m consecutive good frames are received on the Forward Traffic Channel. If the timer expires, the mobile station shall disable its transmitter and declare a loss of the Forward Traffic Channel. (Extracted from 95 standard 6.4.4) In 95 standards, N3m is defined as constant 2; T5m is defined as constant 5s.

3. MS acknowledgment failure If the mobile station has not received an acknowledgement within T1m seconds after transmitting the message, the mobile station shall retransmit the message. (Extracted from 95 standard 6.6.4.1.3.1.1) The mobile has N1m attempts to transmit a message that required acknowledgment. If the mobile does not receive the acknowledgement T1m seconds after the N1m time, the mobile declares an acknowledgment failure. In 95 standards, N1m is defined as constant 3; T1m is defined as constant 0.4s.

2 BTS call drop mechanism

1. BTS bad frame when FER reaches to 90% in 100 frames and this happens 3 times consecutively, BTS will release the links. 2. BTS acknowledgement There 9 times for BTS acknowledgement, and the waiting time between two acknowledgements is 0.4s. Integrated analyzing Call drop ratio can be used to evaluate network integrated performance. Call drop ratio improvement can decrease subscribers complaints and increase their satisfaction. For the large scale commercial network, call drop ratio observed from background OMC is more accurate and impersonal; for unloaded or light-load network, it can be got by DT test. In DT test, the call mode adopts sequence call test, call drop ratio is defined as: call drop number/total successful call number; if adopts long call test, total successful call number is total calling time (s)/90. For urban area, call drop ratio is less than 0.8% means network performance is good; for suburb or roads coverage, this index can be a litter low.

CDMA Call failure caused by unsuitable access parameters

Call failure caused by unsuitable access parameters Typical case: MS Rx power is normal and pilot Ec/Io is normal; Observe MS received signal messages in DT test, MS does not receive BTS ACK message after MS starts origination, then finally the access is failed; In this period MS Rx power is normal, there is no large fading; But MS Tx power is not high before access failure:

Analyzing: According to call procedure principle, when BTS receives MS access request, BTS will send ACK message to MS. In above cases, MS does not receive BTS ACK message, this is the main reason for call failure. MS does not receive ACK message, two possibilities: 1. BTS does not receive MS access request; 2. BTS has sent ACK message, but MS does not receive.

For the second, usually the reason is large fading in forward link and MS can not receive the message. According to DT test, if there are no large fading phenomena, this reason can be

excluded. For the first reason, according to DT test, it is very possible. There are also two possibilities: There is large fading or strong interference in reverse link; In this case, MS Tx power will tend to maximum and it can be solved; Access parameters setting are not suitable and access problem power is too low, so access request can not be received correctly.

The related parameters are like the following: INIT_PWR Definition: Initial power, the correction factor used by the mobile stations in the open-loop power estimation for initial transmission on an access channel expressed as a binary complement value in units of 1 dB Range: -16~~15dB, default value is 0dB; Note: High INIT_PWR value is better for access channel acquisition, but increases reverse interference; low INIT_PWR will make access channel acquisition become difficult.

NOM_PWR Definition: Nominal transmit power offset, BTS use this parameter as correction factor for openloop power control, expressed as a binary complement value in units of 1 dB Range: -8~~7dB, default value is 0dB;

PWR_STEP Definition: Power increment, the value by which mobile stations increase their transmit power between successive probes in an access probe sequence, in units of 1 dB. Range: 0~~7dB

NUM_STEP Definition: Number of access probes. This parameter is one less than the maximum number of access probes that mobile stations are to transmit in a single access probe sequence. Range: 1~~15dB, default value is 6 Note: high NUM_STEP value can increase access probability, but also can increase access time; low NUM_STEP value will decrease access probability.

MAX_REQ_SEQ Definition: The maximum number of access probe sequences for an access channel request. The value must be greater than 0. Range: 1~~15, default value is 2 Note: high MAX_REQ_SEQ value can increase access probability, but also can delay access time; low MAX_REQ_SE value will decrease access probability, but decrease access time.

MAX_RSP_SEQ Definition: The maximum number of access probe sequences for an access channel response. The value must be greater than 0. Range: 1~~15, default value is 2 Note: high MAX_ RSP _SEQ value can increase access probability, but also can delay access time; low MAX_ RSP _SEQ value will decrease access probability, but decrease access time. Note: To confirm if BTS receives access request or sends ACK message, the best way is to start signal tracing for this MS.

Optimization method: Check background parameter setting and adjust access parameters.