M900/M1800 Base Station Subsystem

Signaling Analysis Manual

Contents

Contents
8 Mobile Terminated Call Establishment Procedure.............................................................8-1
8.1 Overview...........................................................................................................................................................8-2
8.2 Normal Procedure.............................................................................................................................................8-3
8.3 Internal Handling of BSC.................................................................................................................................8-4
8.4 Abnormal Cases................................................................................................................................................8-4
8.4.1 No PAGING COMMAND on Interface A .............................................................................................8-5
8.4.2 No PAGING COMMAND on Interface Abis ........................................................................................8-5
8.4.3 No PAGING RESPONSE on Interface Abis..........................................................................................8-6
8.4.4 No PAGING RESPONSE on Interface A...............................................................................................8-7

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Figures

Figures
Figure 8-1 Normal procedure of mobile terminated call establishment...............................................................8-3

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8 Mobile Terminated Call Establishment

Procedure

Mobile Terminated Call Establishment

Procedure

About This Chapter

The following table lists the contents of this chapter.
Title

Description

8.1 Overview

Introduces the scope of the mobile terminated call services.

8.2 Normal Procedure

Describes normal mobile terminated call establishment

procedures.

8.3 Internal Handling of BSC

Describes the BSC internal handling in mobile terminated

call establishment procedures.

8.4 Abnormal Cases

Describes common abnormal mobile terminated call

establishment procedures and offers guidance to
troubleshooting.

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8.1 Overview
Mobile terminated calls include the calls initiated by MS and those initiated by fixed
telephones.

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8.2 Normal Procedure

Signaling procedure
Figure 8-1 Normal procedure of mobile terminated call establishment
BTS

MS

MSC

BSC
paging (1)
paging CMD (2)

paging REQ (3)

Channel REQ (4)

Channel RQD (5)

Channel ACT (6)
Channel ACT ACK (7)
IMM ASS CMD (8)

SABM (9)
UA (10)
EST IND( Paging RESP) (11)
CR(CMP L3 information) (12)
CC (13)
CM Service Accepted (14)
Setup (15)
Call Confirmmed (16)
Channel ACT (18)

ASS REQ (17)

Channel ACT ACK (19)

ASS CMD (20)
SABM (21)
UA (22)

EST IND (23)

ASS CMP (24)

ASS CMP (25)

Alerting (26)
Connect

(27)

Connect ACK (28)

Talking
DISC (29)
REL (30)
REL CMP (31)
Clear CMD (32)
Channel REL (33)
DISC (34)

Clear CMP (40)

RLSD (41)

UA (35)
Deactive SACCH (36)

RLSD CMP

(42)

REL IND (37)

RF Channel REL (38)
RF Channel REL ACK (39)

Step 1 When the paged MS is located in the serving area of MSC, MSC sends a Paging message to
BSC, which contains a paged cell list, TMSI and IMSI.
Step 2 BSC sends a Paging Command message to the paged cells, which contains the relevant paging
subchannel Nos. and the occupied timeslot Nos.

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Step 3 Upon receipt of the Paging Command message from BSC, BTS sends a Paging Request
message on the paging subchannel (PCH subchannel) that belongs to the paging group. This
message contains the IMSI or TMSI of the paged MS.
Step 4 MS sends a Channel Request message on RACH if it finds itself paged after decoding the
paging message.
Step 5 For other messages, please refer to Chapter 6 Mobile Originating Call Establishment
Procedure.
----End

Procedure Explanation
Step 1 Paging signaling procedure
In Figure 8-1, 1~11 refer to the paging signaling procedure, in which, BSS initiates paging,
and allocates signaling channels to MS.
Step 2 Classification of assignment procedure
As per assignment type, the assignment procedure can be classified into 3 types, early
assignment, late assignment and very early assignment. Except the late assignment procedure,
in which, the Assignment Request message is deliver after MSC receives a Connect message
from MS, the other procedures are basically the same as the mobile originating call
establishment procedure. For details, please refer to Chapter 6 Mobile Originating Call
Establishment Procedure.
----End

8.3 Internal Handling of BSC

The internal handling of the BSC is given below:
Step 1 Upon receipt of the PAGING message over interface A, the BSC checks whether to enable
flow control based on the [Flow Control Parameter Table].
Step 2 The BSC transfers the PAGING message to the relevant BM module after checking the [Cell
module information table].
Step 3 The BM module computes a paging group and sends it out.
Step 4 The BM module computes the paging group based on the TMSI or IMSI in the PAGING
message and on the following parameters in the [System information table]:
BS_AG_BLKS_RES, CCCH-CONF and BS_PA_MFRMS.
----End

8.4 Abnormal Cases

This section only analyzes the common abnormal procedures. For the other abnormal
procedures, refer to Chapter 7 Mobile Originating Call Establishment Procedure.

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Upon paging failure, the MSC prompts voice information to the calling party, indicating that
the called MS is outside the serving area or cannot be connected. In this case, trace the
signaling on interfaces A and Abis to check whether the paging failure is caused by:
z

no PAGING COMMAND on interface A

no PAGING COMMAND on interface Abis

no PAGING RESPONSE on interface Abis

no PAGING RESPONSE on interface A

8.4.1 No PAGING COMMAND on Interface A

Through signaling tracing over interface A, the MSC is detected that it has not sent a
PAGING message to the BSC. In this case, check the data configuration and MS information
in the MSC/VLR and HLR on the NSS side. Additionally, power off the called MS, power it
on and make a test call to check whether the MS is normal.

Check user data in VLR

When an MS is paged, MSC judges the current state of the MS as per the user data (including
MS active state, registered LA, cell information, etc.), and thus decides whether to send the
PAGING message or how to send the PAGING message.
If the MS state has changed (e.g. the MS is switched off, or has entered a different LA), but
due to various reasons, the MS has not performed registration in the network normally, and
has not updated the user data in VLR, the MS may probably be unable to be paged.
In that case, the MS is required to initiate a location updating procedure, so that the user data
in VLR can be ensured correct. The period of periodic location update is indicated for MS by
BSC in the system information. On MSC side, there is also a location update period. Refer to
Chapter 4 Location Update Procedure. The two parameters of BSC and MSC must satisfy a
certain relationship, which requires that MS must initiate a location update procedure within
the period specified in MSC. Generally, the location update period configured in BSC is
shorter than that in MSC.

Check RA- or cell-related parameter settings in MSC

If a routing area or cell related parameter is incorrectly set in the MSC, the transmission of the
PAGING message might fail. For example, if a wrong target BSC is selected, the PAGING
message that should have been sent to the local BSC will be sent to another BSC.

8.4.2 No PAGING COMMAND on Interface Abis

Upon receipt of the PAGING message from the MSC, the BSC detects that the MSC has not
sent PAGING COMMAND to the BTS over interface Abis. In this case, check the operations
and data configuration in the BSC.

Check whether flow control is enabled

z

Check whether the system load suddenly increases due to centralized transmission of
short messages or mass access bursts
Query the traffic statistics about Number of immediate assignment requests and
Number of CS service paging requests in the BSC overall performance measurement.
Compare the query results before and after the failu re in paging the called MS and check
whether the flow control function is enabled.

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Check whether the flow control parameter is correctly set

Check relevant data configuration

z

Check whether the CGI information in BSC data configuration is consistent with the
LAC information in the PAGING message over interface A
Log in to the BSC Data Management System. Click [BSC/Cell/Cell Module Information
Table] to check whether the parameters in the table are correctly set.
Additionally, if a RA- or cell-related parameter is not correctly set in the MSC, for
example, a wrong target BSC is selected, the PAGING COMMAND message cannot be
successfully sent over interface Abis.

Check whether the settings for the BSC parameters that will affect paging groups are
correct
Check whether the following parameters in the [System information table] are correctly
set: BS_AG_BLKS_RES, CCCH-CONF and BS_PA_MFRMS.

Check inter-module communications in BSC

Because Huawei BSC adopts multi-module structure, upon receipt of a PAGING message
from MSC, BSC performs paging as per the LA cell information in the PAGING message. In
that case, the PAGING COMMAND message to be delivered to BTS may be transferred
between the modules in BSC. If an exception occurs to the inter-module communications, no
PAGING COMMAND message can be transferred between the modules or sent o interface
Abis.
Abnormal inter inter-module communications can be verified through relevant BSC alarms.

8.4.3 No PAGING RESPONSE on Interface Abis

Through signaling tracing over interface Abis, the BSC is detected that it has not received the
Establishment Indication (PAGING RESPONSE) after sending PAGING COMMAND to the
BTS. In this case, check the relevant data configuration and radio signal coverage.

PCH or AGCH overloaded due to centralized short message transmission or

mass access bursts
Query the traffic statistics about Number of immediate assignment requests and Number
of CS service paging requests in the cell overall performance measurement. Compare the
query results before and after the failure in paging the called MS and check whether the PCH
or AGCH is overloaded due to centralized short message transmission or mass access bursts.

Check the called MS or SIM in it

If an MS of a certain model or lot cannot provide the required processing capability or if the
SIM card in the MS is unavailable, the sending of the PAGING message might fail. In this
case, perform the following:

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Insert a different (normal) SIM into the called MS to check whether the original SIM in
the MS is functional

Insert the SIM in the called MS into an MS from a different manufacturer to check
whether the MS is normal

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Check BTS by making test calls in a different cell

z

Make a test call in a different cell under the same BTS

Make a test call under a different BTS of the same type

Make a test call under a BTS of a different type

Make a test call under a BTS from a different manufacturer

Check data configuration in BSC

z

Check the settings for the parameters that will affect paging groups
Check whether the following parameters in the [System information table] are correctly
configured: BS_AG_BLKS_RES, CCCH-CONF, BS_PA_MFRMS,
Tx-integer and MS MAX retrans.

Check the setting for location updating period in BSC and that in MSC
Check the [System information table] for the configuration of T3212.
The value of "T3212" in the MSC must be greater than that in the BSC.
Refer to Chapter 4 Location Update Procedure.

Check radio signal coverage

Due to the problem of radio signal coverage, there might be some blind coverage areas. The
MS that has entered a blind coverage area cannot receive the PAGING REQUEST message.
In that case, the MS cannot be paged.
Such cases, if any, only exist in partial areas.

8.4.4 No PAGING RESPONSE on Interface A

Through signaling tracing on interface Abis, the BSC is detected that it has received an
Establishment Indication (PAGING RESPONSE) message from the BTS but this message is
not reported over interface A.
Such case hardly occurs and is omitted here.

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