Security Level:

LTE Capacity Monitoring

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 LTE Capacity Monitoring Summary
Monitoring Monitoring
Measurement Formula Impact Proposed solution
Principle Threshold
Resource block L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Used.Avg/L.ChM DL RB Utilization 1. Add eNodeB
DL RB Utilization User may failed in
utilization eas.PRB.DL.Availx100% >70% & 2. Bandwidth expansion
admission or poor user
DL User Throughput
DL User throughput L.Thrp.bits.DL/L.Thrp.Time.DL/1000 experience
< 2Mbps
L.ChMeas.PRB.UL.Used.Avg/L.ChM UL RB Utilization 1. Add eNodeB
UL RB Utilization User may failed in
eas.PRB.UL.Availx100% >70% & 2. Bandwidth expansion
admission or poor user
UL User Throughput
UL User throughput L.Thrp.bits.UL/L.Thrp.Time.UL/1000 experience
< 512kbps
RRC connected 1. Reduce UE inactivity timer in eNodeB (MOD
users per cell (BBU RRCCONNSTATETIMER). Please note that load in CPU will
board specification) L.Traffic.User.Avg/1200*100% increase if timer value reduce.
Synchronized User
(Max num user handled in a cell for 60% Poor user experience 2. Physical tuning by balancing the target serving area for all
Utilization
LBBPd is 1200) cells
3. Add cell

Preamble usage 1. Enable resource adjustment algo

for random access (L.RA.GrpA.Att+L.RA.GrpB.Att) (MOD CELLALGOSWITCH: LocalCellId=xx,
/3600/N* 100% RachAlgoSwitch=RachAdjSwitch-1;)
Random Preamble
(N is a value from product design in 75% Access delayed or failure 2. Enable adaptive backoff function to allow UE retransmit
Utilization
considering probability of preamble preamble after failure
conflict, N is 50.) (MOD CELLALGOSWITCH: LocalCellID=xx,
RachAlgoSwitch=BackOffSwitch-1;)
1. Enable resource adjustment algo & reuse dedicated
preamble
Dedicated Preamble
L.RA.Dedicate.Att/3600/100*100% 75% Access delayed or failure (MOD CELLALGOSWITCH: LocalCellId=xx,
Utilization
RachAlgoSwitch=RachAdjSwitch-1,
RachAlgoSwitch=MakeIdxSwitch;)
Control channel (L.ChMeas.CCE.CommUsed + 1. Add cell
element for L.ChMeas.CCE.ULUsed + Scheduling delayed or
CCE Utilization 70%
PDCCH L.ChMeas.CCE.DLUsed)/L.ChMeas. poor user experience
CCE.Avail

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 LTE Capacity Monitoring Summary
Monitoring Monitoring
Measurement Formula Impact Proposed solution
Principle Threshold
Maximum allowed 1. Increase license RRC (if CPU board usage <60%)
connected users RRC Connected User Sum (L.Traffic.User.Avg of all User may failed in 2. Add eNB (if CPU board usage >60%)
per eNodeB cells)/Licensed RRC connected 60% admission or poor user
Utilization
users*100% experience

Traffic volume Sum of (L.Thrp.bits.UL + 1. Increase Traffic volume license

utilization per L.Thrp.bits.DL) all cells / (Traffic
Traffic Volume Utilization 80% Poor user experience
eNodeB License*3600)
/(1000*1000)*100%
Paging message 1. Reduce num cells in tracking area list
processing 2. Paging policy (core network) optimization
Sum of (L.Paging.S1.Rx) all cells
capability (eNodeB Paging Utilization 60% Poor user experience
/3600/750 *100%
specification)

Main control board Main Control Board Usage VS.BBUBoard.CPULoad.Mean 60% 1. Physical tuning to achieve load balancing between
processing neighbour (if neighbour is lightly loaded)
capability 2. Change UMPT board (if LMPT is used)
% of Main Control Board VS.Board.CPULoad.Cumulative Poor user experience
5% 3. Add eNB
Usage exceeed threshold HighloadCount/(3600/5)*100%

Baseband board Main Control Board Usage VS.BBUBoard.CPULoad.Mean 60% 1. Add LBBP to share load
processing 2. Move cells or add cells based on num of UEs
capability % of Main Control Board VS.Board.CPULoad.Cumulative Poor user experience 3. If already reached 6 LBBPs, add eNB
5%
Usage exceeed threshold HighloadCount/(3600/5)*100%
Transmission rate 1. Transmission capacity expansion
DL Transmission VS.FEGE.RxMeanSpeed/Allocat
at Ethernet port 70%
Utilization ed bandwidth x 100%
Poor user experience
UL Transmission VS.FEGE.TxMeanSpeed/Allocat
70%
Utilization ed bandwidth x 100%

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 ERAN Resource

eNodeB

Transport
Connected Traffic Volume Paging Main-control-
LBBP CPU resource Ethernet port
user license License Resource board CPU
group

cell

Physical
Synchronized PRACH PDCCH
resource
user capacity resource resource
block

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eNode B Resource
Resource Connected user license
Meaning The connected user license specifies the maximum permissible number of users in RRC_CONNECTED mode. Each
connected user consumes radio, device, and transport resources.
If there are too many connected users, they cannot be well served by the eNodeB and new services cannot be admitted.

Counter L.Traffic.User.Avg : indicates the average number of connected users in a cell. SUM (L.Traffic.User.Avg) indicates the sum
of the average number of connected users in all cells in an eNodeB
The licensed number of connected users under an eNodeB can be queried by running the following command:
DSP LICENSE: FUNCTIONTYPE=eNodeB;
In the command output, the value of LLT1ACTU01 in the Allocated column is the licensed number of connected users

Monitoring Method Connected user license usage = SUM (L.Traffic.User.Avg)/Licensed number of connected users x 100%

Threshold 60%
Impact New services cannot be admitted, and experience of admitted users is affected.
SW/HW SW
Solution If the main-control-board CPU usage is less than 60%, increase the licensed limit.
If the main-control-board CPU usage reaches or exceeds 60%, add an eNodeB.

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eNode B Resource

Resource Traffic volume license

Meaning When the traffic volume of an eNodeB reaches or exceeds the licensed volume, the eNodeB performs flow control,
which affects user experience and customer income.
Counter L.Thrp.bits.UL & L.Thrp.bits.DL: indicate the uplink traffic volume and downlink traffic volume of a cell, respectively.
(L.Thrp.bits.UL+L.Thrp.bits.DL) indicates the sum of uplink and downlink traffic volume of all cells under an
eNodeB

The licensed eNodeB traffic volume can be queried by running the following command:
DSP LICENSE: FUNCTIONTYPE=eNodeB;
The licensed eNodeB traffic volume is equal to the Allocated parameter value in the record whose License Identifier
is LLT1THRUL01.
Monitoring Method Traffic volume license usage of an eNodeB = (L.Thrp.bits.UL+L.Thrp.bits.DL)/(Licensed eNodeB traffic volume x
3600) x 100%
Threshold 80%
Impact User experience and customer income are affected.
SW/HW SW
Solution Increase the licensed traffic volume.

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eNode B Resource
Resource Paging Resource
Meaning The eNodeB and BTS3202E or BTS3203E LTE can process a maximum of 750 and 500 paging messages per
second, respectively. If the number of paging messages exceeds that capacity, paging messages sent from the
eNodeB to UEs may be discarded, which leads to a decrease in the call completion rate.

Counter L.Paging.S1.Rx :indicates the number of paging messages received over the S1 interface
L.Paging.Dis.Num : indicates the number of paging messages discarded over the Uu interface

Monitoring Method Percentage of paging messages received over the S1 interface = L.Paging.S1.Rx/3600/Maximum number of
paging messages that can be processed per second x 100%

Threshold Percentage of paging messages received over the S1>60% (or)

L.Pagind.Dis.Num >1500
Impact Paging messages may be lost, affecting user experience.
SW/HW SW
Solution Decrease the number of cells in the tracking area list (TAL) that the congested cell belongs to.

Adjust the paging policy of the core network to reduce signaling overhead.

If the core network is provided by Huawei, enable the precise paging function.

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eNode B Resource
Resource Main-control-board CPU
Meaning The CPU usage reflects the busy level of the eNodeB. If the main-control-board CPUs are busy processing control plane or user
plane data, signaling-related KPIs may deteriorate, and users may experience a low access success rate, low E-RAB setup success
rate, or high service drop rate.

Counter VS.Board.CPUload.Mean : indicates the average main-control-board CPU usage

VS.Board.CPULoad.CumulativeHighloadCount : indicates the number of times that the main-control-board CPU usage reaches or
exceeds a preconfigured threshold.
Monitoring Method Percentage of times that the main-control-board CPU usage reaches or exceeds a preconfigured threshold (85%) =
VS.Board.CPULoad.CumulativeHighloadCount/(3600/5) x 100%

Threshold Percentage of times that the main-control-board CPU usage reaches or exceeds a preconfigured threshold (85%) >5% (or)
VS.Board.CPUload.Mean >60%

Impact KPIs deteriorate.

SW/HW HW
Solution If a neighboring eNodeB is lightly loaded, adjust the antenna downtilt angles or decrease the transmit power of the local eNodeB
to shrink the coverage area and reduce the CPU load of the local eNodeB. In addition, expand the coverage area of the
neighboring eNodeB for load balancing.

If the main control board is an LMPT, replace it with a UMPT.

Add eNodeBs.

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eNode B Resource

Resource LBBP CPU

Meaning If the eNodeB receives too much traffic volume, which is expressed either in bit/s or packet/s, the LBBP CPU
responsible for user plane processing is heavily loaded. As a result, the eNodeB has a low RRC connection setup
success rate, low E-RAB setup success rate, low handover success rate, and high service drop rate.

Counter VS.Board.CPUload.Mean : indicates the average LBBP CPU usage

VS.Board.CPULoad.CumulativeHighloadCount : indicates the number of times that the LBBP CPU usage reaches or
exceeds a preconfigured threshold.
Monitoring Method Percentage of times that the LBBP CPU usage reaches or exceeds a preconfigured threshold (85%) =
VS.Board.CPULoad.CumulativeHighloadCount/(3600/5) x 100%
Threshold Percentage of times that theLBBP CPU usage reaches or exceeds a preconfigured threshold (85%) >5% (or)
VS.Board.CPUload.Mean >60%

Impact KPIs deteriorate.

SW/HW HW

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eNode B Resource
Solution If the LBBP is an LBBPc, replace the LBBPc with an LBBPd
Add an LBBP to share the network load, and then determine whether to move existing cells or add new cells based on
the number of UEs. The capacity expansion methods are as follows:
If the radio resources are sufficient (that is, the usage of each type of radio resources is lower than the threshold),
move cells from the existing LBBP to the new LBBP.
- If the radio resources are insufficient, set up new cells on the new LBBP

If the eNodeB has multiple LBBPs and one of them is overloaded, move cells from the overloaded LBBP to an LBBP
with a lighter load.
LBBP load can be indicated by the following:
Average CPU usage
Percentage of times that the CPU usage reaches or exceeds a preconfigured threshold
Number of cells established on an LBBP

If the eNodeB already has a maximum of six LBBPs and more LBBPs are required, add an eNodeB.

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 eNode B Resource
Resource Transport Resource Group
Meaning A transport resource group carries a set of data streams, which can be local data or forwarded data.
Local data is classified into control plane, user plane, operation and maintenance (OM), and IP clock
data. Forwarded data is not divided into different types. If a transport resource group is congested, it
cannot transmit or forward data, which affects service provision.
A transport resource group for user plane data is a monitored object.

Counter VS.RscGroup.TxMeanSpeed : indicates the average transmission rate of a transport resource group
VS.RscGroup.TxMaxSpeed indicates the maximum transmission rate of a transport resource group

The bandwidth configured for a transport resource group can be queried by running the following
command:
DSP RSCGRP: CN=x, SRN=x, SN=x, BEAR=xx, SBT=xxxx, PT=xxx;
In the command output, the value of Tx Bandwidth is the bandwidth configured for the transport
resource group.

Monitoring Proportion of the average transmission rate to the configured bandwidth =

Method VS.RscGroup.TxMeanSpeed/Bandwidth configured for the transport resource group x 100%

Proportion of the maximum transmission rate to the configured bandwidth =

VS.RscGroup.TxMaxSpeed/Bandwidth configured for the transport resource group x 100%
Threshold Mean > 80 in 5days a week, Max >90 in 2 days a week
Impact Packets may be lost, affecting user experience.
SW/HW SW
Solution When a transport resource group is congested, you are advised to expand the bandwidth of the
transport resource group

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 eNode B Resource
Resource Ethernet port
Meaning The Ethernet port traffic is the channel traffic at the physical layer, including uplink and downlink
traffic. The eNodeB Ethernet port traffic reflects the throughput and communication quality of the
Ethernet ports on the main control board of the eNodeB. Based on the monitoring results, you can
determine whether the transmission capacity allocated by an operator for the S1 and X2 interfaces on
the eNodeB meet the requirements for uplink and downlink transmissions.

Counter VS.FEGE.TxMeanSpeed : indicates the average transmission rate of an Ethernet port

VS.FEGE.TxMaxSpeed indicates the maximum transmission rate of an Ethernet port
VS.FEGE.RxMeanSpeed indicates the average reception rate of an Ethernet port
VS.FEGE.RxMaxSpeed indicates the maximum reception rate of an Ethernet port.
Monitoring Proportion of the average uplink transmission rate to the allocated bandwidth =
Method VS.FEGE.TxMeanSpeed/Allocated bandwidth x 100%
Proportion of the maximum uplink transmission rate to the allocated bandwidth =
VS.FEGE.TxMaxSpeed/Allocated bandwidth x 100%

Proportion of the average downlink reception rate to the allocated bandwidth =

VS.FEGE.RxMeanSpeed/Allocated bandwidth x 100%
Proportion of the maximum downlink reception rate to the allocated bandwidth =
VS.FEGE.RxMaxSpeed/Allocated bandwidth x 100%

Threshold Proportion of average transmission rate to allocated bandwidth 70% or

Proportion of max transmission rate to allocated bandwidth 85%
Impact Packets may be lost, affecting user experience.
SW/HW SW
Solution Expand the eNodeB transmission capacity.

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 ERAN Resource

eNodeB

Transport
Connected Traffic Volume Paging Main-control-
LBBP CPU resource Ethernet port
user license License Resource board CPU
group

cell

Physical
Synchronized PRACH PDCCH
resource
user capacity resource resource
block

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Cell Resource
Resource Physical Resource Block (PRB)
Meaning Growing traffic leads to a continuous increase in PRB usage. When the PRB usage approaches to 100%,
user-perceived rates will decrease. As downlink is a major concern in an LTE network, this document
describes only how to monitor downlink user perception.

Counter L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Used.Avg : indicates the average number of used downlink PRBs

L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Avail : indicates the number of available downlink PRBs
L.Thrp.bits.DL : indicates the total throughput of downlink data transmitted at the PDCP layer in a cell.
L.Thrp.Time.DL indicates the duration for transmitting downlink data at the PDCP layer in a cell

Monitoring Method Downlink PRB usage = L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Used.Avg/L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Avail x 100%

Downlink user-perceived rate (Mbit/s) = L.Thrp.bits.DL/L.Thrp.Time.DL/1000

Threshold Downlink PRB usage 70%

Downlink user-perceived rate < a user-defined threshold (default value: 2 Mbit/s)

Impact Users may fail to be admitted, and experience of admitted users is affected.

SW/HW SW
Solution If the cell spectral efficiency is low, you are advised to increase the cell throughput by optimizing RF
performance
If the cell spectral efficiency is high, you are advised to:
Add carriers or expand the bandwidth of the existing carrier.
Add eNodeBs.

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Cell Resource
Resource Synchronized user capacity
Meaning When the number of synchronized users in a cell reaches or exceeds a preconfigured
threshold, cell KPIs deteriorate. Connected users include synchronized users and users in
the out-of-synchronization state. Synchronized users consume air interface resources and
the number of synchronized users is approximately equal to the number of connected
users by default. Therefore, the number of connected users (instead of synchronized
users) is monitored.

Counter L.Traffic.User.Avg indicates the average number of connected users in a cell.

Monitoring Method Synchronized user capacity usage of a cell = L.Traffic.User.Avg/Maximum number of

synchronized users in a cell x 100%
Threshold 60%
Impact User experience is affected.
SW/HW HW
Solution Reduce the UE inactivity timer length by running the MOD RRCCONNSTATETIMER
command with the UeInactiveTimer parameter specified. This measure lifts signaling
overhead and increases CPU usage.
If a neighboring cell is lightly loaded, adjust the antenna downtilt angle or decrease the
transmit power of the local cell to shrink the coverage area and reduce the number of
users in the local cell. In addition, expand the coverage area of the neighboring cell for
load balancing.
Add cells or expand the cell bandwidth.
Split the local cell into multiple cells.

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Cell Resource
Resource Physical random access channel (PRACH) resource
Meaning The PRACH transmits preambles during random access procedures.
If the number of contention-based random access attempts in a second reaches or exceeds N, the
preamble conflict probability and access delay increase. The values of N are determined during
preamble design, considering factors such as that the preamble conflict probability should be less
than 1%.
If more than 100 non-contention-based random access attempts are initiated per second, dedicated
preambles will become insufficient and the eNodeB will instruct the UE to initiate contention-based
random access instead, increasing the access delay for the UE. In handover scenarios, the handover
procedure is prolonged.

Counter L.RA.GrpA.Att indicates the number of times that random preambles in group A are received.
L.RA.GrpB.Att indicates the number of times that random preambles in group B are received.
L.RA.Dedicate.Att indicates the number of times that dedicated preambles are received

Monitoring Method Random preamble usage = (L.RA.GrpA.Att + L.RA.GrpB.Att)/3600/N x 100%

Dedicated preamble usage = L.RA.Dedicate.Att/3600/100 x 100%

Threshold Usage of preambles for contention-based access 75%

Impact Access delays are prolonged, or even access attempts fail.

SW/HW SW
Solution - If the random preamble usage reaches or exceeds 75% for X days (three days by default) in a
week, enable the adaptive backoff function.
If the system bandwidth is 5 MHz or 10 MHz, it is good practice to enable the PRACH resource
adjustment algorithm
- If the dedicated preamble usage reaches or exceeds 75% for X days (three days by default) in a
week, enable the PRACH resource adjustment algorithm and reuse of dedicated preambles

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Cell Resource
Resource PDCCH Resource Usage
Meaning This capacity indicator measures the number of control channel elements (CCEs) that can be used by the PDCCH.
In each radio frame, CCEs must be allocated to uplink and downlink UEs to be scheduled and common control signaling.
PDCCH CCEs must be properly configured and allocated to minimize downlink control overheads as well as to ensure
satisfactory user-plane throughput.

Counter L.ChMeas.CCE.CommUsed indicates the number of PDCCH CCEs used for common signaling.
L.ChMeas.CCE.ULUsed indicates the number of PDCCH CCEs used for uplink scheduling.
L.ChMeas.CCE.DLUsed indicates the number of PDCCH CCEs used for downlink scheduling.
L.ChMeas.CCE.Avail indicates the number of available PDCCH CCEs.

Monitoring Method CCE usage = (L.ChMeas.CCE.CommUsed + L.ChMeas.CCE.ULUsed + L.ChMeas.CCE.DLUsed)/3600/1000/Max number of

PDCCH CCEs x 100%

Threshold 80%
Impact - If PDCCH symbols are insufficient, CCEs may fail to be allocated to UEs to be scheduled, which will result in a long
service delay and unsatisfactory user experience.
- If PDCCH symbols are excessive, which indicates that the usage of PDCCH CCEs is low, the resources that can be used
by the PDSCH decreases. This will also result in low spectral efficiency.

SW/HW SW
Solution If the PDCCH Symbol Number Adjust Switch parameter value is Off, you are advised to set this parameter to On
If the PDCCH Symbol Number Adjust Switch parameter value is set to On and the uplink or downlink PRB usage reaches
or exceeds 70%, you are advised to take one of the following measures:
- Add cells or split existing cells.
Optimize RF performance to reduce the interference to PDCCH from neighboring cells.

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 References - LBBP
Antenna Config Signalling
Board Cell Bandwidth Antenna Board Signaling Specification (CAPS)
Number of Cells
Configuration LBBPc 30
LBBPc 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, or 3x20 MHz 1T1R LBBPd1, LBBPd2, 60
20 MHz 3x20 MHz 1T2R LBBPd3, and
3 3x10 MHz 4T4R LBBPd4
3x20 MHz 2T2R
1x20 MHz 4T4R RRC Connected Mode
LBBPd1 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, or 3x20 MHz 1T1R
20 MHz Board Cell Bandwidth Maximum Number of UEs
3 3x20 MHz 1T2R
in RRC Connected Mode
3x20 MHz 2T2R
LBBPc 1.4 MHz 1008
LBBPd2 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, or 3x20 MHz 1T1R
3 MHz 1800
20 MHz 3x20 MHz 1T2R
3 5 MHz 1800
3x20 MHz 2T2R
10 MHz 1800
3x20 MHz 4T4R
15 MHz 1800 (in 2R mode) or 1200
LBBPd3 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, or 6x20 MHz 1T1R
(in 4R mode)
6 20 MHz 6x20 MHz 1T2R
a 20 MHz 1800 (in 2R mode) or 1200
6x20 MHz 2T2R (in 4R mode)
a: When a CPRI fiber optic cable is longer than 40 km (24.85 mi), the LBBPd3 board cannot support the 6x20 MHz 2T2R LBBPd1/LBBPd2 1.4 MHz 504
channel. 3 MHz 1080
5 MHz 1800
Throughput 10 MHz 3600
Board Maximum Throughput 15 MHz 3600
LBBPc Downlink: 300 Mbit/s 20 MHz 3600
Uplink: 100 Mbit/s LBBPd3 1.4 MHz 1008
LBBPd1 Downlink: 450 Mbit/s 3 MHz 2160
Uplink: 225 Mbit/s 5 MHz 3600
LBBPd2 Downlink: 600 Mbit/s 10 MHz 3600
Uplink: 225 Mbit/s 15 MHz 3600
LBBPd3 Downlink: 600 Mbit/s 20 MHz 3600
Uplink: 300 Mbit/s
LBBPd4 Downlink: 600 Mbit/s
Uplink: 225 Mbit/s

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References - LBBP
PRACH PDCCH
RACH algorithm Bandwidth N
switch
- 15,20 100
Enable 5,10 100
Disable 5,10 50

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