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NORTEL CONFIDENTIAL
The information contained in this document is the property of Nortel Networks. Except as specifically authorized in
writing by Nortel Networks, the holder of this document shall keep the information contained herein confidential
and shall protect same in whole or in part from disclosure and dissemination to third parties and use same for
evaluation, operation and maintenance purposes only.
The content of this document is provided for information purposes only and is subject to modification. It does not
constitute any representation or warranty from Nortel Networks as to the content or accuracy of the information
contained herein, including but not limited to the suitability and performances of the product or its intended
application.
This is the Way. This is Nortel, Nortel, the Nortel logo, and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks. All
other trademarks are the property of their owners.
V17.0 BSS Parameter User Guide (BPUG)
PUBLICATION HISTORY
System release: GSM/BSS V17
March 2008
Issue 17.03/EN
Update for v17 Channel Readiness.
Update of Enhanced Measurement Reporting Parameters (§4.8.24); update of GSM to UMTS
handovers parameters (§4.5.8); clarification on msTxPwrMax2ndBand on Power Control
Parameters section (§ 5.16)
October 2007
Issue 17.02/EN
Update for v17 Customer Readiness.
Update of GSM to UMTS handover with normal measurement reporting (§4.8.24); update of
legacy measurement reporting to include UTRAN neighbours (§4.5.8); update of reporting
priority criteria used in EMR (§4.6.5); summary of differences between MR and EMR (§4.6.8);
new section on eMLPP Preemption (§4.12); clarification of types of TDMA priorities (§6.27.2);
new recommendation for trafficPCMAllocationPriority; new range for hoMarginBeg;
clarification of bscHopReconfUse; diversity mandatory for ICA (§4.18); end of support of PCM
Error Correction (§4.20); list of Railway parameters (§3.3); update of handover decision table
for AMR TCH (§4.8.4); clarification of Downlink DTX activation (§4.11.10).
July 2007
Issue 17.01/EN
Update for v17 Business Readiness + 21 weeks:
Legacy measurement report (§4.5); Enhanced Measurement Report (§4.6); Downlink FER
(§4.6.11); GSM to UMTS Handover (§4.8.24, §7.7); Single BCCH Multizone Enhancement
(§4.8.2, §4.8.6, §4.10.6, §6.30); AMR-HR on preempted pDTCH (§4.25.6, impact on AboT
§4.25.8); A5/3 Encryption (§4.30); Smart BTS Power management (§4.31); Novel adaptive
receiver (§4.29); BSS CS Paging Coordination (§4.13.8); H3 impact on BTS cabinet power
setting (§4.16); new recommended values for modeModifyMandatory (§5.18); addition of
RxQual criteria for interzone handovers (§4.8.6); removal of reference to gsmProtocol in ICA
(§5.30); Sysinfo broadcast cycle (§4.17.3).
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March 2007
Issue 16.04/EN
Update for V16 ChR + 8 Weeks: Update of Network Synchronization (§ 4.34); Update of TX
Power Offset for signalling Channels parameters (§ 5.34); Update of network Synchronization
Impacts (§ 6.36); Addition of Network Synchronization Engineering planning (§ 6.37) and
Network Synchronization First Trial Results (§ 6.38)
November 2006
Issue 16.03/EN
Update for V16 ChR after review: Update of CellAllocation (§ 5.21); update PCM error
correction (§ 4.17.3); update of AMR based on traffic parameters (§ 5.34)
October 2006
Issue 16.02/EN
Update for V16 ChR: Update of TEPMOS for AMR and not EFR calls (§ 6.32.2 and § 6.32.6)
I Multipaging command message (§ 4.10.5); UI Multipaging command message (§ 4.10.6);
Tx Power Offset for signalling Channels (§ 4.23.9); update coderPoolConfiguration (§ 5.34);
update PCM error correction (§ 4.17.3); update rescue Handover (§ 4.6.1) and PBGT formula
(§ 4.5.1); PCM priority (§ 6.27.5); update Cabinet power description (§ 4.13.1)
May 2006
Issue 16.01/EN
Update for V16 CuR: 6.16 Frequency Spacing Between Two TRXs of the Same Area
March 2006
Issue 16.0/EN
Update for V16. CuR: Repeated Downlink FACCH (§ 4.23.8); Tx Power Offset for signalling
Channels (§ 4.23.9); Directed Retry Handover and queuing (§ 4.5.5, § 4.23.5 removed from
WPS description); updates on CellAllocation and mobileAllocation description (§ 5.21);updates
on AMR mechanism (§ 4.23.2, §4.23.4);updates on TCH allocation management (§ 4.9.1,
§4.9.2); updates on interference cancellation (§ 4.15, 6.22); update on lRxQualDLH and
lRxQualULH description (§ 5.10);update on dARPPh1Priority description (§ 5.36); update
coderPoolConfiguration (§ 5.34); update on extended cell description (§ 5.12)
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October 2005
Issue 15.10/EN
Update for V15.1.1 CuR: AMR based on traffic (§ 4.22.7, § 6.35); AMR improvements (amr
adaptation table : § 4.22.2, § 4.22.3, § 6.32.3, § 5.34); Network Synchronization (§ 3.2.46, §
4.25, § 5.36, § 6.36); Automatic Handover Adaptation (§ 4.5.22 frequency hopping, §6.33.2
Fine Tuning); NMO I (§ 4.9.5, § 5.37); list of possible dual band network (§ 6.20.3); update of
cell models (§ 6.27.4); update on concentricCell with HePA (§ 4.5.6 and § 5.16
bizonePowerOffset and concentricCell, § 6.6.1 bizonePowerOffset, § 6.6.2
ZoneTxPowerMaxReduction); update CellAllocation and mobileAllocation description (§ 5.21)
September 2005
Issue 15.09/EN
Update for V15.1 ChR + 8 weeks: overhaul of Concentric Cell matter (§ 4.5.6
Concentric/DualCoupling/DualBand Cell Handover, § 5.16 Concentric Cell Parameters and §
6.6 Concentric Cell) and Microcell matter (§ 6.21 Microcell Benefits) based on recent field
feedback, add of a guideline for traffic HO (§ 6.34 Handover for traffic reasons activation
guideline), update on the appendix B: Erlang table, add of § 4.5.10 Ad-Hoc Frequency plan,
update on amrReserved2 and uMTSAccessMinLevel parameters.
July 2005
Issue 15.08/EN
Update for V15.1 ChR: add of Satellite Abis Interface description, Automatic Handover
Adpatation field field feedback
March 2005
Issue 15.07/EN
Update for V15.1 CuR: update of existing features on BSC12000 (Automatic Handover
Adaptation, support of S18000, configure sending SI2Quater & SI13 on NORM or EXT
BCCH), update on Cell Group Management and Load Balancing, Changed
microCellCaptureTimer parameter range of values
April 2005
Issue 15.06/EN
Update for V15.0.1 ChR: correction for noOfBlocksForAccessGrant parameter (it is greater
than zero if the SysInfo 2Q and/or SysInfo 13 on extended BCCH features are activated)
November 2004
Issue 15.05/EN
Update for V15.0.1 CuR: AMR field feedback and GSM products update
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September 2004
Issue 15.04/EN
Update for V15.0 ChR
June 2004
Issue 15.03/EN
Update for AMR
December 2003
Issue 15.00/EN
Update for Wireless Priority Service
June 2004
Issue 14.05/EN
Update for AMR
December 2003
Issue 14.04/EN
Update for V14.3 ChR
December 2002
Issue 14.03/EN
September 2002
Issue 14.02/EN
Update with V14
September 2002
Issue 13.02/EN
Update with V13
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May 2001
Issue 12.02/EN
Update with V12 (Chapters 1 to 4 except the counters and GSM fields in Chapter 3
“Algorithms Parameters”).
January 2000
Issue 12.01/EN
Modifications after Review.
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CONTENTS
4. ALGORITHMS .............................................................................................................................43
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1.1. OBJECT
This document describes BSS GSM and Nortel algorithms and parameters from an
engineering point of view.
This document is written by Nortel BSS experts and contains extensive Nortel BSS
parameters setting know-how. Informations coming from experiments, studies, simulations are
also related in the document.
The parameters are called by the name used in the features and algorithms. For their
corresponding name (when different) at the OMC, refer to [R6].
The parameters described in this document are the ones used in the features and algorithms.
Refer to [R2] to have a description of all BSS parameters.
1.2. SCOPE
This version is issued for the ChR milestone of the V17 BSS GSM release.
1.4. DISCLAIMER
Depending on particular objective, call profile and network characteristics, a parameter setting
can never be judged as being universally optimized.
The recommended setting presented in this document should result in good network
performance; however several iterations and improvements may be required in order to be
optimal according to customer specificities. Every effort is made to incorporate suggestions
and feedback received from customers.
PRELIMINARY VERSION
The recommended setting has been validated with product and system tests in lab. This
document will be updated and adjusted after the first results from VO site or new Product
Test/End-to-end labs if available.
STANDARD VERSION
This is a living document and the contents will be modified based on feedback received from
R&D, Engineering and customers.
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Chapter §4 ALGORITHMS describes the GSM Nortel BSS algorithms and recommends ways
to use them efficiently.
BSS parameters used in the algorithms are described in chapter §5 ALGORITHM
PARAMETERS. For each parameter, a recommended value and a default value are given.
Engineering rules explain how to select the parameter value.
In chapter §6 ENGINEERING ISSUE, engineering issues resulting from studies on parameter
setting and on products, simulations and experiments are developped.
Chapter §7 APPENDIX A: MAIN EXCHANGE PROCEDURES AT BSC LEVEL gives the main
exchange procedures at BSC level.
In chapter §8 APPENDIX B: ERLANG TABLE, an Erlang table presents the maximum offered
load according to the number of channels and the blocking rate.
In chapter §9 ABBREVIATIONS & DEFINITIONS, the signification of all the abbrevations used
in this document and some key-definitions are explained.
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This parameter is no longer useful in V17 duie to the end of support of the PCM Error
Correction feature.
bscHopReconfUse :
New recommended value for BSC that manage only BTS with hybrid coupling.
Old recommendation : “false (mandatory for hybrid coupling).”
New recommendation : “the value (true or false) is indifferent for a BSC that manages only
BTS with hybrid coupling”.
trafficPCMAllocationPriority :
New recommended value for BCCH TDMA.
Old recommendation : highest priority (0) for BCCH TDMA.
New recommendation : lowest priority (255) for BCCH TDMA.
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New recommended value set to a fix value i.e 20-30 in urban areas and 70-80 in rural areas
instead of a value greater than 0
hoMarginTrafficOffset:
New recommended value set to 6 instead of 2; HoMarginTrafficOffset should be tune such as
the resulting margin should be equivalent to the one for rescue HO.
early classmark sending:
New recommended value set this value to Allowed even if dual band network is not used. This
parameter allows MS to send its capacity downlink Advanced Receiver performance.
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HoMarginBeg:
New recommended value set to 2dB instead of 4 when Automatic Handover Adaptation is
activated. This new setting helps to get effective margin of 6 dB
AllocPriorityTimer:
New recommended value set to [5 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 28 28 28 28 28 28] instead of [0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
28 28 28 28 28 28].
AllocWaitThreshold:
New recommended value set to [n 0 n n 0 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 5] instead of [0 0 n 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 5].
CallReestablishmentPriority:
New recommended value set to 15 instead of 16.
IntraCellHOIntPriority:
New recommended value set to 14 instead of 17.
DirectedRetryPrio:
New recommended value set to 17 instead of no recommended value.
biZonePowerOffset:
New recommended value depends on the engineering rules, in v15.0 it was 63 dB for
monozone and 3 dB otherwise.
ConcentAlgoMsRange:
New recommended value set to 34 instead of depending on the radius of the site.
Small to large HO priority
New recommended value set to 14 instead of 17.
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T3103
New recommended value set to 9 seconds instead of 5. From a handover perspective it is
recommended to use 9s in order to offer a wider window of good completion of the procedure
at cell edge where the quality might be poorer.
noOfBlocksForAccessGrant
Addition of a recommended value for SI2Quater or/and SI13 on ext BCCH.
Data non transparent mode
New recommended value set to TBD instead of 9.6kb/s
amrReserved2
New recommended values will depend of in what is base AMR alarm handovers and AMR
power control. Old value was 3.
amrFRIntercellCodecMThresh
New recommended value set to 10k2 instead of 6k7.
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2. RELATED DOCUMENTS
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[R25] PE/SYS/DD343 SV713 : AMR Full Rate; SV885 AMR Half Rate
[R26] PE/SYS/DD/486 22463: WPS - Queuing management
[R27] PE/SYS/DD/487 22465 : WPS - Public access bandwidth
protection
[R28] PE/SYS/DD/005776 24394 : Directed retry without queuing activation
[R29] PE/BSS/APP/012435 AMR Engineering Handbook
[R30] PE/SYS/DD/005321 Advanced Speech Call Items Evolutions
[R31] PE/SYS/DD/0231 PM990 Satellite ABIS interface
[R32] PE/IRC/APP/014199 Satellite Abis Interface - Engineering Guideline
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(*) Since v15.1, this parameter is also used in GSM for activation of eMLPP radio resource
preemption in the BSS. Other eMLPP parameters are useful only in GSM-R for group calls
(emergencyThreshold and eMLPPThreshold).
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3.4.16 SMS-CB
smsCB, noOfBlocksForAccessGrant, channelType.
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3.4.19 DTX
dtxMode, cellDtxDowlink.
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4. ALGORITHMS
4.1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes major BSS GSM algorithms using OMC-R algorithm parameters, both
on the BTS and the MS side.
4.2.1 UNIT
Thresholds on signal quality are given in RXQUAL values. Samples measurements are also
reported in RXQUAL values. When internal calculations are performed, RXQUAL values are
converted into bit error rates (BER) using mean values and compared to thresholds which are
also converted into bit error rate. From the V9 BSS release, the comparison is done with the
upper or the lower limit of the BER range.
Signal strength thresholds are given in dBm (from -110 dBm to -47 dBm).
Signal strength measurements reported by the mobiles and the BTS are given in the rxlev
format (from 0 to 63).
The average signal strength measurement values, which are compared to the rxlev
thresholds, are the integer part of the average result.
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Power GSM 850 / GSM 900 DCS 1800 PCS 1900 Tolerance for
Class Nominal Maximum Nominal Maximum Nominal Maximum condition
Output Power Output Power Output Power
Normal Extreme
1 restricted MS Phase 1 1W (30 dBm) 1W (30 dBm) +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
2 8W (39 dBm) 0,25W (24 dBm) 0,25W (24 dBm) +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
3 5W (37 dBm) 4W (36 dBm) 2W (33 dBm) +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
4 2W (33 dBm) +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
5 0,8W (29 dBm) +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
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GSM 850 / GSM 900 GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 Tolerance for condition
Normal Extreme
CLASS 1: [320 - 640[ W [55 - 58[ dBm CLASS 1: [20 - 40[ W [43 - 46[ dBm +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
CLASS 2: [160 - 320[ W [55 - 58[ dBm CLASS 2: [10 - 20[ W [40 - 43[ dBm +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
CLASS 3: [80 -160[ W [49 - 52[ dBm CLASS 3: [5 - 10[ W [37 - 40[ dBm +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
CLASS 4: [40 - 80[W [46 - 49[ dBm CLASS 4: [2.5 - 5[ W [34 - 37[ dBm +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
CLASS 5: [20 - 40[ W [43 - 46[dBm +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
CLASS 6: [10 - 20[ W [40 - 43[ dBm +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
CLASS 7: [5 - 10[ W [37 - 40[ dBm +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
CLASS 8: [2.5 - 5[ W [34 - 37[ dBm +/- 2 dB +/- 2,5 dB
Settings will be provided to allow output power to be reduced from its maximum level to at
least six steps of nominally 2 dB with an accuracy of ≈1 dB to allow a fine adjustment of the
coverage by the network operator. In addition, the actual absolute output power at each static
RF power step (N) shall be 2*N dB below the absolute output power at static RF power step 0
with a tolerance of ≈3 dB under normal conditions and ≈4dB under extreme conditions. The
static RF power step 0 will be the actual output power according to the TRX power class.
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Please refer to the following documents for information on main RF characteristics of the
Nortel BTS portfolio :
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POWER CONVERSION
P (dB) = P (dBm) - 30
E (dBV / m) = P (dBm) + 20 log FHz + 77,2
The table below gives the conversion rules of the timing advance versus the distance.
One bit corresponds to 554 m and the accuracy is 0.25 bit (i.e 138.5 m)
Due to multipath and to MS synchronization accuracy, the gap of timing advances between
two different MS for a given distance can reach 3 bits (i.e. 1,6 km).
The value of the timing advance has an impact on decision taking for handover and call
clearing. The timing advance is calculated by taking into account all the rays coming from a
same signal.
The timing advance must be used carefully as a handover and call clearing criteria, especially
in a microcellular configuration.
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The overlap between the different ranges (see above normal condition cases) are specified in
the recommendation.
This recommendation is not restrictive and most of the BTS and MS may provide better
results. However, these figures show that the threshold accuracy handover and power
control field strength may be off by a few dB.
The relative accuracy depends on the gap between measurement levels and sensivity levels.
The table below provides the GSM relative accuracy recommendation of a difference between
two measurements lower than 20 dB.
For example, the level difference between two field strengths, which are higher than the
sensivity + 14 dBm, must be within the range of [-2 dB to +2 dB].
Output power tolerance must also be considered in the parameters setting because the
parameters bsTxPwrMax and msTxPwrMax are used in the algorithms.
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4.3.1 OVERVIEW
NETWORK SELECTION
At switch-on, the mobile is required to select, among a set of PLMNs that is further defined
below, the highest priority PLMN that is both :
• "available"
• and "allowable"
An available PLMN is a PLMN on which a cell has been found that is not barred and where
Rxlev > rxLevAccessMin
An allowable PLMN is a PLMN which is not in the list of "forbidden PLMNs" in the MS.
The set of possible PLMNs and their decreasing order of priority is :
• the last PLMN on which the MS performed a successful registration (Location area
update);
• the Home PLMN (this is the PLMN where the MCC and MNC of the PLMN identity
match the MCC and MNC of the IMSI);
• other PLMNs, in the order explicitely defined in the SIM.
This order of priority is valid, whether the MS is a roamer or not.
Received levels must be higher than rxlevAccessMin and if a mobile state has a classmark
lower than msTxPwrMaxCCH, it must get closer to the cell to have access to it.
The value used for the parameter cellReselectHysteresis is the-one set in the current serving
cell.
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The C1 criterion did not provide a way of preventing a fast moving mobile station from
reselecting a “fugitive cell” nor avoiding ping-pong reselection. The idea is to give a cell a
tunable access for reselection and to prevent mobiles from reselecting a cell if that cell is new
to the mobile or if it was recently the serving cell:
where t is a timer started as soon as a cell enters the mobile best cell list:
• t = penaltyTime if the new cell in the list is the previous serving cell
• t = 0 otherwise
and H(x) is a function:
• H(penaltyTime - t) = 0 if t ≥ penaltyTime
• H(penaltyTime - t) = 1 if t < penaltyTime
temporaryOffset is a negative offset.
By adding an offset (cellReselectOffset) it is possible to give different priorities, for example, to
different types of cells in case of a multilayer network or to different bands when multiband
operation is used.
The timer penaltyTime ensures that the mobile will reselect a cell which has been received
with a sufficient level for a sufficient time. Some microcellular handover algorithms are based
on this C2 reselection principle.
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SELECTION
For the server cell and the neighboring cells, the C1 algorithm is computed. The C2 algorithm
is computed only if cell reselection is used (cellReselInd = true).
A priority is affected to each eligible cell and is only applied to Phase II MS.
IF cellBarQualify = TRUE THEN the cell priority is “low”, whatever the “cellBarred” value is.
IF cellBarQualify = FALSE AND IF the cell is barred (cellBarred set to “barred”) THEN the cell
priority is null (the cell can not be reselected in idle mode).
IF cellBarQualify = FALSE AND IF the cell is not barred THEN the priority is “normal”.
For a mobile Phase II: if no cell with NORMAL priority is eligible (cell contained in the eligible
list constituted using the C1 algorithm), then the cells with LOW priority are scanned. So even
if a cell is barred, a phase II mobile is able to select this cell, but it will not be able to perform a
call on it.
For a mobile Phase I: it is not possible to reselect a cell that is barred.
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Note: To forbid the access of a cell to a MS, the cellBarred set to “not barred” and
incomingHandover set to ”disabled”, is not sufficient. Care must be taken with the
cellBarQualify that gives the priority.
RESELECTION
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This part only considers reselection from a GSM cell to a UMTS FDD cell.
As UMTS is deployed, if GSM access network does not provide "GSM to UMTS mobility" for
mobiles in idle mode, all the dual-mode mobiles (e.g. mobile supporting both GSM and
UTRAN/FDD radio access technologies) will be stuck on GSM cells:
• when leaving UMTS coverage the mobile will reselect a GSM cell
• when on a GSM cell a dual-mode mobile will only reselect a GSM cell
• switching off-on the mobile will not make the mobile reselect UMTS, since the
mobile is first looking for its last "Registered technology" at power on
• using a different PLMN for UMTS (being the mutimode subscriber HPLMN) and
GSM layers can help, but this will not work for the operators not taking this option
These parameters are controlled by O&M and broadcasted on BCCH in the System
Information 2quater message.
LCAUTION!
In order to enable the broadcasting of the SI2Quater on the BCCH the parameter
uMTSReselectionARFCN must be set to a non-null value.
The cell reselection does not require any specific algorithm in the GSM-BSS. The intersystem
reselection only requires new piece of information to be broadcast on the BCCH by the GSM-
BSS:
• 1) The BSS broadcast FDD_ARFCN and primary scrambling code for each of the
UMTS FDD neighbouring cells.
• 2) The BSS only broadcast FDD_ARFCN. This is the most simple solution from a
Network point of view.
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In Nortel’s choice, neighboring cell scrambling codes will not be broadcast, and it will be
assumed that only one UTRAN/FDD carrier is deployed by cell, e.g. it possible to have
different carriers on different cell but only one per cell.
As it will take "some" additional time with that solution (the mobile have to decode the UTRAN
FDD neighbouring cells scrambling codes) 2 additional informations are provided and used by
the network and the mobile when the mobile reports measurement in connected mode:
• a one bit 3G-BA_IND field used to correlate the measurements with a neighbouring
cell list
• a Absolute_Index_Start_EMR used for building the neighbouring cell list in the
mobile. The value of this parameter is dynamic, and depends on the number of 2G
neighbouring cells (this allows shorter Meas. Report messages from the UE).
• FDD_Qoffset (uMTSReselectionOffset)
• FDD_Qmin (uMTSAccessMinLevel)
• Qsearch_I (uMTSSearchLevel)
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4.5.1 PRINCIPLE
Legacy measurement reporting consists in a mobile in dedicated mode - on a TCH or an
SDCCH - sending downlink signal measurements to the network, at regular intervals.
The BSS then uses these measurements in the uplink power control and handover
procedures.
BSIC DECODING
It is essential for the MS to identify precisely which surrounding BTS is being measured in
order to ensure reliable handover. Because of frequency re-use with small cluster sizes, the
BCCH carrier frequency may not be sufficient to uniquely identify a neighbouring cell, i.e. the
cell in which the MS is situated may have more than one surrounding cell using the same
BCCH frequency. Thus it is necessary for the MS to synchronize to and identify the base
station identification code (BSIC). The 6-bit BSIC shall be transmitted by the network on the
SCH channel of each cell.
The MS shall use at least 4 spare frames per SACCH block period for the purpose of decoding
the BSICs (e.g. in the case of TCH, the four idle frames per SACCH block period). These
frames are termed "search" frames.
The MS shall attempt to demodulate the SCH on the BCCH carrier of as many neighbouring
cells as possible, and decode the BSIC as often as possible, and as a minimum at least once
every 10 seconds.
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For each channel, the measured downlink RXLEV shall be the average of the received
downlink signal level measurement samples in dBm taken on the TCH or SDCCH channel
within the reporting period of length one SACCH multiframe.
Signal strength measurement samples shall be taken on all bursts of the physical channel that
carries the TCH or the SDCCH, including those of the SACCH.
The received downlink signal quality shall be measured by the mobile in a manner that can be
related to the average BER before channel decoding, assessed over all received bursts in the
multiframe, except bursts carrying a portion of a SACCH frame.
• For a TCH, there is one SACCH burst available every 120 ms.
• For an SDCCH, the 4 SACCH bursts occur in 4 TDMA frames in immediate
succession, but these 4 TDMAs in succession occur once every 471 ms.
Note : The BTS also performs uplink signal strength and uplink signal quality measurements .
However, the BTS delays the processing of these uplink measurements by 480 ms or 471 ms
to ensure that they are synchronised with the downlink measurements from the mobile (i.e.
they relate to the same reporting period as the downlink measurements, which the BTS
receives with a 480 ms or 471 ms delay).
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The BCCH Allocation list is provided by the network to the mobile through SI5 messages on
SACCH. The number of neighbour cell BCCH carriers in the BCCH allocation cannot exceed
32.
The UTRAN neighbour list is provided to the 2G/3G mobile through Measurement Information
messages sent on SACCH.
2G MEASUREMENT REPORT
The mobile reports every 480 ms for a TCH and every 471 ms for an SDCCH.
3G MEASUREMENT REPORT
The measurement report is the same as for 2G, except for the RXLEV_NCELL of neighbour
UTRAN cells. The RXLEV_NCELL neighbour cell measurement is replaced by the appropriate
measurement for UTRAN. The measurement quantity reported by mobiles could be either
“CPICH RSCP” or “CPICH Ec/N0”. In Nortel implementation, mobiles are told by the network
to report only RSCP measurements on CPICH channels. However, the mobile selects the
UTRAN cells to report, based on internal measurements of the CPICH Ec/N0.
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BSS PARAMETERS
The choice criteria of 2G and 3G cells that the 2G/3G mobile must include in the Measurement
Report in the list of the 6 cells are driven by 4 network parameters, the use of which is detailed
further on in this subsection :
• fDDMultiratReporting (v17, bts object)
• fDDreportingThreshold2 (v17, handoverControl object)
• qsearchC (v17, handoverControl object)
• multiBandReporting (v10, bts object)
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A 2G/3G mobile must report the number of best valid UTRAN cells belonging to the neighbour
cell list, according to the value of the parameter fDDMultiratReporting. fDDMultiratReporting
indicates the number of UTRAN cells that the 2G/3G mobile must include in the measurement
report.
The fDDMultiratReporting parameter is sent by the network to the 2G/3G mobile inside a
Measurement Information message on SACCH.
Only UTRAN cells with a CPICH Ec/No value equal or higher than fDDreportingThreshold2
shall be reported. If that criterion is met, the reported quantity is the CPICH RSCP.
“Valid” UTRAN cells are identified cells where the primary CPICH has been received when
using the scrambling code provided for that frequency in the neighbour cell list.
The fDDreportingThreshold2 parameter is sent by the network to the 2G/3G mobile inside a
Measurement Information message on SACCH.
The remaining positions in the measurement report shall be used for reporting of GSM cells as
defined by multiBandReporting parameter. If there are still remaining positions, these shall be
used to report the next best valid UTRAN cells.
The qsearchC parameter is sent by the network to the 2G/3G mobile inside a Measurement
Information message on SACCH.
For a 2G/3G mobile, qsearchC defines a power level threshold (in dBm) and also indicates
whether these tasks shall be performed when RXLEV of the BCCH of the serving cell is
below or above the threshold :
• search for UTRAN cells if RXLEV of the BCCH of the serving cell is below
threshold (values 0 to 7): - 98, - 94, … , - 74 dBm, ∞ (always)
• or search for UTRAN cells if RXLEV of the BCCH of the serving cell iis above
threshold (values 8 to 15): - 78, - 74, … , - 54 dBm, ∞ (never)
If the serving cell is not included in the GSM neighbour list defined for handover purposes (this
is always the case according to Nortel Engineeering best practice), and if the dedicated
channel is not on the BCCH frequency, and if qsearchC is not equal to 15, then the mobile
must ignore the qsearchC parameter value and must always search for UTRAN cells.
If qsearchC is equal to 15, the MS must never search for UTRAN cells.
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If the dedicated channel (TCH or SDCCH) uses the BCCH frequency, then qsearchC is
meaningful. However, in that case, the recommended Nortel value is 7 (always search for
UTRAN cells regardless of the downlink power level of the serving cell BCCH carrier).
Conclusion : with Nortel’s recommended value qsearchC = 7, the 2G/3G mobile is required to
always search for and measure UTRAN cells, regardless of the downlink power level of the
serving cell BCCH carrier
The MS fills the normal measurement report with measurements from 6 neighbour cells
chosen in the following order :
• Strongest valid UTRAN FDD cells :
o a valid UTRAN cell is an identified cell where the primary CPICH has been
received by the mobile when using the scrambling code provided for that
frequency in the neighbour cell list.
Comments:
• Unlike EMR (§4.6), this algorithm does not discriminate between GSM cells with
known BSIC and GSM cells with unknown BSIC.
• Unlike EMR (§4.6), the RxLev of serving band GSM cells are not required to exceed a
reporting threshold.
• Unlike EMR (§4.6), the RSCP of UTRAN cells is not required to exceed a reporting
threshold.
• Unlike EMR (§4.6), UTRAN cells are included before GSM cells.
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ENGINEERING RECOMMENDATION
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o if downlink power control is activated, then the TCH channel's Downlink bursts
transmitted on the BCCH frequency should not be used in the Rxlev
averaging process because, unlike the samples from other frequencies, they
are transmitted at full power : so, PWRC must be = 1 and
powerControlIndicator = "do not include BCCH measurements".
o if downlink power control is not activated, then the TCH channel's Downlink
bursts transmitted on the BCCH frequency may be used in the Rxlev
averaging process : PWRC = 0 and powerControlIndicator = "include BCCH
measurements"
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4.6.1 PRINCIPLE
Compared to Legacy Measurement Reporting, Enhanced Measurement Reporting allows the
mobile to:
• Report more GSM neighbouring cells and, if required, 3G cells
• Enhance the information reported about the quality of the signal received by the
mobile (MEAN_BEP and CV_BEP, downlink FER).
Enhanced Measurement Reporting by the mobile may be used in the context of 2G-3G
handover but is not a mandatory prerequisite.
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o MEAN_BEP : The average over the reporting period of the Mean Bit Error
Probability, computed from each fully received and correctly decoded data
block and from all SACCH frames.
The GSM neighbour cell list is the combination of the BCCH Allocation list received in
SI5/SI5bis/SI5ter with the BSIC list received in one or more instance of the MEASUREMENT
INFORMATION message.
This applies only to a 2G-3G mobile. One or more instances of the Measurement Information
message may provide UTRAN Neighbour Cell Description information. This is used to build
the 3G Neighbour Cell list.
In Nortel’s v17 implementation, the maximum number of cells of the lists in the Measurement
Information message is :
• maximum 32 UMTS cells
• If the 3G list is void, maximum 32 GSM cells
• If the 3G list is non-void, maximum 31 GSM cells
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• 2nd highest priority : the number of strongest GSM cells with known and valid BSIC in
each of the frequency bands in the BCCH Allocation list, excluding the frequency band
of the serving cell, according to the value of multiBandReporting;
• 3rd highest priority : the number of best valid UTRAN cells with a reported value equal
or greater than fDDReportingThreshold in the 3G neighbour cell list, according to the
value of fDDmultiRatReporting. Additionally the CPICH Ec/No shall be equal or
greater than fDDReportingThreshold2. A valid cell is an identified cell where the
primary CPICH has been received when using the scrambling code provided for that
frequency in the neighbour cell list.
• 4th highest priority : the remaining GSM cells with known and valid BSIC or, if allowed
by the flag INVALID_BSIC_REPORTING, with known and allowed NCC part of the
BSIC in any frequency band.
For each of the priority levels above, the mobile shall apply the following rules :
• if the number of valid cells is less than indicated, the unused positions in the report
shall be left for cells of lower priority;
• if there is not enough space in the report for all valid cells of a given priority, cells shall
be ranked according to :
o for GSM cells belonging to the serving band : RxLev +
servingBandReportingOffset. Note that this ranking criterion shall not affect
the value that is effectively included in the report, which remains RxLev.
o for GSM cells belonging to the non-serving band : RxLev. (reporting offset =
0)
PURPOSE OF MI MESSAGE
The activation of EMR in the network requires the network to inform the relevant mobiles that
EMR reports are expected from them.
To do this, the network sends a new information message to the mobiles, called Measurement
Information. The Measurement Information message is regularly sent by the network to the
mobiles in dedicated mode on the SACCH, in addition to System information messages 5,
5bis, 5ter, and 6.
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CONTENT
In the version of EMR reporting currently implemented, the MI message contains essentially
the following information :
• EMR activation flag. The value of this flag is set by the reportTypeMeasurement
parameter.
• Information enabling the mobile to derive the full list of GSM neighbour cells, i.e.
(BCCH frequency, BSIC) pairs, that may be reported in EMR reports.
• Number of GSM neighbour cells of the serving band that the Mobile shall include in
the list of strongest cells in the EMR report (up to 3). The value of this number is set
by the servingBandReporting parameter.
• Threshold power level above which serving band cells may be reported among the
servingBandReporting number of reported cells. In v17 implementation, this threshold
is -110 dBm, meaning that all serving band cells may be reported regardless of their
power level.
• (applicable to multi-band mobiles only) Number of GSM neighbour cells of the other
band that the Mobile shall include in the list of strongest cells in the EMR report (up to
3). The value of this number is set by the multiBandReporting parameter (v10
parameter).
• (applicable to multi-band mobiles only) Offset to apply to the reported value when
prioritizing the cells for reporting for GSM serving frequency band. The value of this
offset is set by the servingBandReportingOffset parameter
• (applicable to 2G-3G mobiles only) UTRAN neighbour cell list : list of FDD (ARFCN,
scrambling code, diversity) triplets, identifying each 3G neighbour cell. The values of
these triplets are set by the following AdjacentCellUTRAN object parameters :
o fDDARFCN,
o scramblingCode,
o diversityUTRAN
• (applicable to 2G-3G mobiles only) UTRAN cells’ measurement parameters :
o Number of FDD cells to be reported in the list of strongest cells in the EMR
message. This number is set by the O&M network parameter
fDDMultiRatReporting.
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o CPICH RSCP level above which the mobile will apply a higher priority to
UTRAN cells in the EMR message. The value of this level is set by the O&M
network parameter fDDReportingThreshold.
o CPICH Ec/N0 level above which the mobile will report UTRAN cells in the
EMR message. The value of this level is set by the O&M network parameter
fDDReportingThreshold2.
o Serving cell BCCH frequency power threshold above which, or below which,
the mobile may search for UTRAN cells. The value of this level is set by the
O&M network parameter qsearchC.
Note that 2 different versions of the Measurement Information message may be sent by the
network depending on the mobile’s radio access capability (2G or 2G-3G) :
• If EMR reporting is activated but not 2G-3G handover (i.e. the gsmToUMTSServiceHo
parameter is set to "gsmToUMTSDisabled") :
o the BSC only sends 2G Measurement Information to the BTS. However, the
BSC does send the whole L1M configuration to the BTS. The BTS is therefroe
aware of the UTRAN neighbouring cells.
o The BTS only sends 2G Measurement Information messages to 2G-3G
Release 99 mobiles and Release 4 2G mobiles. Thus UMTS cells are hidden
from the mobiles so that mobiles do not report 3G measurement results in
vain, which could adversely affect their performance.
• If both EMR reporting and 2G-3G handover are activated (i.e. the
gsmToUMTSServiceHo parameter is not set to "gsmToUMTSDisabled") :
o the BSC sends to the BTS both the 2G Measurement Information and the
2G/3G Measurement Information messages.
o The BTS sends the 2G/3G Measurement Information to 2G-3G Release 99
mobiles and the 2G Measurement Information to the Release 4 2G mobiles.
MI
SI 5
... etc.
MR EMR
An enhanced measurement report contains up to 32
A normal measurement report contains up to 6 neighbour cells
neighbour cells
No reporting offset is applied to rank cells. Competing cells are servingBandReportingOffset is applied to the RxLev of serving
ranked based only on the strongest RxLev (GSM) and RSCP band GSM cells for ranking purposes. No offset is applied for
(UTRAN) values non-serving band GSM cells and UTRAN cells
One (1) reporting threshold is used to define eligible UTRAN 2 reporting thresholds are used to define eligible UTRAN cells
cells : fDDReportingThreshold2 for Ec/No (non-reported : fDDReportingThreshold for RSCP (reported quantity) and
quantity). No threshold for RSCP. fDDReportingThreshold2 for Ec/No (non-reported quantity)
A parameter (fDDMultiRatReporting) defines the number of A parameter (fDDMultiRatReporting) defines the number of
UTRAN cells to be included in the report as a matter of priority UTRAN cells to be included in the report as a matter of priority
A parameter (MultiBandReporting) defines the number of non- A parameter (MultiBandReporting) defines the num ber of non-
serving band GSM cells to be included in the report as a serving band GSM cells to be included in the report as a
matter of priority matter of priority
A parameter (servingBandReporting) defines the number of
There is no required minimum number of serving band GSM
serving band GSM cells to be included in the report as a
cells in the report
matter of priority
GSM cells with known BSIC and GSM cells with unknown
GSM cells with known and valid BSIC have higher priority
BSIC are treated the same
UTRAN cells have top priority in the report Sering and GSM cells have top priority in the report
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IMPROVED ACCURACY
There are more GSM neighbours reported with EMR than with legacy measurement reporting
:
• With EMR, up to 32 GSM neighbours if no UTRAN cells are defined in the Neighbour
Cell List
• With standard MR, 6 neighbour cells.
This means that the statistical processing induces less systematic bias error in the case of
EMR.
If no 3G cells are declared as neigbours, the number of cycles depends only on the number of
declared real neighbours and the number of fake neighbours, so it is not impacted by EMR.
However, if 3G cells are declared as neighbours, the maximum number of GSM neighbours
(real + fake) is 31 instead of 32. Therefore, more cycles may be required if 3G cells are
present in the Neighbouring Cell List.
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If, during the Interference Matrix campaign in a dual band network, the reporting of serving
band neighbours is deliberately favoured by using the servingBandReportingOffset, then, as a
side-effect, the traffic distribution may be modified. This undesirable side-effect may in turn
modify the results of the IM measurements, whjich therefore may no longer reflect the real
situation in the field once the IM has ceased.
Therefore it is recommended to ensure that the chosen value of servingBandReportingOffset
does not cause unacceptable changes in the traffic distribution.
In the EMR message, the mobile provides the number of received traffic frames :
NBR_RCVD_BLOCKS. The BTS knows the number of times each codec have been used
during the measurement period so it is now possible to get a rough estimate of the probable
number of frames, per codec, that have not been decoded by the mobile and a rough
estimate, per codec, of the probable downlink FEP (Frame Erasure Probability). Note that
each sum of estimated number of bad frames is rounded to the nearest integer value at the
end of the connection.
Thanks to RMD feature, downlink FER distributions at the OMC-R level are made available
for the following types of circuit calls:
• EFR and FR speech calls,
• AMR FR speech calls,
• AMR HR speech calls.
With EMR, it is possible to estimate the downlink voice quality (DVQI) in the same way as
TEPMOS estimates the uplink voice quality.
Distinction is done for the different codec types (EFR (and FR), AMR FR and AMR HR).
As the downlink FER per codec is an estimated one, the downlink voice quality indicator will
be less precise than TEPMOS, but the formula used to calculate DVQI is similar to the
TEPMOS one.
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4.7.1 PRINCIPLE
Each sample on the uplink side used by the Layer 1 Management in the average computation
is composed of measurements performed in Watts on several bursts. So the uplink samples
are first computed in Watts before being translated into dBm.
The general idea is to perform arithmetic averages. These averages are stored, and each time
a decision has to be taken, an other average (weighted-average) is computed. This weighted-
average is based on a defined number (Hreqt) of arithmetic averages, which are weighted in
order to favor the latest results.
In the new version of the Layer 1 Management (L1mV2), the process of averaging is based on
fully sliding windows.
Examples for Hreqave = 8, Hreqt = 1, run xx = 4
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Notes: In L1mV2, the weighted average is done with the latest not overlapped arithmetic
averages.
Reactivity of the L1mV2 has been improved. The measurements done by the MS and the BTS
during the first SACCH block period is proceeded by the BTS during the second SACCH block
period instead of the third SACCH block period.
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4.7.3 RESCALING
Measurements are stored along with the MS and BS power level (meas_txpwr) reported in
MEAS RESULT, latest power control (MS or BS) is also stored (ref_txpwr).
From the L1mV2, rescaling is done at maximum transmission power (txPwrMax). It means that
the values or averages are adjusted as follows
In this way BTS attenuation is already included in RxLevDL and handovers are better
anticipated.
RULE 1
If averaged values are available, missing measurements are replaced by the latest averaged
value multiplied by a weighting factor (missDistWt, missRxLevWt, missRxQualWt).
r1 r2 r3 r4 r5 r6 r7 r8
m1 m5
m2
time
m3
m4
RULE 2
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r1 r2 r3 r4 r5 r6 r7 r8
m1 m5
m2
time
m3
m4
RULE 3
r1 r2 r3 r4 r5 r6 r7 r8
m1 m5
m2
time
m3
m4
RULE 4:
In the following, the substitution of a missing value is only done when 6 neighbouring cells are
reported during the considered period.
From L1mV2 missing measurements for neighboring cells are replaced as follows; for both
cases, inputs are:
Second case:
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LCAUTION!
It is understood in all the following formulas that RxLev_XX is computed with L1mV2.
PBGT
The general PBGT formula is computed in the band0 because HO_MARGIN is always specific
to the band0:
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EXP1
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EXP2
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PRINCIPLE
The principle of “Direct TCH Allocation” is manifold. It consists in the following aspects :
• At call setup, to allocate a FR TCH directly into the inner-zone of a multizone cell
• At call setup, to allocate an HR TCH directly into the outer-zone of a multizone cell
• At call setup, to allocate an HR TCH directly into the inner-zone of a multizone cell
• On intercell handover, to allocate a TCH directly into the inner-zone of the target
multizone cell.
At call setup, while the mobile is still on SDCCH (SDCCH is always allocated in the large zone
of a multi-zone cell), the BSC asks the BTS if the call (FR or HR) may be directed to the
appropriate zone by sending the BTS an “Abis Connection state request” message. The
acknowledgement of this request by the BTS provides the BSC with the information allowing
the BSC to decide to perform the requested TCH allocation.
The BTS uses several criteria to decide which zone is eligible. These criteria have been
altered in v17.0 as explained in the next section.
Call setup
In initial phase of call establishment, the time spent on SDCCH is usually too short for the BTS
to compute a weighted average on downlink Rxlev measurement before the BST receives the
Abis connection state request from the BSC. Therefore, the allocation criteria for direct TCH
allocation use, by decreasing order of priority:
• a weighted average computed with RxLevHreqAve*RxLevHreqT latest measurements
(unlikely to happen on SDCCH).
• an arithmetic average computed with RxLevHreqAve latest measurements (unlikely to
happen on SDCCH)
• a short and fully reliable average (RxLevHreqAveBeg measurements) in the sense of
the Automatic handover Adaptation feature if this feature is enabled and if the MS is
fast enough or hopping on enough frequencies to filter the Raleigh fading.
• a short, not fully reliable average (from RxLevHreqAveBeg up to RxLevHreqAve-1
measurements) in all other cases.
In the last case, the v17 enhancement consists in the L1M compensating for the lower
reliability of the short average by adding the hoMarginBeg margin to the various allocation
thresholds. For all other cases, there is no change in v17.0.
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Note : If hoMarginBeg parameter is set to 63, the Direct TCH allocation procedure only uses
normal averages.
Intercell handover
Some handover decisions (Early Power budget or Directed Retry) may be taken using less
than RxLevNcellHreqAve measurements on the neighbouring cell. So, the allocation
information for direct TCH allocation uses by decreasing order of priority:
• an arithmetic average computed with RxLevNcellHreqAve latest measurements.
• a short and fully reliable average (RxLevNcellHreqAveBeg measurements) in the
sense of the Automatic Handover Adaptation feature if this feature is enabled and if
the MS is going fast enough to filter the Raleigh fading
• a short not fully reliable average (from RxLevNcellHreqAveBeg up to
RxLevNcellHreqAve -1 measurements) in all other cases.
In the last case, the L1M now compensates for the lower RxlevNcell average reliability by
adding the hoMarginBeg margin to the BizonePowerOffset(n) parameter in order to ensure the
same grade of service.
Note : If hoMarginBeg parameter is set to 63, inter-cell handover Direct TCH allocation
procedure only uses normal averages.
In v17, if using a not fully reliable short average, hoMarginBeg is added to the following
thresholds :
• concentAlgoExtRxLev
CONCENTRIC CELLS
The criteria for a successful direct TCH allocation in the inner-zone are :
and
The timing advance criterion is disabled for a dualcoupling or dualband cell since the algorithm
only needs to check that the BS Tx power in the innerzone is sufficient to maintain the
communication.
For dualband cells, obviously, a test is also performed on the capability of the mobile to
support the band1.
The criterion for a successful direct TCH allocation in the inner-zone is :
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In v17, if using a not fully reliable short average, hoMarginBeg is added to the following
thresholds :
• amrDirectAllocRxLevDL
• amrDirectAllocRxLevUL
CONCENTRIC CELLS
The criteria for a successful direct HR TCH allocation in the outer-zone are :
and
The criteria for a successful direct HR TCH allocation in the outer-zone are :
and
In v17, if using a not fully reliable short average, hoMarginBeg is added to the following
thresholds :
• amrDirectAllocIntRxLevDL
• amrDirectAllocIntRxLevUL
CONCENTRIC CELLS
The criteria for a successful direct HR TCH allocation in the inner-zone are :
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and
and
The criteria for a successful direct HR TCH allocation in the inner-zone are :
and
In v17, if using a not fully reliable short average, hoMarginBeg is added to bizonePowerOffset.
If the target cell for handover is a multi-zone cell, the BTS is in charge of indicating to the BSC
if a TCH can be allocated in the inner zone of the target cell. This information is provided in the
"additional cells information” IEI within Abis Handover indication or Connection state ack
messages :
This capability (to handover directly in the innerzone/band1 of the adjacent cell) is inhibited
when biZonePowerOffset(n) is set to 63.
DUALBAND CELLS
The criteria for the inner-zone (band 1) of the neighbour dualband cell to be eligible are :
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and
It should be noted that the BTS provides the same allocation information to the BSC on an
intra-cell handover initiated from a TCH belonging to the Large zone. However, no
hoMarginBeg margin applies to allocation thresholds because a Weighted average is always
available.
4.8.3 HANDOVERS
Each runHandOver, after L1M initialisation process for handover, the BTS performs handover
decision process based on regular uplink and downlink measurements on the current cell
(level and quality) and neighbouring cells (level only); the main steps of this process are:
HANDOVERS TRIGGERING
• Rescue handovers: when the MS gets too far from the BS (Distance) and/or radio
link measurements show low received signal strength (DL/UL signal Strength)
and/or signal quality on the current serving cell (DL/UL signal Quality)
• Network Optimization Handovers: a better signal strength is available on an
adjacent cell (Power Budget), the serving cell gets overloaded (Traffic) or in the
particular case of a multilayer network (Capture)
Note: new intercell handover decisions have been introduced for AMR channels
Intracell handovers normally occur for the following reasons:
• Interference handover: radio measurements show a low received signal quality but
a high received signal strength on the serving cell.
• inter-zone handover from a "zone" of a multizone cell to another "zone".
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HANDOVERS SCREENING
To a given handover is associated (hard coded) a set of expressions used both to check
eligibility of a neighbour cell (a cell from the list of Ncells reported by the MS is eligible if all
expressions attached to this HO cause and neighbour cell are strictly positive) and to sort
target cells list.
See the chapter General formulas to get the detail of each expression.
According to the handover cause, the candidate cell’s expressions must then fulfil the
following formulas to be declared eligible
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The whole set of HO decision functions currently implemented for non AMR channels, with
their priority, is defined in the table below (handover functions are executed in increasing order
of priority as shown below):
(a) intracell and tiering handover functions are exclusive from each other
(b) these handover functions are exclusive from each other (a given cell may be of only one
type among concentric, dual-coupling & dual-band) and do not apply to SDCCH channels.
(c) these intracell handover functions are ihnibited when in directed retry mode.
(d) only for a monozone cell or in the large zone of a multizone cell.
Note: The so-called "Directed Retry" handover is a "pseudo" handover indication message
sent upon request from the BSC. This specific case is mainly intended to provide BSC with a
target cells list for intercell HO and is discussed in chapter Directed Retry Handover.
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(a) these handover functions are exclusive from each other (a given cell may be of only one
type among concentric, dual-coupling & dual-band).
(b) these intracell handover functions are ihnibited when in directed retry mode or in dual
tranfer mode.
(c) this intracell handover function applies to TCH/AFS (Full Rate) channels only.
(d) only for a monozone cell or in the large zone of a multizone cell.
Note: The so-called "Directed Retry" handover is a "pseudo" handover indication message
sent upon request from the BSC. This specific case is mainly intended to provide BSC with a
target cells list for intercell HO and is discussed in chapter Directed Retry Handover.
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• intraBscDirectedRetry (bsc)
• interBscDirectedRetry (bsc)
• intraBscDirectedRetryFromCell (bts)
• interBscDirectedRetryFromCell (bts)
Previously to V15.0, it is mandatory to activate the Queuing when the Directed Retry is
enabled. From V15.0, the feature “Directed retry without queuing activation” removes this
constraint and allows the activation indepently from queuing.
This mode is enabled by the bts object parameter directedRetryModeUsed set to “bsc”. Until
V9, bsc mode could only be applied from a micro cell towards a macro cell (system rule).
One of the adjacent cells is predefined as the one used for directed retry. The
adjacentCellUmbrellaRef parameter gives the position of this cell in the neighbor list.
LCAUTION!
In this mode, there is no check of the RF conditions on the predefined target cell before the
directed retry HO occurs: the predefined cell must cover the whole area of the current cell.
To ensure that the MS is pre-synchronised with the predefined target cell (MS has decoded
GSM time and the BSIC), the neighbor cell BCCH must be put in the adjacentCellReselection
parameter bCCHFrequency.
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This mode is enabled by the bts object parameter directedRetryModeUsed set to “bts”. It is
used, for example in the case of a high traffic cell covered by several neighbors.
When the BSC receives the Assign Request message from the MSC, the BSC requests the
BTS through a Connection State Request message to return a list of eligible neighbor cells
generated by the following criteria. This list is immediately sent through a Connection State
Acknowledgement message to the BSC. If the list is empty, the BTS tries to regenerate it later.
As soon as handover conditions are fulfilled for at least one neighbouring cell, the BTS sends
the BSC a spontaneous Handover Indication message with the specific cause “Directed
Retry”.
If RxLevNcell(m) = Max(RxLevNcell(n))
then Cell m is chosen by the BSC as the target cell for the Directed Retry HO
LCAUTION!
The Directed Retry criterion is based on only one measurement of RxLevNcell(n) and not on
NCellHreqave measurements.
In a microcell network, a directed retry HO may handover a call from a macro cell to a micro
cell even if the stability criteria is not fulfilled (microcellular handover type A). In this
environment, to avoid a ping-pong HO, one may put a high value to the adjacentCellHandOver
parameter directedRetryAlgo.
Before V15.0, queuing must be activated to enable directed retry. In that case, when the BSC
receives from the MSC an Assignment Request and there is no TCH available in the cell, then
the request is queued and the directed retry procedure is started. The BSC sends to the MSC
a Queuing Indication message.
• If there is a resource in the target cell, the directed retry procedure is successful
and the communication is established, and the resources of the serving cell are
released
• If there is no resource available in the target cell, the directed retry procedure fails
and the request remains queued in the source cell until a TCH is available, the
timer associated to the queue expires (allocPriorityTimers), a handover indication
is received from the BTS and is successfully executed, or other events which lead
to the release of the communication (MS is lost, MS disconnect the call …).
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• If there is no neighbouring cells indicated by the BTS in the connection state ack
message, then the request remains queued in the source cell until a TCH is
available, the timer associated to the queue expires, a handover indication (cause
“directed retry”) is received from the BTS and successfully executed, or other
events which lead to the release of the communication (MS is lost, MS disconnect
the call …).
In case the request could not be queued (queue full for instance), BSS sends an Assignment
failure (cause “no radio resource available”) message to the MSC.
From V15.0, as soon as the directed retry is enabled in the BSS, whatever is the queuing
activation, the directed retry is processed. In that case,
• if queuing is activated, it is the same behavior as before V15.0. The only change is
that if the request could not be queued, the directed retry (if allowed) is processed
independently from the queuing.
• If queuing is desactivated, (or if the request could not be queued), then the
procedure is as follow: when the BSC receives from the MSC an Assignment
Request and there is no TCH available in the cell, then the directed retry
procedure is started and the BSC sends to the MSC a Queuing Indication
message to inform the MSC of a delay in the TCH allocation, and the MS remains
on SDCCH channel.
If there is a resource in the target cell, the directed retry procedure is
successful and the communication is established.
If there is no resource available in the target cell, the directed retry
procedure fails and the BSS sends an Assignment failure (cause “no radio
resource available”) message to the MSC.
If there is no neighbouring cells indicated by the BTS in the connection state
ack message, it means that neighbouring cells information are not available
in the BTS (it depends also on the MS performances) or handover conditions
are not met. Then the BSC starts an internal timer
directedRetryWithNoQueuingTimer (5 seconds, non configurable) in order to
wait for a handover indication message (cause “directed retry”) the BTS
sends if the handover conditions are fulfilled. The BSC processes this
handover indication message as described here above. In case the timer
directedRetryWithNoQueuingTimer expires, the BSC sends an Assignment
failure message (cause “no radio resource available”) to the MSC.
Note: during a directed retry procedure, if there is no TCH available in the target cell, the
procedure can neither be queued, nor execute another directed retry from the target cell.
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From V9 a cell is defined as concentric if two pools of ressources (TDMAs) are defined using
Rxlev and optionally Timing Advance as allocation criteria. One or two types of TRXs can be
used.
From V12, the concept is enlarged and concentric cell parameter may have 4 possible values:
monozone, concentric, dualband or dualcoupling.
CONCENTRIC CELL
Outerzone
Innerzone
BCCH and
traffic signalling
channels channels
The principle of the concentric cells is to share the ressources in both zones assuming that the
TRXs are transmitting at different power. The BCCH and the signalling channels use the high
power TRXs (outer zone) thus the BTS needs to check if the link budget MS-BTS is sufficient
to allocate a ressource of the inner zone. Furthermore, to avoid a subsequent intracell
handover, the BSC is checking this condition with the BTS each time a first TCH has to be
allocated at the end of the call setup, i.e an Assign Request has been sent by the MSC. The
same checking is done by the curent BTS when an intercell handover is required.
The smaller range of the frequencies in the internal zone, due to low maximum available
power for transmission, means that these internal zone frequencies can be reused a short
distance away. With this greater re-utilization of frequencies an operator can achieve the same
coverage using less bandwidth.
From V12 functionalities have been deployed allowing an easier frequency planning in case of
frequency hopping (fractional reuse techniques), and a major enhancement with the TCH
allocation directly in the relevant zone in case of calll setup and handover.
Note: a configuration with HePA on the outer zone and ePA on the inner zone is a kind of
concentric cell and not a kind of dualcoupling cell, eventhough the biZonePowerOffset
parameter has to be set accordingly to that particular case.
Please refer to the associated Functional Note [R10] Concentric cell improvements
(CM888/TF889). See also chapter Concentric Cells.
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DUALBAND CELL
Definition: a cell is defined as dualband if GSM900 TRXs and DCS1800 TRXs coexist and
share the same BCCH. The propagation loss being different, it results in two different
coverage areas.
Outerzone
Innerzone / band1 band0
GSM (or DCS)
DCS (or GSM)
BCCH and
traffic channels
signalling
channels
DUALCOUPLING CELL
Definition: a cell is defined as dualcoupling if the TRXs are not combined with the same type of
combiner and thus have not the same coupling loss resulting in two different coverage areas.
Outerzone
Innerzone
H2D
H4D
traffic BCCH and
channels signalling
channels
In a dualcoupling cell, as the TRXs are not combined with the same type of combiner the most
powerful TRXs define the large zone. Such cells are managed with the concentric cell principle
and dualcoupling cell feature take advantage of it using different coupling modules rather than
a mono type coupling module in a sector.
Please refer to the associated Functional Note [R11] FN for stepped coupling. See also
chapter Concentric Cells.
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The MS is permitted to migrate from the large zone to the small zone if:
• the MS is close to the BTS (Timing Advance used to estimate the MS to BTS
distance, only for concentric cells))
• and if RF conditions are good enough (RxLev downlink).
Note: The transceiverZone object parameter zone Tx power max reduction value is always set
to 0 for the large zone, and in the range of [1 to 55]dB for the small zone.
The Concentric/Dualcoupling Cell Handover from Large to Small zone is triggered if:
The MS is handed over from the small zone to the large one if:
• the MS is far from the BTS (Timing Advance, used to estimate the MS to BTS
distance, only for concentric cells)
• or if RF conditions are too bad (RxLev downlink, RxQual uplink and downlink).
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For a non-AMR channel, or an AMR channel with legacy L1M, the Concentric/Dualcoupling
cell handover from small to large zone is triggered if:
For an AMR channel with AMR L1M, the Concentric/Dualcoupling cell handover from small to
large zone is triggered if:
OR
Quality intercell HO on DL codec mode criterion is satisfied
Please note that an external priority [0...17] can be given to the Concentric Cell Handover from
a Small to Large zone, because of the small to large Zone HO priority parameter.
Convention:
• if BCCH gsm, then band 0 = gsm, band 1 = dcs and standardIndicator = gsmdcs
• If BCCH dcs, then band 0 = dcs, band 1 = gsm and standardIndicator = dcsgsm
The algorithms created for concentric cell are the same for dualband cells, except the timing
advance criterion is not used and the dualband capability of the mobile is checked.
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1) EXP1(n) > 0
2) EXP2PBGT(n) + biZonePowerOffset > 0
where PBGT uses msTxPwrMax2ndBand
In V17.0, the system implements a mechansim to compensate for the power gap between the
old and new channel channels in the inner (or outer) and outer (or inner) zones immediately
after a handover.
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The interferences are generally related to a specific TDMA. When signal quality is bad but
signal strength is sufficient, the BSC allocates another channel in the current cell.
Condition to be fulfilled is:
Thresholds should be set in order to ensure good subjective voice quality (rxqualXLIH 5 with
frequency hopping or rxqualXLIH 4 without hopping).
LCAUTION!
In order to avoid the choice of a more interfered channel, channels are allocated in the 2 low
interference pools (hopping and not hopping); if no free channel is detected among these 2
pools and although queuing is allowed, the intracell HO must not be done; if queuing is
allowed, the request is queued then satisfied only after reception of suitable interference level
on idle channels (RF_RESOURCE_INDICATION message); when TDMA removals leads to
intracell HO, the first free resource is taken whatever its interference level.
• Busy
• Free with interference measure level available
• Free without interference measure level available (for example the channel has just
been release and the measure are not yet done)
No interference level management is performed on PDTCH channels. The level status of
PDTCH resource is always high (bad level). So intracell HO is not performed on PDTCH
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There is no parameter to disable this feature but this can be done by assigning thresholds
rxqual maximum value (7). Thresholds should be set in order to ensure good subjective quality
(rxqual 5 with frequency hopping or rxqual 4 without hopping).
This handover is triggered when quality exceeds signal quality thresholds:
There is no parameter to disable this feature but this can be done by assigning threshold
RxLev minimum value (-110 dBm).
This handover is triggered when the signal strength falls below the following thresholds:
(RXLEV_DL< lRxLevDLH)
OR
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AdaptedHoMargin(n) is the margin computed when AHA feature is enabled. It takes into
account neighDisfavorOffset and servingfactorOffset parameters (see chapter Automatic
handover adaptation)
From V12 this feature is replaced by the General protection against HO ping-pong feature.
However, in order for the new feature to be enabled the timeBetweenHOConfiguration
parameter must be set to “used”, and the bts Time Between HO configuration parameter must
be set to “1”.
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This overload detection mechanism is based on the number of free TCH or the number of
queued TCH requests in the cell ; TCH resources reserved for maximum priority requests are
not taken into account ; in a concentric cell, TCH resources of the small zone are not taken
into account (no queuing procedure in the small zone) ; in a dualband cell, TCH resources of
the band1 are not taken into account (no queuing procedure in the band1) ; no more operator
warning is sent at the beginning and the end of the overload phase.
The overload begins when:
When the cell status becomes overloaded, a request is done to the L1M to consider a new
ho_margin (hoMargin-hoMarginTrafficOffset) ; this request is sent only to the TRXs which
belong to the large zone/band0 (for concentric/dualband cells).
In case of intra BSS handover (for traffic reasons), the BSC checks the target cell status
during the handover selection phase and if overload condition is set, the BSC will try on the
following cell of the list (a handover between the band0 of a serving cell and the band1 of a
target cell is possible if the eligibility of band1 is indicated in the handover indication
message).
In case of inter BSS handover (for traffic reasons), the target cell overload status is not known
until the HO procedure is launched (HO request). Also, a handover between the band0 of a
serving cell and the band1 of a target cell is not possible (due to the present A interface).
It is advised to set the General protection against HO ping-pong feature with this feature in
order to overcome the associated risk of ping-pong.
LCAUTION!
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This feature is not applicable to a network which sets all the TCH request priorities to the
maximum priority since the cell is always overloaded whatever are the cell overload
thresholds.
Since the handover for traffic reasons feature uses the PBGT handover procedure, the
powerBudgetInterCell parameter shall be set to “true” (the BSC does not control this flag to
modify the hoMarginTrafficOffset). The BTS never transmits the Handover for traffic reasons if
this flag is not set.
There is no standby chain updating for the cell overload status ; thus, in case of switch-over,
the L1M value for hoMarginTrafficOffset is set to 0 and the cell is no longer overloaded.
About hoMarginTrafficOffset setting:
Typically, when hoMargin is reduced by 1dB (which implies that hoMarginTrafficOffset=1 dB),
this affects around 13% of the mobiles, assuming that cell overlapping is larger than the
hoMargin; roughly:
• 1dB of power reduction decreases the cell radius by 6.8% thus the cell coverage
by 13%
• 2dB of power reduction decreases the cell radius by 14%
• 3dB of power reduction decreases the cell radius by 21.9%
If hoMarginTrafficOffset is set to 0 dB, the HO traffic is somehow disabled since PBGT will be
done before the traffic has a chance to be done (higher priority).
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where EXPi(n) = EXP1(n) for the handover causes capture or directed retry in distant mode
or EXPi(n) = EXP2(n) for other causes
EXP1 or EXP2 are added in the “handover indication” message from V12 ; offsetLoad(n) is a
neighbour cell parameter in dB and stateLoad is an overload status parameter.
stateLoad=1 for an intra BSS neighbor cell which is overloaded and 0 otherwise, including an
inter BSS neighbor cell overloaded ; the BSC sorts the cells that have the same priority by
decreasing values of EXP4 before reducing the preferred cells list from six to three.
offsetLoad(n) corresponds to the new offsetLoad parameter, offsetPriority defines the range of
the priority from 1 to 5 (1 is the highest level).
The overload detection relies on the same principle as that described in the Handover for
traffic reasons feature. If the overload detection is not activated, obviously, the priority is the
only criterion which is taken into account.
With such an algorithm, it can be noticed that the priority parameter is an important criterion in
a multi-layer network and that the overload situation is an important criterion in a network
where the cells have the same priority.
For multi-layer networks, a problem may occur when the higher priority cell (which captures
traffic) becomes consequently overloaded and then induces HOs for traffic in the other
adjacent cells ; this can be awkward when the overlapping area between the higher priority
cell and its adjacent cells is wide ; in such a case, too much traffic is captured and this
prevents from doing new calls in this cell.
In a network where the cells have the same priority, another problem could be noticed: the
overload condition of adjacent cells is not managed in a uniform way if the adjacent cells do
not belong to the same BSC ; the overload condition for cells belonging to another BSC is not
considered and may induce longer handover procedure if this one is overloaded. Indeed , the
overload state will only be known when the HO is triggered. Then, if the cell is overloaded, the
request will be refused and the BSC will try the next cell on the list of preferred cells.
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PREREQUISITE
GOAL
The frequency tiering technique aims at decreasing the global interference level in a fractional
reuse pattern network and offers efficient traffic management at a TRX level through the self-
tuning system at the BTS
EXPECTED GAINS
• A large capacity increase: The cell tiering increases the fractional load capabilities,
therefore, permits bigger BTS configurations with the same amount of available
frequencies.). In a 1x1 network, the fractional load can go up to 33.3% and up to
100% in 1x3.
• A better network quality (worst communications, typically at the cell boundary, do
no longer corrupt other communications). The reduction of the global level of
interference may also significantly decrease the global number of dropped calls
and other faults in particularly loaded networks.
• A better uplink/downlink balancing (the uplink interference cancellation gain is
balanced by a significant downlink cell tiering improvement)
PRINCIPLES
The mechanism relies on simple dynamic resources allocation strategies that are intended to
allocate the worst communications, in terms of downlink Carrier on Interference ratio (CIR), to
the non-hopping frequencies (like BCCH), taking advantage of their larger reuse pattern and
consequently of their better resistance to interference, while the best communications are
driven to the hopping frequencies.
Evaluation of the calls is based on a ratio (in Watts) of the RxLevDL measured for the serving
cell over the sum of RxLevNCell measured for the BCCH of each neighbour, weighted
according to the type of interference brought (adjacent or co-channel).
This evaluation, called Potential Worst C/I (PWCI), potential because it does not include the
frequency hopping gain, is meant to simulate what the interference on the small pattern would
be like.
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The PWCI is computed by the BTS for all the calls in progress in the cell and arranged into an
averaged PWCI distribution that provides 2 handover decision parameters: lCirDLH (low) and
uCirDLH (high):
• FH_HR% is the percent of HR calls managed by the hopping pattern in the cell,
• HR% is the percent of HR calls managed in the cell.
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RxLevDL Watts
PWCI=
SUM [RXLevNCell (i)] Watts SUM [RXLevNCell (j) - ADC] Watts
With
• RXLEV(0) the DL signal strength in Watts received from the serving cell, re-scaled
at maximum power (RxLev_DL + BS_Att)
• RXLEV (i) is the level in Watts measured on the BCCH of a neighbor cell using the
same TCH frequencies set as the current cell. These neighbors generate co-
channel interferences.
• RXLEV (j) is the level in Watts measured on the BCCH of a neighbor cell using a
TCH frequencies set different from that of the current cell. These neighbors
generate adjacent channel interferences.
• ADC corresponds to the first adjacent channel protection factor which is fixed in the
BTS software typically to 18dB
The PWCI value is the same whatever the effective load.
With concentric/dualband/dualcoupling cells, ACT is only applicable within the large zone.
Indeed, the tiering handover decision relies on the following algorithm:
• IF the TDMA bearing the considered channel belongs to the small pattern AND
does not belong to the small zone of a multizone cell:
IF pwCi < lCirDLH
THEN the channel will be put on the large pattern
• IF the TDMA bearing the considered channel belongs to the large pattern (which
implies that it belongs to the large zone):
IF pwCi > uCirDLH
THEN the channel will be put on the small pattern
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In this case, P is computed by considering exclusively the resources in the large zone
(hopping as well as non hopping). In order to perform a tiering handover, the communication
must be in the large zone and there must be fractional reuse in it. The large pattern will only
be the BCCH frequency (the other TRXs in the large zone must hop) and the communication
will stay in the Large zone.
The PWCI statistics and uCirDLH/lCirDLH may be transmitted on the Abis interface according
to the selfTuningObs parameter; these statistics are available independently of the activation
of the feature.
The hoRequiredTch counter C1138 has 2 new screenings (tiering handover from large to
small pattern and tiering handover from small to large pattern) ; two new counters are added:
C1802 (hoSuccessTieringTch) and C1801 (hoFailureTieringTchNorr) with 2 screenings each
(0: large pattern to small pattern & 1: small pattern to large pattern).
The table below gives indicative values for the time required to gather nbPwCISamples
measurements for different cell configurations, assuming the average TCH occupancy rate is
75% and that one TCH provides 1 PwCI measurement every 480 ms which is roughly 2 PwCI
measurements per second:
The time required to reach a sufficient statistics as well as the time between two consecutive
tiering threshold updates depends on the number of samples required, and the capacity
(number of TCH) and load of the cell.
So a way to decrease the period between 2 consecutive threshold updates is about the half of
the time required to reach a first reliable statistics.
CAUTIONS
Because it takes advantage of BTS O&M centralization, this feature applies also to 2G
products (equipped exclusively with DRXs).
The activation of this feature implies a previous activation of the L1mV2.
The statistics (for PWCI) are not kept during upgrade and must be gathered again after the
site reconfiguration.
Intracell handover for quality and intracell tiering handover are exclusive (choice managed with
the intracell parameter of the handOverControl object). For mobiles at cells boundaries, if for
PBGT reasons, a handover is decided towards a new cell on a hopping TCH, a subsequent
handover for tiering reasons will be possible towards a non hopping TCH and so on, so
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inducing a risk of ping-pong handovers ; this drawback will be avoided with the well tuning of
hoMarginTiering parameter.
No tiering handover decision is possible if the TDMA bearing the current TCH belongs to the
small zone/band1 of a multizone/dualband cell.
If tiering is activated, no tiering decision is undertaken by the BTS as long as a reliable
statistics has not been gathered (minimum nbPwCISamples for PWCI measurements); field
experiments have shown that at least 20000 PWCI samples are needed.
In V12, statistics are not maintained on the BCF passive chain.
The cell tiering configuration relies on a correct definition of interferes for each cell (through
interfererType). This feature is based on values of PWCI that depend on the overlap, the
available spectrum and the sites' density but neither on the traffic nor the fractional load.
However, when the traffic is low, there are fewer samples than at the busy hour and the PWCI
distribution is therefore a touch less relevant.
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Microcellular algorithms were initially defined to avoid issues due to fast moving mobiles
connected to microcells. People thought that fast moving mobiles would not have enough time
to receive handover information coming from the network or would jump some microcells. To
avoid communication failures, specific handover algorithms were defined to send fast moving
mobiles to the macro layer.
However, experiments performed on several microcellular networks demonstrated that fast
moving mobiles linked to outdoor microcells do not present any issues. Microcellular
algorithms are used mainly to split traffic loads on the two layers, regardless of mobile speed.
Most microcellular algorithms are based on a “capture” threshold. Mobiles linked to a
macrocell perform a handover towards the micro layer as soon as the field strength received
from a microcell is sufficiently high (whatever the field strength received from the macrocell)
for a sufficient duration.
The microcellular handover algorithm type A is also based on the stability of the signal. Before
V12, with L1mV1, the stability was checked on the best neighbouring microcell, now L1mV2
launches in parallel the confirmation process for the 6 best microcells.
Handover execution
The following table describes permitted handover causes according to the type of the serving
cell and the neighbor cell.
Note: the traffic handover is only possible from a large zone (or monozone).
The capture handover algorithm can only be defined from a macrocell to a microcell. However
the type of a cell is defined relative to the type of the neighboring one. It means that the type of
a cell A can be a macrocell from the cell B point of view but can be a microcell from the cell C
point of view. This way, it is possible to use the capture handover algorithm on both sides,
macrocell to microcell and microcell to macrocell.
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signal quality
signal quality
signal strength
signal strength
distance
distance capture
power budget
umbrellaType power budget directedRetry (BTS mode)
traffic
traffic forced handover
directedRetry (BTS
directedRetry (BTS mode)
mode)
forced handover
forced handover
signal quality
signal quality
signal strength signal quality
signal strength
distance signal strength
distance
power budget distance
microType power budget
traffic directedRetry
traffic
directedRetry (BTS (BTS mode)
directedRetry (BTS mode)
mode) forced handover
forced handover
forced handover
However the Type A handover algorithm has not been specifically defined to perform
handovers from microcells to the macrocell layer.
A timer linked to that algorithm is tunable via the microCellCaptureTimer parameter. That timer
prevents the BSC from doing a handover on capture reason during a fixed period.
See also General formulas for the capture expression:
While a handover is decided, the list of eligible cells is provided at each runHandover
(microCellCaptureTimer (n) is not reinitialised).
The threshold microCellStability(n) must be put previously to 63 dB. This value ensures that a
handover is performed as long as the field strength received from the neighbor cell is higher
than the “capture” threshold. The value can then be reduced case by case.
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LCAUTION!
The microcellular feature is an OMC-R option (must be activated at OMC-R installation).
From V15.1 and thanks to the Advanced Speech Call Items Evolution functionality (refer to
[R30]) the range of the microCellCaptureTimer has been modified.
Initially that modification was designed for GSM-R applications: microcellCaptureTimer at 500s
is to avoid to be captured by a railway station cell for a communication established in the train
and thus to avoid that an on going communication from a train arriving in a railway station with
no stop, is captured by the railway station cells and when leaving the railway station, leads to
a new handover to the railways track cells.
Before V15.1 microCellCaptureTimer, on adjacentCellHandover object, has a range [0 … 255]
which means a maximum of about 255 * runHandOver (runHandOver is expressed in
multiples of 480 ms for SACCH frames and multiples of 470 ms for SDCCH frames) for a
communication, before being captured by a neighbouring cell which has a minimum and a
stable rxlev during this period.
The request consists in increasing the range of this parameter, so as it is kept as it is, but the
meaning of specific values are changed to give them greater values (conversion to a value
greater than 255).
This table is applicable for a runHandOver = 1. If runHandOver = 2, then 491 seconds are
obtained with MicrocellCapture value set to 250.
Note: if the Handover on SDCCH feature is activated, the timer must be computed by
multiplying the BTS used value by 470 ms.
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By putting a low value to forced handover algo(n) , the HO becomes easier: the cell is
released more rapidly.
LCAUTION!
A forced HO is possible after a certain communication duration:
Therefore, when integrating this feature in the soft blocking procedure, the operating mode is
the following:
• soft blocking,
• wait a certain time (20 seconds),
• trigger the forced HO.
There is only one attempt per cell.
Another reason to use a Forced HO with soft blocking is that a Forced HO may interrupt a
Directed Retry HO (if the Connection State Request message of the Forced HO arrives before
the Handover Indication cause Directed Retry message). One must wait a period of time after
the soft blocking so that all calls have time to move from SDCCH channels to TCH channels.
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PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
The time for a mobile to reselect a cell in idle mode is quite long. So, a mobile can start a
communication while camping in another cell, leading to a call drop in the worst case.
cell B
cell A
End Beginning
of last call of new call
If the reselection algorithm execution occurs close to the border of cell A the mobile can setup
a call a short moment after in the cell B while the cell A is still selected. Unfortunately, the MS
has to wait a certain period of time before being able to make an handover. The system has to
perform some measurements before taking some handovers decisions.
This period of time is quite critical, there are some risks of call drop because of the low level of
the signal.
Another issue is concerned by this feature ; that is the problem of a mobile turning at a street
corner, when the RxLev suddenly decreases in the serving cell and increases for a neighbour
cell.
FEATURE DESCRIPTION
The principle is not to speed the selection process but to allow a handover on PBGT quicker.
Cell A
1
Risk 1 sel/reselection
of algo execution
call 2 call setup in cell A
drop 3 HO toward cell B
2
3 Cell B
Time
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From V11, two shorter averages are defined for the level of the serving cell
(rxLevHReqaveBeg) and for the level of the neighbouring cells (rxLevNCellHReqaveBeg).
The L1M will use this new shorter averages at the beginning of the call until Max
(rxLevHreqave*rxLevHreqt, rxQualHreqave*rxQualHreqt) is reached and after loss and
recovery of BSIC.
So from V11, the L1M must only wait:
The parameter rxLevNCellHReqaveBeg is used each time a new cell is detected by the
mobile. Therefore, it increases the system reactivity.
UNTIL
Max(rxLevHreqave * rxLevHreqt, rxQualHreqave * rxQualHreqt) is reached
In case of mobile moving straight the cross road (two orthogonal cells A and B), a handover
for Power Budget may be processed from cell B to cell A. Once the cross is passed, the
mobile is handed again over the cell B.
This ping-pong handover shall be avoided as useless handover leads to voice quality
degradation and signalling increase.
Another advantage of this feature is the possibility to reduce unnecessary handovers at border
of Location Area, interBSC or interMSC HO. In this case the need to perform Power Budget
handovers is diminished against the extra load on NSS and the voice quality.
The feature provides a solution by preventing handover for power budget from the serving cell
if the RXLEV downlink serving cell level exceed a specific threshold
To prevent handovers for power budget from the serving cell if the RXLEV downlink serving
cell level exceed a specific threshold (rxLevDLPBGT), the following expression used in
combination with existing cell selection criteria is actually:
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4.8.16 PRE-SYNCHRONIZED HO
During an asynchronous handover, the MS repeats the HO access bursts until it receives the
physical information message containing the timing advance of the new cell. So the speech
cut duration may last as long as the MS receives the new TA (Timing Advance) applied in the
new cell.
The pre-synchronized handover feature allows a Phase 2 MS to make a synchronized
handover between two (2) cells not belonging to the same site but managed by the same
BSC. The procedure is the same as for an intra-site synchronized handover, excepted that the
TA is set in advance and is transmitted to the MS at the beginning of the HO procedure.
LCAUTION!
Only intra BSC synchronized handover are possible.
There are two possibilities to set the timing advance in case of pre-synchronized HO:
Presynchro with default value or with a determined Timing Advance.
Two parameters are impacted in the adjacentCellHandOver object to enable this feature:
• synchronized is set to the value “pre sync HO, with timing advance” or “pre sync
HO,default timing advance”.
• preSynchroTimingAdvance indicates the value of the TA.
By comparing not synchronized handovers with synchronized handover, a phonetic gain from
20ms to 40 ms is expected. This is due to the Physical_Info message suppression, which is
not necessary because on pre-synchronized handover, the timing advance value is carried by
the Handover_Command message. Moreover, only four Handover_Access messages are
used on pre-synchronized handover instead of more than four in case of not synchronized
handover.
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LCAUTION!
• If, during three (3) successive RF RESOURCE INDICATION messages, an
incoherency is noticed at the BSC level concerning the avaibility of a radio
channel, the channel is released and is returned free to the allocator.
• When a resource is released upon a call termination, it always returns to the pool
of worst interference level, whatever its level before the allocation. The next
measurement received from the BTS for this resource will be used to update the
level and, consequently, to find the appropriate pool.
• The inner zone of a concentric cell does not support SDCCH channels. Till V11,
although they belong to the same cell, TCH pools for the inner zone are separated
from the same pools of the outer zone, and there are no possible channel
exchanges between the two zones.
• When a SDCCH is requested and no SDCCH is available, the external priorities
are considered as a TCH can be allocated instead of a SDCCH, following the TCH
allocation principles.
• If a TCH is requested and the priority threshold is reached, only priority 0 requests
will be served. Other priorities will generate negative responses from the allocator.
Cell A Cell B
lRxLevDLH rxLevMinCell (B)
-100 dBm -95 dBm
HO 1 HO 2
-98 dBm -92 dBm
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If hoSecondBestCellConfiguration = 1
If hoSecondBestCellConfiguration = 2
If hoSecondBestCellConfiguration = 3
then HO attempt to 2nd best candidate cell and to 3rd best candidate cell
When the HO attempt towards the last candidate fails, the bssMapTchoke starts at the BSC.
At the expiry of the timer, the BSC asks the BTS to provide a new list of eligible cells.
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LCAUTION!
The parameters hoPingpongCombination and hoPingpongTimeRejection must be defined at
the “entering cell” (relatively to the first HO of the combination) level, for the neighbouring cell
(adjacentCellHandover object) corresponding to the “left cell” (still relatively to the first HO of
the combination). Thus, these parameters are known by the “new BSC” whatever the type of
HO is (intra or interBSC).
For interBSS handovers, if the Cause element is not included in the HANDOVER_REQUEST
message sent from the MSC to the target BSC, then this feature is not applied except when
the incoming_cause in hoPingpongCombination parameter is set to ALL.
During upgrades to V12, if bts Time Between HO configuration is greater than 0, then bts Time
Between HO configuration is set to 1, hoPingpongTimeRejection is set to the previous value of
bts Time Between HO configuration and hoPingpongCombination is set to (all, allPBGT) and if
bts Time Between HO configuration is equal to 0, then it keeps the same value,
hoPingpongTimeRejection is set to 0 and hoPingpongCombination is set to empty.
The C1166 counter related to the “Minimum time between handover” feature is removed and
replaced by the C1782 counter incremented when a cell is removed of the preferred cells list
(so, for one handover indication message, it can be incremented several times).
This feature gives no protection against intracell or interzone ping-pong handovers and gives
no protection against ping-pong handovers between more than 2 cells except for allCapture or
allPBGT outgoing causes.
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PRINCIPLE
In order to eliminate the fading in the measurement processing, some averaging mechanisms
are implemented. But the frequency hopping and the mobile speed introduce frequency and
space diversity and average the attenuation of the received signal:
As shown on the diagram above, the faster the mobile moves the less the fading is impacting
(space diversity).
Mobiles can also be sensitive to the frequency diversity as shown on the diagram below. The
more hopping frequencies are used the less fading is impacting.
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The principle of this feature is to use these averages introduced by the frequency hopping and
the MS speed, in order to decrease the number of measurements take into account or the
handover margin.
DECISIONS FACTORS
FREQUENCY HOPPING
In order to have a sufficient averaging of the Rayleigh fading, the number of frequencies in the
hopping law has to be greater or equal than 4. If the number of frequencies in the hopping law
is less than 4, mobiles are considered as non-hopping, and all processing defined for non
hopping mobiles are applied.
This criterion and all associated mechanisms are applied to the following channels:
• TCH full rate whatever the channel coding (data circuit, EFR, FR, AMR…),
• TCH half rate,
• SDCCH.
MS SPEED EVALUATOR
From internal studies and simulation, a mobile can be considered as a fast mobile, if the
standard deviation in dB of the Rxlev during one period of measurement (i.e. 104 bursts, thus
480ms) is less than 1.4dB.
This standard deviation represents approximately:
• 20 km/h in GSM900,
• 10km/h in GSM1800 and GSM1900,
and is sufficient to have a good averaging of the Rayleigh fading.
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For half rate channels, the number of bursts during one period is sufficient to evaluate with a
correct accuracy the standard deviation criteria, then all treatments associated to this criteria
are relevant for this kind of channels.
UPLINK DTX
In case of uplink DTX activation during the period, the number of bursts received is decreased,
thus the accuracy of the calculated standard deviation is decreased. In this case, the standard
deviation is not evaluated and the last calculated standard deviation is taken.
In case of uplink power control, the BTS is not able to distinguish between a variation due to
Rayleigh fading and one due to a power control attenuation. Thus if the power control required
a variation of more than 8 dB during the period, then the standard deviation is not evaluated
and the last calculated standard deviation is taken.
For this mechanism, two new parameters are added: servingfactorOffset, neighDisfavorOffset
and the previous factor hoMarginBeg from V11 is reused.
Following tables show for each case, the AdaptedHoMargin value and the averaging windows
taken into account in the PBGT handover mechanism according to
IF
number of available measurements for the cell < normal window
AND IF
number of available measurements for the neighbour cell < normal window
THEN
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The following table shows for each case, the averaging taken into account in the power control
mechanism.
In case of short averaging, due to the measurement quality, no specific value of K (refer to
chapter One shot power control (Pc_2) for more details on this value) is taken into account.
For slow mobile, Fast power control at TCH assignment (Pc_3) is still available in order to
reduce the power control activation time, but the first decision of power control is now taken
with Max[rxLevHreqAveBeg, rxQualAveBeg] measurements, instead of rxLevHreqAveBeg.
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There are various reasons where intracell handovers needs to be triggered, for instance:
PRINCIPLE
• capacity intracell handover: this expression groups all intracell handovers, which
are triggered in order to increase the network capacity:
interzone handover from the outer to the inner zone,
AMR handover from FR to HR TCH,
tiering from BCCH to TCH frequency pattern.
• quality intracell handover: this expression groups all intracell handovers, which are
triggered if the quality of the call is not sufficient:
normal intracell handover,
inter-zone handover from the inner to the outer zone,
AMR handover from HR to FR TCH,
tiering from TCH to BCCH frequency pattern.
The principle of this feature is to introduce two timers, associated to the intracell handover
type, which delay an intracell handover after an intracell handover:
minTimeQualityIntraCell HO
capacityTimeRejection
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In order to avoid some load, this filtering is done at the BTS level, thus at the L1M activation
for the dedicated channel the BSC has to precise the cause:
• initial assignment,
• capacity intracell handover
• quality intracell handover
• intercell handover.
Due to the following handover non AMR priority:
• RXQUAL
• RXLEV
• DISTANCE
• PBGT
• TRAFFIC
• INTRACELL
• AMR INTRACELL
• INTERZONE
the BTS has to check if one cause of a lower priority is fullfilled.
At the TS release, the BTS sends in the Stop Measurement Ack, to the BSC the number of
each kinds of filtered intracell handovers. The BSC uses this information in order to generate 2
counters.
LCAUTION!
Due to AMR L1m introduction, a new cause value is added in hoPingpongCombination:
• AMRquality.
This value is used in case of AMR handover triggered for alarm purpose. This type of
handover can be chosen via the parameter amrReserved2
In case of interBSC handover, in order to distinguish between RxQual handover and AMR
quality handover (according to amrReserved2 chosen), the BSC uses following rules:
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PRINCIPLE
Thanks to this feature, GSM to UMTS handover is possible for dual-mode mobiles in areas of
2G-3G coverage.
This feature requires the setting of O&M parameters in the following domains :
PREREQUISITES
Note that EMR is not a preequisite for 2G-3G handover. The system can perform handover on
mobiles that perform normal reporting.
Early classmark sending consists in the mobile sending as early as possible after access a
CLASSMARK CHANGE message to provide the network with additional classmark
information.
Early classmark sending activation is mandatory as EMR capability and FDD radio capability
is provided by the mobile to the BSS in the Classmark 3 IE sent in the CLASSMARK CHANGE
message.
Rule :
earlyClassmarkSending (v10 parameter) = allowed.
Although it is not used by the BSS, the UTRAN classmark information is mandatory to perform
a GSM to UMTS handover as the "INTER RAT HANDOVER INFO" IE shall be included by the
BSC in HANDOVER REQUIRED message.
The activation flag earlyClassmarkSendingUTRAN is used by the BSC and the MS:
• when the “3G Early Classmark Sending Restriction” field in SYSTEM INFORMATION
TYPE 3 message is set 1 (enabled), the MS is asked to the send its UTRAN
capabilites at the call set-up in the UTRAN CLASSMARK CHANGE message
subsequent to the CLASSMARK CHANGE one.
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• on an incoming handover, if the UTRAN capabilities have not been received by the
the target BSC in the HANDOVER REQUEST message, this BSC sends a
CLASSMARK ENQUIRY message in order to ask the MS to send the UTRAN
CLASSMARK CHANGE message.
Rule :
earlyClassmarkSendingUTRAN = ”enabled”.
The 2G measurement information message (2G MI) contains mainly the following information:
The 2G-3G measurement information message (2G-3G MI) contains mainly the following
information:
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DEFINITION
• The GSM Neighbour Cell List : it is the list of GSM cells, ordered by ARFCN and
BSIC, as defined in the BSIC_Description parameter of the
MEASUREMENT_INFORMATION message, which takes the first position in the list
• The 3G Neighbour Cell list: it is the list of UMTS cells, ordered by ARFCN &
scrambling code (the ARFCN are ordered the same way as received from the
network. For each ARFCN, scrambling codes are ordered in increasing number).
MAXIMUM SIZE
In this version the list is limited to 32 GSM cells and 32 UMTS cells.
When at least one UTRAN neighbouring cells is declared, only 31 different BCCH frequencies
for GSM neighbouring cells can be declared.
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The MSC may include a similar “service handover” field in BSSMAP “ASSIGNMENT
REQUEST” and BSSMAP “HANDOVER REQUEST” messages sent to the BSS:
• Shall not: the BTS shall never hand off the communication to UTRAN (No UMTS
neighbouring cell can be present in the candidate cells list)
• Should not: the BTS shall not hand off the communication to UTRAN for a PBGT
reason but other criteria are nevertheless authorized to avoid call drop (handover for
alarm reason) or to reduce the load of the current cell when in congestion state
(handover for traffic reason)
• Should: It can be understood either as “immediate” or as “when possible or if
necessary”. The hoMarginUtran(n) parameter setting allows dual-mode MS to go
more or less easily on UTRAN layer. With a very negative values, the PBGT emulates
a capture in order to recover the UTRAN service as soon as possible.
The MSC "service handover" value is sent to the BTS and the handover strategy is
decided by the MSC (according to OMC hoMarginXX setting).
• Case n°3 : "service handover" field is not provided by the MSC and
gsmToUMTSServiceHO is different from GsmToUMTSDisabled
Then, the default OMC "service handover" (i.e. the gsmToUMTSServiceHO
parameter) value is sent to the BTS and the handover strategy is decided by the
Access network instead of the Core network.
Note: In case the gsmToUMTSServiceHO is modified, the change only applies to new calls (or
after a handover) except for a feature deactivation.
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The following parameter should be set to “enabled” to allow the mobile to send its UTRAN
Classmark at call setup :
• earlyClassmarkSendingUTRAN
The following 8 new parameters belonging to adjacentcellUTRAN object define the UMTS
neighbours :
• mobileCountryCodeUTRAN
• mobileNetworkCodeUTRAN
• locationAreaCodeUTRAN
• rNCId
• cId
• fDDARFCN
• scramblingCode
• diversityUTRAN
EMR must be activated for 2G-3G handover. The following 7 new parameters serve to
configure the Enhanced Measurement Reporting for 2G-3G handover purposes:
• reportTypeMeasurement
• qsearchC
• fDDMultiRatReporting
• fDDReportingThreshold
• fDDReportingThreshold2
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• servingBandReporting
• servingBandReportingOffset
t3121 has the same use as t3103 in the GSM inter-BSC handover procedure. It sets the value
before countdown of T3121 timer deined in the GSM specification:
• T3121 starts when the BSC sends an INTER SYSTEM TO UTRAN HANDOVER
message to the mobile.
• T3121 stops when the mobile has correctly seized the UTRAN channel. The purpose
of this timer is for the BSC to keep the old channels long enough for the mobile to be
able to return to the old channels.
• On expiry of T3121 (indicating the mobile is lost), the BSC may release the channels.
• rxLevDLPbgtUTRAN
These parameters have the same meaning as their counterparts on adjacentCellHandOver
object, but apply to a UTRAN neighbouring cell instead of a GSM neighbour cell.
The following new parameters serve to configure margins for various types of handovers to 3G
cells :
• hoMarginUTRAN
• hoMarginAMRUTRAN
• hoMarginRxLevUTRAN
• hoMarginRxQualUTRAN
• hoMarginDistUTRAN
• hoMarginTrafficOffsetUTRAN
• offsetpriorityUTRAN
All these parameters have the same meaning as their counterpart on adjacentCellHandOver
object, but apply to a UTRAN neighbouring cell instead of a GSM neighbour cell.
In practice, all handovers algorithms except Capture and Directed retry are allowed towards
an UMTS neighbouring cell.
Note : the Power Budget handover as defined in GSM may be used to emulate a capture by
UTRAN layer.
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The existing mechanism to protect against ping-pong handover is used also for 2G-3G
handovers.
The list of outgoing causes for handovers towards UMTS neighbour cells is : traffic, pbgt,
rxLev, rxQual, dist, O&M (forced ho), all. This list is defined by setting the new parameter
hoPingpongCombinationUTRAN.
A specific timer is defined for time Rejection : hoPingpongTimeRejectionUTRAN.
If a pair of causes in the hoPingpongCombinationUTRAN parameter list refers to an incoming
or an outgoing cause that is not implemented in the source or in the target system, the existing
causes will be ignored.
On an incoming UMTS to GSM handover, if the BSC has not received the source "UTRAN
Cell identifier" (HANDOVER REQUIRED message / Old BSS to new BSS information"
container / “Cell load information group” IE), no rejection timer will be started for that UTRAN
cell.
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REPORTING QUANTITY
In the Enhanced Measurement Report message, the downlink received power level of UMTS
neighbouring cells may be reported by the mobiles using one of two possible reporting
quantities :
• either CPICH RSCP
• or CPICH Ec/N0
In our v17.0 implementation, the reporting quantity that mobiles are expected to report to the
network is always CPICH RSCP. The mobiles are informed of this obligation by the
FDD_REP_QUANT flag that is sent by the network on SACCH in Measurement Information
messages.
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RSCP (unit : dBm) Reported value inside EMR L1M converted value (no RxLev “equivalent” in dBm
(no unit) unit)
RSCP<-120 0 0 <-110
-120<RSCP<-119 0 0 <-110
-119<RSCP<-118 0 0 <-110
-118<RSCP<-117 0 0 <-110
-117<RSCP<-116 0 0 <-110
-116<RSCP<-115 0 0 <-110
-115<RSCP<-114 1 0 <-110
-114<RSCP<-113 2 0 <-110
-113<RSCP<-112 3 0 <-110
-112<RSCP<-111 4 0 <-110
-111<RSCP<-110 5 0 <-110
-110<RSCP<-109 6 1 -110<RxLev<-109
… … … …
-54<RSCP<-53 62 57 -54<RxLev<-53
-53<RSCP<-52 63 58 -53<RxLev<-52
-52<RSCP<-51 63 58 -53<RxLev<-52
… … … …
-26<RSCP<-25 63 58 -53<RxLev<-52
-25<RSCP 63 58 -53<RxLev<-52
ALGORITHMS
Once the power level of all 2G and 3G neighbouring cells can be compared with one another,
all L1M handover algorithms are directly reusable.
For example, the algorithm for a Power Budget handover to UTRAN can be described as
follows :
• The MS listens to UTRAN cells if RxLev < qsearchC
• The MS reports the measured RSCP of the UTRAN cells for which CPICH Ec/N0 ≥
fDDReportingThreshold2
• The “service handover” shall be set to “should”
• The BTS discards UTRAN cells for which :
o either CPICH RSCP < rxLevMinCellUTRAN(n)
o or RxLev of the serving cell > rxlevDLPbgtUTRAN(n)
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EMR CASE
The introduction of UTRAN neighbouring cells has an impact on Interference Matrix feature
because of the number of GSM neighbour cells it induces.
If at least one UTRAN neighbour cell is declared, no more than 31 GSM neighbour cells can
be declared, instead of 32. The impacts on IM are the following:
• The algorithm that calculates the number of cycles (used by launching tool on OMC-R
and by BSC for cycle definition) shall be done with only 31 BCCH frequencies
• UTRAN neighbour cell creation must be forbidden if 32 different BCCH frequencies
are already declared for GSM neighbour cells
• GSM neighbour cell creation with a 32nd different BCCH frequency must be forbidden
if at least one UTRAN neighbour cell is declared.
• UTRAN neighbour cell creation, UTRAN neighbour cell deletion, fDDARFCN change,
scramblingCode change, must be forbidden while Interference Matrix feature is
running on the BSC.
• the control that warns the operator if he tries to activate Interference matrix when one
cell has 32 GSM neighbouring cells (this control exists already in this case) must be
extended to the case where one cell has 31 GSM neighbouring cells and at least one
UTRAN neighbouring cell.
NORMAL MR CASE
Although fewer possibilities are available with MR than with EMR, the way GSM and UTRAN
neighbouring cells are reported in Measurement report messages is manageable, thanks to
multiBandReporting and fDDMultiratReporting parameters. Unlike EMR, the number of
reported non-serving band GSM and UTRAN valid neighbouring cells has an impact on the
number of remaining spare places in the Measurement report message that could be used for
fake neighbours in Interference Matrix.
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Once on the new cell, the mobile tries to establish level 2 connexion (SABM and UA exchange
procedure). If that procedure fails, then the mobile returns to the old channel, but if it succeeds
the synchronization information with previous best cells is kept for updating with new cell
parameters.
To conclude this paragraph, one realizes that a handover can be a rather lengthy process,
which should not be performed too late in order to ensure its success and not too often to
maintain a smooth voice or data flow.
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LCAUTION!
From V14 in L1mV2, RxLevXX is always rescaled at the maximum power output (see chapter
Measurement Processing)
This algorithm is a step by step full path loss compensation. The algorithm determines the gap
between the received level at Pmax (theoretical maximum power without taking into account
Power Control) and the power control threshold (lRxLevDLP, lRxLevULP) and compensates
the path loss step by step until the received level reaches the threshold. That algorithm has
been improved in L1mV2 with the introduction of a limitation based on the one shot
computation when there is a need to re-compute the attenuation (high level and good quality)
The basic idea of the step by step power control algorithm is:
• to reduce transmitted power when reception level is high and quality is good
• to compute a new transmitted power with total path loss compensation when
reception level is high and quality is good
At every runPwrControl event, the Weighted Average is computed at Pmax (SAveRxlev) and
the following algorithm is perfomed by Ms/Bs:
NewAttRequestdB = LastCommandedAttRequestdB
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The figure below summarizes the command for (UL or DL) transmission power according to
RxLev/RxQual values.
RxQual
Increase Tx Power
lRxQual
No new command for MS
(or BS) transmission power
uRxQual
New Tx Power
computation
LCAUTION!
When the MS or the BTS is in the “NEW TX POWER COMPUTATION” zone, the re-
computation of the attenuation does not lead necessarily to a reduction of the emitted power.
Note: This feature is activated at the BTS level by setting the following parameters:
LCAUTION!
From V14 in L1mV2, RxLevXX is always rescaled at the maximum power output (see chapter
Measurement Processing).
The enhanced power control is a one shot partial path loss compensation algorithm.
The one shot power control algorithm determines the “optimal” transmit power by computing a
partial path loss compensation and compensates it in one step.
This feature is activated at the BTS level by setting the following parameters:
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At every runPwrControl event, the Weighted Average is computed at Pmax (SAveRxlev) and
the following algorithm is perfomed by Ms/Bs:
ELSE
The values of K depend on the activation of frequency hopping and of the RxQual. Here are
the values of K, which come from simulation results:
RXQUAL 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
K with Frequency Hopping 0,9 0,8 0,7
K without Frequency Hopping 0,7 0,6 0,5
The figure below summarizes the command for (UL or DL) transmission power according to
RxLev/RxQual values.
RxQual
Tx Power max
(MS or BS attenuation = 0)
lRxQual
New Tx Power
computation
lRxLev RxLev
Please note that if NewAttRequestdB = 0 then the MS power becomes equal to the maximum
power possible in the cell, i.e. Min(msTXPwrMaxCell(n), MSTxPwrMax). The limitation can
come from the mobile (MSTxPwrMax) or from the cell (msTxPwrMax).
Concerning the BTS, the attenuation (difference between current power and max power) is
considered, so if NewAttRequestdB = 0 then the BTS power becomes equal to the maximum
static power possible.
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LCAUTION!
From V12, an 8 dB limitation applies on decrease, e.g.the BTS will never decrease its power
by more than 8 dB (some mobiles would lose the BTS)
LCAUTION!
From V14 in L1mV2, RxLevXX is always rescaled at the maximum power output (see chapter
Measurement Processing).
This V12 feature is an improvement of the one shot power control (described above). One
shot power control reactivity is improved by deciding power control on SDCCH allocation and
on TCH allocation with only rxLevHreqaveBeg or rxQualAveBeg measurements. With this
feature, attenuation (possibly decided on SDCCH) is kept at TCH assignment and for each
channel switch-over (start on SDCCH, SDCCH to TCH or TCH to TCH), the few first
measurements (from Max[rxLevHreqAveBeg, rxQualAveBeg] to Max[rxLevHreqave *
rxLevHreqt, rxQualHreqave * rxQualHreqt]-1) may be used to decide power control.
This feature is activated by setting the following parameters:
LCAUTION!
This feature is not supported with DCU2 boards or with a mix of DCU2/DCU4 boards.
Note: In some very specific cases with a poor quality and a good level strength (very interfered
environment) the Fast Power Control algorithm may prevent from powering up after a TCH
assignment until max(rxLevHreqave*rxLevHreqt, rxQualHreqave*rxQualHreqt) is reached.
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SA0 SA1 SA2 SA3 SA0 SA1 SA2 SA3 SA0 SA1 SA2 SA3
MS starts applying
New PC and TA
MS starts transmitting
MS gets the SACCH concerning
SACCH block Previous multiframe
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PURPOSE
Before V17.0, after an inter-zone handover, the BSC sets the BTS and MS initial powers on
the new channel of the new zone to values that are identical to those used on the previous
channel in the other zone. As a result, the strength of the uplink and the downlink received
signal may decrease significantly on the establishment on the new channel. The risk is that the
handover could fail or the voice quality could deteriorate until the BTS has adjusted the BTS
and MS output TX power on the first run of the L1M power control process.
In v17.0, if the BSC expects the reception level to decrease following the interzone handover,
the BSC shall adapt the BTS and the MS output power, when activating the new channel, to
ensure a constant reception level for the MS and for the BTS. If on trhen other hand, the BSC
expects the reception level to increase, the BSC shall keep the BTS and MS power levels
unchanged and will simply wait for the L1M to adjust them via the standard power control
process.
The BSC has to estimate the power gap in uplink and in downlink that would exist after an
inner to outer zone handover and an outer to inner handover :
• Delta_RxLev_DL_oz_to_iz : DL signal strength gap following an outer to inner HO
• Delta_RxLev_UL_oz_to_iz : UL signal strength gap following an outer to inner HO
• Delta_RxLev_DL_iz_to_oz : DL signal strength gap following an inner to outer HO
• Delta_RxLev_UL_iz_to_oz : UL signal strength gap following an inner to outer HO
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Notes :
(1) : for concentric and dualcoupling cells, there is no uplink signal strength gap. The uplink
gap only applies to dualband cells.
(2) : the type of coupler (D, H2D etc) does not impact the formula because the BTS takes the
coupling into account to reach the required output power which is equal to bstxpwrmax -
zonetxpowermaxreduction. So it is the same formula as concetric cell.
(3) : The higher the frequency, the steeper the signal strength decrease as a function of MS-
BTS distance. “bizonePowerOffset” is a worst case assessment of this path loss performed at
the inner-zone boundary.
(4) : As both heterogeneous coupling and dual-band could be applied simultaneously to a cell,
zoneTxPwrMaxReduction must be taken into account in te downlink formula
(5) : We hold this truth to be self-evident, that the inner-to-outer zone power gap is the
opposite of the outer-to-inner zone power gap.
Upon activating the channel in the destination zone, the BSC considers the relevant
theoretical power gap as well as the last BTS transmission power and MS transmission power
used on the channel of the initial zone. These are reported by the BTS to the BSC in the Abis
connection state ack message.
As explained above, no power adaptation is required on the uplink for a Concentric cell or a
Dual-coupling cell.
In a Dual-band cell :
• if the uplink power gap is less than zero, this power loss shall be corrected with a
command sent to the MS to increase its transmission power
• if the uplink power gap is more than zero, the last MS transmission power level shall
be kept unchanged. However, the new MS transmission power level shall not be
allowed to exceed the maximum power allowed by the network and the maximum MS
output power allowed in that band.
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Unlike MS transmission power adaptation, BTS transmission power adaptation applies to all
three types of multizone cells :
• If the downlink power gap is less than zero, this power loss shall be corrected with a
BTS transmission power increase (i.e. BTS attenuation decrease)
• If the downlink power gap is more than zero, the last BTS transmission power level
shall be kept unchanged.
The new BS transmission power level is sent by the BSC to the BTS inside the Abis Channel
activate message (used to initialise the BTS transmission power for the channel) as well as in
the Abis Start measurement Req message (used to initialise the L1M power control algorithm).
REMARKS
If BTS power control is disabled, there is in effect no power adaptation, as the BTS shall emit
at the maximum power allowed in the zone.
A dedicated TCH channel shall be activated at full BTS transmission power if it belongs to the
BCCH TDMA.
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Different priorities are defined in GSM to prioritise TCH resource usage for the different types
of procedures. Basically, GSM procedures can be divided into the following types:
• Assignment Request Messages: coming from MSC. It includes Public calls and
WPS calls. The only difference between the types of Assignment Requests is
basically the priority included in the message.
• InterBSC Handovers
• IntraBSC Intercell Handovers
• Directed Retry Handovers
• IntraCell Handovers: normal Intracell HO, small to Large zone, AMR, cell tiering …
• TCH overflow cases: this includes different procedures in the signaling phase when
trying to get a resource SDCCH. If this one is not available, a resource TCH will be
requested instead.
For certain procedures like the handovers, where reactivity is crucial, it is important to
immediately have TCH resources available. This can be done by reserving some resources for
them. For other procedures like the Assignment Requests where the communication is not
established yet, it might be more interesting to allow the queuing of the requests for some
seconds in order to gain access to the network even if it is a few seconds later. The reactivity
time in this last context is not as important as for the handovers. To be able to control this, a
priority system has been created.
Priorities can be divided into two different groups: external and internal. The BSC is in charge
of converting external priorities into internal ones. Conversion rules will be detailed.
Two kinds of external priorities, NSS external priorities and BSS external, can be defined:
• NSS external priorities are those included in the BSSMAP message coming from
the MSC. As only the Assignment Requests and the Handover Requests (for
interBSC HO) can generate this type of messages, these are the only procedures
having an external NSS priority.
• BSS external priorities are defined via OMC parameter settings. They are set for all
types of procedures, even for the Assignment Requests.
The type of external priority of the Assignment Request procedures taken for conversion to an
internal priority is depending on the value of another OMC parameter (bscQueuingOption) that
indicates if the mode is “MSC driven” or “OMC driven”.
The mode “MSC driven” means that it is the NSS external priority which is taken into account
for internal priority conversion of Assignment Request Procedures. For Handover Request and
TCH overflow, it is BSS external priority that is used for conversion.
The mode “OMC driven” means it is the BSS external priority which is taken into account for
conversion, whatever the procedure.
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LCAUTION!
Note that if we are in “MSC driven” mode there might be different Assignment Requests
coming from MSC with different priorities, meaning that we could treat them differently
according to the type of call.
However, in “OMC driven” mode there is only one priority, set with a parameter, for all the
types of Assignment Requests. In particular, assignment requests with cause emergency call
are not differentiated from the other assignment requests.
At this point we can start introducing some of the main OMC parameters used for the TCH
allocation management:
bscQueuingOption
allocPriorityTable
It is probably the most important parameter for the allocation priority management. It is used to
make the conversion between external and internal priorities and it consists of a vector
containing 18 values. The values can go from 0 to 12 and define the internal priorities
associated to the different procedures. The association between external and internal priority
is done using the index number (or slot number) in this table that goes from 0 to 17. The index
in the table represents the BSS external priority. When NSS external priority is used, in order
to convert into internal priority, we look in the slot NSS external priority - 1.
NSS external priority contained in the BSSMAP message can take a value from 1 to 14. Slots
1 to 5 are reserved for WPS call treatment.
Example: allocPriorityTable = 0 8 9 10 11 12 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 0 4 2
Slot number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
allocPriorityTable 0 8 9 10 11 12 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 0 4 2
With this example in MSC driven mode, for a BSS external priority = 16, the internal priority
defined is 4 and for a NSS external priority = 5, we have to look at the slot number = 5 – 1 = 4,
so the internal priority is 11.
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WPS
allocPriorityThreshold
Parameter that defines the number of TCH resources reserved for procedures with internal
priority = 0. This internal priority is typically used for Handovers procedures where the
reactivity time is very important. For all the other procedures with an internal priority > 0 a TCH
will be assigned if at least allocPriorityThreshold + 1 TCH resources are free. If that is not the
case the procedure will be rejected or queued depending on the provisioning and type of
procedure (see chapter Queuing).
LCAUTION!
The ressource reservation for priotity 0 procedures is independent from the queuing process,
i.e. even if the parameter bscQueuingOption = not allowed, the TCH reservation is effective.
• {0}, for which TCH resources are reserved according to the parameter
allocPriorityThreshold
• [1..12], for which the TCH resources reserved for priority 0 procedures are not
available.
Parameters that are used to associate a BSS external priority to the different types of
procedures. As the NSS external priorities can go from 1 to 14, so slots 0 to 13 in the
AllocPriorityTable, we recommend using values from 14 to 17 for these parameters.
Assign request procedures:
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Handover procedures :
• answerPagingPriority: BSS external priority used for TCH overflow procedures for
an answer to paging.
• callReestablishmentPriority: BSS external priority used for TCH overflow
procedures during the signaling phase of a Call Reestablishment.
• emergencyCallPriority: BSS external priority used for TCH overflow procedures
during the signaling phase of an Emergency Call.
• allOtherCasesPriority: BSS external priority used for TCH overflow procedures
during the signaling phase of a call establishment with cause “other services”.
• otherServicesPriority: BSS external priority used for TCH overflow procedures
during the signaling phase of a call establishment with cause “other services”.
Note: these are external priority taken into account whatever the value of bscQueuingOption.
The table below presents the sum up of recommanded setting for each BSS External priority
and the mapping of each internal priority via the allocPriorityTable parameter:
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4.11.2 QUEUING
Queuing is used to put TCH allocation request into a waiting queue when no TCH resource is
available. Some types of procedures are interesting to queue up: the TCH requests wait
during a certain time if these ones are not satisfied the first time. In this way the requests is
more likely to succeed if TCH resources become free during the queuing time.
This is typically the case of Assignment Requests or Intracell Handovers. By performing some
queuing on the Assignment Request the end-user impact is a little increase in the call
establishment duration. In the case of Intracell Handovers, as the call is already established,
the effect of the queuing from an end-user point of view is barely perceptible.
Assignment Requests and Intracell Handovers (normal intracell Handovers, small to large
zone, cell tiering, AMR) are the only procedures for which queuing is allowed. TCH overflow
procedures and intercell handovers are never queued.
The activation of the Queuing must be viewed as a solution to prevent an exceptionnal
saturation of TCH. For the waiting queue, a maximum waiting time (allocPriorityTimers) and a
maximum number of TCH allocation requests affected to this queue and the queues of greater
priorities (allocWaitThreshold) are defined via OMC-R parameters.
LCAUTION!
Please note that when an assignment request is queued, the MS is still attached to a SDCCH
channel and the measurement process keeps on going to allow the MS to perform a handover
on SDCCH. One must so pay attention to:
The MSC driven mode is enabled by the bscQueuingOption parameter set to “allowed”.
In this mode queuing is used according to the priority defined in the message coming from the
MSC for the assignment requests (Slots from 0 to 13) and those defined with BSS external
priorities(Slots from 14 to 17) for the other procedures. As the NSS external priorities can take
values from 1 to 14 and, according to the conversion rule (Slot Nb =NSS Priority - 1), these
priorities match slots from 0 to 13 in the allocPriorityTable. According to this rule, the
Assignment Requests with NSS internal priority set to 1, usualy for emergency calls, will be
mapped to internal priority 0.
In order to make a clear difference between NSS external priorities and BSS external
priorities, the recommend values for BSS external priority parameters are from 14 to 17 (see
chapter Allocation and priority Parameters).
Interest of MSC driven mode is to allow distinction between assignment request and then the
possibility to set different priority for them (WPS calls, VIP users …).
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LCAUTION!
From V15, if WPS is activated, Slots from 1 to 5 are reserved for WPS priorities, as the
assignment request coming from the MSC for WPS requests can go from 2 to 6 (see chapter
WPS - Wireless Priority Service).
The OMC drive mode is enabled by the bscQueuingOption parameter set to “forced”.
In this mode queuing is used according uniquely to the priority defined with the BSS external
priorities (Slots from 14 to 17).
Queuing is managed by the BSC whatever queuing information coming from the MSC are. So
an assignment request priority is set accordingly to assignRequestPriority and the mapping
associated to in the allocPriorityTable.
LCAUTION!
In this mode, WPS can not be efficient because resource allocation request queuing depends
on the type of operation only: thus the priority in the WPS assignement request is not
considered (see chapter WPS - Wireless Priority Service).
In the same way, assignment request with cause emergency calls cannot be differentiated in
this mode, and are treated with priority according to assignRequestPriority.
QUEUING PROCESS
Whatever the queuing mode is, a queue is defined by its size and the maximum waiting time
beyond which it is not allowed to queue the request anymore,. set by these two parameters:
allocWaitThreshold
This parameter is a 13 slot vector. The slot number (0…12) represents the internal priority
queues and the values define the maximum number of TCH allocation requests queued for
each internal priority. The last five slots set to 5 are reserved for WPS call treatment. These
values are accumulative, so the value for one queue represents the maximum number of
requests for that queue and all the queues with lower priorities. Note that the serving
preference for these queues has an increasing order, e.g. if there are two TCH allocation
requests waiting in two different queues, when a TCH resource is released, the request with
the lowest priority is served.
Slot number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
allocWaitThreshold n 0 n n 0 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 5
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allocPriorityTimers
This parameter is a 13 slot vector. The slot number (0…12) represents the internal priority
queues and the values mean the maximum waiting time (in seconds) in the queue of a TCH
allocation request for each internal priority. The last five slots set to 28 are reserved for WPS
call treatment.
Slot number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
allocPriorityTimers 5 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 28 28 28 28 28
Note: a too long timer is unrealistic as an user will not wait indefinetely.
Sum up of the recommanded value
Slot number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
allocPriorityTable 0 8 9 10 11 12 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 0 4 2
Internal priority /
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
queue number
allocWaitThreshold n 0 n n 0 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 5
allocPriorityTimers 5 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 28 28 28 28 28
LCAUTION!
• There is no queuing for TCH in “signaling mode” (TCH overflow).
• It is important to note that even if Directed Retry Handovers are associated to an
internal priority 2 queuing is not allowed for this type of procedure, as for the other
intercell handover procedures.
• Queuing set for procedures with internal priority 0 has been intentionally configured
for Assignment Requests cause “Emergency Call” (which should have in this case
a NSS external priority set to 1 if in MSC driven mode). Indeed, the only other
procedures with priority 0 are intercell handover for which queuing is forbidden.
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Note: if directed retry handover is activated, another way of leaving the queue is a directed
retry handover. Refer to Directed Retry Handover for more details.
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LCAUTION!
As the MS reads SYS INFO messages every 30 seconds in idle mode, there could be a time
window where non-authorized mobiles will still be allowed, e.g. if the MS did not read the
message before the cell selection, it could start a call.
The mechanism consists of temporarily forbidding cell access to some of the mobiles
(according to their access class) when a congestion situation is observed. The congestion
condition is based on:
PRINCIPLE
NO YES
Congestion ?
notAllowedAccessClasses accessClassCongestion
Forbidden in the cell Forbidden in the cell
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CONGESTION DETERMINATION
To enter a congestion state, either the number of free TCH must be less than
numberOfTCHFreeBeforeCongestion or the number of queued TCH requests must be greater
than numberOfTCHQueuedBeforeCongestion.
To leave a congestion state, either the number of free TCH is greater than
numberOfTCHFreeToEndCongestion or the number of queued TCH request is less than
numberOfTCHQueuedToEndCongestion.
Example with a one TRX cell where one time slot is reserved for requests with an internal
priority equal to 0:
numberOfTCHFreeBeforeCongeston = 1
SA0
BCCH SA1 SA2 SA3 SA0 SA1 SA2 SA3 T: TDMA enter in congestion
SA0
BCCH SA1 SA2 SA3 SA0 SA1 SA2 SA3 T+1: TDMA is still in congestion
SA0
BCCH SA1 SA2 SA3 SA0 SA1 SA2 SA3 T+2: TDMA gets out of congestion
numberOfTCHFreeToEndCongeston = 3 time
reserved TS
SA1 Used TCH SA0 Free TCH SA3 for priority 0
A congestion situation may be detected each time one of the following events occurs:
Note: The overload state duration of a cell can be monitored thanks to the counter C1714, but
that counter is effectively reported to the OMC-R only if the load of the cell is taken into
account (i.e. only if hoTraffic = enabled at cell and BSC levels).
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The previous “access class barring” mechanism can be improved on 3 main points:
• The list of forbidden access classes is fixed, so the same customers are always
impacted.
• The number of barred access classes is fixed, so the number of barred access
classes may be insufficient.
• The mechanism is triggered on TCH allocation or release basis, but due to the
Erlang law (which induces sudden traffic modification) and because the MS
rereads the SYS INFO (only every 30 seconds), that mechanism could be
improved.
To ensure the functionning of the new mechanism, two levels of barring are created and run at
the same time:
To provide point 2, the number of access classes can be modified (additional or less) in order
to adapt to the length of congestion level. Once the cell enters in the congestion state, a
supervision timer is set, and every 3 minutes (system rule), an adaptation is made based on
the new cell congestion state:
• If the cell is still in the congestion state, 2 additional access classes are barred
(assuming they are not all barred)
• If the cell is not in the congestion state, 2 less access classes are barred (until
none are barred)
Once the cell is no longer in the congestion state, and if no access classes are barred, the
supervision timer (3 minutes) is stopped.
Congestion level
Beginning of
congestion Beginning of congestion:
3 minutes timer is set No more classes
End of congestion :
barred: 3 minutes
3 minutes timer
timer is stopped
End of is running
congestion
3 minutes
time
Number of access
classes barred [0 to 2] [2 to 4] [4 to 6] [6 to 4] [4 to 2] [2 to 0]
The barred access classes rotate inside the 3 minute time period according to the low level
mechanism of barring described below:
Two parameters are important in this mechanism: the periodicity and the
accessClassCongestion parameter.
Periodicity: the congestion condition is still triggered on a TCH allocation or TCH release
basis, but once the congestion condition is triggered, a 60 seconds interval (system rule) is
used to periodically change which access classes are barred.
Congestion level
Beginning of
congestion Beginning of congestion:
3 minutes timer is set
End of
congestion
60 seconds
3 minutes
time
Barred access classes [0,1] [2,3] [4,5] [6,7,8,9] [0,1,2,3] [4,5,6,7] [8,9]
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In case the accessClassCongestion parameter is modified while the cell is in congestion, the
list of access classes to be barred will be re-evaluated on the 60s timer expiry, and on the 3
minutes timer expiry, the evaluation will be done on this new list (and not on the list of the
previous 3 minutes timer expiry).
• In case of non congestion, only the list of mobile access classes in the
“notAllowedAccessClasses” parameter is not allowed to select the cell: there is no
modification compared to the previous management.
• In case of congestion, the accessClassCongestion parameter is used to process
access classes rotation on all the access classes listed in the
accessClassCongestion except on the access classes listed in the
notAllowedAccessClasses parameter, which remain barred during the congestion.
Let us take the example for the accessClassCongestion = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] and
notAllowedAccessClasses = [3, 4].
This means, as described here above, that access class rotation will be done on the following
access class list = [0, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] and that access classes 3 and 4 remain barred during
the congestion.
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If RLC reaches 0, then call is dropped and re-establishment is tried if reselection is made on a
cell with CallReestablishment set.
If CT reaches 0, a connection Failure Indication is sent to the BSC every T3115, until a
Deactivate Sacch or RF Channel Release message is received.
This process is started when the first SACCH frame is received correctly, and the CT counter
is set according to rlf1 value. If SACCH frame is not received, then the radio link failure
process is not started, CT value is kept to zero and is not modificated.
Interest of the algorithm: the quality of an uplink communication is now considered for the
decision to cut a communication.
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The mobile station is not allowed under any circumstance, to access a cell to attempt call re-
establishment later than 20 seconds after it detects the radio link failure causing the call re-
establishment attempt.
The mobile station shall perform the following algorithm to determine which cell to use for the
call re-establishment attempt within 5 seconds max:
• 1) The level measurement samples taken on the serving cell BCCH carrier and on
neigbhor cells carriers (carriers indicated in the BA (SACCH) received on the
serving cell) received in the last 5 seconds shall be averaged.
• The carried with the highest average received level is selected.
• 2) On this carrier the MS shall attempt to decode the BCCH data block containing
the parameters affecting cell selection.
• 3) If the parameter C1 is greater than zero call re-establishment shall be attempted
on this cell.
• 4) If the MS is unable to decode the BCCH data block or if the call re-establishment
is not allowed, the carrier with the next highest average received level shall be
taken, and the MS shall repeat steps 2) and 3) above.
• 5) If the cells with the 6 strongest average received level values have been tried
but cannot be used, the call re-establishment attempt shall be abandoned.
Beware, during a re-establishment attempt the mobile station does not return to idle mode,
thus no location updating is performed even if the mobile is not updated in the location area of
the selected cell, however the mobile station will update its location area at the end of the call.
Generally a call re-establishment procedure lasts from 4 seconds to 20 seconds max.
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Every runCallClear:
If the MS perform DTX on a call, the minimum number of transmitted bursts is 12 (out of 104
for a complete reporting period of 480ms).
The 12 bursts correspond to the 4 SACCH + 8 fixed positioned TCH bursts.
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DTX deactivated
DTX activated
1 SACCH 1 idle
(given fixed positions are only examples; for speech, a SID frame (Silence Descriptor frame:
used to describe comfort noise) made of 8 consecutive TSs shall be sent at the start of every
inactivity period and more are sent regularly, at least twice per second, as long as inactivity
lasts)
• Full frame x 4:
(24 TCH + 1 SACCH + 1 idle) x 4 = 96 TCH + 4 SACCH + 4 Idle
= 104 bursts
• With DTX:
(1 SACCH) x4 + 8 TCH = 12 bursts minimum
Then, depending on the communications (presence of silences), the MS can use DTX or not.
Note: To the minimum number of bursts (12) can be added other transmitted bursts depending
on some criteria (user traffic activity and interleaving depth).
The MS sends to the BTS 2 kinds of measurements, RxQual/RxLev Full, and RxQual/RxLev
Sub.
RxQual/RxLev Full corresponds to an average of measurements performed over 100 out of
104 frames in a SACCH reporting period. These measurements are valid if DTX has not been
used by the MS.
RxQual / RxLev Sub correspond to an average of measurements performed over 12 frames
(instead of 100), these 12 frames being fixed as explained previously. These measurements
are valid if DTX has been used by the MS.
With these measurements, the MS has to send to the BTS a notification that it has performed
DTX or not (uplink DTX status), so that the BTS can choose the average which is valid
(RxQual / RxLev Full or Sub) for L1M purposes. This notification is done via the DTX-used bit
in the Measurement Report.
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• authorisation for the BSS to use DL DTX, given by the MSC to the BSC at
assignment request, dynamically on a call-by-call basis
• The value of cellDtxDownLink parameter (bts object)
• The type of radio channel : voice half-rate, voice full-rate, cicuit data
• The values of certain bits in the bscDataConfig file (bits n°1, n°2 and n°3 of label 64)
MSC AUTHORISATION
On a call per call basis, the MSC may forbid the BSS to use Downlink DTX.
The MSC indicates this to the BSC by including a 1-bit long field called “DTX Downlink Flag”
inside BSSMAP Assignment Request (for call setup) or BSSMAP VBS/VGCS Assignment
Request (for group call setup, GSM-R only) or BSSMAP Handover Request (for incoming
external handover of a call coming from another BSS) :
- If “DTX Downlink Flag” is present and if DTX Downlink Flag = 1, then the MSC forbids the
use of DL DTX for that particular call
- If “DTX Downlink Flag” is absent or if DTX Downlink Flag is present and DTX Downlink
Flag = 0, then the MSC does not forbid the use of DL DTX for that particular call
In the second case, the decision to use DL DTX for that call is left entirely up to the BSS and
depends on BSS configuration parameters and the type of channel.
CELLDTXDOWNLINK
If cellDtxDownLink = disabled in the cell, then Downlink DTX is unconditionally turned off in
the cell for all types of call (voice and circuit-switched data).
So, cellDtxDownLink = enabled is a necessary condition to activate downlink DTX in the cell,
but it is not sufficient. It further depends on the type of channel (circuit data, voice half-rate,
voice full-rate).
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TYPE OF CHANNEL
DTX downlink is unconditionally turned off for circuit-switched data channels, even if
cellDtxDownLink = enabled.
Note : Bit n°1 of label 64 of bscDataConfigfile, called “DTX Downlink in data”, is not used any
longer in the software. Whatever its value, and whatever the value of cellDtxDownLink, DTX
Downlink is disabled for CS data channels.
If bit n°2 of label 64, called “DTX Downlink FR”, is equal to 1 : DTX Downlink is unconditionally
turned off for FR voice channels. This applies to all types of full-rate codecs supported by the
BSS : AMR FR, EFR and FR.
If bit n°2 = 0, and if cellDtxDownLink = “enabled” in the cell, then downlink DTX is used on all
FR Voice channels, provided that its use has not been explicitly forbidden by the MSC at
assignment request stage.
By default, label 64 bit n°2 = 0 so by default DL DTX is activated for FR voice calls.
If bit n°3 of label 64, called “DTX Downlink HR”, is equal to 1 : DTX Downlink is unconditionally
turned off for AMR HR voice channels.
If bit n°3 of label 64 = 0, and if cellDtxDownLink = “enabled” in the cell, then downlink DTX is
used on all AMR HR Voice channels, provided that its use has not been explicitly forbidden by
the MSC at assignment request stage.
By default, label 64 bit n°3 = 0 so by default DL DTX is activated for FR voice calls.
SUMMARY
DTX DL flag cellDtxDown Label 64 bit Label 64 bit Label 64 bit DL DTX for DL DTX for DL DTX for
(from MSC) Link 1 2 3 CS data FR voice HR voice
1 any value any value any value any value disabled disabled disabled
0 or absent disabled any value any value any value disabled disabled disabled
0 or absent enabled 0 0 0 disabled enabled enabled
0 or absent enabled 0 0 1 disabled enabled disabled
0 or absent enabled 0 1 0 disabled disabled enabled
0 or absent enabled 0 1 1 disabled disabled disabled
0 or absent enabled 1 0 0 disabled enabled enabled
0 or absent enabled 1 0 1 disabled enabled disabled
0 or absent enabled 1 1 0 disabled disabled enabled
0 or absent enabled 1 1 1 disabled disabled disabled
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DEFINITIONS
eMLPP priority : eMLPP priority associated to a call for preemption purposes. The BSC
transparently conveys eMLPP priority between the mobile and the NSS. The BSC does not
process this eMLPP priority.
NSS external priority (also known as BSSMAP priority) : priority associated to a call by the
NSS in the assignment or handover procedure. This priority is sent by the NSS to the BSS and
may then be used by the BSS for queuing or for preemption. Unlike the eMLPP priority, it is
transparent to the mobile.
BSS external priority : queuing priority defined via OMC parameter settings. Each type of
procedure is associated to a BSS external priority for queuing. This priority is used by the BSS
but it is strictly local, therefore the NSS and MS are not aware of it.
internal priority : this priority is local to the BSS. Therefore the NSS and MS are not aware of it.
It is an output of the allocprioritytable.
PRINCIPLE
eMLPP is an extension to GSM networks of the existing MLPP service for fixed lines.
RESOURCE PREEMPTION
eMLPP allows the network to preempt resources from ongoing calls (circuits on the A interface
and/or radio resources in the BSS) to allocate them to an incoming call of greater priority :
o Preemption on the A interface is fully managed (decision and execution), on a per call
basis, by the NSS.
o Preemption on the Radio interface is executed, on a per call basis, by the BSS.
However, the decision to allow the preemption comes from the NSS because the NSS
is in charge of the Call Control procedures.
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In the case where the called subscriber has a subscription for eMLPP and for CW (Call
Waiting supplementary service), the mobile station shall be informed of the priority of the
incoming high priority call together with the CW indication. On reception of the set-up message
for the incoming call the compatible mobile station decides on called party pre-emption. If
called party pre-emption applies, the mobile station shall automatically accept the incoming
waiting call and send a hold message to the network. If a hold acknowledge is received, the
waiting call is accepted.
CW is mandatory for called party preemption.
EMLPP PRIORITY
eMLPP defines seven priority levels as A, B, 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 (“A” being the strongest and “4”
the weakest priority). Mobile users may subscribe to all priority levels A, B, 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4.
However, priority levels A and B may only be used locally, i.e. in the domain of one MSC. The
other five priority levels are offered for subscription and may be applied globally, e.g. on inter-
MSC links, and also for interworking with ISDN networks that provide the MLPP service.
The precedence level is selected by the subscriber on a per call basis. The subscriber may
select any precedence level up to and including his maximum authorized precedence level.
The service provider at the subscriber’s originating exchange ensures that the selected
precedence level does not exceed the maximum level assigned to that subscriber at
subscription.
In public GSM, the eMLPP priority is transparent for the BSS. It is meaningful only for the
mobile and for the NSS. It is included in the following messages :
• By the mobile in the CM SERVICE REQUEST message sent to the NSS, for mobile-
originated call establishment. It indicates to the NSS the eMLPP priority requested by
the mobile for the call establishment.
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• By the BSS in the PAGING REQUEST type 1, 2 ,3 messages sent to the mobile on
the PCH channel. The purpose of including eMLPP priority in paging requests is used
by mobiles who are engaged as listeners in a group call to decide to leave the group
call or not.
• By the NSS in the PAGING message sent to the BSS. The purpose of including
eMLPP priority in BSSMAP PAGING message is so that the BSS may include it in the
Paging Request (see previous bullet point)
• By the NSS in the SETUP message sent to the mobile for mobile-terminated call
establishment. It indicates to the mobile already engaged in a call whether to perform
called party preemption or not.
• By the NSS in the CALL PROCEEDING message by the network to the mobile. This
message is sent by the network to the calling mobile station to indicate that the
requested call establishment information has been received. In this message, the NSS
indicates to the mobile station the eMLPP priority level that the NSS has granted to
the call.
EMLPP SUBSCRIPTION
Two precedence levels are defined by subscriber and stored at the HLR:
• Subscriber’s Maximum Precedence Level. The subscriber may originate a call with a
precedence level up to his maximum precedence level
• Subscriber’s Default Priority Level. In the case no precedence level is sent in the “CM
service request” message, this level is used as the priority of the call
For Mobile Originated point to point calls, the eMLPP priority precedence level is included
inside the CM SERVICE REQUEST message sent by the mobile to the network. Its value is
set as follows.
EMLPP SUBSCRIBER
The user may select an eMLPP priority value for the call. If he does not, the precedence is set
to its default value by the mobile.
The mobile checks that the priority is within the provisioned range.
The MSC validates the priority value, and possibly reduces it to the subscriber’s maximum
precedence stored in the VLR
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NON-EMLPP SUBSCRIBER
OVERVIEW
Each call that comes into a BSC from the NSS (via ASSIGNMENT REQUEST or HANDOVER
REQUEST) has radio resource preemption capabilities, that have been allocated to it by the
NSS.
BSS Radio resource Preemption works as follows. In case of a lack of available radio
resources, the BSC is capable of allocating currently occupied resources to incoming calls that
have a preemption capability, by preempting resources of ongoing calls that are preemption-
vulnerable.
Only TCH channels in dedicated mode, or PDTCH channels used for a CS call, are subject to
preemption.
The preemption mechanism of radio resources that is detailed here is based on the “BSSMAP
Priority” Information Element carried in ASSIGNMENT REQUEST or HANDOVER REQUEST
messages at the BSSMAP layer of the A interface. The BSSMAP priority is the input given to
the BSC by the MSC. The “BSSMAP Priority” Information Element contains preemption
attributes that are the result of the eMLPP functionality implementation in the NSS.
PREEMPTION ATTRIBUTES
The BSSMAP priority information element of a given call is optional and contained in
ASSIGNMENT REQUEST and HANDOVER REQUEST. It is sent by the NSS to the BSS, and
it provides the BSS with the eMLPP preemption capability of the call.
The BSSMAP priority information element is made up of the following 4 attributes : PCI, PVI,
QA and Priority.
PCI: preemption capability indicator. The PCI attribute is a flag that specifies whether the call
is allowed to preempt another one or not. It is applicable while negotiating the allocation of
resources :
• PCI = 0 : this allocation request (resulting from assignment or handover) cannot
trigger the preemption procedure.
• PCI = 1 : this allocation request (resulting from assignment or handover) can trigger
the running of the preemption procedure.
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PVI: preemption vulnerability indicator. The PVI attribute is a flag that specifies whether the
call is allowed to be preempted by another call or not.
• PVI = 0 : this connection is not vulnerable to preemption.
QA: queueing allowed indicator. The QA attribute is a flag that specifies whether the call is
allowed to b a queueing procedure or not :
• QA = 0 : queuing is not allowed
• QA = 1 : queuing is allowed
PRIORITY : priority level. The priority attribute is an integer value in the range 1 ... 14 that
specifies the level that is applied to the call. Values 0 and 15 indicate “priority not used”.
It is built by the MSC thanks to a hardcoded lookup table that maps the eMLPP priority of the
call to the BSSMAP priority.
If the BSSMAP priority is absent, the assignment request for that call is treated by the BSS as
though the flags were defined as follows :
• PCI = 0: no preemption capability;
• PVI = 0: no vulnerability;
PROCEDURE
Definition : a vulnerable resource is a radio resource whose PVI is defined and equals 1.
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PREEMPTION TIMER
The preemption timer value Tpreempt is computed from T3111 timer (t3111 parameter) as
follows:
The selection algorithm differs depending on the type of transceiver : DRX and DCU2. To
simplify, we assume that only DRX are used (not DCU2).
To be considered a possible candidate for preemption by the BSC, a TCH must first fulfill the
following requirements :
o the TCH must be occupied by a FR voice call,
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o and the TCH must be allocated in the large zone in case of concentric cell,
o and the PVI of the call must be equal to value 1 (preemption possible),
Such a TCH is called a “busy TCH”.
1. TCH allocated to VBS/VGCS initiators are always in front : the most recent
ones first, followed by the second most recent etc. The oldest ones are last in
the list.
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o If the circuit data allocation request concerns the CSD 14.4 service and if the bts
object parameter data14-4OnNoHoppingTs = enabled, the preferred “busy TCH” pool
is the non-hopping one.
o If the circuit data allocation request concerns the CSD 14.4 service and if the bts
object parameter data14-4OnNoHoppingTs = disabled, the preferred “busy TCH” pool
is the hopping one (same a speech allocation request).
o If the circuit data allocation request concerns CSD services other than 14.4, the
preferred “busy TCH” pool is the non-hopping one(same a speech allocation request).
PDTCH PREEMPTION
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EMLPP PREEMPTION
4.12.7 INTERWORKING
HANDOVER
During handover procedures, preemption in best cell is always preferred than fallback to
another one. Preemption leads to favour attempting to obtain a radio resource in the first cell
of the handover list (ensures better quality, but may cause additional delay to the handover
procedure completion), even though a radio resource may be immediately free in a further cell
in the list.
DIRECTED RETRY
QUEUING
As for Directed retry, queuing may be attempted only after the BSC has decided not to trigger
the preemption procedure (due to lack of potential candidate resources, e.g. PVI of all TCH =
0). To solve a congestion issue, preemption is always considered first by the BSC. If a
preemption procedure is started and if it fails, queuing may not be attempted as a fallback : the
assignment request results in an assignment failure.
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Also, the BSS priority table (allocPriorityTable) is not used by the BSS in the preemption
procedure. Only the external BSSMAP priority given by the MSC is considered by the BSC in
the preemption algorithm, regardless of the corresponding internal priority given by the BSS
priority table.
4.12.8 RESTRICTIONS
Network resources (both radio channels and fixed circuits) used by emergency calls (TS12
service) may not be preempted.
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For the mobile, listening to the broadcast channels is battery consuming. Therefore the paging
messages broadcast has been optimized. Instead of listening continuously to the paging
channel, the mobile waits for specific occurrences of paging message. A set of mobiles are
associated to a specific occurrence of the paging channel, they belong to a so-called paging
group.
In order for a mobile to find its associated paging group among N groups, the following rule is
applied:
Dimensioning the paging means determining the number of paging groups needed to meet
incoming calls requirements inside a specific LAC. Two basic factors are taken into account:
According to the required number of paging groups, the CCCH configuration is consequently
tuned. This configuration depends on the TDMA model and on 2 parameters:
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The number of CCCH occurrences depends on the BCCH model, i.e., if the BCCH is
combined or not. If the BCCH is combined, there are less Frames dedicated to the CCCH.
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
BCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
IDLE
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
When using a TDMA model with BCCH combined, there are 3 occurrences of CCCH per
multiframe of 51 frames.
CCCH
BCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
IDLE
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
When not combined, a BCCH multiframe carries 9 CCCH occurrences.
CONSEQUENCES OF NOOFBLOCKSFORACCESSGRANT.
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transmit paging messages for the paging group A. This space is necessary to locate several
paging groups.
FN0
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
Block Paging Paging
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
IDLE
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
booked group group
for AGCH nb0 (A) nb1
FN1
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
Block Paging Paging
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
IDLE
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
booked group group
for AGCH nb2 nb3
FN2
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SDCCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
SACCH
Block Paging Paging
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
IDLE
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
This parameter is deeply involved in the time needed to establish a call when a paging
message is coming. For instance, if a paging command is to be transmitted in a paging group
P1 just after the paging group P1 occurrence, the paging command will have to wait for at
least noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging x 240ms to be transmitted.
If noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging = 8, the time waited to transmit a paging message can be
of 2 seconds without any other delays.
From the configuration, paging group occurences are determined. In the previous example,
the paging groups will be split as follows:
• nbOfRepeat
defines the number of times a paging message will be repeated by the BTS
• delayBetweenRetrans
defines the number of occurrence between 2 repetitions of the same paging
group
• retransDuration
defines the maximum time allocated to broadcast a paging message
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PHASE 1 MOBILES
When the timer is started, a random value n is drawn with equal probability between 0 and N-1
where N is:
time
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PHASE 2 MOBILES
Rec 04.08 have been modified to avoid double allocation (see chapter Paging Parameters).
When the timer is started, a random value n is drawn with uniform probability distribution in the
interval [S, S+1, ..., S+T-1]:
• where T is numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans
• where S depends on the BCCH configuration and on T (see following table).
time
The aim of this feature is to reduce the congestion and overload messages on Abis interface.
In order to achieve this goal, a new BSC timer Called T_Paging_Group was introduced, to
define the minimum of time between two occurrences of multi paging command messages on
Abis interface.
Therefore, at emission of one multi paging command message, the BSC starts
T_Paging_Group.
If during T_Paging_Group, more than 10 paging messages are received, then only the 10
first messages are stored, thus others messages are discarded.
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At T_Paging_Group expiry, either no paging message is received from the MSC or at least
more than one paging message is stored and the BSC sends these messages to the BTS.
In both cases the BSC restarts the timer.
Note: Since BSS V14.3.2 and V15.1 this maximum length is 12 paging messages.
From V15.1.1, a multi paging command is sent by the BSC in two cases:
• As soon as the 12 first paging are received by the BSC, a paging group message
is sent to the BTS leading to avoid discarding paging messages and waiting for
T_Paging_Group timer expiry.
• If T_Paging_Group timer is reached and at least one paging message is
received, a multi paging command is sent
LCaution!
The value of this T_Paging_Group is set to 200ms. Only CS paging use I Multipaging
command, therefore the PS pagings are not combined. Thus a single paging I is used for data
paging.
The following figure illustrates the principles of multipaging command
BTS
MSC BSC
Paging MS1
T_Paging_group
Paging MS2
Paging MS3 Multi paging command
T_Paging_group
Paging MS4
• a large Lap D bandwidth associated to the BCCH for non-paging messages, which
provides a better quality of service,
• a reduction of the CPU load generated by paging messages at BSC and BTS
levels.
However, it induces a delay (average=100ms, min=0ms, max=200ms) during the paging
management at the BSC level, and the mobile terminated call setup time is lightly increased.
LCAUTION!
Note: As this feature increases the BSS capacity, since BSS V14.3.1 it is activated by default.
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PRINCIPLE
Each time a data request message (I frame on LapD) is used to convey a multipaging
message to the BTS, the BSC has to wait for an acknowledgement before sending the
next multipaging message. Therefore, the paging process is RTD dependent.
Using the Unit Data Request message (UI frame on the LapD), no acknowledgement
is required before sending the next frame, which decreases the lapd bandwidth
associated to the BCCH TRX for paging messages.
Hence, whatever is the paging number per second, the quality of service is increased
and more especially in case of large location area which generates high number of
paging messages or during exceptional events.
This feature is introduced in V15.1.1 and it allows, at equivalent paging messages
number, to better fill the downlink lapd bandwidth associated to the BCCH for paging
messages and to decrease the use of the uplink lapd bandwidth. Hence it increases
the lapd bandwidth associated to the BCCH for non-paging messages.
UI Multipaging command message uses the same mechanisms (to group the paging
command messages) as the I Multipaging command message described in below
except the ones described here under.
In order to build the UI Multipaging message, the BSC timer T_Paging_Group is
used, which defines the maximum time between 2 occurrences of UI Multi Paging
Command message on the Abis interface.
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The Packet paging message, received from the PCU, are sent by the BSC to the BTS
(on the SAPI GSL) whereas the Circuit paging message from MSC are sent to the
BTS by the BSC on the SAPI RSL. Therefore PS and CS pagings are not sent into the
same multipaging message command.
With I multipaging command message the process of combining paging messages
into one multipaging command message is supported by CS paging only.
The restriction is removed with UI multipaging command feature as it allows
combining the packet paging messages before sending them to the BTS.
FEATURE ACTIVATION
The feature is deactivated by default and can be activated thanks to a build on line.
Recommended upgrade steps are the following:
• Upgrade of the BSC without activation of the UI MultiPaging feature (type 4)
• Upgrade of the BTS supported by the BSC
• Activation of the UI Multipaging feature in the BSC (via a build on line)
LCAUTION!
In order to identify bad PCM links and fix it, the operator should monitor the quality of
all the PCM links before the feature activation.
As soon as the BSCe3 and the TRXs of BTS are able to manage this feature, the BSC
sends UI MultiPaging Command messages.
The BSC is aware of the BTS capacity for the Circuit Service thanks to the DRX
catalog file and especially the bit 8 (from 0 to 31) of the hardware mask defined as
follow:
• 0: UI MultiPaging Command message for Circuit Service not supported
• 1: UI MultiPaging Command message for Circuit Service supported
As all types of DRX support this feature (except DCU2), there is no modification of the
"display all" feature, in order to know the activation state of this feature.
Note: As this feature is not implemented on BSC12000 and due to upgrade
constraints, then the BTS has to manage the following types of paging messages: I
paging command, I MultiPaging and UI MultiPaging command messages.
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The Network Mode of Operation 1 (NMO1) takes benefit of the Gs interface to exchange
messages between the MSC and SGSN in order to coordinate the CS and PS paging
management and to optimize some signaling procedures.
Note that Gs interface (between SGSN and MSC) is a pre-requesite before using NMO1.
The feature should be enabled with gprsNetworkModeOperation (bts object). The parameter is
at BTS object but must be consistent at Routing Area level, i.e. activated (or de-activated) in
all cells of a given Routing Area.
PAGING MANAGEMENT
If NMO1 is activated, CS-Paging are managed through Gb interface for any GPRS-attached
MS. ClassB MS may be simultaneously attached to GSM and GPRS services but cannot
simultaneously perform CS and PS transfer.
If the MS is not attached to GPRS services, the CS-Paging procedure is not modified and
done through the A interface.
If the MS is attached to GPRS, the CS-Paging is sent from the MSC to the SGSN (Gs
interface) and then to the PCU (Gb interface):
• If the target mobile is in GMM STANDBY state, the PCU transmits the Paging
message to the BSC on the SAPI RSL. Therefore the BSC has to broadcast this
message on the CCCH of all target cells.
• If the mobile is in GMM READY state, the PCU sends the Paging on the PACCH of
the TBF or on the CCCH of the cell if there is not an established TBF for the target
mobile. In case Paging is sent on PACCH, the PCU repeats the paging message 3
times (1 emission + 3 repetitions), with a delay between 2 occurrences equal to
480 ms. This enhances the probability of success of the Paging procedure.
The 3 different cases (MS not GPRS-attached, MS in GPRS STANDY state and MS in GPRS
READY state) are illustrated below.
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MS attached to MS attached to
MS not attached to
GPRS services & GPRS services &
GPRS services
standby state ready state
BTS BTS BTS BTS BTS BTS BTS BTS BTS BTS BTS BTS
Paging on:
Paging procedure not BSC broadcasts paging
modified on CCCH • PACCH if TBF established
Notes:
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PRINCIPLE
When NMO II is used, the network sends all paging messages on the PCH paging channel
even if the mobile has been assigned a packet data channel, which might require the MS to
leave the packet channel to monitoring the occurrence of paging messages. Compared to
NMO II, the BSS CS Paging Coordination is an additional mechanism for handling CS paging.
It provides an NMO I-like mechanism (BSS CS Paging Coordination) without involving the
packet core and Gs interface. This maximizes the end-user availability for receiving CS calls
and the related revenues.
While the network is running with NMO II, the BSC sends all CS paging messages received on
A interface both to the BTS and, with BSS CS Paging Coordination feature activated, to the
PCU as well. The PCU then checks whether the corresponding MS is engaged in a PS
session, by checking the IMSI. If so, the PCU sends the CS paging message to the mobile on
PACCH channel.
ACTIVATION PARAMETER
SI13 UPDATE
The BSC updates the System Information 13 message to indicate the activation/deactivation
of the feature and sends PCU BROADCAST INFO MODIFY to provide the updated content of
the SI13 to the PCU.
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PCUSN
SGSN MSC/VLR
SPM
p SPM p All CS pages
SPM are transferred to
the PCUSN
SPM
PCUSN nCS Pages
SPM
SPM
SPM
qSPM has
found that a BS o CS Pages
TBF is alive
for this MS
C broadcast on CCCH
o o
r CS pages BTS BTS
on PACCH
BTS BTS
BTS
No TBF alive
CS pages on
TBF alive CCCH
If the network is running in Network Mode of Operation II, when the BSC receives a CS paging
from A interface :
• the BSC broadcasts this paging message in the target cells (as it has always done so
far), regardless of bssPagingCoordination parameter value,
• and, if bssPagingCoordination is enabled on at least one cell of the area, the BSC
sends the paging message in a single BSC CS Paging message to the PCU (even if
the CS paging addressee is a list of cells) on one of the available Agprs PCM (with a
round-robin mechanism to spread the CS paging load on all Agprs PCMs connected
to this BSC).
When a PCU element receives a CS paging on its Agprs PCM, it broadcasts this message to
all PCU elements connected to the same BSC that issued the CS paging message. Each PCU
element then checks whether the IMSI value included in the BSC CS Paging message
corresponds to one of the existing MS context (i.e. a mobile that is known as currently having
an established TBF). In this case :
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• Synthesised mode for Hybrid couplers with duplexers: hopping time slots can hop
on a large band of frequencies.
• Baseband mode using Cavity couplers with duplexers: hopping time slots can hop
on a set of frequencies limited by the number of TRXs (only available with S4000
BTS).
Note: using frequency hopping allows to adapt and maximise the frequency re-use pattern
efficiency by maximising the capacity in term of offered Erlang/Mhz/km2. The pattern to use
will depend on the available frequency band and the traffic requirement.
It is possible (and recommended) to mix different frequency re-use technique, as 4X12 for
BCCH and 1X3 or 1X1 for TCH. Indeed, a traditional 4X12 reuse pattern is appropriate to a
wide spectrum allocation as for BCCH frequency (only one frequency per cell is needed).
However, in order to increase the number of TRX per cell with a given frequency band, while
keeping a low interference level, the only solution is to use more restricting reuse pattern, as
1X1 or 1X3.
See also chapter General Rules For Synthesised Frequency Hopping.
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100
1 freq
2 freq
4 freq
8 freq
% 10
8 4
1
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
FADING MARGIN (dB)
• the smaller the mobile speed and the higher the number of frequencies, the higher
the benefit of the frequency hopping.
Frame Erasure Rate versus SFH at –104 dBm (DCS)
12.00
0.5
0.5 km/h
10.00 1.5
1.5 km/h
8.00
2.5 km/h
2.5 5 km/h
FER (%)
6.00 25 km/h
4.00
5
2.00
25
0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
NUMBER OF FREQUENCIES FOR HOPPING
• the higher the number of frequencies in the hopping law, the narrower the Rxqual
distribution. However Rxqual mean remains the same (see figure below). Hence
the Frequency Hopping eliminates the number of bad Rxqual samples but it also
reduces the number of good Rxqual ones.
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90
80
70
60
50
40
30
1 freq
4 freq
20 8 freq
4 8 16 freq
10
16
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
BER %
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The main issue is to ensure that the frequency BCCH is transmitted all the time (on all the TS
of the TDMA) at a constant power even if there is no call to transmit (no voice or data burst).
This is done by a specific configuration which consists in dedicating a TRX to the BCCH
frequency (so the TDMA called BCCH does not hop).
Generally, the number of frequencies is greater than the number of TRX in order to have the
smallest Fading margin in the link budget.
BCCH Freq
TDMA1 TX1
TDMA2 TX2
TDMA3 TX3
TDMA4 TX4
MAIO
MA frequency list
The TDMA configurations in case of synthesised frequency hopping are defined as follows:
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PRINCIPLE
Using baseband frequency hopping, each TX is dedicated to one frequency and is connected
to all the Frame Processor (TDMA) via the FH bus. It is used with cavity coupling system. It
uses exactly the same number of frequencies as TRXs.
The filling is done by the FP according to the configuration of the TDMA (all the parameters for
the frequency hopping are static and not per call basis; so even if there is no call the FP
knows if it has to transmit on the BCCH frequency).
Moreover the TX can have a carrier filling functionality which is not useful for the BCCH
frequency (Carrier filling is already done by the FP) but which can be used in case of other
frequencies carrier filling with the use of a specific BCF load.
BCCH Freq
FP1 TX1
FP2 TX2
FP3 TX3
FP4 TX4
For a given cell with the previous configuration (4 TRX), one Mobile Allocation should be
defined:
• MA0 contains all the frequencies except the BCCH frequency (3 frequencies in the
exemple).
The baseband frequency hopping configuration is the following:
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TS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
TDMA 0 F1 F1 F1 F1 F1 F1 F1 F1 MAIO=0
TDMA 1 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MAIO=1
TDMA 2 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MAIO=2
TDMA 3 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MA0 MAIO=3
LCAUTION!
It is not recommended to hop on BCCH frequency when using baseband frequency hopping,
because it can lead to some troubles when downlink DTX or downlink power control are
enabled.
RECONFIGURATION PROCEDURE
• loss of a frequency
the cell is stopped and restarted with new set of frequencies. This may lead
to release the calls if there is more live TX than btsThresholdHopReconf
• recovery of all frequencies
an automatic reconfiguration is triggered by the BSC when all the
frequencies are recovered. This may lead to release the calls
There will be a reconfiguration if the flag bscHopReconfUse is set to “true” (defined at BSC
level) and if there are more frequencies than the threshold btsThresholdHopReconf (defined at
BTS level). Otherwise the cell is badly configured.
When a end of fault occurs if the flag btsHopReconfRestart is set to “true” and if there are
more frequencies than the threshold (btsThresholdHopReconf), there is a complete cell
reconfiguration.
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A frequency plan optimizes frequency hopping list of each sector in order to reduce the
interferences. The length of the frequency hopping list is variable (it should be at least equal to
the number of TRx on the sector).
BCCH Freq
TDMA1 TX1
TDMA2 TX2
TDMA3 TX3
TDMA4 TX4
For ad-hoc frequency planning, an interference matrix or a very intense and accurate drive
tests campaign is needed. A frequency planing tool can also be used.
For each method the principle is the same: take into account DL BCCH and HO interactions
between cells. The frequencies on the list are planned intelligently in order to avoid collision
with the neighboring cells, allocating same frequencies on the hopping list to cells which are
far in distance or that the interaction between them is the minimum as possible.
There is a reduction on the number of frequencies on the frequency hoping list. It is
recommended to space the maximum as possible (at least 3 channels) the frequencies used
in the same frequency list to maximize frequency hopping gain (fading reduction)
Every sector of one site has a different HSN in order to minimize co-channel or adjacent
collisions.
The main drawback is the cost to maintain the plan since regularly it is recommended to
review the plan in order to optimize its performances.
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• Current CPU load for MPU / BIFP / OMU / SICD and memory resources are
supervised (including also OMU-SUP-SWC chained boards)
• Resources fluctuation trends are analysed and taken into account for anticipation
purpose
• Each board monitors its own load and neighboring involved board load, and
makes decisions dependent of all others
• Decisions are taken only on traffic stimuli, not O&M stimuli
Such a mechanism is able to take into account not only traffic CPU load but O&M CPU load
and to trigger an upstream or downstream protection (but based only on traffic stimuli).
This local card synthetic load, compared with the overLoad threshold value associated with
current board, is converted into a local card overLoad level [levels 0..3] and sent to a
centralized overLoad control task located on the OMU board.
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By the same way, the OMU-SUP-SWC cain is monitored in order to generate an associated
overload level.
Thus firstly, this centralized task collects and computes different overLoad levels to determine:
• the overLoad level of each cellGroup, showing the overLoad level of each BIFP
board (used for instance by TMG to select BIFP board to “propagate” a
pagingRequest from A-I/F or an incoming external handover)
• the overLoad level of each CELL, showing the highest overLoad level between
SICD boards handling this GSM object instance
• the overLoad level of each SITE, showing the highest overLoad level between
SICD boards handling this GSM object instance
• the overLoad level of each TCU, showing the highest overLoad level between
SICD boards handling this GSM object instance
Then secondly, this centralized task collects and computes different overLoad levels to
determine the overLoad level of the operation family (i.e Paging Request, Network Access,
Location Updating...) indicating the highest overLoad level between potentially impacted
boards OMU / MPU / SICD / BIFP / OMU-SUP-SWC.
Lastly, before processing any operation, each board (i.e. each applicative task located on this
board, impacted by this operation) must check:
Example:
Before processing a pagingResponse at BIFP level, TMG (TMG-RAD and TMG-CNX located
on BIFP board) checks:
• its local overLoad level (i.e.its own overlLoad level... at BIFP level)
• the overLoad level of the “network access” operation family (i.e. overLoad levels of
OMU-SUP-SWC, OMU and MPU boards involved)
• the overLoad level of the each CELL impacted by this operation (i.e. over-Load
levels of the impacted SICD board)
List of the operations to be filtered
Despite the fact, this mechanism is defined as a “centralized” overLoad control method,
actions are triggered at local level (i.e. by each board). Following actions can be done only on
traffic reduction purpose according overLoad level and operation type:
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• overLoad level 1: traffic reduction around 33% by filtering 1 request out of 3 of the
following messages:
Paging Request,
Channel Request with cause different from “Emergency call”,
All First Layer 3 messages with cause different from “Emergency call”,
HandOver for traffic reason,
HandOver for O&M reason,
Directed Retry.
• overLoad level 2: traffic reduction around 66% by filtering 2 requests out of 3 of
the previous messages.
• overLoad level 3: no new traffic is accepted by screening all previous and
following messages:
All First Layer 3 messages,
All Channel Request (including causefor “Emergency Call”),
All Handover Indication,
All Handover Request.
Note: when communications need to be filtered to reduce the load of the BSC, it can be done
for all the BTSs or CELLs supported by the overLoaded board !
During the first 30mn of a BSC restart, all thresholds are decreased by 30%, in order to give
more power to the O&M operations.
When a BSC is in simplex mode, all thresholds are decreased by 20%, in order to reduce the
risk of outage in this phase.
CHOOSING PARAMETERS
The internal overload parameters have been .validated in R&D for V12 and upper releases
and must not be changed.
Refer to the processorLoadSupConf parameter.
CAPACITY IMPACT
ALARM NOTIFICATION
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The BSC is responsible for accepting or rejecting sites creation or reparenting in order to
ensure that the hardware capacity is sufficient to handle the traffic.
The maximum dimensioning of a BSC 3000 is 3000 Erlang, 500 Sites, 600 Cells, 1000 TRX,
16 SS7 links, 567 LAPD links. A good dimensioning lead to the following relations:
CARRIED TRAFFIC
The carried traffic (or real traffic) is the number of simultaneous voice communication a BSC
handles at the busy hour. The carried traffic is given by the customer for an area or can be
observed with monitoring. It is necessary to consider a margin carried traffic for a lot of
reasons (GPRS traffic is increasing lightly the load on the TMU, Load balancing algorithm
shares fairly the load between TMU, The operator wants to be able to absorb additional traffic
in case of special Event).
As a consequence it is recommanded to use a margin of about 20-25 % when considering the
carried traffic.
Moreover AMR handset penetration should be considered if half rate vocoder is used on a
network since it increases offered capacity on radio sites.
OFFERED TRAFFIC
The offered traffic in a cell is the number of simultaneous users that can use a resource with a
target quality of service objective (blocking rate). This step will consist in determining the
values of table ERLANG_PER_N_TRX_CELL in order to let the BSC computes the most
adapted offered erlang.
TMU NUMBER
To set the appropriate number of TMU boards please refer to the BSS Engineering Rules
(Reference Documents).
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The overload mechanism only applies to TMU boards. TMU boards are SBC and PMC, from
V16.0 a new TMU was introduced:TMU2 . This new TMU has only one board, the SBC one.
OMU and interface node overload are not managed.
This overload mechanism is based on the following principles:
• Decisions are only taken on traffic stimuli, not on O&M stimuli. On the BSC sub-
system, an overload situation is mainly due to the traffic management, which is
computed on the TMU module
• Each TMU monitors its overload level and decisions will be applied to all the cell-
groups it manages.
The overload management concerns overload levels of two boards of the TMU:
• SBC board (based on CPU usage, memory and waiting time of messages in the
mailbox)
• PMC board (based only on CPU usage).
For TMU2 the overload management concerns one board only (therefore the monitoring
counter pegged is the one associated to SBC )
Overload architecture is hierarchically organized:
• 1) the elementary overload level is returned from SBC and PMC by comparing their
level of CPU, memory and mailbox resources to specific thresholds
• 2) the maximum of these elementary overload level gives the local overLoad level
• 3) for each new local overload level received, each TMU computes its
TMUOvLevel(i) as the maximum of all the local overload levels of the boards it
manages. TMUOvLevel(i) is then sent to a centralized overload control task
located on the OMU that will trigger the appropriate action for TMU(i).
The actions are triggered at TMU level, as TMU are rather independent one from the other in
terms of overload handling. When a TMU is in overload, it will filter partially the new coming
traffic requests related to the cell-groups it manages.
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PARAMETERS
No specific new counters or configuration parameters are introduced with this feature.
• A TMU module fails or comes into operation (for hardware or operator reasons)
• An imbalance of the TMU loads is detected by the BSC (on online operations such
as new TMU board, new BTS, or new TRX). In this case, the load balancing can
be manually started.
For further details on this feature please refer to the corresponding chapter in the BSS
Engineering Rules (chapter Reference Documents).
MAIN EVOLUTIONS
Global dimensioning constraints for the BSC remain unchanged: the BSC capacity is, as in
V14.3, V14.3.1 and V15.0 limited by the following maximum number of managed objects:
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PACKAGING OF CG IN ERLANG
The previous packaging of site in CG was previously based on the number of TRX. The
addition of a site of N TRX in an existing CG was roughly done if the CG had no more than 16-
N TRX, else an empty CG was chosen. The maximum number of TRX per CG (48) could be
an issue in the case of site extension or big site introduction in V15.0.1 (with more than 40
TRX).
In V15.1, the packaging of sites in CG is now based on a target in Erlang. The weight of each
site is estimated and this estimation is used for the packaging of the CG: the objective is to
have a target of 84 Erlang per CG. So the principle of the algorithm remains the same: the
addition of a site with N TRX in an existing CG is roughly done if this one has no more than 84
Erlang. If no more empty CG remains, the site is added in the existing CG with a maximum
constraint of 10 sites per CG. A site created on line is considered with a value of Erlang
corresponding to a site of one Cell with 8 TRX.
ESTIMATEDSITELOAD PARAMETER
This parameter is a class 3 parameter. Thus, this one may be used at site creation (off line or
on line) but may also be changed at any moment while the site is operational. On an online
change of this parameter, the BSC will regenerate the site weight estimation (and the CG
weight estimation) and will perform a new CG re-balancing if needed (as in case of a TRX
addition for instance: the packaging of sites in CG are not re-performed, but the distribution of
the CG according to new CG weight will be reconsidered: if the capacity of the TMU hosting
the active CG or the passive CG reach their limits, the algorithm considers if it can move these
CG to other TMU. Otherwise, it suppresses the CG that can not fit).
Please refer to the BSS Engineering Rules (see chapter Reference Documents) for further
informations on the use of that parameter.
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OMC attenuation
(since V9)
DLU
attenuation OR
(until V8)
Tx
Tx
bsTxPwrMax Pc Pr Coupling
Coupling
Ps
translation
translation system
system
SUM
table
table
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4.16.2 PR COMPUTATION
S8000/S12000 FAMILY
This is the table mapping the bsTxPwrMax and the Pr for S8000 and S12000 products (in
function of the coupling system).
For more details on the Pmax per products, please refer to the Engineering Rules (ref. [R47]
to ref. [R56]).
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LCAUTION!
There is no exact match between the power emitted with a PA/ePA (even power) and the
power emitted with a HePA (odd power)
BTS18K/6K FAMILY
This is the table mapping the bsTxPwrMax and the Pr for BTS6000 & BTS18000 product (in
function of the configuration). Note: That H4 is not used for BTS6000
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4.16.3 PS COMPUTATION
Then, the effective cabinet output power is:
Ps = Pr - cablesLoss - couplingLoss
The nominal output power output for PA is 44.8 dBm (+/- 0.5dBm). This nominal output is the
same for all frequencies.
The nominal power output for HePA depends on the frequencies and on the product. Please
note that not all product support HePA for all the frequency bands.
For more details on HePA output power as a function of the product and the frequency band,
please refer to the appropriate Engineering rules document ([R47] to [R56])..
COUPLING SYSTEM
To know the input power, it is important to factor in the system coupling losses. Please refer to
the appropriate Engineering rules document ([R47] to [R56]).
CABLE LOSS
For the values of the losses depending on the BTS configuration and frequency band, please
refer to the appropriate Engineering rules document ([R47] to [R56]).
RF/IO CABLE
It is the RF cable connecting the Antenna connector of the duplexer to the output connector (to
connect the antenna feeder).
Each cable is specifically dedicated to a frequency band. This particularity is due to the quarter
wave lightning protector which must be adapted to the frequency band.
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It is the RF cable connecting the PA (Power Amplifier) output connector to the input connector
of the Hybrid combiner.
S8000 Example: Maximum insertion attenuation (guaranted):
PS COMPUTATION EXAMPLE
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LCAUTION!
It has been experimented that with some mobile brands a delay in the other band neighbor
cells reports occurs, i.e. a minimum time is necessary for those mobiles to send
measurements from neighbors transmitting of the other band to the current cell.
EARLY_CLASSMARK_SENDING_CONTROL
It indicates if multiband MS is authorized to send the early Classmark Change message to the
BSC via the BTS. This allows the MSC to receive as soon as possible the multiband
information and to pass it to the target BSC. It will speed up call set-ups and allows to perform
Handover and directed retry when needed. The Classmark Change indicates the frequency
bands supported by the MS and MS power classes to perform HO procedures in the best
conditions.
The corresponding parameter is the class 3 attribute early classmark sending belonging to bts
objects. If it is set to “enabled”, the Classmark_Change message is sent just after the SABM
and UA frames exchange on the Immediate_Assignment procedure. This message makes
interband handover procedures possible. Moreover this parameter allows the mobile to send
its capacity downlink Advanced Receiver performance. That helps to have SAIC mobile
penetration
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SYS_INFO_2TER_INDICATOR
The neighbouring cell lists for handover and cell reselection are broadcast towards multiband
and single band mobile stations. The frequencies of neighbouring cells in other frequency
bands than the current cell will be carried by new SYS INFO messages:
The new SYS INFO 2ter and 5ter messages carry parameters which are needed by multiband
mobile stations to perform respectively cell reselection (2ter) and handover (5ter) towards cell
from another band:
LCAUTION!
Some single band mobiles are disturbed by the receipt of SYS INFO 5ter. They react by
sending an RR status message, that can load the BSC. To avoid this, the sending of these
messages is controlled by the BTS. On the opposite, single band mobile stations are not
disturbed by 2ter messages because they ignore them.
No field called ‘Sys_Info_5ter_Indicator’ exists. To know if 5ter messages are sent, SACCH
filling messages are used.
The parameter cellBarQualify is not used by some dual band MS in selection and reselection
algorithms.
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MULTIBAND REPORTING
Multiband mobile stations report cells from different frequency bands according to Multiband
Reporting parameter (corresponding to class 3 attribute ‘multi band reporting’ of bts objects)
broadcast in SYS INFO messages:
• the six strongest cells: default value. The multiband MS reports the six strongest
allowed cells regardless of the frequency band.
• 1, 2, 3: the multiband MS reports the strongest or the two, three strongest allowed
cells outside the current frequency band. The remaining space in the report is
used to give information about cells in the current frequency band. If there are still
some remaining positions (not enough neighbours in the current frequency band),
these positions are used to report cells outside the current frequency band.
LCAUTION!
A maximum of six cells will be reported. Only a maximum of n ”best” cells (according to the
L1M algorithm) will be transmitted to the BSC by the L1M in a Handover_Indication message
(n = 3 before V12 ; n = 6 from V12).
OHER PROCEDURES
The handling of multiband MS did not need specific changes in L1M. Main changes are on MS
side. However, main procedures can be reviewed with the differences that occur in V10.
• PLMN selection: a single band MS only selects a PLMN from its frequency band.
A multiband MS can select PLMNs of both bands.
• Cell selection & reselection: a single band MS only selects or re-selects cells from
its frequency band. A multiband MS can select or re-select cells of both bands.
Priority can be given to one band (see chapter Selection, Reselection Algorithms).
• Handovers: a new attribute is introduced in both adjacentCellReselection and
adjacentCellHandover objects. Its name is standardIndicator Adjc and tells the
type of network where the neighboring cell operates (“gsm” or “dcs” or “gsmdcs” or
“dcsgsm”). A single band MS only performs handovers towards cells from its
frequency band. A multiband MS can perform handovers towards cells of both
bands if classmark 3 is supported on NSS side.
If local mode directed retry is chosen, as it is performed towards a specific neighbour, one
type of single band MS (the one which does not support the frequency band of adjacent cell
umbrella ref) will not use this feature.
For multiband MS, formulas like PBGT or thresholds are the same as single band ones, their
power class is replaced according to the band of the cell they are in (se chapter General
formulas).
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PRINCIPLE
This feature has been designed to allow configuring the sending of System Information 13
(SI13) and System Information 2Quater (SI2Quater) messages either on normal or extended
BCCH.
This configuration is possible on a per BSC basis and done via the BSC Data Config tool.
That feature is avalaible from V15.1 for BSC3000 and BSC12000.
3GPP recommendations gives:
SI2QUATER
It is sent if needed, as determined by the system operator. If sent on BCCH Norm, it shall be
sent when TC = 5 if neither of SI2bis and SI2ter are used, otherwise it shall be sent at least
once within any of 4 consecutive occurrences of TC = 4. If sent on BCCH Ext, it is sent at least
once within any of 4 consecutive occurrences of TC = 5.
SI13
It is only related to the GPRS service. SI13 need only be sent if GPRS support is indicated in
one or more of System Information Type 3 or 4 or 7 or 8 messages. These messages also
indicate if the message is sent on the BCCH Norm or if the message is transmitted on the
BCCH Ext. In the case that the message is sent on the BCCH Norm, it is sent at least once
within any of 4 consecutive occurrences of TC = 4.
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
IDLE
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
The feature allows configuring separately SI2Quater and SI13 per BSC either on Norm BCCH
or Ext BCCH.
CCCH
BCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
BCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
CCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
FCCH
IDLE
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
SCH
As a consequence, SI3 message has been updated in order to indicate to the mobile:
PERFORMANCES
The BCCH channel has a repeat period of 8 multi-frames. One multi-frame has 51 frames and
one frame is approximately 4,615ms long. Therefore, the BCCH repeat period is
8*51*4.615ms, or 1,88 seconds. Each period of the BCCH channel is given a number in the
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range 0 to 7. This number is called TC. The 3GPP specifications define in which BCCH repeat
period (TC value) a specific SYS INFO message can be sent.
SI2Ter, SI13 and SI2quater can be sent when TC=4.
• if 1 of SI2Ter, SI13 and SI2Quater messages has to be sent, it will be sent every
1.88 seconds.
• if 2 of SI2Ter, SI13 and SI2Quater messages has to be sent, each will be sent
every 3.76 seconds.
• if all of SI2Ter, SI13 and SI2Quater messages has to be sent, each will be sent
every 5.64 seconds.
Redirection procedure duration is directly linked to the time the MS needs to read system
information messages.
On the contrary, the sending of system information on extended BCCH increase load on
AGCH/PCH channel.
BENEFITS
• Devices being unable to read SI13 messages when these are sent on the
Extended BCCH. The impact of the failure to read this message was that the
device is partially or completely unable to connect to GPRS services.
• Devices seeing valid SI messages containing 3G NCells (SI2Quater) as
“corrupted” when sent on the Normal BCCH; continued reception of these
messages resulted in the device rebooting or failing to set up CS calls.
So if customers don’t wish to recall affected MS the feature allows to modify the allocation of
SI2Quater and SI13 messages
SI2Quater and SI13 on Ext BCCH allow as well speeding up 3G toward 2G cell reselection
(see chapter Mobility 2G - 3G Reselection).
LCAUTION!
When this feature is enabled, e.g. if SI2Quater and/or SI13 on extended BCCH features are
activated, the parameter noOfBlocksForAccessGrant has to be greater than 0.
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TC5 may be preempted by the optional SYSINFO 2x that has the highest priority, where 2bis
priority > 2ter priority > 2quater priority. TC4 is shared by remaining optional SYSINFO
messages one after the other in the following order : SYSINFO 2ter, SYSINFO 2quater and
SYSINFO 13.
Optional SYSINFO to
TC=0 TC=1 TC=2 TC=3 TC=4 TC=5 TC=6 TC=7
broadcast
None (Si n°) 1 (SI n°) 2 (SI n°) 3 (SI n°) 4 (SI n°) 1 (SI n°) 2 (SI n°) 3 (SI n°) 4
2bis or
2bis only or 2ter only or
1 2 3 4 1 2ter or 3 4
2quater only
2quater
13 only 1 2 3 4 13 2 3 4
2ter or
2bis & (2ter or 2quater or
1 2 3 4 2quater 2bis 3 4
13)
or 13
2quater
2ter & (2quater or 13) 1 2 3 4 2ter 3 4
or 13
2quater & 13 1 2 3 4 13 2quater 3 4
1 2 3 4 2ter 2bis 3 4
2bis & 2ter & (2quater or
13) 2quater
1 2 3 4 2bis 3 4
or 13
1 2 3 4 2quater 2bis 3 4
2bis & 2quater & 13
1 2 3 4 13 2bis 3 4
1 2 3 4 2quater 2ter 3 4
2ter & 2quater & 13
1 2 3 4 13 2ter 3 4
1 2 3 4 2ter 2bis 3 4
2bis & 2ter & 2quater &
1 2 3 4 2quater 2bis 3 4
13
1 2 3 4 13 2bis 3 4
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8 interfering MS ’s
on the 8 TS ’s of F0
BS#2
The algorithm is based on the use of the Maximum Ratio Combining diversity technique and
the midamble in the GSM burst that is used to gain some indication of the channel
characteristics, and hence an estimate of the noise present. This noise is approximately made
up of interference and thermal-noise. The midamble is a known sequence of bits, which
undergoes changes after propagation. The interference estimation is necessarily biaised since
it is estimated on a short period of time (22 Tsymbol compared to the 148 Tsymbol) and the
interference cancellation in the absence of interference will result in decreasing the SNR ratio.
To avoid this problem, a parameter ρ is introduced.
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Thus, it is better not to try to estimate the noise but to put as ’an a priori information’ that there
is only white noise. However when there are interferers, it is necessary to estimate them and
the algorithm can do it only on the 22 signal samples where the useful signal is known.
The ρ parameter is the interferer cancel algo usage parameter that can be set from the OMC.
The ρ parameter is a compromise parameter that can trade-off the pure noise performances
against the dominant interferer case. The algorithm finds the maximum of the modified signal-
to-noise ratio:
• ρ = 0 implies that we have a constant term at the denominator, the noise energy,
and the processing finds the linear combination that maximizes the signal (under
the constraint that |a|2+|b|2=1), i.e. it performs the maximal ratio combiner (MRC).
• ρ = 1 (100%) means that we remove the constant term i.e. the a priori information
on the noise. When there is no interference an approximate MRC combiner is
performed.
• other ρ values like e.g. .5 (50%) mean that a compromise is made between
performances at high interference and at pure noise situations.
MRC is Nortel equipment’s diversity combining technique which is known to be the linear
combination of signals received on the two antennas, that maximises the S/N ratio when there
is only thermal noise (for example it is 1.5dB better than selection combining). It suffers about
2dB loss when there are strong interferers. Simulations have been carried out to show how
with the use of MRC, the required Carrier-to-Int+Noise ratio (C/(I+N)) to maintain a particular
BER reduces, as the presence of synchronus/asynchronus interferers increases. Although
following the same trend, ICA simulation showed the use of a lower C/(I+N) to maintain the
same BER as opposed to only using MRC.
Before V15.1.1, gain of interferer cancellation was not optimal in case of low Rxlev. Since
V15.1.1 interferer cancellation algorithm has been improved to take into account all range
value for parameter "interferer cancel algo usage" (called rejection factor ρ) for all RxLev
range
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• CCCH_Conf = 0:
TS 0 = FCCH+SCH+BCCH+CCCH
• CCCH_Conf = 1:
TS 0 = FCCH+SCH+BCCH+CCCH+SDCCH/4+SACCH/4
• CCCH_Conf = 2:
TS 0 = FCCH+SCH+BCCH+CCCH
TS 2 = CCCH
• CCCH_Conf = 4:
TS 0 = FCCH+SCH+BCCH+CCCH
TS 2 = CCCH
TS 4 = CCCH
• CCCH_Conf = 6:
TS 0 = FCCH+SCH+BCCH+CCCH
TS 2 = CCCH
TS 4 = CCCH
TS 6 = CCCH
Note: By increasing the number of CCCH, we decrease the number of TCH, so it leads to
reduction of the capacity. For example, an O8 with 1 BCCH has a capacity of 48,65 Erlangs
(with 2% of blocking rate); with 4 CCCH its capacity drops to 45,88 Erlangs.
To configuration of a CCCH block on a TS the channelType parameter must be set to “cCH’.
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Therefore, the following sections (§4.20.1, §4.20.2, §4.20.3) are applicable only to BSS
releases prior to V17.
The principle of this feature is quite simple; it is to replace the ETSI TRAU frames and to
define a new frame (ETF) by introduction of a CRC on the uplink and the downlink path in
order to detect and correct erroneous frames due to PCM error rate.
The ETF can be used for the following frames:
• Full rate,
• Enhanced full rate,
• Data up to 14.4 kbit/s
The CRC is designed for three functions:
• On uplink direction: the BTS(DRX boards) build the frame(ETF) while the TCU
(TCB2 boards) synchronizes, detects, corrects and monitors the frame. If an error
is not corrected, the TCU mutes the frame. At the end of the communication, the
RF_channel_Release_Ack message carries the synthetic information about the
PCM link status.
• On downlink direction: the BTS(DRX boards) synchronizes, detects, corrects and
monitors the frame while the TCU builds the frame. If an error is not corrected, the
BTS sends a filled frame to the MS.
During a BSC HO, if the TCU losses the frame synchronization, the communication is cut until
the synchronization is found back (duration around 1 or 2 frames: it means around 20 or 40
ms). Moreover, if the BSC manages different frame formats (ETSI TRAU 8.620, ETF), the
PCM error correction performance on the voice depends on the transmission direction:
LCAUTION!
Some simulations with FR and different PCM error rate have shown that pcm error correction
feature is efficient on FR whatever the PCM quality. But with EFR, according to the PCM
quality the activation of PCM error correction may lead to a worst voice quality:
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To answer US FCC requirements, NORTEL V12.4 (or V14.3 with BSC/TCU 3000 introduction)
BSS includes now the Cellular text Telephone Modem (CTM) solution for reliable transmission
of a Text Telephone conversation via the speech channel of cellular or PSTN networks.
NORMAL CASE
• Circuit Identity Code compatible with TCB2 (or TRM_DSP) capability (FR+CTM)
• “Speech/data indicator” = “Speech + CTM”
• and “permitted speech version identifiers” = EFR & FR,
an ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE or HANDOVER COMPLETE message will be sent to the MSC
with Speech Version (Chosen) = FR (or EFR).
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• Circuit Identity Code compatible with TCB2 (or TRM_DSP) capability (FR+CTM)
• “Speech/data indicator” = “Speech”
• and “permitted speech version identifiers” = EFR & FR or FR (or EFR & FR)
• and unavailable archipelago EFR and FR resource (SPU)
an ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE or HANDOVER COMPLETE message will be sent to the MSC
with Speech Version (Chosen) = FR (or EFR).
ABNORMAL CASE
• Circuit Identity Code incompatible with TCB2 (or TRM_DSP) capability (the circuit
pool implied by the CIC information element is incompatible with the channel type
indicated)
• “Speech/data indicator” = “Speech + CTM”
• and “permitted speech version identifiers” = EFR & FR
• and unavailable archipelago EFR_CTM resource (SPU)
In a first step an ASSIGNMENT FAILURE or HANDOVER FAILURE message will be sent to
the MSC.
In a second step an ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE or HANDOVER COMPLETE message will be
sent to the MSC with Speech Version (Chosen) = EFR (or FR according to the archipelago
resource availability).
TCU-TCB2
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TCU 3000
The TCU 3000 capacity is affected by the CTM implementation according to the configured
archipelagos EFR_CTM number.
TCU 3000 architecture supports until 10 TRM max: (9+1 for redundancy))
Each TRM manages 3 archipelagos i.e. 36 SPU:
However, new information is available through the “Channel Type” message, and the field
“Speech / data indicator”. We have the new request: “Speech + CTM Text Telephony”.
LCAUTION!
CTM provides a solution that:
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4.22.1 PRINCIPLE
The Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD) positioning method combines the relative
time of arrival of the signals from several BTSs reported by the target MS with the signals
received by a fixed measuring point known as the Location Measurement Unit (LMU) whose
location is known. Typically one LMU is needed for every 3 to 4 BTS sites.
Note that there are two possible types of LMU:
• Type A LMU communicates with the BTS over the air, it requires an additional
antenna for this purpose. This is known as the ‘GSM Tx/Rx’ antenna. The
signaling protocol for the LMU to SMLC interface is known as the LMU LCS
Protocol (LLP) and is described in GSM 04.71.
• Type B LMU communicates with the BTS over a dedicated wired interface. The
Type B interface uses the serial communications port on the LMU and will require
a proprietary connection to the BTS (such as the Q1 bus or similar).
The Network Assisted GPS solution uses the GPS information measured by the MS if it
supports this functionality. To ensure efficient service, assistance data needs to be sent by the
network to the MS. Nortel has adopted a NSS-based architecture and will provide a combined
Gateway Mobile Location Center and Serving Mobile Location Center (GMLC/SMLC) into a
single platform, the Mobile Location Server. This server is therefore connected to the MSC.
The BSS acts as a relay between the mobiles and the LMUs on one side and the Mobile
Location Server on the other. Location Measurements Units (LMUs), if required (EOTD
method), are wireless devices (type A) provided by a third party. It should be noted that the
positioning accuracy is dependant on many factors, but mainly the algorithms implemented in
the MS and in the SMLC. Therefore, the BSS is not responsible for the final location accuracy.
Interface Lb is introduced for BSS based solution in V16.0 (see Engineering rules [R37]).
4.22.2 PERFORMANCES
New signaling messages are introduced for this feature management:
BS
OMC
BS
Cell BSC
SMS-CB
Broadcast BS
manager
Center
BS
BSC
BS
4.23.1 PRINCIPLE
In the Nortel network’s structure of Cell Broadcast Service a Cell Broadcast Center is
interfaced with the OMC via a non Q3 interface. The OMC act as the SMS-CB manager and
broadcast SMS over all the BSCs placed under its control.
The new requirements concern:
• the broadcast of the same short messages on all the cells which are managed by
an OMC-R or a BSC list.
• the change rate of these short messages: 13 seconds are required;
• The current implementation about the short message broadcast involves several
limitations and OAM constrains which should be raised:
• CBC/OMC-R interface throughput which must be compliant with the user activity
performance.
• OMC-R/BSC interface throughput which must be compliant with the number of
message (TGE) to be processed by the BSC (from 1 up to 2 TGE/sec for all
transactions).
• Heavy OAM constraint to update the data base CBC when network (re)
configuration occurs.
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4.23.2 PERFORMANCES
The following table depicts the number of messages:
• on an average: 1 MMI command every 10 sec. for the whole set of users. Or, 1
MMI unitary command every 160 sec. per users, with a maximum of 16 users.
• on a maximum: 1 MMI unitary command every 2 sec. for the whole set users,
during 2 hours maximum. Or 1 MMI unitary command every 32 sec. per users,
during 2 hours maximum, with a maximum of 16 users.
The CBC can be associated to n users among 16 ones: then the number of MMI commands
on the CBC / OMC interface is n every 32 sec.
Every short message modifications involves 2 MMI unitary commands (set short message &
start broadcast) the short message change rate is 32*2n.
Note:
When the OMC-R receives one command for all the cells of one or several BSC, it checks for
each cell if there is a CBCH channel and if the limit of 5 short messages is not exceeded. That
defines a “compliant” cell. It then checks if a threshold S (per BSC) corresponding to a max of
tolerated non compliant cells is reached.
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If the limit of 5 messages is exceeded for one or several cells and if the number of non
compliant cells exceeds the threshold S for one or several BSC, the OMC-R rejects the
command and does not sent the TGEs. The TGEs will not be sent for these BSC(s), but will be
sent for the others. The response (FAILED) to the CBC will report per BSC the non compliant
bts identities (up to the first S bts identities per BSC).
If the number of non compliant cells does not exceed the threshold S for any BSC, the OMC-R
accepts the command and sends the TGEs. The response (SUCCEEDED) to the CBC will
report per BSC the non compliant bts identities (up to S bts identities per BSC).
On the air interface the CBCH channel takes 4 TS bursts (4*0.577 ms) on one 51 multiframe.
The CBCH channel takes the place of one SDCCH channel.
The SDCCH channel can be mapped on two different ways on TDMA: with BCCH combined
(SDCCH/4) or on one reserved TS for SDCCH (SDCCH/8). Thus it is the same thing for
CBCH.
The CBCH is not using the radio resources of the CCCH. It is using the radio resources of one
SDCCH channel. The activation and the use of the SMS-CB will not impact the load on the
CCCH.
The activation of the CBCH will take 1 SDCCH channel and so will increase the SD
congestion. After the activation of the CBCH one needs to follow the SDCCH congestion and
maybe if necessary on some cells to increase the number of SDCCH channels.
Once defined on the cell the CBCH channel can only be used to send SMS-CB. Thus the
quantity of SMS-CB sent will not impact the load of the radio channels other than the CBCH.
Throughput calculation:
The CBCH (idem to SDCCH) offers 184 bits for a block message (or 4TS).
The corresponding throughput offered by the CBCH carried on 51 multitrame:
Throughput = 184 * 4 / 4.615 ms / 51 = 781 b/s
• SMS of 88 bytes
• 5 messages per cell
• 2 seconds between each message.
This means a throughput of: 88 * 8 * 5 / 2= 1760 b/s, which is more than 2 times the max
throughput of the CBCH channel.
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AMR techniques are adaptive, and multirate. It means that it allows adapting the compromise
between source coder rate and channel coding/redundancy to actual radio conditions. AMR
may operate in full rate channels, or half rate channels. This is called the “channel type”
(TCH/FR or TCH/HR). Uplink and downlink always apply the same channel type.
Basis of AMR is that within the channel (FR or HR), there is a set of voice coders, along with
associated channel coding, among which the best combination can be selected to maximize
speech quality according to conditions met on the radio link. This is “codec mode adaptation”.
For codec mode adaptation the receiving side performs link quality measurements of the
incoming link. The measurements are processed yielding a Quality Indicator.
For uplink adaptation, the Quality Indicator, as measured in the BTS is compared to certain
thresholds and generates, also considering possible constraints from network control, a Codec
Mode Command (CMC) indicating the codec mode to be used on the uplink. The Codec Mode
Command is then transmitted inband to the mobile side where the incoming speech signal is
encoded in the corresponding codec mode. For downlink adaptation, the DL Mode Request
Generator within the mobile compares the DL Quality indicator with certain thresholds and
generates a Codec Mode Request (CMR) indicating the preferred codec mode for the
downlink.
Both for uplink and downlink, the presently applied codec mode is transmitted inband as
Codec Mode Indication (CMI) together with the coded speech data. At the decoder, the Codec
Mode Indication is decoded and applied for decoding of the received speech data.
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The following figure provides the AMR data flow from a "CMR, CMC and CMI" point of view
and explains the CMI, CMC and CMR period.
MS BTS
CMI
CMI
20ms
CMC 40ms
CMI
CMI
CMR
CMC
AMR is introduced to choose in real time the repartition between rate of the source vocoder
and channel protection:
Half Rate
Source coding
Global throughput = 11,4 kBits/s
Channel coding
Full Rate
• when the transmission is good, a high rate vocoder is chosen and the number of
bits dedicated to the channel protection is low,
• in case of degraded radio conditions, the vocoder rate is decreased, in order to
provide a better channel protection and allow a better voice quality.
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• For AMR FR, 5 codec modes can be requested: 12k2, 10k2, 6k7, 5k9, 4k75 (12k2
is a virtual mode)
• For AMR HR, 4 codec modes can be requested: 7k4, 6k7, 5k9, 4k75 (7k4 is a
virtual mode)
The purpose of AMR codec mode adaptation is to provide the "best" compromise between
data rate of codec mode and channel protection, according to the link quality. This adaptation
is done for uplink and downlink and there is no interdependence between the 2 links, but both
sets of codec have to be identical.
Each 40ms, according to the requested codec mode and the applied codec mode, the BTS:
• increases by one step the rate of the codec mode, if the requested codec mode
(CMR) is greater than the applied codec mode,
• decreases by one step the rate of the codec mode, if the requested codec mode
(CMR) is lower than the applied codec mode,
• keeps the same codec mode, if the requested codec mode (CMR) is equal to the
applied codec mode.
A comparison of the estimated uplink C/I is then made with the network parameters to see to
which codec mode the C/I corresponds.
C/I
Codec Mode 4
Thresold_3 + Hysteresis_3 = Threshold_Max_Up(3)
Thresold_3 = Threshold_Max_Dn(4)
Codec Mode 3
Thresold_2 + Hysteresis_2 = Threshold_Max_Up(2)
Thresold_2 = Threshold_Max_Dn(3)
Codec Mode 2
Thresold_1 + Hysteresis_1 = Threshold_Max_Up(1)
Thresold_1 = Threshold_Max_Dn(2)
Codec Mode 1
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The BTS computes for each burst the SNR criteria, which provides a good approximation of
C/I. In order to have a smooth variation of these criteria, the BTS applies the following filter:
LCAUTION! Before V16.0 there was a limitation on UL SNR in order to have homogeneous
behavior for AMR calls with every kind of DRX. From now, UL SNR measurements are
truncated at 24dB (48 in 0.5dB) at SDO level, whatever hardware is used. The 48 value given
from the BTS corresponds to 24dB and more. This new implementation improves the power
control reactivity. That impacts on the AMR metric. Therefore C/I metric values for both AMR
and EFR calls cannot be compared.
PARAMETERS
• for each link direction (upLink or DownLink), one threshlod per subsequent codec
in the defined Active Codec Set (ACS),
• one hysteresis (the same value is used for each codec mode, but one for FR and
another one for HR channel).
But these parameters are linked to a set of factors, some of them being determined by the
BTS (frequency hopping, MS speed), others being network dependent (environment profile…).
The following table is implemented in the BSS:
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uplink downlink
slow MS - fast MS - ideal FH SFH 900
< 4 FH
no FH no FH (>= 4 freq) TU3
5k9 to 4k75 81 90 99 108 117
6k7 to 5k9 82 91 100 109 118
FR thresholds
10k2 to 6k7 83 92 101 110 119
12k2 to 10k2 84 93 102 111 120
FR hysteresis 85 94 103 112 121
5k9 to 4k75 86 95 104 113 122
HR thresholds 6k7 to 5k9 87 96 105 114 123
7k4 to 6k7 88 97 106 115 124
HR hysteresis 89 98 107 116 125
According to the network configuration, and for each combination of codec mode and link
direction, the operator selects the appropriate thresholds by using the parameters
amrUlFrAdaptationSet, amrUlHrAdaptationSet, amrDlFrAdaptationSet, amrDlHrAdaptationSet
(or the single parameter amrAdaptationSet before V15.1.1). These parameters allow to
choose between 3 sets of pre-defined tables (optimistic, pessimistic and typical settings) plus
one set of tables which is user-defined The BSS using the TS configuration and the MS speed
applies the appropriate column for the uplink path.
As specifed in the GERAN recommendations (05.09) the mobile shall use the downlink
thresholds provided by the BSS defined for a reference environement: Typical Urban 3 km/h
with ideal frequency hopping at 900 MHz. The MS shall then apply a normalization factor to
normalize with respect to different channel types. The normalization factor is mobile
dependant.
See also chapter AMR Field Feedback for further informations on the codec adaptation table.
RATSCCH MANAGEMENT
This new channel is used in order to change the set of codec modes (see "L1m" section), and
has the following main characteristics:
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For TCH/FR, the default transmission phase shall be such that Codec Mode Indications are
sent aligned with TDMA frame 0 in the uplink and with TDMA frame 4 in the downlink. For
TCH/HR, the default transmission phase shall be such that Mode Indications are sent aligned
with TDMA frame 0 or 1 depending on the subchannel in the uplink and with TDMA frame 4 or
5 depending on the subchannel, in the downlink.
If at call setup or after a handover, the Codec Mode Indication is not aligned, an Ater
procedure is engaged in order to change the default phase in downlink direction.
PRINCIPLES
The RATSCCH as the FACCH shares the dedicated channel of the TCH. Contrarily to the
FACCH the RATSCCH is time synchronous. The RATSCCH allows modification of the AMR
configuration (CMI/CMC phasing, Adaptation Thresholds, ACS). From V14, the introduction of
the AMR, Nortel Networks BTS will support the RATSCCH (All Nortel’s BTS from the S4000
DCU4 to the most recent BTS will support the AMR speech service.)
The RATSCCH message is composed of a preamble and of a message part. Several
messages have been defined. These messages correspond to different procedures. At the
moment the following have been defined:
PRE-HANDOVER
In case of intracell or intercell handover, the adaptation mechanism has to be frozen to the
ICM. For this result, the BTS has to intercept:
• an increase of around 150ms on the handover duration from the BSS point of view,
• a delay of around 150ms on the handover starting time from a MS point of view,
but no impact for the end-user in term of voice quality (i.e. same speech gap).
In case of handover failure when the MS returns on the old channel, the adaptation
mechanism is restarted by the BTS at reception of the Start Measurement message
CHANNEL ALLOCATION
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determine whether AMR is to be used, and select between FR or HR. This mechanism is
based on proprietary algorithms, which provide to the operator a full control of the allocation.
These decisions are made based on several criteria:
• OAM flags which indicate if the BSC, the TCU, and the cell support AMR, and
strategy selected
• MS capability, which is reported by the MSC in Assignment request or Handover
request messages
• radio context, for instance as evaluated during the SDCCH phase.
The BSC also has to control the BSS version: an AMR channel is activated only if all nodes
managing the call are at least in V14.
FLAG MANAGEMENT
In order to select the channel type associated to the connection, the BSC uses the channel
rate and type and permitted speech version information, in order to know the MS capability in
term of:
• FR/HR management
• Speech codec
But the chosen channel type is fixed according to radio criteria and some O&M parameters,
and the BSS has the possibility to modify the channel type during the connection, in all cases.
So at reception of the Assignment Request or Handover Request, the following mediation is
done on the Channel Type octet 4:
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The cell load state is used in order to choose between a FR or a HR channel, and is defined
using following parameters:
• hrCellLoadStart
• hrCellLoadEnd
• filteredTrafficCoefficient
ASSIGNMENT
• “small zone” bit indicates if the small zone of the serving is eligible in case of multi-
zone cell
• “HR large” bit indicates if the MS has sufficient radio conditions to manage a HR
channel in the large zone of a mullti-zone cell or in normal cell
• “HR small” bit indicates if the MS has sufficient radio conditions to manage a HR
channel in the small zone of a mullti-zone cell or in normal cell
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Using these bits and the following priority order between channel type and zone:
the BSC selects the channel type and the zone for the MS.
RADIO ALLOCATOR
The radio allocator is improved in order to manage AMR calls. Due to intrinsic quality of FR
AMR and HR AMR, 2 new parameters are created on the transceiver object, in order to give
an AMR priority to each TDMA:
• frAMRprioriry
• hrAMRPriority
where
• Interference level,
• TDMA priority,
• TDMA number (from the smallest to the biggest: 0 to n),
• TS number (from the biggest to the smallest: TS7 to TS0).
In case of HR request, the BSC applies the following rules:
• Always fill the holes in term of tree half (between 2 holes, the BSC uses priority
rules previously defined
• If there is no hole, then the BSC allocates the highest priority TS using the rules
previously defined
• This radio allocator is not improved in order to manage AMR calls, thus if an AMR
request occurs and this radio allocator is selected, then:
• an other vocoder (EFR or FR) is selected using priority order given in the channel
type element
• the allocated channel type is always a full rate TCH.
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• A FR AMR channel, specially with low codec mode, is more resistant than the
normal FR channel
• A HR AMR channel, is more sensitive to interference than the normal FR channel
Some new mechanisms dedicated for AMR channels based on "requested codec mode" in
uplink and downlink paths, which are the best representation of the quality in this case, are
designed.
For this reason, RxQual criterion is not used in AMR L1m algorithm, dealing with AMR
channel.
As seen before following codec mode sets are implemented in the BTS:
AMR FR AMR HR
10k2
6k7 6k7
5k9 5k9
4k75 4k75
In AMR L1m mechanisms, the main criterion for L1m is the requested codec mode provided
by the MS or the BTS. With this set of codec modes, it is impossible to detect if the quality is
good or very good (in both cases the MS and the BTS provide the 10k2 or 6k7 codec mode
according to the channel type).
In order to solve this problem, for an half rate channel, a fourth codec mode (7k4) is added to
the list allowing to distinguished between good and very good radio conditions. Thus the half
rate codec mode set becomes:
AMR HR
7k4
6k7
5k9
4k75
• if the radio conditions are good for uplink and downlink, then the 12k2 kbits codec
mode is configured and the 4k75 discarded allowing to distinguish between good
and very good radio conditions (using RATSCCH channel).
• if the radio conditions are bad for uplink or downlink, then the 12k2 kbits codec
mode is removed and the 4k75 is set back (using RATSCCH channel).
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AMR FR AMR FR
12k2
10k2 10k2
6k7 6k7
5k9 5k9
4k75
The following algorithm details the way of changing the codec mode set, for both paths:
1) initial state: the active codec mode set is {12k2, 10k2, 6k7, 5k9}
2) during the last 480ms period, at least one 4k75 code mode or 3 * 5k9 codec mode
are requested for uplink or downlink paths, then the active codec mode set is change
to {10k2, 6k7, 5k9, 4k75}
3) if the active code mode set is {10k2, 6k7, 5k9, 4k75} and during the last 2*480ms
period, no 5k9 nor 4k75 code mode is requested for uplink and downlink paths, then
the active codec mode set is change to {12k2, 10k2, 6k7, 5k9}.
POWER CONTROL
The Power Control feature reduces the average interferences level on the Network and saves
mobile batteries.
Power control algorithms are redesigned for AMR calls, in order to take into account the
requested codec mode. With the following parameters (powerControl object), the operator
defines the target codec mode of each channel type:
Uplink target codec
• hrPowerControlTargetMode
• frPowerControlTargetMode
Downlink target codec
• hrPowerControlTargetModeDl
• frPowerControlTargetModeDl
For the uplink path, SNR and CMR criteria are available, but the SNR is more accurate than
the CMR. For the downlink path only the CMR is available. Thus the AMR power control does
not apply same principles for both paths. This new power control mechanism is also controlled
by the 2 classical power control parameters:
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For the uplink path, the criterion is the SNR, averaged on 2 measurement periods. As this
mechanism shall guarantee a voice quality, the target SNR is the upper threshold of the
adaptation mechanism:
Note: for the 12k2 (or 7k4) value, the BTS takes into account the 10k2 (or 6k7) value plus the
FR (or HR) hysteresis.
At each measurement period, the BTS calculates the new MS power using the following
formula:
Note: From V 16, the reactivity of UL power control is improved as UL SNR measurements
limited to 24 dB (48 in 0.5 dB) are taken out.
• To decrease the power level of one step if the last requested codec mode of the
480 ms is greater than the target codec mode,
• To increase the power level of one step if the last requested codec mode of the
480 ms is lower than the target codec mode
Note: in AMR like in EFR, the parameter lRxLevDLP indicates the threshold below which
power control is inhibited.
HANDOVER MECHANISMS
The following table describes which handover mechanisms are impacted by the AMR
introduction
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PRINCIPLE
These 4 handovers are based on "(n,p) voting" principle, using the requested codec mode.
The (n,p) voting principle considers the last p requested codec modes, it compares them to
two parameters: a codec mode threshold defined for the procedure and the specific n value
pRequestedCodec
Handover
decision
used for the procedure.
If p is set to 2 SACCH periods (2*12), n is set to 10, the target codec mode is the green one,
and then a handover is triggered in the following example:
This principle applies in uplink and downlink direction independently.
This mechanism is managed by the L1m and triggered at the end of each period of
measurement, thus p has to be a multiple of the number of requested codec mode in one
measurement period (i.e. 480 / 40 = 12).
• pRequestedCodec
• nHRRequestedCodec
• nFRRequestedCodec
If the n parameter is set to a value greater than the p parameter, then all associated features
are deactivated. If the target codec mode is the smallest, then the associated feature is
deactivated.
INTERBSC HANDOVER
• if one out of these last 2 optional A interface elements is not set in the Handover
Request message, the chosen channel type is FR
• if these 2 elements are present and the half rate is allowed in the target cell, then
the following table is applied:
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In case of intraBSC handover, following transitions are defined in order to determine the target
channel type:
The speechMode parameter value of the target cell and the cell load are also checked in order
to verify that the half rate is allowed in the cell.
With AMR calls, RxLev and RxQual criteria for uplink and downlink are not used and replaced
by an algorithm based on "(n,p) voting" principle, using the requested codec mode.
Following parameters are introduced in order to specify the target requested codec mode for
FR and HR AMR channel:
• amrHRIntercellCodecMThresh
• amrFRIntercellCodecMThresh
In order to manage the eligible cell list, a new handover margin is introduced in the
adjacentCellHandOver object: hoMarginAMR this parameter is used in order to calculate the
Exp2 (this expression is used to evaluate the PBGT criteria for each cell and to classify eligible
cells, please refer to chapter EXP2).
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IF N(Uplink) ≥ nXXRequestedCodec
OR N(Downlink) ≥ nXXRequestedCodec
With N the number of requested codec mode for the uplink or the downlink strictly lower than
AMRXXIntercellCodecModeThreshold (XX stands for HR or FR)
In order to select the channel type, the BSC applies the following table:
*The radio conditions are given by the BTS to the BSC using the Current Cell Add information
element in the Handover Indication message.
**If radio conditions are not sufficient in the small zone to manage this HR MS, the MS
remains in the large one, due to the HR priority.
Intracell handover principle is to give to the mobile a better resource in term of interference, if
its C/I is low, with a high C value.
This principle is only applicable to FR AMR mobiles, due to interaction with HR >FR handover:
in these radio conditions, it is really more efficient to allocate a FR radio TS to a HR AMR
mobile, than to perform a handover from an HR TS to a HR TS. This intracell handover is
triggered only if the intracell parameter of handovercontrol object is set to enable.
The following parameter is introduced on the handoverControl object, in order to specify the
target requested codec mode for FR AMR channel:
• amrFRIntracellCodecMThresh
The minimum level to perform an AMR intracell handover is defined by following parameters
on the handoverControl object:
• amriRxLevDLH
• amriRxLevULH
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With N the number of requested codec mode for the uplink or the downlink strictly lower than
amrFRIntracellCodecMThresh for the uplink or the downlink
This handover is used to change the channel type of a mobile from FR to HR if the quality is
sufficient.
Due to the high C/I requirement for HR channel, the requested codec mode of "(n,p) voting"
mechanism is fixed by default to 12k2 kbits/s and a dedicated "n" parameter allows to set the
trade-off between quality and capacity:
• nCapacityFRRequestedCodec
The handover is triggered if the "(n,p) voting" principle is fulfilled in both directions.
Note:
IF N(Uplink) ≥ nCapacityFRRequestedCodec
AND N(Downlink) ≥ nCapacityFRRequestedCodec
THEN the capacity handover is triggered.
With N the number of requested codec mode for 12k2 in the p requested codec mode for the
uplink and the downlink path,
This handover is used to change the channel type of a mobile from HR to FR if the quality is
not sufficient.
The handover is triggered if the "(n,p) voting" principle is fulfilled in one direction.
The following parameter is introduced on the handoverControl object, in order to specify the
target requested codec mode for this handover:
• amrHRtoFRIntracellCodecMThresh
Note: this mechanism is not linked to the intracell parameter of handovercontrol object, and it
is deactivated if amrHRtoFRIntracellCodecMThresh is set to 4k75.
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• amrDirectAllocIntRxLevDL
• amrDirectAllocIntRxLevUL
• amrDirectAllocRxLevDL
• amrDirectAllocRxLevUL
So the direct half rate TCH allocation uses the following criteria:
In a normal cell or in the large zone:
In a small zone:
In v17.0, the Direct TCH Allocation mechanism has been improved to take into account the
case where only a short, not fully reliable, measurement average is available. In that case, all
algorithm criteria are tightened by adding the hoMarginBeg parameter to the appropriate
thresholds (amrDirectAllocIntRxLevDL, amrDirectAllocIntRxLevUL, amrDirectAllocRxLevDL,
amrDirectAllocRxLevUL).
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SUMMARY
HO decision channel type p value for (n,p) voting n value for (n,p) voting target codec
quality intercell UL / DL
TCH FR pRequestedCodec nFRRequestedCodec amrFRIntercellCodecMThresh
TCH HR pRequestedCodec nHRRequestedCodec amrHRIntercellCodecMThresh
quality intracell UL / DL
FR Æ FR TCH FR pRequestedCodec nFRRequestedCodec amrFRIntracellCodecMThresh
HR Æ FR TCH HR pRequestedCodec nHRRequestedCodec amrHRtoFRIntracellCodecMThresh
capacity intracell
FR Æ HR TCH FR pRequestedCodec nCapacityFRRequestedCodec fixed to FR codec 12k2
* in this case, all available measures, up to rxLevHreqt are taken into account.0
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Following figures illustrate all possible transitions for an AMR call, in a multi-zones cell
environment:
Tiering BCCH to FH FR FR
Tiering BCCH to FH HR
Intracell FR or HR FR
Interzone FR or HR FR
Intracell FR or HR FR
Tiering BCCH to FH FR FR
Tiering BCCH to FH HR HR
Interzone FR FR or HR
Interzone HR HR Capacity FR HR
Capacity FR HR
FR or HR
HR
FR or HR Direct TCH
allocation
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INTERCELL HANDOVERS:
FR FR Target Cell FR FR
HR
HR
PBGT Alarm
Traffic Capture
HR
HR
HR HR
FR FR Source Cell
FR FR
FR
FR
Directed
Retry
While legacy L1m bases its decision on RxQual/RxLev measurements (please refer to chapter
Measurement Processing), AMR L1m base trigger its algorithms on C/I estimations (please
refer to chapter AMR L1m).
The choice between legacy or AMR power control or handover management is up to the
operator’s strategy.
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AMR FR REQUEST
In case of AMR FR request, there is no specific mechanism. The request is granted in the
same conditions as for a non-AMR circuit-switched call.
AMR HR REQUEST
Before v17.0, in case of an AMR HR request, if a preemption has to be done, then the
allocated channel following preemption is an AMR FR channel.
From v17.0, if the “AMR-HR on preempted pDTCH” feature is activated (v17 parameter
gprsPreemptionForHr = enabled), then the BSC is able to preempt a shared GPRS timeslot to
serve an AMR-HR request. The algorithm is as follows :
When the BSC receives an assignement or a handover request for a half-rate speech channel,
the BSC searches for an available HR channel in the following order of preference :
• free half-rate channel of a TCH physical channel whose other half-rate channel is
already allocated to a voice AMR HR call (no dialog between BSC and PCU is
needed)
• free TCH physical channel (no dialog between BSC and PCU is needed)
• free half-rate channel of an already preempted PDTCH whose other half-rate channel
is already allocated to a voice AMR HR call (no dialog between BSC and PCU is
needed)
• half-rate channel of a newly preempted PDTCH (BSC and PCU must negotiate)
This feature for AMR-HR preemption may have an impact on the AMR based on Traffic
threshold settings, see 4.23.7
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QUEUING/PRIORITY 0
TCH SIGNALLING
A signaling half rate TCH can not be activated at reception of Channel Required.
If a “signaling” Assignment Request (channel type: “speech/ data indicator” field), for a mobile
using a half rate TCH, an assignment procedure is triggered to a SDCCH channel and the
associated CIC is released (this case occurs at the end of a speech call, if a SMS procedure is
started and not finished).
If a “signaling” Assignment Request (channel type: “speech/ data indicator” field), for a mobile
using a full rate TCH, a channel mode modify procedure is triggered to a signaling TCH
channel and the associated CIC is released (this case occurs at the end of a speech call, if a
SMS procedure is started and not finished).
If an AMR HR or FR Assignment Request is received for a mobile using a signaling FR TCH,
the BSC modifies the current signaling FR TCH to a AMR FR TCH and later, if radio
conditions are sufficient, then a handover from AMR FR to AMR HR will be triggered by the
BTS (see section “Principles/ L1m/Handover mechanisms/ handover HR->FR”).
In V12.4, according to PWCI distribution and hopping TCH percentage, the BTS is able to
automatically set the used threshold in order to trigger tiering handover.
In V14, this mechanism has to be enhanced as show below, in order to take into account AMR
HR calls:
• FH_HR% is the percent of HR calls managed by the hopping pattern in the cell,
• HR% is the percent of HR calls managed in the cell.
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• If the handover cause = RxQual and the speech version <> AMR then the
Handover cause = RxQual.
• If the handover cause = RxQual and the speech version = AMR then the Handover
cause = AMR quality.
For handover from an AMR cell to a non-AMR cell it is performed via the A interface using
external handover mechanism, in order to allow the fallback to EFR or FR channel (according
to Assignment Request order).
For handover from a non-AMR cell to an AMR cell, in order to decrease the MSC load, the call
is not upgraded to AMR and a normal EFR handover occurs.
Note that interBSC procedure may increase the number of dropped call, so it is recommended
to minimize that trnasition period.
TDMA CONFIGURATION
Due to the half rate channel introduction and to limit the number of contexts in the BSC, the
number of SDCCH per TDMA is limited as following:
normal cell:
LCAUTION!
It is highly recommended to respect that TDMA configuration in case of activation of AMR.
• direct HR TCH allocation is available, even if AMR FR is not configured in the cell,
• handovers from FR radio TS to AMR HR are triggered on “requested codec mode”
criterion, but this criterion is available only for AMR calls, thus this kind of
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handover is not possible from a FR or EFR channel and decreases the AMR HR
efficiency,
• handovers from (or to) an AMR HR channel to (or from) EFR channel are
performed using an external handover procedure and thus induce:
• more load on the MSC,
• more perturbations on the voice quality, thus it is mandatory to activate AMR FR
service, in case of AMR HR activation.
PRINCIPLE
Previously to V15.1.1, the choice between an half rate and full rate channel was based only on
radio criteria, thus in order to guarantee the voice quality at any time the operator had to tune
the network with conservative values.
With the introduction of AMR based on traffic, AMR HR channels are allocated only during
loaded period, so the operator could choose more aggressive radio thresholds and then get
more radio capacity for the same number of TRX.
In order to minimize impacts of this strategy, this feature tunes the half rate penetration
according to the cell load:
HR capacity
HR
FR capacity
FR
This feature is based on a smooth mechanism, which allows anticipating the cell load and
switching the allocation into HR mode, when an Erlang threshold is reached.
The following picture illustrates the interworking between these 2 kinds of mechanisms over
24 hours:
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Blocking managed
Traffic thanks to directed retry
and HO traffic
Max HR
capacity
Number of
allocated TCH
t
24 hours
• Low traffic: all calls are allocated in full rate mode and the blocking is managed
thanks to directed retry and traffic handovers features.
• High traffic: call are allocated in half or full rate modes, according to radio
conditions of each calls and the ultimate blocking is managed thanks to directed
retry and traffic handovers features.
busy_TCH_TS
Filtered_TCH_ration = a* + (1 - a)* Filtered_TCH_ration-1
available_TCH_TS
where:
This mechanism is activated whatever values of all associated parameters (AMR FR and / or
HR activated or not, HRCellLoadStart, HRCellLoadEnd …), in order to allow the monitoring at
the OMC-R level of this mechanism.
PDTCH TS (preempted or not) are not taken into account in this mechanism in order to
decrease PDTCH preemption.
In case of TDMA / TRX defense mechanism, the BSC has to take into account the new
number of DRX in service at the next period, in order to evaluate the cell load state.
The 3 algorithms used to allocate a HR channel to a mobile are tuned in order to be adapted
to the cell load.
Direct half rate allocation: the range between the OMC-R RxLev threshold and -48dBm (the
deactivation value) is divided in N sub-range, thus new subthresholds are dynamically created
by the BSC. At each cell load state modification, appropriate sub-thresholds is used by the
BTS:
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S4
S3
S2
S1
S0
The principle is for the BSC to adapt the following OMC-R parameters according to the cell
load state:
• AMRDirectAllocRxLevUL
• AMRDirectAllocRxLevDL
• AMRDirectAllocIntRxLevUL
• AMRDirectAllocIntRxLevDL
The threshold associated to the cell load state i is evaluated according to the following
formula:
⎡ Nb_DRX-i ⎤
Threshold_i = int ⎢ AMRDirectAllocyyRxlevxx + (-48 - AMRDirectAllocyyRxlevxx)*
⎣ Nb_DRX ⎥⎦
Where:
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FR TO HR HANDOVER
FR to HR handover: this handover is activated DRX per DRX according to the cell load state:
The initial is no DRX activated, especially at the end of a defense TDMA procedure.
In case of modification of any AMR FR to HR handover parameter, the new value is taken into
account at the next period.
All Handover Indication messages sent by the BTS, have to be managed by the BSC
whatever the cell load state.
This mechanism is activated only if:
HR TO HR INTER-CELL HANDOVER
HR to HR inter-cell handover: this half rate allocation is full deactivated in case of S0 cell load
state and fully activated in all others cases.
This mechanism is activated only if the AMR HR service is activated in the cell (speechMode
parameters of the BSC & cell object)
The cell load that is used to set thresholds for the AMR based on traffic feature is defined by
the number of busy TCH versus the number of free TCH. The formula does not take into
account the pDTCH channels which, thanks to pDTCH preemption for HR channels feature,
could be preempted for HR.
When PDTCH preemption for HR channels (V17) is activated, operators may want to increase
the number of pDTCH defined in the cell, at the expense of TCH, because this increase in
pDTCH will come at no voice capacity cost (HR may preempt these channels) while increasing
the maximum throughput available for data traffic. As the number of TCH changes, so will the
cell load used in AboT, and therefore Direct HR allocation may occur for a lower cell load than
is strictly necessary.
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The purpose of the feature ‘Repeated downlink FACCH’ is to secure the handover procedure
in poor radio condition (with AMR FR) by retransmitting the FACCH frames in downlink after
about 40ms, i.e. without waiting for the mobile acknowledgement
Thanks to this feature end-users will experience a better call retainability in badly covered or
interfered area. Acceptable voice quality will be maintained thanks the robust AMR/FR codec
usage. On the other hand voice quality being slightly degraded during handover procedures
due to repeated frame stealing; the preventive retransmission scheme should be triggered
only in bad radio conditions.
The Repeated Downlink FACCH functionality is applicable when sending LAPDm command
frames on the TCH/F channel. The BSS uses the Repeated Downlink FACCH functionality
when AMR FR codec used is less than a defined threshold (settable at OMC-R) and when the
first transmission fails (T200 expires).
A repeated FACCH block is sent in such a way that, if the first burst of the downlink FACCH
block containing the first instance of a LAPDm frame is sent in TDMA frame M, the first burst
of the downlink FACCH block containing the repeated instance of the LAPDm frame is sent in
TDMA frame M+ 8 or M+ 9 (the latter corresponding to the case where the two FACCH blocks
are separated by either a SACCH frame or an idle frame).
The MS shall, when receiving a downlink FACCH block, always attempt to decode it without
combining with any previously received FACCH block
If the current FACCH block is successfully decoded and an identical FACCH block was
previously received (successfully decoded and spaced in time from the current FACCH block
as specified here-above):
• The MS (Release 6 and subsequent) shall not send the LAPDm frame of the current
FACCH block to the LAPDm entity.
• Pre-release 6 MS may send a REJ message upon receiving repeated frame, but this
does not prevent this MS to get the benefit from the repetition mechanism.
If the current FACCH block is successfully decoded and there was no such previously
received identical FACCH block, the LAPDm frame of the current FACCH block is sent to the
LAPDm entity.
FEATURE ACTIVATION
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When the Repeated FACCH feature has been enabled on the cell, each time the AMNU entity
needs to re-transmit an I-frame on FACCH due to T200 expiry, it sends this frame again to the
SPU entity (with a flag related to the retransmission). The SPU entity sends first the I-frame on
FACCH in TDMA frame M as it does when the feature is disabled. And if the selected CODEC
is lower than the threshold set to activate the feature, it stores the LAPDm frame to be
repeated in TDMA frame M+ 8 or M+ 9
When repeating FACCH messages, T200 is started when transmitting the subsequent FACCH
(~ 40 ms later) to cope with the case where an MS fails to decode the downlink FACCH block
used to send the first instance of a repeated LAPDm frame.
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PERFORMANCE
When repeating a frame, the applicable T200 duration is increased by about 40 ms (~20%).
This induces a longer time for drop call detection with T200 mechanism because N200 cannot
be modified.
In addition, a new MS shall soft combine the frames to optimize the decoding probability
whereas legacy mobile will simply see an increased probability of decoding Lapdm frame. The
expected benefit for mobiles using soft combining is about 4 dB gain and about 2 dB gain for
legacy mobiles.
This graph presents the expected benefits on softcombining MS and lecacy MS.
Legacy MS gain
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The benefit in term of C/I is depending on the power offset for the signaling robustness and
allows the operator increasing the fractional load and thus the spectrum efficiency. Voice
quality can be still acceptable thanks to the use of robust AMR codec.
• Every re-transmission of I-frame on FACCH for all AMR calls (HR and FR) in order to
maximise the likelihood of decoding these messages.
• Every RR and REJect frame on FACCH corresponding to an uplink retransmission for
all AMR calls (HR and FR) in order to improve the two-ways robustness.
• Every UA (respectively DM) frame on FACCH corresponding to an uplink re-
transmission of SABM (respectively DISC) frames for all AMR calls (HR and FR) in
order to improve the two-ways robustness.
• The transmission of all SACCH frames for AMR FR 4.75 kbps, 5.9 kbps and 6.7 kbps
calls (tunable with an OMC-R parameter) in order to avoid radio link time-out (that
leads to drop calls.
On theses messages a power offset (tunable from the OMC-R) is applied up to the nominal Tx
power.
Note: The power offset applies (up to the nominal Tx power of the BTS) on BTS18000, ecell,
as well as S8000 and S12000 fitted with e-DRX or DRX-ND3. For other BTS hardware, the
feature does not apply. In addition this feature is not applicable on BCCH TRX (PA is always
transmitting with Pmax and transmitting power should not fluctuate).
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FEATURE ACTIVATION
This feature is activated at cell level; dedicated class 2 parameters are used to enable/disable
the feature in each cell. The parameters related to tune the feature are the following:
• facchPowerOffset
• sacchPowerOffset
• sacchPowerOffsetSelection
Note: If the BTS hardware (DRX or RM) does not support the signalling offset mode (up to
Pnominal), the facchPowerOffset and sacchPowerOffset provisioning is not considered and
the DRX or RM behaves as it behaves when facchPowerOffset and sacchPowerOffset are set
to 0 dB.
FEATURE DESCRIPTION
The Tx Power Offset for Signaling Channels is applicable to different type of message;
hereafter the process for each specific handling:
For all AMR calls, these messages are transmitted with the maximum power (considering
facchPowerOffset) from the first instance in order to maximize the likelihood of decoding these
messages with no LAPDm repetition at all, and therefore avoid as far as possible the drop
calls during (inter-cell or AMR triggered) handover procedure.
Since these messages can be segmented, the power offset applies on all segments: the level
3 entity flags all frames of the HO COMMAND and ASSIGNMENT COMMAND messages then
SPU entity checks this flag in each I-frame to apply (or not) the power offset
(facchPowerOffset) on the transmitted frame.
When applying the power offset,
First case:
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Second case:
Note: PWR is the BTS transmit power computed by L1M power control algorithm and
applicable for speech and Pnominal is the BTS Tx power set by the static power control
For all AMR calls, every re-transmission of FACCH frames as well as:
• UA (with F bit set to 1) corresponding to a retransmitted SABM or Disconnect Mode,
• and RR and REJect frames on FACCH (with F bit set to 1) corresponding to an uplink
retransmission of a FACCH frame
are transmitted with the maximum power in order to maximise the likelihood of decoding
these messages and therefore avoid as far as possible the drop calls due to N200 overrun.
The BTS LAPDm entity flags each FACCH frame mentioned here-above then SPU entity
checks this flag and apply (or not) the power offset (facchPowerOffset) on the re-transmitted
frame.
When applying the power offset:
SPU (as describes for HO command and assignment command) either modifies the dynamic
power control in accordance with PWR + facchPowerOffset or set this power control to 0
leading the BTS to transmit the frame at Pnominal.
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Second case:
SPU set the dynamic power control to: 0 BTS transmits the frame at Pnominal
Note: Correction of RxLev (to remove the impact of the power offset on Tx power control
mechanism) can be approximated by SPU entity and conveyed to the L1m. In another hand,
correction of CMR is not possible since BTS does not have the SNR info from MS. The impact
on the choice of AMR CODEC cannot be by-passed see [R36]
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Since this feature improves the downlink robustness, new parameters are introduced to define
dedicated target for uplink and downlink AMR CODEC.
The existing parameters (hrPowerControlTargetMode and frPowerControlTargetMode) still
apply on uplink and two new parameters are introduced for downlink targets:
• hrPowerControlTargetModeDl: downlink AMR codec target to define the downlink
power control threshold for HR AMR calls,
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4.26.1 PRINCIPLE
If a Service user invokes WPS (Wireless Priority Service) and no radio traffic channel is
available in the cell, the WPS request shall be queued according to the WPS priority, the call
initiation time and the state of the queue for the cell.
This feature is an improvement of the queuing services available to WPS users.
The WPS queuing principle is the following:
LCAUTION!
The bscQueuingOption is a class 1 parameter, which means that parameter can be set only
when the parent bsc object is locked.
It is important to underline that the internal queues associated with WPS requests and the
internal queues associated with public requests are treated in completely separate ways.
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The priority Pi is received from the MSC in the assignement request message.
The size Ni of a given WPS queue is set according to the allocWaitThreshold parameter. In
order to be in accordance with the WPS industry requirement and configuration, each queue
size threshold Ni (with 8< i <12) should be equal (N8=N9=N10=N11=N12) and equals the
maximum number of WPS requests allowed in the WPS queues.
The timer T11 for a given queue can be defined with the allocPriorityTimers parameter. It is
understood that the request will immediately be denied with a cause “no radio resource
available” if this timer is set to “0”.
As no radio channel is available, and as the queue size threshold Ni of the queue
corresponding to the WPS priority Pi is not reached, the WPS call request is put in queue i. A
queuing indication message is sent to the MSC.
As no radio channel is available, and as the queue size threshold Ni of the queue
corresponding to the WPS priority Pi is reached, the WPS call request is denied. An
assignement failure message with cause “no radio resource available “is returned to the MSC.
As no radio resource is available, if the queue size threshold Ni corresponding to the WPS
priority Pi is not reached, but if adding the call request to queue i would cause the threshold Nj
of another internal WPS queue j to be violated, and if the WPS request priority (Pi) is higher
than at least one WPS request (Pk) already in queue in the cell, the BSS takes the following
actions:
• the BSS shall remove the WPS request with the lowest priority (Pk) and the most
recent initiation time from the queue. It sends an assignment failure for this
removed WPS request with the cause “no radio resource available”.
• the BSC shall place the newly arrived WPS request in the queue i according to the
initiation time and the priority level.
A queuing indication for the WPS call request of priority Pi and an assignement failure for the
WPS call request of priority Pk are sent to to the MSC.
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RESOURCE AVAILABLE
If a radio traffic channel becomes available when there are WPS requests in queue, the
process of ressource allocation decribed in the WPS – Public access bandwith protection
(see chapter WPS – Public access bandwith protection below) has to be followed.
T11 EXPIRY
If the WPS request is in queue i for a radio traffic channel and the maximum time allowed for
that queue expires, the WPS request is removed from the queue and the call is cleared. A
clear request with the cause “no radio resource available” is then sent to the MSC.
If the WPS request is in queue for a radio traffic channel but radio contact with the mobile is
lost (detected by the BTS which informs the BSC), the WPS request is removed from the
queue and the call cleared. A clear request with the cause “Radio Interface Failure” is sent to
the MSC.
If the MS decides to disconnect the call while the WPS request is queued, the BSC receives a
clear command message from the MSC and processes the release of the call including the
request removing from the WPS queue.
FEATURE ACTIVATION
If the bscQueuingOption parameter is set to “not allowed” then queuing is not performed, i.e.
no request goes into any of the queues 0 to 12, whatever the wPSManagement value is. In all
the following cases, the bscQueuingOption flag is considered as “allowed (MSC driven)”.
One has to well understand the two levels of queuing in “MSC Driven” queuing mode:
• At the MSC level the call request is described by two fields in the assignement
request message: “queuing allowed” set to allowed / not allowed, and “priority
level” (14 are defined)
• At the BSC level the queuing management of the call requests is set to allowed, so
the BSC takes into account the 2 fields described above
WPS queuing is so done according both to the “queuing allowed” field value set in the
assignment request message sent by the MSC (if this field value is set to “queuing not
allowed”, then there is no queuing) and the WPS priority (1 to 5).
In all the following cases, this field value is considered as “queuing allowed” for all WPS and
public call requests.
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The WPS request is queued according to the mapping (GSM 08.08 priority / internal priority)
done by the customer at the OMC-R.
Internal priorities correspond to the queues 0 to 7 for public requests, and queues 8 to 12 for
WPS requests.
When the wPSManagement flag is enabled, a recommended mapping of the allocPriorityTable
has to be respected.
When the wPSManagement flag is turned on, it also enables the PURQ AC algorithm feature.
(see chapter WPS – Public access bandwith protection below)
It is recommended that the customer sets the mapping (GSM 08.08 priority / internal priority)
at the OMC-R, so that only internal priority 0-7 are used when the wPSManagement flag is
disabled. In this case, if a WPS request is received by the BSC, the request will be managed
like a public call since it will be queued in the public queues.
If no mapping is specified by the customer, the default mapping is done to the internal queue
0.
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PRINCIPLE
The idea of the algorithm is to allocate a specified portion of the traffic channels (as they
become free) with preference to public calls, and to allocate a second portion of the traffic
channels (as they become free) with preference to WPS calls.
The BSC radio resource allocator processes the algorithm which favors WPS calls 1 out of
wPSQueueStepRotation times and then process the algorithm which favors public calls P out
of wPSQueueStepRotation times (P = wPSQueueStepRotation – 1).
With this choice, 1 out of wPSQueueStepRotation of the call capacity can be allocated for
WPS users, wPSQueueStepRotation being 1,2, …,10. (recommended value is 4 and hence
25% can be allocated with preference to WPS requests)
PURQ-AC stands for Public Use Reservation for Queuing - All Calls
This algorithm is only activated if If the wPSManagement flag (BSC level) authorizes the WPS
requests management
When the algorithm is turned on (i.e at the startup of a BSC or after a lock/unlock of the cell),
the priority is given to a WPS call request (1 out of wPSQueueStepRotation times), the
algorithm proceeds to some checks about the state of the WPS queues (left side on the
schema below), then the priority is given to public call requests (P out of
wPSQueueStepRotation times) and the algorithm proceeds also to some checks about the
state of the WPS queues (right side of the schema below).
The aim of the supercount is to allow “10 call running deficit” over allocation, and enhanced
small cell performances. It smoothes out short term variations, and decreases delay. The
Supercount tigger value of 10 is a fixed value. Supercount is initialised to 0 and is reset to 0
when a lock/unlock action is done on the cell for instance.
FEATURE ACTIVATION
If the wPSManagement flag (BSC level) is disabled but queuing indications in the assignement
request message still give the priority to WPS call requests, in case of cell congestion, the
WPS users may use all the cell bandwidth (due to their priority) and public users may not have
an access to the network. However that case could only occur if WPS queues are mapped on
internal queues 0-7 instead of the queues dedicated for WPS, because only internal queues 0-
7 are evaluated to serve a queued request when wPSManagementFlaf is turned off. The new
algorithm has a cell based internal management that does not impact any other cells in term of
traffic management.
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This feature is linked with the queuing management (public and WPS requests) and hence
parameters related to the queue management have to bet set in order to take advantage of
the benefits provided by the PURQ AC algorithm.
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BTS
BSC
Abis
Agprs
Ater Abis
BTS
Abis
In some network areas, there is no earth terrestrial transmission infrastructure between the
BSC and the BTS. This feature solves this problem thanks to a satellite link between these 2
nodes.
To get detailed information about the implementation of this feature, please refer to document
[R31].
4.27.1 PRINCIPLE
The principle of this feature is to allow the implementation of satellite links, instead of
terrestrial links on the Abis interface.
The main issue is to take the propagation delay between BSC to BTS which changes of some
ms to about 240 ms (2*36000 km/300.000 km/s):
• The Abis link has to be modified, in order to take into account this supplementary
delay
• The channel Request / Immediate Assignment has to be improved in order to allow
an efficient channel allocation.
Details on how these changes are done are fully detailled in the Functional Note.
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• to the LAPD T200 timer value and anticipation window size to be used for Abis
LAPD Data Links
• to the type of Abis configuration concerned (terrestrial or satellite) at a BTS level
Thus a dedicated build will be needed to activate this feature with the corresponding
parameters.
At the BTS site, installation has to be done with software release compatible with satellite
links. Else it will not be possible to switch in service these equipments.
The introduction of this feature will also imply specific engineering rules mainly due to very big
transmission delays induced by satellite links usage and due to specific implementation
choices. The current document will not focus on engineering rules related to this feature as
they are described in detail in the Satellite Abis Interface - Engineering Guideline (refer to
document [R32]).
LCAUTION!
The applicable BSS Engineering rules presented on document [R7] may be overwriten by the
specific rules applicable to the case where Abis satellite links are used.
COMBINED BCCH
It is recommended to not use a combined BCCH for a satellite cell because of:
More details on recommended parameter associated to feature restrictions are given in the
Satellite Abis Interface - Engineering Guideline (refer to document [R32])
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ASYNCHRONOUS NETWORK
When NW synchronization is not applied (asynchronous network), cells get their time base
through the PCM time. As PCM of different cells are not correlated, it can be considered that,
comparing to the hypothetical network time reference, the not co-site cells have on a site
basis:
It has to be noted that a MS computes - using its timebase counter - the time offset by
measuring the time from the beginning of TS0 on its BCCH carrier and the beginning of the
first TS0 on a neighbor BCCH carrier. Also, the data found on these 2 TS0 may be used for
calculating the FNOffset between its cell and the neighbor cell.
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SYNCHRONIZED NETWORK
With NW synchronization feature, all cells of a network could be synchronized on the same
clock, the GPS clock, through an additional external GPS receiver.
There are 2 ways this can be implemented:
• Burst synchronization in which all burst are aligned to the GPS clock
• Time synchronization in which all burst are aligned to the GPS clock and also a
absolute time (or a way to deduce it) is provided, as well, to all the equipments
FN y-1 FN y FN y FN y FN y FN y FN y FN y FN y
cell 2 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Both type of synchronizations are implemented in Nortel’s portfolio and are supported by
addition of equipments (TMU) and parameters.
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Consequently, see general case of synchronization figure on previous page, between two not
co-site burst synchronized cells there are:
Consequently, see general case of synchronization figure on previous page, between two not
co-site time synchronized cells there are:
It has to be noted that the main difference between a time synchronized and a burst
synchronized network is that time slot offset planning and frame number offset
planning are possible only in a time synchronized network.
• btsSMSynchroMode
• tnOffset,
• fnOffset
• masterBtsSmId
Note: Other network existing parameters may have a significant impact on network
performances when network synchronization is applied:
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Therefore, for improving the RF quality and capacity, a network synchronization deployment
must be accompanied by additional features and significant engineering parameter planning.
Please refer to chapter Network synchronization engineering planning methodologies.
• Quantity of interferences:
being able to control cell FN Offsets, it may be possible to use some
carefully chosen of hopping laws (HSN, MAIO, MA list, FN) in order to
decrease the collision probability between one or more couples of cells
being able to control cell TN and FN Offsets, it is possible to completely
avoid the collisions between two cells which are not co-site when using a
fractional reuse frequency plan
Note: all this eventual control of the quantity of interferences is possible only
when time synchronizing the network as it is required to control and plan the
FN Offsets (and TN Offsets as well);
• Impact of interferences:
the various features of interferences cancellation and noise cancellation for
both BTS and MS are expected to work optimally (or better) when
synchronizing the network
• Others
HO reactivity, LCS precision …
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4.29.1 PRINCIPLE
This v17.0 feature introduces a novel digital processing approach developed by Nortel
Networks for improving reception performances of GSM and EDGE radio communications. It
has been developed to enhance performances in real radio conditions (multipath profiles), with
a particular focus on interference from other radio channels (a major cause of disturbance for
reception performances).
Usual reception schemes are optimal under one specific noise assumption only, basically
thermal noise. However, digital communication faces in practice other noise sources, namely
adjacent channel and/or co-channel interferences, the statistics of which strongly differ from
thermal noise. The consequence is lower reception performances in presence of interferers,
leading to a poorer speech quality or lower throughput for the end-user. The approach
developed by Nortel consists in a scheme that adapts itself to the interference condition
affecting each received burst. In addition, a new filter design strategy has been developed in
order to come out, for each basic noise situation, with a filtering process yielding the minimal
BER.
This new method calls, prior to processing the burst, for an estimation of the noise situation.
This is achieved by a filter bank detector for the adjacent interferers; co-channels interferences
are taken into account later on, after channel sounding. According to the adjacent interference
noise estimated by the detector, a filter matching the noise situation is designed and applied to
the current burst.
Reception performance is significantly improved in most situations, especially with adjacent
interference conditions.
These benefits apply both to GMSK and 8PSK modulations, traffic and data applications. It
thus provides the end-user with an increased throughput for data transmission as well as an
improved quality of service for voice calls.
For more details, please refer to the Functional Note ([R45]).
O&M PARAMETER
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RECOMMENDATIONS
For cells operating under very specific radio conditions, namely hard Hilly Terrain profiles, the
Novel Adaptive Receiver structure may possibly cause a slight performance loss compared
with the initial processing. Therefore, it is recommended to disable the adaptive receiver for
these cells. :
adaptiveReceiver = disabled
If Rx diversity is used, best receiver performance is achieved by activating both Joint diversity
and Novel Adaptive Receiver features :
adaptiveReceiver = enabled; diversity = enhancedDiversity.
Novel Adaptive Receiver does not interwork with the Extended Cell feature.
Therefore, for extended cells, the Novel Adaptive Receiver must be deactivated :
adaptiveReceiver = false.
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4.30.1 PRINCIPLE
For details, please refer to the Functional Note ([R41]).
Before v17.0, the only available encryption algorithms available in the BSS were :
• No encryption
• Encryption algorithm version 1, also called A5/1
• Encryption algorithm version 2 (also called A5/2). A5/2 was removed from the GSM
networks at the end of 2006 in compliance with the 3GPP recommendations, as a
consequence of the published attacks against A5/2.
This v17.0 feature provides a new encryption algorithm in the BSS called A5/3.
Also, this feature changes the class of the existing parameter encryptAlgorSupported from
class 0 to class 3 to limit service disruption when changing its setting.
The A5/3 algorithm is stream cipher that is used to encrypt/decrypt blocks of data under a
confidentiality key Kc. The algorithm is based on the KASUMI algorithm, which is specified in
3GPP TS 35.202. KASUMI is a block cipher that produces a 64-bit output from a 64-bit input
under the control of a 64-bit ciphering key.
BSS PARAMETERS
The BSS can select A5/3, on MSC request, for a call, assuming that :
• A5/3 is supported by the TRX
• A5/3 is supported by the mobile
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• A5/3 is configured at the O&M level as the preferred encryption algorithm in the BSS
Since the A5/3 encryption algorithm is neither supported by all types of TRX nor by all
mobiles, and more especially by legacy mobiles already deployed by the operators, a fallback
encryption algorithm needs to be available whenever the A5/3 encryption algorithm is
requested by the MSC. In such a case, based on the value of the O&M parameter
encryptAlgorSupported , either “no encryption” or “A5/1” may be defined at O&M level as the
fallback encryption algorithm to be used by the BSS.
With a Nortel BSS supporting the A5/3 feature, the NSS must be able to understand ciphering
information fields conveyed by the BSS to the NSS in the following BSSMAP messages :
• CIPHER MODE REJECT
• ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE
• HANDOVER PERFORMED
• HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE
• CIPHER MODE COMPLETE.
Today (2007), all NSS software on the market supports these messages. Therefore, these
BSSMAP messages and fields must be enabled on the BSS side, otherwise the BSS will not
send them to the NSS, and this risks causing the ciphering procedure to operate in a less-
than-optimal manner.
To prevent this happening, the following BSS parameters must be set to value “true” :
• cypherModeReject
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• encrypAlgoAssComp
• encrypAlgoCiphModComp
• encrypAlgoHoPerf
• encrypAlgoHoReq
• layer3MsgCyphModComp
NSS PARAMETERS
The ciphering processing time of the A5/3 encryption algorithm is not degraded compared to
the A5/1 processing time inside the BTS.
On the other hand, since the “ciphering mode setting field” may be included in the Radio
Interface ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message, adding 1 byte, the BSS may need to send an
additional frame on the radio interface SDCCH channel in case the existing frame is already
full without this field. This additional frame could lead to 235 ms additional delay at the call
setup.
HANDOVER DURATION
In the same way, since the “ciphering mode setting field” may be added in the Radio Interface
HANDOVER COMMAND message, adding 1 byte, the BSS may need to send an additional
frame on the radio interface dedicated channel in case the existing frame is already full without
this field. This additional frame could lead to 235 ms (handover on SDCCH) or 20 ms
(handover on TCH) additional delay during the handover.
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4.31.1 DEFINITIONS
Several definitions will be used in this section :
• Configured TRX : TRX that is mapped to a TDMA. The state of a configured TRX’s PA
depends on whether the TRX is active or idle (see definitions below) and on the
circumstances.
• Unconfigured TRX : transient state of the TRX that exists while the TRX has not yet
received the “current cell parameters” from the BTS
• Deconfigured TRX : state of a TRX that exists after having received a “clear config”
command from the BTS
• Spare TRX : TRX that is not mapped to a TDMA. The PA of a spare TRX may be in
state “ON” or state “OFF” depending on the circumstances, as explained in what
follows.
• Active TRX : configured TRX that is being used by signaling or traffic on at least one
of the TDMA’s radio timeslots. The PA of an active TRX is always “ON”.
• Idle TRX : configured TRX whose TDMA is not currently carrying any ongoing traffic or
signalling. The PA of an idle TRX may be in state “ON” or state “OFF” depending on
the circumstances, as explained in what follows.
4.31.2 PRINCIPLE
This feature switches off the PA after the TRX has been idle for a certain amount of time
(configurable via an O&M parameter). The PA is automatically switched back on again when a
circuit call is set up on one of its timeslots.
The PA can be switched “OFF” or “ON” thanks to an electronic switch. This switch can be set
to “ON” or “OFF” by software, thanks to a dedicated new TX firmware function.
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FEATURE DEACTIVATED
The feature cannot be activated on a spare, unconfigured or deconfigured TRX. However, the
behaviour has been modified between v16.0 and v17.0 so that a spare or unconfigured or
deconfigured TRX is systematically switched off after a certain time For this, a 30 second
internal timer is started when the “enable TRX procedure” (RF Trans un-configuring) is
performed. When this timer expires, if no TDMA has been configured on the TRX, the PA is
switched off and its display hardware state is set to “OK – OFF cause
SmartPowerManagement”
As soon as the TRX is configured with a TDMA, this PA will be switched on.
FEATURE ACTIVATED
The TRX that are mapped to specific TDMA configurations are not allowed to turn off their PA.
The feature, even if it is activated, does not apply to them. These TDMA configurations are the
following :
• TDMA containing a BCCH channel
• TDMA containing a combined BCCH/SDCCH channel without CBCH
• TDMA containing a combined BCCH/SDCCH channel with CBCH
• TDMA containing a non-combined SDCCH/8 channel with CBCH channel
• TDMA containing a pDTCH channel
For all other configured TRX whose TDMA is not in one of the above categories, if the feature
has been activated, the TRX automatically switches its PA OFF after the TDMA has been idle
a certain amount of time (configurable timer). The TRX switches its PA on again when a
channel is activated on the TDMA for a circuit-switched call establishment or for an incoming
handover.
More precisely :
• when the BTS receives a channel activation message from the BSC :
o If the PA had been switched off, it is switched back on. PA hardware state is
set to OK (or KO).
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o If the PA is still on but the TRX is idle, meaning that the smart Power Switch-
Off timer is running, then this timer is immediately stopped.
• when the BTS receives a channel release message from the BSC : if there are no
more ongoing circuit-switched calls on the TRX (TRX has become idle), the
countdown of the smart Power Switch-Off timer is started.
The fact that the PA is switched off has no impact on the TRX operational state : the TRX
remains in the “in service” state.
The PA switching off has no impact on the TRX receive chain.
The feature does not operate on a spare, unconfigured or deconfigured TRX, even if the
feature is activated on the cell.
However, the behaviour has been modified between v16.0 and v17.0 so that a spare,
unconfigured, or deconfigured TRX is systematically switched off, regardless of the activation
or deactivation of the smart power management feature. For this, a 30-second internal timer is
started when the “enable TRX procedure” (RF Trans un-configuring) is performed. When this
timer expires, if no TDMA has been configured on the TRX, the PA is switched off and its
display hardware state is set to “OK – OFF cause SmartPowerManagement”
O&M PARAMETERS
ACTIVATION PARAMETER
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A timer can be configured to delay the switching off for a certain time after the TRX has
become idle. The start value of this timer is defined by setting the parameter
smartPowerSwitchOffTimer :
• Class 3
• Object : powercontrol
• range : 5 to 255 minutes
RECOMMENDATIONS
As the TRX supporting pDTCH never switches off its PA, to take full benefit of this feature, it is
recommended not to configure more pDTCH than are strictly necessary.
As TDMAs that carry BCCH, SDCCH or pDTCH are never switched off, it is recommended to
collect these channels as far as possible on the same TDMA rather than spread them onto
several TDMAs.
In the current BTS behaviour (without the feature), if there is no call on a TRX for 5 minutes at
least, the VVA consign of the PA is reduced by 2 dB.
The aim is to avoid untimely a “high current” alarm when the PA starts transmitting again after
a while without transmission. Such an alarm could occur if the PA gain, which depends on the
VVA consign, is not consistent with the “new” temperature of the PA when it starts transmitting
again (temperature goes down when PA stops transmitting).
With the “smart power management” feature activated, the temperature will fall all the more
as, on top of not transmitting, the PA is actually completely switched off. Moreover, this “off”
state may last the whole night causing even further temperature drop.
Therefore, before a PA is switched off, it is vital that the VVA consign should have been
reduced by 2dB so that when the PA is switched back on again, there are no high current
alarms. To ensure this VVA is reduced by 2dB, as explained above, 5 minutes must elapse
after the last call on the TDMA has been released. If the smart power timer is less than 5
minutes, the PA would be switched off before a VVA consign reduction cpuld be applied. So,
when the PA is switched back on again, it will apply the old consign corresponding to a high
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temperature, whereas the PA will have significantly cooled down. This risks triggering an
alarm ans dpossibly damaging the PA.
To prevent this, the smart power swicth off timer minimum value has, by design, been set to 5
minutes.
Furthermore, the more TRX per cell, the more TRX are eligible for switch-off, and therefore the
more the feature is expected to make a difference to the power consumption.
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5. ALGORITHM PARAMETERS
5.1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter lists parameters, sorted according to their group, as they were defined in the
previous Chapter.
The following information is provided for each parameter:
• a brief description
• value range and unit
• the recommended value: takes the best benefit of the feature in a standard network
configuration and environment.
• process in which it is used (see Chapter 2)
• some engineering rules that must be considered for the parameter setting
• the object that contains this parameter
• the default value. Most of the time, the default value inhibits the feature
characterized by this parameter
• corresponding GSM name
• GSM Recommendation
• parameter type and OMC-R class (see note below)
Note: The recommended value is established from Nortel experience and studies. This value
has to be adapted according to the network specificities. For the recommended value in GSM
900, it is the same value for eGSM and GSM-R when nothing else is recommended for these
two networks. This value is not contractual, and it could change with Nortel new studies results
and experience growth.
The following types of parameters can be distinguished:
CLASS Rules
Class 0 Implies reconstruction of the BDA
Put BSC out of service (i.e. BSC state set to “locked”), takes new parameters into account by
Class 1
resetting active chain and passive chains
Class 2 Declares the object (or its parent) temporarily out-of-service before modification
Class 3 Modification is dynamically taken into account
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cellReselectHysteresis Class3 V7
Description: Hysteresis to reselect towards a cell:
when the MS is in IDLE mode and reselects a cell with a different
LA (Location Area)
when the MS is in GPRS STANDBY mode and reselects a cell with
a different LA (Location Area) or a different RA (Routing Area)
when the MS is in GPRS ready state and reselects a different cell
Value range: [0 to 14, by steps of 2] dB
Object: bts
Default value: 6 dB
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 6 dB (rural / low cell overlap), 10 dB (urban / high cell overlap)
Used in: Criteria for reselection towards a cell of a different Location Area
(Sel_2)
Eng. Rules: GSM case:
A high value prevents the MS from making frequent location updates
and may also prevent an MS from performing adequate location
updates, thus risking not receiving calls. The level variation of the
signal is more important in an urban context, so a higher value of
hysteresis should be set. To avoid frequent location updates, there is
also a timer forbidding the reselection of the previous server cell. For
a reselection with change of location area, the value is 15 seconds.
GPRS case:
In order to minimize the impact of the introduction of the GPRS in an
existing GSM network, it is recommended not to modify the current
value of CellReselectHysteresis used for voice. A high value would
keep the link for a long time hence some communications would have
a high BLER due to an important load of the cell. The throughput
would then decrease because of the retransmission at RLC/MAC
layer.
On the other hand a low value would ease the cell reselection ping-
pong in data mode which could severely decrease the overall user
throughput due to the gap of transmission during the reselection.
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cellReselectOffset Class 3 V8
Description: Encouragement to reselect a cell (C2 criterion) for phase 2 MS
Value range: [0 to 126, by steps of 2] dB
Object: bts
Default value: 4
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: Between 4 and 10
Used in: Additional reselection criterion (for phase 2) (Sel_3)
Eng. Rules: Otherwise, if there is no privileged layer, the recommended value
remains the same for both sites, between 4 dB and 10 dB.
cellReselInd Class 3 V8
Description: Whether cell reselection criterion (C2) use is authorized
Value range: [true / false]
Object: bts
Default value: true
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: True
Used in: Additional reselection criterion (for phase 2) (Sel_3)
Eng. Rules: See chapter Selection, Reselection Algorithms
msTxPwrMaxCCH Class 3 V7
Description: Maximum MS transmission power in a cell CCCH
The BSC relays the information to the mobiles in the Abis CELL
MODIFY REQUEST message.
Value range: [5 to 43, by steps of 2] dBm (GSM 900, GSM-R, GSM850, GSM850-
GSM1900 and GSM 900& 850MHz - GSM 1800 networks)
[0 to 36, by steps of 2] dBm (GSM 1800 and GSM 1900 - GSM 900 &
850MHz networks)
[0 to 33] dBm (GSM 1900 network and 1900-850 network)
[0 to 33] dBm (E-GSM network)
Object: bts
Default value: Typical value of 33 dBm for GSM 900 & 850MHz handhelds, 30 dBm
for GSM 1800 and 1900
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 33 dBm for GSM 900 & 850MHz, 30 dBm for GSM 1800 and 1900
Used in: Selection or reselection between cells of current Location Area
(Sel_1), Criteria for reselection towards a cell of a different Location
Area (Sel_2), Additional reselection criterion (for phase 2) (Sel_3)
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penaltyTime Class 3 V8
Description: Timer used by an idle mobile before reselecting a cell (C2 criterion)
When a mobile places the cell on the list of strongest carriers, it starts
a timer that stops after penaltyTime seconds. This timer is reset when
the mobile removes the cell from the list.
For the entire timer duration, the reselection criterion (C2) is assigned
a negative temporaryOffset value.
Refer to the cellReselectOffset parameter in the Dictionary.
Value range: [20 to 640, by steps of 20] seconds.
The value “640” is reserved and indicates that the temporary offset is
ignored in the reselection criterion (C2) calculation. It also changes
the sign in the C2 formula.
Object: bts
Default value: 20
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 20
Used in: Additional reselection criterion (for phase 2) (Sel_3)
Eng. Rules: The longer this timer is, the longer a penalty is applied for reselecting
that cell. The value should be correlated with the expected mobiles
speeds, which are to be managed by that cell.
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rxLevAccessMin Class 3 V7
Description: Minimum signal strength level received by the mobiles for being
granted access to a cell. The information is sent to MS prior to
registering.
As an example, a threshold level of -104 dBm corresponds to an
acceptable BER of approximately 10-2 (minimum recommended
value).
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: bts
Default value: less than -110 dBm
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: GSM 900/GSM 850: -101 to -100 dBm,
GSM 1800/1900: -99 to -98 dBm
Used in: Selection or reselection between cells of current Location Area
(Sel_1), Criteria for reselection towards a cell of a different Location
Area (Sel_2), Additional reselection criterion (for phase 2) (Sel_3)
Eng. Rules: Main parameter for selection or reselection.
Notice that the tuning of this parameter strongly depends on the
operator strategy. Decreasing the value eases the access to the
network by reducing the quality. This parameter defines the cell
access size.
Remark: The difference between GSM 900/GSM 850 and GSM 1800/1900 is
due to MS sensitivity (-104 dBm (GSM 900/GSM 850), -102 dBm
(GSM 1800/1900)).
Example:
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temporaryOffset Class 3 V8
Description: Negative offset applied during Penalty Time for reselecting a cell (C2
criterion)
This negative offset is applied during the entire penaltyTime duration
and allows to prevent speeding mobiles from selecting the cell. Refer
to the cellReselectOffset entry in the Dictionary.
Value range: [0 to 70, by steps of 10] dB
Object: bts
Default value: 70
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 0 (microcell & macrocell in mono-layer),
70 (macrocell in multi-layers)
Used in: Additional reselection criterion (for phase 2) (Sel_3)
Eng. Rules: The value prevents a mobile from reselecting a cell during
PenaltyTime. By giving the highest possible value, which is higher
than the field strength range (0 to 63), we ensure that the mobile will
not reselect the cell before the timer expires. Then, the value 70
means the applied offset is infinite.
It could be dangerous on a microcell or macrocell in a mono-layer
environment to have a high value, because it slows down the
reselection process. However, on a macrocell in a multi-layers
environment, it is recommended to prevent from reselecting a cell
(value 70), in keeping a low value for “penaltyTime” (20 seconds).
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powerControlIndicator Class 3 V7
Description: Whether MS signal strength measurements on the TCH or SDCCH
should include measurements on BCCH frequency or not.
Value range: [include BCCH measurements / do not include BCCH measurements]
Object: bts
Default value: include BCCH measurements
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: See Eng. Rules
Used in: Power Control Algorithms
Eng. Rules: Downlink measurements performed by the mobile on TCH or SDCCH
should not include measurements done when the channel frequency
is the BCCH frequency if the following two conditions are met:
The radio channel hops at least on two different frequencies, on of
which is the BCCH frequency.
Power control on the downlink is used.
LCAUTION! This parameter is only relevant with BTS using cavity coupling
because only cavity coupling allows to use BCCH frequency as part of
the hopping frequency list. For BTS using hybrid coupling, the BCCH
frequency is never part of the hopping list, so this parameter is
irrelevant in that case. See §4.5.9 for details.
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Object: handoverControl
Default value: 15 (“never”)
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 7 (“always”)
Used in: Enhanced Measurement Reporting (EMR)
UTRAN cell reporting using legacy measurement reports (V17)
Eng. Rules: Cases where a different value from “always” could be useful have not
been identified. Therefore value “always” is recommended.
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callReestablishment Class 3 V7
Description: Whether call re-establishment in a cell is allowed when the radio link
is broken off for propagation reasons
The information is broadcast to the mobiles at regular intervals on the
cell BCCH.
On receipt of a CHANNEL REQUIRED message with cause “call re-
establishment”, the BSC attempts to allocate a TCH in one of the cells
where call re-establishment is allowed. Then, if no TCH is available
the BSC attempts to allocate a SDCCH.
Value range: [allowed / not allowed]
Object: bts
Default value: not allowed
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: allowed
Used in: Radio link failure process (run by the MS),
Call reestablishment procedure
Eng. Rules: Enabling or not this feature is a MSC capability issue
radioLinkTimeout Class 2 V7
Description: Maximum value of the counter (S) associated with the downlink
SACCH messages, beyond which the radio link is cut off. It is lower
than or equal to t3109.
Mobiles comply with system operating conditions when the counter
(S) is assigned a value lower than or equal to t3109.
If the receiver is unable to decode a downlink SACCH message
(BTS–to–MS direction), the counter is decreased by 1. If the message
is received, the counter is increased by 2. When the counter goes
down to zero, the radio link is declared “faulty”.
Value range: [4 to 64, by steps of 4] SACCH frames (1 unit = 480 ms on TCHs, 470
ms on SDCCHs)
Object: bts
Default value: 20 SACCH
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 20
32 when AMR is activated
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rlf1 Class 2 V8
Description: Value to compute the initial and maximum value of the (CT) counter
used in the BTS radio link control algorithm
The FP runs the following algorithm to monitor the uplink SACCHs
(MS–to–BTS direction):
The CT counter is reset to zero when the FP receives a CHANNEL
ACTIVATION message.
On each occurence of an uplink SACCH, the following occurs:
if the channel is decoded and CT = 0, then CT = 4 * rlf1 + 4
if the channel is decoded and CT ≠ 0, then CT = min (4 * rlf1 + 4,
CT+rlf2)
if the channel is not decoded, then CT = max (0, CT - rlf3)
When the CT counter goes down to zero, the radio link is broken and
the BTS sends a CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION message to
the BSC.
Value range: [0 to 15]
Object: bts
Default value: 4
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 4
7 when AMR is activated
Used in: Radio link failure process (run by the BTS),
AMR - Adaptative Multi Rate FR/HR
Eng. Rules: The resulting CT value is the same as “radioLinkTimeOut” value.
There is no reason to recommend to cut a communication more
rapidly in the uplink or downlink direction. In a network with a lot of
traffic or with many zones of interference, a lower value (between 2
and 4) of this parameter is recommended. Typically the value, in such
a case should be 2.
Notes: The radioLinkTimeOut attribute serves the same goal on the downlink,
but the system does not check that the values of the two attributes are
consistent.
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rlf2 Class 2 V8
Description: Step value by which the (CT) counter is increased by the radio link
control algorithm when an uplink SACCH is decoded.
Refer to the rlf1 entry.
Value range: [1 to 4] SACCH frames
Object: bts
Default value: 2
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 2
Used in: Radio link failure process (run by the BTS)
Eng. Rules: The value should be higher than rlf3 value, in order to encourage the
continuity of service. The higher the value, the longer an MS will keep
a bad quality communication in a disturbed zone. The choice of this
value must be made by the operator, in keeping with its service quality
level.
rlf3 Class 2 V8
Description: Step value by which the (CT) counter is decreased by the radio link
control algorithm when an uplink SACCH is not decoded
Refer to the rlf1 entry.
Value range: [1 to 4] SACCH frames
Object: bts
Default value: 1
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 1
Used in: Radio link failure process (run by the BTS)
Eng. Rules: It is recommended to fix this value to 1. This allows the use of the rlf1
value to set the maximal duration of consecutive non-reception of
SACCH frame.
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missRxQualWt Class 3 V7
Description: Weight applied to missing Quality measurement
The missing measurement is replaced by the latest computed
arithmetic average, or by the latest received raw measurement if no
average value is available, weighed by this corrective factor when
calculating the average bit error rate in the radio link. The range of
permitted values makes missing quality measurements not favored.
Value range: [100 to 200] %
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 110
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 110
Used in: Missing Downlink Measurements
Eng. Rules: The higher the value is, the higher the missing measurement will be
weighted.
rxQualHreqave Class 3 V7
Description: Number of bit error rate measurements performed on a serving cell,
used to compute arithmetic BER averages in handover and power
control algorithms
Value range: [1 to 10] number of measurement results
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 8
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 4 in urban environment,
> 8 in rural environment
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: In order to minimize calculation of temporary averages it is better if
runHandOver and runPwrControl are multiples or sub multiples of
rxQualHreqAve. Length of weighed average window should be
reduced when the cell is small or environment requires quick
reactivity. Studies have shown that a reduction of the window size
value (from 8 to 4 for instance) does not increase the number of
handovers on a network and does not change handover causes.
However, it has a positive impact, because it leads to a greater
reactivity.Then, the weighted average window size (rxQualHreqAve *
rxQualHreqt) has to be correlated to the hoMargin value to keep a low
ping-pong probability.
The larger the window size, the lower the hoMargin should be.
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rxQualHreqt Class 3 V7
Description: Number of arithmetic averages taken into account to compute the
weighted average bit error rate in handover and power control
algorithms. Each is calculated from rxQualHreqave bit error rate
(BER) measurements on a radio link.
Value range: [1 to 16]
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 1
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 1
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: The quality and signal strength weighted average window should
encompass the same period. For the sake of simplicity, the default
value disables weighting. The weighed average window size
(rxQualHeqAve * rxQualHreqt) must be correlated to the hoMargin
value to keep a low ping-pong probability.
The larger the window size, the lower the hoMargin should be.
rxQualWtsList Class 3 V7
Description: List of up to sixteen weights used to compute the average bit error
rate on a radio link
The L1M function calculates rxQualHreqave arithmetic averages from
raw measurements, and balances rxQualHreqt averages among those
with the weights defined in rxQualWtsList.
Each arithmetic average is partnered with one weight in the list.
Weight/average associations are set in the order in which the weights
are recorded. The latest computed arithmetic average is always
partnered with the first weight in the list.
Super–average = [∑ (averagei x weighti)] / 100, i = 1 to rxQualHreqt
Value range: [0 to 100] %
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 100
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 100
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: Values add up to 100.
If there are several values, the biggest weights must be used for more
recent reports.
In rural environment, rxLev and rxQual weighed average window will
not refer to the same time window.
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missRxLevWt Class 3 V7
Description: Weight applied in case of missing signal strength measurement
report
The missing measurement is replaced by the latest computed
arithmetic average, or by the latest received raw measurement if no
average value is available, weighed by this corrective factor when
calculating the average signal strength in the cell.
Selecting the greatest value makes missing strength measurements
not favored.
Value range: [0 to 100] %
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 90
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 90
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules:
rxLevHreqave Class 3 V7
Description: Number of signal strength measurements performed on a serving cell,
used to compute arithmetic strength averages in handover and power
control algorithms
Value range: [1 to 10] number of measurement results
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 8
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 6 for small cells (Dintersite < 800m)
between 8 and 10 for large cells (Dintersite > 1600m)
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: In order to minimize calculation of temporary averages it is better if
runHandOver and runPwrControl are multiples or sub multiples of
rxLevHreqAve. In an urban environment, the window size should be
minimized and the hoMargin value should be high. However, choosing
too small a value leads to averaging meaningless measures in case of
DTX activation uplink or downlink. Then, in an urban environment,
according to building density, antenna height and global environment,
the window size can fluctuate between 6 and 8. The minimum value,
6, may be preferred, because it ensures a good reactivity without bad
influence if the parameter hoMargin is well chosen.
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rxLevHreqt Class 3 V7
Description: Number of arithmetic averages taken into account to compute the
weighted average signal strength in handover and power control
algorithms. Each is calculated from rxLevHreqave signal strength
measurements on a serving cell.
Value range: [1 to 16]
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 1
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 1
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: In a urban environment, the window size should be minimized and the
hoMargin value should be high.
For the sake of simplicity, weighted averaging is disabled by default
value.
LCAUTION! The weighted average is not used for the PBGT. The weighed
average window size (rxLevHreqAve * rxLevHreqt) has to be
correlated to the hoMargin value to keep a low ping-pong probability.
The larger the window size, the lower the hoMargin should be.
Nortel confidential
rxLevWtsList Class 3 V7
Description: Values of weights to be used for signal strength weighed average
The L1M function first calculates rxLevHreqave arithmetic averages
from raw measurements, and balances rxLevHreqt averages among
those with the weights defined in rxLevWtsList.
Each arithmetic average is partnered with one weight in the list.
Weight/average associations are set in the order which the weights
are recorded. The latest computed arithmetic average is always
partnered with the first weight in the list.
Super–average = [ ∑ (averagei x weighti)] / 100, i = 1 to rxLevHreqt
Value range: [0 to 100] %
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 100
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 100
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: Arithmetic law to be preferred, biggest weight for most recent reports
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cellDeletionCount Class 3 V7
Description: The cellDeletionCount is to be compared to the number of
consecutive Measurement Results messages not containing
information on one of the neighbour cells that would result in the cell
being no longer eligible.
Before V12, the neighbour cells information of such a cell would be
discarded.
From V12 (TF 1089-2), from a number ≥ cellDeletionCount the cell will
be non eligible, but the information of that neighbour cell will only be
discarded when the number of consecutive Measurement Results with
no information on the cell will reach 10 (i.e. 5 sec).
Value range: [0 to 31]
Object: bts
Default value: 5 in rural environment, 2 in microcell environment
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: 5 in rural,
2 in urban environment
Used in: Measurement Processing
Handovers screening
Eng. Rules: As there is no weighting factors on neighboring cells, low values of
cellDeletionCount are advised and so the rule cellDelectionCount <
rxNcellHrequave. A mobile is required to keep synchronization
information at least 10 seconds after a cell was removed from the best
cells list. This synchronisation becomes quickly obsolete in the case of
fast moving mobiles.
LCAUTION! This mechanism applies only for Power budget handover.
Remark: Further informations are provided in chapter Best Neighbor Cells
Stability
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rxNCellHreqave Class 3 V7
Description: Number of measurement results used in the PBGT algorithm to
compute the average neighboring signal strength
No weighed average is computed for this category of measurement
Value range: [1 to 10] number of measurement results
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 8
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 6 for small cells (Dintersite < 800m)
between 8 and 10 for large cells (Dintersite > 1600m)
Used in: Measurement Processing
Early HandOver Decision
Automatic handover adaptation
Eng. Rules: In the PBGT formula, the RXLEV_DL is the last arithmetic signal
strength on the current cell. In order to use the same time base, we
should have rxNcellHreqAve = rxLevHreqAve.
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distHreqt Class 3 V7
Description: Number of distance measurements, used to compute the weighted
average MS–to–BTS distance in handover algorithms
Value range: [1 to 16]
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 4
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 4
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: For distance handover and Call Clearing, a weighted average of the
MS-BS distance is computed from timing-advance results.
distWtsList Class 3 V7
Description: List of no more than sixteen weights, used to compute the average
MS–to–BTS distance from distHreqt measurements
The L1M function balances distHreqt raw measurements with the
weights defined in the distWtsList list. Each measurement is partnered
with one weight in the list. Weight/measurement associations are set
in the order which the weights are recorded. The latest received
measurement is always partnered with the first weight in the list.
Super–average = [∑ (measurementi x weighti)] / 100, i = 1 to distHreqt
Value range: [0 to 100] %
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 40 30 20 10
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 40 30 20 10
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: A supply weights to distHreqt values, highest value for latest
measurements. Choosing an arithmetic law enables to enhance latest
values while not putting too much weight upon the period of time
which might not be representative of the current trend.
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missDistWt Class 3 V7
Description: Weight applied to missing Distance measurement.
The missing measurement is replaced by the latest received raw
measurement weighed by this corrective factor when calculating the
average MS–BTS distance.
The range of permitted values makes missing distance measurements
not favored.
Value range: [100 to 200] %
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 110
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: TBD
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: The higher the value is, the higher the missing measurement will be
weighted.
Nortel confidential
hoMargin Class 3 V7
Description: Margin to use for PBGT handovers to avoid subsequent handover, in
PBGT formula
Value range: [-63 to 63] dB
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: 4
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: between 4 and 6 for small cells
(4 in an 1X1 pattern, 5 or 6 otherwise),
5 for large cells.
Used in: Handovers
Power budget formula
Handover for traffic reasons (from V12)
Define eligible neighbor cells for intercell handover (except directed
retry)
Automatic handover adaptation
Eng. Rules: As a general rule, this parameter enables to harden access to a new
cell in order to avoid a subsequent return to the current cell (provided
rxLevMinCell is set to its minimal value and does not already take into
account ping-pong handover protection).
The value of this hoMargin must be correlated to the window size
value to keep a low ping-pong probability. In case of ping-pong,
handover hoMargin value must be incremented, and the window size
value must be decremented.
For a dual Band Network where one frequency band is privileged, it is
advised to increase this value in neighbouring objects with a
frequency belonging to the low priority frequency band. Thus, these
neighbours will be underprivileged.
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hoMarginDist Class 3 V8
Description: Margin to be used for Distance Handovers
Value range: [-63 to 63] dB
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: - 24 dB
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: - 2 dB
Depends on the environment and on the value of the
msRangeMax Threshold.
Used in: Handover condition for leaving a cell on distance
Define eligible neighbor cells for intercell handover (except directed
retry)
Eng. Rules: Because the priority of the handover on Distance cause is lower than
the Quality and Strength causes, it is performed while the quality and
the signal strength on the current cell are still acceptable. Setting a
negative value decreases the interference.
L CAUTION! PBGT hoMargin in the target cell should be set in order to avoid a
ping-pong handover. For a dual Band Network where one frequency
band is privileged, it is advised to increase this value in neighbouring
objects with a frequency belonging to the low priority frequency band.
Thus, these neighbours will be underprivileged.
Nortel confidential
hoMarginRxLev Class 3 V8
Description: Margin to be used for signal strength Handovers
Value range: [- 63 to 63] dB
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: - 24 dB
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: From 3 to 6 dB in urban environment, from 1 to 3 in rural
environment. Depends on the environment and the value of
lRxLevXXH. threshold.
Used in: Handovers
Define eligible neighbor cells for intercell handover (except directed
retry)
Eng. Rules: In rural environments, the hoMargin value on signal strength should
be between 1 and 3.
On the contrary, due to fast radio signal variations in urban
environments, this criteria must be selective to allow good reactivity.
Furthermore, this criteria can be selective due to site density in urban
environments.
The value of this hoMargin must be correlated to the window size
value to keep a low ping-pong probability. In case of ping-pong
handover, hoMargin value must be incremented, and the window size
value must be decremented.
This parameter, defined per neighbor, is used to select and sort
neighbors.
The setting of hoMarginRxLev depends of the gap between
rxLevMinCell and lRxLevXXH. The higher the difference between
these two values is, the higher the hoMarginRxLev.
For a dual Band Network where one frequency band is privileged, it is
advised to increase this value in neighbouring objects with a
frequency belonging to the low priority frequency band. Thus, these
neighbours will be underprivileged.
hoMarginRxQual Class 3 V8
Description: Margin to be used for Signal Quality Handovers
Value range: [-63 to 63] dB
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: - 24 dB
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: in [- 2; 0] without SFH,
in [1; (hoMargin - 2)] with SFH (#2 or 3)
Used in: Handovers
Define eligible neighbor cells for intercell handover (except directed
retry)
Eng. Rules: Handover cause on Signal Quality: case where access to another cell
should be encouraged, provided target cell field strength is not much
lower than the current one. If bad quality remains there is a risk of
return handover but there is nothing much to be done.
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LCAUTION! PBGT hoMargin in target cell should be set in order to avoid a ping-
pong handover. This parameter, defined per neighbor, is used to
select and sort neighbors. For a dual Band Network where one
frequency band is privileged, it is advised to increase this value in
neighbouring objects with a frequency belonging to the low priority
frequency band. Thus, these neighbours will be underprivileged.
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Eng. Rules: This parameter shall be known by the new BSC (whatever the type of
HO is intra or inter BSC) ; so, it must be defined at the “entering cell”
(relatively to the first HO of the combination) level, for the
neighbouring cell (adjacentCellHandover object) corresponding to the
“left cell” (still relatively to the first HO of the combination).
Example: if you perform a handover from cell A to cell B for quality
reason and you want to protect against pingpong HO for PBGT
reason (from B to A), you have to declare (rxQual, PBGT) as one of
the forbidden handover combinations at cell B level (for the
neighbouring cell A).
Note: The hoPingpongCombination list can hold up to 4 couples of causes.
LCAUTION! No protection against intracell or interzone pingpongHO
No protection against pingpong HO between more than 2 cells except
for allcapture / all PBGT causes.
Directed retry can only be an initial cause.
timeBetweenHOConfiguration and bts Time Between HO
configuration shall be set accordingly in order for the feature to be
activated.
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hoSecondBestCellConfiguration Class 3 V9
Description: Number of neighbor cells in which the BSC immediately attempts to
perform a new handover when the previous handover attempt failed
with return to the old channel
Giving the attribute a value greater than 2 allows the BSC to renew
the handover request without waiting for a new set of radio
measurements (the first attempt is included in this count). The same
list of neighbor eligible cells is used to process the request (no new list
is provided by the BTS).
Value range: [1 to 3]
Object: bsc
Default value: 3
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: 3
Used in: Handover to 2nd best candidate when return to old channel
Eng. Rules: The value 1 means no new attempt after a handover failure, 2 means
one new attempt and 3 corresponds to another new attempt if the first
new attempt has failed. The recommended value optimizes the
handover completion rate.
Comment about the process: when all handover attempts have failed,
the mobile returns on the previous channel. The measurement history
is then complety lost, and the BTS will wait until the next (HReqAve x
HReqt) period to relaunch a handover request.
See also chapter Directed Retry Handover Benefit
incomingHandOver Class 3 V7
Description: Whether incoming handovers are allowed in a cell.
Value range: [disabled / enabled]
Object: handOverControl
Default value: enabled
Type: DP
Rec. value: enabled
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
msTxPwrMax Class 3 V7
Description: Maximum MS transmission power in a serving cell. It is equal to
msTxPwrMaxCCH in a GSM 900 network.
Value range: [5 to 43, by steps of 2] dBm (GSM 900, GSM850, GSM-R, GSM850-
GSM1900 and GSM 900 - GSM 1800 networks)
[0 to 36, by steps of 2] dBm (GSM 1800, and GSM 1800 - GSM 900
networks)
[0 to 33] dBm (GSM 1900 network)
[0 to 33] dBm (E-GSM network and 1900-850 network)
[0 to 33] dBm (GSM850 network)
Object: bts
Default value: Typical value of 33 dBm for GSM 900 handhelds and 30 dBm for
GSM 1800 and 1900 handhelds
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 33 dBm for GSM 900 in urban environment
39 dBm for GSM 900 in rural environment handhelds
30 dBm for GSM 1800 and 1900 handhelds
33 dBm for GSM 850s
Used in: Accuracy related to measurements
General formulas
Forced Handover
One shot power control
Power control on mobile side
Eng. Rules: We must have msTxPwrMax = msTxPwrMaxCCH for GSM 900
Networks and msTxPwrMaxCCH ≤ msTxPwrMax for GSM 1800 and
1900 Networks (check done at OMC-R). This parameter is adapted to
mobile classes taken into account in Network Design.
Nortel confidential
msTxPwrMaxCell Class 3 V7
Description: Maximum MS transmission power in a neighbor cell. It is equal to
msTxPwrMaxCCH when the cell is declared as a serving cell on the
network (the value must be checked by users).
Value range: [5 to 43, by steps of 2] dBm (GSM 900, GSM850, GSM-R and GSM
900 - GSM 1800 networks)
[0 to 36, by steps of 2] dBm (GSM 1800 network
and GSM 1800 - GSM 900)
[0 to 33] dBm (GSM 1900 network)
[0 to 33] dBm (E-GSM network)
[0 to 33] dBm (GSM 1900-850 network)
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: Typical value of 33 dBm for GSM 900/850 handhelds and 30 dBm for
GSM 1800 and 1900 handhelds
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: msTxPwrMaxCell = msTxPwrMaxCCCH of the current cell
Used in: General formulas
Handovers screening
Directed Retry Handover: BTS (or distant) mode
Forced Handover
Define eligible neighbor cells for intercell handover (except directed
retry)
One shot power control
Power control on mobile side
See Paragraph 2.5.1 and Paragraph 2.7.
Eng. Rules: If this value is higher than the actual MS classmark, then MS will apply
its own capability.
Remark: If the cell is used as a neighbor cell of another serving cell in the
network, msTxPwrMaxCell should be identical to the
msTxPwrMaxCCH power defined for the corresponding
adjacentCellHandOver object (the values must be checked by users).
Nortel confidential
Nortel confidential
powerBudgetInterCell Class 3 V7
Description: Authorization to perform intercell handovers for power budget
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object: handOverControl
Default value: enabled
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: enabled
Used in: Handovers screening
Power budget formula
Handover for traffic reasons (from V12)
Eng. Rules: Handover on PBGT should be enabled, because for an optimized
network it ensures the best quality of service.
runHandOver Class 3 V7
Description: Number of Measurement Results messages that must be received
before the handover algorithm in a cell is triggered
Value range: [1 to 31] SACCH frames (1 unit = 480 ms on TCHs, 470 ms on
SDCCHs)
Object: bts
Default value: 1
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 1
Used in: Handovers
Microcellular Algo type A
Protection against RunHandover=1
Eng. Rules: Should be run as often as possible, main impact is upon BSS load.
The V11 feature protection against runHandover=1 allows some
protections in order to avoid that the setting of this parameter to 1
leads some overload problems (SICD overload)..
Therefore, runHandOver may be set to 1 in some environments where
the reactivity is crucial (microcell, high-speed environment). So from
V11, it is recommended to set this parameter to 1. However, this
parameter setting must be done in accordance with the value of
handover thresholds, margins and timers.
See also chapter Impact of the Averaging on the Handovers and
chapter Street Corner Environment
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rxLevMinCell Class 3 V7
Description: Minimum signal strength level received by MS for being granted
access to a neighbor cell
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: - 95 to -94 dBm (GSM 900 & 850), - 93 to - 92 (GSM 1800 & 1900)
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: - 95 to - 94 dBm (GSM 900 & 850)
- 93 to - 92 dBm (GSM 1800& 1900) in urban environment
RxLevMinCell = lRxLevDLH if HOmargin ≥ 0 in rural environment
Used in: General formulas
Handovers screening
Define eligible neighbor cells for intercell handover (except directed
retry)
Eng. Rules: A method to estimate this value is to use MS sensitivity (-104 dBm in
GSM 900 for handheld, and -102 dBm in GSM 1800/1900 for
handheld, otherwise -104 dBm) and applying a margin to it. However,
if most of communications are handled in an indoor environment, or
overlap between cell coverage is not sufficient, these recommended
values can be decreased.
For a dual Band Network where one frequency band is privileged, it is
advised to set this parameter to a lower value in neighbour cells
belonging to the priority frequency band. Thus, this band will be
preferred. However, it may be greater than the value rxLevAccessMin.
Thus the recommended value is -99 to -98 dBm (GSM900) or -97 to -
96 dBm (GSM1800) for neighbour cells belonging to the priority
frequency band.
Studies have shown that the subjective quality depends on the way
erroneous bits are spread into each frame. Experiments have shown
that with frequency hopping in TU3 (Typical urban at 3 Km/h) up to
Rxqual = 5 the subjective quality seems to be good, on the other hand
without frequency hopping Rxqual = 4 seems to be the maximum
value for which subjective quality is good.
The table below gives examples of the margins that could be taken
into account for an infinite C/I and for different mobile speeds.
And that other table below shows the different margins that could be
taken into account in a slow mobile area depending of the C/I.
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synchronized Class 3 V7
Description: Whether the neighbor cell and the associated serving cell are
synchronous, that is attached to the same BTS
Value range: [not synchronized cells / synchronized cells / pre sync HO with timing
advance / pre sync HO, default timing advance]
“not synchronized cells”: the neighbor cell and the serving cell are
not attached to the same BTS.
“synchronized cells”: the neighbor cell and the serving cell are
attached to the same BTS
“pre sync HO with timing advance”: the handover procedure
between the neighbor cell and the serving cell is pre–synchronized
with the real Time Advance.
“pre sync HO, default timing advance”: a pre–defined timing
advance is used in the pre–synchronized handover procedure
between the serving cell and the neighbor cell. Refer to
preSynchroTimingAdvance parameter.
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: not synchronized cells
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: See Eng. Rules
Used in: Pre-synchronized HO
Handover Algorithms on the Mobile Side
Eng. Rules: It is recommended to use pre-synchronized HO in microcellular
environment because in small cells the timing advance when
handovers are triggered is generally a low value (less than 3).
It is also interesting to use this feature for determined path such as
railways, highways, and tunnels where handovers between two cells
happen always at the same place.
See also chapter Synchronized HO versus Not Synchronized HO
timeBetweenHOConfiguration Class 3 V9
Description: Whether the HOPingpongTimeRejection timer can be used in a BSS
when processing handovers. Refer to bts object bts time between HO
configuration and adjacentCellHandOver object
HOPingpongTimeRejection attributes in this Dictionary of Parameters.
Value range: [used / not used]
Object: bsc
Default value: used
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: used
Used in: Power Budget Handover
General protection against HO ping-pong (from V12)
Eng. Rules: see Engineering Rules for the parameter bts time Between HO
Configuration.
See also chapter Minimum Time Between Handover and chapter
Directed Retry Handover Benefit.
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intraCell Class 3 V7
Description: Whether intra–bts handovers on TCH are allowed in a cell for
interference reasons or Cell Tiering reasons
Value range: [cellTieringHandover / intraCellHandover / handoverNotAllowed]
cellTieringHandover: the intraBTS handovers are allowed for
CellTiering reason
intraCellHandover: the intraBTS handovers are allowed for
interference reason
handoverNotAllowed: the intra bts handovers are not allowed
Object: handOverControl
Default value: handoverNotAllowed
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: cellTieringHandover
Used in: Intracell Handover decision for signal quality
Eng. Rules: For mono-TRX cell, do not enable intracell handover
(handoverNotAllowed).
As the MS power is not checked before performing an intracell
handover, it is not advised to enable this feature as intraCellHandover.
It would lead to a high ratio of intracell handover.
In V7, the resource allocator does not classify free TCH resources
according to their interference level. From V8, the channel is selected
from the best not empty pool.
To enable “tiering”, the cell tiering conditions shall be fulfilled and the
cell tiering advantages shall be estimated as well (see chapter
Automatic cell tiering (from V12) and hoMarginTiering parameter).
intraCellSDCCH Class 3 V8
Description: Whether intraBTS handovers on SDCCH are authorized in a cell for
interference reasons
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object: handOverControl
Default value: disabled
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: disabled
Used in: Intracell Handover decision for signal quality
Eng. Rules: None except system ability.
Note that, some mobiles have been reported to drop the call when
that feature is performed.
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rxLevDLIH Class 3 V7
Description: Maximum interference level in BTS–to–MS direction, beyond which an
intraCell handover may be triggered
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109,..., -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: handOverControl
Default value: -85 to -84 dBm
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: -85 to -84 dBm
Used in: Intracell Handover decision for signal quality
Eng. Rules:
LCAUTION! Path balance must be looked for this threshold parameter setting.
rxLevULIH Class 3 V7
Description: Maximum interference level in MS–to–BTS direction, beyond which an
intra cell handover may be triggered
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm.
Object: handOverControl
Default value: -85 to -84 dBm
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: -85 to -84 dBm
Used in: Intracell Handover decision for signal quality
Eng. Rules:
LCAUTION! Path balance must be looked for this threshold parameter setting.
Nortel confidential
Nortel confidential
lRxLevDLH Class 3 V7
Description: Signal strength threshold in BTS–to–MS direction, below which a
handover may be triggered
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: handOverControl
Default value: -101 to -100 dBm (GSM 900) / -99 to -98 dBm (GSM1800/1900)
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: -95 to -94 dBm in urban environment (900 MHz or 850 MHz)
-101 to -100 dBm in rural environment (900 MHz or 850 MHz)
Used in: Handover condition for leaving a cell on rxlev
Define eligible neighbor cells for intercell handover (except directed
retry)
Eng. Rules: This threshold must be set from the MS sensitivity. A margin must be
taken to consider shadowing, fast fading and MS measurement
accuracy. At least, a 3 dB margin can be taken into account in a rural
environment and a 10 dB margin in an urban environment.
LCAUTION! where the cell is declared as a neighbor, we should have: lRxLevDLH
< rxlevMinCell, and path balance must be considered for this
threshold parameter setting.
See also chapter lRxlevDLH and lRxlevULH Definition.
lRxLevULH Class 3 V7
Description: Signal strength threshold in MS–to–BTS direction, below which a
handover may be triggered
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: handOverControl
Default value: -101 to -100 dBm (GSM 900) / -99 to -98 dBm (GSM 1800/1900)
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: -95 to -94 dBm in urban environment (900 MHz or 850 MHz)
-101 to -100 dBm in rural environment (900 MHz or 850 MHz)
Used in: Handover condition for leaving a cell on rxlev
Eng. Rules: The recommended values given above correspond to the worst case
BTS (e-cell). An e-cell has -104 dBm Rx sensitivity in all frequency
bands and diversity is not applicable, thus leading to "-95 to -94" for
urban environments and "-101 to -100" for rural environments when
applying a 3dB margin in a rural environment and a 10 dB margin in
an urban environment. In fact, these thresholds depend on BTS
sensitivity. Values should be increased if one of the following points is
verified:
the thresholds on quality are permissive
run-handover 3 scarce
mobile speed is high
initial tuning causes frequent level strength handover failure rate
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lRxQualDLH Class 3 V7
Description: Bit error rate threshold in BTS–to–MS direction, above which an inter
cell handover may be triggered
Value range: [less than 0.2, 0.2 to 0.4, 0.4 to 0.8, ... , 6.4 to 12.8, more than 12.8] %
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 1.6 to 3.2 %
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 1.6 to 3.2 % (4 in rxqual GSM unit) without frequency hopping.
See Engineering Rules in case of frequency hopping.
Used in: Handover condition for leaving a cell on rxqual
Eng. Rules: According to some experiments and studies, 4 in GSM unit is the
upper limit for TU3 no hopping, while 5 in GSM unit for TU3 hopping.
Suggested values become 4 in GSM unit (no frequency hopping or
MS speed > 80km/h) and 5 in GSM unit (frequency hopping and low
urban speed). High BER rate for threshold is dangerous (risk of
handover failure). On the contrary, if a tight rxqual threshold is linked
with a short averaging period, the risk is that a single bad quality
report will affect the whole result (ie: if 8 samples without weighting
and a threshold of 2 in GSM unit: if 7 of these samples are 2 in GSM
unit and 1 of them is 5 in GSM unit, handover decision will be taken
on a wrong basis). Experience shows whatever the MS speed, rxQual
= 6 does not provide a comfortable voice quality.
The average in the above is equal to:
(7 * 0.57 + 4.53) B 8 = 1.065 greater than 0.57 (2 in GSM unit).
In case of using synthesized frequency hopping, this threshold has to
be increased in order to limit the increase of the number of handover
on quality criteria.
In a 1X1 pattern, it is advised to set this value to 5 or 6 (3.2 to 6.4 %
or 6.4 to 12.8 %).
In case of a 1X3 pattern, the recommended value is 4 or 5 (1.6 to 3.2
% or 3.2 to 6.4 %).
DTX is often used with Frequency Hopping. There are less
measurement reports with DTX, and thus the RxQual_average may
be less reliable. But no degradation was observed when using both
features therefore there is no need to disable handovers on quality
criteria in this case.
Nortel confidential
lRxQualULH Class 3 V7
Description: Bit error rate threshold in MS–to–BTS direction, above which an inter
cell handover may be triggered
Value range: [less than 0.2, 0.2 to 0.4, 0.4 to 0.8, ... , 6.4 to 12.8, more than 12.8] %
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 1.6 to 3.2 %
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 1.6 to 3.2 % (4 rxqual GSM unit) without frequency hopping.
See Engineering Rules in case of frequency hopping.
Used in: Handover condition for leaving a cell on rxqual
Eng. Rules: According to some experiments and studies, 4 in GSM unit is the
upper limit for TU3 no hopping while 5 in GSM unit for TU3 hopping.
Suggested value becomes 4 in GSM unit (no frequency hopping or
MS speed > 80km/h) and 5 in GSM unit (frequency hopping and low
urban speed). High BER rate for threshold is dangerous (risk of
handover failure). On the contrary, if a tight rxqual threshold is linked
with a short averaging period, the risk is that a single bad quality
report will affect the whole result (ie: if 8 samples without weighting
and a threshold of 2: if 7 of these samples are 2 and 1 of them is 5,
handover decision will be taken on the wrong basis).
In case of using synthesized frequency hopping, this threshold has to
be increased in order to limit the increase of the number of handover
on quality criteria.
In a 1X1 pattern, it is advised to set this value to 5 or 6 (3.2 to 6.4 %
or 6.4 to 12.8 %).
In case of a 1X3 pattern, the recommended value is 4 or 5 (1.6 to 3.2
% or 3.2 to 6.4 %).
DTX is often used with Frequency Hopping. There are less
measurement reports with DTX, and thus the RxQual_average may
be less reliable. But no degradation was observed when using both
features therefore there is no need to disable handovers on quality
criteria in this case.
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cellType Class 3 V7
Description: Type of the adjacent cell
Value range: [normalType / umbrellaType / microType]
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: normalType
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: normalType
Used in: Microcellular Algo type A
Eng. Rules: To run a capture handover (umbrella to micro) on a neighbor, which
must be microType, the bts must be declared as umbrellaType. It is
possible to manage a three layer network by declaring cell A and cell
B as umbrellaType, neighbor B and neighbor C as microType for cell
A, neighbor A as umbrellaType and neighbor C as microType for cell
B, and finally neighbor B as umbrellaType for cell C.
See also chapter Minimum Time Between Handover
cellType Class 3 V7
Description: Type of the serving cell
Value range: [normalType / umbrellaType / microType]
Object: bts
Default value: normalType
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: normalType
Used in: Microcellular Algo type A
Eng. Rules: To run a capture handover (umbrella to micro) on a neighbor, which
must be microType, the bts must be declared as an umbrellaType. It
is possible to manage a three layer network by declaring cell A and
cell B as umbrellaType, neighbor B and neighbor C as microType for
cell A, neighbor A as umbrellaType and neighbor C as microType for
cell B, and finally neighbor B as umbrellaType for cell C.
Remark: The adjacent cell umbrella Ref attribute is defined at the OMC-R if the
cell is a microcell (cellType) and directed retry handovers are
processed in BSC mode (directed-RetryModeUsed).
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microCellCaptureTimer Class 3 V8
Description: Time used to confirm a capture (signal strength stability) when using
microcell Algorithm type A
Value range: Time = N multiplied by runHandOver.
According to microCellCaptureTimer value, N values are the
following:
[0 to 249] N = [0 to 249]
250 N = 512
251 N = 1024
252 N = 2048
253 N = 4096
254 N = 8192
255 N = 16384
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: 0
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: 8s, whatever runHandOver value
(e.g. if runHandOver = 2 Æ N = 8, if runHandOver = 1 Æ N = 16)
Used in: Microcellular Algo type A
Eng. Rules: Experiments done in urban areas show that a timer of 8 seconds to 10
seconds allows a better use of the capture.
See also chapter Impact of the Averaging on the Handovers.
microCellStability Class 3 V8
Description: Strength Level Stability Criterion for Capture Algorithm A
Value range: [0 to 255] dB
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: 10 dB
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: 63 dB
Used in: Microcellular Algo type A
Eng. Rules: To allow handovers on capture this parameter has to be set at a value
greater than 0. A value of microCellStability equal to 63 dB has to be
set first, because with such a value, the stability constraints are
always verified.
The value of this parameter can then be decreased case by case.
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callClearing Class 3 V7
Description: Maximum distance between MS and BTS before call is cleared
It is greater than msRangeMax.
This distance defines the cell maximum coverage area.
Value range: [2 to 35] km (non-extended mode)
[2 to 120] km (extended mode)
Object: bts
Default value: 35 in non-extended mode, 90 in extended mode
Type: DP, Product
Rec. value: Depends on the environment, typical value = (1.5 * cell diameter)
+ 2 km or best cell distance coverage server
Generaly for non-extended mode: 7 km for urban, 35 km for rural
Used in: Call Clearing Process (run by BTS) (Cc)
Eng. Rules: The value should be related to the current cell coverage. A margin is
taken by using the 1.5 coefficient. A 2km margin is also considered to
compensate lack of mobile timing advance accuracy.
If the observation counter shows a high number of call clearings, it
may mean that handover parameters on that cell are too permissive or
badly tuned.
At the OMC-R, a control exists: callClearing > msRangeMax
extended cell Class 2 V9
Description: Whether the cell is extended (up to 120 km large) or not
The cell working mode governs the upper limit of the following
attribute values (refer to theses entries in the Dictionary):
callClearing, msRangeMax, and rndAccTimAdvThreshold
attributes of the bts object
concentAlgoExtMsRange and concentAlgoIntMsRange attributes
of the associated handOverControl object if the bts object
describes a concentric cell
Value range: [true (extended) / false (normal)]
Object: bts
Default value: false
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in:
Eng. Rules: Extended cells will be used to reach mobiles that are far from the BTS
(in the case of sea shores and pleasure boats, for example).
In an extended cell, two consecutive time slots are reserved for each
channel. The capacity is then decreased.
LCAUTION! Up to V10, an extended cell cannot be concentric. Whatever the MS-
BTS distance is, two consecutive time slots are reserved on Air
interface.
See also chapter SDCCH Dimensioning an TDMA Models.
LCAUTION! GPRS/EDGE is not supported when extended cell feature is activated.
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msRangeMax Class 3 V7
Description: Maximum MS–to–BTS distance beyond, which a handover may be
triggered. It can be set to 1 for a microcell and is less than callClearing
in all cases.
msBtsDistanceInterCell Class 3 V7
Description: Whether inter–bts handovers are allowed in a cell for distance
reasons
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object: handOverControl
Default value: enabled
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: enabled
Used in: Handovers screening
Handover condition for leaving a cell on distance
Eng. Rules: Due to the imprecision of some MS on Timing Advance (see chapter
Distance - timing advance conversion) and due to the delay spread in
a very urban environment, it is possible to set this parameter to
“disabled” (in an urban environment). However, for all cells with a
radius of more than 1 km, handover on distance must be authorized.
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rndAccTimAdvThreshold Class 3 V8
Description: MS–to–BTS distance beyond which mobile access requests to a cell
are refused.
It defines the maximum timing advance value accepted.
The effective timing advance value is broadcast in the CHANNEL
REQUIRED message sent by the BTS to the BSC. If it is above the
user defined threshold, the BSC ignores the request.
Value range: [2 to 35] km (non-extended mode)
[2 to 120] km (extended mode)
Object: bts
Default value: 35 (non-extended cell), 90 (extended cell)
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: msRangeMax (= call clearing - 1km = 1.5* cell diameter + 2 km -1
km)
Generally for non-extended mode: 6 km for urban, 35 km for rural
Used in: Request access command process (RA)
Eng. Rules: The maximum authorized value will inhibit the feature.
By adjusting the value to the size of the cell (see recommended
value), parasite RACH (noise which is decoded by the system like a
RACH) are filtered. This avoids the unnecessary assigment of
SDCCH.
For example, for small cells, if the value is 35 km, almost 30% of the
RACHs are parasite. If the value is modified to 2, almost no parasites
RACH are detected.
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runCallClear Class 3 V7
Description: Number of “Measurement Results” messages that must be received
before the call clearing algorithm in a cell is triggered
Value range: [1 to 31] SACCH frames (1 unit = 480 ms on TCHs, 470 ms on
SDCCHs)
Object: bts
Default value: 16
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 16
Used in: Call Clearing Process (run by BTS) (Cc)
Eng. Rules: It is not necessary to run Cc too often, since those calls are going to
be ended anyway. Nevertheless, traffic out of a cell’s range interferes
on other cells or timeslots.
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bsMsmtProcessingMode Class 2 V7
Description: Whether radio measurements collected by the mobiles for a cell are
processed by the BTS or the BSC
Value range: [preProcessedMeasurementReporting (BTS) /
basicMeasurementReporting (BSC)]
Object: bts
Default value: preProcessedMeasurementReporting
Type: DP, Product
Rec. value: preProcessedMeasurementReporting
Used in: Measurement Processing
Eng. Rules: Since radio measurements are always preprocessed by the BTS,
changing this attribute has no meaning.
bsPowerControl Class 3 V7
Description: Whether BTS transmission power control is allowed at cell level
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object: powerControl
Default value: disabled
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: enabled
Used in: Step by step Power control
One shot power control
Fast power control at TCH assignment
Power Control (AMR)
Eng. Rules: Not useful for mono-TRX cells, because BTS power control on BCCH
frequency is not allowed.
LCAUTION! During a measurement field campaign, it can be normal to disable this
feature in order to have the real signal strength and not the adjusted
one.
bsTxPwrMax Class 3 V7
Description: Maximum theoretical level of BTS transmission power in a cell
The BSC relays the information to the mobiles in the Abis CELL
MODIFY REQUEST message.
Value range: [0 to 47] dBm
Object: powerControl
Default value: 43 dBm
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: depends on the equipment
Used in: General formulas
Cabinet Output Power Setting
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Eng. Rules: This power is used to calculate the cabinet output power. From V9, it
depends on the attribute “attenuation” of btsSiteManager objects (see
chapter Pr computation), because the value of the parameter
“attenuation” is then taken into account as DLU attenuation.
Remark: For a GSM 1900 network (standardIndicator of bts object set to
‘pcs1900’), the MD-R checks the following: bsTxPwrMax < 32 (dBm)
when an edge frequency is defined for the cell (i.e. if the value is
included in the cellAllocation attribute values).
Some bsTxPwrMax values are not compatible with the effective power
output by the BTS (see chapter Pr computation).
lRxLevDLP Class 3 V7
Description: Signal strength threshold in BTS–to–MS direction, below which the
power control function increases power. It is lower than uRxLevDLP.
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: powerControl
Default value: -95 to -94 dBm
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: -95 to -94 dBm (step by step)
-85 to -84 dBm (one shot)
Used in: Step by step Power control
One shot power control
Fast power control at TCH assignment
Power Control (AMR)
Eng. Rules: The difference between lower and upper thresholds must be greater
or equal to max (powerIncrStrepSize, powerRedStepSize), because it
is controled at the OMC level.
lRxLevDLP > lRxLevDLH, up to V7, because power Control and
handover algorithms are decorrelated.
LCAUTION! In case the AMR power control algorithm is activated ( refer to the
amrReserved2 parameter) that parameter defines the threshold below
which the AMR power control is inhibited.
In that case the recommended values remain the same if the AMR
penetration is low, and the same + 2dB if the AMR penetration is high.
lRxLevULP Class 3 V7
Description: Signal strength threshold in MS–to–BTS direction, below which the
power control function increases power. It is lower than uRxLevULP.
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: powerControl
Default value: -95 to -94 dBm
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: -95 to -94 dBm (step by step)
-85 to -84 dBm (one shot)
Used in: Step by step Power control
One shot power control
Fast power control at TCH assignment
Power Control (AMR)
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Eng. Rules: lRxLevULP > lRxLevULH, up to V7, because power Control and
handover algorithms are decorrelated.
LCAUTION! In case the AMR power control algorithm is activated ( see
amrReserved2 parameter) that parameter defines the threshold below
which the AMR power control is inhibited.
In that case the recommended values remain the same if the AMR
penetration is low, and the same + 2dB if the AMR penetration is high.
lRxQualDLP Class 3 V7
Description: Bit error rate threshold in BTS–to–MS direction, above which the
power control function increases power. It is greater than or equal to
uRxQualDLP.
Value range: [less than 0.2, 0.2 to 0.4, 0.4 to 0.8, ... , 6.4 to 12.8, more than 12.8] %
Object: powerControl
Default value: 0.4 to 0.8
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 0.8 to 1.6 % (RxQual = 3 in GSM unit) without SFH
3.2 to 6.4 % (RxQual = 5 in GSM unit) with SFH
Used in: Step by step Power control
One shot power control
Fast power control at TCH assignment
Power Control (AMR)
Eng. Rules: This value must be lower than lRxQualDLH in order to maintain
priority between power control and handover.
lRxQualULP Class 3 V7
Description: Bit error rate threshold in MS–to–BTS direction, above which the
power control function increases power. It is greater than or equal to
uRxQualULP.
Value range: [less than 0.2, 0.2 to 0.4, 0.4 to 0.8, ... , 6.4 to 12.8, more than 12.8] %
Object: powerControl
Default value: 0.4 to 0.8
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 0.8 to 1.6 % (RxQual = 3 in GSM unit) without SFH
1.6 to 3.2 % (RxQual = 4 in GSM unit) with SFH
Used in: Step by step Power control
One shot power control
Fast power control at TCH assignment
Power Control (AMR)
Eng. Rules: This value must be lower than lRxQualULH in order to maintain
priority between power control and handover.
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runPwrControl Class 3 V7
Description: Number of Measurement Results messages that must be received
before the power control algorithm in a cell is triggered.
Value range: [1 to 31] frames (1 unit = 480 ms on TCH, 470 ms on SDCCH)
Object: bts
Default value: 4
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 2
Used in: Power Control Algorithms
Power Control (AMR)
Eng. Rules: The lowest is the parameter value, the best will be the reactivity;
nevertheless, it is better to wait for the effect of MS power decrease
on the uplink quality.
uplinkPowerControl Class 3 V8
Description: Whether power control in the MS–to–BTS direction is authorized at
cell level
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object: powerControl
Default value: enabled
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: enabled
Used in: Power Control Algorithms
Power Control (AMR)
Eng. Rules:
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uRxLevDLP Class 3 V7
Description: Upper strength threshold for BTS txpwr decrease for step by step
algorithm (it is greater than IRxLevDLP)
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: powerControl
Default value: -85 to -84 dBm
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: = lRxLevDLP + Max (powerIncrStepSizeDL,
powerRedStepSizeDL) typically
Used in: Power Control Algorithms
Eng. Rules: Difference between the lower and upper thresholds must be greater or
equal to the maximum power step size.
LCAUTION! Not used in one shot power control.
uRxLevULP Class 3 V7
Description: Upper strength threshold for MS txpwr decrease for step by step
algorithm (it is greater than lRxLevULP).
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: powerControl
Default value: -85 to -84 dBm
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: lRxLevULP + Max (powerIncrStepSizeUL, powerRedStepSizeUL)
typically
Used in: Power Control Algorithms
Eng. Rules: Difference between the lower and upper threshold, must be greater or
equal to the maximum power step size.
LCAUTION! Not used in one shot power control.
uRxQualDLP Class 3 V7
Description: Upper quality threshold to reduce BTS txpwr for step by step algorithm
(it is lower than or equal to lRxQualDLP).
Value range: [less than 0.2, 0.2 to 0.4, 0.4 to 0.8, ... , 6.4 to 12.8, more than 12.8] %
Object: powerControl
Default value: 0.2 to 0.4
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 0.8 to 1.6 % (RxQual = 3 in GSM unit) without SFH
3.2 to 6.4 % (RxQual = 5 in GSM unit) with SFH
Used in: Power Control Algorithms
Eng. Rules: This value must be lower than lRxQualDLH in order to maintain
priority between power control and handover.
LCAUTION! Not used in one shot power control.
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uRxQualULP Class 3 V7
Description: Upper quality threshold to reduce MS txpwr for step by step algorithm
(it is lower than or equal to lRxQualULP).
Value range: [less than 0.2, 0.2 to 0.4, 0.4 to 0.8, ... , 6.4 to 12.8, more than 12.8] %
Object: powerControl
Default value: 0.2 to 0.4
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 0.8 to 1.6 % (RxQual = 3 in GSM unit) without SFH
1.6 to 3.2 % (RxQual = 4 in GSM unit) wtih SFH
Used in: Power Control Algorithms
Eng. Rules: This value must be lower than lRxQualULH in order to maintain
priority between power control and handover.
There is no reason why this value should differ from uRxQualDLP.
LCAUTION! Not used in one shot power control.
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accessClassCongestion Class 3 V9
Description: List of access classes that are not authorized in a cell during TCH
congestion phase (class 10 not included)
Value range: [0 to 9] User classes
[11 to 15] Operator classes
Object: bts
Default value: [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in: Dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
V15.0 Changes of dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
Eng. Rules: Usually, in a low capacity cell (between 1 and 2 TRXs), many classes
must be forbidden in case of congestion (few resources available). In
a high capacity cell, only a few classes must be forbidden.
allocPriorityTable Class 3 V7
Description: Table of eighteen elements that define the internal priorities for
processing TCH queued allocation requests for each external priority
defined (among them, fourteen are GSM priorities)
TCH is always allocated using the internal priority.
Value range: [0 to 12]. “0” defines the highest priority.
Object: bts
Default value: 000000000000000000
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 02222222222223042
0 8 9 10 11 12 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 0 4 2 for WPS use
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
WPS – Queuing management
Eng. Rules: The default set means that all TCH allocation requests have the same
priority, which is equal to 0.
When queuing is activated, set the following parameters in order not
to disadvantage the interCell handover procedures:
Priority for interCell handover: 0
Priority for other procedures: ≠ 0
allocPriorityThreshold > 0
LCAUTION! When WPS Queuing Management is activated, the WPS priorities (8
to 12) have to be set as recommended, otherwise WPS queues will be
managed like internal public queues.
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allocPriorityThreshold Class 3 V7
Description: Number of free TCHs needed for processing a TCH allocation request
with an internal priority higher than 1
These channels are reserved to allocation requests with a maximum
internal priority (priority 0).
The TCH allocation is performed according to this algorithm:
1 ≤ Nb of free TCH ≤ Nb of free TCH >
Nb of free TCH = 0
allocPriorityThreshold allocPriorityThreshold
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Eng. Rules: When TCH channels are reserved and the internal priority for
assignRequest is ≠ 0, the capacity for incoming calls decreases:
Example:
1 TRX, 7 TCH, 2 % blocking rate, allocPriorityThreshold = 0,
capacity for incoming calls = 2,88 Erlang
1 TRX, 7 TCH, 2 % blocking rate, allocPriorityThreshold = 1,
capacity for incoming calls = 2,23 Erlang
Queuing spreads out the TCH allocation request. As incoming
handover requests are not queued, such requests are disadvantaged.
A solution is to reserve 1 TCH channel (for 1 or 2 TRXs) or 2 TCH
channels (for at least 2 TRX) for calls of internal priority 0, and set the
priority 0 for incoming handovers only.
Note that when TCH channels are reserved for handovers, the
capacity for incoming calls decreases.
allocPriorityTimers Class 3 V7
Description: Table of timers defining the maximum waiting time of TCH allocations
request (public and WPS request), according to the internal priority.
Value range: [0 … 65535] for BSC3000
[0 … 2147483646] for BSC12000
Object: bts
Default value: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 28 28 28 28
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 5 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 28 28 28 28 28
Used in: Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
WPS – Queuing management
Eng. Rules: A high value of timer is not realistic, since a subscriber will not wait
unless the last TCH is available quickly. The last five parameters in
the table (those set to 28) define the waiting time of WPS calls
queued.
See also chapter Directed Retry Handover Benefit
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allocWaitThreshold Class 3 V7
Description: Table of thresholds defining the maximum number of TCH allocation
requests queued (public and WPS), according to their internal priority.
A TCH request of priority Pi, P0<Pi<P7, is queued if the total number
of requests of priority Pj, with j<i, already in the queue does not
exceed the waiting threshold of the queue “i” (element “i” of the
allocWaitThreshold table).
A WPS request priority is queued according to the rules of WPS
queuing.
Value range: [0 to 63] MMI Range
Object: bts
Default value: 0000000055555
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: n 0 n n 0 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 5, with n = integer part of (number of
SDCCH subchannels / 2)
Used in: Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
WPS – Queuing management
Eng. Rules: The maximum size in each queue must be lower than the number of
SDCCH channels in the cell.
For an incoming call, when the assignRequest is queued, it remains
on the SDCCH subchannel.
The last five parameters in the table are determining the maximum
number of WPS calls of the same priority that can be queued.
allOtherCasesPriority Class 3 V7
Description: Index in the allocPriorityTable that defines the processing priority of
TCH allocation requests with cause “other cases”
This priority is used in primo–allocations or when an SDDCH cannot
be allocated for overload reasons.
Value range: [0 to 17]
Object: bts
Default value: 17
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 16
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: The associated internal priority is > 0.
A TCH allocation request (in signaling mode) whose cause is “other
case” is acknowledged when at least allocPriorityThreshold + 1
channels are free.
Refer also to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
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answerPagingPriority Class 3 V7
Description: Index in the allocPriorityTable that defines the processing priority of
TCH allocation requests with cause “reply to paging”
This priority is used in signaling mode on TCH only.
Value range: [0 to 17]
Object: bts
Default value: 17
Type: DP, System
Rec. valueb 16
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: The associated internal priority is > 0.
A TCH allocation request (in signaling mode) whose cause is “other
case” is acknowledged when at least allocPriorityThreshold + 1
channels are free.
Refer also to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
assignRequestPriority Class 3 V7
Description: Index in the allocPriorityTable that defines the processing priority of
TCH allocation requests with cause “immediate assignment”
This priority is used when radio resource allocation queuing is not
requested by the MSC or not authorized in the BSS (refer to the
bscQueuingOption parameter).
Value range: [0 to 17]
Object: bts
Default value: 17
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 17
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: When queuing driven by the MSC is used, this parameter is not
significant.
It is recommended not to associate an internal priority equal to 0.
There is no queuing for TCH in “signaling mode”.
Refer also to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
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bscMSAccessClassBarringFunction Class 3 V9
Description: Enable or disable dynamic barring of access class at the bsc level
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object: bsc
Default value: disabled
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: enabled, see Engineering Rules
Used in: Dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
V15.0 Changes of dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
Eng. Rules: Set to disabled, this parameter allows to inhibit the dynamic barring of
access class feature for the whole BSC whatever the values of the
other parameters related to All_4 are.
If queuing or directed retry is activated, the following parameters must
be used:
numberOfTCHQueuedBeforeCongestion
numberOfTCHQueuedToEndCongestion
bscQueuingOption Class 1 V7
Description: Whether radio resource allocation requests are queued in the BSC
when no resources are available
If no resource is available when an allocation request is received and queuing is not
allowed, the allocation request is refused immediately.
Value range: [allowed (MSC driven) / forced (O&M driven) / not allowed]
allowed: resource allocation request queuing depends on the type
of operation and indicative items provided with the messages
received from the MSC.
forced: resource allocation request queuing depends on the type of
operation only.
not allowed: resource allocation request queuing is forbidden.
Object: signallingPoint
Default value: forced
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: forced (O&M driven)
allowed (MSC driven) for WPS use
Used in: Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
WPS – Queuing management
Eng. Rules: When queuing is activated, the queued procedures (assignRequest
and intraCellHO if OMC driven) statistically take advantage on the
other procedures. If all the TCH channels are already allocated, the
queued procedures stay in the queue during a defined time (see
allocPriorityTimers), when the others are rejected.
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Suppose the operator expects to enable the queuing later. Due to the
class of the parameter bscQueuingOption, it is recommended not to
set “not allowed”. Otherwise, the BSC will need to be switched off to
implement the feature.
See also chapter Directed Retry Handover Benefit
LCAUTION! WPS Queuing Management can be activated only if
bscQueuingOption is set to “allowed”, i.e if MSC can handle different
priorities of assignement request.
btsMSAccessClassBarringFunction Class 3 V9
Description: Enable or disable dynamic barring of access class at the bts level
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object bts
Default value: disabled
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: See Engineering Rules
Used in: Dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
V15.0 Changes of dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
Eng. Rules: To enable dynamic barring of access class at the bts level, this
parameter and the bscMSAccessClassBarringFunction parameter of
the corresponding bsc must be set to enabled.
This feature globally reduces the cell capacity.
The fewer the number of TRXs on the cell, the more the capacity is
reduced.
callReestablishmentPriority Class 3 V7
Description: Index in the allocPriorityTable that defines the processing priority of
TCH allocation requests with cause “call reestablishment”
This priority is used in primo–allocations or when an SDDCH cannot
be allocated for overload reasons.
Value range: [0 to 17]
Objectb bts
Default value: 17
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 15
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: The value that must be given should correspond to a priority 0.
Refer to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
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cellBarQualify Class 3 V8
Description: Cell selection priority used in the C2 algorithm in Phase II
The information is broadcast to the mobiles at regular intervals on the
cell BCCH.
Value range: [true (low priority) / false (normal priority)]
Object: bts
Default value: False
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: False
Used in: Selection or reselection between cells of current Location Area
(Sel_1)
Additional reselection criterion (for phase 2) (Sel_3)
New SYS INFO messages
Eng. Rules: refer to Sel_3 algorithm, see also chapter DualBand Networks.
cellBarred Class 3 V7
Description: Whether direct cell access are barred to mobiles
The information is broadcast to the mobiles at regular intervals on the
cell BCCH.During a call, it is transmitted on a signaling link.
If the attribute value is changed to “barred”, all in–progress calls can
continue but the BSC will direct further mobile calls to another cell.
Value range: [barred / not barred]
Object: bts
Default value: not barred
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: not barred
Used in: Selection or reselection between cells of current Location Area
(Sel_1)
Additional reselection criterion (for phase 2) (Sel_3)
Eng. Rules: refer to Sel_3 algorithm, see also chapter DualBand Networks.
channelType Class 2 V7
Description: Type of logical channel supported by a radio TS
Value range: [tCHFull / sDCCH / mainBCCH / mainBCCHCombined /
bcchsdcch4CBCH / sdcch8CBCH / cCH (V12) / pDTCH (V12)]
Object: channel
Default value: None
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: None.
No recommended value is specified since this parameter
depends on the strategy of the operator.
Used in:
Eng. Rules: In the case of GSM, refer to chapter SDCCH Dimensioning an TDMA
Models for the rules with SDCCH.
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emergencyCallPriority Class 3 V7
Description: Index in the table allocPriorityTable for a TCH allocation request
whose cause is “emergency call”
This priority is used in primo–allocations or when an SDDCH cannot
be allocated for overload reasons.
Value range: [0 to 17]
Object: bts
Default value: 17
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 15
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: The internal priority associated is 0. A TCH allocation request (in
signaling mode) whose cause is “emergency call” is acknowledged
when at least 1 channel is free.
Refer also to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
interCellHOExtPriority Class 3 V7
Description: Index in the allocPriorityTable that defines the processing priority of
incoming inter–bss handovers in a cell
This priority is used when radio resource allocation queuing is not
requested by the MSC or not authorized in the BSS (refer to the
bscQueuingOption parameter).
Value range: [0 to 17]
Object: bts
Default value: 17
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 15
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: The internal priority associated is 0. A TCH allocation request (in
signaling mode) on interBSC handover is aknowledged when at least
1 channel is free.
When queuing is used, it is recommended to give the priority 0 and
reserve the TCH channels (allocPriorityThreshold) since it
disadvantages requests that cannot be queued.
Refer also to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
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interCellHOIntPriority Class 3 V7
Description: Index in the allocPriorityTable that defines the processing priority of
incoming intra–bss handovers in a cell
This priority is always used, whether radio resource allocation queuing
is authorized in the BSS or not.
Value range: [0 to 17]
Object: bts
Default value: 17
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 15
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: The internal priority associated is 0.
A TCH allocation request (in signaling mode) on intraBSC handover is
aknowledged when at least 1 TCH is free.
When queuing is used, it is recommended to give the priority 0 and
reserve the TCH channels (allocPriorityThreshold) since it
disadvantages requests that cannot be queued.
Refer also to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
intraCellHOIntPriority Class 3 V7
Description: Index in the allocPriorityTable that defines the processing priority of an
intra–bts handover in a cell
This priority is always used, whether radio resource allocation queuing
is authorized in the BSS or not.
Value range: [0 to 17]
Object: bts
Default value: 17
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 14
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: Refer also to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
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directedRetryPrio V12
Description: Index in the allocPriorityTable that defines the processing priority for
directed retry handovers
Value range: [0 to 17]
Object: bts
Default value:
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 17
Used in: TCH Allocation Management
Eng. Rules: Before V12, the directed retry used the incoming handover priority,
which is the highest priority; to avoid this, this new priority is
introduced.
Refer also to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
intraCellQueuing Class 3 V8
Description: Whether intra–bts handover requests are queued for a cell. This
parameter is significant only when queuing radio resource allocation
requests is allowed in the BSS.
Refer to the bscQueuingOption parameter.
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object: bts
Default value: disabled
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: Enabled
Used in: Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: None.
minNbOfTDMA Class 2 V7
Description: Minimum number of TDMA frames that must be working in order for
the cell itself to be working.
The frame carrying the cell BCCH must be among them and is
successfully configured.
Value range: [1 to 16]
Object: bts
Default value: 1
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 1
Used in:
Eng. Rules: None.
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notAllowedAccessClasses Class 3 V7
Description: List of mobile access classes that are forbidden in the cell, except
case of congestion.
This attribute, together with the emergencyCallRestricted attribute,
allows to control access to a cell according to the service classes
authorized.
Value range: List of mobile access class:
[0 to 9]: user classes
[11 to 15]: operator classes
Object: bts
Default value: Leave the field empty
Type: DP,Operation
Rec. value: “null” (empty list)
Used in: Dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
V15.0 Changes of dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
Eng. Rules: This parameter contains the list of forbidden access classes. Usually
all users are authorized, in this case, the list must be empty.
numberOfTCHFreeBeforeCongestion Class 3 V9
Description: Minimum number of free TCHs which triggers the beginning of the
TCH congestion phase and the beginning of the traffic overload
condition
Value range: [0 to infinite]
Object: bts
Default value: 0
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: 1 for cells with 1-2 TRXs
2 or 3 for cells with more than 3 TRXs
Used in: Dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
V15.0 Changes of dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
Handover for traffic reasons (from V12)
Eng. Rules: Note that the congestion feature does not distinguish between
reserved or unreserved TCHs. A reserved TCH is a TCH booked for a
priority 0 procedure. Setting this parameter must consider the number
of reserved TCHs.
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numberOfTCHFreeToEndCongestion Class 3 V9
Description: Threshold that gives the number of free TCHs, which triggers the end
of TCH congestion phase and the end of the traffic overload condition.
Value range: [0 to infinite]
Object: bts
Default value: 0
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: 2 for cells with 1-2 TRXs
3 or 4 cells with more than 3 TRXs
Used in: Dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
V15.0 Changes of dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
Handover for traffic reasons (from V12)
Eng. Rules: numberOfTCHFreeToEndCongestion >
numberOfTCHFreeBeforeCongestion
Note, this inequality is not checked at the OMC.
numberOfTCHQueuedBeforeCongestion Class 3 V9
Description: Maximum number of TCH allocation requests queued which triggers
the beginning of the TCH congestion phase and the beginning of the
traffic overload condition
Value range: [0 to infinite]
Object: bts
Default value: 0
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: TBD
Used in: Dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
V15.0 Changes of dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
Handover for traffic reasons (from V12)
Eng. Rules:
numberOfTCHQueuedToEndCongestion Class 3 V9
Description: Maximum number of TCH allocation requests queued which triggers
the end of TCH congestion phase and the end of the traffic overload
condition
Value range: [0 to infinite]
Object: bts
Default value: 0
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: TBD
Used in: Dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
V15.0 Changes of dynamic barring of access class (All_4)
Handover for traffic reasons (from V12)
Eng. Rules:
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otherServicesPriority Class 3 V7
Description: Index in the table allocPriorityTable for a TCH allocation request (in
signaling mode) whose cause is “other services”
This priority is used in primo–allocations or when an SDDCH cannot be allocated for
overload reasons.
Value range: [0 to 17]
Object: bts
Default value: 17
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 16
Used in: Allocation and priority (run by the BSC) (All_1)
Queuing driven by the MSC (All_2)
Queuing driven by the BSC (All_3)
Eng. Rules: The internal priority associated is > 0. A TCH allocation request (in
signaling mode) whose cause is “other services” is acknowledged
when at least allocPriorityThreshold + 1 channels are free.
Refer also to the allocPriorityTable parameter.
priority Class 2 V7
Description: Priority level of a TDMA frame for mapping TDMA onto TRXs.
At least minNbOfTDMA TDMA frames related to a cell must be
successfully configured for the cell to be working.
They include the TDMA frame carrying the cell BCCH and those with
the other priority(ies).
Value range: [0 to 255]
Object: transceiver
Default value:
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: See Engineering Rules
Used in:
Eng. Rules: Refer to section SDCCH Dimensioning and TDMA priorities.
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directedRetry Class 3 V9
Description: Minimum signal strength level received by the mobiles to be granted
access to the neighbor cell, used in processing directed retry
handovers in BTS mode
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Default value: more than -48 dBm
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: = rxLevMinCell + 3 to 25 dB
Used in: Directed Retry Handover: BTS (or distant) mode
Eng. Rules: The choice of recommended value has to be done regarding the
general design of the network. A 3 dB margin must be considered as
a minimum on a network to eliminate field strength bumps effect due
to multipath. However, this margin must be increased in an urban
environment or with the use of reuse pattern (overall for a 1X1
pattern) because of the generated interference when the MS is not on
the best server cell.
See also chapter Directed Retry Handover Benefit.
LCAUTION! Directed retry is not allowed between 2 zones of a concentric cell.
For a dual Band Network where one frequency band is privileged, it is
possible to set this parameter to a higher value in neighbour cells
belonging to the low priority frequency band. Thus, this band will be
underprivileged. However, it will impact the directed retry for
monoband MS on this band (less directed retry).
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directedRetryModeUsed Class 3 V9
Description: Specify how directed retry handovers are processed in a cell either
directly by the BSC (microcells only) or by querying the BTS first
Value range: [bsc / bts]
Object: bts
Default value: bts
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: bts
Used in: Directed Retry Handover: BSC (or local) mode
Directed Retry Handover: BTS (or distant) mode
Eng. Rules: The micro cell should be entirely covered by the macro cell in order to
use efficiently the bsc mode.
The use of the bts mode is recommended in a hot spot when there are
several micro cells under the umbrella. The bts mode allows the use
of micro cells to rescue the umbrella cell and also avoids a saturation
of the umbrella cell.
See also chapter Directed Retry Handover Benefit.
interBscDirectedRetry Class 3 V9
Description: Whether inter–bss directed retry handovers are allowed in a BSS
Value range: [allowed / not allowed]
Object: bsc
Default value: allowed
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: allowed
Used in: Directed Retry Handover: BSC (or local) mode
Directed Retry Handover: BTS (or distant) mode
Eng. Rules: See also chapter Directed Retry Handover Benefit.
interBscDirectedRetryFromCell Class 3 V9
Description: Whether inter–bss directed retry handovers are allowed in a cell
Value range: [allowed / not allowed]
Object: bts
Default value: allowed
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: allowed
Used in: Directed Retry Handover: BSC (or local) mode
Directed Retry Handover: BTS (or distant) mode
Eng. Rules: If the value is “not allowed” then, the value of
interBscDirectedRetryFromCell must be set to “not allowed” for the
concerned cells.
See also chapter Directed Retry Handover Benefit.
LCAUTION! Directed retry is not allowed between 2 zones of a concentric cell.
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intraBscDirectedRetry Class 3 V9
Description: Whether intra–bss directed retry handovers are allowed in a BSS
Value range: [allowed / not allowed]
Object: bsc
Default value: allowed
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: allowed
Used in: Directed Retry Handover: BSC (or local) mode
Directed Retry Handover: BTS (or distant) mode
Eng. Rules: See also chapter Directed Retry Handover Benefit.
intraBscDirectedRetryFromCell Class 3 V9
Description: Whether intra–bss directed retry handovers are allowed in a cell
Value range: [allowed / not allowed]
Object: bts
Default value: allowed
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: allowed
Used in: Directed Retry Handover: BSC (or local) mode
Directed Retry Handover: BTS (or distant) mode
Eng. Rules: If the value is “not allowed” then, the value of
intraBscDirectedRetryFromCell must be set to “not allowed” for the
concerned cells.
See also chapter Directed Retry Handover Benefit.
LCAUTION! Directed retry is not allowed between 2 zones of a concentric cell.
modeModifyMandatory Class 3 V9
Description: Whether a CHANNEL MODE MODIFY message should be sent to the
mobile after a directed retry handover in the BSS
Value range: [used (yes) / not used (no)]
Object: bsc
Default value: not used
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: not used
Used in: Directed Retry Handover
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Eng. Rules: In the early days of GSM, this parameter was useful for mobiles
belonging to specific brands, that used not to be able to switch directly
from signaling (SDCCH) to speech (TCH) when executing a Directed
retry procedure. For that reason, this parameter used to be set to
"used" so that a Channel Mode Modify procedure could be done,
forcing an explicit change of channel upon the mobile. However,
today, as these mobile bugs have now presumably been corrected,
with few or no faulty mobiles remaining in the field today, the
systematic invokation of the CMM procedure is no longer required.
Setting to "used" may, in addition, have detrimental side-effects for
some kinds of inter-cell handovers (problem noted on instances of
intercell 3G-2G Handovers) which will systematically invoke a
Channel Mode Modify. Therefore it is recommended to set this
parameter systematically to value “not used”.
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concentAlgoExtMsRange Class 3 V9
Description: MS to BTS distance below which a handover is requested from the
large zone to the small zone if the level criteria is verified
Value range: [1 to 34] km (non-extended mode)
[1 to 120] km (extended mode)
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 1
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: 34
Used in: Direct TCH Allocation
Concentric cell / dualcoupling cell intracell handovers
Eng. Rules: The calculated distance between the MS and the BTS is based on
timing advance (TA), which has an accuracy of ± 3 bits (corresponding
to more than 1,5 km), thus not very useful in urban areas where the
cell size is relatively small and multipath affect the MS_BS distance.
However this parameter can be useful in rural areas or suburban
areas, and concentAlgoExtMsRange should respect following rules:
concentAlgoExtMsRange = concentAlgoIntMsRange - 1 km
concentAlgoExtMsRange < concentAlgointMsRange
concentAlgoExtMsRange < msRangeMax
Note: 34 disable the parameter since condition is always fullfilled.
See also chapters Concentric Cells and DualBand Networks.
concentAlgoIntMsRange Class 3 V9
Description: MS to BTS distance from which a handover from the small zone to the
large zone will be requested
Value range: [1 to 34] km (non-extended mode)
[1 to 120] km (extended mode)
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 34
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: 34
Used in: Concentric cell / dualcoupling cell intracell handovers
Eng. Rules: The calculated distance between the MS and the BTS is based on
timing advance (TA), which has an accuracy of ± 3 bits (corresponding
to more than 1,5 km), thus not very useful in urban areas where the
cell size is relatively small and multipath affect the MS_BS distance.
However this parameter can be useful in rural areas or suburban
areas, and concentAlgoIntMsRange should respect following rules:
concentAlgoIntMsRange > concentAlgoExtMsRange
concentAlgoIntMsRange < msRangeMax
Note: 34 disable the parameter since condition is always fullfilled.
See also chapters Concentric Cells and DualBand Networks.
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concentAlgoExtRxLev Class 3 V9
Description: The level of the MS signal strength above which a handover is
requested from the large zone to the small zone
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: handOverControl
Default value: - 95 to - 94
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: See Engineering Rules
Used in: Direct TCH Allocation
Concentric/DualCoupling/DualBand Cell Handover
Concentric cell / dualcoupling cell intracell handovers
Eng. Rules: The recommended value depends on the network design. Depending
on capacity distribution between inner and outer zone, CPT can be
used to match the RxLev DL number of samples to
concentAlgoExtRxLev, which defines when users interzone handover
from outer to inner zone, i.e. inner zone traffic load.
The following rules shall be respected:
concentAlgoExtRxLev > concentAlgoIntRxLev
concentAlgoExtRxLev ≤ rxLevMinCell + biZonePowerOffset
See also chapters Concentric Cells and DualBand Networks.
concentAlgoIntRxLev Class 3 V9
Description: Level of the MS signal strength below which a handover is requested
from the small zone to the large zone
Value range: [less than -110, -110 to -109, ... , -49 to -48, more than -48] dBm
Object: handOverControl
Default value: less than -110
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: See Engineering Rules
Used in: Concentric/DualCoupling/DualBand Cell Handover
Concentric cell / dualcoupling cell intracell handovers
Eng. Rules: In order to avoid unnecessary ping-pong interzone HO a Hysteresis
Margin should be added:
concentAlgoIntRxLev = concentAlgoExtRxLev - biZonePowerOffset
- Hysteresis Margin
where recommended Hysteresis Margin = 4 dB
See also chapters Concentric Cells and DualBand Networks.
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averagingPeriod Class 2 V7
Description: Number of SACCH multiframes over which the interference levels are
averaged. This averaging will be performed immediately before the
transmission of the RESOURCE INDICATION message.
This attribute, together with the “thresholdInterference” attribute,
allows users to manage interferences in radio cells. Refer to this entry
in the Dictionary.
Value range: [0 to 255] SACCH frame (1 unit = 480 ms on TCH, 470 ms on
SDCCH)
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 20
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 20
Used in: Radio channel allocation
Interference Management (BTS and BSC) (If)
Eng. Rules: Performing this message broadcast has a great impact on the system
load and should not be done too often.
Reducing this value speeds-up the channel allocation algorithm, since
it checks temporary channel interference non frequently. However, the
main purpose of this algorithm is to take into account long term
interference and not short term interference which do not have a
statistically large impact on call quality.
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radChanSelIntThreshold Class 3 V8
Description: Maximum interference level on free radio channels, below which the
channels are ranged in the group of allocation priority channels
The information is used to first allocate the free channels with the
lowest interference level. The levels depend on the
thresholdInterference attribute value defined for the cell. Refer to this
entry in the Dictionary.
The BSC distributes the free radio channels among two groups:
The first group contains the list of channels with a measured
averaged interference level equal to or lower than the defined
level.
The second group contains the list of channels with a measured
averaged interference level higher than the defined level, and
recently released channels for which no measurement is available.
Four resource pools are defined for each SDCCH or TCH type of
channel:
low interference level radio channels that are authorized to hop
low interference level radio channels that are not authorized to hop
high interference level radio channels that are authorized to hop
high interference level radio channels that are not authorized to
hop
Value range: [0 to 4]
Object: handOverControl
Default value: 1
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 3
1 (for 1X1 & 1X3)
Used in: Interference Management (BTS and BSC) (If)
Eng. Rules: A high value for this parameter means a tolerant interference sorting.
It is easier to change the value of this pointer than to tune the
thresholds themselves since the thresholds are used in the lower layer
of signal processing at the BTS.
The radChanSellIntThreshold counter can be set after interference
counters monitoring. Ideally, it should depend on the average traffic
load expected on the cell and on the interference distribution.
With low Traffic per TCH, radChanSellIntThreshold can be set to 1.
This means that the selection of the non interefered channels is very
selective. The few TCH selected are sufficient for the traffic to be
carried. RadChanSellIntThreshold can be decreased to 1 when using
1X1 or 1X3 reuse pattern in order to use as more BCCH resources as
possible.
With high Traffic per TCH, radChanSellIntThreshold can be set to 4.
This means MS will get allocated to a channel regardless of the
interference as long as there are resources available.
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thresholdInterference Class 2 V7
Description: List of four thresholds defined in ascending order, used to sort idle
channels on the basis of measured interference levels
This attribute, together with the averagingPeriod attribute, allows
managing interferences in a radio cell. The classification is used by
the radio resource allocator.
For each idle radio channel, the BTS permanently measures the
signal strength level RXLEV.
When averagingPeriod “Measurement results” messages have been
received, the L1M function in the BTS calculates interference level
averages, sorts the idle channels according to the five defined
interference levels, and sends the information to the BSC.
Level 0 corresponds to: RXLEV < threshold 1
Level 1 corresponds to: threshold 1 < RXLEV < threshold 2
Level 2 corresponds to: threshold 2 < RXLEV < threshold 3
Level 3 corresponds to: threshold 3 < RXLEV < threshold 4
Level 4 corresponds to: threshold 4 < RXLEV
Value range: [-128 to 0] dBm
Object: handOverControl
Default value: -100 -90 -80 -70
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: -114, -112, -108, -100
Used in: Radio channel allocation
Interference Management (BTS and BSC) (If)
Eng. Rules: Those values define 5 interference level ranges, so free channel
classification can be displayed at the OMC-R level. The setting of the
threshold Interference level should be linked to the interference level
distribution in the cell. As a first definition, thresholds can be evenly
distributed over the defined range.
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radResSupBusyTimer Class 3 V8
Description: Maximum time that SDCCH or TCH can be continuously occupied
without generating an alarm
Value range: [1 to 18] hours
Object: bsc
Default value: 3
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 10 or 3 (see Engineering Rules)
Used in:
Eng. Rules: Useful, for example, to see problems of resource deallocation.
10 during busy day for high traffic area
3 for other cases (at night, in rural areas).
radResSupervision Class 3 V8
Description: Indicates whether radio resources are controlled at the cell level (both
busy resources and free resources)
When no control is performed, no alarm related to the use or non–use
of an SDCCH or TCH is generated. Refer to the
radResSupBusyTimer and radResSupFreeTimer parameters.
Value range: [true / false]
Object: bts
Default value: True
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: True
Used in:
Eng. Rules: It is recommended to use this control mainly after a frequency plan
update, to regularly supervise the network.
radResSupFreeTimer Class 3 V8
Description: Maximum time an SDCCH or TCH can be continuously free without
generating an alarm
Value range: [1 to 18] hours
Object: bsc
Default value: 18
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 10 or 3 (see Eng. Rules)
Used in:
Eng. Rules: Useful, for example, to see problems of design at busy hours or if
some channels are jammed.
10 during busy day for high traffic area
3 for other cases (at night, in rural areas).
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bssMapT1 Class 1 V7
Description: A interface timer triggered by the BSC in the BSSMAP management
procedure.
It is started on transmission of BLOCK or UNBLOCK by the BSC and
cancelled on receipt of BLOCK ACKNOWLEDGE or UNBLOCK
ACKNOWLEDGE sent by the MSC.
Value range: [2 to 300] seconds
Object: bsc
Default value: 5
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 5, 60 (if using DMS switch)
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
bssMapT12 Class 1 V7
Description: A interface timer triggered by the BSC in the BSSMAP management
procedure.
This timer is used with a Phase I MSC only. It is started on
transmission of RESET CIRCUIT by the BSC and cancelled on receipt
of RESET CIRCUIT ACKNOWLEDGE sent by the MSC.
Value range: [2 to 300] seconds
Object: bsc
Default value: 5
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 5, 60 (if using DMS switch)
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
bssMapT13 Class 1 V7
Description: An interface timer triggered by the BSC in the BSSMAP management
procedure.
It is started on receipt of RESET sent by the MSC. On elapse, the
BSC sends RESET ACKNOWLEDGE to the MSC.
Value range: [2 to 300] seconds
Object: bsc
Default value: 32
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 32
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
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bssMapT19 Class 1 V8
Description: A interface timer triggered by the BSC in the BSSMAP management
procedure.
This timer is used with a Phase II MSC only. It is started on
transmission of RESET CIRCUIT by the BSC and cancelled on receipt
of RESET CIRCUIT ACKNOWLEDGE sent by the MSC.
Value range: [2 to 300] seconds
Object: bsc
Default value: 32
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 32
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
bssMapT20 Class 1 V8
Description: A interface timer triggered by the BSC in the BSSMAP management
procedure.
It is started on transmission of CIRCUIT GROUP BLOCK or CIRCUIT
GROUP UNBLOCK by the BSC and cancelled on receipt of CIRCUIT
GROUP BLOCK ACKNOWLEDGE or CIRCUIT GROUP UNBLOCK
ACKNOWLEDGE sent by the MSC.
Value range: [2 to 300] seconds
Object: bsc
Default value: 32
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 32
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
bssMapT4 Class 1 V7
Description: A interface timer triggered by the BSC in the BSSMAP management
procedure.
It is started on transmission of RESET and cancelled on receipt of
RESET ACKNOWLEDGE sent by the MSC. On elapse, the BSC
sends RESET.
Value range: [5 to 600] seconds
Object: bsc
Default value: 60
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 60
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
Nortel confidential
bssMapT7 Class 1 V7
Description: A interface timer triggered by the BSC in the BSSMAP management
procedure.
It is started on transmission of HANDOVER REQUIRED and
cancelled on receipt of HANDOVER COMMAND, RESET, RESET
CIRCUIT, CLEAR COMMAND or HANDOVER REQUIRED REJECT.
Value range: [2 to 120] seconds
Object: bsc
Default value: 7
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 7
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
bssMapT8 Class 1 V7
Description: A interface timer triggered by the BSC in the BSSMAP management
procedure.
It is greater than t3103 for each cell managed by the BSC. It is started
on transmission of HANDOVER COMMAND and cancelled on receipt
of CLEAR COMMAND sent by the MSC or HANDOVER FAILURE
sent by MS.
Value range: [0 to 255] seconds
Object: bsc
Default value: 15
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 15
Used in:
Eng. Rules: It is greater than t3103 for each cell managed by the BSC.
bssMapTchoke Class 1 V7
Description: A interface timer triggered by the BSC in the handover management
procedure.
It is started by the BSC when the last neighbour cell in the list is
rejected. On timer elapse, the BSC asks the BTS to provide a new list
of eligible cells.
Value range: [1 to 255] seconds
Object: bsc
Default value: 4
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 4
Used in:
Eng. Rules: It is strongly recommended to keep this value.
Nortel confidential
bssSccpConnEst Class 1 V7
Description: A interface timer triggered by the BSC in the handover management
procedure.
It is set on transmission of CONNECTION REQUEST and cancelled
on receipt of CONNECTION CONFIRM or CONNECTION REFUSED.
Value rang: [5 to 360, by steps of 5] seconds
Object: signallingPoint
Default value: 5
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 5
Used in:
Eng. Rules: A high value is dangerous in case of slowing down on A interface.
Then, the minimum value (5 s) must be chosen for this parameter; it is
strongly recommended not to modify this value.
t3101 Class 3 V7
Description: BSC timer triggered during the immediate assignment procedure. Use
the suggested system value.
It is set on transmission of CHANNEL ACTIVATION by the BSC and
cancelled on receipt of ESTABLISH INDICATION sent by the BTS.
Value range: [1 to 255] seconds
Object: bts
Default value: 3
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 3
Used in:
Eng. Rules: Most of the time, the timer expires in the case of double allocation (i.e,
when two RACHs are sent by the same mobile to the network). The
higher the timer is the longer unnecessary signaling resources are
reserved. Up to 30% of signaling resources are allocated for a second
RACH for phase 1 MS according to numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans (32).
To optimize signaling resources (especially in case of Queuing), it
could be useful to decrease the timer value. The minimum time
between the two messages is 600 ms and the maximum for a lightly
loaded BSS is almost 1.8 seconds when MS is answering.
Nortel confidential
t3103 Class 3 V7
Description: BSC timer triggered during the handover procedure. Use the
suggested system value.
It is set on transmission of HANDOVER COMMAND by the BSC and
cancelled on receipt of either HANDOVER COMPLETE or
HANDOVER FAILURE sent by the MS (intra–bss handover), or
CLEAR COMMAND sent by the MSC (inter–bss handover). At expiry
of T3103, the channel is released.
Value range: [2 to 255] seconds (t3103 < bssMapT8)
Object: bts
Default value: 5 seconds
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 9 seconds
Used in:
Eng. Rules: The longest procedure (inter BSS handover) is taken as an example.
The timer is set on receipt of the HO command and reset on clear
complete. It means that as long as the timer runs, 2 channels are
kept: one on the originating BSC and one on the target BSC. If the
timer is too long, two resources are used which can be a bad in case
of capacity problems.
Tests showed that t3103 set to 9 seconds offers the best compromise
between the execution of the procedure and the hold of ressources.
t3107 Class 3 V7
Description: BSC timer triggered during the assignment command procedure. Use
the suggested system value.
It is set on transmission of ASSIGN COMMAND by the BSC and
cancelled on receipt of either ASSIGN COMPLETE or ASSIGN
FAILURE sent by MS.
Value range: [2 to 255] seconds
Object: bts
Default value: 10 seconds
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 10 seconds in a network without any capacity problems.
If not, the value can be decreased. The minimum theoretical
value is 5 seconds.
Used in:
Eng. Rules: At expiry of the timer, the mobile is assumed to be lost and its
resource can be used by another mobile. Mobile on SDCCH is a
constraining case: the timer T200 leads to a 230 ms wait instead of
180 ms on TCH, before repeating a message. If no message is
repeated, this procedure lasts about 1 second. However, if the radio
link is bad, it is necessary to repeat some messages. The maximum
time before resetting t3107 is approximately 5 seconds: after this time,
the timer will expires: no new message will be received to reset t3107.
The default value of 10 seconds is then a good value to ensure that
the link is not cut too early.
Nortel confidential
t3109 Class 3 V7
Description: BSC timer triggered during the SACCH deactivation procedure. Use
the suggested system value.
It is set on receipt of DEACTIVATE SACCH ACKNOWLEDGE sent by
the BTS and cancelled on receipt of RELEASE INDICATION sent by
the BTS. If the timer expires, a RF CHANNEL RELEASE message is
sent to the BTS and a RF CHANNEL RELEASE ACK is expected.
Mobiles comply with system operating conditions when the counter
(S) associated with SACCH messages is assigned a value below or
equal to t3109.
Value range: [2 to 255] seconds (t3109 ≥ radioLinkTimeout)
Object: bts
Default value: 12 seconds
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 12 seconds (related to radioLinkTimeOut value)
Used in:
Eng. Rules: On receipt of the Deactivate SACCH message, the radio link control
algorithm will lead to a decrease on the value of the
‘radioLinkTimeOut’ timer and this on MS side or on BTS side
according to the situation. t3109 added to t3111 must be greater than
radioLinkTimeOut and greater than the time corresponding to rlf1:
t3109 ≥ radioLinkTimeOut
If t3109 is too small, the ressources could be allocated even if
radiolinkTimeOut did not reach zero yet.
LCAUTION! When AMR is activated that parameter should be set to 17.
t3111 Class 3 V7
Description: BSC timer triggered during the radio resource clearing procedure. Use
the suggested system value.
It is set on receipt of RELEASE INDICATION sent by the BTS. On
elapse, the BSC sends RF CHANNEL RELEASE.
Value range: [1 to 255] seconds
Object: bts
Default value: 2 seconds
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 2 seconds
Used in:
Eng. Rules: This timer is used to delay the channel deactivation after
disconnection of the main signalling link. Its purpose is to allow time
for the possible repetition of the disconnection by the BTS to the MS.
After Release Indication, resources are kept until t3111 expires. In
case of capacity problems, t3111 must be as little as possible. The
smallest possible value is 2 seconds (range 2-255 seconds).The
minimum theoretic value is 5 times the repetition time which is less
than 2 seconds No advantage has been found to have a higher value
than the smallest possible one.
This timer is also used in the formula to compute the preemtion timer :
Tpreempt = Tdeactack + 4* T3111
Nortel confidential
t3122 Class 3 V7
Description: Minimum time that mobiles must wait before issuing a channel
allocation request when an immediate assignment has failed. In a
similar way, in GPRS mode, this value is indicated in the Packet
Access Reject (PAREJ) to inform the MS with the waiting time before
sending a new Channel Request. The timer is called T3172 in GPRS
mode, with T3172 = T3122.
Value range: [0 to 255] seconds
Object: bts
Default value: 10 seconds
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 10 seconds
Used in:
Eng. Rules: This value is broadcast to the mobile stations. When an immediate
assignment reject command is received (when no SDCCH and no
TCH in signalling mode is available or when the A-interface is down),
mobile stations wait t3122 seconds before sending the request again.
In case of BSC Overload, t3122 is automatically increased or
decreased between its value set by O&M and 30s according to a
specific algorithm.
This parameter can be used to solve a problem of a load pick. By
increasing the value, the access to the network is regulated.
timerPeriodicUpdateMS Class 3 V7
Description: Time between two location update requests
Value range: [0 to 255] 1/10th of hour. “0” means that no periodic location update is
requested.
Object: bts
Default value: 60
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 10 (not loaded network)
20 (loaded network)
Used in:
Eng. Rules: Location updatings are performed when initiating a call or when
entering a new location area in idle mode. When those events do not
occur, timerPeriodicUpdateMS is used to ensure a maximum time
between two location update requests. The value of this timer should
be set regarding the value of the same timer used in the switch
(‘attach mobile audit’ for a DMS)
If the value chosen is low, the load of the BSC is severely increased.
On the contrary, a too high value would lead to a smaller reactivity of
the mobile (e.g. if a mobile is in a hole of coverage and a short
message is sent to it, it will be aware of it only at the next location
update which could be several hours later). A good trade-off is 2
hours.
Nortel confidential
delayBetweenRetrans Class 2 V8
Description: Number of occurences of a paging sub–group that separates two
transmissions of the same paging message.
Value range: [0 to 22]
Object: bts
Default value: 0
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 0
Used in: Paging command repetition process (run by BTS) (Pag_rep)
Eng. Rules: The recommended value is 0 because the time between two paging
commands broadcast must not be too long, otherwise there is a risk of
double allocation. This phenomenon occurs when the suscriber
answers and hangs up very quickly. In that case, the mobile is ready
to receive a new paging message, for example the previous one if it is
resent. The value of this parameter is linked to the values of the
nbOfRepeat and retransDuration parameters. Furthermore, the
following inequality, that is not checked by the system, must be true:
retransDuration ≥ (delayBetweenRetrans + 1) x nbOfRepeat
See also chapter GSM Paging Repetition Process Tuning.
maxNumberRetransmission Class 3 V8
Description: Maximum number of RACH burst retransmissions allowed in a call in
case of non-system response. The information is broadcast to the
mobiles at regular intervals on the cell BCCH. It defines the maximum
number of times a mobile can renew access requests to the BTS on
RACH.
Value range: [one / two / four / seven]
Object: bts
Default value: two
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: two in non-interfered areas
four in interfered areas
Used in: Request access command repetition process (RA_rep)
Eng. Rules: In interfered areas, it is necessary to repeat RACHs because of bad
conditions. Even if it increases a little overall noise, the gain in
decreasing the number of RACHs not received should be significant
(under study). In non-interfered areas, the value of ‘two’ is sufficient.
‘one’ is not advised because mobile stations can be in holes of
coverage due to multipath fading and, in these cases, at least one
retransmission is necessary.
See also chapter GSM Paging Repetition Process Tuning.
Nortel confidential
nbOfRepeat Class 2 V8
Description: Maximum number of times that paging messages are repeated to
mobiles that belong to the same paging sub-group
It is set to “3” in former BSS versions (static configuration parameter).
The following inequality, that is not checked by the system, must be
true (refer to these entries in the Dictionary):
retransDuration ≥ (delayBetweenRetrans + 1) x nbOfRepeat
Value range: [0 to 22]
Object: bts
Default value: 3
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: See Engineering Rules
Used in: Paging command repetition process (run by BTS) (Pag_rep)
Eng. Rules: The value of 3 ensures a good quality of service. With less repetition,
paging messages can be lost, and, as the repetitions are performed
systematically, a signicantly higher value would increase the load of
the system and the risk to page a mobile twice. The value of this
parameter is linked to the values of the delayBetweenRetrans and
retransDuration parameters.
That parameter can be tuned regarding the paging parameters and
the TDMA configuration, but very cautiously with some metric
monitoring (see chapter GSM Paging Repetition Process Tuning)
noOfBlocksForAccessGrant Class 2 V7
Description: Number of CCCH blocks not used for paging
A BCCH is combined when it shares the same radio time slot with four
SDCCHs, which can include a CBCH (refer to the channelType entry
in the Dictionary). In that case, the attribute value is no greater than to
2 (the value must be checked by users).
Value range: [0 to 2] if the cell uses a combined BCCH,
[1 to 7] otherwise.
“0” means that PCH blocks are used for sending immediate
assignment messages as and when needed.
Object: bts
Default value: 0
Type: DP, System
Rec. value: 0 if no SMS-CB or SMS-CB with combined BCCH
1 if SMS-CB with non-combined BCCH
> 0 if SI2Quater or/and SI13 on ext BCCH are activated
Used in: Paging command Process (Pag)
Effects of SMS-Cell Broadcast Use on “noOfBlocksForAccessGrant”
SI2Quater & SI13 on Extended or Normal BCCH
Eng. Rules: See also chapter GSM Paging Repetition Process Tuning.
Nortel confidential
noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging Class 2 V7
Description: Number of occurrences of a paging sub–group
The greater this number, the greater the number of paging sub–
groups.
Value range: [2 to 9] multi–frame of fifty-one frames
Object: bts
Default value: 6
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 6 for rural environments
2 or 4 for urban environments
Used in: Paging command Process (Pag)
Eng. Rules: This parameter has an impact on the use of mobile batteries
(determine when an MS needs to listen to paging channels) and on
reselection selectivity. For this operation, frequency of measurements
performed on idle neighbours thanks to the formula: mesurements
done every Max (5 seconds, ((5*nb of idle neighbors + 6) DIV 7) *
noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging /4).
Regarding mobile batteries, a value of 6 is sufficient to have a trade-
off between the saving of energy and effective paging. In rural
environments, the maximum size of reselection list is usually 4/5. 5
seconds is then the maximum in the formula, so it does not slow down
the reselection mechanism. The value of 6 is then advised.
In urban environments, the size of the list is a bit higher. Furthermore,
in this kind of environment, reselection reactivity is a key issue. The
way to avoid having more than 5 seconds in the formula is to
decrease noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging to 2 or 4 even if it
increases battery consumption. Some studies are in progress to
determine the value with more accuracy.
Nortel confidential
numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans Class 3 V7
Description: Number of radio time slots over which RACH transmission access are
spread in a random way to avoid collisions
The information is broadcast to the mobiles at regular intervals on the
cell BCCH. In the event of non-system response, the mobile will
renew the RACH bursts after a randomly defined period that varies
with numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans.
MS Phase 1
The time T between two transmissions of the same RACH burst is the
following:
T= [D + (N+1) x 4.615]ms
D is the maximum system response pending time:
D= 250 ms for BCCH not combined (i.e. 55 time slots)
D= 350 ms for BCCH combined (i.e. 77 time slots)
N is the randomly number generated by the mobile in the range [0
to numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans-1]
4.615 ms is the time occupied by a time slot.
MS Phase 2
The time T between two transmissions of the same RACH burst is the
following (whatever the BCCH is combined or not):
T= 4.615 x [S+(N + 1)] ms where
S is a parameter depending on the BCCH configuration and on the
value of numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans (see table hereafter)
N is the randomly number generated by the mobile in the range [0
to numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans-1]
4.615 ms is the time occupied by a time slot.
S on non-combined S on combined
numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans
BCCH BCCH
3, 8, 14, 50 55 41
4, 9, 16 76 52
5, 10, 20 109 58
6, 11, 25 163 86
7, 12, 32 217 115
Value range: [3 to 12, 14, 16, 20, 25, 32, 50] time slots
Object: bts
Default value: 32
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 32
Used in: Request access command repetition process (RA_rep)
Eng. Rules: From Rec 04.08, numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans has a different meaning
for phase 1 and phase 2 mobiles. For phase 1 mobiles, if the value is
too small, two resources may be allocated to the same mobile (double
allocation). For phase 2 mobiles, it is different. The best trade-off is to
take “32” which is very good for phase 2 mobiles and not too bad for
phase 1 mobiles.
The choice will depend on the quantities of GSM phase 1 and GSM
phase 2 mobiles.
Nortel confidential
pagingOnCell Class 3 V9
Description: Enable or disable paging requests in a cell
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object: bts
Default value: enabled
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: enabled but can be disabled on special occasions (see
Engineering Rules)
Used in: PCH and RACH channel control
Eng. Rules: When pagingOnCell is set to disabled, the BSC does not send any
PAGING_COMMAND to the cell. This feature is used when operators
want to forbid mobile terminated call set-up in specific cells. It can be
useful during special events or in places like cinemas, theaters...
retransDuration Class 2 V8
Description: Maximum number of occurrences of a same paging sub-group that
separates the first and the last transmissions of the same paging
message.
Value range: [0 to 22]
Object: bts
Default value: 10
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 10
Used in: Paging command repetition process (run by BTS) (Pag_rep)
Eng. Rules: If many paging commands must be broadcast, repetitions of old
paging messages are delayed because fresh paging has a higher
priority. Therefore, repetitions could be so delayed that it leads to
double paging. By setting this parameter to an accurate value
retransDuration , the risk of sending very old paging messages is
limited. Anyway, the value of this parameter is linked to the ones of
nbOfRepeat and retransDuration. Furthermore, the following
inequality, that is not checked by the system, must be true:
retransDuration ≥ (delayBetweenRetrans + 1) x nbOfRepeat
Nortel confidential
bscHopReconfUse Class 1 V8
Description: Whether frequency hopping reconfiguration is authorized in BTSs that
use cavity coupling
When frequency reconfiguration is authorized, it allows to
automatically reconfigure the hopping sequence whenever a
frequency is lost or recovered in the BTS.
This parameter is only useful if there is at least one BTS with cavity
coupling in the BSS. Otherwise its effect is neutral regardless of the
value.
Value range: [true / false]
Object: bsc
Default value: true
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: true for a BSC that manages at least one BTS using cavity
coupling
The value (true or false) is indifferent for a BSC that manages
only BTS with hybrid coupling
Used in: Reconfiguration procedure
Eng. Rules: If the value is ‘True’ then the value of btsHopReconfRestart (bts
object) must be true in case of cavity coupling in the BTS.
However, when enabling frequency hopping, it is advised to use
hybrid coupling and synthesized frequency hopping.
In order to facilitate the further use of frequency hopping in the
network, the parameter bscHopReconfUse can be set to “True”,
even if frequency hopping is not used yet.
btsHopReconfRestart Class 2 V8
Description: Whether hopping frequency reconfiguration is authorized on TX
restarts in a cell
Value range: [true / false]
Object: bts
Default value: true
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: true (for a BTS using cavity coupling)
false (for a BTS using hybrid coupling)
Used in: Reconfiguration procedure
Eng. Rules: If the value is ‘True’ then the value of bscHopReconfUse must be true.
However, when enabling frequency hopping, it is advised to use
hybrid coupling and synthesized frequency hopping.
With cavity coupling, in order to facilitate the further use of
frequency hopping in the network, the parameter
btsHopReconfRestart can be set to “True”, even if frequency
hopping is not used yet.
Nortel confidential
btsIsHopping Class 2 V7
Description: Whether frequency hopping is allowed in a cell
Value range: [hopping / noHopping / hoppingWithCarrierFilling /
noHoppingWithCarrierFilling]
Object: bts
Default value: Hopping
Type: DP, Design
Rec. value: Hopping
Used in: Frequency Hopping
Eng. Rules: The two main advantages of using Frequency Hopping are interferer
and frequency diversities. Enabling frequency hopping allows to adapt
and maximize the frequency reuse efficiency by maximizing the
capacity in terms of offered Erlang/MHz/km². Moreover, enabling
frequency hopping makes easier the task of frequency planning and
TRXs addition. Although when using DTX there is a few number of
RxQual measurements, there is no need to disable handovers on
quality criteria, as no degradation was observed.
LCAUTION! When TRX are hopping, it is highly recommended to modify some
TDMA configuration. Channel SDCCH must be set on time slot 1 of
the concerned TDMA. Moreover this modification can be introduced
before enabling frequency hopping.
LCAUTION! It is also recommended not to use Power Control with Frequency
Hopping in case of cavity couplers. Indeed, with cavity couplers, the
BCCH frequency can be part of the Mobile Allocation List (that is not
possible in case of Hybrid couplers) and then the gap between the
emitted power of two adjacent bursts could be at its maximum.
Remark: Except this particular case (cavity coupler + FH + PWC) there is no
restriction in combining Frequency hopping with Power Control.
btsThresholdHopReconf Class 2 V8
Description: Minimum number of frequencies that must be working in a cell to allow
frequency hopping reconfiguration. If this attribute defines the nominal
number of cell frequencies, the reconfiguration process is deactivated.
Refer to the btsHopReconfRestart parameter.
Value range: [1 to 64]
Object: bts
Default value: 1
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 1
Used in: Reconfiguration procedure
Eng. Rules: This parameter is checked before reconfiguration is started, for cavity
coupling. If there are less remaining frequencies than the value of this
parameter, the cell is deconfigured. The minimum value (1) allows a
cell to be reconfigured even if there is only one frequency still
available.
Nortel confidential
cellAllocation Class 2 V7
Description: List of no more than 64 frequencies allocated to a cell in the network
frequency band.
Normally, the maximum number of frequencies that can be set up with
this parameter is 64 per frequency band. However, due to SI13 size
constraints, when GPRS or EDGE is activated in the cell and there is
at least one hopping data TDMA, the limitation becomes a maximum
of 55 frequencies (in V15.0 and V15.0.1) ,52 frequencies (in V15.1
and V15.1.1), 49 frequencies (from V16).
By definition, all cells covered by a given radio site use the same
frequency band defined by the type of the network (standardIndicator).
All cells declared as neighbor cells of a serving cell use the same
frequency band as the serving cell.
Value range: [1 to 124] (GSM 900 network),
[975 to 1023] & [0 to 124] (E-GSM network),
[955 to 1023] & [0 to 124] (GSM-R network),
[512 to 885] (GSM 1800 network),
[512 to 810] (GSM 1900 network)
[128 to 251] (GSM 850 network)
Object: bts
Default value:
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in:
Eng. Rules: This list must include all the frequencies used by TRX of the cell, even
the BCCH frequency and shall respect following rules:
With cavity couplers, two (2) consecutive frequencies must be
spaced of at least 600 kHz in order to avoid interference
With hybrid couplers, considering UL power control activated:
in case of intra cell and intrasite configuration Nortel recommends
400kHz frequency spacing between TRX with or without frequency
hopping.
in case of intersite configuration, 200kHz frequency spacing are
necessary between TRX with or without frequency hopping.
These frequency spacings (400kHz in intrasite and intracell, 200kHz
in intersite) guarantee a minimum of 12dB in C/I. This can provide
certain quality of service. With particular applications (e.g. EDGE), an
upper frequency spacing is needed (600kHz for EDGE).
It is recommended to declare only 1 hopping frequency list by band
(the use of the frequency band is optimal with all hopping
frequencies in the same list and it is much easier for OAM).
If at least one of the cell allocation ARFCN is in the range [975;
1023] & [0], the BCCH should be in that range also (this monoband
EGSM cell does not support monoband PGSM MS nor dualband
PGSM/DCS1800 MS), else BCCH should be a PGSM one.
Nortel confidential
fhsRef Class 2 V7
Description: Identifier of the frequencyHoppingSystem object that defines the
frequency hopping management parameters for the radio time slot
Setting this attribute and the maio attribute allows the time slot to obey
frequency hopping laws.
Value range: [0 to 63]
Object: channel
Default value:
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in:
Eng. Rules: It is advised to use only one (1) fhsRef per cell (when the Mobile
Allocation is the same for all its TRX), because it is time saving for
creation at the OMC.
Nortel confidential
hoppingSequenceNumber Class 2 V7
Description: Hopping sequence number used by a radio time slot which obeys
frequency hopping laws.
Select different HSNs for nearby cells that use the same set of
frequencies.
Value range: [0 to 63]
Object: frequencyHoppingSystem
Default value:
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in: Synthesised frequency hopping
Eng. Rules: In case of synthesized frequency hopping, whatever the fractional
reuse pattern for TCH, using a unique HSN per site allows to avoid
frequency collisions. However, it leads to a specific MAIO plan, more
restricting than with the use of different HSN in cells (needs more
frequencies). Indeed, the frequency load would be higher with
different HSN. But it is possible to reach the maximum fractional load
(value limited by RF constraints to 16,6 % for 1X1 pattern and 50 %
for 1X3 pattern in case of no intra-site collision). When intra-site
collision is allowed, field experience has shown that with an
appropriate tuning of the parameters, 1X1 can go up to 20% fractional
load and 1X3 up to 58% while keeping a very good quality for the
offered capacity.) with a unique HSN per site and then systematically
avoiding frequency adjacencies.
See also chapter General Rules For Synthesised Frequency Hopping
maio Class 2 V7
Description: Index in the list of frequencies allotted to a radio time slot, which
obeys frequency hopping laws.
Setting this attribute, together with the fhsRef attribute, allows the time
slot to obey frequency hopping laws.
Value range: [0 to N-1] N is the number of frequencies allotted to the time slot.
Object: channel
Default value:
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in: Synthesised frequency hopping
Eng. Rules: The MAIO must be different for each TRX within a cell in order to
avoid frequency collision. If the Mobile Allocation contains adjacent
frequencies, the difference between two TRX MAIO within a cell must
be greater or equal than two (2).
However, for a 1X3 pattern, it is possible to use the same MAIO
sequence in all cells of a same site. Moreover, for such a pattern, if
each list of MA frequencies does not contain adjacent frequencies,
adjacent MAIO can be used.
For a 1X1 pattern, different MAIO for each TRX must be used and no
adjacent MAIO if there are adjacent frequencies in the MA list.
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mobileAllocation Class 2 V7
Description: List of frequencies allocated in the network frequency band to a radio
time slot which obeys frequency hopping laws.
Normally, the maximum number of frequencies that can be set up with
this parameter is 63 i.e. 64 – BCCH frequency. However, due to SI13
size constraints, when GPRS or EDGE is activated in the cell and
there is at least one hopping data TDMA (carrying at least one
PDTCH), the limitation becomes a maximum of 55 – n frequencies (for
V15.0 and V15.0.1) or 52 – n frequencies (for V15.1 and V15.1.1),or
49 – n frequencies (from V16) where n is the number of non-hopping
frequencies in the cell.
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trafficPCMAllocationPriority Class 2 V9
Description: Allocation priority of a TDMA frame on the covering site PCMs
This attribute is used in case of Abis PCM reconfiguration.
Value range: [0 to 255]
Object: transceiver
Default value:
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 255 for the TDMA supporting the BCCH
0 for the others
Used in:
Eng. Rules: see chapter SDCCH Dimensioning and TDMA priorities.
zoneFrequencyHopping Class 2 V9
Description: Whether frequency hopping is authorised in the zone.
If frequency hopping is not allowed in a zone, a channel objects that
describe the radio time slots of the TDMA frames used in the zone
cannot be allowed to hop.
Value range: [hopping / not hopping]
Object: transceiverZone
Default value: not hopping
Type: DP
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in:
Eng. Rules: In case of a dualband cell and if PDTCHs are configured on the inner
zone, that parameter must be set to “not hopping” on the
transceiverZone corresponding to the inner zone.
In any other case that parameter must be set to “hopping”.
zoneFrequencyThreshold Class 2 V9
Description: Minimum number of frequencies needed to allow frequency
reconfiguration in the zone.
Value range: [1 to 64]
Object: transceiverZone
Default value: 1
Type: DP
Rec. value: TBD
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
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processorLoadSupConf Class 3 V8
Description: Threshold used in the load control algorithm by the BSC
Value range: [0] The only accepted value is 0 (outOfRangeError).
Object: bsc
Default value: 0
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: 0
Used in: Mechanism up to V11
Mechanism defined from V12
Eng. Rules: This parameter was used before V12 release only to control the load
on the BSC CPU boards.
LCAUTION! This parameter is valid for BSC12000 only.
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Eng. Rules: For values indicating the one (1), two (2) or three (3) strongest cells
out band, the multiband MS respectively reports the one, two or three
strongest allowed cells outside the current frequency band. The
remaining space in the report (at least 5, 4 or 3 cells) is used to give
information about cells in the current frequency band. If there are still
some remaining positions, they are used to report cells outside the
current frequency band.
When the operator wants to privilege one of the frequency band, it is
advised to report two (2) cells outside the current frequency band, for
cells in the privileged frequency band. Then, neighbour cells in the
priority frequency band will be privileged.
Actually, if multibandReporting is set to “1”, the risk is to report five (5)
priority frequency band neighbour cells with a bad quality or signal
strength (near priority frequency band boundaries for example) and
one (1) good neighbour cell in the low priority frequency band, but
under congestion. Thus the MS will not make a handover toward a
good neighbour cell and the quality of service may be impacted.
For cells outside the privileged frequency band, it is advised to report
three (3) cells outside the current frequency band. Thus, it ensures the
report of all (if less than 3) or at least three (3) neighours in the priority
frequency band.
In case no frequency band is preferred, the report of the “the six
strongest cells” allows to make a handover toward the best neighbour
cell, whatever the current cell is.
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Eng. Rules: The standard indicator must have the same value in
adjacentCellHandover or adjacentCellReselection objects and in the
associated neighbour bts object
Refer to the standardIndicator parameter engineering rules to get
more information about neighbours management.
LCAUTION! “gsmdcs” and “dcsgsm” are only available for S8000 DRX transceiver
architecture.
“eGSM” is only available for S8000 CBCF transceiver architecture.
bCCHFrequency Class 3 V7
Description: Radio frequency allocated to a neighbour cell BCCH in the network
frequency band.
The information is broadcast on the serving cell SACCH.
Value range: [1 to 124] (GSM 900 network),
[512 to 885] (DCS 1800 network),
[512 to 810] (PCS 1900 network),
[955 to 1023] & [0 to 124] (R–GSM network),
[975 to 1023] & [0 to 124] (E–GSM network),
[128 to 251] (GSM 850 network).
Object: adjacentCellHandOver
Type: DP
Rec. value:
Used in:
Eng. Rules:
bCCHFrequency Class 3 V7
Description: Radio frequency used for selection and reselection management. The
information is broadcast on the serving cell BCCH.
Value range: [1 to 124] (GSM 900 network ),
[512 to 885] (DCS 1800 network),
[512 to 810] (PCS 1900 network),
[955 to 1023] & [0 to 124] (R–GSM network),
[975 to 1023] & [0 to 124] (E–GSM network).
[128 to 251] (GSM 850 network)
Object: adjacentCellReselection
Type: DP
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Rec. value:
Used in: Directed Retry Handover: BSC (or local) mode
Eng. Rules:
Note: An adjacentCellReselection object can use the same BCCH as the
serving cell to which it is associated. This allows a mobile to
immediately recover the cell on which it was “camping” after being
switched off, then switched back on, and is especially useful in the
selection process.
bCCHFrequency Class 2 V7
Description: Radio frequency allocated to a cell BCCH (Broadcast Control
CHannel) in the network frequency band.
The information is broadcast on the cell SACCH.
The BCCH frequency is automatically assigned to the radio time slot
carrying the cell BCCH when the cell is brought into service
(absoluteRFChannelNo attribute of the channel object describing the
carrier TDMA frame TS0). It is broadcast to the radio time slot
whenever modified.
The BCCH is used by the BTS for broadcasting cell related system
information to MS, such as frequency band and list of frequency
channels used, authorized services and access conditions, list of
neighbour cells, and radio parameters (maximum transmission
strength, minimum reception strength, etc).
Value range: [1 to 124] (GSM 900 network ),
[512 to 885] (DCS 1800 network),
[512 to 810] (PCS 1900 network),
[955 to 1023] & [0 to 124] (R–GSM network),
[975 to 1023] & [0 to 124] (E–GSM network).
[128 to 251] (GSM 850 network)
Object: bts
Type: DP
Rec. value:
Used in:
Eng. Rules: If at least one of the cell allocation ARFCN is in the range [975; 1023]
& [0], the BCCH should be in that range also (this monoband EGSM
cell does not support monoband PGSM MS nor dualband
PGSM/DCS1800 MS), else BCCH should be a PGSM one.
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The GSM 1800 frequency band is 2*75 MHz wide and includes 374
pairs of carrier frequencies, numbered [512 to 885], which are 200
kHz apart:
Uplink direction (MS–to–BTS) = 1710 to 1785 MHz
f1 = 1710k2 + 0.2x(N – 512) MHz where N = [512 to 885]
Downlink direction (BTS–to–MS) = 1805 to 1880 MHz
f2 = f1 + 95 MHz
Sys-infos management:
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Note (1): In that case, the number of frequencies in the frequency list
is limited due to their large range.
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cellDtxDownLink Class 3 V7
Description: Whether the use of discontinuous transmission in BTS–to–MS
direction is allowed in a cell
Value range: [enabled / disabled]
Object: bts
Default value: enabled
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in: Downlink DTX
Eng. Rules: DTXDownLink is particularly interesting in case of low interfered
networks with fractional reuse patterns for frequency plan. In this
case, it is recommended to uses a reactive configuration with a short
delay between HO decision (runHandover=1) and with short average
windows (Hreqt = 1, HreqAve = 4). Ho margins can also be lowered.
LCAUTION! Using this feature may create a more sensitivity to bad values (fading,
frequencies collision). Activation of DTXDownlink when DTX is
already used leads to a diminution in the precision of the
measurement on the cell, on quality and on level.
dtxMode Class 3 V7
Description: MS control of the discontinuous transmission mechanism in a cell
Discontinuous transmission is designed to lessen MS battery
consumption and diminish interference by breaking off the
transmission when no data or speech are being transmitted.
Value range: [FRmsmayuseDTX / HRmsshallnotuseDTX, FRmsshalluseDTX /
HRmsshallnotuseDTX, FRmsmayuseDTX / HrmsmayuseDTX,
FRmsshallnotuseDTX / HRmsshallnotuseDTX, FRmsshalluseDTX /
HrmsshalluseDTX, FRmsshallnotuseDTX / HRmsshalluseDTX]
Object: bts
Default value: msMayUseDtx
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: msShallUseDtx
Used in: Uplink DTX
Eng. Rules:
LCAUTION! When AMR is activated that parameter should be set to
FRmsshalluseDTX / HRmsshalluseDTX
See also chapter Impact of DTX on Averaging
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5.29. MISCELLANEOUS
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siteGsmFctList Class 2 V7
Description: List of up to 14 elements that identify the GSM functions configured in
a site BCF
Value range: [entityMgt / download / siteMgt / abisSig / abisTraf / rfTrans / rfRecep /
cellMgt / fhMgt / tdmaMgt / tsMgt / gsmTime / car0Fil / freqMgt]
Object: btsSiteManager
Default value: site Mgt/abisSig
Type: DP, Optimization
Rec. value: [entityMgt / download / siteMgt / abisSig / abisTraf / rfTrans /
cellMgt / fhMgt / tdmaMgt / tsMgt]
Used in:
Eng. Rules: It is always useless to put the elements “rfRecep”, “gsmTime” and
“car0Fill” in the list because these functions are not yet implemented.
The function “freqMgt” must be included in the list only when using
cavity coupling.
It is advised to put the function “fhMgt” even if frequency hopping is
not used in the network, in order to avoid a class 2 parameter change
when introducing this feature.
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diversity Class 2 V7
Description: Activation parameter of Receive diversity in a cell. This parameter is
used to control the activation of receive diversity and the choice of the
diversity uplink signal processing algorithm.
Value range: before v17.0 : “enabled”/”disabled”
In v17.0 and after : “enabled”/”disabled”/”enhancedDiversity”
Object: bts
Default value: enabled
Type: DP
Rec. value: see Eng. rules
Used in: Joint Diversity (v17) and Interference Cancellation. Note that Joint
Diversity is useful specifically for EDGE, not for speech services.
Please refer to aPUG document ([A1])
Eng. Rules: To activate the interference cancellation feature, diversity must be
activated.
1/ Before v17.0 :
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enhancedTRAUFrameIndication V12
Description: before V17 : Whether the BTS uses the Enhanced TRAU Frame
(ETF) for TCU
After V17 : This parameter is no longer useful in V17 as the feature
PCM Error Correction is no longer supported
Value range: [notAvailable / available / active]
Object: bsc
Default value: n/a
Type: DI, Optimization
Rec. value: n/a
Used in: PCM Error Correction
Eng. Rules: The PCM Error Correction is no longer supported as of BSS V17
release. This parameter is no longer useful and the OMC-R V17
automatically forces its value to “notAvailable”.
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BTS OBJECT
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TRANSCODER OBJECT
Type: DP
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in: Channel allocation (AMR)
Cellular Telephone Text Modem (TTY)
Eng. Rules: Used for the AMR, TTY activation at the TCU level (downlink and
uplink amplification level and use to define the minimum of AMR
communications on the TCU level).
Each coded has to be present only if is is activated by the operator,
FR is mandatory.
During normal operation, it dynamically reallocates the resources
between the TRMs to meet traffic demand. For the EFR and FR
codecs, the archipelago capacity is 72, i.e. 216 circuits per TRM. For
the AMR codec, the archipelago capacity is 60, i.e.180 circuits per
TRM. For the EFR+TTY codec, the archipelago capacity is 48, i.e. 144
circuits per TRM.
The customer can set for each enabled vocoder type (FR, EFR, AMR)
a warrantied minimum number of communications. This field is called
minimumCalls and is used for the initial distribution.
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Examples:
For E1 network with 20% FR, 40% EFR and 40% AMR setting could
be:
FullRateCoder, minimumCalls = 4, powerUL = 0, powerDL = 0
EnhancedFullRateCoder, minimumCalls = 8, powerUL = 0,
powerDL = 0
amrFullHalfRateCoder, minimumCalls = 8, powerUL = 0,
powerDL = 0
Remark: Whatever is the repartition between the codecs, the two parameters
powerUL and powerDL should always be set to “0“.
LCAUTION! All TCUe3 releases below V16.0, if the transmission network uses the
T1 PCM, TTY is activated by default. For any TCUe3 upgrade from
V14/V15 to release V16.0, TTY must be explicitly set at MMI on
G3Trans object via the coderPoolConfiguration field.
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TRANSCEIVER OBJECT
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Since the introduction of the ML0, there is a treshold preventing from doing Power Control
below a defined level when using AMR power control (refer to the amrReserved2 parameter).
The two parameters lRxLevDLP and lRxlevULP setting that threshold are defined in chapter
Power Control Parameters.
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HANDOVER OBJECT
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This parameter is directly linked to AMR adaptation set and the C/I
threshold. Intercell codec target, which directly applies on a C/I target,
has to be aligned to C/I relation with RxQual. CPT could be used.
C/I associated to HO intercell codec target should be between 7dB
and 14 dB depending on radio environment
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Eng. Rules: The target codec mode has to be less restrictive than the one for
intercell handover otherwise intracell handover will not be possible
most of the time. In case same intercell and intracell codec target is
chosen, intercell has the priority.
amrHRIntercellCodecMThresh<AMRHRtoFRIntracellCodecMThresh
If the operator’s strategy is to increase capacity versus quality, low
values for AMRHRtoFRIntracellCodecModeThreshold can be chosen
to delay a come back on a FR channel.
Change of AMR adaptation set could also be used for HR penetration
increase (see chapter Half Rate Maximization Analysis)
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Object: handoverControl
Default value: 0
Type: DP
Rec. value: see Engineering Rules
Used in: AMR Legacy L1M
Eng. Rules:
AMR alarm handovers AMR PowerControl
amrReserved2
based on algorithm based on
0 CMR/CMC [(n,p) voting] CMR/CMC
1 RxQual CMR/CMC
2 CMR/CMC [(n,p) voting] RxQual
3 RxQual RxQual
LCAUTION! A mix between AMR L1m for Power Control and Legacy L1m for AMR
alarm HO is recommended at this stage (amrReserved2 = 1); however
AMR activation with full AMR algorithms on HO management and
Power Control has shown good performances.
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ADJACENTCELLHANDOVER
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Eng. Rules:
Eng. Rules:
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Eng. Rules:
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Object: transceiver
Default value: high priority
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baseColourCode Class 2 V7
Description: Base station Color Code assigned to a serving cell. It is broadcast on
the cell SCH and is used to distinguish cells that share the same
BCCH frequency.
The (BCC, NCC) pair forms the cell BSIC.
The information is broadcast on the cell SCH.
Several BCCs may be assigned to a same BTS. Hence, different
codes can be allotted to cells that may have overlapping areas
(adjacent cells).
The Base Station Identity Code (BSIC) is a 6–bit code: bits 6-5-4 =
NCC (PLMN color code), bits 3-2-1 = BCC (Base station color code).
At cell level, the NCC bits can be used to increase BCC color
possibilities when the NCC is not needed.
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The feature must be activated first at Core Network level and then at
BSS level.
The bscDataConfig must be modified to take the value of
gprsNetworkModeOperation into account. (see [R36] for details)
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cypherModeReject Class 1 V8
Description: Whether the CIPHER MODE REJECT messages are used (Phase II
compliance).
Value range: true/false
Object: signallingPoint
Default value: false
Type: DP
Rec. value: true
Used in: A5/3 Encryption algorithm (V17)
Eng. Rules: This parameter must be set to true for the ciphering procedures to
operate correctly between the BSS and the NSS
encrypAlgoAssComp Class 1 V8
Description: Whether the "Chosen encryption algorithm" element is used in the
ASSIGN COMPLETE messages (Phase II compliance).
Value range: true/false
Object: signallingPoint
Default value: false
Type: DP
Rec. value: true
Used in: A5/3 Encryption algorithm (V17)
Eng. Rules: This parameter must be set to true for the ciphering procedures to
operate correctly between the BSS and the NSS
encrypAlgoCiphModComp Class 1 V8
Description: Whether the "Chosen encryption algorithm" element is used in the
CIPHER MODE COMPLETE messages (Phase II compliance).
Value range: true/false
Object: signallingPoint
Default value: false
Type: DP
Rec. value: true
Used in: A5/3 Encryption algorithm (V17)
Eng. Rules: This parameter must be set to true for the ciphering procedures to
operate correctly between the BSS and the NSS
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encrypAlgoHoPerf Class 1 V8
Description: Whether the "Chosen encryption algorithm" element is used in the
HANDOVER PERFORMED messages (Phase II compliance).
Value range: true/false
Object: signallingPoint
Default value: false
Type: DP
Rec. value: true
Used in: A5/3 Encryption algorithm (V17)
Eng. Rules: This parameter must be set to true for the ciphering procedures to
operate correctly between the BSS and the NSS
encrypAlgoHoReq Class 1 V8
Description: Whether the "Chosen encryption algorithm" element is used in the
HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE messages (Phase II
compliance).
Value range: true/false
Object: signallingPoint
Default value: false
Type: DP
Rec. value: true
Used in: A5/3 Encryption algorithm (V17)
Eng. Rules: This parameter must be set to true for the ciphering procedures to
operate correctly between the BSS and the NSS
encryptionAlgorSupported Class 3 V8
Description: Type of ciphering capability supported by the BTSs of a BSS. When
no ciphering capability is supported, users’ calls are not encrypted by
the BSS over the air interface.
Value range: [none, gsmEncryptionV1, gsmEncryptionV3FallbackNoEncryption,
gsmEncryptionV3FallbackV1]
Object: bsc
Default value: none
Type: DP
Rec. value: see Eng. Rules
Used in: A5/3 Encryption algorithm (V17)
Eng. Rules: The setting of this parameter depends on the level of data integrity
and security required by the network operator. A5/3 is more powerful
than A5/1 but may slightly impact Call setup time and handover
duration.
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Notes: 1/This parameter’s class has been modified from class 0 to class 3 in
v17.0.
2/This parameter’s range has been modified from [none /
gsmEncryptionV1 / gsmEncryptionV2] to [none, gsmEncryptionV1,
gsmEncryptionV3FallbackNoEncryption,
gsmEncryptionV3FallbackV1] in v17.0.
3/A5/2 must no longer be used in any network, as of December 2006.
layer3MsgCyphModeComp Class 1 V8
Description: Whether the "Layer 3 message" element is used in the CIPHER
MODE COMPLETE messages (Phase II compliance).
Value range: true/false
Object: signallingPoint
Default value: false
Type: DP
Rec. value: true
Used in: A5/3 Encryption algorithm (V17)
Eng. Rules: This parameter must be set to true for the ciphering procedures to
operate correctly between the BSS and the NSS
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6. ENGINEERING ISSUES
THEN GPRS preemption mechanism is reserved for priority 0 TCH allocation requests
This behaviour is normal and comes from the definition of allocPriorityThreshold and the
allocation strategy that allocates in priority free TCH.
On the contrary:
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The table below proposes a setting of GSM/GPRS TS dynamic sharing with priority handling
with or without reestablishment (MinNbOfGprsTs is only indicative). With reestablishment, two
sets of values are sometimes proposed, one of them for less GPRS capacity.
Number of shared
Number of TRX allocPriorityThreshold minNbOfGprsTs
PDTCH
1 TRX with or without reestablishment 1 1 0
2 TRX with or without reestablishment 2 1 1
3 TRX without reestablishment 2 2 2
2 2 1
3 TRX with reestablishment
3 2 2
4 TRX without reestablishemnt 2 2 2
2 2 1
4TRX with reestablishment
3 2 2
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• Gprspreemption is set to no
• MinNbGprsTS is set to 0
It means that all PDTCH configurated are shared by GSM and GPRS and thePCU is not
allowed to NACK the preemption requested by the BSC.Impact on queuing, impact on
preemption depending on allocPriorityThreshold value.
• GprsPreemption set to no
• minNumberGprsTs> 0
IMPACT ON QUEUING.
Minimum resources are guaranteed to GPRS and all the other resources can be used by GSM
calls if needed since the PCU can never NACK a preemption. It might be interesting to
activate HO traffic so as to enable a spatial repartition of traffic on overlapping cells (with
protection against HO ping pong): this spatial repartition of traffic will save PDTCH channels
for GPRS traffic and guarantee a constant availability of preemptable PDTCH.
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• Measurement processing
• Rescaling
• Capture process
• Neighbouring cell management
• Power Control Algorithm
MEASUREMENT PROCESSING
The measurement processing ensures that the network and mobiles communicate with each
other with the minimum interference, at the lowest possible transmission power and the best
transmission quality. With the L1mV2:
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RESCALING
RxLevel (UL & DL) measurement are rescaled in order to take into account the difference
between the reference Power and the real transmitted Power
CAPTURE PROCESS
Before L1mV2, the capture was launched only on the best microcell reported by the mobile,
and then the algorithm waited for the failure of the confirmation process before starting
another capture on the second best cell.
With L1mV2, this sub-feature launches in parallel the confirmation process for all the
microcells which verify the capture threshold providing a better reactivity of the system. If a
confirmation fails for a cell, the capture can be performed rapidly towards another cell
satisfying the criterion, increasing the probability to capture a microcell in a dense area.
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For the neighbouring cells monitoring and measurements, the mobile Measurement Report
contains received level from the 6 best neighbouring cells RXLEV_NCELL(n) and associated
BSICs + frequencies. The new L1m the Neighbouring cell management feature brings two
enhancements on the cellDeletionCount parameter and on the update of the neighbouring
informations.
CELLDELETIONCOUNT
The parameter cellDeletionCount is considered as a pure eligibility criterion. With L1mV1, the
neighbour cell information was discarded if the number of consecutive measurement reports
which does not contain measurements for this neighbouring cell was equal to
cellDeletionCount.
With L1mV2, the CellDeletionCount corresponds to the number of missing measurements
reports after which the neighbour cell is not eligible for a PBGT handover. But the
measurements related to this neighbour cell are not deleted as far as less than 10 consecutive
measurements (i.e. 5 seconds) are missing. That always allows a rescue handover after the
CellDeletionCount
Example: CellDeletionCount = 5
Rn measurement report n of a neighboring cell C by the MS
Rn+6 Nb_of_Missing = 6
Rn+7 Nb_of_Missing = 7
Rn+8 Nb_of_Missing = 8
Rn+9 Nb_of_Missing = 9
Rn+10 Nb_of_Missing = 10
this cell is no more candidate whatever the HO type, measurement reports for this cell are
deleted from the L1M.
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RF power control is used to minimize the transmit power required by the MS or BTS while
maintaining the quality of the radio links.
With the new version of L1m, the “step by step” power control algorithm is defined as “path
loss compensation” algorithm, with the introduction of a limitation based on the one shot
computation when there is a need to re-compute the attenuation (high level and good quality)
When Signal strength is bad (high path loss) or the quality is poor:
with SAveRxLev is the weighted averages, there is no difference between L1mV2 and L1mV1.
Both compute a new attenuation request:
L1mV1 always decrease the Tx power with the reduce step size set at the OMCR while
L1mV2 compute a new transmission power with total path loss compensation (increase or
decrease). The new increase (or reduce) step size is not necessarily the same as the one set
at the OMCR but it can not be higher than IncrStepSizeXX (or RedStepSizeXX)
Main Step for the new Tx power computed by L1mV2:
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Case1:
Case2:
Case3:
Note: The ordered attenuation request is always in the range [0, AttMaxdB], and with L1mV1
the SAveRxLev is the rescaled RxLev at last power command.
ordered attenuation
CurrentAttRequest
NewMsAttRequest
CurrentMsPower
NewMsTx Power
MsTxPowerMax
Rxlev rough
RxLevUL
Step
Stable Rxlev at Pmax = -87
1 30 26 4 -91 -87 10 0 8 8 22
2 30 22 8 -95 -87 10 4 12 10 20
3 30 20 10 -97 -87 10 6 14 10 20
Path loss of 3 dB Rxlev at Pmax =-90
4 30 20 10 -100 -90 7 6 14 7 23
5 30 23 7 -97 -90 7 3 11 7 23
6 30 23 7 -97 -90 7 3 11 7 23
Path gain of 4 dB Rxlev at Pmax =-86
7 30 23 7 -93 -86 11 3 11 11 19
8 30 19 11 -97 -86 11 7 15 11 19
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CurrentAttRequest
CurrentMsPower
NewMsTx Power
MsTxPowerMax
Rxlev rough
Step
1 30 26 4 -91 22
2 30 22 NOP -95 22
3 30 22 NOP -95 22
Path loss of 3 dB
4 30 22 4 -98 26
5 30 26 NOP -94 26
6 30 26 NOP -94 26
Path gain of 4 dB
7 30 26 4 -90 22
8 30 22 NOP -94 22
Here the NewMsTxPower computed by L1mV1 is often higher than the MsTxPower computed
with the new version. So L1mV2 gains in efficiency.
04
02
00
-1 6
1
8
6
2
0
6
4
8
6
4
2
0
2
0
-9
-9
-8
-8
-7
-7
-1
-1
-1
-1
-9
-9
-9
-8
-8
-8
-7
-7
-92
-94
-97 and -92dBm
-96
RxLev resul
-98
-100 Target R xLev V1
Medium Target RxLev V1
-102
Target R xLev V2
-104
-106
-108
-110
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The figures below summarize the command for (UL or DL) transmission power according to
Rxlev and RxQual.
L1MV1
RxQual
Increase Tx Power
lRxQual
No new command for MS
(or BS) transmission power
uRxQual
Decrease
Tx Power
L1MV2
RxQual
Increase Tx Power
lRxQual
No new command for MS
(or BS) transmission power
uRxQual
New Tx Power
computation
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With the aim of minimizing the transmit power required by the MS or BTS, the new algorithm
“step by step” uses a realistic Rxlev (Rxlev rescaled at Pmax), this leads to a better
anticipation of the power control decisions.
Histograms below show an example of a RxLev downlink power control distribution for L1M V1
and L1M V2
600 110%
500 90%
# of Samples
400
70%
300
50%
200
100 30%
0 10%
10
04
07
01
1
4
-9
-8
-8
-7
-9
-9
-8
-8
-7
-7
-1
-1
-1
-1
Rx Lev
700 110%
600
90%
# of Samples
500
400 70%
300 50%
200
30%
100
0 10%
10
07
04
1
01
3
-8
-8
-8
-7
-7
-7
-9
-9
-9
-8
-1
-1
-1
-1
Rx Lev
One can see 50% time RxLev is better than -87 dB for L1mV1 and better than -89 dB for
L1MV2, so for the same percentage of time with L1mV2 lower power levels are used.
This explains the gain in the power control efficiency.
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6.2.2 BENEFIT
The major benefit of L1mV2 is the ability to support advanced capacity and coverage features
such as Automated Cell Tiering (fromV12) which enhances quality and/or capacity of fractional
reuse in loaded networks.
In addition, as shown in the next chapter other benefits will be perceived on the network
thanks to introduction of some modifications
• In microcellular dense areas, the capture process will be more reactive thanks to
the parallel launch of confirmation process for all the micro cells reported by the
mobile.
• In dense urban areas where the neighbouring cells reported by the mobile are
numerous and fluctuant, with a better updating of eligible cells, the operator will
experience less handover failure.
• The uplink and downlink RxLev handover and intracell handover processes will be
triggered considering the RxLev which could correspond to a transmission at
maximum power, by comparing RxLev + attenuation (instead of RxLev) to the
handover threshold. This will result in less call drop, better quality. Handover
which could be avoided by powering up transmission will not be performed.
Moreover the interference level on the network will be decreased as mobiles will
remain as much as possible on the best server cell.
• Early Handover decisions on SDCCH/TCH will be more accurate since 0.5
seconds (over 1second) are saved on the processing delay of first measurements.
This will decrease the number of assignment failure. Moreover, the new averaging
of measurements based on sliding window will provide more reactive handover
and power control decisions, enhancing the global quality of the network.
• The power control is more efficient thanks to the rescaling performed by L1M V2; it
gives a better approach to real conditions.
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Avoiding handover ping-pong is important but a mobile could cross a cell in 2 or 3 seconds. A
delay (bts Time Between HO configuration) should not be used in this case.
The parameter setting should be:
• If the mobile speed is low then the delay will help to avoid a ping-pong handover
• If the mobile speed is high, the averaging will not show all these variations.
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macroCell B
microCell A
microCell C
With a macroCell, the delay can be used for the microCell. A mobile that goes from microCell
A to macroCell B will perform a handover (on alarm cause). Then, it is worth setting a delay on
cell A to avoid a ping-pong handover (between A and C).
Therefore, this delay is beneficial for a mobile in cell C that turns into the street of cell A. The
same is true in opposite direction.
The only restriction is for a mobile coming from macro B and going to micro C. The delay has
a negative influence for the handover microA-microB. It is the same case as before.
In V12, the feature General Protection against HO ping-pong can solve this kind of problem.
For instance, in this particular case, the parameter hoPingPongCombination should be set to
(alarm, capture) and hoPingPongTimeRejection should be set to the previous V9 value of bts
Time Between HO configuration.
The timer is usefull for a cell intersection where there is much interference.
Let’s take as an example a handover with cause “quality” triggered from macroCell A towards
macroCell B. But just after this change of cell, a handover with cause “power budget” is
attempted. Using an appropriate delay, depending on the speed of the mobile, many ping-
pong handovers may be avoided.
In V12, this is also achieved through the General Protection against HO PingPong feature
(see chapter General protection against HO ping-pong). In this particular case, the parameter
hoPingPongCombination should be set to (quality, PBGT) and hoPingPongTimeRejection
should be set to the previous V9 value of bts Time Between HO configuration. In order to
inhibit completely the ping-pong hoPingPongCombination should be set to (all, all).
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• system test: the counters show that ping-pong handovers exist. With a little
variation of the delay (bts Time Between HO configuration), it is possible to see
the influence (always with counters). So with only some steps of delay variation
the best value to avoid ping-pong handover and radio link failure can be found.
• measurements: with mobile measurements, the point of interference and the
equivalence point can be found. Then the delay value can be deduced from the
distance between both points.
However the following “light constraints” are applied to the value of the delay:
• average time of a mobile in the cell (weighted if nedeed for each speed)
• bts Time Between HO configuration.
Those constraints could also be a way to find the best value of minimum time between
handover.
In V12, same remark as before.
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Long duration
Duration of
congestion
Normal
situation Call
Large surface
HYPOTHESIS
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HYPOTHESIS
Carried capacity of “n” μ-cell under 1 macroCell: = n μ-cell * 52% + 1 macro * 9 * 100%
For “n” μ-cell under 1 umbrella cell: number of carried Erlangs = 5,2n + 9
If n = 1, we have carried 14,2 Erlangs.
When the Macrocell begins to be full (the blocking rate will become low (from 2% to 3%)) then
no more calls are redirected from the µ-cell to the macro.
Capacity of microCell + macroCell: we aim to satisfy the 10 + 9 requests (i.e. 19 Erl needed):
n micro * X% * 10 + 1 macro * 9
The macro cell is able to carry: 14.9 Erlang
WITH N = 1:
The Erlang law gives X = 87.6% (a blocking rate of 12.4%), the carried traffic is:
14.9 + 87.6% * (10-5.9) = 18.5 Erl
Gain 30% on ONE μ-cell and the highest blocking rate is over 12.4% (instead of 48%).
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WITH SEVERAL N:
microCells transfer their calls into one umbrella-cell, and with the hypothesis of our example,
the gain should be (en = enabled, dis = disabled):
The best cells to implement directed retry are the cells that have potential problems due to a
lack of TCH resources. Directed Retry may solve the problem of load if the cell is the only one
to have this kind of problem in the close area. If the entire area is congested, almost no
improvement will be observed.
If queuing is enabled on the cell, the parameter setting of the queuing should lead to queues
of size 3 and a waiting timer of 6 seconds in the candidate cell.
From V15.0, Directed Retry can be also activated without queuing. See chapter Directed retry
without queuing activation for further informations.
The last value to set is the rxLev threshold used in the feature to choose a “good” neighbor
cell (distant mode). As the decision is taken on the basis of one measurement, a margin of a
few dBs needs to be taken to deal with multipath fading. Then, the advised value should be at
least rxLevMinCell + 3 dB.
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At BSC level:
• interBscDirectedRetry = allowed
• intraBscDirectedRetry = allowed
• modeModifyMandatory = used
• bscQueuingOption = forced
• timeBetweenHOConfiguration = true
• HOSecondBestCellConfiguration = 3
At Cell level (where directed retry is implemented):
• allocPriorityTimers = 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0
• allocWaitThreshold = 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
• directedRetryModeUsed = bts
• interBscDirectedRetryFromCell = allowed
• intraBscDirectedRetryFromCell = allowed
At neighbor cell level:
• directedRetry = rxLevMinCell + 3 dB
• hoPingPongTimeRejection = 30 (= the previous V9 value of bts Time Between HO
configuration
• hoPingPongCombination = (DirectedRetry , all) or for instance (DirectedRetry,
PBGT)
At cell level for neighbor cells:
• bts Time Between HO configuration = 1 (V12 update, the parameter changes its
possible vallues)
• allocPriorityThreshold = 3
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Outerzone
Innerzone
(large zone)
(small zone)
traffic BCCH and
channels signalling
channels
This feature enables the system to have two separate zones within the same cell using
different TDMAs and giving the operator flexibility to have separate frequency hopping
systems. Therefore, concentric cell zones give better spectral efficiency through mobility
management between zones and being able to increase inner zone frequency reuse.
For a good understanding of this feature, please refer to the chapter
Concentric/DualCoupling/DualBand Cell Handover, and the associated Functional Notes [R10]
Concentric cell improvements (CM888/TF889) and [R11] FN for stepped coupling.
Expected Network Impacts:
• Radio Quality Improvement: C/I and RxQual improvement and an overall RF and
HO drops improvement
• Slight increase in intracell HO drops, inherent to concentric cell interzone traffic
management.
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concentAlgoIntRxLev
concentAlgoExtRxLev (inner to outer
(outer to inter threshold) threshold)
biZonePowerOffset
+ hysteresis Margin
As shown on the figure above, the definition of inner zone coverage depends mainly on
concentAlgoExtRxLev; concentAlgoIntRxLev and biZonePowerOffset+hysteresis parameters.
Main related parameters to the concentric cell feature are listed below:
Parameter Description
concentric cell enable the concentric cell feature on the cell (also used for dualband / dualcoupling)
level threshold used for TCH Direct Allocation in the inner zone or to trigger an interzone HO from the
concentAlgoExtRxLev
outer to the inner zone
concentAlgoIntRxLev level threshold used to trigger an interzone HO from th inner to the outer zone
offset used to simulate the power difference between TDMAs of the inner and the outer zone (power
biZonePowerOffset
difference either due to power emission, coupling losses or propagation losses)
zone Tx power max reduction set the power difference between the two zones of a concentric/dualaband/dualcoupling cell
distance threshold used for TCH Direct Allocation in the inner zone or to trigger an interzone HO from
concentAlgoExtMsRange
the outer to the inner zone (not used for dualband functionality)
concentAlgoIntMsRange distance threshold used to trigger an interzone HO from th inner to the outer zone
offset used to reflect the difference of propagation between the two zones of an adjacent cell in case of
biZonePowerOffset(n)
handover toward the inner zone
rxLevMinCell(n) minimum signal strength level received by MS for being granted access to a neighbor cell
CONCENTALGOEXTRXLEV
The concentAlgoExtRxLev value can be set depending on how TRXs capacity in the cell is
shared between the inner and outer zone. The following figure shows CPT cumulative
distribution of RxLev uplink and downlink of a cell before concentric cell activation.
concentAlgoExtRxLev may be deduced from the downlink RxLev distribution which represents
samples of communications in function of the strength level.
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On the figure above we can see that only 10% of the traffic is handled with a level under -86
dBm. So if the traffic size of inner zone (% of TS in the inner zone with regard to total number
of TS in the cell) is 90% of the outer zone, it means that 90% of downlink Rxlev sample may
be inside of inner zone, and 10% is outside. A downlink RxLev value L90, L75 or L50 should
then correpsond to 90%, 75% or 50% of traffic on the inner zone.
biZonePowerOffset is used to simulate the power offset between TDMAs of the inner and the
outer zone.
In this case biZonePowerOffset simulates the power difference between the two zones
introduced by zone Tx power max reduction of the inner zone.
• zoneTxPowerMaxReduction(outer) = 0
• zoneTxPowerMaxReduction(inner) = 0, best value tested (see chapter zone Tx
power max reduction)
In this case biZonePowerOffset simulates the power difference between the two zones
introduced by coupling losses.
Note: DLU Attenuation should be NULL and replaced by zone Tx power max reduction as
explained in the parameter description: zone Tx power max reduction and concentric cell.
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In this case biZonePowerOffset simulates the power difference between the two zones
introduced by propagation losses. It should then be set according to the band used on the cell.
CONCENTALGOINTRXLEV
To avoid ping-pong interzone HO, a hysterisis margin is recommended. The level threshold to
trigger an interzone HO from the inner to the outer zone could be calculated as follow:
rxLevMinCell(n)
concentAlgo
ExtRxLev(n)
cellA cellB
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Inner zone isolation-capacity trade-off is found in concentric cell. The smaller the inner zone
coverage, the better inner zone isolation is found but less traffic, which takes profit of higher
inner zone fractional reuse pattern, is carried. Concentric cell success on improving KPI
performances is based on this balance.
On one hand reducing inner zone coverage:
• provides better isolation of inner zone interferences by keeping only the calls with
very good RxLev to enter the inner zone
• allows deploying a more constraining inner zone frequency plan (or a consequent
inner zone radio quality improvement) and reducing 3107 drops since inter HO are
done in better radio conditions.
On the other hand, one of the inherent risks of using this approach is to block on the outer
zone while resource availability remains on the inner zone. Even though inner zone blocking is
not customer perceived (calls can overflow onto the outer zone radios if available TCH
resources), a compromise exists between the traffic distribution between the zones, and the
improvement in KPI. Therefore, additional tuning of the concentAlgoExt/IntRxLev thresholds
may be necessary on certain sites to set an appropriate threshold for transitioning from and to
the inner zone.
It is recommended having more than 1 TDMA on outer zone since it allows redundancy in
case BCCH TDMA is lost, and also because TDMAs carrying SDCCH channels must also be
on the outer zone. Furthemore, it is advised to have higher capacity in the outer than in the
inner zone, because it minimizes the probability that outer zone is blocked, which would cause
a capacity cell reduction even if inner zone TS are available.
Capacity is shared between inner and outer zone depending on TDMAs allocated in each
zone. Outer zone congestion targets should be updated to take into account reduction in terms
of TDMAs in outer zone. Inner zone is not considered for congestion since no congestion for
the user is found when all TS are occupied.
SDCCH DIMENSIONING
It should be noted that with Concentric Cell SDCCH channels cannot be configured in the
inner zone and all the SDCCH channels will have to be re-mapped to the outer zone radios.
All the sectors prior to implementation of Concentric Cell in the concerned BSCs must follow
Nortel’s recommended rule of spreading the SDCCH channels amongst different radios and
therefore had to be re-mapped carefully such that SDCCH congestion is not encountered.
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This parameter is used to reduce the output power of the BTS on the inner zone TDMAs to
improve inner zone isolation. Simulations show it is preferred to keep the inner zone reduction
at 0 dB and rely on power control efficiency to reduce power level. Like this, power control is
always capable to power up to maximum power to save worst call who received punctual
interferences. Inner zone power reduction has not brought any significant KPI improvement
when it has been tested on field trials.
Simplified power control simulation results are shown on graph below. 250 meters of cell
radius in 1900MHz (150 meters for inner zone coverage which corresponds to 40% inner zone
capacity for a uniform traffic distribution) and perfect power control to attempt DL RxLev target
of -86 dBm are considered.
50 -84,0
45 -86,0
40 -88,0
BTS Power [dBm]
35 -90,0
RxLev[dBm]
30 -92,0
25 -94,0
20 -96,0
15 -98,0
BTSPower(Offsetpower0)
10 BTSPower(Offsetpower8dB) -100,0
InnerZone Coverage (40%)
5 -102,0
RxLev(Offsetpower0)
0 RxLev(Offsetpower8dB) -104,0
0,00 0,05 0,10 0,15 0,20 0,25
If BTS inner zone TDMA are not attenuated at all (0dB), 14,8 dBm mean BTS TX DL power
would be found while if 8 dB output power would be attenuated, mean BTS TX DL Power
would become 13,4 dBm. Therefore the impact on interference and isolation on innerzone is
very limited and it is preferred to leave power control the possibility to power up rather than
induce an external attenuation
CONCENTALGOEXT/INTRXLEV
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CONCENTALGOEXT/INTMSRANGE
The calculated distance between the MS and the BTS is based on timing advance (TA), which
has an accuracy of ± 3 bits (corresponding to more than 1,5 km), due to the shift of
synchronization of some MSs. Thus, this parameter is not very useful in urban areas where
the cell size is relatively small and due to the multipath effect, the MS to BS distance is not
very accurate. However this parameter could be used in rural areas or suburban areas.
6 dB Rxlev DL level difference has been found between 900 MHz and 1800 MHz calls due to
propagation losses in field trials. When a call who is allocated in the outer zone (900MHz) is
inter handover to inner zone (1800MHz), 6 dB level loss is expected to be found due to
propagation loss.
Since biZonePowerOffset is taken into account in power budget handovers, there is a trade-off
between biZonePowerOffset value and number of power budgets of inner zone calls. Having a
biZonePowerOffset too big can reduce significantly power budget of inner cell provoking calls
to be dragged to inner zone cell edge because of overestimating own BCCH level of the
outerzone.
On activation of concentric cell feature, interzone handovers get triggered based on signal
level within the same cell, increasing the probability of dropped calls. The key to successful
implementation of Concentric Cell is to reduce the other drop call components such as T3103
and RLT Drops.
The inner to outer Hysteresis Margin corresponds to the delta between concentAlgoIntRxLev
and concAlgoExtRxLev minus zone TX power maximum reduction. The delta should be
adequate so that the captured traffic in the inner zone (which is the key to spectral efficiency)
is not immediately allocated back to outer zone via a ping-pong handover. A big hysterisis
zone helps to contain the users in the inner zone and keeps this zone packed in order to avoid
losing capacity and interzone HO, therefore it reduces T3107 drops.
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L1M REACTIVITY
It is not recommended to increase L1m reactivity when concentric cell is used for HO
decisions since it can increase significantly interzone HO with the consequent increase on
T3107 drops. An average of 8 frames is recommended.
Interzone handover from inner to outer zone is considered as a quality handover. Therefore,
even though an AMR HR call was on going in the inner zone, after a quality inner to outer
interzone handover AMR FR is allocated in outer zone.
Depending on AMR FR to HR and HR to FR thresholds, this interzone handovers can cause
an increase of intracell HO from HR to FR (inner to outer zone) and immediately from FR to
HR (in the outer zone), reducing AMR HR penetration on the cell.
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A study was done to compare the difference (RxLev_Full - RxLev_Sub). It was based on
10800 measurements from a single network, characterized by a great proportion of microcells
and a high RxLev mean value.
The following array presents the results of this study. We considered the difference
(RxLev_Full - RxLev_Sub), without averaging (1 measurement), and then with averaging on 2,
3, 4 and 8 measurements.
The results show that, for an averaging on 4 measurements, the standard deviation is only 1
dB. This is insignificant enough to consider that we can run simulations, and analyze the
measurements with one of the two levels, if we don’t know which one is used.
Moreover, the measurement processing used for the neighbor cells is close to the process
used in the case of DTX: it is the arithmetic mean of about (104/N) received time slots power,
where N is the number of neighbor cells declared, between 1 and 32.
If 6 < N < 12, which is often the case, the two processes are quite comparable. 8 to 10 for
neighbor; standard deviation on RxLev_Sub can be extended to RxLev(i).
This means that the RxLev_NCell(i) measured on a neighbor cell, is close to the RxLev that
would be measured if it was the current cell.
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For instance, for the recommended value 5 and according to these measurements, in 12,5
percent of the cases the neighbor cell concerned is accessible after 2,64 seconds, in 87,5
percent, it is still missing.
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If queuing is in OMC driven mode (run by the BSC), incoming handovers cannot be queued.
The highest priority must be given to incoming handovers.
The queuing plays a part when, there is not enough TCH resources. When traffic increases to
a blocking state, the queuing has no impact on the total ratio of TCH allocation success: the
more call attempts that are acknowledged, the more incoming handovers are refused.
The queuing is prefered when all TCH resources are busy during a short time; it cannot
replace a resource.
Please refer to chapter TCH Allocation Management.
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2) We can assume stationnarity (during some seconds) of the median path loss in dB,
assumption is more and more valid since the MS is far from its antenna cell, close to the
handover area.
3) Shadowing is due to obstruction of the signal paths, created by obstacles. It is known that
these obstacles create log_normal variations of the received signal, ie the received power at a
distance, expressed in dBm, fluctuates as a gaussian random variables.
4) The shadowing “depth” is strongly linked to the position of the mobile as compared with the
dominant building, and as a consequence, that shadowing decorrelates when different
buildings are involved. With a building mean width d = 30m, shadowing can be considered
completely decorrelated.
5) The higher the mobile speed, the smaller the impact of the shadowing on the average
signal.
6) The higher the average window size is, the smaller the impact of the shadowing on the
average signal is.
7) The variance of the signal due to the Rayleigh fading, depends on the speed of the mobile
and of the frequency in use. About 30 to 50 wavelengths must be spanned to ”filter out” the
fading variations with a residual error less than 1 dB. If the number of samples is equal to N =
10 the mean matches the true local mean to within 2 dB at 90%.
8) Whatever the mobile speed, from a certain window size the increase of the size does not
modify the average Rayleigh standard deviation. From 8 to 16 samples, even at a very low
speed the gain is inferior than 0.5 dB.
9) The dispersion of two MRC combined Rayleigh is decreased by more than 1.5 dB for an
MRC order 2, compared to a single channel. It means that diversity reception can help
average out the fading faster than a single channel, i.e the local mean is tracked faster. If d >
20 l, an efficient 2 order space diversity has the same effect as multiplying the speed by 3 to 4.
10) .With Rayleigh fading, it is known that the mean in dB of samples in Watts is greater than
the mean in dB of samples in dBm. The limit is 2.5 dB, that means that the RXLEV tends to be
artificially 2.5 dB higher for the uplink than for the downlink.
11) The RxLev_Full as measured on a dedicated channel is the arithmetic mean of 104
received time slots power, in the case of DTX, only 12 times.
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This comes from the following expression that relates the mean of the natural logarithm of an
exponential random variable of mean one to the Euler constant (ξ):
The 10.Log (e) factor just accounts for the base 10 log.
In this normalised example:
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• In a rural environment
the reselection list usually contains a maximum of 5 reselection neighbours.
Up to 5 reselection BCCHs, a noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging equal to 6
does not slow down the reselection mechanism too much. So it is possible to
advise an increase of the default value.
• In a urban environment
cells size and mobiles speed generate an important constraint in terms of
reactivity. Moreover, an urban cell has much more BCCH frequencies in its
reselection list. Therefore, noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging should not be
too high to keep a good reselection reactivity.
The following curves have been drawn using the formula Max(5, ((5xN+6)DIV7)x
NoOfMultiframesBetweenPaging /4) seconds with N = number of BCCH to monitor, to
compute the periodicity of reselection measurements average.
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Periodicity of noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging = 2
reselection noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging = 4
(in seconds) noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging = 6
25
20
15
10
0
0 3 6 9 12 15
Number of BCCH to monitor
From those curves, one can define a value of noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging that doesn’t
slow down the reselection mechanism depending on the number of BCCH to monitor in the
reselection list:
With more than 13 neighbours in the reselection list, any value for
NoOfMultiframesBetweenPaging will slow down the reselection mechanism.
Therefore, with a cell that has up to 4 BCCHs in its reselection list, it is advised to set
noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging = 6. In that case, the lost of reselection reactivity will
correspond to 10% (5,57 seconds instead of 5), and the gain for batteries is very important.
LCAUTION!
noOfMultiframesBetweenPaging is also used in the paging algorithm. A higher value will
decrease the paging reactivity and might lead to double paging response (in case of paging
repetitions) if the call is set up and released quickly . A trade-off between the saving of
batteries and effective paging has to be found.
Please also refer to chapter GSM Paging Repetition Process Tuning.
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This rule
NoOfBlocksForAccessGrant > 1
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runHandOver Hreqt
1 2 2
2 2 1
3 1 2
4 1 1
For each of the four sets of parameters presented, the amount of HO on quality DL and PBGT
is the same.
HO CAUSE LEVEL DL
The modification of the parameters has a low impact on the total amount of HO detected on
Level DL cause.
HO CAUSE CAPTURE
For each of the four sets of parameters used, the total amount of handovers is the same. The
difference is not significant because microCellCaptureTimer * runHandover is kept constant.
CONCLUSION
• Setting Hreqt=1 instead of 2 has a very low impact on the total amount of
handovers (less than 4%)
• Same conclusion for runHandover=1 instead of 2
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RUNHANDOVER=1
Field simulations have shown that such a value of runHandOver has low impact on reactivity
compared to runHandOver=2. The increase of reactivity due to runHandOver=1 is less than or
equal to 0,5 second.
HREQT=1
The influence of Hreqt on reactivity is much more decisive, 15% are being advanced by setting
Hreqt=1 (hoMargin unchanged). Two reasons can explain this:
• After the beginning of communication on a new TCH, L1M waits for a fixed delay
before a new HO: HreqAve*Hreqt*0,48 sec. Among the HO performed within 8
seconds1 after a callsetup or another HO, 45% are advanced thanks to
Hreqt=1.This can be very helpful if, for example, the callsetup was initiated on a
bad cell, because of Reselection failure.
• Reducing the length of the weighted averaging window can make the variations of
the weighted average less smooth. This effect is observed for only 2% of the HO.
For this particular case, it is still possible to tune hoMargin. The low impact of this
measure can be explained as follows.
HREQT=2
That configuration does not always double the size of the averaging window.
Example: runHandover=1, HreqAve=4, Hreqt=2. Every runHandover, the L1M calculates a
weighted average based on the last average stored and the sliding average of the moment.
These two averages can have up to 3 measures in common.
CONCLUSION
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6.16.1 INTRA_CELL
Considering the UL power control activated, Nortel recommends a minimum of 400khz
frequency spacing between TRX on a same cell with or without frequency hopping, to
guarantee voice quality.
6.16.2 INTRA_SITE
No hopping case:
Considering the UL power control activated, Nortel recommends a minimum of 400 kHz
frequency spacing between TRX on a same cell without frequency hopping, to ensure a
satisfactory service quality.
Hopping:
Generally, when hopping and considering the UL power control activated, the minimum
recommended frequency spacing between TRX on a same site is 400 KHz. However, the
frequency spacing between TRX on a same site could go down to 200 KHz in the following
cases when some intra-site adjacencies allows a satisfactory service quality:
- 1x1 or 1x3 hopping plan when the site fractional load <= 60 %;
- adhoc hopping plan when different HSN s are used by the co-site cells;
6.16.3 INTER_SITE
Nortel recommends a minimum of 200 kHz frequency spacing between inter-site TRX with or
without frequency hopping, to ensure a satisfactory service quality.
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UPLINK BUDGET:
DOWNLINK BUDGET:
DIVERSITY
It can be seen as a quality improvement. There are three kinds of diversity: space diversity
(mostly used), angle diversity, and polarization diversity.
The space diversity uses two antennas far apart enough. The two received signals suffer
uncorrelated degradation, allowing to extract a diversity gain from their simultaneous process.
This technique is used to decrease the Raleigh fading for slow moving mobiles, fast moving
mobiles being less disturbed by this fading. Therefore, this technique is mostly used in
suburban and urban areas. More generally, it is applicable in all contexts where the gain
brought by diversity can be useful to balance the link budget.
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In order to reduce the feeder loss, the PA can be deported to the mast equipment.
For the reception part, LNAs are not deported anymore for cost-reduction reasons (they are
placed in the RF combiner for S8000 only). This is not a problem given the good sensitivity of
the BTS. If the LNA is external, there is an UL gain.
COMBINING STRATEGIES
OVERLAPPING MARGIN
Designed to prevent the field of the current cell from dropping under a critical value before the
MS locks on the next cell. The value given for this margin depends mainly on two factors: the
speed of the mobile and the speed of decreasing signal experienced by the mobile.
PENETRATION FACTORS
SHADOW MARGIN
Shadowing effects due to obstacles have been studied in many articles and its probability is
described as a Log-normal law. The mean square value depends on the environment (terrain
variation and vegetation) and frequency.
This margin allows the determination of an x% coverage over the cell surface (typically 90%)
by the integration of the Log-normal law over this surface.
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For a cell without a surrounding cell, coverage is provided by one server only. Thus, there can
have many uncovered areas (behind buildings in an urban environment for example), requiring
a high shadow margin. In a multiple servers configuration, the probability of coverage is
increased, and a better coverage continuity is achieved at cell edges. The delay introduced in
the handover process reduces this gain.
This factor exists because for the same output power, the signal will propagate much farther in
a rural environment than in an urban one, creating more interference.
This parameter is defined upon field measurements and a high level of experience is needed
to evaluate this value when no measurement is available. If it’s badly defined, it can have a
dramatic effect on the coverage range.
Note: it is always possible to add more margin to increase the quality of coverage but:
The worst link budget between uplink and downlink will be taken as path loss in order to do the
cell planning.
Downlink Uplink
BTS_Pwr 43,3 dBm MS_Pwr 30 dBm
BTS BTS_Ant_Gain 17 dBi MS MS_Ant_Gain - 2 dBi
BTS_Feeder_Loss - 2 dB Body_Loss 3 dB
EIRP 58 dB EIRP 28 dB
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In the following table, it appears that a path loss increase of 1 dB can improve the coverage
range by 7% and reduces the number of sites by 12%, but 5 dB less in the path loss
corresponds to a coverage range cut by 28% and a number of sites increased by 90% (figures
are slightly higher for linear coverage, typically road coverage).
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Considering a S2000L BTS and a GSM 1800 MS, values are the following in both uplink and
downlink:
UPLINK DOWNLINK
Transmitter Max Power A (dBm) 30 33
Output Noise Level Margin B (dB) 60 60
Max Output Noise Level C (dBm) = A - B -30 -27
Receiver Sensitivity D (dBm) -104 -101
Input Noise Level Margin E (dB) 9 9
Max Input Noise Level F (dBm) -113 -110
Noise Decoupling Value G (dB) = C - F 83 83
As we can notice in the results of the upper table, the values are the same for uplink and
downlink.
6.18.2 BLOCKING
The Blocking takes into account the interferences generated by the others MSs.
The BTS can handle, for the 600 kHz adjacent frequency, a received signal strength 35 dB
below the maximum received power of the current frequency. Over this value, a phenomenon
of flashing occurs.
The flashing phenomenon consists in a BTS or a MS which would emit at a very high value,
and would by this way interfere the communication of the others MSs. The effect of this
phenomenon is the deterioration of the wanted signal.
The decoupling value is the difference between the maximum output power and the maximum
received signal level.
Considering an S2000L BTS and a GSM 1800 MS, values are the following in both uplink and
downlink:
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UPLINK DOWNLINK
Transmitter Max Power A (dBm) 30 33
Max Received Signal Strength B (dB) -35 -44
Decoupling Value C (dB) = A - B 65 77
Moreover, in the blocking case, the probability of collision of the burst between MS and BTS
must be taken into account.
In the blocking case, the downlink is more affected than the uplink. However, this difference is
not very important (except if the study is done at the frequency of the interferer) since the
decoupling value for the Broadband noise is more restricting than the decoupling values for
blocking.
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Tests have shown that if DTX downlink and Power Control downlink are activated
simultaneously when using baseband frequency hopping, it could lead to quality degradation
and eventually to call drops for some mobile brands.
With synthesised frequency hopping, this behaviour has never been encountered whatever
the mobile brand is. So with simultaneous activation of these two features, interference are
significantly reduced.
Beside, PowerControl DownLink associated with Baseband frequency hopping may lead to
interference, because the BCCH frequency included in the hopping sequence does not
perform power control.
PARAMETER SETTINGS
The parameter setting for the synthesised frequency hopping with a fractional re-use pattern is
easily performed due to the fact that the set of frequencies is the same for each cell (1*1
pattern) or a group of cells (for example 1*3 pattern). Implementation of new sites implies a
new frequency planning for the BCCH layer, but is not needed for the TCH layer.
On the contrary, two different MA per cell are needed when using baseband frequency
hopping:
• one for the TS0 of all the TRXs except the one carrying the BCCH, without the
BCCH frequency
• one for the TS1 to TS7 for all the TRXs, including the BCCH frequency
TS 0 TS 1 TS 2 TS 3 TS 4 TS 5 TS 6 TS 7
TDMA 0 F1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MAIO = 0
TDMA 1 MA0 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MAIO = 1
TDMA 2 MA0 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MAIO = 2
TDMA 3 MA0 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MA1 MAIO = 3
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In case of baseband frequency hopping, the number of used frequencies is equal to the
number of TRX. As a result, in case of TRX loss, the capacity of the site will be reduced, and
the number of frequencies in the hopping sequence is also reduced by one. Therefore, the
overall benefit of the frequency hopping (i.e. voice quality) is reduced.
In case of synthesised frequency hopping, the capacity of the site is also reduced, but the
overall load of the fractional pattern is reduced (the number of frequency in the hopping
sequence is still the same, but the number of in-service TRX is reduced by one) ; the
frequency hopping gain will be maintained.
Cavity combiners, which are mechanical equipment, have smaller MTBF than hybrid coupler
combiners which are passive equipment. Therefore, the synthesised solution with wideband
coupling system shall be more reliable than the baseband solution with cavity coupling
system.
On one hand, cavity coupling systems have an insertion loss around 4,5 dB ; on the other
hand, duplexer and hybrid 2-ways coupling systems have a respective insertion loss of 1,3 dB
and 4,8 dB. Therefore, when using duplexers, a lower loss in the downlink budget allows to
have a lower downlink budget (3.2 dB) to balance the path loss. Otherwise, the use of hybrid
2-ways coupling systems does not badly impact the link budget, in comparison with cavity
coupling systems.
For limited frequency spectrum networks, the maximum configuration of BTS is limited to few
TRX in case of baseband frequency hopping. This means that every timeslot is hopping on a
few frequencies (often less than 4).
When using synthesised frequency hopping, every timeslot (except those of the BCCH TRX)
is hopping on more frequencies (not limited by the number of TRX).
FADING DIVERSITY
From Nortel experience, to get the full benefit of frequency hopping, a minimum of six (6)
different frequencies shall be used in each cell. This benefit is increased up to 8 frequencies
available within the hopping sequence concerning fading effects.
INTERFERER DIVERSITY
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In case of synthesised frequency hopping, it is not always mandatory to stop a sector when
adding a TRX in this sector (it only requires that this additional TRX was previously declared
within the OMC database).
On the contrary, in case of baseband frequency hopping, this is not possible due to the fact
that every time a TRX is added, the quantities of frequencies used in the cell have to be
increased.
Then it is easier to add a TRX in a cell using Synthesised Frequency Hopping as long as the
fractional load is under the upper limit.
NbHopTRXCell
FractLoadCell =
Nhfcell
Note: By homogeneous sites (Sxxx) we mean cells that have the same number of TRXs and
hopping TRXs.
NbHopTRXSite
FractLoadSite =
Nhfsite
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Cell tiering allows to raise the fractional load limit because of its gains in quality. Simulations
have proved that the fractional load can go up to 33% in 1*1 and 100% in 1*3. In those cases,
all the frequencies are used at the same time which also means that all the MAIOs are used at
the same time.
LCAUTION!
20% and 58% can be reached with an appropriate tuning of the parameters and in this case
offer a very good quality for the given capacity (field experience).
The maximum fractional load is the basis of the following study for engineering rules
concerning HSN and MAIO. Indeed, as the fractional load is a limitation, the aim of HSN and
MAIO plans is to be as close as possible to this limitation, and to have as less interference as
possible (no adjacent frequency).
With the previous results, it is possible to determine the maximum site configuration according
to the number of frequencies and the re-use pattern (1*1, 1*3 or 4*12), and taking into
account the results of maximum fractional load.
The following tables show the maximum site configuration according to the number of
frequencies and the re-use pattern (considering a 4X12 re-use pattern for the BCCH), and
taking into account the results of maximum frequency load.
number of frequencies 96 84 72 60 48 45 47
1X3 fractional re-use pattern S888 S777
1X1 fractional re-use pattern S888
4X12 re-use pattern S888 S777 S666 S555 S444
number of frequencies 42 39 37 36 33 32 30
1X3 fractional re-use pattern S666 S555 S444
1X1 fractional re-use pattern S777 S666 S555
4X12 re-use pattern S333
number of frequencies 27 24 22 18 17 12
1X3 fractional re-use pattern S333 S222 S111
1X1 fractional re-use pattern S444 S333 S222 S111
4X12 re-use pattern S222 S111
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• In case of 1X1 fractional re-use pattern it is obviously forbidden to re-use the same
value of HSN and MAIO on two different cells of a same site. As they are
synchronised, it would systematically lead to frequency collision.
• For a 1X1 re-use pattern, it is forbidden to use different HSN in cells of a same site.
It would lead to a frequency collision ratio of 1 / n for all the TSs of the
communication.
• Moreover, if some frequencies inside the group are adjacent (general case), the
use of two adjacent MAIO in a same site is also extremely inadvisable because it
would lead to interference (minimum frequency spacing of 400 kHz).
• Spread the MAIOs as much as possible
• Distribute equally the MAIOs in order to have the same distance (e.g. 600 kHz)
between used frequencies.
RULE:
The maximum number of used MAIOs in the site (which correspond to the maximum number
of hopping TRXs in the site) is given by the following rule:
NbMaxOfusedMAIOsite = ROUNDDOWN(Nhfcell/2)
with ROUNDDOWN[x] the function that returns the round part of x down-wise (for instance
ROUNDDOWN(7.9) = 7)
Note: this rule can obviously not be exactly applied in the case of non-homogeneous sites.
Refer to the following examples.
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Let us consider a tri-sectorial site. As defined previously we have for each cell with 1 < i < 3
FractLoadCell ≤ 16.6%
LCAUTION!
The MAIO tuning depends on the case.
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Example:
Let us call the frequencies according to the following rule: f1=F1, f2=F1+200, f3=F1+400,
f4=F1+600, ...
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
cell 1 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12
cell 2 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12
cell 3 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12
As we can see, at each moment (using NORTEL’s BTS which are synchronized), the
frequencies used by all TRXs will be spaced by at least 400kHz. This is guaranteed by the
step 2 MAIO and the choice of frequencies spaced by 200 kHz.
HSN = 1
MAIO 0,6
HSN = 1 HSN = 1
MAIO 4,10 MAIO 2,8
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
cell 1 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12
cell 2 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12
cell 3 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12
FractLoadSite = (3+2+1)/12 = 50%. We can see here that the rule of MAIO setting has been
adapted because of the non homogeneity of the site: the TRXs were not completely
considered by order.
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If we want to add a TRX on the third sector for instance, the site becoming now S433, we
need to add 2 more frequencies in order to respect the non intra-site collision and the
fractional load limitations:
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
cell 1 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12 f13 f14
cell 2 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12 f13 f14
cell 3 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12 f13 f14
RULE:
The step 1 MAIO will create the adjacent intra-site interferences as frequencies spaced by
only 200 kHz (step 1 MAIO) will be used at the same time in the site. It is up to us to decide
where to create the interferences by choosing where to put the step 1 MAIOs. The
recommendations are to put them in the cell which has the smallest overlap with its neighbors.
If the overlap is similar in all cells of the same site then choose the cell with the smallest traffic
as this will have less impact. Field experience with homogeneous sites has shown that with a
proper tuning of the parameters it was possible to go up to FractLoadCell=20% while keeping
a very good quality in the cell for the capacity offered. Then, we can say that in general
FractLoadSite must be ≤ 60% in order keep a very good quality with intra-site collision. In
other words:
Example:
Let us consider a S333 with 10 hopping frequencies {f1,f2,f3,f4,f5,f6,f7,f8,f9,f10}. With 2
hopping TRXs per cell FractLoadCell is 2/10=20%. Let us assume that at one moment the
HSN starts by f3, the frequencies that will be used at each moment are:
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
cell 1 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f1 f2
cell 2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f1 f2
cell 3 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f1 f2
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We can see here that we attribute the MAIO according to the step 2 rule as long as we can in
order to avoid the intra-site collision (up to MAIO 8 here) and then we have to use the step 1
rule (MAIO 9). In this particular case, we have decided to create most of the collisions on
sector 3 as the interferences are created by the simultaneous use of f1, f2 and f3.
In order to add a TRX in cell 1 for instance, the site becoming now non homogeneous (S433),
we need to add 2 frequencies in order to respect the fractional load limitations:
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
cell 1 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12 f1 f2
cell 2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12 f1 f2
cell 3 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12 f1 f2
Frequency band for hopping TRX: F1, F1+400, F1+800, F1+1200, ...
Frequency band for no hopping TRX: F1+200, F1+600, F1+1000, ... for instance
This strategy leads to permanent collisions between the BCCH and the TCH time slots.
Moreover, this strategy is not applicable at all when using PowerControl on the TCH time
slots.
This strategy is not recommended at all.
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• If both HSN and MAIO are the same for each cell of a same site, there will be
systematical frequency adjacencies. Then, this configuration is not recommended.
• In order to systematically ensure a non-adjacency, the only way is to use a unique
HSN but different MAIO for consecutive cells within a site.
• The MAIO can be adjacent within a cell, because two (2) consecutive frequencies
in a cell are not adjacent (non-continuous frequency bands).
• The use of different HSN and MAIO in each cell of a site is not recommended
because it would lead to frequency adjacencies, then to an increase of
interference.
• Spread the MAIOs as much as possible
• Distribute equally the MAIOs in order to have the same distance (e.g. 600 kHz)
between used frequencies.
RULE:
same HSN for all cells within the same site
MAIO given according to a step 2 rule within a cell knowing that , the setting for cell 2
will be the one for cell 1up-shifted by 1 step and the one for cell 3 will be the same one
than for cell 1.
Note: This rule can obviously not exactly be applied in the case of non-homogeneous sites.
Refer to the following examples.
Let us consider a tri-sectorial site. As defined previously we have for each cell with 1 < i < 3
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Since we are in 1X3 (not hybrid), the spectrum of the site is 3 times bigger than the spectrum
of each cell and thus Nhfsite=Nhfcell1+Nhfcell2+Nhfcell3 = 3*Nhfcelli. Thus FractLoadCelli =
3*(NbHopTRXCell i / Nhfsite)
The previous rule can be seen differently: indeed the frequencies used at a given moment are:
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4
cell 1 f1 f4 f7 f10 ...
cell 2 f2 f5 f8 f11 ...
cell 3 f3 f6 f9 f12 ...
If we look at it by a site point of view, we can consider the site as one big cell with one
spectrum (equal to the 3 groups: {T1, T2, T3}). Then it becomes:
In this case, we are brought back to 1X1 (refer to the strategy 1A). Since the frequencies are
spaced by 200 kHz, we can avoid intra-site channel collision by using a step 2 MAIO which
enables us to put a 400kHz distance between the frequencies at each moment. In this case,
we will be using every other frequency which means that the fractional load of the site must be
below 50%.
3*(FractLoadCell1+FractLoadCell2+FractLoadCell3) ≤ 50%
FractLoadCell ≤ 50%
Then we can deduce the following rule on the maximum number of possible used MAIOs in a
site at a given moment. This number will correspond to the maximum number of hopping
TRXs in the site. It is given by the following rule following the previous limitation FractLoadCell
≤ 50%:
NbMaxOfusedMAIOsite=ROUNDDOWN(Nhfsite/2)=ROUNDDOWN((3*Nhfell)/2)
With ROUNDDOWN[x] the function that returns the round part of x down-wise (for instance
ROUNDDOWN(7.9) = 7).
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Example:
Let us call the frequencies according to the following rule: f1=F1 , f2=F1+200 , f3=F1+400 ,
f4=F1+600, ...
Let us consider 3 groups of hopping frequencies: T1={f1, f4, f7, f10, f13, f16}; T2={f2, f5, f8,
f11, f14, f17} & T3={f3, f6, f9, f12, f15, f18}.
Homogeneous site:
Then, NbMaxOfusedMAIOsite=9 which means that we can attribute 3 TRXs per cell at the
most in order to respect the non intra-site collision. FractLoadCell is 3/6=50% and we have a
S444.
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5
cell 1 f1 f4 f7 f10 f13 f16
cell 2 f2 f5 f8 f11 f14 f17
cell 3 f3 f6 f9 f12 f15 f18
As we can see, at each moment (using NORTEL’s BTS which are synchronized), the
frequencies used by all TRXs will be spaced by at least 400kHz. This is guaranteed by the
step 2 MAIO and the choice of frequencies spaced by 200 kHz.
HSN = 1
MAIO 0,2,4
HSN = 1 HSN = 1
MAIO 0,2,4 MAIO 1,3,5
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MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
cell 1 f1 f4 f7 f10 f13 f16 f19
cell 2 f2 f5 f8 f11 f14 f17 f20
cell 3 f3 f6 f9 f12 f15 f18 f21
S544
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
cell 1 f1 f4 f7 f10 f13 f16 f19
cell 2 f2 f5 f8 f11 f14 f17 f20
cell 3 f3 f6 f9 f12 f15 f18 f21
FractLoadSite=47.6%
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RULE:
same HSN for all cells within the same site
MAIO given according to a step 2 rule within a cell knowing that, the setting for cell 2
will be the one for cell 1 up-shifted by 1 step and the one for cell 3 will be the same
one than for cell 1. When it is not possible anymore to do a step 2, down to step 1
MAIO within the cell.
The step 1 MAIO will create the adjacent intra-site interferences between the 3 cells as the
frequencies are spaced by only 200 kHz between cells (step 1 MAIO. It is up to us to decide
where to create the interferences by choosing where to put the step 1 MAIOs. The
recommendations are to put them in the cell which has the smallest overlap with its neighbors.
If the overlap is similar in all cells of the same site then choose the cell with the smallest traffic
as this will have less impact. Field experience with homogeneous sites has shown that with a
proper tuning of the parameters it was possible to go up to FractLoadCell=58% while keeping
a very good quality in the cell for the capacity offered. Then, we can say that in general
FractLoadSite must be ≤ 58% in order keep a very good quality with intra-site collision. In
other words:
Example:
Let us call the frequencies according to the following rule: f1=F1, f2=F1+200, f3=F1+400,
f4=F1+600, ...
Let us consider 3 groups of hopping frequencies: T1={f1, f4, f7, f10, f13, f16, f19}; T2={f2, f5,
f8, f11, f14, f17, f20} & T3={f3, f6, f9, f12, f15, f18, f21}.
FractLoadCell is 4/7=57.1% and we have a S555.
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
cell 1 f1 f4 f7 f10 f13 f16 f19
cell 2 f2 f5 f8 f11 f14 f17 f20
cell 3 f3 f6 f9 f12 f15 f18 f21
In order to see better the interferences, let us assume that at one moment the HSN starts by
the third frequency of each group (same HSN), the frequencies that will be used at each
moment are:
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
cell 1 f7 f10 f13 f16 f19 f1 f4
cell 2 f8 f11 f14 f17 f20 f2 f5
cell 3 f9 f12 f15 f18 f21 f3 f6
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In this particular case, the interferences are equally created between the cells. Indeed, the
simultaneous use of f13, f14 and f15 creates collisions between (cell1, cell2) and (cell2, cell3).
We also have the simultaneous use of f6 & f7 f15 creating collisions between (cell1, cell3).
MAIO 0 1 2 3 4 5
cell 1 f1 f4 f7 f10 f13 f16
cell 2 f2 f5 f8 f11 f14 f17
cell 3 f3 f6 f9 f12 f15 f18
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Some information must be taken into account to define coverage and parameter setting for
Dual Band networks. To optimize network capacity, it is necessary to evaluate balance load
between the two bands and to avoid expensive procedures like LAC optimization (leads to
frequent location updates) or network topology (for interBSS handovers). Furthermore, the
percentage of dualband handsets and the percentage of coverage of each band are also
important to know.
Two different strategies can be used: adjacent coverage (one layer) or super-imposed
coverage (at least, two layers). Parameter setting for a multi-layer network will be similar to
microcell case. In both cases, inter-sites distance is also a key parameter to design the
network.
SELECTION
To give a lower priority to band 1 cells, it is only necessary to set the parameter cellBarQualify
to “true” for these cells, and to “false” for band 2 (with cellBarred set to “not barred” in both
cases). A multiband MS (phase 2 MS) will choose a band 1 cell only if no band 2 cells are
found with a positive C1.
RESELECTION
Multiband mobile stations are phase 2 mobile stations. Cell reselection will involve C2
computation (if cellReselInd= true). Here is the used formula:
C2 = C1 - cellReselectOffset
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Furthermore, as C1 is the criterion used to choose one cell, one band is favoured when using
advised parameter setting. Here is the formula used to compute C1:
• B = msTxPwrMaxCCH - P
• P = maximum RF output power of the MS
In both bands, usually Max(B,0) will be equal to 0. As the recommended value for
rxLevAccessMin is “-101 to -100 dBm” for GSM 900 and “-99 to -98 dBm” for GSM 1800. It
means that for an identical value of RxLev, GSM 900 selection is favoured (2dB) if
recommended values are used for both types of cells.
However, cell reselect offset can be used in the computing of C2 criteria to advantage one
frequency band. Two different cellReselectOffset values can be used according to the cell
frequency band. With penaltyTime <> 640, the higher the cellReselectOffset value, the higher
the value of C2. Other parameters can be set as follow if no special care needs to be taken for
fast mobile stations: penaltyTime <> 640, temporaryOffset = 0.
Then, cellReselectOffset can be set to 30 in the favoured frequency band between 4 and 10 in
the other-one (some tests using 20 and 0 respectively provided good results). The 2 dB
difference for the C1 criteria between GSM900 and GSM1800 can be ignored in this case
because the recommended parameter setting for cellReselectOffset leads to a difference of
more than 20 dB for the C2 criteria.
Another way of favouring one frequency band is to only declare reselection neighbours
belonging to the priority frequency band.
DIRECTED RETRY
For distant mode, the eligible cell list is obtained from a level criteria directedRetry in the
adjacentCellHO object. A way to have an underprivileged frequency band is to choose two
sets of value for directedRetry, one for each band and to take the higher value for neighbour
cells belonging to the low priority frequency band. However, it will impact the directed retry for
monoband MS on this band (less directed retry).
HANDOVERS
If an offset was used to select (rather re-select) the cell, one must be aware that the cell may
not be the best one. To avoid going back to another band because it is the best cell, this offset
must be taken into account as well during handovers (hoMargin). Another way is also to inhibit
power budget handovers from the priority band towards the non-priority one.
To penalize handovers towards band 1 cells, it is only necessary to modify the different
hoMargin for band 1 neighbouring cells, here-in called hoMargin_nei_cell_band1.
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During interband handovers, care must be taken when GSM900 sites and GSM1800 sites are
on different BSCs. This will awfully increase signaling because of interBSS procedures. To
avoid this case, interband HO on alarms must also be limited (by modifying thresholds).
Interband handovers can also be reduced by limiting the number of outband neighbours for
each cell. This will depend on operator priorities.
In V12, the feature HO decision according to priority and load allows to favour one band (or
just a group of cells) through the parameter offsetPriority, 1 being the highest priority.
MICROCELL ALGORITHM
Microcell capture A algorithm can also be used to make mobile stations “stay” in the same
frequency band.
SELECTION
To give the same priority to both band cells, it is only necessary to set the parameters
cellBarQualify to “false” and cellBarred to “not barred” for all cells.
However, as GSM900 selection is favoured of 2 dB with the recommended values for
rxLevAccessMin for both bands, a balance can be found in setting rxLevAccessMin to “-100 to
-99 dBm” for all cells.
RESELECTION
No change may be done to the recommended parameter setting, then all cells may have the
same values for the parameters cellReselectOffset, temporaryOffset and penaltyTime.
As in cell selection, the parameter rxLevAccessMin may be set to “-100 to -99 dBm” for all
cells.
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OTHER FEATURES
For all other features (Directed Retry or handover), the same parameter setting may be kept
for both band cells.
The remark about interband handovers (see above) is particularly crucial to take into account
in the case of no band is favoured. Indeed, a interband handover must be reduced to the
minimum (by modifying thresholds) and a particular neighbour plan may be elaborated in order
to avoid frequent interBSC handovers when GSM900 sites and GSM1800 sites are not on the
same BSC.
In V12, the feature HO decision according to priority and load allows not to favour one by
setting the parameter offsetPriority to the default value for all cells.
• gsm900 - dcs1800,
• gsm850 - pcs1900,
• E-gsm - dcs1800,
• gsm900 - pcs1900, (warning : mono-BCCH dualband cells 900-are not supported)
• gsm850 - dcs1800, (warning : mono-BCCH dualband cells 850-1800 are not
supported)
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Different gain can be obtained depending on microcell deployment strategy, e.g. capacity gain,
indoor coverage gain, voice quality improvement… Several microcell strategies should be
considered:
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When a micro to umbrella relationship is declared between two different cells, it is important to
have a close look on Call Trace / Call Path Trace in order to determine lRxlevDLH and
lRxlevULH. Depending on micro and macro cell layer design, it has been found some cases
where a call, which is allocated in the micro cell and getting close to the micro cell limits,
receives an RxLev signal from the macro cell which is even lower than micro cell RxLev
signal. Since Power Budget is deactivated when micro-umbrella relationship is declared, this
phenomenon makes that rescue RxLev handover rarely executed and calls are dragged until
quality handover is triggered, which could happen too late to save the call, increasing the call
drop rate.
In this case, it is recommended to analyze with CT/CPT the level of microcell and the
neighboring macrocell level received to declare the suitable value where level handover can
safely occur.
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• 50% for interferer cancel algo usage is a very good compromise between
interference cancellation and pure thermal noise sensitivity: it does not degrade
the sensitivity and gives almost the same interference cancellation performance as
100% with 5dB cancellation loss in the range I/N=0 to 20dB. For instance, it will be
very useful in a medium traffic area, where the isolated interferers will be very well
removed with no coverage degradation.
• When pure thermal noise sensitivity is not an issue (not coverage but interference
limited situation), 100% achieves the best interference cancellation.
• In an actual network, some particular synchronization patterns may exhibit a
performance loss when interference cancellation is applied although there are
many interferers. However, on the overall network a typical net gain of about 1dB
will be obtained with 50% (remember that 1dB is 26% increased capacity if the
network capacity is limited by the uplink interferers).
The following guidelines should be applied: when the interference cancellation is available,
50% is an excellent compromise between coverage and interference cancellation. When
speed is the main problem (high speed train coverage) 100% is the best value.
Improvement appears when there is an update from a previous v15.1.1 BSS to a later one.
Indeed, before V15.1.1, gain of interferer cancellation was not optimal in case of low Rxlev.
Since V15.1.1 interferer cancellation algorithm has been improved to take into account all
range value for parameter “interferer cancel algo usage” for all RxLev range.
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6.23.1 INTRODUCTION
An optimum neighboring plan consists in having the best compromise between the quality of
service and the network load. Indeed, the higher the number of neighboring cells in the
neighboring list, the more loaded the traffic due to HO procedures.
Moreover, an efficient neighboring plan ensures a better network reliability by avoiding an
excessive call drop rate resulting from HO failures.
Neighboring plan optimization is a trade off between:
• many neighbors which can lead to excessive HO, and thus signaling overload.
Moreover, as measurements are performed on all neighbors in the list,
measurements on the more used neighbors are less often performed than with a
shorter list. Then the system is less reactive to perform handover.
• few neighbors which would lead to call drop and poor quality of service due to HO
failures.
Hereafter are the engineering rules to follow when initializing a neighboring plan, depending
on the type of pattern used for the frequency plan.
The first step when initializing a neighbor list consists in choosing a cell as a neighbor of the
serving cell if they share a common border in the best server map. The neighboring list will
then define a geographical ring (first ring) around the serving cell.
Each cell belonging to this first ring of the given cell will be automatically included in the
neighboring list without selection on geometrical or mean field level criteria.
However, using only the list of first ring neighbor cells can lead to dropped calls or ping-pong
handover, because the coverage of some first ring neighbor cells can be thick between the
serving cell and a second ring neighbor cell.
Some neighbors must be added to the previous list, in order to avoid the mentioned troubles.
One solution could be to define another geographical ring (second ring) but this solution would
often lead to a very high number of neighbors in the neighbor list, and consequently to an
excessive number of handover. Thus, the risk is to have signaling overload.
Then, a good solution consists in defining a distance criteria, that must be fulfilled by a cell for
being considered as a neighbor.
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This distance is the one separating the server cell site location, and the other cells contours.
This method corresponds to the definition of a circle with a specified diameter. Any cell
coverage being totally included within this circle, or having a part of the surface within the
circle is added in the neighbor list.
This distance can be the same for all the cells of the network. But this method is more efficient
if the distance criteria is a multiple of the cell radius. The cell radius should correspond to the
maximum length separating the cell site location and any point belonging to its coverage.
Note: height and roads are important aspects to keep in mind for neighboring plan:
• Indeed, two sites neighbor from a geometrical point of view but separated by a high
hill should not be declared as neighbor if no signal is expected to cross the
mountain.
• Also as the channel effect is very important, especially in town, neighborhood
should take into account the main roads. Two cells not neighbor with statistical
prediction models, have high probability of being really neighbor if they are located
just on a large avenue not too far apart.
RESURGENCE PROBLEMS
If the resurgence area is large and not too far from the serving cell, it can be considered as a
real cell. Consequently, this situation is equivalent to a normal cell’s neighborhood assignment
and all the cells surrounding the resurgence must be added to the serving cell neighborhood.
This situation is well handled by the automatic tools.
However, there are several other situations where the resurgence should not be taken into
account:
• The resurgence is reduced to a small area. Then the resurgence coverage is not
enough significant to be considered as a suitable cell for the handover or selection
issue. Any HO operation performs on the cell’s resurgence will lead to a “ ping-
pong ” handover from the cell resurgence to the surrounding cells.
• The resurgence is located far from the serving cell (with several cells between the
resurgence and the serving cell). This situation leads to a poor stability of the
received signal. As the serving cell is far away from the MS, the MS could easily
lose the signal and thus almost immediatly perform a handover to another cell
(signaling load).
That is why, all the cells assigned as neighbor of a serving cell because of this kind of
resurgence should then be removed from the neighbor list.
Then, such cells with resurgence which were first assigned as neighbor of a serving cell (after
distance criteria application) must be removed from the neighbor list.
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CONCLUSION
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In the case of a 1X3 reuse pattern, a way to avoid this kind of handover is to declare only the
first crown of neighbors. In the following schema, the cells in orange are not declared
neighbors to the serving cell S.
N2, T3 S, T1 N5, T2
N3, T2 N4, T3
N8, T1
In case of hot traffic spot, as this solution leads to a few number of cells in the neighbor list,
there is a risk of handover failure due to channel unavailability. In order to avoid this, 2
channels in every cell must be reserved for handover (allocPriorityThreshold = 2).
The only exceptions for this rule are the following:
• Coverage hole
• Limited coverage due to shadowing effect
However, this solution means a few number of neighbors in the list and then can lead to call
drop and handover failures (see scheme with first ring neighbor list before).
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For all reuse patterns, the same cells should be declared in both handover and reselection list.
Moreover, the serving cell should be declared in the reselection list. In case of hole of
coverage, this will allow the MS to reselect the best cell and not a distant cell.
However, for 1X3 and 1X1 reuse pattern, if only the first ring is used for the neighbor list, a
higher number of reselection cells (first ring + second ring or distance criteria) than handover
cells (only the first ring) must be declared.
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6.24.1 DESCRIPTION
Especially in micro-cellular network, where the antennas are under the roof, the level received
by the mobile can dramatically fluctuate. Ping pong handovers and call drop were experienced
in this type of environment, and led to bad quality of service as well as a significant increase in
signalling traffic. One of the toughest issues to solve in a micro cellular network is street corner
environment.
cell A
cell B
• The first one deals with mobile moving straight the cross road. In the case, the
handover toward the cell A must be avoided.
• Mobiles turning at the cross road is the second case. The handover from cell B to
A must be performed quickly before the field of the current cell dropped under a
critical value, leading a call drop.
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cell A
cell B
RxLev
rxLevDLPBGT
cell B
cell A
Time
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cell A
cell B
RxLev
cell A
cell B
Time
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6.25.1 INTRODUCTION
Some tests have been carried in order to compare the timing HO of the three kinds of
handovers. No interBSC handovers were performed as synchronized handovers are only
available for intraBSC HO.
The test plan was the following:
Intra BSC / Intra BTS HO
SYNCHRONIZED HO
NOT SYNCHRONIZED HO
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PRE-SYNCHRONIZED HO
Note: the value - 1 for the PreSynchroTA parameter stands for a TA value equal to 1 (554 m).
6.25.3 TIMING HO
PROCEDURE
The test procedure was based on tone recordings. A specific tone is sent for UL (resp. DL)
from the MS (resp. the land line). The tone is a pattern of a 3 second 500 Hz signal and a 3
second 700 Hz signal. The use of 2 contiguous signal is needed because problems of no
signal emission occurred when a one frequency tone signal is used.
The tone was sent for a minute. An HO occurred approximately every 5,7 seconds. Each
record has a serial of about 10 HOs.
All the averages shown in that study are calculated from these 10 values.
SYNCHRONIZED HO RESULTS
COLLECTED DATA
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The (1,2,3,4,5,6) HO # are HOs which occurred in the 500 Hz frequency part of the tone.
The (7,8,9,10,11) HO # are HOs which occurred in the 700 Hz frequency part of the tone.
For both frequencies, the average timing HO of a synchronized HO is the same, around 100
ms. The interesting part is that the time repartition between the muting, silence and demuting
phases are not the same.
The muting and demuting phases appear to be dependent on the frequency. However, the
muting and demuting algorithms at the TCB are not dependent on the frequency. Actually, the
ECU activation on both cells may be responsible of this dependence. It seems that the ECU
algorithm at the BTS makes the muting and demuting dependent on frequency.
When ECU is enabled, it seems that the muting and demuting slopes are correlated to the
frequency.
COLLECTED DATA
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The (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) HO # are HOs which occurred in the 500 Hz tone part of the signal.
The Not Synchronized Timing HO is around 200 ms. Unfortunately, the high standard
deviation value does not allow any conclusion on this specific duration.
Note: Not synchronized HO procedure
Here is a brief example of the L3 radio protocol of such a HO:
PRE-SYNCHRONIZED HO RESULTS
PRINCIPLE
The pre-synchronized handover procedure is exactly the same than the synchronized
handover procedure.
After the Handover Access bursts which shall be sent with a TA value of 0 the MS shall use a
TA as specified in the HO Command by the old BTS, or a default value of 1, if the old BTS did
not provide a TA value.
The BSC indicates in the HO Command message that the handover will be pre-synchronized
and, if needed, the predefined Timing Advance to be used by the MS in the new cell
(preSynchroTimingAdvance parameter).
COLLECTED DATA
The real TA of both cells is 0 (but fluctuant sometimes to a TA value of 1). The aim of these
tests is to evaluate the voice quality loss and/or gain of a pre-synchronized HO versus the
preSynchroTimingAdvance value set at the OMC-R.
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STATISTICS
PreSynchroTA (kms) 0 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6 30
Average (ms) 120 122 89 105 436 739 756 684 705
Minimum 108 94 65 89 79 524 606 532 533
Maximum 129 144 126 105 958 971 970 947 945
Standard Deviation 8 18 17 13 334 172 133 132 133
COMMENTS
It has to be understood that the pre-synchronized handover has been implemented in order to
fasten the handover procedure in a dense (size <2kms) environment or in a railway / highway
optimization. As the setting of the preSynchroTimingAdvance parameter is not that easy (on-
field measurements and TA distributions after HO per pair of cells), the behavior of the MS for
a wrong (2 or 3 steps of TA) and a very wrong (greater than 3 steps of TA) TA value is very
interesting for the network optimization.
Actually, regarding the timing HO results versus different preSynchroTimingAdvance values, it
seems that the MS is able to re-synchronize with the BTS. The drawback is that the speech
cut duration and the handover procedure are highly increased (up to 1 second).
CONCLUSION
Regarding the results of that study, it clearly appears that the synchronized handover is the
faster type of handover. It is available for intraBTS or intracell handovers, or if the Network
Synchronisation is activated. In this case, if the two cells are synchronized by GPS, and they
have the same TNOffset, handover can be synchronized, even if the two cells are not in the
same BSC.
However, the pre-synchronized handover has shown very good results (almost the same
performance than the synchronized one) if the TA after HO is previously known.
Therefore, pre-synchronized HO is a good solution to fasten handover and to decrease (up to
80 ms) the speech cut duration. The fields of appliance should be dense (cell size < 2kms),
railway or highway environment to ensure that the distance after handover is known.
Not synchronized handover still remains the only setting for InterBSC handovers.
Anyway, the UL results of that memo show that the speech cut duration is less than 250 ms.
This value allows to keep a pretty good voice quality during handovers.
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Antenna
Common
Cable losses
Rx sensivity
Antenna connector
Duplexor
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FADING CORRELATION
One major parameter to assess space diversity gain is the fading correlation, which depends
on many factors, such as radio environment (angular distribution of reflectors), antenna
configuration (spacing between antennas) and position of the mobile respective to the BTS.
The sensitivity for fully correlated antennas and not correlated antennas (correlation 0.2) can
be viewed respectively as the worst case and quasi-best case situations. In reality, the
correlation figure lies ‘somewhere between’ both figures, depending on the factors mentioned
previously.
To assess correlation values applicable to engineering is not an easy task. Yet, it can be
observed that by taking 10 wavelengths of antenna separation (recommended distance is 20),
the correlation factor is as low as 0.2 for an angular spread of only 1 degree .These results
give us enough confidence to interpolate the sensitivity at values near the not correlated case,
in such environments as built-up areas (urban, suburban), as well as hilly terrain, which offer a
multiplicity of reflectors. However, this appears less obvious for open area environments,
typically flat rural, for which we will assume a more conservative correlation factor.
BRANCH SENSITIVITY
Diversity gains are calculated by doing the difference between “with” and “without” 2 antennas
figures. Then diversity gains vary a lot with correlation and propagation channels. Yet, it can
be observed that after rounding figures, the overall sensitivity + diversity figure stays relatively
constant, independently of the configuration. The trend is a cumulated figure of -113 dBm for
the S8000 without enhanced coverage option, and -115 dBm for the S8000 with enhanced
coverage option.
This observation partly justifies the uniformity of the diversity gain of 5 dB for the S8000. It
must be stressed that this artifice is only meant to provide separate figures for sensitivity and
diversity gain, which are still distinguished when discussing link budgets
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It should be understood that with the same number of antennas as for spatial diversity
crosspolar antennas provide 2 times more RF ports. This means that on one feeder, the
number of supported DRX is divided by two, and the size of the coupling stage too.
Radio link performances are affected by the transmission over slanted polarization:
measurement reports indicate performances of crosspolar antennas compared to vertical
antenna are lower:
POLARIZATION DIVERSITY
Polarization diversity is obtained by processing the two signals coming from the two branches
of one crosspolar antenna. Polarization diversity is estimated after measurements of signal
decorrelation between the two diversity receiving branches of one crosspolar.
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Proposed link budget figures for crosspolar antenna use are summarized in the table below:
• the crosspolar antenna benefit of the 2 antennas connectors within one antenna
chassis.
• the robustness of circular polarization against depolarization effect and mobile
positioning.
This system relies on a single 3dB-90° dephaser-hybrid coupler located at the bottom of the
crosspolar antenna feeding the two ports of the crosspolar antenna with exactly the same
feeder length. The system scheme is shown below:
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In term of radio figures, the benefits of the crosspolar antenna use combined with the 3dB-
coupler are:
• the radio transmission is no more affected by the slanted polarization due to the
transmission of the whole signal over a circular polarized wave. Whatever the
position, the mobile receives all the power
• the combining stages are divided by 2
• the diversity gain is:
4dB with 1 crosspolar antenna the polarization diversity gain
5dB with 2 crosspolar antenna the space diversity gain
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The level of noise can provide a parasite SDCCH allocation, the BTS seems to receive an
RACH and allocates an SDCCH channel. In this case the SDCCH is assigned for a short
duration (free after T3101 (3 sec by default)). The parasite SDCCH assignment depends of
the BCCH TDMA model. Note that from V8B7 the number of parasite SDCCH becomes
negligible with new DRX.
The location update frequency must also be considered for the evaluation of the blocking rate
ratio for SDCCH. For BTS located at the border of a Location Area, a lot of location updates
are performed. Then, the signaling traffic is very high. In this case (as for area with a high
SMS traffic), the number of SDCCH channels must be quite high. Therefore, the blocking rate
ratio to consider for SDCCH must be lower than the-one for TCH.
Thus, a table can be established for the blocking rates to consider, depending on the load of
the network and the kind of signaling.
The double SDCCH allocation occurs when a second RACH is sent by the mobile before the
Immediate Assignment message of the first RACH is received.
The double allocation issue depends on the numberOfSlotsSpreadTrans value.
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ACTIVATION OF SMS-CB
The SMS-CB is multiplexed with the SDCCH. So the activation of the SMS-CB reduces the
number of SDCCH sub-channels and so the signaling capacity of the BTS. For example:
So the activation of the SMS-CB has a great impact on the signaling capacity of cell (see also
chapter SMS-Cell Broadcast)
Note: in case of SMS-CB, the SDCCH TS number has to be lower than 4 (< 4)
SUBSCRIBERS MOBILITIES
In a high mobility area (rural, highway) a none negligible number of the RACH are requested
for Location Updates. The total number of RACH is then higher than in a low mobility area, it is
then better to increase the number of SDCCH channels.
In a very high mobility area (high speed train) the number of Location Area are generally
reduced in order to avoid a BSS signaling overload due to the LA update. Moreover the TCH
allocation has to be as fast as possible in order to avoid dropped calls set-up. So for the cells
which are dedicated to the coverage of very high mobility area only, (e.g. cells which cover
only the high speed train railways and not surrounding roads or villages) it is better to reduce
the SDCCH channels number. If the cell is at the boundary of a location area the SDCCH
channels have to be set according to the Location Area update load.
NUMBER OF NETWORKS
The SIM card can contain the Id of only 4 forbidden networks, i.e if there are more than four
networks in a country a mobile can attempted a Location Update on other networks (->
Location Reject). So wherever there are more than four competitors in the same frequency
band it is recommended to increase the number of SDCCH channels.
This priority defines the order with which the BTS allocates the available hardware resources
(the transceivers) to the TDMA frames. In practice, if due to a hardware failure, there are fewer
TRX than TDMA, then only the TDMAs of higher priority will be mapped onto a TRX.
The parameter is called priority (transceiver object).
Among the set of TDMA frames attached to a cell, it is mandatory for the one carrying the
BCCH to have the highest priority allocated and to be the only one to have that priority.
For the TDMA carrying SDCCH channels, that priority should be the second highest priority,
i.e. not as high as the BCCH priority.
For the TDMA carrying only TCH channels that priority should be the lowest.
The generic rule to set the TRX/TDMA mapping priorities is the following :
The typical values for priority of each TDMA model is defined in detail in the Radio Interface
Engineering Rules ([R58]).
• the traffic in one of the sectors: for example on a site linked by two PCMs if a cell is
considered as more important by the operator (strategic coverage), one can give
to the TDMAs of that cell a higher priority than those of the other cell. Thus, during
a PCM failure, those TDMA will be re-configured in priority on the left PCM.
• circuit traffic instead of packet data traffic, by setting a higher priority for TDMAs
having only TCH compared to TDMA that have also pDTCH
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As signalling is the bottleneck during a high load situation on the BSS, the guiding idea here is
to reduce as much as possible unnecessary signalling during the exceptional event. Nortel’s
estimation is that this should improve the behaviour of the BSC.
The control of this situation is done by various verifications and parameter modifications. The
proposal is organised in 4 main levels:
• Prerequisite
• Basic tuning of parameters
• Overload configuration change
• Other parameter modification
CHECKS
SANITY CHECKS
• Verification of the state of the different BSC: no BSC boards should be in a faulty
state
• Recommended values are applied
• Dimensioning rules are respected
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NETWORK:
Each BSC is fully operational and a switchover should be done, LapD load balancing over
TMU, LapD loadsharing, Location Area (LA) sizing,, TCH congestion (this is particularly
important in case of concentric cell use), Call Drop rate, HandOver failure rate (and
neighbouring reciprocity).
The Nortel Recommendation is that these checks be done a few hours before the special
event.
• Periodic location updates should be limited on the BSS side (recommended value
for timerPeriodicUpdateMS = 60)
• Operator advertising using SMS should be avoided
• If a degradation of the QoS is acceptable during the corresponding critical period:
Paging repetition at NSS side should be reduced / suppressed,
Notification of voice mail through SMS should be limited / deactivated
Authentication procedures should be limited / deactivated at NSS level
Ciphering should be limited at NSS level
• The modification of parameters of the 1st category does not lead to any service
interruption. These modifications may be done very quickly and a few hours before
the event.
• Parameters of the 2 nd category are only applied if it can be done without service
interruption (refer to chapter ALGORITHM PARAMETERS).
• Modification of parameters of the 3 rd category is optional and only applicable on
networks in which queuing is already activated. It requires a quite long preparation
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and should be decided at least three months before the special event. It does not
lead to service interruption.
Parameters to modify:
DMS PREPARATION
Note: the recommendations in this Chapter should also be followed after the exceptional
event.
The Computing Module (CM) of the DMS is protected by a highly efficient overload
mechanism. This mechanism allows the DMS to stand a significant overload.
In order to maintain the craftsperson’s capability to access the DMS in the expected overload
situation, it is suggested that verification is made to ensure that at least the 2 MAP terminals
as well as the ETAS modems are declared as guaranteed background task for the CPU. This
is done by setting for these devices in table TERMDEV the GUAR field to Y. A maximum of 5
devices can be declared in this way. Refer to NTP 411-3001-451 Customer Service Data
Schema Vol 3.
The behaviour of the LPP under heavy traffic conditions can be improved by optimizing the
allocation of BSSAP instances to LIU7s. It should be checked that the following
recommendations are followed.
Context
Table GSMSSI defines the subsystem instances of the BSSAP local subsystem. These
instances reside on an LIU7 and serve SCCP Class 2 connections between the BSS and the
DMS-MSC.
Table GSMSSI allows the customer to associate BSSAP instances with LIU7s.
BSSAP instances are used only for A-interface messaging. They can be datafilled on any LIU7
in the MSC. Also, there is no restriction that an A-interface LIU7 must have a BSSAP datafilled
against it. However, datafilling the BSSAPs in a non-optimal manner can negatively impact
the DMS-MSC’s performance under heavy messaging conditions.
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Further information about table GSMSSI and the BSSAP instances can be obtained in The
CCS7 Application Guide, NTP #411-2231-310. This document includes a datafill example for
GSMSSI.
Recommendations
The recommendation is that all customers apply the following guidelines:
• BSSAP instances in table GSMSSI should only be defined against LIU7s which
have an inservice link to a BSC.
• Each A-interface linkset should at least have one BSSAP instance assigned to it.
The remaining instances (total of 32) should be spread out among the remaining
A-interface LIU7s. Priority should be given to the highest traffic linksets.
SS7 LINK
Underprovisioned SS7 links can result in link congestion, which potentially inhibit mobile call
processing. It is therefore recommended to audit the link provisioning in the network before the
special event. During the busy hour the mean link occupancy should not exceed 40%. The
expected subscriber growth in the network has to be taken into account. This check should be
done about 4 months before the special event in order to allow potential HW extensions.
LAC DATAFILL
The Location Area Code (LAC) is a configurable parameter on the BSS and on the NSS (table
LAC). If the values are not the same, Mobile location updates on the MSC will fail. This will
result in all mobiles to repeat the locationupdate attempt. The resulting high signaling load can
decrease stability of the LPP due to the increased signaling traffic. It is therefore highly
recommended to verify that the LAC values on BSS and NSS match up before the special
event.
BSC PROTECTION
Reduction of the signaling load on the BSC optimizes its behavior in a high traffic situation.
This chapter proposes actions in the NSS, which will help to decrease the signaling load on
the BSC.
Most of the GSM networks use voicemail notification via SMS. SMS traffic is real-time cost
intensive on the BSC processors. Furthermore, in a high traffic situation with degraded QoS,
the Voicemail traffic is expected to significantly increase. The operator should consider to
deactivate the notification of voicemails via SMS. Under very high load the notified subscribers
will not be able to consult their voicemails anyway, due to the high blocking rate at the Air
interface. The deactivation should be done either on the VMS or on the SMSC.
AUTHENTICATION
Authentication in GSM aims at ensuring that only mobiles with an official SIM card can access
the network. Reducing authentication reduces the signaling on the BSS. The operator should
consider to disable the optional authentication activities in the network. This can be done by
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IMPACT
It should be noted that even with this minimum setting the authentication procedure will be
executed at the first Attach or Inter-VLR-location update of a mobile at the MSC. This implies
that a reasonable degree of security is reached. The default value of NORM_20 PER_20
ATT_20 MO_20 MT_20 configures that every 20th call, location update and attach will trigger
the authentication procedure. The above described minimum value results in only the first
location update (inter-VLR or attach) to trigger authentication.
The parameter allows to individually set authentication rates for normal (NORM), periodic
(PER) location updates location, Attachs (ATT), mobile originated (MO) and mobile terminated
(MT) calls.
PAGE RETRY
The Paging message sent to the BSC is highly costly in terms of BSC CPU processing. After a
timer expires without a response from a mobile, the DMS sends a second Paging message.
Monitoring of live networks has shown that only an insignificant portion of the second paging
message is successfully responded by a mobile. Due to this it is recommended to deactivate
the paging retry. This is done by setting the parameter GSM_PAGE_RETRY in table
GSMVAR to 0.
CIPHERING
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100 %
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The monitored average TMU1-SBC processor load should keep below 70%.
The monitored average TMU1-PMC processor load should keep below 85%.
The monitored average TMU2-SBC processor load should keep below 80%.
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In this example, we suppose that BS transceivers have the same maximum power in each
band. The studied case is the RxLev_DL but the RxLev_UL is similar.
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interZone handover
RxLev DL
biZonePowerOffset
SACCH
2
BS Pwr Att
SACCH
2
Band 0 Band 1
There is no power compensation during the handover: the initial power after a handover
doesn’t take into account the difference of radio propagation between the two bands. So, there
is a signal drop (approximately biZonePowerOffset).
However the condition on level for the Interzone handover ensures that the signal drop has no
effect.
The Step by step algorithm keeps the RxLev_DL in the interval L_RXLEV_DL_P,
U_RXLEV_DL_P. Thus the attenuation on BS power decreases in order to compensate the
signal drop.
CONCLUSION
Interzone handover toward Band1: there is no power compensation on the HO, e.g. the initial
power after a handover doesn’t take into account the difference of radio propagation between
the two bands. So, there is a signal drop (approximately biZonePowerOffset).
Band1 after the Power control:
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(with VAL_PWRLEV_TO_DB = 2)
Note: if the DL_TxPwr_Band0 (dB) is lower than K_DL * biZonePowerOffset, the power
compensation is reduced.
Example:
Bizone_power_offset = 3 level (6 dB)
• Bad quality without frequency hopping: K_DL = 0.5, RxLev DL_Band1 - RxLev
DL_Band0 = -3 + 0.5*3/2 = -3 level (-6 dB)
• Good quality with frequency hopping: K_DL = 0.9, RxLev DL_Band1 - RxLev
DL_Band0 = -3 + 0.9*3/2 = -1 level (-2 dB)
(with VAL_PWRLEV_TO_DB = 2)
Example:
Bizone_power_offset = 3 level (6 dB)
DPMS = 3 dB
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CONCLUSION
The definitive power compensation with the One shot algorithm is reduced especially when the
frequency hopping is not used. However the condition on level for the Interzone handover
ensures that the compensation is not indispensable.
In comparable conditions, the difference of level (resulting from the Power control) between
the two bands of a Dual Band cell always exist. It is not tied to the handover example.
The BSC knows the BS maximum output TX power in each zone, so the attenuation is
compensated during an Interzone handover.
• Bad quality without frequency hopping: K_DL = 0.5, RxLev DL_Zone1 - RxLev
DL_Zone0 = - 0.5*15/2 = -3.7 level (-6 dB)
• Good quality with frequency hopping: K_DL = 0.9, RxLev DL_Zone1 - RxLev
DL_Zone0 = - 0.1*15/2 = -0.7 level (-0 dB)
The BS maximum output TX power is the same in each zone (DP BS ), but the difference
comes from different coupling losses (downlink) which have the same effect than a difference
of radio propagation.
The power is not compensated during an Interzone handover. The Power control result is
nearly the same in the two zones.
Example:
Coupling D (loss about1dB) and H2D (loss about 4dB)
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• Bad quality without frequency hopping: K_DL = 0.5, RxLev DL_Zone1 - RxLev
DL_Zone0 = - 1.5 + 0.5*1.5/2 = -1.1 level (-2 dB)
• Good quality with frequency hopping: K_DL = 0.9, RxLev DL_Zone1 - RxLev
DL_Zone0 = - 1.5 + 0.9*1.5/2 = -0.8 level (-0 dB)
The One shot associated with Dual coupling cells has a good behavior.
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BSS PARAMETERS
On the BSS side many parameters have an influence on the paging and the paging repetition
process:
NSS PARAMETERS
On the NSS side, only one parameter may be taken into account, GSM_PAGING_RETRY
which allows to repeat the Paging Command message on the A interface.
It is possible to choose between paging repetition at a BSS or a NSS level: one can prefer
NSS paging repetition or be dependent on an other vendor NSS paging repetition. In this case
BSS paging repetition parameters should be set accordingly.
NSS repetition can bring some improvements, as described in chapter Field examples: NSS
paging repetition tuning.
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TDMA CONFIGURATION
Depending on if the CCCH is combined or not on the cell, the number of frames dedicated to
the paging are different: it goes from 3 CCCH occurrences in the combined case to 9
occurences. The TDMA configuration can drastically reduce the number of free channels
available for paging messages and thus should be taken into account for the number of
repetition.
See also chapter Consequences of the TDMA Model.
LAC Traffic (Erl) Page now Page 1w Page 2w Page more Paging discarded
10000 305 8011 132 2 0 422
17500 401 12550 91 2 0 1
18000 500 17625 437 8 1 7205
18100 441 16397 358 8 1 1182
18500 422 16118 174 3 0 1364
With this example we can see that 3 LACs show a large number of discarded paging
messages. At this step we can not determine if those discarded messages have been
successfully sent previously or not (the repetition take place eventhough the mobile already
answer).
The first step will be to audit the type of the BTS and the TDMA configuration. In case the
CCCH is combined to the BCCH, a reconfiguration should be plan.
Then the number of repetition on the NSS side should be taken into account, and set to 0 if it
is not the case (in this particular case the GSM_PAGING_RETRY was already set to 0)
Finally the BSS parameters could be checked and compared to the recommended values (and
especially the noOfMultiframeBetweenPaging that depends on the environment), before trying
to tune the nbOfRepeat, and the retransDuration.
If good radio conditions are met on the cell, one could try to decrease the nbOfRepeat very
cautiously, and subsequently the retransDuration which is correlated.
The number of repetition has been set to 0, and the restransmission duration down to 3. Other
parameters were still at recommended value.
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In that particular case, the decrease was done because good radio conditions were met. We
can observe a very good improvement on the number of paging messages discarded, without
affecting the QoS (traffic and paging success).
LAC Traffic (Erl) Sum of Page now Page 1w Page 2w Page more Paging discarded
10000 337 1808577 1671 3 0 0
10200 246 990583 1693 14 1 0
17500 469 2378638 3463 14 0 0
18000 396 1265792 6449 87 0 0
18100 392 3605562 37715 278 8 0
18200 634 3270930 25417 384 17 0
18500 399 1711766 1837 7 0 0
From a BSS tuning point of view, the nbOfRepeat has a major influence on the paging queue.
Modifying this parameter is a good way to optimize the number of paging messages, as long
as good radio conditions are met.
1800 1.60%
200 0.20%
0 0.00%
26
27
28
10
1
2
3
5
6
7
8
9
4
3/
3/
3/
3/
3/
3/
3/
3/
3/
2/
2/
2/
3/
That field example shows the good impact of NSS Timers tuning on the Call Drop ratio.
Action 1 corresponds to a reduction of timers T305 and T308 from 30 to 1second and Action 2
corresponds to a reduction of timer T102 from 5 to 30 seconds.
(T305: started when a DISCONNECT message without progress indication is sent and
stopped when the network has received a RELEASE or DISCONNECT message; T308:
started when a RELEASE message is sent and stopped when the network has received a
RELEASE_COMPLETE or a RELEASE message; T102: used by MSC−A when a
HANDOVER_COMMAND message is sent and stopped when a HANDOVER_COMPLETE
message is received)
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Note: most of the findings in terms of monitoring and feature optimization are based on the
experience gained during the VO activity and the rollout phase that followed. As the Legacy
L1m was activated for most of these testings, we recommend and support today the AMR
feature with this L1m algorithm enabled.
Field tests have raised in some cases an issue on handovers from one channel type to
another channel type.
This issue was due to a MSC parameter belonging to OFCVAR table :
multiple_vocoder_support. This parameter was positioned on “on_no_changes” and that
prevented the MSC to be able to change the channel type if the target cell of another BSC did
not support the channel mode of the originating cell.
This behavior was fixed by setting multiple_vocoder_support to "on_with_changes" thus
handovers from AMR HR channels could go to EFR.
Another issue was raised concerning the following parameters located on the signallingPoint
object of the BSS that have to be set to “TRUE”:
• chosenChannelAsscomp
• chosenChannelHoReq
• chosenChannelHoPerf
Indeed, the GSM specifications (3GPP TS 48.008) precise that the chosen channel shall be
included in the message between the BSS and the MSC (ASSIGNEMENT COMPLETE,
HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOLEDGE, HANDOVER PERFORMED) at least when the
channel rate/type choice was done by the BSS.
Issues have been noticed on the field with other vendor Core network when those parameters
are not properly set, in this case in particular it was impossible to establish half rate calls.
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MOS and DMOS are always a value between 1 and 5: a value equal to 1 means that the
listening is unintelligible and a value equal to 5 means that the two signals are the same
(which is never the case). One estimate that a value higher than 4 corresponds to an excellent
voice quality. A good quality corresponds to a MOS higher than 3.5 and a fair quality is higher
than 3-3.2.
TEPMOS
TEPMOS stands for theoretical extrapolated PMOS. It is theoretical because it is based on
simulations in order to translate FER to PMOS values. It is extrapolated, because TEPMOS
weight usage of each one of different AMR codecs PMOS in order to establish AMR
TEPMOS.
The figure below shows the performances recorded for the best AMR Full Rate codec mode
for each C/I, with the corresponding performance of EFR (and also FR in car noise conditions)
and the related AMR performance requirement (curve Sel. Requir.)
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The figure shows that the combination of all 8 AMR FR codec modes allows to:
Here one compares the performances recorded for the best AMR Half Rate codec mode for
each C/I, with the corresponding performance of EFR, GSM FR and HR speech codecs and
the related AMR performance requirement (curve Sel.Requir.)
This figure shows that the combination of all 6 AMR HR codec modes allows to:
• provide a good quality down to 16 dB C/I in Clean Speech, always significantly better
than the GSM FR and GSM HR,
• provide good performances in Background Noise down to 16-13 dB C/I, equivalent to
GSM FR otherwise.
It means that AMR HR offers the possibility to have in good radio conditions a capacity
increase in term of Erlang (two users can be mapped on the same TS instead of one) keeping
comparable quality of a FR speech.
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The above graph shows the different AMR FR codec performances taken individually in terms
of PMOS for a given propagation profile (TU3iFH). The AMR Link Adaptation principle will
consist in choosing according to the radio conditions (C/I measured) the appropriate codec in
order to provide the best PMOS quality. The below graph provides a simplified view of the
voice quality perception (Excellent to Bad quality) between the EFR (12k2 fixed codec) with
the AMR FR and AMR HR Link adaptation.
C/I 16 dB 13 dB 10 dB 7 dB 4 dB 1 dB
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DEFINITIONS
The link adaptation consists in adapting the “best” codec to speech frames according to the
link quality estimated by both entities. Each codec mode, whether used in Uplink or Downlink,
and whether used for FR or for HR channel, corresponds to one couple of threshold and
hysteresis. The value for these couples depends also on a set of factors: MS speed, FH or no
FH, propagation profile. Finally, all these parameters associated to the choice of the codecs
are compiled into a table called amrAdaptationSet table. It is composed of 4 subtables each
dedicated to a combination of channel type and link direction. In order to optimize the
adaptation, NORTEL has implemented 3 sets of pre-defined tables (optimistic, pessimistic and
typical settings) plus one set of tables which is user-defined. The
parametersamrDlFrAdaptationSet, amrDlHrAdaptationSet, amrUlFrAdaptationSet,
amrUlHrAdaptationSet allow the operator to define an amrAdaptationSet table independently
for FR and HR mode and for DL and UL. Moreover, this allows more flexibility in the
amrAdaptationSet table management since updating the optimized tables requires a change in
the Bsc Data Config.
LCAUTION! Please note that all values expressed in the tables hereunder are in dB.
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uplink downlink
slow MS - fast MS - ideal FH SFH 900
< 4 FH
no FH no FH (>= 4 freq) TU3
5k9 to 4k75 8 2,5 3,5 2,5 4
6k7 to 5k9 10 4 5 4 5,5
FR thresholds
10k2 to 6k7 12,5 6,5 7,5 6,5 7,5
12k2 to 10k2 17,5 12,5 12,5 12,5 13,5
FR hysteresis 2,5 1,5 2 1,5 2
5k9 to 4k75 12,5 10 10,5 10 11
HR thresholds 6k7 to 5k9 14 12 12,5 12 12,5
7k4 to 6k7 19 17 17,5 17 16,5
HR hysteresis 3,5 2 2 2 3
uplink downlink
slow MS - fast MS - ideal FH SFH 900
< 4 FH
no FH no FH (>= 4 freq) TU3
5k9 to 4k75 5,5 2 2,5 2 4
6k7 to 5k9 6,5 3,5 4 3,5 4,5
FR thresholds
10k2 to 6k7 10 5,5 6,5 5,5 7
12k2 to 10k2 15 12 11,5 12 12
FR hysteresis 3,5 1,5 2 1,5 2
5k9 to 4k75 9,5 8,5 9 8,5 10,5
HR thresholds 6k7 to 5k9 10,5 10,5 10,5 10,5 12
7k4 to 6k7 15,5 15,5 15,5 15,5 17
HR hysteresis 3,5 3 3 3 2
uplink downlink
slow MS - fast MS - ideal FH SFH 900
< 4 FH
no FH no FH (>= 4 freq) TU3
5k9 to 4k75 11 6 7 6 5
6k7 to 5k9 12,5 6,5 8 6,5 6
FR thresholds
10k2 to 6k7 16 9,5 11 9,5 8,5
12k2 to 10k2 20,5 14 16 14 13,5
FR hysteresis 3 2 2 2 3
5k9 to 4k75 14,5 13 13,5 13 12,5
HR thresholds 6k7 to 5k9 15 13,5 14 13,5 13
7k4 to 6k7 19 18,5 19 18,5 18
HR hysteresis 4,5 2,5 2,5 2,5 3
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uplink downlink
slow MS - fast MS - ideal FH SFH 900
< 4 FH
no FH no FH (>= 4 freq) TU3
5k9 to 4k75 5,5 2 2,5 2 4
6k7 to 5k9 6,5 3,5 4 3,5 4,5
FR thresholds
10k2 to 6k7 10 5,5 6,5 5,5 7
12k2 to 10k2 19,5 14 16 14 17,5
FR hysteresis 1,5 1,5 2 1,5 2
5k9 to 4k75 12,5 10 10,5 10 12,5
HR thresholds 6k7 to 5k9 14 13,5 14 13,5 17
7k4 to 6k7 18 18,5 19 18,5 19
HR hysteresis 2 2,5 2,5 3 3
uplink downlink
slow MS - fast MS - ideal FH SFH 900
< 4 FH
no FH no FH (>= 4 freq) TU3
5k9 to 4k75 0 0 0 0 0
6k7 to 5k9 0 0 0 0 0
FR thresholds
10k2 to 6k7 0 0 0 0 0
12k2 to 10k2 19,5 14 16 14 17,5
FR hysteresis 0 0 0 0 0
5k9 to 4k75 12,5 10 10,5 10 12,5
HR thresholds 6k7 to 5k9 14 13,5 14 13,5 17
7k4 to 6k7 18 18,5 19 18,5 19
HR hysteresis 2 2,5 2,5 2,5 3
LCAUTION!
In the case of the customized tables defined via the BSC Data config, values are to be entered
in ½ dB. For example the threshold to switch from a 12k2 codec to a 10k2 codec in the case of
a slow MS non hopping in the table above should be 39 in the BSC Data config to express a
C/I of 19,5 dB. Note: The AMR threshold set in the bscdataconfigeditor -- labels 81--125
should to be set with a value small than 63.
When an Assignment Command or a Handover Command message is sent from the BSC to
the BTS in order to provide all AMR L1m and codec mode adaptation informations the
hysteresis described in the adaptation codec table is coded on 4 bits, hence can take values
from [0 to 7.5] dB with steps of 0.5 dB.
Now when the Active Codec Set has to be modified via a RATSCCH message, the coding of
that hysteresis becomes:
Bit 34 … 32 31 30 29 … 28 27 … 20 19 … 18 17 … 12 11 … 6 5…0
Value 001 1 1 ICM ACS HYSTc THRESH3 THRESH2 THRESH1
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One can see that in this case the hysteresis is coded only on 2 bits (as recommended by the
GSM Rec 05.09) thus can only take 4 different values, that are:
Set value at the OMC-R Coded value in the RATSCCH Corresponding value
0 / 0,5 / 1 / 1,5 00 1 dB
2 / 2,5 01 2 dB
3 / 3,5 10 3 dB
4 / more than 4 11 4 dB
Please note that this case is only applicable in downlink AND for a change of Active Codec
Set via a RATSCCH message (refer to RATSCCH management).
Consequently, if one wants to use the customized values in the amrAdaptationSet table
(parameter amrXXYYAdaptationSet = 3) it is recommended to set cunningly the related
downlink hysteresis in the customized AMR adaptation table,that is to say in order to respect
the only 4 values that hysteresis can take via a RATSCCH message.
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The purpose of this test was to characterize AMR performances in a degraded radio
environment to show AMR codec performance on the BCCH layer, but it also included
comparative results with EFR performance with different adaptation sets.
Same BCCH frequency was set for 2 neighboring cells in order to create interference to the
victim cell, and the Pessimistic default table has been compared with a customized table
proposed by the operator.
Observations:
The purpose of this test was to evaluate AMR HR performances and to compare them with
EFR. Calls were established in very good radio conditions and algorithms to intracell HO from
HR to FR were set impossible to be triggered (setting amrHRtoFRIntracellCodecMThresh
target to 4k75 AMR HR).
Observations:
• Test results show how AMR HR presents a very good performance with regard to
EFR in good radio conditions. Degradation could be quantified from 3.7 to 3.5
TEPMOS which is neglected by human ear. Moreover, when radio conditions are
degraded, AMR HR performance keeps a good performance and even at 3
TEPMOS voice quality target can presents a better performance than EFR
• This test shows that it would be perfectly possible, when radio conditions allow it,
to maximize AMR HR penetration and obtain interesting performance comparable
to EFR with the benefit of more resource availability thanks to HR usage
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The purpose of this test was to evaluate the coverage enhancement with AMR feature and to
compare its performance with EFR calls.
Radio Link TimeOut timer was extended to 64 to allow increasing coverage as much as
possible. One mobile was set in AMR FR only mode while another was logged on EFR mode
only. Calls were dragged on a coverage limited areas to the limits of the cell. Intercell
handovers were disabled to hold them in serving cell. Low ranges of RxLev signal samples
were obtained. No interferences are found since tests were done during maintenance window
and no traffic was detected at this hour.
RxLev measurements are suitable for performance comparison since no interference were
found in coverage limited environment.
Observations:
• More than 3 dB coverage gain can be obtained using low AMR codecs in low
signal strengths.
EXECUTIVE RESULTS
• there is definitely a trade-off between AMR gain versus voice quality. This will be
up to the operator to define it
• PMOS target for voice quality impacts critically AMR gain
• Adaptation codec set table impacts voice quality and AMR gain
• Low codec usage in good radio condition degrades voice quality
• AMR FR could achieve a gain of 3-3.5 dB on BCCH layer
• AMR FR could achieve a gain of 3.5-4 dB on frequency hopping layer
• AMR FR could achieve a gain of 3-4 dB on coverage could be obtained
• AMR HR presents a comparable voice quality compared to EFR
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Adaptation table thresholds define radio condition where adaptation from AMR FR to AMR HR
and AMR HR to AMR FR occurs. Optimistic table defines low C/I (degraded radio conditions)
in order to handover from HR to FR and also a low target to handover from AMR FR to HR.
Thus, HR penetration is favored. When pessimistic tables are set, C/I to handover from HR to
FR are high, so quickly after radio is degraded, FR is requested.
AMR adaptation table and HR to FR intracell handover target are highly related since once
both parameters are defined, a target C/I is established and thus, radio conditions where HR is
used are set, e.g. in DL, it is the same to set a pessimistic table with a HR to FR target to 5k9
than a typical table with a target 6k7.
• Parameters like n and p from the (n,p) voting algorithm are found to have a limited
impact on intracell HO ratio. In order to maximize overlap, it is recommended to
set nCapacityFRRequestedCodec to 100% of P and nHRRequestedCodec to 50%
of pRequestedCodec
• The intracell codec target for HO from FR to HR is hardcoded and set to 12k2 FR
codec. Therefore, this threshold is fully defined by the choice of adaptation table.
It is important to check that thresholds for intracell HO HR to FR and FR to HR are correctly
set in order to avoid ping-pong handover. It should be check that C/I threshold to adapt from
HR to FR is lower than FR to HR and a good overlapped zone is found in order to avoid ping
pong intracell HO due to wrong parameter settings.
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The figure below is a typical example of a correct setting to guarantee a good overlap for DL
intracell handover:
HR to FR FR to HR
6k7 HR 12k2 FR
17 dB C/I BS 20,5 dB C/I
As AMR HR penetration is a trade-off between radio conditions and voice quality, it is highly
dependent on environment since if high interference is found, penetration is only obtained if
voice quality is highly jeopardized. Handovering to FR mode too early because parameter are
too constraining would provide benefit of HR capacity. On the other hand, handovering to FR
mode too late jeopardizes user voice quality as lower codecs might be used too long in lower
C/I ranges.
Using pessimistic table threshold and 7,4 HR as amrHRtoFRIntracellCodecMThresh, intracell
HO HR to FR is done as soon as possible when radio conditions starts to be degraded.
Normally this case brings a low HR penetration, around 20 to 25% HR penetration (highly
dependent on radio/environment conditions). Increase of HR penetration is obtained setting a
lower codec for HR to FR intracell handover (30 to 35% HR penetration can be expected). A
more aggressive strategy is to change adaptation set to more optimistic thresholds which
would bring a higher HR penetration (50 to 55% HR penetration can be expected).
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Considering the graph of speech MOS vs C/I, one can see that AMR-HR with link adaptation
is in theory slightly worse than EFR. AMR-HR provides fair quality down to 9dB while EFR can
go down to 7 dB for the same quality. But both, AMR-HR and EFR are quite poor below 7dB
while FACCH and SACCH performance are in a range where the BLER is not very good but
still can be handled. This would show that an AMR-HR and EFR user would have “roughly” the
same behavior at cell edge, either will drop or will attempt to release the calls as the quality
will degrade.
In urban area, where the limiting factor is not necessarily the coverage but the C/I, it has been
tested to maximize the HR penetration in order to analyze the drop performance.
• From a drop performance perspective, AMR FR only has degraded the statistics;
but introducing the link adaptation using the full-set of lower codecs did for sure
bring a improvement in terms of voice quality. As soon as HR has been activated
with a setting maximizing its penetration to a level of 80%, the drop indicator did
go downward to a level similar to what it was before.
• From a voice quality perspective, there has been no real improvement here as the
objective was to lower down the drop rate.
• From a blocking view, HR maximized did improve the blocking rate for call
initiation and handovers.
Maximizing HR in the urban area could definitely reduced the drop performance to the level it
was in EFR only and brought big improvement in terms of resource availability related to traffic
mobility
In order to maximize that HR penetration, one can either:
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On the other hand, signaling channels have traditionally given better performance than voice
channels since they are transmitted in a more robust channel and because retransmission are
allowed. Erroneous packets are more critical for voice quality degradation than signaling,
which can be retransmitted a certain time until call is released before it is considered lost, i.e.
via RLT counter.
Signaling has been found to be, in some specific cases, more constraining than AMR low
codecs. This means that in some cases, while signaling is not correctly received and thus RLT
counter is decreasing due to radio conditions, AMR low codecs are able to still give a fair voice
quality. This effect impacts critically GSM networks KPI since user behavior becomes key
factor. In the same radio degraded condition where signaling is not correctly received (or even
before for EFR user!), an EFR user would realize its voice quality becoming poor, hangs up,
release the call. This release would be pegged as a normal clearing of call from a counter
perspective. On the other hand, AMR users do not realize of this radio condition degradation
since AMR low codecs allow a fair voice quality at low C/I. AMR user drags the communication
until RLT counter reaches 0 or when it tries to hang up, one of the links is lost. This effect has
been found to increase call drop ratio from GSM networks.
LCAUTION!
Thus, from a counter perspective, this kind of tricky situation is seen as a dropped call in AMR,
while it is being pegged as a normal clearing for a EFR user.
This problem is intrinsic to AMR standards. While waiting for AMR standard to be improved,
one of the work-around is to increase radioLinkTimeout which maximize probability to recover
radio conditions without degradation of AMR user perception or leave enough time to clear
properly the call when it starts to be very poor in terms of voice quality.
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T200 with RLT drops have found to be related. It can happen that a user which realizes radio
condition has been degraded tries to hang up when one of the links is lost. This will provoke
that network start its procedure to release the call but it is never correctly released since one
of the links messages are never correctly released. Thus, T200 drops are pegged. It has been
found that when RLT is increased, RLT drops are decreased while T200 drops are slightly
increased.
In order to validate somehow this effect, EFR and AMR tests have been performed in
coverage limited zone. Some monitoring findings supported also that phenomena.
Two mobiles were running in parallel in a coverage limited zone. Both mobiles were running in
a car moving at 50km/h connected to a single external antenna. Without user behavior
intervention, both calls end at the same time. RLT (SACCH performance) is independent from
speech codecs, EFR and AMR call ends at the same time.
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2 .0 0 %
1 .7 5 %
1 .2 5 %
0 .7 5 %
High half rate
F E R U L S ta n d a rd F R
voice quality
FER U L AMR FR
0 .5 0 %
FER U L AMR HR
0 .2 5 %
0 .0 0 %
1 0 -M a r
1 2 -M a r
1 6 -M a r
2 3 -M a r
2 7 -M a r
2 9 -M a r
3 1 -M a r
1 4 -M a r
2 5 -M a r
2 5 -F e b
2 7 -F e b
2 9 -F e b
2 8 -J a n
3 0 -J a n
2 -M a r
8 -M a r
4 -M a r
3 -F e b
6 -M a r
1 -F e b
The TEPMOS indicator has been successfully validated for AMR traffic with the proposed link
adaptation tables. The indicator provides a very good match versus the pMOS as calculated
through the standardized PESQ algorithm. The chart below shows the validation for AMR-FR
in TU3 with the typical table.
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Note that the voice degradation caused by frame losses on the terrestrial links or by the
perturbations induced during handovers is not captured by the indicator.
The TEPMOS enables to measure the impact of AMR tuning on the user perceived voice
quality in various configurations and thus to find ore optimal QoS tradeoff: choice of the
adaptation table, AMR-HR allocation triggers, AMR based on traffic, Interference
cancellation...
However with EFR, the indicator is less accurate. One reason is that the TEPMOS relies
mainly on the weighted FER per AMR codec mode. In AMR each codec mode is used in a
limited C/I range. For EFR the same encoding is used over the whole working range limiting
the accuracy. A second reason is that with EFR, class 2 bits are not protected. Thus the frame
erasure rate with EFR does not reflect the voice quality degradation occurring when a speech
frame is correct (class 1 bit OK) and some class 2 bits are erroneous. With AMR-FR however
there are no class 2 bit defined. Thus the FER or the TEPMOS reflect more accurately the
perceived voice quality with AMR.
Nortel recommends thus using the TEPMOS with EFR cautiously. Variations in EFR TEPMOS
are representative of different voice quality perception enabling comparison between cells or
TDMA with EFR traffic. However EFR and AMR TEPMOS shall not be used to compare the
voice quality between the two modes.
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The performances of the AMR feature were evaluated regarding newly dedicated counters:
OVERALL FINDINGS
After having successfully tested all the procedures and the specific algorithms related to the
AMR feature throughout numerous testing in lab and live, AMR have been deployed
progressively on live areas under different environments:
• rural areas with low density of urbanized areas where coverage was the limiting
factor
• suburban areas with spot of dense traffic and where the interference was definitely
the constraining factor
• urban to dense urban areas where interference and coverage (indoor) limitations
are mainly the constraining factors. Traffic was also a important constraint.
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With the AMR activation over different clusters, it has been proven that all the usual indicators
like the resource allocation, the call establishment, the blocking were performing within
standard ranges with the exception for the call drop indicator.
Many efforts have then been deployed to address this drop call concern. Nortel has been
through the testing of different timers impact (T200, NY1, RLT, and T3103) and the changing
of some key elements in the AMR algorithm with always the objective to isolate potential
software issues. None of them did bring huge improvements in reducing the drop call
performance though but many findings were interesting and kept for future settings (TDMA
priority, timer T3103 extension, RLT extension). In parallel to these efforts, several papers
were submitted by different providers and customers to the GERAN meeting indicating
potential issues with actual AMR performance vs signaling performance, i.e. the improved
lower codec rates provide voice robustness in areas where signaling channel fails to perform
reliably (SACCH and FACCH). Call are being dropped while voice quality is still acceptable.
Beside this, we have also observed some differences between EFR and AMR mobiles in their
estimation of RxQual under severe interference and DTX situations which may, in some
cases, lead to some delays in the decision of handovers.
Even if the main driver of all the AMR monitoring activities is the drop call performance for
which the variations will depend upon the environment, the mobile penetration and the traffic
mobility, the feature has proven many benefits in terms of coverage, voice quality and
capacity.
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OBSERVATION
In this type of environment, RLT drop contribution is usually much higher because calls are
being dragged at cell edges and the overlap between neighboring sites is less important than
in urban areas. The T200 drops can be also higher than usual but in a lesser extent than the
RLT. T3103 drops are less significant than areas where the overlap is more dense since they
are directly related to users mobility.
In such rural area, RLT drops (and T200 with a less extent) represent more than 45% of the
drops while T3103 represents less than 25%. Activating AMR increase the dropped calls with
two main contributors, the RLT and the T3103.
Extend the DL RLT timer and keep the UL to its original value would lead to a reduction of the
drop contribution on RLT cause. The timer extent cannot fully compensate the robustness of
the codecs vs. SACCH performance when C/N becomes critical.
HR activation does not brig any improvement in the drop performance. In an area where the
limiting factor is the coverage and not the traffic, there is no real benefit to have HR activated
unless necessary. The excess of T3107 drops is not necessary here.
RECOMMENDATION
In coverage limited areas with low traffic (rural areas) Nortel recommend to avoid using as
much as possible the low codecs in order not to experience any “user behavior” effect. Usage
of the optimistic table or a customized table avoiding at least the 4k75 codec is necessary.
The DL RLT (radioLinkTimeout) should be increased subsequently to a minimum of 32
SACCH periods. To a certain extent it could be interesting to customize if possible a “10k2
only” table for such environment and keep the RLT to 32 as the 10k2 is bringing a 1-2 dB
coverage gain vs EFR.
Concerning HR, one should look at the real traffic carried on a cell level to decide whether or
not capacity is required. In a general manner, HR should be disabled in such environment as it
does not bring any extra benefit. T3107 drops would then be avoided.
From a handover perspective, it is recommended to change the timer T3103 (t3103) to a value
of 9 seconds in order to offer a wider window of good completion of the procedure at cell edge
where the quality might be poorer.
OBSERVATION
In this kind of environment, T3103 drops are dominant; it represents more than 45% of the
drops, while RLT is around 25%. This ratio remains the same before and after AMR activation
as RLT drops can also be a consequence of T3103 increase: a handover that fails and come
back to its original channel in worst radio conditions than before may drop on RLT.
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The activation of HR in this environment does not affect the overall drop indicator. The T3107
increase is due to the substantial increase of intra cell handover that occur when HR is
activated. That activation usually show some improvement of the T3103 as some intercell HO
can occur now in better radio conditions. However, the slight improvement of the T3103 drops
is compensated by an increase of T3107 which makes the overall drop not being modified.
RECOMMENDATION
• Make sure that the allocation priority threshold (allocPriorityThreshold) is well set
on the target cells
• Extend the T3103 timers (t3103). Usually set to 5s, when this timer is set to 9s, it
has been observed some improvement on the HO failures
It is also advisable to make sure that TDMA priorities are well set (frAMRPriority &
hrAMRPriority). As the allocation in AMR does not take directly the level of interference in the
resource classification, a higher priority on hopping TDMA can be set for AMR allocations in
order to favor hopping layers.
In such environment, it has also been observed that increasing the HR usage may decrease
the drop rate to normal values as from a MOS perspective, HR and EFR are similar in low C/I
ranges. The gain in such conditions is not on the coverage but on the capacity.
OBSERVATION
With today’s AMR performances and according to customer objectives, there are no real
benefits to activate AMR in rural environments (or coverage limited areas). However,
implementing the 10k2 only is a trade-off between the drop call control and the slight gain in
voice quality at cell edges.
It can be seen from a drop distribution perspective that an area is coverage limited as the RLT
contribution is much higher than T3103. Activating AMR FR would increase the drop rate in a
network where the AMR mobile penetration is very important.
By changing the AMR adaptation table in such a way to limit the codec usage to only 10k2, the
drop rate would clearly decrease. Removing totally HR improve further the drop indicator to a
value very close to the EFR period prior to the AMR activation.
It can be observed that in rural areas, running AMR with 10k2 only adaptation table and no HR
does bring down the drop ratio to a certain extent to standard level. The 10k2 codec gain of
2dB in coverage can still be obtained. The DL RLT extended to 32 SACCH or more may not in
all cases compensate the signaling weakness vs the robusteness of the 10k2 at cell edges
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RECOMMENDATION
Setting the AMR table to 10k2only usage requires customizing the table at BSC level (class1
change = planned outage).
Another solution would be to set the optimistic table or Nortel customized table that is detailed
above.
On cell basis, HR should be totally avoided unless necessary but with pessimistic settings
(see Nortel customized table)
RLT should be also kept to 32 in such configuration.
ISOLATED AREAS
OBSERVATION
AMR has been deployed in a cluster of sites totally or partially isolated one to each other.
In the particular case where AMR is deployed in a cluster of sites totally or partially isolated
one to each other, whether or not the area is urbanized and the level of traffic significant, the
majority of the drops will be on RLT as calls are being dragged away or indoor without
candidates (or very few).
If the radio constraints are more due to C/N here, RLT has to be extended to 32 in order to
compensate the robusteness.of the codecs at the border of cells, and it is better to activate an
optimistic table.
HR can be reasonably activated if necessary as the RF conditions are clean.
So in this particular case, one can observe:
• The overall drop level do not change before and after AMR activation
• RLT drops represent more than 40% of the drop contribution
• T200 drops represent more than 22% of the drops which is probably a
consequence of the coverage lack with releases of calls made in limited radio
conditions
• HR traffic penetration is close to 55%
• T3107 drops are quite important
• T3103 drops are low as there is no real inter-site HO. The only ones being intercell
intra site HO where overlapping should be OK.
RECOMMENDATION
As in coverage limited or rural areas, Nortel would recommend to avoid using as much as
possible the low codecs in order not to experience any “user behavior” effect with AMR. A
usage of the optimistic table or a customized table avoiding at least the 4.75 codec is
necessary.
The RLT in the downlink (user perception) should be increased subsequently to a minimum of
32 SACCH period.
Concerning HR, one should look at the real traffic carried on a cell level to decide whether or
not capacity is required.
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Parameter Description
selfAdaptActivation Use for activate the Automatic Handover adaptation
servingfactorOffset This attribute defines the offset linked to the serving cell, used to decrease the HO margin
neighDisfavorOffset This attribute modifies the offset linked to the neighbouring cell, used to increase the HO marging
Number of signal strength measurements performed on a serving cell, used to compute arithmetic
rxLevHreqave
strength averages in handover and power control algorithms
Number of measurement results used in the PBGT algorithm to compute the average neighboring
rxNCellHreqave
signal strength
Number of measurement reports used in short averaging algorithm on current cell for signal strength
rxLevHreqaveBeg
arithmetic average
Number of measurement results used in short averaging algorithm to compute the average
rxLevNCellHreqaveBeg
neighboring signal strength
Number of arithmetic averages taken into account to compute the weighted average bit error rate in
rxQualHreqave handover and power control algorithms. Each is calculated from rxQualHreqave bit error rate (BER)
measurements on a radio link
This attribute defines the number of quality measures used by the power control mechanism, in
rxQualAveBeg
case of hopping TS or fast MS
hoMargin Margin to use for PBGT handovers to avoid subsequent handover, in PBGT formula
Margin to be added to hoMargin until rxLevHreqave for short averaging algorithm in order to
hoMarginBeg
compensate the lack of measurements
Number of Measurement Results messages that must be received before the handover algorithm in
runHandOver
a cell is triggered
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FIRST ACTIVATION
Parameter Value
selfAdaptActivation enabled
servingfactorOffset 2
neighDisfavorOffset 2
rxLevHreqave 8
rxNCellHreqave 8
rxLevHreqaveBeg 2
rxLevNCellHreqaveBeg 2
rxQualHreqave 8
rxQualAveBeg 2
hoMargin 4
hoMarginBeg 4
runHandOver 1
That activation has proven some good results, mainly on RF drops and Minute Of Usage, but
also on HO repartition, as shown below:
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Handover Distribution
As explained in the feature description the algorithm helps in the Urban areas by making
intelligent decisions for Power Budget handovers and reducing interference by more reactive
adjustment in attenuation.
In coverage limited environment the advantage is highly mitigated. In order to capture the
benefits from the feature in the Suburban and Rural areas through reducing rescue
handovers; appropriate recommendations should be applied (see chapter Final recommended
setting).
Hereunde are the general conclusions about AHA activation:
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FINE TUNING
The power Budget handover adaptation in the frequency hopping case ( > 3 SFH per sector)
uses servingfactorOffset to favor the server as suppose to the neighbor in two of the four
cases. So the setting of “-2” for servingFactorOffset means it will actually favor the server OR
in other words disfavor the neighbor greatly. The neighDisfavorOffset is already applied at “2”
dB such that the two cases where you have enough measurements of your server the
effective HOMargin (eff) will be 8 dB when you have not enough measurements in the
neighbor and 6 dB when you have enough measurements in the server as well as from the
neighbor. In the expectation of making better and more handovers decisions on PBGT in
these two case the HOMargin (eff) should be reduced by 2 dB in both these cases in order not
to disfavor the neighbor by effectively HOMargin of “6” OR “4” by tuning the
servingFactorOffset from “-2” to “0”.
Note: experience results presented in this part are done with 8 SFH per sector.
Handover QoS
The power Budget handover adaptation in the non-frequency hopping case ( < 4 SFH per
sector) does not use servingFactorOffset to favor the server as suppose to the neighbor. This
case uses the neighborDisfavorOffset and so the HOMargin (eff) remains at 6 and 4 dB for
cases with server having enough measurements. However, the other two cases where the
neighbor is disfavored when the server is not having enough measurements seems to be very
high with the intial settings; HOMargin (eff) ( 4 + 4 = 8 dB). It was recommended to change the
HOMargin (eff) by tuning hoMarginBeg from “4” dB to “2” dB to get effective margin of “6” dB.
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Handover QoS
The table below provides the recommended setting to take advantage of AHA activation
depending on the area characteristics:
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OVERLOAD CRITERION
The overload criterion is defined on a cell basis and can take two expressions according to the
operator’s choice :
• If queuing is not activated the number of available TCHs is lower than the defined
threshold,
• If queuing is activated: the number of queued TCH requests is greater than the
defined threshold.
That mechanism is decribed in the chapter Congestion determination.
When overload occurs, the BTS sends, on request from the BSC, HO indications including the
list of candidate neighbors n for which the following expression is fullfilled:
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RELATED PARAMETERS
Parameter Description
hoTraffic (bsc) enable the traffic HO feature at BSC level
hoTraffic (bts) enable the traffic HO feature at BTS level
level strength margin added to compute the neighbor eligibility in case of traffic HO
hoMarginTrafficOffset
(refer to EXP2Traffic)
minimum number of free TCHs which triggers the beginning of the TCH congestion
numberOfTCHFreeBeforeCongestion
phase and the beginning of the traffic overload condition
number of free TCHs which triggers the end of the TCH congestion phase and the end
numberOfTCHFreeToEndCongestion
of the traffic overload condition
list of couples of causes (HOInitialCause and HONonEssentialCause) to prevent
hoPingpongCombination
possible HO ping pong due to traffic HO
hoPingpongTimeRejection timer associated to the anti ping pong feature
level strength offset added to compute the neighbor eligibility depending on its state of
offsetLoad
congestion (refer to EXP4)
Furthermore and as described in the chapter Expected effects and recommended parameters,
queuing and directed retry parameters have to be set properly. As a reminder:
FEATURE INTERWORKING
In order to avoid blocking the originating calls on congested cells, directed retry with default
settings should be enabled, and to avoid a return from non congested to congested cell after
HO traffic activation two features should be used:
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In a normal phase incoming HO toward cell A can be alarm HO, PBGT HO, or traffic HO
coming from congested neighbor cells.
As the congestion state is reached on cell A, depending on the cell load state and the
associated parameter, some procedures are engaged to try to set back the cell to a non
congested state:
• traffic HO are activated from cell A to its non congested neighbor cells, i.e. PBGT
HO with a smaller margin
• traffic HO are disfavored toward congested cell thanks to Handover decision
according to adjacent cell priorities and load feature
• HO toward cell A are also disfavored
When the cell A succeed in balancing the excess of traffic it reaches again a non congested
cell and the normal procedures are applicable again.
PARAMETER TUNING
As described hereabove the expected behaviour takes benefit from the Handover for traffic
reasons feature that allows to balance calls in good radio conditions toward neighbor cells via
a traffic HO, from the directed retry HO that balance TCH assignment to neighbor cells, and
from the Handover decision according to adjacent cell priorities and load feature that prevents
from oading the cell with unnecessary incoming HO.
Directed retry parameters settings are summarized in the following chapter §4.5.5 and
hoMarginTrafficOffset and offsetLoad parameters tuning is explained hereunder.
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hoMarginTrafficOffset
Offset load
One can observe on the above figure that using traffic HO is likely to simulate an increase in
the non congested neighbor cell coverage of hoMarginTrafficOffset dB. In order to prevent
outgoing traffic HO from A to B to come back on A an offsetLoad value equal to
hoMarginTrafficOffset is recommended. In that case any attempt of HO from “traffic extended”
B cell coverage to A would be discarded.
offsetLoad ≥ hoMarginTrafficOffset
Furthermore, the correct setting of the anti ping pong feature sould harden that behaviour for
the PBGT HO from B to A.
LCAUTION!
The following exceptions should be applied:
• Timer protection should not be set from cells like: indoor, microcells, special
coverage, or any relation with HOmarginPBGT < 0
• Offset load should not be set from cells like: indoor, microcells, special coverage,
or any relation with HOmarginPBGT < 0
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RECOMMENDED PARAMETERS
CONGESTION DETECTION
Note: potential ressources for circuit calls including preemptable PDTCH cans be deduced
from the following metric
Note: HoMarginTrafficOffset should be tune such as the resulting margin should be equivalent
to the one for rescue HO. This margin can be increase case by case for cell with important
congestion. At on stage it is preferable to add capacity.
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• filteredTrafficCoefficient = 1
• hrCellLoadStart = 1 (range [0 to 100])
• hrCellLoadEnd = 0 (range [0 to 100])
With this values, the “V15.1 like” behaviour should be reached after nb_of_inService_DRX*10
seconds.
Note: the behaviour with this configuration is based on a theoretical study of the AMR based
on traffic algorithm.
To prevent HR allocation, it is necessary to set the parameters as following :
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PROBABILITY COLLISION
METHOD OF CALCULATION
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The more TDMA, the more the average collision probability will tend to its limit = 1 / Nb. Freq.
It leads also to ad hoc plan’s limitation, for which the Collision probability is constant. No
change in the parameters of the hopping law (HSN, FN) will bring any difference to the
collision probability, for all the MAIO are used by all the TDMA (ad-hoc frequency plan implies
number of TDMA is equal to the number of hopping frequencies).
As it will be detailed below, the hopping GSM laws have some interesting properties which
could be used for decreasing and controlling the collision probability when using time
synchronization.
PERIODICITY
Applying the GSM hopping algorithm, the following periodicity can be found concerning the FN
and FN Offsets:
ARFCN (FN) = ARFCN (FN + 26*51*64).
This property implies that the calculation of the collision probability over a duration of 84864
(where 84864 = 26*51*64) TDMA frames is equivalent to the collision probability calculation
over a duration of 2715648 TDMA frames
Therefore, the computation of the exact value of collision probability requires a shorter
duration - 84864 TDMA frames - than the whole GSM hyperframe. It implies also that using
the Nortel FN Offset range (0 to 84863) allows the calculation of collision probability with 100%
precision.
A hopping combination between two cells is defined as the following set of hopping
parameters: (HSN1, FNOffset1, MAIO1, HSN2, FNOffset2, MAIO2)
Applying again the GSM hopping algorithm, it can be found that the collision probability
between the hopping combinations:
(HSN1, FN1, MAIO1) and (HSN2, FN2, MAIO2)
is equal to the collision probability between hopping combinations:
This property allows that the calculation of the collision probabilities between all hopping
combinations that exist between 2 cells needs computing the collision probabilities only for
some hopping combinations of these 2 cells - therefore, less computing time than in the
general case is needed.
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In the case of asynchronous hopping networks, the interference between a victim cell and an
interferer cell is calculated by using an average collision probability between two cells. This
probability is calculated with a simple formula which takes into account the number of common
frequencies, the number of TRXs of the interfering cell and the numbers of frequencies of both
MA lists.
Using the GSM hopping algorithm, it can be found that the hopping combinations for 2 cells
have collision probabilities which, depending on the used FN Offsets, HSNs and MAIOs, may
be or not be significantly different from the above mentioned average collision probability.
This property can be exploited only on Network with low fractional reuse where the chosen
hopping combinaisons with very low or low collision probabilities (so called magic Hopping
combinaison) could be used throughout the network for decreasing the collision probability
and thus the network interference.
Time synchronization allows knowing and controlling the FNOffset. Therefore, the existence of
those hopping combinations that have significantly different collision probabilities from the
average collision probability could be exploited only in the case of time synchronized networks
with low fractional reuse.
Unfortunately, there are several difficulties about using these special hopping combinations as
the multiple matching of the 3 parameters (HSN, FN Offsets, MAIOs) at a network level is very
complex. Finding the best global solution through systematic computing is not possible but it is
supposed that a satisfactory feasibility can be achieved by using a certain strategy of
parameter planning (HSN, FN Offsets, and MAIOs.
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Also, the TSC impact in a synchronized network depends on the fact if an interference
cancellation feature is deployed or not in a network.
When an interference cancellation feature is not deployed in the synchronized network, the
TSC degradation impact in the case of TSC collision may be up to 3 dB. But this impact is
significantly higher when an interference cancellation feature is deployed: if in this case a TSC
collision exists between the victim and the strongest co-channel interferer, then all gain due to
the interference cancellation is lost and also an extra loss in C/I is produced (the TSC
degradation impact may be up to 12 dB).
Therefore, synchronization may cause significant network C/I degradation when synchronizing
a network without a careful TSC (BCC) planning.
In an asynchronous network, the BCC planning is contained in BSIC (NCC&BCC) planning
which is done in order to avoid usually co-BCCH & co-BSIC neighboring. This kind of planning
is no longer satisfactory for a synchronized network: in this case, a BCC planning has to be
done firstly for avoiding the TSC collisions and then a NCC planning has to be done in order to
avoid usually co-BCCH & co-BSIC neighboring.
BCC planning for avoiding TSC collisions is far from being trivial as only 8 values (0 to 7) are
available and TSC collisions have to be avoided on the BCCH channel as well as on the TCH
channel (which usually is hopping).
Each victim and interferer TSC couple (i, j) has an intrinsic impact value: Ti,j. But the real
impact of an interfering TSC on the final value of interference has to be calculated taking also
into account a factor characterizing the interference situation. This factor, called DITR
(Dominant to Interferer TSC Ratio), reflects how much stronger the co-channel interference
with the same TSC as the dominant interferer is comparing to the rest of interference (which is
the sum of: interferences with other TSCs, adjacent-channel interferences and thermal noise).
SACCH IMPACT
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SCH IMPACT
FN Offset has an important role on BSIC decoding reactivity. According to the GSM standard,
a mobile should attempt to demodulate SCH on the BCCH carrier of as many neighbor cells
as possible, and read the BSIC as often as possible for neighboring cell information and at
least once every 10 seconds in dedicated mode or for cell selection or reselection in idle
mode.
In a synchronized network without a FN Offset planning, the SCH transmission of neighbor
cells will be simultaneous and a mobile will need much more time for BSIC reading. Thus, a
mobile will read the BSIC of a smaller number of neighbors if FN Offset is not correctly
planned.
In a synchronized network with an intelligent FN Offset planning, the simultaneous SCH
transmission of neighbor cells can be significantly reduced. In this case, a mobile could read
the BSIC of a greater number of neighbors in the window of 10 seconds. It has to be
underlined that in this case an intelligent scheduling for BSIC refreshing has a very significant
impact.
Finally, it has to be mentioned that the BSIC searching and decoding speed in active mode
depends on the type of TCH channel used by mobiles. During a 26 TDMA frames period, a
mobile has only one idle frame for searching and decoding the BSIC of neighbor cells when
using a FR TCH channel, whereas it has 12 idle frames when using a HR TCH channel.
Consequently, for a synchronized network, the impact of an intelligent FN Offset planning on
the BSIC searching and decoding speed in active mode is more significant for the mobiles
using FR TCH channels than for the mobiles using HR TCH channels.
Neighbor relationships and the Interference Matrix are used as input data for the SCH Color
allocation (see [R34])
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Since V9-V10, Nortel’s proprietary algorithm of uplink interference cancellation requires BTS
equipped with antenna diversity.
It can work with or without frequency hopping and it can remove any kind of interferer that has
some spatial or temporal coherence (co-channel, adjacent channel, CDMA signal leaking in
the PCS band, TV transmitter, etc...).
The number of simultaneous interferers is a limiting factor to the good working of the feature.
The feature removes the stronger interference signal and proves to be more efficient when the
ratio (Stronger Interferer / Sum of all interferers) is high. Theoretical gain values are
summarized bellow:
1 interferer 5 interferers
Synchronous interferers 8dB 1dB
Asynchronous interferers 4.5dB 0.5dB
Potential gains with interference cancellation feature
The algorithm uses the window of 26 bits of the TSC in the normal bursts.
The table above shows that the gain is higher in case of synchronous interferers. If the
stronger interferer uses the same TSC than the useful signal, then, the useful signal will be
degraded as well (TSC collision).
The TSC collision problem doesn’t happen if, comparing to the victim burst, the interferer burst
has a delay greater than 5 symbols. This is the assumption taken for the non synchronized
case.
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In the same way as for the uplink, SAIC (Single Antenna Interference Cancellation) mobiles
may limit the interferences impact in downlink.
SAIC mobiles are the DARP (Downlink Advanced Receiver Performance) phase 1 mobiles.
One antenna downlink algorithm, based on signal processing in the mobiles takes benefit at
the burst level by improving the C/I ratio up to 9 dB gain in first adjacent interferences and up
to 2 dB for co channel interferences. Unlike uplink interference cancellation, the benefit of this
feature at the network level depends on the penetration of these mobiles. At 75% penetration,
1 dB improvement on C/I can be achieved.
Moreover, in non-interfered conditions, these algorithms do not degrade the performances.
The real benefit on the network will actually depend on the mobiles performances and their
penetration on the market.
Since performances are dependent on SAIC mobiles penetration, there is a way to part the
requests associated with a mobile type (SAIC or not) on some of the TDMA rather than others
in case of TCH allocation. Each TDMA is affected with a property (DARPPh1Priority) that
shares the TDMA of a cell in 2 pools:
• SAIC :
For a SAIC type of request, whatever the type of request (FR, AMR FR,
AMR HR, DATA) BSC allocates the MS on a high priority DARPPh1
resource unless there is no free TCH (that copes with the request) in the
high priority DARPPh1 pool of resources. For AMR HR request, if there is
any hole in the high priority DARPPh1 pool of resources, this one is selected
otherwise BSC looks for an available full TS in the high priority DARPPh1
pool of resources. If there is neither available hole nor available full TS in the
high priority DARPPh1 pool of resources, BSC looks for first an available
hole in the low priority DARPPh1 pool of resources, then an available full TS
in this pool of resources.
For a non SAIC type of request, whatever the type of request (FR, AMR FR,
AMR HR, DATA) BSC allocates the MS on a low priority DARPPh1 resource
unless there is no free TCH in the low priority DARPPh1 pool of resources.
For AMR HR request, if there is any hole in the low priority DARPPh1 pool of
resources, this one is selected otherwise BSC looks for available full TS in
the low priority DARPPh1 pool of resources. If there is neither available hole
nor available full TS in the low priority DARPPh1 pool of resources, BSC
looks for first an available hole in the high priority DARPPh1 pool of
resources, then an available full TS in this pool of resources.
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• Interference level,
• TDMA priority,
• TDMA number (from the smallest to the biggest: 0 to n),
• TS number (from the biggest to the smallest: TS7 to TS0).
Note: For radio resource allocation only SDCCH requests are not differentiated depending if
the mobile requesting is SAIC capable or not.
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Therefore, for making an easier FN Offset planning, Nortel obtains the FN Offset planning by
making independently:
• SACCH Color planning is done taking into account the TN Offset planning
additionnally
• Hopping Color planning is useful only for a fractional reuse frequency plan as it has
no impact fro adhoc frequency plans
For further details concerning the SACCH Color, SCH Color and Hopping color please refer to
[R34])
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DEFINITION
A network engineering study of only the 100% Synchronization Solution in a frequency adhoc
plan was performed during a trial,
The trial synchronized zone consisted of 33 synchronized sites which were divided into 2
different clusters:
• Time synchronization with FNOffset planning (SCH + SACCH color) and TNOffset
planning (same TSC plan as Burst Synchronization);
Please refer to Network Synchronization handbook [R34] for a complete KPI Results
presentation.
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In order to determine the best ICA settings, tests were carried out in Burst Synchronization
with an existing BSIC plan as well as with a planned TSC. The expectation that ICA 100%
performs better than ICA 50% was confirmed. This can be seen in the following charts, where
average UL BER and MOU metrics are presented in Burst Synchronization with an existing
BSIC plan. Following these tests, it was decided that only ICA 100% will be used in the
following tests.
AVE RxQual UL
0,53
0,52
ICA @50% ICA @100%
0,51
0,5
0,49
0,48
0,47
0,46
0,45
0,44
06
06
06
06
06
06
06
06
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
8/
8/
8/
8/
8/
8/
8/
8/
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
MOU
290
ICA @50% ICA @100%
270
250
230
210
190
170
150
07/08/2006 08/08/2006 09/08/2006 10/08/2006 11/08/2006 12/08/2006 13/08/2006 14/08/2006
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A gain can be achieved with NW synchronization only when deploying with interference
cancellation features (ICA in UL, SAIC in DL) and performing engineering planning of the
following parameters: TSC, FN Offset, TNOffset, hopping laws.
The interference cancellation features work significantly better in burst or time synchronized
networks than in asynchronous networks provided that co-channel TSC collisions are avoided.
The impact of interference cancellation is expected to be greater in UL due to a more
performing interference cancellation algorithm and 100% penetration.
In DL, the interference cancellation algorithm is less performing and, at present, the
penetration of mobiles with such a feature is still low in life networks (below 30%).
As mentioned before, in an asynchronous network the BSIC planning is done in order to avoid
BSIC/BCCH conflict between the neighbors. Evidently, this BSIC planning cannot ensure that
there are no harmful TSC when synchronizing the network. Furthermore, this methodology of
BSIC planning cannot take in consideration that the TSC couples have different TSC impacts
when synchronizing the network and therefore it cannot take advantage of this fact by
allocating the best TSC couples to the worst couples of interfering cells.
270 7200
250 6000
Traffic
MOU
230 4800
190 2400
170 1200
150 0
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
00 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200
8 /2 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 /
/0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0
07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
The intent behind this test case was to see how much a planned TSC provides improvements
in performance against an un-planned TSC (BSIC). As it was expected, the MOU evolution
shows an improving trend.
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SABME: frame to set asynchronous balanced mode (initiate a link for numbered information
transfer).
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LCAUTION!
The expected number of Erlang with regards to the AMR HR penetration has been calculated
based on an estimation of the gain in capactiy provided by AMR HR. It should not be
considered as contractual but as a good approximation of the expected gain.
% Blocking 2% 2% 2% 2% 2%
AMR HR penetration 0% 25 % 50 % 75 % 100 %
Number of TCH
1 0,021 0,021 0,022 0,023 0,027
2 0,223 0,230 0,247 0,284 0,365
3 0,602 0,630 0,698 0,849 1,177
4 1,092 1,158 1,324 1,688 2,482
5 1,657 1,783 2,097 2,787 4,294
6 2,276 2,483 3,000 4,138 6,621
7 2,935 3,208 3,882 5,299 8,377
8 3,627 3,972 4,814 6,502 10,152
9 4,345 4,767 5,786 7,732 11,922
10 5,084 5,589 6,794 8,982 13,669
11 5,842 6,434 7,833 10,245 15,385
12 6,615 7,299 8,899 11,516 17,056
13 7,401 8,182 9,991 12,790 18,677
14 8,200 9,082 11,106 14,065 20,241
15 9,010 9,978 12,114 15,360 22,004
16 9,829 10,885 13,119 16,655 23,747
17 10,656 11,800 14,119 17,946 25,468
18 11,491 12,724 15,112 19,234 27,164
19 12,333 13,656 16,099 20,516 28,834
20 13,181 14,594 17,077 21,791 30,473
21 14,036 15,540 18,046 23,059 32,082
22 14,896 16,525 19,272 24,579 34,075
23 15,761 17,520 20,517 26,118 36,081
24 16,631 18,524 21,783 27,678 38,102
25 17,504 19,536 23,068 29,257 40,135
26 18,383 20,558 24,374 30,857 42,182
27 19,265 21,587 25,698 32,474 44,240
28 20,150 22,624 27,041 34,112 46,310
29 21,040 23,669 28,403 35,767 48,391
30 21,932 24,643 29,596 37,200 50,467
31 22,827 25,617 30,791 38,629 52,551
32 23,725 26,593 31,989 40,058 54,645
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9.1. ABBREVIATIONS
For other abbreviations, refer to [R3].
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LB Link Budget
LNA Low Noise Amplifier, part of DLNA system
MA Mobile Allocation
MAI Mobile Allocation Index
MAIO Mobile Allocation Index Offset
MCC Mobile Country Code
MTBF Minimum Time Between Failure
MEU Masthead Electronics Unit
Mini-masthead electronics cabinet. Remote amplifier located between BTS
and the antenna
MHz MegaHertz
MMU Mass Memory Unit (BSC)
MPU Main Processor Unit (BSC)
Set of BSC functional units charged mainly with call processing functions
MNC Mobile Network Code
Mp Measurement processing
MRC Maximum Radio Combiner
MS Mobile Station
MSC Mobile Services Switching Center
MCL Minimum Coupling Loss
MTBF Mathematical Time Between Failure
It is a mathematical time expectancy between two successive parts of
equipment or unit failure
NCC Network Colour Code
First three bits of the BSIC code. Each country is assigned a list of NCC.
NMC Network Management Centre
NSS Network and Switching SubSystem
Radio Cellular Network subsystem including an MSC, main HLR, VLR, EIR
and AUC
NS/EP National Security and Emergency Preparedness
OMC Operation and Maintenance Centre for the radio subsystem
OMC-R Operation and Maintenance Centre - Radio
OMC-S Operation and Maintenance Centre - Switching
OMU Central BSC Operation & Maintenance Unit
OSS Operation SubSystem
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9.2. DEFINITIONS
CODEC MODE
Codec mode is used to designate one of the 8 AMR vocoder and identified using its rate
(12k2, 10k2, 7.95, 7k4, 6k7, 5k9, 5k15, 4k75) give in kbps.
CONCENTRIC CELL
Two concentric geographical zones delimited by distance and level criteria (outer zone and
inner zone).
Outerzone
Innerzone
BCCH and
traffic signalling
channels channels
Each group of TRXs is dedicated to a frequency band (900 and 1800 MHz for example) with
different radio propagation condition; the frequency band used for the largest zone (outer) is
the one used by the mono-band MS already existing in the network, since a mono-band MS
must still be able to decode the common channels.
Outerzone
Innerzone / band1 band0
GSM (or DCS)
DCS (or GSM)
BCCH and
traffic channels
signalling
channels
Each group of TRXs is dedicated to a frequency band and the two groups of TRXs are
combined with coupling systems with different losses, resulting in different coverage areas
with the same TX transmission power.
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Outerzone
Innerzone
H2D
H4D
traffic BCCH and
channels signalling
channels
ERLANG
FREQUENCY LOAD
The Ad-Hoc frequency hopping does not reproduce a pattern all over the network. Frequency
planning is done (HSN, MAIO, MA lists) according to the interference matrix. The particularity
is that the number of hopping TRX = the number of hopping frequencies in most of the cases.
This frequency pattern is used in case of frequency hopping. Each hopping TRX of 1*1 cell,
uses all frequencies of the frequency law:
f1,f2,f3,f4
f1,f2,f3,f4 f1,f2,f3,f4
This frequency pattern is used in case of frequency hopping. Each hopping TRX of 1*3 cell,
uses 1/3 frequencies of the frequency law:
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f1,f2,f3
f7,f8,f9 f4,f5,f6
MULTIZONE CELL
RADIO INTERFACE
SPEECH FRAME
TIMING ADVANCE
Delay used to compensate propagation time between mobile and base station.
UM-INTERFACE
WPS CALL
Call which has priority level set in the Assignment Request or Handover Request between 2
and 6 (3GPP TS 48.008)
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10. INDEX
All the parameters listed in the chapter ALGORITHM PARAMETERS are listed and indexed
here below:
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Z END OF DOCUMENT Y
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