07 LTE Network Tuning

LTE Network Tuning
www.huawei.com
Copyright © 2015 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Objectives
 Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
 Describe the basic process of LTE network tuning
 Understand the different steps in the process of LTE network tuning
 Understand the coverage problem analysis and handover problem

analysis during LTE network tuning
Copyright © 2015 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page1
Contents
1. Basic Process of LTE Network Tuning
2. Test Preparations for LTE Network Tuning
3. Data Collection for LTE Network Tuning
4. Coverage Problem Analysis
5. Handover Problem Analysis
Basic Process of Network Optimization
Single site verification The main target of network tuning is to
ensure the coverage, control interference
and clear basic handover problems.
Network Tuning The main target of this step is to

follow the contract to further
optimize network performance and
to do special optimization.
Network parameters optimization
No
Whether the optimization target is met?
Yes
End
The Basic Process of Network Tuning
Test preparations:
Set optimization targets
Partition of clusters
Determine test routes
Prepare tools and materials for test
Data collection:
Adjustment
Drive test
Engineering parameter adjustment
Indoor measurement
Neighboring cell parameter adjustment
eNodeB configuration data
No Problem analysis:
Do the RF KPIs meet the KPI target? coverage problem analysis
handover problem analysis
Yes
End
Contents
Test Preparations: Set Optimization Target
 Coverage is the most import requirement of network tuning. The
following is a example of coverage target:
Acceptance
Reference Value Remarks
Content
≥ 95% (urban area)

This is the result of a scanner test conducted
without outdoor load in the planned coverage
RSRP ≥ –110 dBm
areas. The test routes are of grid structure,
≥ 90% (suburb) covering all cells.
This is the result of a UE test conducted without

SINR ≥ 5 dB ≥ 95% outdoor load in the planned coverage areas. The
test routes are of grid structure, covering all cells.
RSRP & SINR
 RSRP (Reference signal received power):
 RSRP is defined as the linear average over the power contributions
of the resource elements that carry cell-specific reference signals
within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth.
 SINR (Signal-to-Interference plus Noise Ratio) = S / (I + N)

 Signal (S): power of effective signal
 Interference (I): power of interference
 Noise (N): Thermal noise of receiver
Some Other KPI for Drive Test
 For some network tuning projects, maybe some other KPIs more than
coverage KPI are needed. The following are some examples:
LTE/SAE Attach success rate
E-RAB setup success rate
Call drop rate
Intra-LTE handover success rate
intra-LTE handover delay
FTP download average throughput
FTP upload average throughput
Test Preparation: Partition of Cluster
 Network tuning is performed in a group/cluster of eNodeBs, rather than
for each single eNodeB separately.
 Some considerations for cluster division:

 Terrain
 Traffic
 Route line
 … 06
05
02
• 01 is a highway coverage area. 01 04 07
• 03 and 04 are dense urban 08
03
areas.
• 02, 05, 06 and 07 are ordinary
urban areas.
• 08 is a suburban area.
• Each cluster includes 18 to 22
eNodeB.
An example of cluster division
Test Preparations: Determine Test Routes
 Some considerations of test

route plan:
 Cover main streets and
important places
 Cover all cells if possible
 Cover the borders of

neighboring clusters
 …
Test routes of a cluster of a project
Test Preparations: Preparing Tools and
Materials
Recommended Recommended Materials:

software: hardware: • Engineering
• GENEX probe • Frequency scanner parameters
• GENEX assistant • GPS • Mapinfo map
• Map info • Test terminal • Network
• Google earth • Laptop configuration
•… •… parameters
•…
Contents
Date collection
 Before network tuning:
 Collecting planned neighboring cell data and the data configured in
eNodeB
 Checking the consistency between the current configured data and

the planned data
 Drive test result

 The result of outdoor/indoor drive test should be saved for analysis
Contents
Overview of Coverage Analysis
 Coverage problem analysis is a key task of RF optimization, which
focuses on signal distribution.
 The following are some typical coverage problems:
weak cross Lack of

coverage coverage dominant cell
Overview of Coverage Analysis (cont.)
 Weak coverage means the RSRP of the reference signal in a coverage is
smaller than a threshold (The typical threshold is -110dBm).
 Cross coverage generally means that the coverage area of an eNodeB

goes beyond the planned scope, and generates discontinuous dominant
areas in the coverage areas of other eNodeBs.
 Lack of dominant cell means a type of area where there is no dominant

cell or the dominant cell is changed frequently.
Factors Affecting Coverage
For downlink: For uplink:
• Downlink Tx power • Uplink Tx power
• Path loss in downlink • Path loss in uplink
• Carrier frequency • Carrier frequency
• Distance between UE • Distance between UE
receiver and eNodeB transmitter and eNodeB
transmitter receiver
• Propagation environment • Propagation environment
• Antenna gain • Gain of Rx diversity in
• Height of antenna eNodeB
• Tilt of antenna
• Azimuth of antenna
Solutions for Weak Coverage
 Optimize coverage by adjusting the azimuth and tilt of the
antenna, increasing the height of the antenna, and using an
antenna with higher gain. The preferential measure is electrical
tilt, followed by mechanical adjustment tilt, and then adjustment
of azimuth.
Solutions for Weak Coverage (cont.)
 For the non-overlapped parts of the coverage areas of two
adjacent eNodeBs, if they have plenty of users or are large in size,
a new eNodeB should be built or the coverage of adjacent
eNodeBs should be enlarged, so as to deepen the overlaps of the
coverage of the two eNodeBs. Meanwhile, attention should be
paid to intra-frequency interference as a possible result of
increase of coverage scope.
Solutions for Weak Coverage (cont.)
 For a weak coverage area caused by a hollow and back of a hill,
the coverage scope can be extended with a new eNodeB or RRU.
 For a dead zone inside an elevator shaft, tunnel, underground

garage or basement, and high building, the measures include use
of RRU, indoor distribution systems, leakage cables, and
directional antennas.
Solutions for Cross Coverage
 For cross coverage, try to prevent an antenna from transmitting
signal right towards a road, or use the adjacent buildings to
produce a blocking effect to decrease cross coverage.
 For a high eNodeB, changing its address is an effective method.

Generally, however, it is always very difficult to find a suitable
substitute for new site. So adjusting the pilot power or using an
electrical tilt antenna to reduce the eNodeB coverage scope is a
possible solution.
Solutions for Lack of Dominant Cell
 For an area without a dominant cell, a typical method is to
strengthen the coverage of a cell with strong signal (or a short-
distance cell) and weaken the coverage of other cells with weak
signal (or long-distance cells) by adjusting the antenna tilt and
azimuth.
Coverage Analysis Process
 Normally coverage analysis process includes downlink coverage
analysis and uplink coverage analysis.
Downlink coverage analysis: Uplink coverage analysis:

RSRP UE Tx Power
RSRP for Downlink Coverage Analysis
 Downlink coverage analysis is to analyze the RSRP.
 The RSRP quality standard must be combined with the optimization

standard. The following is a example of the optimization standard of RS
RSRP:
Result of test by using scanner, with the
RSRP >= –110 dBm >= 95%
UE antenna placed outdoor.
 The corresponding quality standards can be defined as:

 Good: RSRP ≥ –90 dBm
 Fair: –110 dBm ≤ RSRP < –90 dBm
 Poor: RSRP < –110 dBm
Basic Process of Downlink Coverage Analysis
RS Coverage Strength Analysis

• Check the RSRP distribution and find the weak
coverage areas
Dominant Cell Analysis

• Check PCI (physical cell identifier) information and
find the areas where the best PCI changes frequently
An Example of RS Coverage Strength Analysis
Area with poor

coverage
An Example of Dominant Cell Analysis
PCI of the best cell changes frequently

because
Lack of cell
of a dominant lack of dominant cell
UE Tx Power for Uplink Coverage Analysis
 The main method of uplink coverage analysis is the analyze the

distribution of UE transmission power.
 UE Transmission power can reflect the uplink path loss and

uplink interference.
 The UE Tx power is lower than 10dBm if the uplink coverage is good.
An Example of UE Tx Power Distribution
Areas where UE
Tx power is high
Case 1(Cross Coverage): Symptom
Legend--PCI
 288
Over coverage by
 144
cell with PCI 288
 432
 365
 364
 33
 145
 192
Case 1(Cross Coverage): Analysis
 As shown in Figure, the most possible reason for this over
coverage is either excessive height of the antenna or improper
setting of the antenna tilt.
 In this case a check of the current engineering parameter settings

shows that the tilt is too small. It is recommended to increase the
tilt.
Case 1(Cross Coverage): Adjustment
 Adjust the tilt of cell with PCI 288 from 3 degree to 6 degree
 The result after adjustment

The problem of over
coverage by cell with PCI
288 solved after adjustment.
Case 2(Wrong Connection of
Antenna): Symptom
The coverage of the three cells

does not match the configuration.
Case 2(Wrong Connection of Antenna): Analysis &
Adjustment
 In this case, the antenna connection for the three cells is wrong. The antenna
for cell9 is connected to cell10. The antenna for cell10 is connected to cell11.
The antenna for cell11 is connected to cell9.
The problem is solved after

changing the antenna connection.
Contents
Main Handover Problems During Network
Tuning
 During network tuning two main problems can affect the
handover:
Channel quality Neighboring relation

problem problem
Channel Quality Problem
 Under multi-user or loading test scenario, the interference is
more serious; poor channel quality leads to signaling lost and
handover failure.
 Channel quality can be divided into UL and DL for analysis.
Uplink and downlink channel

Uplink channel problems are related. Downlink channel
problem problem
Typical Parameters for Channel Quality
RSRP
• RSRP is the basic requirement for downlink signal coverage.
SINR
• SINR indicates the downlink channel quality.
IBLER
• IBLER indicates the data block error ratio.
PDCCH DL/UL Grant

• PDCCH DL/UL grant indicates the scheduling result which is
affected by channel quality.
Neighboring Relation Problem
 During network tuning the basic problem of neighboring relation
is missing neighboring cells.
 Because of configuration mistakes maybe some neighboring cells are
missed. It can result in call drop.
 ANR (automatic neighbor relation) can help to solve this problem,

but some terminals don’t support ANR. So ANR is not fully verified in
commercial networks.
Case 1(Missing Neighboring cells): Symptom
Measurement report has

been sent to eNodeB but
no handover command
from eNodeB.
Case 1(Missing Neighboring cells): Analysis
 UE sent measurement report to eNodeB. But eNodeB didn’t send

handover command. Missing neighboring cell is a possible
reason.
 To confirm that the problem is caused by missing neighboring

cell:
 At first, check measurement report to find which cell are reported.
 Next step is to check whether the reported cell is set in neighboring

cell list of the eNodeB.
(cont.): Measurement Report
In measurement report for cell

with PCI 64 is reported.
(cont.): Measurement Control
In RRC connection reconfiguration

(measurement control) cell with PCI
64 is not in the neighboring cell list.
So the problem is confirmed which is
missing neighboring cell.
Case 2(Interference): Symptom
 During the test, the handover from cell with PCI 281 to cell with
PCI 279 fails.
The handover failure

area is covered by the
cells with PCI 281, PCI
279 and PCI 178,
Case 2(Interference): Analysis
 In this case, the interference from the cell with PCI 178 is too
strong. So the UE can not receive the handover command
correctly, then handover failed.
Strong interference from

the cell with PCI 178
causes handover failure.
Note: the arrows in this figure indicate the coverage of cells.
Case 2(Interference): Adjustment
 In this case, to control the interference from the cell with PCI
178, we can increase the antenna tilt of the cell with PCI 178.
Then in the handover area the signal strength from the cell with
PCI 178 is reduced.
The adjustment reduces the signal strength of

the cell with PCI 178, so the strong
interference disappear and problem is solved.
Case 3(Bad DL Channel Quality): Symptom
 Handover fails and call drop happens. The following is the

signaling trace result in eNodeB side.
eNodeB received
measurement report.
eNodeB sent handover

command.
Uu signaling in eNodeB side
eNodeB sent handover request

to the target eNodeB.
X2 signaling in eNodeB side
Case 3(Bad DL Channel Quality): Symptom
(cont.)
 The signaling trace result in UE side.
UE sent measurement
reports to eNodeB. UE
didn’t receive handover
command.
UE performs RRC
connection reestablishment
procedure.
Case 3(Bad DL Channel Quality): Analysis
 The complete handover procedure through X2 interface:
Source Target
UE MME
eNodeB eNodeB
Measurement Report
Handover Request
eNodeB sent this
HandoverRequest
signaling, but UE
RRC Connection Ack
didn’t receive it. Reconfiguration
SN StatusTransfer
DataForwarding
RRC Connection Reconfiguration
Complete Path Switch
Request
Path Switch
Request Ack
UE Context
Release
EndMarker
(cont.)
 What is the possible reason for handover failure?
 Is it because of missing neighboring cell?
 No. eNodeB sent RRC CONNECTION RECONFIGURATION(handover
command) to the UE. It means the neighboring cell is configured, not
missing.
 From the signaling trace result we can see eNodeB sent handover
command to the UE but UE didn’t receive it. Is it because of bad
channel quality?
(cont.)
 Check the RSRP in serving cell and target cell. The following is the result:
Target cell RSRP
Serving cell RSRP
(cont.)
 In this case the downlink channel quality in serving cell decreased
too fast. So the handover procedure can not be completed in
time.
 If the handover can be triggered earlier. Maybe the problem can

be solved.
Case 3(Bad DL Channel Quality): A3 Event for
Intra-frequency Handover
 A3 event is used to trigger intra-frequency handover. To trigger
handover earlier, some parameters in A3 event can be modified.
 For A3 event:
 Entering condition: Mn + Ofn +
Ocn – Hys > Ms + Ofs + Ocs +
Off
 Leaving condition: Mn + Ofn +

Ocn + Hys < Ms + Ofs + Ocs +
Off
Case 3(Bad DL Channel Quality): Adjustment
 Two parameters in A3 event can be modified to trigger handover
earlier:
 1. Modify the intra-frequency handover offset(Off).
 A smaller value of the intra-frequency handover offset results in a earlier
handover. This method will affect handover between the serving cell
and all the neighboring cells. So it is not good.
 2. Modify the cell individual offset(Ocn) between the serving cell

and the target cell.
 Decrease the Ocn results in a earlier handover between the serving cell
and the dedicated neighboring cell. Try this method and the problem is
solved.
Thank you
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07 LTE Network Tuning

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LTE Network Tuning

Copyright © 2015 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

 Understand the different steps in the process of LTE network tuning

 Understand the coverage problem analysis and handover problem

2. Test Preparations for LTE Network Tuning

3. Data Collection for LTE Network Tuning

4. Coverage Problem Analysis

5. Handover Problem Analysis

Network Tuning The main target of this step is to

2. Test Preparations for LTE Network Tuning

3. Data Collection for LTE Network Tuning

4. Coverage Problem Analysis

5. Handover Problem Analysis

≥ 95% (urban area)

This is the result of a UE test conducted without

 SINR (Signal-to-Interference plus Noise Ratio) = S / (I + N)

 Interference (I): power of interference

 Noise (N): Thermal noise of receiver

LTE/SAE Attach success rate

E-RAB setup success rate

Call drop rate

Intra-LTE handover success rate

intra-LTE handover delay

FTP download average throughput

FTP upload average throughput

 Some considerations for cluster division:

 Some considerations of test

 Cover all cells if possible

 Cover the borders of

Test routes of a cluster of a project

Recommended Recommended Materials:

2. Test Preparations for LTE Network Tuning

3. Data Collection for LTE Network Tuning

4. Coverage Problem Analysis

5. Handover Problem Analysis

 Checking the consistency between the current configured data and

 Drive test result

2. Test Preparations for LTE Network Tuning

3. Data Collection for LTE Network Tuning

4. Coverage Problem Analysis

5. Handover Problem Analysis

 The following are some typical coverage problems:

weak cross Lack of

 Cross coverage generally means that the coverage area of an eNodeB

 Lack of dominant cell means a type of area where there is no dominant

 For a dead zone inside an elevator shaft, tunnel, underground

 For a high eNodeB, changing its address is an effective method.

Downlink coverage analysis: Uplink coverage analysis:

 The RSRP quality standard must be combined with the optimization

 The corresponding quality standards can be defined as:

 Fair: –110 dBm ≤ RSRP < –90 dBm

 Poor: RSRP < –110 dBm

RS Coverage Strength Analysis

Dominant Cell Analysis

Area with poor

PCI of the best cell changes frequently

 The main method of uplink coverage analysis is the analyze the

 UE Transmission power can reflect the uplink path loss and

 In this case a check of the current engineering parameter settings

 The result after adjustment

The coverage of the three cells

The problem is solved after

2. Test Preparations for LTE Network Tuning

3. Data Collection for LTE Network Tuning