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Chapter 8: Alarm Interpretation and

Monitoring

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Objectives
Objectives:
Describes the Nokia Alarm Monitoring and Alarm Interpretation


References:
Tuan Vo

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Contents
Alarm Monitoring Basics
Alarm Interpretation
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MML Commands for Alarms
There are basically two levels of alarm monitoring: BSC and BTS
Both levels allow for the output of active alarms or a history of alarms
BTS alarms are reported on a BCF level
So its important to know the BCF ID of a particular site
The alarm handling MML commands are as follows:
Alarm Output MML Command
BSC Active ZAHO;
BSC History ZAHP:[obj]:[NR=Alarm Number]:[yyyy-mm-dd];
BTS Active ZEOL:bcf_id;
BTS History ZEOH:[yyyy-mm-dd]:BCF=bcf_id,[NR=Alarm Number];
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Alarm Reference
Nokia Electronic Documentation (NED) is an invaluable reference tool
for understanding alarms
NED contains the following alarm information:
Meaning
Supplementary Information Fields
Instructions
Canceling
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Reading Alarm Info
Heres an example of an active BTS Alarm
MML Command for active
BTS alarms on BCF-118
Alarm Number
Alarm Name
Additional and supplementary
alarm information (use NED to find
the meaning of the info)
Network Element
Information
Alarm Timestamp
Alarm Level: Critical,
Major, Minor
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Alarm Number Structure
There is a numbering structure to the alarms that will help in
understanding which network element is affected
Alarm Number Category
0 - 999 Notices
1000 - 1999 Disturbance Printouts
2000 - 3999 Failure Printouts and Diagnostics Reports
7000 - 7999 Base Station Alarms
8000 - 8999 Transmission Equipment Alarms
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Contents
Alarm Monitoring Basics
Alarm Interpretation
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BSC Alarms
In general BSC level alarms are usually monitored by an operators
switching or core group
Alarms on the BSC level are usually BSC elements (i.e. TCSM, BCSU, PCU,
etc)
There are a few alarms that require RF planning assistance to resolve, e.g.
2720 TELECOM LINK OVERLOAD
2725 ADJACENT CELL IDENTIFIER CONFIGURATION ERROR
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BSC Alarm
2720 Telecom Link Overload
This alarm usually is a sign that the FXC card needs to be replaced
when the following is observed:
TBF Success Rate degrades significantly on affected BTSs
Supplementary information shows that the LAPD link is overloaded
All BTSs in the same cabinet have the alarm at some point (i.e. check the BSC
alarm history)
01 signifies LAPD overload and 72d
means that BTS-72 is affected
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BSC Alarm
2725 Adjacent Cell Identifier Configuration Error
This alarm may signify an incorrect LAC/CI combination in the MSC
An audit of the LAC/CI in the MSC vs. the BSC should be performed
The specific neighbor source-target information is provided in the supplementary
information
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BTS Alarms
A cells performance can be significantly degraded by hardware or
transmission issues
There are a number of performance metrics that will point to a
possible HW or transport problem, for example:
TCH drop causes of LAPD, BTS Fail, or Transcoder Failure
Drop in average available TCHs, spike in blocking or TCH failures
Quality degradation on specific TRXs
Almost 100% incoming handover failures
In many cases when HW or transport is suspected, checking the
active alarms on a cell may not be enough
For example, a site may be falling in and out of service and the instance that the
active alarms are checked may be the instance that the site is on air
An alarm history would clearly show that the cell is periodically falling in and out of
service
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High TCH Drops
TCH Drop Distribution
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
01/30 01/28 01/26 01/24 01/22 01/20 01/18 01/15 01/13 01/11 01/08 01/06 01/04
tch_radio_f ail tch_rf _old_ho tch_abis_f ail_call tch_abil_f ail_old tch_a_if _f ail_call
tch_a_if _f ail_old tch_tr_f ail tch_tr_f ail_old tch_user_act tch_netw_act
tch_lapd_f ail tch_bts_f ail tch_bcsu_reset tch_act_f ail_call
In the case of a spike in TCH drops, the drop causes should be investigated
If the drops are mainly from LAPD, BTS, and/or Transcoder, then the BTS alarms should
be checked
A high drop cause of transcoder failure that is localized to an individual site is usually
caused from transport issues
A true transcoder hardware failure would be spread across the BSC
An alarm history would generally show a combination that includes the following alarms:
7767 BCCH MISSING
7706 BTS O&M LINK FAILURE
7704 PCM FAILURE
7705 LAPD FAILURE
TCH Drop Distribution
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
01/30 01/28 01/26 01/24 01/22 01/20 01/18 01/16 01/14 01/12 01/10 01/08 01/06 01/04
R
e
t
a
i
n
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
tch_radio_f ail tch_rf _old_ho tch_abis_f ail_call tch_abil_f ail_old tch_a_if _f ail_call
tch_a_if _f ail_old tch_tr_f ail tch_tr_f ail_old tch_user_act tch_netw_act
tch_lapd_f ail tch_bts_f ail tch_bcsu_reset tch_act_f ail_call
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High TCH Access Failures
In the case of a spike in TCH access failures, the cause could be a
radio or an ET/PCM thats out of service
An alarm check could show any of the following alarms:
7606 TRX FAULTY
7705 LAPD FAILURE
7704 PCM FAILURE
7745 CHANNEL FAILURE RATE ABOVE DEFINED THRESHOLD
TCH Access Failures
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
01/30 01/28 01/26 01/24 01/21 01/19 01/17 01/15 01/13 01/11 01/09 01/07 01/05 01/03
TCH Cong (#) TCH Setup Fail (#)
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TRX HW Issues
At times, a TRX may need to be replaced
Usually a TRX faulty alarm is generated, but sometimes a channel failure rate threshold alarm
is generated instead
The alarms in conjunction with TRX quality and BTS performance reports can show which TRX(s)
need to be replaced
The performance degradation to look for can be individual TRX quality, handovers, drops,
and/or access failures
The TRX alarms that may be triggered are the following and may be confined to a single TRX
on a cell:
7745 CHANNEL FAILURE RATE ABOVE DEFINED THRESHOLD
7743 MEAN HOLDING TIME BELOW DEFINED THRESHOLD
7606 TRX FAULTY
LSVGNVL050Y - Incoming HO Failures
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
09/23 09/30 10/07 10/14 10/21
I
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g

H
O

S
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s
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R
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0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
I
n
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m
i
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g

H
O

F
a
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Incoming HO Failures Incoming HO Success Rate
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7740 Beating BTS Alarms
A beating BTS alarm is an alarm that is triggered when the same alarm has triggered
20 times consecutively
Its important to check the alarm indicated by the 7740 alarm
This alarm could point to issues with the transport of a site
The alarm can be cancelled if the issue has already been resolved
8172 Yellow Alarm
Occurred
- Check the alarm history to
see if the alarm is still an
issue
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Testing The ET
ETs with errors will usually have the 8102 RECEIVED BIT ERROR RATIO (BER) >
1E-6 alarm
To remotely check for slips or errors on the ET, use the following MML commands:
ZYMO:ET,et_id;
1. 8102 Alarm

2. BCF-41 has 3
ETs (125, 164,
163)

3. All 3 ETs are
tested and ET-
163 is found to
have errors and
slips
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Dumping All Alarms
There may be times when all of the active BTS alarms on a BSC need
to be captured
The MML commands are simply:
ZEOL; for all active BTS alarms
ZEOH; for all BTS alarms triggered and cancelled starting from the previous
midnight
For example: ZEOH; run at 8am will contain all BTS alarms and alarm
cancellations from the 8 hour period of 12am to 8am
ZEOH:yyyy-mm-dd:BCF=bcf_id; to dump the alarm history of an individual BCF
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Some Common Alarms
Alarm
No.
Alarm Description Performance
Impact
Solution
7606 TRX Faulty Critical fault has
occurred in the TRX and
is blocked by system
Blocking Depends on type
of fault
7607 TRX/BTS Operation
Degraded
Critical fault has
occurred in the TRX/BTS
Supplementary
info gives nature
of the fault
7616 Oscillator Adjusting
Temporarily Interrupted
The Abis frequency is
too high or low, or keeps
fluctuating
Drop calls Check Abis
connection.
7704 PCM Failures The LAPD links have
problems
Drop calls.
Site may go
down
Check ET for
errors and reset
T1
7705 LAPD Failures The LAPD of a particular
TRX has problems
Drop calls Check the LAPD
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Some Common Alarms
Alarm
No.
Alarm Description Performance
Impact
Solution
7740 Beating BTS Alarm The same alarm has
triggered or cancelled 20
times
Depends on
the alarm
Correct alarm
cause
7745 Channel Failure Rate
Above Defined
Threshold
The call rate terminating
in failure on a channel is
above the set threshold
Drop calls Faulty channels
are identified in
the supplementary
fields
7767 BCCH Missing The BSC cannot
configure a BCCH to the
BTS
No service Check BTS
7995 Mains Breakdown with
battery back-up
Power is lost in a site No site,
eventually
Restore power.
8112 Frequency Error Frequency error has
been detected in input
signal
Drop calls Supplementary
fields provide
more information