Example:

If for example a 3 TRX cell is used and it is assumed that 2 SDCCH/8 is used
for signaling and one time slot is always used for BCCH, 21 full rate TCHs are a
vailable. The full rate penetration is 50% and this means 10.5 (rounded up to 11
) subscribers use a full rate connection. Hence, 10 (21-11) time slots is used f
or half rate which means 20 TCHs for half rate. See Figure 1

The total number of TCHs is 31 and the Erlang value with 2% blocking rate is 24.
6. Two SDCCH/8s with 0.5% blocking rate gives the Erlang value 8.1.

The maximum SDCCH/TCH (8.1/24.6) ratio is 32.9% which is more than 25%, which is
the recommended value for an average cell

In appendix A and B equations for calculating the maximum SDCCH/TCH for differen
t configurations can be found.
SDCCH Limitations
The maximum number of SDCCH/8s is limited to 16 per cell. This number is reduced
by one if an SDCCH/4 is defined for the cell.
On average one SDCCH/8s can be configured per TRX in a cell. In case the require
d number of BPCs per cell/channel group is set by command the maximum number of
SDCCH/8 in the cell is two per 8 BPCs. However, in both these cases, it is possi
ble to also have one SDCCH/4.
In cells where more than 64 hopping frequencies are allocated, all channel group
s can not be used for Immediate Assignment. This is because of limitations in th
e Immediate Assignment message. It is therefore important that Immediate Assignm
ent is allowed to direct the signaling to the channel groups configured with SDC
CH/8, see Reference [7].
Limitations will be imposed if TRXs dedicated to channel groups. For example if
the following dedication is valid:
Channel group 0 -> TRX 0
Channel group 1 -> TRX 1,2,3
In this case channel group 0 can maximum support 4 SDCCH/8 since only one TRX is
available in the channel group.
Increased SDCCH Capacity
If the optional feature Increased SDCCH Capacity is activated the maximum number
of SDCCH/8 is limited to 32 per cell. Increased SDCCH Capacity can be used with
or without optional feature Adaptive Configuration of Logical Channels.
If LAPD concentration or LAPD multiplexing is used the increased number of SDCCH
/8 per TRX will have an impact on the TRH dimensioning, see Reference [1].
The maximum number of SDCCH/8 per TRX can be set between 1 and 4 by the BSC exch
ange property MAXNOSDCCHTRX.
On average two SDCCH/8s can be configured per TRX in a cell.