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Prepared by
Riyaz Ahmad Khan
riyazahmad79@gmail.com
2. Macro diversity
3. Advantages
4. Disadvantages
Definition 2:
Soft handover means that the radio links are added and removed in a
way that the UE always keeps at least one radio link to the UTRAN. Soft
handover is performed by means of macro diversity, which refers to the
condition that several radio links are active at the same time.
Macro-diversity:
Signals are transmitted over the air interface on the same frequency,
from several base stations separated by considerable distances. This
scheme is called the soft handover (SHO). In a SHO all the participating
base stations use the same frequency, and the result is a macro-diversity
situation.
Macro-diversity in UL
In the uplink the effects of macro-diversity are only positive, as the more base
stations that can receive the signal from a UE, the better the probability that some of
them will receive it successfully. This does not generate more transmissions or
interference. Indeed, the opposite is true, as the UE transmission power level can
probably be lower if macro-diversity is used.
Huawei’s implementation of Macro-diversity in RNC:
The gain from macro- diversity is highest when the path losses of the
SHO branches are about equal. If one of the participating base stations is
clearly stronger than the others, then macro-diversity cannot provide
Much gain.
Soft Handover Combining Gain:
Description:
On the DL, the UE can combine the different received signals to increase
the reliability of demodulation. By combining the signals from different
links, the effective SIR increases, which reduces the transmit power even
when compared to the power required over the best link only. This is
termed soft combining gain.
On the UL, if macro-diversity gain is observed, the same is not always
true for the soft combining gain. If the cells in soft handover do not
belong to the same Node B, it is not possible to combine the signals
before they are demodulated.
Instead, all the demodulated frames are sent to the RNC, which decides
which one to use. This process still provides a gain compared to a single
link, since it increases the probability of having at least one link without
error. This is the selection gain, also a macro-diversity gain.
Soft handover advantages:
More transmitted signals may mean more energy in the air, which means more
interference to the radio environment in the downlink direction.
The control procedure in the UTRAN has to be very clever indeed to meet the
conflicting demands of mobility and low interference levels. SHO branches should be
added to a connection only when the estimated resulting total interference level is
less than it would be without the SHO.
Gain in Downlink transmission power due to Soft Handover
Positive value = gain, Negative value = loss
Gain in TX Power
Gain= 2.5 dB
For large signal value difference
we can see that transmission
power even is raised,
because of signaling errors on
downlink (power control
commands).
It has many desirable properties. In the cell edges, a UE can collect more
signal energy if it is in SHO than if it has only a single link to a base
station.
Softer handover
Softer handover is a special case of soft handover where the radio links that are added
and removed belong to the same Node B (i.e. the site of co-located base stations from
which several sector-cells are served.
Two active power control loops participate in soft handover, one for
each BS.
In UL, the combining is done in Node B itself and not the RNC.
Combining method in DL:
In the downlink (DL), the mobile receives both signals for maximal ratio
combining.
In the downlink, we model macro diversity to sum together the signal received from
active BSs. Thus, we realize maximal ratio combining by summing measured SIR
values
In the uplink, selection combining among active BSs takes place to use the frame with
the highest average SIR for statistics collecting purposes, while the other frames get
discarded.
Intra-frequency reporting events for the FDD mode:
1C. A non-active primary CPICH becomes better than an active primary CPICH.
Where;
Hystfor1A = 0
INTRARELTHDFOR1ACSNVP=6 ~ (3 dB)
Means: If the difference between source and neighbour cell is less than or equal to 3 dB for a set
time[TRIGTIME1A=D320], then the neighbour will be added to the active set.
CIO Consideration:
This parameter can be defined at cell level and per Neighbour relation.
+ve value of CIO will help trigger the Soft Handover event 1 A earlier than if we have the CIO=0.
-ve value of CIO will introduce delay in the Soft Handover event 1 A .
3dB
Reporting Range
Plot for 1A
Where;
Hystfor1B = 0
INTRARELTHDFOR1BCSNVP=12 ~ ( 6dB)
Means: If the difference between best cell and 2nd or 3rd best cell in active set is greater than or
equal to 6 dB for a set time[TRIGTIME1B=D640], then the 2 nd or 3rd best cell will be removed
from the active set.
CIO Consideration:
This parameter can be defined at cell level and per Neighbour relation.
-ve value of CIO will help trigger the Soft Handover event 1 B earlier than if we have the CIO=0.
+ve value of CIO will introduce delay in the Soft Handover event 1 A .
6dB
Reporting Range
Plot for 1B
Means: If the New cell in the “monitored Set” is stronger than “Worst Cell in the Active Set” by 2 dB for a
time period of 640 msec [TRIGTIME1C=D640], Event 1C will be triggered.
Where:
NBR: is the measurement value of the cell in the reporting range.
Worst Server(In AS): is the measurement value of the worst cell in the active set.
CIO (Worst Server in AS) is Cell offset of the worst cell in the active set.
2dB
Where:
MNotBest is the measurement value of a cell that is not on the list of the best cells.
CIONotBest is the cell offset of a cell that is not on the list of the best cells. The offset is not used.
MBest is the measurement value of the best cell in the active set. CIO NotBest is the cell offset of the
best cell. The offset is not used. H1d is 1D hysteresis, the hysteresis value of event 1D.
Means: If the New cell either in “Active Set” OR “Monitored Set” is stronger than “Best Cell in
the “Active Set” by 2 dB for a time period of 640 msec [TRIGTIME1D=D640], Event 1D will be
triggered.
2dB
Q: Which all events from 1A, 1B, 1C & 1D are part of soft handover?
A: All.
Q: Consider our Active Set size is 3. Is it possible if there are only two cells in the Active Set , and
event 1C can be triggered?
A: No.
Q: Why the Measurement Report is not sent in UL likewise in GSM and
A: In WCDMA, the OTA(Over the air transmission) is designed to be kept minimum and thus
keeping the interference level minimum.
Event 1x
A: An important difference between a multipath component and a SHO branch is that each SHO
branch is coded with a different spreading code, whereas multipath components are just time-
delayed versions of the same signal.
Q: Why the threshold for event 1B should be more than event 1A?
A: This prevents the premature removal of base stations from the active set. The value of the
drop threshold 1B is 6dB and for 1A is 3dB in our case.
Soft Handover Ratio - RNC:
It tells the consumption of extra network resources due to soft handover in one RNC
Means: It is nothing but a simple ratio of No. of Radio Links used over the No. of UEs in an
RNC.
Formula:
Soft Handover Ratio(RNC)=[(A1+B1*2+C1*3+D1*4+F1*5+F1*6)/(A1+B1+C1+D1+E1+F1)-1]*100%
A1:Number of UEs with 1 RL;
B1:Number of UEs with 2 RLs;
C1:Number of UEs with 3 RLs;
D1:Number of UEs with 4 RLs;
E1:Number of UEs with 5 RLs;
F1:Number of UEs with 6 RLs.