Beyond the theory

ByEr.Kapil Bhutani B.Tech,M.B.A(Telecom Management) Telcocrats.com

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Introduction

This Book is designed to provide the student with an practical knowledge about the R.F departments and their working. This chapter will give you the overview about Basics of Technologies like GSM and 3G.Then after about RF Planning of 2G and 3G network,Drive test of 2G,3G and CDMA.After this you will get to know about different case studies and problems that can be faced in RF.You will also get to know about the OMCR department . . OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this chapter the student will be able to: Understand the Basics of 2G and3G Understand the Planning Concepts of 2G and 3G Understand the Drivetest and various problems in RF in 2G and 3G

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Departments in Telecommunication

RF

Transmission

BSS

MSC

OMC-R

VAS

IN

Planning

Survey

BTS (I&C) Drive Test

Optimization

RF-Radio Frequency Department is divided in further parts each performing different functions. 1) RF Planning- This department deals with planning of Cell sites, Frequency planning and Parameter Planning on Different Tools. After Planning is done, RF Survey is performed to check the feasibility of the site on the planned location. BSS-Base Station Subsystem Department is works with OMCR. After they get to know about the alarms on the site they go there and rectify it. Every zone has a BSS engineer. It is also responsible for BTS and BSC installation and commissioning. NSS-Network Switching Sub System consists of two things1)Mobile switching centre is the central heart of a telecom network. It controls all the switching functions and Engineers in this departments are responsible to handle the proper functioning of MSC and its nodes.2) Operation and maintance centre Switch is responsible for faults(Alarms) in MSC OMC-R-Operation & Maintains Centre-Radio Department Keeps on monitoring the Alarms (Faults) on the site and the inform the engineer on the site to rectify it. VAS- Value Added Service department is responsible for planning and performance of value added services(for those we have to pay extra money) like GPRS,CRBT and SMS. IN- Intelligent Network department deals with prepaid services and Online charging system.

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Cell Site Structure

Cell Site Structure

Internal Components Of Sites

SHELTER

DDF

RECTIFIER

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BTS CABINATE(ZTE)

PIU

BTS CABINATE(NSN)

DIESEL GENERATOR

ANTENNA

MICROWAVE ANTENNA(ODU)

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IBS Antenna

BTS (Ericssion)

Pole Site

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BTS (Huwai)

Microwave Rack(IDU)

Battery Bank

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BTS (Huwai)

Ericssins

BSC

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ZTE BSC

Telecom Circles In India we have defined list of 23 Telecom circle by Department of Telecommunications. If we change our circle then we have to bear roaming charges.. Telecom Circles are divided into 4 groups: 'metro circles' and then 'A', 'B', and 'C' circles. The 'metro' circles cover very dense population centers in the very largest Indian cities: Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai. The 'A', 'B', and 'C' circles cover various geographic territories of varying population sizes. 'A' circles are the largest in terms of population coverage. 'C' circles contain the smallest population. Telecom Circle Name Delhi Metro Telecom Circle Mumbai Metro Telecom Circle Kolkata Metro Telecom Circle Gujarat Telecom Circle Karnataka Telecom Circle Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle Andhra Pradesh Telecom Circle Maharashtra Telecom Circle Haryana Telecom Circle Punjab Telecom Circle Kerala Telecom Circle Rajasthan Telecom Circle West Bengal Telecom Circle Uttar Pradesh (West) Telecom Circle Madhya Pradesh Telecom Circle Uttar Pradesh (East) Telecom Circle Bihar Telecom Circle Circle Type Metro Metro Metro A A A A A B B B B B B B B C

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Northeast Telecom Circle Assam Telecom Circle Orissa Telecom Circle Himachal Pradesh Telecom Circle Jammu & Kashmir Telecom Circle

C C C C C

Scope in Telecom Industry Telecom Operators-These companies are responsible for providing services to the frount end coustomers and after sales customer support. They have to start their process after they have bought spectrum from TRAI. Primary Vendor- They provide their services to operators based on signed contract. They are BTS Manufacturers .Following are such Companies Nokia Siemens Network , Ericssion India Pvt Ltd, Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Huawei Telecoms, Alcatel Lucent . Secondary Vendor-Provide Manpower to primary vendor Companies for various projects.

ANTENNA DOWNTILT What is down tilt? Antenna down tilting is the activity of bending the antennas or increasing the degrees alue on the nobe which is downwards tilting the GSM antenna of the vertical pattern towards the ground by a fixed angle or changing the direction of internal . Network planners often have the problem that the base station antenna provides an over coverage. If the overlapping area between two cells is too large, increased switching between the base stations (ping pong handover) occurs and if the area is too less then it will can lead to late handovers and call drop. There may even be interference of a neighbouring cell with the same frequency. Antenna down tilting is the downward tilt of the vertical pattern towards the ground by a fixed angle measured w.r.t the horizon.

There are two methods of downtilting Mechanical downtilting Electrical downtilting

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MECHANICAL DOWNTILT Mechanical down tilting consists of physically rotating an antenna downward about an axis from its vertical position. In a mechanical downtilt as the front lobe moves downward the back lobe moves upwards. This is one of the potential drawback as compared to the electrical down tilt because coverage behind the antenna can be negatively affected as the back lobe rises above the horizon.

ELECTRICAL DOWNTILT This allows the antenna to be mounted vertically. Electrical down tilt is the only practical way to achieve pattern down tilting with unidirectional antennas. Electrical down tilt affects both front and back lobes. If the front lobe is down tilted the back lobe is also down tilted by equal amount.

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GSM BASICS

Introduction to GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)

INTRODUCTION

Definition: Global system for mobile communication (GSM) is a globally accepted standard for digital cellular communication. GSM is the name of a standardization group established in 1982 to create a common European mobile telephone standard that would formulate specifications for a pan-European mobile cellular radio system operating at 900 MHz. It is estimated that many countries outside of Europe will join the GSM partnership.

The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a set of recommendations and specifications for digital cellular telephone network.These recommendations ensure the compatibility of equipment from different GSM manufacturers, and interconnectivity between different administrations, including operation across international boundaries.

TDMA and FDMA GSM uses the two multiple access schemes so that it cam maximise the uses of available resources.

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Frequency division for multiple acess-In this Division of GSM frequency band takes place so that multiple people can access the same frequency. For ex. We have GSM 900Mhz band,Uplink-890-915 Downlink-935-960MHz As per the GSM specification we divide 1 Mhz of band in 5 parts at a channel separation of 200 kHz. Practical Each part is known as ARFCN (Absolute radio frequency channel no.).It is further allocated to operators as per his requirement. For ex any operator A wants to setup a network in any circle, He to Buy for the spectrum (say 5Mhz of 25 ARFCNS).This has to be done for each circle separately by an operator Time Division For multiple Acess After FDMA we have TDMA in which each ARFCN is further divided into 8 Time slots. Practical That means each time slot is allocated to a single user who is making a call. So at one frequency maximum eight calls can be made simultaneously at a time.

There are a limited number of frequencies available within the frequency band specified for cellular systems. Each operator licensed to run a cellular network, has been provided with a number of frequencies. A cell has one or several frequencies, depending on traffic load. To cover a country, for example, the available frequencies must be reused. The same frequency cannot be used in neighboring cells due to interference. STANDARD Uplink Downlink Band width 900 (GSM) 890-915 MHz 935-960 MHz 25 MHz 1800(GSM) 1710-1785 MHz 1805-1890 MHz 75 MHz 1900(GSM) 1850-1910 MHz 1930-1990 MHz 60 MHz 800(CDMA) 824-849 MHz 869-894 MHz 25 MHz

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Duplex Distance Carrier Separation channels

45 MHz 200 KHz 124

95 MHz 200 KHz 374

80 MHz 200 KHz 299

45 MHz 1.25 MHz 20

CELL

A cell is the basic unit of a cellular system and is defined as the area where radio coverage is given by one base station. The shape of a cell in theory is Hexagonal because it gives best symmetrical structure to plan a complete covered area. But practically cells have no defined shape. They are irregular in shape because in actual practice we cant restrict a BTS to give coverage in hexagonal shape.

LOCATION AREA

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The Location Area (LA) is defined as a group of cells. The system uses LA to search for subscribers in active state.It is easy for a network to search for a subscriber in a group of cell rather than finding him in a large area. When there is a call for a mobile station, a paging message is broadcast to all cells belonging to a specific LA. This is the reason we define Location area. A LA is the part of the network in which a mobile station may move around freely without reporting its location to the network. Different location areas can be identified by the system using the Location Area Identity (LAI).

Location Areas

MSC/VLR SERVICE AREA

The mobile station is registered in a database called Visitor Location Register (VLR). MSC and VLR are always implemented in the same node in all GSM networks, thus the area is often called MSC/VLR Service Area. A MSC/VLR Service Area is made up of a number of LAs. It represents the geographical part of the network that is covered by one MSC. To route a call to an MS, the subscribers MSC service area is also recorded and monitored.

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Network Areas

PLMN SERVICE AREA

The Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) is a geographical area served by one network operator and is defined as the area in which an operator offers his own radio coverage and possibility to access its network.

PLMN Service Area

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GSM SERVICE AREA

The GSM service area is the entire geographic areas in which a subscriber can gain access to the GSM network. The GSM service area increases as more operators sign contract agreeing to work together. As shown in Figure, these areas include cells, location areas (LAs), MSC/VLR service areas, and public land mobile network (PLMN) areas.

Radio coverage is given by one base station Ideally One Cell is divided in 3 Sectors We Serve each sector by One RF Antenna

and each antenna is mounted on different angles with respect to north pole of the earth

Se
So to know in which sector we are on-me have default orientations of 0-120-240 degrees for sector 1st 2ns and 3rd.respectivly. GSM Identities CELL GLOBAL IDENTITY Cell global identity is an entity that is used to define a unique identification of each cell of a particular network. It consists of MCC+MNC+LAC+CI Mobile country code-This is used to define the country in which an operator is working. For ex any operator working in India has a code 404,405 or 406. Mobile network Code-This code is used to define the operator and the circle in which operator is working. For ex. 02 is the code of airtel Punjab and 70 is the code for airtel Rajasthan. Location Area code-It is a code given to each location area( group of cells)

Secto

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Cell Identification- It is a unique identification no that is given to each sector of a site. For ex. 3451,in this case 345 is site id and 1 is sector. Last no. will always represent sector number.

In order to switch a call to mobile subscriber,the right entities need to be involved. plans are used to identify different networks. Mobile Station ISDN Number (MSISDN) : A number that uniquely identifies a mobile telephone subscription MSISDN is composed as follows MSISDN = CC + NDC + NC + SN CC SN eg . = Country Code, = Subscriber Number NDC = National Destination Code, NC

It is thus important to address them correctly. Numbering

= Network Code.

919846012345 = 91 + 98 + 46 + 012345

International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) IMSI is the information which uniquely identifies a subscriber in a GSM PLMN(Public Land Mobile Network) This number is allocated to each subscriber for a correct identification over the radio path and through the GSM PLMN network.Mostly IMSI is used for all signaling in PLMN.IMSI is stored in the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM),HLR and serving VLR. IMSI consists of: IMSI = MCC + MNC + MSIN

MCC = Mobile Country Code ( 3 digits) MNC = Mobile Network Code ( 2 digits) MSN = Mobile Subscriber Identification Number (max 10 digits) eg : 404 + 02 + 0000123456 Mobile Station Roaming Number (MSRN) This number is a temporary number used to route a call. HLR knows the MSC/VLR area (location area) of the subscriber. HLR requests the current MSC/VLR to allocate and return a MSRN for called subscriber.HLR then sends the received MSRN to the GMSC,thus routing the call to the MSC/VLR where subscriber is registered. MSRN has three parts:

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MSRN = CC + NDC + SN CC = Country Code NDC = National Destination Code NC = Network Operator Code SN = Subscriber Number (Address to serving MSC ) eg. : 91 + 98 + 22 + 005XXX Where,005XXX is sent by MSC. International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) IMEI is used for equipment identity IMEI consists of : IMEI = TAC + FAC + SNR + sp TAC = Type Approval Code ( 6 digit ) FAC = Final Assembly Code (2 digit ) identifies manufacturer SNR = Serial Number ( 6 digit ) sp = spare for future use ( 1 digit ) eg. : 352518 + 00 + 581976 + 3 IMEI length is 15 digits. Location Area Code Used for Location Updating of Mobile Subscribers LAI consists of : LAI = MCC + MNC + LAC MCC = Mobile Country Code (same numbering plan as in IMSI)

MNC = Mobile Network Code ,identifies the GSM PLMN in that country (as in IMSI ) LAC = Location Area Code ,identifies Location Area within GSM PLMN.Length is 16 bits thus 65536 location areas can be defined in one GSM PLMN.

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eg. 404 +22 + 10000 Used to identify a cell within the GSM network Only a CI parameter is added to LAI Base Station identity Code. Allows mobile station to distinguish between different neighboring base stations. BSIC consists of : BSIC = NCC + BCC NCC = Network Colour Code ( 3 bits ).Used to identify operators will have their own NCC,

BCC = Base Station Colour Code (3 bits ),identifies Base Station to help distinguish between BTS using the same BCCH frequencies eg. 71 Where 7 is the NCC for and 1 is the BCC.Both can range from 0 to 7.

GSM Architecture

The Base Station System (BSS) All radio-related functions are performed in the BSS, which consists of base station controllers (BSCs) and the base transceiver stations (BTSs). BSCThe BSC provides all the control functions and physical links between the MSC and BTS. It is a high-capacity switch that provides functions such as handover, cell configuration data, and control of radio frequency (RF) power levels in base transceiver stations. A number of BSCs are served by an MSC. BTSThe BTS handles the radio interface to the mobile station. The BTS is the radio equipment (transceivers and antennas) needed to service each cell in the network. A group of BTSs are controlled by a BSC . The Switching System The switching system (SS) is responsible for performing call processing and subscriber-related functions. The switching system includes the following functional units Mobile services switching center (MSC)The MSC performs the Telephony switching functions of the system. It controls calls to and from other telephone and data systems. It also performs such functions as toll ticketing, network interfacing, common channel signaling, and others. Home location register (HLR)The HLR is a database used for storage and management of subscriptions. The HLR is considered the most important database, as it stores permanent data about

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subscribers, including a subscriber's service profile, location information, and activity status. When an individual buys a subscription from one of the PCS operators, he or she is registered in the HLR of that operator. Visitor location register (VLR)The VLR is a database that contains temporary information about subscribers that is needed by the MSC in order to service visiting subscribers. The VLR is always integrated with the MSC. When a mobile station roams into a new MSC area, the VLR connected to that MSC will request data about the mobile station from the HLR. Later, if the mobile station makes a call, the VLR will have the information needed for call setup without having to interrogate the HLR each time. Authentication center (AUC)A unit called the AUC provides authentication and encryption parameters that verify the user's identity and ensure the confidentiality of each call. The AUC protects network operators from different types of fraud found in today's cellular world. Equipment identity register (EIR) The EIR is a database that contains information about the identity of mobile equipment that prevents calls from stolen, unauthorized, or defective mobile stations. The AUC and EIR are implemented as stand-alone nodes or as a combined AUC/EIR node. LOGICAL CHANNELS The Broadcast Control Channel is transmitted by the BTS at all times. The RF carrier used to transmit the BCCH is referred to as the BCCH carrier. The information carried on the BCCH is monitored by the MS periodically (at least every 30 secs), when it is switched on and not in a call. Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) Carries the following information (this is only a partial list): Location Area Identity (LAI). List of neighbouring cells which should be monitored by the MS. List of frequencies used in the cell. Cell identity. Power control indicator. DTX permitted. Access control (for example, emergency calls, call barring). CBCH description. The BCCH is transmitted at constant power at all times, and its signal strength is measured by all MS which may seek to use it. Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH): This is transmitted frequently on the BCCH timeslot and allows the mobile to synchronize its own frequency to that of the transmitting base site. The FCCH may only be sent during timeslot 0 on the BCCH carrier frequency and therefore it acts as a flag to the mobile to identify Timeslot 0.

Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH): The Broadcast Control Channel is transmitted by the BTS at all times. The RF carrier used to transmit the BCCH is referred to as the BCCH carrier. The information carried on the BCCH is monitored by the MS periodically (at least every 30 secs), when it is switched on and not in a call. Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) Carries the following information (this is only a partial list): Location Area Identity (LAI). List of neighbouring cells which should be monitored by the MS. List of frequencies used in the cell. Cell identity. Power control indicator. DTX permitted. Access control (for example, emergency calls, call barring). CBCH description.

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The BCCH is transmitted at constant power at all times, and its signal strength is measured by all MS which may seek to use i t. Dummy bursts are transmitted to ensure continuity when there is no BCCH carrier traffic.

Synchronization Channel (SCH): The SCH carries the information to enable the MS to synchronize to the TDMA frame structure and know the timing of the individual timeslots. The following parameters are sent: Frame number. Base Site Identity Code (BSIC). The MS will monitor BCCH information from surrounding cells and store the information from the best six cells. The SCH information on these cells is also stored so that the MS may quickly resynchronize when it enters a new cell.

Common Control Channels (CCCH)

The Common Control Channel (CCCH) is responsible for transferring control information between all mobiles and the BTS. This is necessary for the implementation of call origination and call paging functions. It consists of the following: Random Access Channel (RACH): Used by the mobile when it requires to gain access to the system. This occurs when the mobile initiates a call or responds to a page. Paging Channel (PCH): Used by the BTS to page MS, (paging can be performed by an IMSI, TMSI or IMEI). Access Grant Control Channel (AGCH): Used by the BTS to assign a dedicated control channel to a MS in response to an access message received on the Random Access Channel. The MS will move to the dedicated channel in order to proceed with either a call setup, response to a paging message, Location Area Update or Short Message Service. Cell Broadcast Channel (CBCH): This channel is used to transmit messages to be broadcast to all MSs within a cell. The CBCH uses a dedicated control channel to send its messages, however it is considered a common channel because the messages can be received by all mobiles in the cell. Active MSs must frequently monitor both BCCH and CCCH. The CCCH will be transmitted on the RF carrier with the BCCH. Active MSs must frequently monitor both BCCH and CCCH. The CCCH will be transmitted on the RF carrier with the BCCH. Dedicated Control Channels (DCCH) The DCCH is a single timeslot on an RF carrier which is used to convey eight Stand - alone Dedicated Control Channels (SDCCH). A SDCCH is used by a single MS for call setup, authentication, location updating and SMS point to point. As we will see later, SDCCH can also be found on a BCCH/CCCH timeslot, this configuration only allows four SDCCHs. Associated Control Channels (ACCH): These channels can be associated with either an SDCCH or a TCH. They are used for carrying information associated with the process being carried out on either the SDCCH or the TCH. Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH): Conveys power control and timing information in the downlink direction (towards the MS) and Receive Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI),and link quality reports in the uplink direction. Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH): The FACCH is transmitted instead of a TCH. The FACCH steals the TCH burst and inserts its own information. The FACCH is used to carry out user authentication, handovers and immediate assignment.

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All of the control channels are required for system operation, however, in the same way that we allow different users to share the radio channel by using different timeslots to carry the conversation data, the control channels share timeslots on the radio channel at different times. This allows efficient passing of control information without wasting capacity which could be used for call traffic. To do this we must organise the timeslots between those which will be used for traffic and those which will carry control signalling. .. The logical channels can be separated into two categories. They are traffic channels and signaling channels. There are two forms of TCHs: Bm or full rate TCH (TCH/F) - this channel carries information at a gross rate of 22.8 kbit/s. Lm or half rate TCH (TCH/H) - this channel carries information at a gross rate of 11.4 kbit/s. Signaling channels are subdivided into three categories: Broadcast CHannels (BCH) Common Control CHannels (CCCH) Dedicated Control CHannels (DCCH) The following sections describe specific channels within these categories. BROADCAST CHANNELS (BCH) Frequency Correction CHannel (FCCH) On FCCH, bursts only containing zeroes are transmitted. This serves two purposes. First to make sure that this is the BCCH carrier, and second to allow the MS to synchronize to the frequency. FCCH is transmitted downlink only. Synchronization CHannel (SCH) The MS needs to synchronize to the time-structure within this particular cell, and also ensure that the chosen BTS is a GSM base station. By listening to the SCH, the MS receives information about the frame number in this cell and about BSIC (see Appendix) of the chosen BTS. BSIC can only be decoded if the base station belongs to the GSM network. SCH is transmitted downlink only. Broadcast Control CHannel (BCCH) The MS must receive some general information concernivng the cell in order to start roaming, waiting for calls to arrive or making calls. The needed information is broadcast on the Broadcast Control CHannel (BCCH) and includes the Location Area Identity (LAI), maximum output power allowed in the cell and the BCCH carriers for the neighboring cells on which the MS performs measurements. BCCH is transmitted on the downlink only. Using FCCH, SCH, and BCCH the MS tunes to a BTS and synchronized with the frame structure in that cell. The BTSs are not synchronized to each other. Therefore, every time the MS camps on another cell, it must listen to FCCH, SCH and BCCH in the new cell. COMMON CONTROL CHANNELS (CCCH) Paging CHannel (PCH)

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At certain time intervals the MS listens to the PCH to check if the network wants to make contact with the MS. The reason why the network may want to contact the MS could be an incoming call or an incoming short message. The informati on on PCH is a paging message, including the MSs identity number (IMSI) or a temporary number (TMSI). PCH is transmitted downlink only. Random Access CHannel (RACH) The MS listens to the PCH to determine when it is being paged. When the MS is paged, it replies on the RACH requesting a signaling channel. RACH can also be used if the MS wants to contact the network. For example, when setting up a mobile originating call. RACH is transmitted uplink only. Access Grant CHannel (AGCH) The networks assigns a signaling channel (Stand-alone Dedicated Control CHannel (SDCCH)) to the MS. This assignment is performed on the AGCH. AGCH is transmitted downlink only. DEDICATED CONTROL CHANNELS (DCCH) Stand alone Dedicated Control CHannel (SDCCH) The MS as well as the BTS switches over to the assigned SDCCH. The call set-up procedure is performed on the SDCCH, as well as the textual message transmission (short message and cell broadcast) in idle mode. SDCCH is transmitted both uplink and downlink. When call set-up is performed, he MS is told to switch to a TCH. Slow Associated Control CHannel (SACCH) The SACCH is associated with SDCCH or TCH (i.e. sent on the same physical channel). On the uplink, the MS sends averaged measurements on its own BTS (signal strength and quality) and neighboring BTSs (signal strength). On the downlink, the MS receives information concerning the transmitting power to use and instructions on the timing advance. SACCH is transmitted both uplink and downlink. Fast Associated Control CHannel (FACCH) If a handover is required the FACCH is used. FACCH works in stealing mode meaning that one 20 ms segment of speech is exchanged for signaling information necessary for the handover. Under normal conditions the subscriber does not notice the speech interruption because the speech coder repeats the previous speech block. Cell Broadcast CHannel (CBCH) CBCH is only used downlink to carry Short Message Service Cell Broadcast (SMSCB) and uses the same physical channel as the SDCCH.

Call from MS (Mobile Originated Call) Mobile Originated call is possible when the MS is attached with the MSC/VLR and is listening to the system information

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Mobile Originating call establishment.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The MS requests a SDCCH using RACH The MS indicates that it wants to set up a call. The identity of the MS, IMSI is analyzed and the MS is marked as busy in the VLR Authentication is performed Ciphering may be initiated. The MSC receives a setup message from the MS. This includes the kind of service the MS wants and the B-number. MSC verify that the MS doesnt have services like barring of outgoing calls. If the MS is not barred, the setup of call proceeds. Between the MSC and the BSC a link is established and a PCM time slot is seized. The MSC sends a request to the BSC to assign a TCH. The BSC assigns a TCH to the call (if there is an idle TCH available) and tells the BTS to activate the channel. The BTS sends an acknowledgement when the activation is completed and the BSC orders the MS to switch over to the TCH. The BSC informs the MSC when the assignment is complete. An alert message is sent to the MS indicating that a ringing tone has been generated on the other side. The ringing tone generated in the exchange on the B- subscriber side is sent t the MS via the group switch in the MSC.

7.

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8.

When the B subscriber answers, the network sends a connect message to the MS indicating that the call is accepted . The MS returns a connect acknowledgement which completes the call set-up. Call to MS (Mobile Terminated Call)

(1)

PSTN

Transit Exchange

(2)

GMSC
(6a)

(3) (5)

HLR

(6b)

MSC/VLR
Signaling connection Speech path

(4)

(7)

BSC
(8) (8)

(9)

(9)

BTS

BTS

Call to MS from PSTN.

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1. 2. 3.

The number dialled by the calling party is called the Mobile station ISDN number (MSISDN). If the call is being made from a PSTN exchange, the exchange analyses the number and decides that the call is for a GSM subscriber From PSTN, the call is routed to the GMSC in the home PLMN of the called MS. By analyzing the MSISDN, the GMSC finds out which HLR the subscriber is registered in. GMSC asks the HLR for information so the call can be routed to the MSC/VLR where the MS is temporarily registered.

4. The HLR contacts the VLR and gets the roaming number. 5. The HLR forwards the roaming number to the GMSC. 6a. With the help of the roaming number, the GMSC can route the call to the appropriate MSC. 6b. The call is routed to the MSC 7. The MSC knows which location area the MS is located in and sends a paging 8. 9. The BSC distributes the paging message to the BTSs in the LA The BTSs page the MS using IMSI message to the BSCs handling this location area.

When mobile is switched on

(On the basis of power transmitted by the sites)

POWER ON

SCAN ALL RF CHANNELS

SELECT WITH HIGHEST SIGNAL STRENGTH CHECK FOR FCCH

SELECT NEW HIGHEST LEVEL SIGNAL

NO

FCCH FOUND ?

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YES

NO

SCCH FOUND ?

YES CHECK BCCH AND DECODE NETWORK INFORMATION

RF PLANNING

The process steps need to be phased and overlapped in order to keep the whole process inside a reasonable time limit.The network planning project management takes care of the whole project organisation. Some support functions, e.g. marketing, selling, logistics and technical support, are also project organisation wide and are not specifically connected to any of the project teams. The network planning team is responsible for both network preplanning and actual network planning, giving site proposals as the output. The network planning team has the assistance of the field measurement team. The site proposals are an input for the site acquisition team, which is responsible for finding the actual site locations. The site acquisition team makes technical site surveys ending up with site lease agreements for the best possible site locations a decision that is always the sum of several factors. The construction works are carried out by the construction team and the target is to prepare the site ready

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for telecom implementation. The site location can vary from an existing building to a mast, which has to be built purposely. Therefore the construction work varies a lot from one site to another. Telecom implementation covers installation, commissioning and integration. Installation is the setting up of the base station equipment, antennas and feeders. Commissioning stands for functional testing of stand-alone network entities. In the commissioning phase it is also verified that the site data depend on the network plan and, for example, the billing and routing data meet the operator requirements. The integration phase verifies that the site is operational as a part of the network. After this it is ready for commercial use. A separate optimisation team or the network planning team is responsible for the prelaunch optimisation phase. Here the field test measurement team is giving support and the aim of this phase is to verify the functionality of the network. It should be shown that the parameter settings in the network are correct and that the planning targets can be met.

Before the actual planning is started for a new network the current market situation is analysed. The market analysis covers all the competitors and the key information from them: market share, network coverage areas, services, tariffs, etc. Based on the market situation it is possible to create a future deployment strategy for the new operator.

Market analysis Competitor analysis Potential customers User profiles: services required and usage Customer requirements Coverage requirements Capacity requirements Quality targets: call setup success, drop call rate, etc. Financial limitations Future deployment plans Environment factors and other boundary conditions Area morthography Area topography Hotspot locations Available frequency band Recommended base transceiver station (BTS) locations 2.3.1 STEP 1: NETWORK REQUIREMENTS The cell planning process GSM FREQUENCY BAND ALLOCATION GSM cellular system can be divided into GSM900M and DCS1800M according to frequency band, with carrier frequency interval of 200 KHz and up and down frequencies as follows: Frequency Planning

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The transmission path is very complex, ranging from the simple line-of-sight transmission to encountering such terrain as buildings, hills and trees. Wireless channels are extremely unpredictable. Abrupt drop, or fading, of signal strength in the land mobile wireless channel is quite common. The fading feature of the mobile channel depends on the radio wave propagation environment INTERFERENCE Interference is the sum of all signal contributions that are neither noise not the wanted signal. EFFECTS OF INTERFERNCE Interference is a major limiting factor in the performance of cellular systems.It causes degradation of signal quality. It introduces bit errors in the received signal.Mobile stations and base stations are exposed to different interference situation SOURCES Another mobile in the same cell. A call in progress in the neighboring cell. Other base stations operating on the same frequency. Any non-cellular system which leaks energy into the cellular frequency band.

TYPES There are two types of system generated interference Co-channel interference Adjacent channel interference

Co-Channel Interference This type of interference is the due to frequency reuse, i.e. several cells use the same set of frequency. These cells are called co-chan nnel cells. Co-

channel interference cannot be combated by increasing the power of the transmitter. This is because an increase in carrier transmit power increases the interference to neighboring co-channel cells. To reduce co-channel interference, co-channel cells must be physically separated by a minimum distance to provide sufficient isolation due to propagation or reduce the footprint of the cell. Some factors other then reuse distance that influence co-channel interference are antenna type, directionality, height, site position etc GSM specifies C/I > 9dB.

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 Frequency Planning Adjacent-Channel Interference

Interference resulting from signals which are adjacent in frequency to the desired signal is called adjacent channel interference. Adjacent channel interference results from imperfect receiver filters which allow nearby frequencies to leak into the pass band.

Adjacent channel interference can be minimized through careful filtering and channel assignments.By keeping the frequency separation between each channel in a given cell as large as possible , the adjacent interference may be reduced considerably.

FREQUENCY HOPPING: The Frequency Hopping feature changes the frequency used by a channel on the air-interface every new TDMA frame in a regular pattern. ADVANTAGES: Decreasing the probability of interference Ease in frequency planning Increase in Capacity

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TYPES OF HOPPING

SYNTHESIZER FREQUENCY HOPPING: No. of frequencies hopping on one TRX card. In this technique a unique Mobile allocation list is attached to every sector. This list contains a number of frequencies within which the TRXs present in that sector would hop for every burst. The number of frequencies present in the list must be equal to or more than the number of TRXs in that sector. Synthesised hopping is preferred over base band hopping due to the fact that for hopping to be really effective in case of base band hopping, one must have more number of carriers (TRXs) in a single sector.

BASEBAND HOPPING: Here frequency hopping is done by switching the information frame of 1 call from one trans receiver to another within the cell. Here the hop between different frequencies depends on the number of carriers (TRXs) present in that particular cell. There is no separate Mobile allocation list attached to every sector of the BTS. Here hopping of frequencies occur by shifting a single call between different TRXs of the same sector for every burst.

Parameters: MA (Mobile Allocation) List ARFCNs used in hopping sequence HSN (Hopping Sequence Number) Algorithms of sequence (0-63) MAIO (Mobile Allocation Index Offset) Entry of MA List at which hopping sequence begins

MODES OF HOPPING There are basically two modes of hopping CYCLIC MODE There is a parameter known as hopping Sequence Number (HSN), which is defined for every hopping sector. This specifies a particular algorithm in choosing a frequency for a TRX at any given time. To hop in cyclic mode HSN = 0. Say for example there are 4 ARFCNs attached to a particular sector with 3 TRXs f1, f2, f3, f4. In cyclic mode, TRX1 will start with f1 for the first burst of speech and then hop to f2 for the next and so on in a cyclic fashion. Averaging of interference does not take place efficiently in cyclic hopping. PSEUDO RANDOM MODE

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Here the value of HSN varies from 1 to 63. The selection of ARFCNs to hop one after the other is random depending upon the HSN value chosen. Pseudo random hopping makes sure that at any given time the Co Channel or adjacent channel frequencies do not remain the same for any carrier thereby averaging the interference. The start frequency for any hopping sequence can be set by a parameter called Mobile allocation Index Offset (MAIO).\

Tool for calculating Air Interface Losses

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Toll for Calculating Capacity

For RF PLANNING Data required for the software Site Data Neighbors Data Freq data / Carrier Data

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Site Planning

Neighbour Planning

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Frequency Planning

RFSurvey The proposed network design shows only approximate site locations. The exact site position depends on the possibilities to construct a site on the suggested location. Different permits are usually necessary, e.g. a planning permit from the local council planning committee. Masts or towers almost always require planning permits and in many cases they are

subject to permits from civil aviation or military authorities (i.e. obstruction lighting may be needed). Permission to use the site or a lease contract must be agreed upon with the owner of the site. Besides the need for the permits, the following must also be taken into account: Access roads - The site must be accessible to installation personnel and heavy trucks and if there is no road leading to the site, a helicopter might be needed for material transports and for mast or tower installation. Material transport and storage - The site must have an area suitable for efficient unloading and handling of goods.

Space requirements - For an outdoor site it is necessary that the ground area is large enough for the radio base station and tower or mast foundation. Power cables must be installed and a mains power source must be found in the vicinity of the site if mains power is not available at the site.

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For an indoor site, the RBS equipment room must fulfill a number of requirements concerning mains power connection such as grounding, power outlet, and space for transport network interface products. Antenna support structures - These must be provided. They can consist of several short pipes on a roof, a guyed mast, or a self-supporting tower. The term tower usually refers to a self-supported structure, while the term mast refers to a structure suppo rted with guy wires. Transmission access - A number of Pulse Coded Modulation(PCM) transmission lines are needed. Two types of transmission network standards may occur. The first case is 2 Mbit/s PCM with 75 ohm unbalanced or 120 ohm balanced lines, the second case is 1.5 Mbit/s PCM using 100ohm balanced lines.

There are two types of surveys Sharing Anchor

SHARING Nominal data about the site like lat-long, planned height and planned orientation. Go to lat long and check the presence of the site. Check the shelter space, stability, antenna height, and orientation so planned. If there is no place in the shelter, one can use outdoor BTS. Take pictures at 360 degrees angle.

ANCHOR NOMINAL Go to lat long Define search ring Find Hot Spot

BLIND No nominal data is given except the area where you need to plan the site. FOR RF SURVEY WE NEED:

GPS(Global Positioning System):Latches with satellite and tells the lat long Magnetic Compass Notepad We are given the latitude and longitude of the hot spot and moving on to the particular lat long we find the nominal spots keeping in mind the various points: The lat long of nominal point The obstacles Clutter Height of antenna Other competitors and their plan and their schemes

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PROCEDURE FOR SITE SELECTION Maximum height of the building is to be considered so that we can find where we need to plan the site. But we also need to check the second highest building so that the coverage can be given to the top floor of the highest building. G+3N=height of site Where G= Ground Floor(4m) N= No. of floors All the buildings with basement have to be taken care of, so as to finalize the tilt. Our site should cover the maximum clutter so as to give the bets possible coverage. While performing the survey all the area information should be collected like type of area, clutter, major competitor, total population, percent of mobile users. After this orientation of GSM antenna should be planned according to the clutter.

MAJOR OBSTACLES Buildings Power Grid Water Tank Railway Lines Length of Feeder Cables Height of Antenna

Survey pictures:

at 30 deg

at 60 deg

at 90 deg

At 120 deg

at 150 deg

at 180 deg

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At 210 deg

at 240 deg

at 270 deg

At 300 deg

at 330 deg

at 360 deg

DRIVE TEST

WHY DRIVE TESTING? Drive testing consists of test teams driving on pre-defined routes in a network region and periodically initiating calls and measuring signal strength. The types of test data collected include unsuccessful handovers, low-quality audio and dropped calls etc. These results are transferred from the MS to a dedicated PC where the various data groups are processed in order to produce graphical and tabular data in a format that can be readily interpreted by the test engineer. DRIVE TEST EQUIPMENTS: Data collected to find and analyze problems in the network Vehicle Drive test mobile phone External vehicle mounted GPS

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Laptop with drive test software and GPS connection capability Dongle Key GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

After connecting the drive test tool, following activities are carried out during Drive test: 1. Software like TEMS is opened in the Laptop. The system by default opens GSM window displaying the empty tables and chart s meant for RF information. 2. Both external devices, Handset and GPS are detected by the devices but are indicated as disconnected with the red color symbol. This changes to green color after clicking Connect All in the Connection Toolbar. 3. Now the mobile is connected in the idle mode. The GSM window starts displaying the live network data in the correspondin g tables and charts. GPS window shows Latitude & Longitude of the place. 4. Click Record tool bar. Save logfile followed by originating call on the phone. The test enters in the dedicated mode. 5. Drive the roads on routes covering the cell and all neighboring cells. 6. Cell coverage, Received signal strength, Quality and many other RF parameters are measured. Call connection, call mobility control, call release and many other events are checked and recorded. 7. Drive test log file is generated and can be exported to different formats for Post Processing requirements

DRIVE TEST TYPES(w.r.t work to be done in drive test)

TYPES OF DRIVE TESTS(w.r.t. area covered) CW Drive Test- Initial network setup SWAP Drive Test- Updation in existing network GPRS Drive Test- Data drive test of GPRS Benchmarking Drive Test- Multiple Operator Drive Test Frequency Scanning Drive Test Extensive Drive Test- Dive in each Sector Single Call Functionality Test- Making 10 calls and 5 sms in each site Green Field Drive Test- New network acceptance Test Drive

EVENTS WHICH OCCUR DURING DRIVE TEST Call Drops Call Setup Failures

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HO Failures Interference Call Quality and Coverage GPRS/EDGE Performance

2) Status Information General Information: Includes Latitude & longitude, server cell name, date, time , log file name etc Serving cell: Includes Cell Identity, BSIC, ARFCN ,MCC, MNC, LAC Serving + Neighbor cell data: Includes CI, BSIC, Rxlev Dedicated channel: Includes Channel number, Timeslot number, Channel type, hopping information Radio Environment: Includes serving cell, Rx_Lev, Rx_Qual, TA, DTX and RL Timeout counter information RF Drive Test Parameters RxLev : Receiving level in terms of dBm that mobile is receiving from the site. Range of -30 dBm to -110dBm. RxQual : Quality of voice which is measured on basis of BER. Range of RxQual 0 -7. FER : Frame Erasure Rate it represents the percentage of frames being dropped due to high number of non-corrected bit errors in the frame. It is indication of voice quality in network. BER Actual : Ratio of the number of bit errors to the total number of bits transmitted in a given time interval. BER is a measure for the voice quality in network.. Depending on BER RxQual is measured. E,g, BER 0 to 0.2 % corresponds to RxQual 0. Max. BER countable and useful is up to 12.8 % which corresponds to RxQual of max. 7. SQI : SQI is a more sophisticated measure which is dedicated to reflecting the quality of the speech (as opposed to radio environment conditions). This means that when optimizing the speech quality in your network, SQI is the best criterion to use. SQI is updated at 0.5 s intervals. It is computed on basis of BER and FER. For EFR 30, FR 21 & HR 17 are respectively ideal values. C/I : The carrier-over-interference ratio is the ratio between the signal strength of the current serving cell and the signal strength of undesired (interfering) signal components. It should be atleast > 9 . 5) Handover Analysis Problem areas are automatically identified

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Handover success/failure is shown on route Position failure is located on XY graph Cause/solution proposed for each failure Step-by-step replay control allows every stage of handover to be broken down for detailed analysis Forced Handover

6)

Call Analysis

Analysis of live calls, call success, signal levels and call quality can be done Call Statistics

Call Distribution Evaluates every call and categorizes it as a Good Call, No setup call,Delayed setup call etc

Call Holding Time Displays the duration of each call.

Call Performance Details for the Setup rate, Failure rate and Release rate.

Call Setup Time Distribution per Call setup

Layer 3 Messages Time of message Direction UL = Uplink DL = Downlink

Message Category RR = Radio Resource MM = Mobility Management CC = Call Control

Message Type More detailed description

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Layer3 Information During Drive Test

TEMS INVETIGATION

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OVERVIEW Select Presentation Menu & open following required windows according to next slide: GSM Radio Parameter GSM Current Channel GSM Line Chart GSM Serving + Neighbors

CURRENT CHANNEL WINDOW

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Time: It is system time of computer. Cell name: It displays the name of the sector which is serving according to the cellfile that is loaded in TEMS. CGI : It stands for the Cell Global Identity which is unique for every sector of the site. It consists of MCC,MNC,LAC,CI. MCC: Mobile Country Code 0 999 (e.g. 404 in India), MNC: Mobile Network Code 0 99 (e.g. 98 for Airtel in Gujarat) LAC : Location Area Code 0 -65535 (e.g. 5101 in Gujarat) CI: Cell Identity 0 65535 (e.g. 11001) Cell GPRS Support: Tells sector is having GPRS or not. Values are Yes or No . Band : It tells in which Freq. Band mobile is operating e.g. GSM 900/ 1800. BCCH ARFCN: It tells by which BCCH is the mobile station getting served. TCH ARFCN: On which Traffic Freq. call is going on. BSIC (Base Station Identity Code) : It is combination of Network Color Code (NCC) (0 7) & Base Station Color Code (BCC) (0 7). e.g. 62. It is decoded by mobile on every Sync. Channel Message. Mode: It is shows in which state is mobile operating, Idle, Dedicated & Packet. Time slot: On which time slot of current TCH call is going on. Viz. time slot no. of TRX. Channel Type: Type of channel mobile is getting now. Like BCCH / SDCCH/8 + SACCH/C8 or CBCH / TCH/F +FACCH/F +SACCH/F. Channel Mode : Shows mode of coding like Speech Full Rate of Half Rate. Speech Codec: It shows FR for Full Rate, HR for Half Rate & EFR for Enhanced Full Rate. Ciphering Algorithm : It shows ciphering algorithm used by the system to protect data for privacy. E.g. Cipher by A5/2. Sub Channel Number: It is displayed at a time when mobile is on dedicated mode at time of call setup when it is getting SDCCH at that time it shows which SDCCH it is getting out of 8 available. E.g. 2. RADIO PARAMETERS WINDOW RxLev : Receiving level in terms of dBm that mobile is receiving from the site. Range of -30 dBm to -110dBm. RxQual : Quality of voice which is measured on basis of BER. Range of RxQual 0 -7. FER : Frame Erasure Rate it represents the percentage of frames being dropped due to high number of non-corrected bit errors in the frame. It is indication of voice quality in network. BER Actual : Ratio of the number of bit errors to the total number of bits transmitted in a given time interval. BER is a measure for the voice quality in network.. Depending on BER RxQual is measured. E,g, BER 0 to 0.2 % corresponds to RxQual 0. Max. BER countable and useful is up to 12.8 % which corresponds to RxQual of max. 7. SQI : SQI is a more sophisticated measure which is dedicated to reflecting the quality of the speech (as opposed to radio environment conditions). This means that when optimizing the speech quality in your network, SQI is the best criterion to use. SQI is updated at 0.5 s intervals. It is computed on basis of BER and FER. For EFR 30, FR 21 & HR 17 are respectively ideal values. C/I : The carrier-over-interference ratio is the ratio between the signal strength of the current serving cell and the signal strength of undesired (interfering) signal components. It should be atleast > 9 .

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SERVING AND NEIGHBOURING WINDOW Cell Name : Name that describes the neighboring cell as per the cellfile. ARFCN : Channel number mobile receives as neighbor. BSIC : BSIC of the neighboring cell. RxLev : Receiving Level in dBm of neighboring cell. C1 & C2 : These are the cell path loss criterion and cell reselection criteria. Valid during idle mode of mobile station. C31 & C32 : GPRS signal strength threshold criterion C31 and GPRS cell ranking criterion C32. Valid both in packet idle and packet dedicated mode.

C/I AND C/A WINDOW

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Value of C/I range from -5..25. It should be more than 9. ACTUAL RANGES Rx level -10 to 120 dbm RX Quality 0 to 7 Speech Quality Index (SQI) -20 to 30. -20 to 30 Maximum value is good. Carrier to Interference (C/I) or Co-channel interference ratio. -5 to 25 db > 15 Good Speech Q 0-5 5 is good

Step 1. All Required devices are connected with Laptop as follows. TEMS Handset with TEMS data cable. GPS connect with GPS cable or baffo cable. Dongle.

Step 2. Select the COM ports. Open Ctrl & Config worksheet & select Properties from Equipment Configuration window to select COM ports according to next slide. Step 3. Identify the equipment or connect equipment according to slide no-35

Recording of Log Files Step 1. Click Start Recording icon to save log files as shown in next slide. Step 2. Same icon are used for Stop Recording. Open Log Files STEPS TO PLAY LOGFILE Step 1. Select Logfile Menu then select open Logfiles according to next slide.

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Step 2. Open saved logfiles.

Step 3. Play Logfile as shown in next 3rd slide.

LOG FILE EXPORT Step 1. Select Logfile Menu then open Export Logfile according to next slide. Step 2. Click Add Order icon on Export Logfile window. Step 3. New Add Export Order window is opened. Step 4. Select MapInfo Tab-files in format Box. Step 5. Then Open Setup Box then select Available IEs GSM. Step 6. Select the required Parameters to export eg. RxLev, RxQual etc. Step 7. Select OK. Step 8. Click start icon to converts logfiles into MapInfo Tab -files format

Problem Cases

Low Signal Strength

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Interference Handover Call Setup Failure Dropped Call Misc.

Signal Strength Case

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Possible Reasons

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Shadowed Antenna Antenna Direction Antenna Height / down tilt Output Power Missing Neighbor Relation Site Location Faulty Hardware e.g. antenna & TMA Cell is down

Signal Strength Case Analysis

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Signal Strength Case-Possible Solutions

Change parameter BSPWR, BSPWRT. Add neighbour relation Physical changes Antenna direction Antenna height, tilt or position

New site as last option.

Interference Case

The signal at the receiving antenna can be weak by virtue of interference from other Signals. These signals may be from the same network or may be due to man-made objects.

However, the major cause of interference in a cellular network is the radio resources in the network. There are many radio channels in use in a network that use common shared bandwidth. The solution to the problem is accurate frequency planning. The mobile station may experience a slow or rapid fluctuation in the signal level in a radio network.

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Interference Case Log files analysis

What channel group suffer from interference? HOP or Non HOP?

Check Current channel information in TEMS INV, hopping channel and hopping frequency.

Where does the interference come from? Cell name?

Study map and logfile, look for co-channel or adjacent channel interference.

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Does the interference lead to lower SQI? Look at SQI measurement during high RxQual . Use STS s& RNO to assist analysis.

Possible solutions

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Enable Frequency Hopping or add frequencies to Hopping group. Enable BTS Power Control, MS power control and make it less aggressive. Change frequency of interferer or interfered cell Possible to find new frequency by using TEMS Scanning. Down tilt or change antenna of interferer.

Types of Interference

1. 2.

Co - Channel interference Adjacent Interference

Interference Case Possible Reasons

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 Poor frequency plan No dominant cell --> low C/I ---> increased Frequency Hopping is off External interference e.g. jammer Rxqual

Interference Case Possible solutions

Enable Frequency Hopping or add frequencies to Hopping group. Enable BTS Power Control, MS power control and make it less aggressive. Change frequency of interferer or interfered cell: Possible to find new frequency by using TEMS Scanning. Down tilt or change antenna of interferer.

3.9 Handover

Handover is the automatic transfer of the subscriber from one cell to another during the call process, without causing any hindrance to the call. There are two main aspects to this: the necessity to find a dedicated mode in the next cell as the mobile is on call, and the switching process being fast enough so as not to drop that call.

So, how does the handover actually take place? There are many processes that can be used, but the one most used is based on power measurements. When a mobile is at the interface of two cells, the BSS measures the power that is received by the base stations of the two cells, and then the one that satisfies the criteria of enough power and least interference is selected. This kind of handover being directly related to power control, it provides an opportunity to improve the efficiency of use of the spectrum.

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Handover Case

Repeated Handover (Ping Pong)

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Repeated Handover (Ping Pong) - Possible Reason 1

Merry-go-round Handover, Offset >Hysterisis

Repeated Handover (Ping Pong) - Possible Reason 2

Offset only in one direction e.g A-B for Inter BSC relation

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Repeated Handover (Ping Pong) Other Possible Reasons

1. 2. 3.

No dominant server Locating penalty settings e.g. PSSBQ, PTIMBQ Too small hysteretic setting.

Repeated Handover (Ping Pong) Possible Solutions

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Repeated Handover (Ping Pong) Possible Solution

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Handover Case Handover Reversion

Handover Reversion Common Reason

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3.9.1Handover reversion

Uplink interference in target cell. Downlink interference at MS

3.9.2Solutions

Interference Investigation

MRR Statistics Scanning

3.9.3 Handover Case Repeated Intra-cell Handover

Possible Reasons

Wrong intra-cell handover settings. External Uplink Interference.

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Possible Solutions

Possible Solutions-Consider to change parameters:

SSOFFSETUL, SSOFFSETDL. QOFFSETUL, QOFFSETDL

3.9.4Handover Case Unrealistic Handover

3.9.5Unrealistic Handover Reason & Solution

Possible Reasons Wrong locating settings, in Serving or Target cell Note: Could be on purpose e.g. Dual Band network with HCS Solution Fix locating settings e.g. MSRXSUFF, BSRXSUFF

3.10 Call Setup Failure

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Input Activities, Initial Tuning

3.10.1Call Setup Failure Analysis - Initial Tuning Scenario

Check the TEMS statistics report (Blocked Call) if there is Call Setup Failure. If yes, identify the problem cells and which logfile from geographical report. Replay the log file and jump to the Blocked Call event. Check if there is any successful call setup to th problem cell.

3.10.2Call Setup Failure Analysis- Initial Tuning Scenario cont. Review the layer 3 messages to check at which sequence the failure occur (random access, SDCCH, TCH assignment etc.). Check STS report on the problem cell. Is there any traffic (SDCCH & TCH) in the cell, SDCCH & TCH seizures, congestion etc. Check fault report & CDD configuration

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Call Setup Failure Problems

1. 2.

When the connection breaks down between BSC and BTS the call setup problem occurs. The call setup problem occurs when SDCCH & TCH congestion will introduced.

3.10.3Call Setup Failure Analysis- Possible reasons with ranking

Low Signal Strength Interference High Congestion on SDCCH High Congestion on TCH Transmission Fault Faulty TRU/Hardware Central Processor Overload

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 Software File Congestion

3.10.4Call Setup Failure Analysis - Possible solutions

Low signal strength - Signal strength analysis. Interference -Interference analysis. High Congestion on SDCCH:-Define more SDCCHs-Activate adaptive configuration of logical channel feature and immediate assignment to TCH. High Congestion on TCH:-Add capacity/Tune coverage array -Activate assignment to worse cell.

3.10.5Failed Call Setup (Blocked Call)- Example

Multiple Channel Requests.Successful Random Access after the third try. Congestion in SDCCH

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Dropped Call Case Input

Statistics Report Note from drive test.

Dropped Call Case Analysis

From plot, identify which & where in log file the dropped call occurs In the log file, Jump the drop call event Check if there is a disrupt in the recording. If yes - could be a false drop due to TEMS mobile disconnection during recording!!!

Dropped Call Case - Analysis (cont)

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 Check the Radio environment just before drop: If High Rxqual for a Longer period of time and RLINKT expire - Interference problems If Low SSDL, SSDL < MSSENS ( -104dBm) low signal strength problems. If TA > 63 - too far from the cell. If DL radio is good, check the TX power. If there is MS power down regulation when the MS is close to the cell. If full power suspect uplink interference or antenna, TMA problem.

Miscellaneous Case 1-From TEMS Log file

Good Signal strength DL, Good Rxquals DL No call set up possible unless very close to site = high SS Dropped call when SS < approx. -75dBm

Analysis Since DL SS & Rxqual is good -Suspect UL problems e.g. external uplink interference.

Conclusion TMA power turned off.

Miscellaneous Case 2

From TEMS Log file TCH has lower Signal strength than BCCH (Own BCCH included in BA-list) BTS power control = OFF

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Conclusion Antenna cable for TCH is swapped between sectors (CDU-A).

Miscellaneous Case 3

From TEMS Log file

Fail to perform Call Setup

Analysis

Check if any successes call setup to the same cell - No Check if handover is possible - Yes
Suspected wrong cell definition in MS- but Cell is properly defined in MCS and LA

Conclusion Corrupted block in MSC

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CDMA DRIVE TEST

CDMA PARAMETERS THEIR VALUE AND MEANINGS: The Ranges and Colour coding of the ranges is to be maintained and matched in each of the reports

Mobile Transmit Power

Mobile Receive Power

Aggregate EcIo

FER

Colour Coding

< -20.0 -20 to -10 -10 to 5 5 to 15 15 to 21 > 21.0

> -60.0 -60.0 to 70.0 -70 to -85 -85 to -95 -95 to -101 < -101.0

> -3.0 -3.0 to -6.0 -6.0 to -11.0 -11 to -13.0 -13.0 to -15.0 < -15.0

0.0 to 1.0 1.0 to 2.0 2.0 to 3.0 3.0 to 5.0 > 5.0

V.Good Good Average Bad V.Bad

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OPTIMIZATION

Every live Network needs to be under continuous control to maintain/improve the performance. Optimization is basically the only way to keep track of the network by looking deep into statistics and collecting/analyzing drive test data. It is keeping an eye on its growth and modifying it for the future capacity enhancements. It also helps operation and maintenance for troubleshooting.

Successful Optimization requires: Recognition and understanding of common reasons for call failure. Capture of RF and digital parameters of the call prior to drop. Analysis of call flow, checking messages on both forward and reverse links to establish what happened, where, why. SCOPE OF OPTIMIZATION The optimization is to intend providing the best network quality using available spectrum as efficient as possible. The scope will consists of all below.. Finding and correcting an existing problem after site implementation and integration. Meeting the network quality criteria agreed in the contact. Optimization will be continuous process of improving overall network quality. Optimization cannot reduce the performance of the rest of the network. Area of interest is divided in smaller areas called cluster to make optimization and follow up processes easier to handle

PROCESS: Identify network problem through analysis of KPI Implement corrective action to rectify problem Monitor results of modification

PURPOSE: Maintain quality of service Max resource utilization Reduce churn rate To bring new customers Max. revenues

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INPUTS The following inputs are considered for optimization: QOS Parameters RF Design Parameters OMC alarms Routine Drive Testing Customer feedback

Using the above inputs we can determine the optimization requirement and the the area which needs to be optimized. QOS PARAMETERS

The information fed back is also used in assessing the growth of the network by identifying areas of high traffic volumes.

THINGS TO INVESTIGATE:

1) Non working sites and TRX 2) Inactive radio network features like freq hopping 3) Disable/Enable GPRS 4) Overshooting sites 5) Coverage hole 6) High interference spots 7) Drop calls

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8) Capacity problem 9) Missing neighbors 10) One way neighbors 11) Ping Pong HO 12) HO not defined 13) KPI for accessibility and retainability 14) Equipment performance 15) Faulty installations

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR(KPI) 1. 2. Accessibility : The ability of service to be obtain with in specify tolerance and other given conditions when the requested by user. Retainibility : The ability of service once obtain to continue to be provided under given conditions for a requested duration. Accessibility KPIs:i) Assignment rate:SDCCH assignment rate should be greater than equal to 95% TCH assignment rate should be greater then equal to 97% ii) Congestion or blocking:In Case of SDCCH rate should be less than equal to 1% In case of TCH it should be less than equal to 2%

iii)

Call Setup success rate(CSSR):CSSR should be greater than equal to 97%

iv) v)

RACH access rate:RACH access rate should be greater than 99% Drop rate:SDCCH Drop should not be greater than 1% TCH drop should not be greater than 2% Handover success rate(HOSR):HOSR should be greater than 98% Erlang per minute drop

vi) vii)

Under KPI few threshold values are fixed so as to analyze the network performance and hence make the system more feasible:

1) SDCCH Congestion<1% 2) SDCCH Assignment Failure<1% 3) TCH Congestion<2%

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4) TCH Assignment Failure<2% 5) TCH Drop Rate<2% 6) Handover Success Rate>95%

Periodic Counters As mentioned above, the periodicity of capturing measurement statistics depends on the function of the element being tested and the level at which it is situated in the network. Daily Cell Measurements Cell measurements should be captured daily. They are intended to identify faults in the cell as soon as possible so that corrective action can be taken with minimum delay. Examples of such measurements include: Call setup success rate TCH Drop Call Rate Handover Success Rate TCH Congestion SDCCH Congestion

Weekly BSS Measurements There are a number of parameters at the BSS that are less critical for day-today fault identification, but are more useful for identifying performance trends. These statistics should be captured weekly. Examples of such measurements include: Traffic Trends

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Cell Retaining Cell Accessibility Monthly BSS Measurements

On a monthly basis reports should be generated containing data about BSC performance. As with weekly reports the primary purpose is to identify trends rather than specific faults, but at the BSC level rather than the Cell level. Examples of such measurements include: BSC processor load BSC call setup rate BSC handover success rate Call Setup Success Rate The call setup rate should be above 97 % for a healthy network. Within There could be many reasons for a poor CSSR. Some are described as follows. No Access to SDCCH CM service reject TCH Assignment Failure Hardware Problems

No access to SDCCH as Congestion prevents SDCCH allocation CM service reject because Incompatible algorithms/cipher keys Requested service not available TCH assignment failure Congestion prevents SDCCH allocation Excessive Interference on TCHs Hardware Problems The call setup rate should be above 97 % for a healthy network. Within There could be many reasons for a poor CSSR. Some are described as follows. No Access To SDCCH Function: BSS detects Channel Request (in the form of RACH) from a source, requesting resources for network transactions. After validation of the resource request, the BSS attempts to allocate an SDCCH. Once the availability of SDCCH channel is confirmed, the BSS will send Immediate Assignment to the MS indicating the dedicated SDCCH sub-channel using the AGCH, whereby subsequent message exchange will be performed over the dedicated SDCCH. Failure Indication: If congestion prevents assignment of an SDCCH, the BSS will response to MS with Immediate Assignment Reject, terminating the transactions. Failure Cause: Insufficient capacity on SDCCH channel allocation. 1) Interference(from neighboring cell) 2) Lack of capacity 3) SDCCH time slot 4) High signaling load 5) Hardware faulty No Access to SDCCH CM service reject TCH Assignment Failure Hardware Problems

TCH Assignment Failure

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Function: On completion of the link establishment, MSC issues Assignment Request to BSS, requesting TCH assignment to the MS. The BSS attempts to allocate a free TCH. Once Assignment Command is received by MS, stating the availability of TCH for the MS, it will move to the dedicated TCH and responds with Assignment Complete. In turn, the BSS will submit Assignment Complete to MSC to complete the signalling activity. Failure Indication: The BSS fails to allocate a TCH to the requesting MS by issuing an Assignment Failure message, thereby terminating the connection. Failure Cause: Insufficient capacity on TCHs. Excessive interference on TCH channels.

Hardware Problems Hardware failures can play the major role for poor CSSR. Improper functionality of any BTS hardware can affect the overall performance of site.

High Dropped Call Rate For a healthy network the drop call rate should be less than 2 %. There are again number of reasons, which could contribute towards higher dropped call rate: Failure Indication: The call drops whilst attempting to handover to a new cell. Fault Cause: Primarily high interference on the target cell. Possibly the mobile is on the wrong serving cell (not planned for that area but serves due to the antenna overshoot). 1) TCH drop > 2% (showcase) > 2.5% (non showcase) 2) Drop due to HO failure 3) Interference on target cell 4) Incorrect serving cell 5) Low signal level and quality 6) Long TA 7) MS enter on high attenuation area like tunnel or building 8) High cochannel and adjacent channel interference 9) Extranious Interference 10) Link Imbalance

11) Hardware issues

LOW SIGNAL LEVEL/QUALITY

Failure Indication: MS unable to handover due to low signal reception from neighbouring cells. Fault Cause: Neighbouring cell signal level drops below defined threshold, commonly -95dBm. If the mobile is unable to handoff to a better cell on level basis, the call will possibly be dropped. Topology or Morphology issues may also be a cause if the MS enters into a tunnel or a building where higher RF losses will be incurred. ADJACENT- AND CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE

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Fault Indication: Call drops due to excessive interference. Fault Cause: Excessive interference on TCH frequency. This could be due to poor frequency plan where higher than normal levels of C/I and C/A interference exist. Abnormally high levels of interference are generally due to some external frequency source. EXTRANEOUS INTERFERENCE Fault Indication. Call drops due to excessive interference. Fault Cause. Extraneous interference can source from: Other mobile networks Military communication Cordless telephones Illegal radio Communication equipment LINK IMBALANCE

Fault Indication: Call drops due to loss of communications link. Fault Cause: An imbalance between up and down power budgets can result in one-way communications where, for example, the MS can receive the BTS transmission but us out of range to transmit back to the BTS. This can be caused by: Transmit and Receive antenna facing different direction Transmit and Receive antennas with different tilts Antenna feeder damage, corrosion or water ingress Physical obstruction of antennas HIGH NEIGHBOUR INTERFERENCE / CONGESTION Fault Indication: Call fails to handover due to neighbouring cell interference and/or congestion. Fault Cause: Insufficient capacity in neighbouring cells to accept call. Best neighbouring cell is below minimum interference threshold NO DOMINANT SERVER Fault Indication: Handover fails due to no dominant server being available. Fault Cause: Poorly designed cell plan may result in neighbouring cells being received at similar levels. This may cause confusion and therefore make cell selection more difficult, possibly resulting in handover failures.

HIGH SDCCH BLOCKING Blocking is the term used to describe the situation where resources are not available to subscribers for establishing the calls. Some reasons for blocking of SDCCH and/or TCH channels include: No access to SDCCH Failure before assignment of TCH High signalling load

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HIGH TCH BLOCKING TCH blocking may be due to the following reasons Handover and power budget margins Cells too large (capturing too much traffic) Capacity limitations ( congestion ) Incorrect or inappropriate timer settings

CAPACITY LIMITATIONS (CONGESTION) Fault Symptom: Failure to allocate TCH channel due to congestion. Fault Cause: Insufficient capacity within cell to service offered traffic requirements. This may be a result of poor capacity planning or unanticipated traffic capture.

Identify and Fix Hardware Problems Identification of BSS hardware problems can be identified though the analysis of OMC statistical data, drive test data, A-Bis and A-Interface logs. Worst Performing Cells can be identified through analysis of established KPIs. Problems identified through analysis of performance measurement counters from: OMC Statistics Driver \Test data A-bis and A interface logs Identify worst performing cells according to established KPI benchmarks

Typical examples of hardware problems include: Misaligned Antennas Increased interference, coverage degradation Wrongly/poorly connected feeders Reduced power output, reduced coverage, cell imbalance, distortion Poor transmission line performance (water ingress, corrosion, physical damage etc High VSWR, high Insertion losses, reduced power output, reduced coverage, cell imbalance, distortion Poorly calibrated TRXs Inconsistent TRX performance Incorrectly configured combiners/duplexers etc Reduced power output, reduced coverage, cell imbalance, distortion

Identify and Fix Neighbour Problems

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In GSM, several neighbour cells can be defined for a serving cell. Usually, handovers should be made to the strongest neighbour, but in some cases frequent handovers to this best neighbour can result in congestion in the neighbour cell, affecting the users initiating calls from that cell. The situation can also occur in reverse, when a handover required to the best neighbour can result in a rejection due to unavailability of resources, causing the handover to be attempted to the next best neighbour, which can delay the process and deteriorate the quality further. Under certain circumstances, it may be necessary to remove a potential neighbour from the neighbour list and provide alternatives. Usually, such decisions are made using demographic considerations. Optimising Neighbour List Effects of poor maintenance: Unwanted legacy neighbours Oversized neighbour lists Co-channel neighbour definitions Missing neighbours Unintentional 1-way neighbour definitions Optimise by: Analyse neighbour performance form statistics. Utilise automated neighbour detection Identify inconsistent neighbour profiles Modify appropriate neighbour lists

The BCH analyser in the GSM receiver makes it easier to determine these alternative neighbours. It can be used to create a list of all the possible BCH carriers in the nearby vicinity and perform the RxLev measurement (linked to the phones RxQual performance) on each of these carriers. When the RxQual reaches the handover decision threshold, we can determine the potential neighbours at that stage and set one of those as the optimum neighbour. This can also be done by the MS, but in this case the choice is limited to the BA list set in the network, which may not include all good potential neighbours. Optimisation includes a combined study of neighbour performance statistics and network planning data, using automated neighbour detection techniques via A-Bis traces where supported by the vendors OMC tool set. The neighbour list is reviewed to identify mi ssing, redundant and 1-way neighbours, and updating of neighbour lists with required changes. Lack of neighbour maintenance leads to: Unwanted legacy neighbours Over-sized neighbour lists (impossible to add neighbours for new sites, and reduced handover performance) Co-channel neighbour definitions Missing neighbours Unintentional 1-way neighbour definitions

Identify and Fix Frequency Plan Problems Frequency optimisation activities involve identification of interference issues due to a poorly-maintained frequency plan, and rectification through a process of coverage optimisation and frequency plan modifications. This includes firstly ensuring the issues have been identified: Identify interference issues

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 Identify coverage optimisation issues impacting frequency plan quality Having ensured that the issues have been identified correctly, optimisation techniques can be employed to optimise the frequency plan. Such techniques could include: Identify problem areas: o o Interference issues (internal and external) Coverage issues ( excessive overlaps, coverage gaps, high sites etc)

Recommend appropriate frequency optimisation techniques o o o o o BCCH and TCH Frequency Plans Frequency Diversity (space, polarity) Frequency Hopping DTX Antenna Down tilting

BCCH AndTCH Frequency Plans The Spectrum allocation should be considered to determine if a change to frequency allocation is necessary. The diagram below shows a typical frequency allocation for the 900 band The number of channels required to make a good BCH plan will vary according to a number of factors: Site design (high sites etc.) Terrain and topography Subscriber distribution Regularity of cell plan

In a well optimised network, it is generally possible to produce a high quality BCCH plan within 14-15 channels. The same issues with the BCCH plan also affect frequency planning of the non-BCCH (TCH) carriers. However there are additional techniques available for the TCH layer to improve re-use efficiency and increase capacity, such as: Synthesizer Frequency Hopping Baseband Frequency Hopping MRP (Multiple Reuse Pattern) High Site Problems Initial roll-out tends to concentrate on higher sites High sites potentially cause excessive interference with subsequent lower site roll-out From performance parameters, identify those cell interference contributing the most interference to the most cells Develop plan to lower antennas or decommission these sites. This may require additional lower sites to cover any coverage gaps Prioritise decommissioning and integration of new sites to minimise disruption to services

Antenna Down-Tilting An option for adjusting cell coverage e.g. down tilting may direct coverage deeper into a building Antenna tilt may be: mechanical operator set affects directional coverage Electrical manufacturer set affects omni-directional coverage Omni antennas may have electrical tilt but not mechanical New technologies allow for remote electrical tilting

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Antenna Selection Antenna specifications have a significant impact on network performance. The suitability of antennas should be reviewed according to the observed performance problems in the network, and recommendations made as necessary, for example: Vertical and Horizontal Beamwidth Gain Front-to-Back Ratio Null Fill Downtilt (electrical/mechanical)

RECTIFYING THE MAJOR PROBLEMS: 1) TRAFFIC: Sometimes SDCCH allocated to the time slots are not sufficient for signalling and presence of more users cause congestion or unavailability of signalling channel to them. So more SDCCH can be alloted to the time slots. Even if 1 TRX card if filled, few time slots of other card can be given to SDCCH.

At the time of congestion in TCH, there are some solutions which can be taken to help away with traffic: More time slots can be provided to TCH more users to latch in. Even new TRX cards can be added to increase the capacity. Most important part: Few full rate TCH can be programmed to half rate so that they can support two users each. 2) TEMPORARY CONGESTION: Suppose in particular area BTS is established according to the clutter but due to some occasion or anything more number of users make calls in that area few steps can be taken to avoid any congestion or call drops.

SDCCH can be alloted to the user by same BTS under which it is latched but TCH of some other neighbor BTS. We can change the Rx level i.e. by increasing the Rx level from -100db of the particular BTS near the crowded area and decreasing Rx level from -100db of some other nearby BTS so that the crowd could latch to those BTS and calls can be established. Establishing mobile BTS i.e. COW BTS in which an antenna of small heights are brought in by a van or truck and is defined as neighbors with nearby BTS. The most important and new technology found: DHR(Dynamic Half Rate): BTS is programmed as per: TCH utilization- FR used >70% For time- 5min Conversion- 40 % FR to HR If HR utilization< 50% For time- 15min

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Reconversion

2)

ALARM: In case of occurrence of alarm the technical dept is informed and for the time being SDCCH and TCH are alotted some other slots or other TRX.

4) WRONGLY DEFINED LAC: LAC can be made same for the nearby two BSCs to remove congestion and frequent communication.

10.2 PROJECT RESULTS

9.2.1Actions Taken on Project

Replacement of Faulty Hardware Infra Audit done for suspected problematic sites Neighbor Optimization done for all cells Radio Parameters tuned for cells having BAD KPIs Traffic Optimized by equipping Half Rate and Reconfiguration Drive-Test performed for analysis of network problems & verification of solutions Continuous tracking of KPIs, Availability & Alarms in order to drive & track the project progress

10.2.3 TARGET TO BE ACHIEVED FOR BASIC KPIs

Handover Success Rate (>95%) SD Assignment Rate (>95%) SDCCH Drop Rate (<1%) TCH Assignment Rate (>97%) TCH Drop Rate (<2%) TCH Congestion (<2%)

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10.4 Improvement in Handover Success Rate (HOSR)

Fig:10.2

Handover success rate should be greater than 98%

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Case: the bad value of the HSR is 67.86 which we have to improve it to increase the performance of the network

Reasons: i) ii) iii) iv) v) Problem in the site hardware. Neighbors are not define in bi-directional. Serving cell congestion. Coverage issues Co channel interference & adjacent cell interference.

Solutions: i) ii) Drive test to the site find out the faulty hardware and replace it. We define the neighbor in bidirectional which increases the performance of the site and leads to achieve the targeted value that is 98%

10.5 Improvement in SD Assignment Failure

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Fig:10.4 Case: The SDCCH drop rate should not be greater than 1% But in the above we analysis that the drop rate is more than 1%the site name 11SDS the SD drop is 5.44% which is very bad performance to overcome this problem check all the parameters of the site find reasons for the bad SD drop rate. Reasons : i) co channel interference and adjacent channel interference.

10.6 TCH blocking rate

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Fig:10.6

In the above BBH (business bounce hour report) show that the performance of the TCH blocking KPI (which is define as the proportion of TCH requests from origination and hand in calls that is fail due to there being insufficient TCH resources to carry the call) is good but only bad value is one that is 6.7

Reasons : i) Problem in the hardware of the site. ii) Coverage issues

Solution: The problem is in the hardware so we replace it

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10.7 Improvement in TCH Assignment Rate

Fig:10.7

Case: in the above BBH report the TCH assignment rate is vary from 100 to 91.52.the 100 value the good value but the 91.52 is the bad value for the network and this leads to decreases the performance of the network. This value of the TCH success rate decreases the CSSR (call setup success rate).

Reasons for the bad value of the TCH assignment success rate: i) Problem in the site hardware. ii) Subscriber no. is more as compare to the TCH configure in the site. iii) Coverage issues

Solution for that: i) ii) Check the faulty hardware. Drive test to know about the issue of bad KPI values.

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iii) Check the related parameters and know about the reasons .

10.8 Improvement in TCH Drop Rate

Fig:10.9 TCH should not be greater than 2%

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Case: But in the above report in many cases the TCH drop rate is very high up to 13.33%.the another bad values are 8.62, 6.92, 4.76 all which is greater than 2 % that is mark as a bad KPI in the network. Effect on the network: decrease the network performance that due to this reason the call success rate is decrease the value which is above the 2% is the bad value for the network and need to improve these value by using different method. Reasons for the bad KPI values: i) ii) i) Problem in the hardware of the site that is TRX card, feeder cables, may be in the time slot. The no. of TCH configure is less as compare to the capacity of the site. check the hardware properly i.e sector wise TRX if there is only high rate of TCH drop in one TRX card then problem in the TRX card only solve the problem. Solutions: I) Check the TCH full rate and half rate channel and the Bust hours of the network if the TCH drop is only high during the busy hours then need to add the capacity to the site.

10.10 Capacity add in site by analysis the performance

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Fig:12 Case 1: Add the capacity in the BTS i.e add the TRX card Reasons to add the TRX card: Utilization of the site is more as compare to capacity. This cause to decrease the performance of the network. Solution: To solve this problem add the TRX using the Erlang table in the 2 nd sector of the BTS. Because there is only one TRX is available in the BTS

USE OF NET MONITOR FOR SUVEY AND BENCHMARKING

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CDMA Optinization Drive Test Application in Call Drop Analyzing Call drop is the interruption of call and it is caused by BTS or MS releasing traffic channel without user permission. Call drop mechanism CDMA system is a closed-loop system, the closed-loop signal link is very necessary between BTS and MS in data or voice transmission. Some important process, like power control and handoff, all need one closed-loop link. If this link is broken for any reason, MS will lose control and need initialization again and go back to idle state. When closed-loop signal link is broken, call drop mechanism will be started. Closed-loop signal link includes forward link and reverse link, any one link is broken can cause call drop.

1 MS drop mechanism

1. MS bad frame If the mobile station receives N2m consecutive bad frames on the Forward Traffic Channel, it shall disable its transmitter. Thereafter, if the mobile station receives N3m consecutive good frames, the mobile station should re-enable its transmitter. (Extracted from 95 standard 6.4.4) In 95 standards, N2m is defined as constant 12; N3m is defined as constant 2.

2. MS fading timer The mobile station shall establish a Forward Traffic Channel fade timer. The timer shall be enabled when the mobile station first enables its transmitter when in the Traffic Channel Initialization Sub state of the Mobile Station Control on the Traffic Channel State. The fade timer shall be reset for T5m seconds whenever N3m consecutive good frames are received on the Forward Traffic Channel. If the timer expires, the mobile station shall disable its transmitter and declare a loss of the Forward Traffic Channel. (Extracted from 95 standard 6.4.4) In 95 standards, N3m is defined as constant 2; T5m is defined as constant 5s.

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3. MS acknowledgment failure If the mobile station has not received an acknowledgement within T1m seconds after transmitting the message, the mobile station shall retransmit the message. (Extracted from 95 standard 6.6.4.1.3.1.1) The mobile has N1m attempts to transmit a message that required acknowledgment. If the mobile does not receive the acknowledgement T1m seconds after the N1m time, the mobile declares an acknowledgment failure. In 95 standards, N1m is defined as constant 3; T1m is defined as constant 0.4s.

2 BTS call drop mechanism

1. BTS bad frame when FER reaches to 90% in 100 frames and this happens 3 times consecutively, BTS will release the links. 2. BTS acknowledgement There 9 times for BTS acknowledgement, and the waiting time between two acknowledgements is 0.4s. Integrated analyzing Call drop ratio can be used to evaluate network integrated performance. Call drop ratio improvement can decrease subscribers complaints and increase their satisfaction. For the large scale commercial network, call drop ratio observed from background OMC is more accurate and impersonal; for unloaded or light-load network, it can be got by DT test. In DT test, the call mode adopts sequence call test, call drop ratio is defined as: call drop number/total successful call number; if adopts long call test, total successful call number is total calling time (s)/90. For urban area, call drop ratio is less than 0.8% means network performance is good; for suburb or roads coverage, this index can be a litter low.

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CDMA Drive Test Plot .

CASE STUDY

In this Section you will study various live network probems their analysis and solutions

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As we can see the orange color, this shows that rx level is decreasing hence signal level and quality is poor. The main reason which can be guessed by looking at the drive test is the distance between the two BTS. PROBLEMS FOUND ON OPTIMIZATION 1) 2) TILT given is 8 degrees HO Margin defined 20dB

AFTER OPTIMIZATION 1) TILT to be reduced

HO Margin to be changed

CASE-2

PROBLEMS FOUND ON OPTIMIZATION

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1)

HO defined was one way that is L639 cells 1st sector is serving and not

the cell L603. AFTER OPTIMIZATION 1) Neighbors should be defined in both ways

Case -3

CASE -4

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CASE-5

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CASE-6

Initially the rx level shown is poor. While optimizing the case given a Site was proposed This site need to be defined as the neighbor of the previous one so that Handovers can occur and the signal level may improve at the areas. The frequency range of site implied can be checked after the site installation by frequency locking method.

CASE STUDY OF COUSTOMER COMPLAINT

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PRN011 is the serving cell in this case. But as we move away from the cell rx level decreases. Here on optimizing It was found that the serving sector is not same as the sector

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which has to serve in real. i.e. sector 2 of cell PRN011 has to serve but sector 3 is serving. This is known as sector swap. And hence cable trace has been proposed. In case of cable trace the reager is asked to trace cable starting right from the GSM antenna to the BTS.

In this case the ideal mode drive test has been done. The problem is that the cells are far apart so the signal level is decreasing while going away from cell PRNI01 and then improves near SPU001. The another reason which could have been possible is the given tilt to the sites which decreases the range of the sites.

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In this case the dedicated mode drive test is being done and here as we see the rx level is improving as we move towards SPU001 from taseemo. Rx level at taseemo was very less. Therefore there is a signal problem at this place. This needs a site installation but as nearby areas donot have such problem the repeater could solve the purpose.

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It was proposed installation of repeater and therefore the complaint have been solved successfully. Moreover if SPU001 has any tilt, reducing that tilt would increase the coverage. And also this IBS should be defined neighbor with SPU001 for HO.

14.2.5 Here there was complaint by Firozpura customers about the signal. As the area seen the main problem which could be solved is the establishment of site at a far distance. Therefore we proposed the site at Firozpura

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But establishing an omni directional site didnt solved the purpose. So 3 sector site with a particular azimuth was established there according to the clutter.

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14.3 CHEKING A CELL BY LOCKING FREQUENCY

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In a drive test when we need to test a particular cell for overshooting we does that by FREQUENCY LOCKING. i.e. the frequency (ARFCN) of LUD877A was locked in TEMS and then drive test was done in dedicated mode. Locking a frequency means that MS can not be latched to any other cell through HO and hence it tells us the signal level and distance from cell. So any changes to be done in the cell would show result.

BBH REPORT

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BBH Report(Busy Bounce Hour Report) CHR269A- Only 1 TRX card with 5 TCH HO success=94.87% Sd erl=19.20 Tch erl=22.1 SD Blocking=0.04 D1%=0.9%,D3%=1.8% Total attempted calls=3010, established=1200 TCH assign=95.3% Loc Upd= 3564 CHR269B- RASR=93.53% HO=95.81% D1%=0.7% CHR269C- D3%=3% CHR617A- D3%=1.3% CHR617B- 2 TRX with only 13 TCH HO=93.84%

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Sd erl=31.74 D1%=1.8%,D3%=1.9% TTCONGS_H=10 CHR617C- Tch erl=21.9 D1%=1.8 Diff b/w total calls and established calls is very high Loc upd=198 CHR655A- HO=93.22% D1%=1.1%, D3%=2% Diff is high CHR655B- Has good performance CHR655C- D1%=2.6%,D3%=1.6% HO= 97.9% TCH block=0.08

1) 2)

TRX cards can be added to increase TCH HO rate can be less cause of unavailability of TCH, hardware fault, neighbor not defined, interference, lack of dominant server. Hardware fault can be checked by checking feeder cables connection, TRX cards, Combiners, problem in neighbor cell. Neighbors could be

defined via MCOM, interference can be reduced by checking the values of BSIC and BCCH, and also checking out HO margin could solve the purpose. 3) 4) 5) High Sd erl and Tch erl if accompanied with less TCH could cause congestion. SD Block could occur due to congestion, alarms, sector swap, wrong LAC defined. TCH Block due to alarm or congestion. D1 is SD drop and D3 is TCH drop which could occur wrongly defined LAC, SDCCH or TCH assignment failure, interference, same BSIC, lack of capacity, high signalling load, unsynchronized SDCCH, low coverage or sector swap. 6) Difference between Total calls and calls established is high due to reasons such as drop due to HO failure, Interference on target cell, Incorrect serving cell, low signal level and quality, long TA, MS enter on high attenuation area like tunnel or building, high cochannel and adjacent channel interference, extranious Interference, hardware issues. HO can cause problem when HO not defined, BSIC, BCCH same, cable swap, TCH not available in neighbor cell, fading, Interference, HO margin not properly defined, LAC not properly defined, faulty hardware, E1 terminal swap, lack of dominant server, one way neighbor defined. 7) TCH assignment failure could occur due to failure of carrier, alarm blockage,

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rx level, interference, hardware failure. 8) 9) Loc Updation is high which cause signalling load. RASR being less signifies missing of RACH channel which can be checked by Signal Trace Tool and then checking the reason problem can be solved. 10) TTCONGS_HR tells us that the particular site faces congestion only occasionally.

Solved by preparing BBH report of the area.

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1) 2)

HO success rate should be more then 95%. But here in case of site MH519A it is 93.02% only and in MHA14B it is 92.41%. D3% i.e. TCH drop is 2.3% in MHS49B, 1.3 in MH519A, 2.2% in MH519C and 2.0% in MOHA14A.

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3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

D1% i.e. SDCCH drop is 0.9 in MH519A. TCH erl is more in MHA14B as compared to TCH available which could lead to congestion. TTCONGS_HR is 16 in MH519A which tells us that here congestion occurs sometimes occasionally. SD Blocking is 1.9% in MHA14A. TCH assignment in MHS49B is just 89.1% which needs to checked. Loc Upd is high in MHA14C which gives signaling load. Diff b/w total calls and calls established in MHS49B and MHA14B is high which has to reduced by checking out the reasons.

BENCHMARKING DOCOMO BSNL VODAFONE AIRTEL

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DOCOMO BSNL

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14.7 SURVEY

14.8 OPTIMIZATION RECORD

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This Optimization report have been prepared for the site MH519:

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1) Which donot have any sharing i.e. only Site 2) Height of tower on the building top is 15 MTR 3) Height of building=G+3N=4+3(2)=4+6=10MTR (G=ground floor, N= no. of floors) 4) Lat Long through GPS(Global Positioning System) was different then planned. 5) Microwave antennas on site=1 6) Sectors=2 7) Azimuth=110,340 8) Antenna height=20,21(actual), 20,20.5(optimized) 9) Tilt E=0,4(actual), 0,7(optimized) 10) Tilt M=1,1(planned), 1,2(actual), 1,1(optimized) 11) BCCH=35 12) BSIC=25 LOAD BALANCING

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In case of load balancing we balance the load of a site by increasing its tilt that is decreasing the coverage. We do this for high loaded sites.The tilts of sites LU65B, LU186A, LU205C, LU240C, LU262A has been increased.The tilts of neighboring or adjacent sites LH71A, LU237C, LU549A, LU529B, LU537B has been decreased so that these sites can share the load. The tilt of site LU211C was not changed due to weather problem

MICROWAVE ANTENNA SURVEY

AIM: The basic aim of Microwave Survey is to clear the Line of Sight (LOS)

LOS survey Los survey consists of 2 steps: Map survey

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Field survey MAP SURVEY A preliminary study of the map is required for planning of one or more routes which might appear to be possible between the terminal points given.

FIELD SURVEY Step1:Take the Lat Long of the near end of the site from we will start our survey. Step2:Ask for the nearest link from we can clear the link easily which will be our far end. Step3:After getting the nearest linkage site take the position with the help of map info and store the value in your GPS Step4: Calculate the distance and bearing angle from the GPS with the help of GO TO option of GPS and start reaching towards the far end. Step5:While reaching towards the far end we will keep our eye on two things first the bearing angle and secondly Xtk. Step6: During the whole journey from near to far end we will try to keep the value of bearing angle as much close to reference bearing angle. Step7:we will take the value of max height of building till the value of Xtk is 300m

Step8:The place where the value of bearing angle will became equal to the value of reference bearing angle that point would be our LOS point. Step9:At the point where we will trace our LOS the value of Xtk will be zero.

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RL TOOL TO For Microwave Planning

O P E R A T I O N S A N D M A I N T A I N E N C E C E N T R E R A D I O (OMCR DEFINITION The OMC (operation and maintenance center) is a UNIX based centralized system, which supports the day-to-day operation and maintenance of Network Elements (NEs) within a GSM network.

NEED FOR THE OMC The different network elements like the BSC, BTS, RXCDR etc. and their smaller hardware elements like the ports, DRIs, GPROCs, etc. are prone to failures and malfunctions. If these errors go undetected or unattended, then the equipment will definitely be damaged. Not only this, it may also prove to be service affecting i.e. it may cause the calls in some regions to go down adversely.Such a loss is unbearable by any operator. Hence to avoid such circumstances and to check and correct the faults at the network element ends, the OMC functions round the clock. Hence, at all times an Operations and Maintenance Center engineers monitors the network. When an operator extends its network in order to establish coverage over large areas, the network can quickly grow to contain tenths or even hundreds of thousands of entities. An operation and maintenance system ties the management of all those entities together into one or several centers. Through such systems the operator can configure switches, add new base stations, and perform software maintenance, add subscribers and performs many other tasks. At present, equipment manufacturers have their own OMCs, which are not compatible in every aspect with those of other manufacturers. This is particularly the case between Radio Base Station equipment suppliers, where in some cases the OMC is a separate item and Digital Switching equipment suppliers, where the OMC is an integral, but functionally separate, part of the hardware.

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Whenever a new BSC or BTS is to be created it is firstly reported to the Operations and maintenance department to create the new parameters of particular in the database and to configure them. These parameters may be assigning of the frequency to the cells, adding new cells in its neighbor for effective handovers etc. All the software, which is necessitating in the different GSM components like transcoder, BSC is done through this center. After the installation of the site the operator can login at any of the BSCs and afterwards to any of the sites to change and check the status that may include locking up of the DRIs, cell broadcasting of messages, checking for the calls, drop inserting one site with another so as to give redundant path, checking up for interference etc.

Operation & Maintenance Center The Scaleable OMC system configuration is shown in figure. Each processor is a complete UNIX system, comprising the following: A System Processor. Several MMI processors (which also provide color operator workstations). A GUI Server that is configured as an MMI. A laser printer.

The Motorola OMC-R communicates with the GSM network using the X.25 Communications protocol to exchange Operation and Maintenance (O&M) data with the BSSs and speech Transcoders (RXCDRs or XCDRs) via a Private or Public Switched Packet Data Network (PSPDN). The Transcoder (XCDR) is the digital signal processing equipment required to perform GSM defined speech encoding and decoding. In terms of data transmission, the transcoder interfaces the 64 kbit/s PCM in the land network to the 13 kbit/s vocoder format used on the Air Interface. The Remote Trancoder (RXCDR) is used when the transcoding is performed at a site away from the BSC, which is at or near the MSC. This enables 4:1 multiplexing in which the transcoded data for four logical channels is combined onto one 64 kbit/s link, thus reducing the number of links required for interconnection to the BSCs.

OMCR OPERATIONS & FUNCTION An OMC works round the clock monitoring the network elements and network operation. A set of functions specific only to the OMC make it a must have department in the GSM architecture. A set of powerful tools provided to the OMC engineer by the state of the art software allows him to perform his duties in excellent manner and approach. The following tree shows the functions of the OMC department.

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ICM (INTEGRATED CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT) 1) 2) ALARMS CHANNELS ALLOCATION

14.11.1 ALARMS Whenever there is a problem or fault during a BSC operation, an ALARM Message in the form of a prompt appears. Usually, the ALARM may last till the Faults or Problems are rectified. Types of alarms: 1) External Alarm: One rectifier Two rectifier Low battery Fire alarm DG running AC failure Engine fault High temperature Main supply failure Open door 2) Internal Alarm: Major Minor Critical 3) TRX faulty 4) CDU faulty

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5) Power Distribution 6) Fan Module 7) Control and Maintenance Module

14.11.2 CHANNEL ALOCATION In here the TRX cards 8 time slots are assigned with different channels i.e. BCCH,SDCCH,TCH . Here every sector of site is shown with respective TRX distribution in each sector. Else then these practical works many other things were also taught to us about telecom field.

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SDCCH/8 handles 8 TCH so if we are using more number of TRX cards therefore to handle more TCH we need more SDCCH. If we think of adding 1PDTCH, 1PDTCH supports 8 ts in downlink and 16 in uplink. i.e. 1 TCH being used by 1 user, 1PDTCH can be used by 8 users at a time.

4 ts of TRX can be mapped to one ts of E1. BCCH, SDCCH are mapped to signalling slot only. Eg. Mapping of site S-2/2/2 Sectors =3 TRX in each sector =2 Total TRX =6 Ts of E1 used for sync =1(0th) Ts of E1 used for signaling =1(16th) Ts of E1used for TCH in one TRX =2(each having 64Kb/s which have 4 TCH having 16Kb/s each) Ts of E1 used for TCH of 6 TRX =12 Therefore total Ts of E1 used =14

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