Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe Pfe

1
Introduction General introduction

General Introduction:

It would be hard to imagine a world without wireless applications and services. Around the globe,
mobile services are playing increasingly important roles in many facets of our society. J ust a decade
ago, mobile services consisted primarily of basic voice communication. Today, we depend on mobile
services not only for communication, but also for education, entertainment, healthcare and location.
Mobile services have also made significant inroads into developing nations, by improving the quality
of life for many of their citizens. This evolution of service requires a very high speed data with high
quality.
For this, 3G+radio access has evolved to support all these kinds of services.
3G+is now able to push practical bit rates beyond 14Mbps in downlink and about 7 Mbps in uplink. In
addition to the higher peak data rate, 3G+also reduces latency and improves network capacity.
The contents of this report are summarized as follows: In Chapter 1 we give an introduction to the
UMTS and HSPA network and we explain the main new features of UMTS and HSPA systems. The
second chapter presents design process of HSPA network and explains in detail the dimensioning part.
In The third chapter we explain the redesign and the optimization of radio network and the different
problems which occur on it .
Finally the practical part with real case study.
UMTS & HSPA systems overview
2

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: UMTS and
HSPA Systems Overview

3

Chapter 1
1.1 Introduction
Since its standardization in 1990 GSM has been the predominant 2G technology around the World. In
2007, the GSM Association estimated that a whopping 82% of global market was using the GSM
standard with more than 2 billion users within 212 countries. The key success Factor of GSM has been
the open standard approach, which provided a universal technology HSPA Performance and Evolution
.platform for network operators across different regions around the world. Having an open standard
makes the network equipment from various vendors inter-operable and provides tremendous operation
benefits and cost savings for the network operators. These cost savings are in turn transferred to the
consumers, providing them with the flexibility to move from one operator to the other without
changing their handsets. In the late 1990s, with the wireless industry trends slowly shifting from voice
to data services, the GSM industry decided to design a new network technology that would support
faster and more efficient data transmissions. This new technology, called Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS), would be based on the same open concepts as GSM and would
also benefit from the economies of scale resulting from having multiple operators around the world
agree on the same evolution path. The global success of GSM demanded that the 3G standard be
backwards compatible to ensure a smooth technology migration for both network operators and end
users. Following the trend from GSM, UMTS is today the most extended 3G technology worldwide
with 248 deployments, 223 of those including support of High Speed Data services (HSDPA or
HSDPA+HSUPA).
Since the introduction of UMTS Release99, the standards have been evolving with multiple major
releases:
- Rel.5 introduced High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), an enhancement that permits the
increase of downlink data rates, capacity and significantly reduces latency.
- Rel.6 introduced High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), which incorporates similar
Improvements on the uplink direction.
- Rel.7 and Rel.8 provide further improvements to HSDPA and HSUPA, with a strong focus on
application performance.
1.2 UMTS Network Architecture
The UMTS network architecture bears a lot of similarities with that of GSM. The main components of
the UMTS network are the UTRAN (Radio Access) and the Core Network. The Radio Access Part
(UTRAN) takes care of the radio transmission and reception, including segmentation, error protection
4

Chapter 1
and general radio resource management, among other things. The Core Network is further divided into
Circuit Switched (CS) and Packet Switched (PS) network. The packet core network is the one involved
in data communications, and is composed of two main nodes: the Serving GPRS Support Node
(SGSN) and the Gateway GPRS Support Nodes (GGSN). The SGSN performs PS mobility
management, packet routing and transfer, authentication and charging. The GGSNs main functionality
is the routing of packets to and from external networks. It also performs authentication and charging
functions, and is the main node responsible for Quality of Service (QoS) negotiation. Within the
UTRAN, a Radio Network Subsystem (RNS) contains the Radio Network Controller (RNC) and its
corresponding Node-Bs. The RNS is equivalent to the Base Station Subsystem (BSS) in GSM. Each
RNS is hosted by the core network through the Iu interfaces (IuCS for voice and IuPS for data). Its
counterparts in a GSM system are the A and G interfaces for CS and PS respectively. Node-B and
RNC are connected through the Iub interface, which is similar to the Abis interface between the BTS
and BSC of a GSM system.
UTRAN defines a new interface between different RNCs for mobility control over the RNC
Boundaries, the Iur. The Iur interface enables soft handovers along the RNC boundaries. There is not
an equivalent interface in GSM.

Figure 1. 1: UMTS Network architecture.
1.2.1 System interfaces
The UMTS network has the following interfaces:
Cu Interface: is the electric interface between USIM card and ME.
5

Chapter 1
Uu Interface: is the radio interface of WCDMA. UE connects to the fixed network part of the
UMTS system via Uu interface. It can be said that Uu interface is the most important open
interface in the UMTS system.
Iu Interface: is interface between UTRAN and CN. Iu interface is an open standard interface.
This enables the UTRAN and CN connected by Iu interface to be provided by different equipment
manufacturers.
Iur Interface: is interface between RNCs. It is used for the mobility management of MS in the
RAN. For example, in the soft handover between different RNCs, all the data of MS are
transmitted from the working RNC to the candidate RNC via Iur interface. Iur is an open
standard interface.
Iub Interface: it connects Node B and RNC. Iub interface is also an open standard interface. This
also enables the RNC and Node B connected by Iub interface to be provided by different
equipment manufacturers .
1.2.2 Channels
Logical channel: The logical channel denes the type of information being transferred. There are
two categories of logical channel, control channels and traffic channels. Control channels are used
to transfer control plane signaling whereas traffic channels are used to transfer user plane data.
Name function
Trafic DTCH (Dedicates Traffic CHannel) for transfer date to user ; bidirectional
CTCH (Common Traffic Channel) Channel point to multipoint used to transfer
date to group of users ; DL only
Contrle BCCH (Broadcaste Control Channel) for broadcast system information ; DL only
PCCH (Paging Control Channel) For paging ; DL only
DCCH (Dedicated Control Channel) For transfer control information (call
establishment , handover, etc.) dedicated to one
user ; bidirectional.
CCCH (Common Control Channel) For transfer control information shared by
users ( initial access ) ; bidirectional
Table 1.1 : logical channels.
6

Chapter 1
Transport channel: The transport channel denes how information is transferred. There are two
categories of transport channel, common and dedicated. Common channels can be used by more
than a single UE whereas dedicated channels can be used by only a single UE.
Les canaux Description
Dedicated Channel (DCH)
- bidirectional
- dedicated only for one user
Downlink channels
Broadcast Channel (BCH) Emission of system information
And specified cell
Paging Channel (PCH) Transmission of paging

Forward Access Channel (FACH) Bears small quantity of user data
Downlink shared Channel (DSCH) Used to dedicated control or traffic data

Uplink channels
Random Access Channel (RACH)
Initiates Access
Common packet channel (CPCH)
-only in FDD mode
-Transmission of data traffic burst
Uplink sharred channel (USCH)
- only in TDD mode
-bears taffic control
Table 1.2: transport channels.
Physical channel: The Transport Channels are received by the physical layer and mapped onto
Physical Channels. Physical Channels dene how the Transport Channels use the physical medium
(i. e. chips and codes). A Physical Channel is structured in frames and slots. A frame lasts 10 ms
and consists of 15 slots. Since UMTS works with a chip rate of 3.84 Mega chips/s, this translates
into 2560 chips per slot. The frame and slot structure allows organizing the information on the
Physical Channels.

7

Chapter 1

1.3 WCDMA air interface Elements
1.3.1 User Equipment (UE)
In UMTS the term UE is the equivalent of the mobile device in GSM. Although the concept of UE is
not limited to handset or data cards. Most UMTS UEs are multi-band dual mode devices, i.e.
supporting both GSM and UMTS, to ensure backward compatibility with the 2G network. In todays
devices, a very common combination is quad band GSM, plus dual band UMTS support. This allows
users to travel from network to network without noticing the technology or the band changes, In recent
Name function
Dedicated DPDCH (Dedicated Physical data
channel)
To transport data dedicated to user ;
bidirectional
DPCCH (Dedicated Physical
control channel)
To control DPDCH ; bidirectional

Communs
PRACH (Physical random access
channel)
For initial access for mobiles to the
network ; UL only
PCPCH (Physical common packet
channel )
Shared Channel ; UL only
PDSCH (Physical downlink shared
channel)
Shared channel sporadic transmission
down s ; DL only
PCCPCH (Primary common control
Physical channel)
SCCPCH(secondary common
control Physical channel)
Broadcast system information (primary ;
DL only )

Communs
AICH (acquisition indicator
channel)
For respeonse of physical for initial
Access ; DL only
SCH (synchronization channel) Allow mobile ; DL only
CPICH (common pilotchannel) allow mobile to synchronize on cell and
and estimate the received power
Table 1. 3 : physiscal channels.
8

Chapter 1
years, there are more and more UEs supporting HSPA capability .With the increase of data traffic
demand and reduction of the chipset prices, it can be expected that most of the UMTS terminals will
support HSPA in the near future.
1.3.2 Node-B
The Node-B is the equivalent of the GSM Base Station (BTS). It hosts all base band equipment (such
as channel elements and processing boards), radio components and power system. In general, all these
are called radio resources which play a central role in the planning and optimization process of the
UMTS network. One Node-B will typically serve three sectors, and each of these can be configured
with multiple carriers (frequency channels). The Node-Bs are connected to a centralized node, called
Radio Network Controller (RNC) via the Iub interface.
1.3.3 Radio Network Controller (RNC)
The RNC is the brain of the Radio Access Network (RAN) and is responsible for the Radio Resource
Management (RRM) of the cells. The RNC performs functions such as admission control and
congestion control; it also manages the UE mobility and macro diversity combining on the uplink,
which enables soft handovers .With the support of Iur interface, one UE can be connected to more than
one RNC at a time. In such a scenario, the RNC controlling the signaling and the link radio resources
is the Serving RNC (SRNC), while the new RNC is called Drift RNC (DRNC) and will support the
Serving RNC by providing network resources through the Iur interface. Serving RNC relocation and
soft handover over Iur are the main functions for mobility control along the RNC boundaries.

Figure 1. 2: UTRAN architecture.
1.4 Air Interface Technology:
The most important improvement introduced by UMTS is the air interface. The technology Selected
for the air interface is called Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA).
9

Chapter 1
The following are the key characteristics of the WCDMA technology as compared to the GSM air
interface:
frequency reuse one.
spread spectrum technology.
use of fast power control.
use of soft handover.
Unlike GSM, this is based on Time Domain Multiple Access (TDMA) technology, WCDMA applies
spread-spectrum modulations schemes in which user data (typically with Small bandwidth) is spread
over a channel with large bandwidth. All users share the same Spreading spectrum and each user is
identified by a unique channelization code assigned by the system. The channelization codes are
orthogonal to each other to ensure the independency of each channel. Figure 1.3 shows the difference
between CDMA and TDMA frequency Utilization scheme.

Figure 1. 3 CDMA vs. FDMA, TDMA different frequency utilization scheme.
1.4.1 Power Control
Since all users share the same frequency in a WCDMA system, it becomes absolutely essential to
manage interference from all radio links. A fast power control mechanism operating at 1500 Hz helps
control the power transmitted by each of the users, making sure they use just the amount of power they
need, and at the same time improving the link protection against fast fading.
1.4.2 Soft Handover
Soft handover is a unique feature in the WCDMA technology. The capability of keeping at least one
active radio link during the cell transition provides significant benefits for UE mobility performance.
Soft handover also takes advantage of macro-diversity combining of multiple radio links and improves
the capacity and performance of the system.
10

Chapter 1
1.4.3 cell breathing
In CDMA-based mobile telephone systems, cell breathing is a mechanism which allows overloaded
cells to offload subscriber traffic to neighboring cells by changing the geographic size of their service
area. Heavily loaded cells decrease in size while neighboring cells increase their service area to
compensate. Thus, some traffic is handed off from the overloaded cell to neighboring cells, resulting in
load balancing.
1.5 Overview High Speed Packet Access (HSPA)
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA)

is an amalgamation of two mobile telephony protocols, High
Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), that
extends and improves the performance of existing 3
rd
generation mobile telecommunication networks
utilizing the WCDMA protocols. A further improved 3GPP standard, Evolved HSPA (also known as
HSPA+), was released late in 2008 with subsequent worldwide adoption beginning in 2010. The newer
standard allows bit-rates to reach as high as 168 Mbit/s in the downlink and 22 Mbit/s in the uplink. the
first HSPA specifications supported increased peak data rates of up to 14 Mbit/s in the downlink and
5.76 Mbit/s in the uplink. It also reduced latency and provided up to five times more system capacity in
the downlink and up to twice as much system capacity in the uplink compared with original WCDMA
protocols.
These improvements are achieved in several ways:
Shared-channel transmission, which results in efficient use of available code and power
resources in WCDMA
A shorter transmission time interval (TTI), which reduces round-trip time and improves the
tracking of fast channel variations
Link adaptation, which maximizes channel usage and enables the base station to operate at
close to maximum cell power
Fast scheduling, this prioritizes users with the most favorable channel conditions.
Fast retransmission and soft-combining, which further increase capacity
16-QAM and 64-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation), which yields higher bit-rates.
MIMO, which exploits antenna diversity to provide further improvements in bit-rates and
system capacity.
11

Chapter 1
1.5.1 HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access)
Rel.99 was an important milestone in the development of the 3GPP standards. It ensured a Smooth 3G
migration for the GSM network. The introduction of UTRAN provides substantial Performance
enhancements over the GSM system. However, since a lot of attention was given to the backward
compatibility with the existing GSM core network, many compromises were made in order not to
change the core network structure.
From a radio spectral efficiency standpoint, Rel.99 is very primitive because it dedicates Channel
resources to each data user, and power control mechanisms are the same between real time applications
such as voice and non real-time data. Dedicating channel resources for each data user is inefficient.
Since data is bursts in nature, implementations which can leverage the user multiplexing are more
efficient at delivering data: that is the reason why HSDPA was introduced to improve the offering of
data services on UMTS networks.
With the introduction of the High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH), fast HSDPA
scheduler, adaptive modulation and coding and fast retransmission (HARQ), Rel.5 HSDPA is able to
deliver improved downlink cell throughput up to 14.4 Mbps. In addition to the Data rate improvement,
HSDPA also reduces network latency.
Main HSDPA Features :
The introduction of HSDPA represented a revolution of the existing WCDMA standards, with
Significant impacts in several parts of the Radio Access Network. The key modifications Introduced
were:
Introduction of a shared data channel, multiplexed in time (TDM).
Introduction of new modulation (16QAM) and coding schemes, with the possibility to transmit
with up to 15 parallel channelization codes.
Modification of the MAC protocol architecture to enable faster response to changes in user
demands and radio conditions.
Introduction of Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) and new error correction
mechanisms in the MAC layer (HARQ).
One important improvement brought by HSDPA is the latency reduction.
We have noted that many performance managers and network designers in different wireless
companies use peak throughput when designing, evaluating or optimizing their data network. In
addition to the new traffic channel, HSDPA modifies the architecture of the radio protocols to better
12

Chapter 1
manage the resources provided by the shared channel. Adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), hybrid
automatic repeat request (HARQ) and fast packet scheduling complement the offer, taking full
advantage of the faster network dynamics to improve the efficiency of the data transmissions.
HSDPA Channel Structure:
High speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) was introduced in Rel.5 to provide enhancements over
Rel.99 to compete with EVDO and WiMAX. To increase the channel utilization efficiency, HSDPA
introduces a new physical channel called high speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH). This
channel is shared among all data users and uses a 2 ms frame or TTI (Transmission Time Interval), as
compared to the 10 ms radio frame used by Rel.99 channels. The shared channel is a completely new
concept compared with the conventional UMTS Rel.99 in which each user had dedicated resources. A
big shared data pipe provides the benefit of statistical multiplexing among all data users and thus
improves the overall system efficiency. Along with this new channel, there are several associated
channels defined in the standard as well. Table.1.4 lists all these channels and their functions.
Channel Description
Downlink HS-DSCH

HS-SCCH
- High Speed Downlink Shared Channel. Transport channel
carrying user plan data.
- High Speed Shared Control Channel. Common control channel
for HSDPA. Carrying information such as modulation, UE
identityetc
Uplink HS-DPCCH - CQI reporting, HARQ Ack/NAck
Table 1.4 : new channels introduced for HSDPA.
New Modulation and Coding Schemes
While Rel.99 only supported one type of modulation (QPSK), in HSDPA three different Modulation
schemes have been defined: QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM. Typical devices today support QPSK and
16QAM, and at least five parallel codes. With five codes allocated to HSDPA, QPSK can provide 1.8
Mbps peak rate and 16QAM can reach 3.6 Mbps.
Modified Protocol Architecture
Rel5 introduced a modification of the radio protocol architecture. The MAC layer was split in two sub
layers, each of them located in a different network element: MAC-d, located in the RNC and MAC-hs,
13

Chapter 1
located in the Node-B. The data to be transmitted on the HS-DSCH channel is transferred from Mac-d
to Mac-hs via the Iub interface. A Mac-hs entity has four major functionality components:
Flow control, which manages the data flow control between Mac-d and Mac-hs.
Scheduler, which manages the HSDPA resources in the sector.
HARQ entity.
Transport Format and Resource Combination selection entity.
Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC)
Adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) provides an alternative to the conventional CDMA fast power
control for link adaptation. With AMC, the coding rate and modulation scheme for each user is
dynamically adjusted based on the average channel condition of the radio link. In general, the channel
power is constant over an interval defined by the system. The link adaptation is achieved by assigning
a different modulation scheme or coding rate to each user based on the channel condition reported by
the terminal device. The channel quality index (CQI) has been defined in the standard to report the
channel condition measured by the mobile to the HSDPA scheduler .However, the calculation of the
CQI value is not clearly defined in the standard, and hence variations among handset vendors in CQI
reporting can be expected.
HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request)
HARQ improves throughput by combining failed transmission attempts with the re-transmissions,
effectively creating a more powerful error correction scheme. Hybrid ARQ can be combined with
Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC), making the initial selection of Modulation and code rate
more tolerant to errors. HSDPA defines two different Hybrid ARQ methods: Chase Combining and
Incremental Redundancy (IR), that will be selected based on the UE category and network
configuration. With Chase Combining, the re-transmitted data is identical to the original transmission.
HSDPA UE categories
The different HSDPA UE categories are outlined in the table below. From this it can be sent that the
overall raw data rate and hence the category is determined by a number of elements including the
maximum number of HS-DSCH codes, TTI, block size, etc.

14

Chapter 1
UE Category Codes Inter-TTI
Interval
MAX TB Size IR Buffer Size Peak Rate
Category 1 5 3 7298 19200 1.2 Mbps
Category 2 5 3 7298 28800 1.2 Mbps
Category 3 5 2 7298 2800 1.8 Mbps
Category 4 5 2 7298 38400 1.8 Mbps
Category 5 5 1 7298 57600 3.6 Mbps
Category 6 5 1 7298 67200 3.6 Mbps
Category 7 10 1 14411 115200 7.2 Mbps
Category 8 10 1 14411 134400 7.2 Mbps
Category 9 15 1 20251 172800 10.1 Mbps
Category 10 15 1 27952 172800 14 Mbps
Category 11 5 2 3630 14400 0.9 Mbps
Category 12 5 1 3630 28800 1.8 Mbps
Table 1.5: UE categories.
1.5.2 HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access):
It has been generally accepted that internet traffic has an asymmetric nature, that is, users are more
likely to download content from the internet than to upload their own information. Such a trend was
determined by the wide utilization of applications such as web browsing, content downloading (music,
documents, etc.) and audio or video broadcasting which predominantly generate traffic on the
downlink. However, with the emergence of more social networking applications such as YouTube and
MySpace, the demand on uplink capacity has been steadily increasing. Users will upload information,
typically multimedia, from their own PC or other consumer electronic devices to the internet on a
regular basis and share them with other members of the virtual community they belong to.
Main HSUPA Features:
In 3GPP release 6, enhanced uplink performance, also known as HSUPA, was proposed to improve the
uplink dedicated transport channel performance for data services. The goal was to provide significant
enhancements in terms of user experience with increased throughput, and higher capacity.
HSUPA enhanced uplink includes a set of new features, very similar to the ones introduced Previously
by HSDPA in the downlink direction. The impact of these changes on the existing Protocols and
network structure was not significant:
15

Chapter 1
Introduction of new coding schemes, with the possibility of transmitting up to four parallel
channelization codes.
Modified MAC architecture to improve the system dynamics. This modification introduces a
shorter TTI (of up to 2 ms), and permits the utilization of fast Node-B schedulers.
Fast retransmission schemes with AMC and Hybrid ARQ between the UE and the Node-B.
Higher order modulations such as 16QAM (introduced in Release 7).
Although some of the features introduced by HSUPA are similar to those in HSDPA (short TTI, Node-
B based fast retransmission and fast scheduling),HSUPA is fundamentally different because of the
usage of a dedicated channel per user, called E-DCH. The traffic scheduling is rather random in
HSUPA since all data users are not synchronized with each other over the air interface from the
scheduler point of view, and therefore a common pipe cannot be established by the network for all
users as it does for the downlink. Since E-DCH is a dedicated channel for each data user, the chances
are that multiple UEs may be transmitting at the same time on the uplink and causing interference for
each other.
Therefore the Node-B scheduler must control the transmit power level of each individual user to
ensure that all uplink data traffic can coexist within the system capacity limit. From this perspective,
the HSUPA scheduler is fundamentally different from that of the HSDPA. The HSDPA scheduler
assigns the shared pipe among multiple users based on the buffer size, channel condition and traffic
priority, whereas the HSUPA scheduler primarily uses a power control scheme to manage the uplink
noise rise.

Figure 1. 4 : noise rise in function of load.

16

Chapter 1
This table resumes the Differences between HSDPA and HSUPA
Features HSDPA HSUPA
Maxi mum throughput 14.4M bps 5.76 Mbps
NodeB based
scheduling
Yes Yes
TTI 2 ms 2 or 10ms
Modulation 16QAM and QPSK QPSK
HARQ Yes Yes
Transport channel Shared HS-DSCH Dedicated E-DCH
Schedul ing scheme Rate control Power control
AMC Yes No
Handover Cell change Soft handover but serving cell follows HSDPA
Table 1.6: Differences between HSDPA and HSUPA.
1.6 Summary
In this chapter, we have provided an overview of a UMTS networks components and Capabilities. We
focused on the data capabilities of UMTS, namely HSDPA on the downlink and HSUPA on the
uplink; we provided an overview of the channel structures, In a nutshell, these are the main benefits
of the HSPA technology as compared to the legacy ofRel.99 channels:
Higher peak rates (14.4 Mbps in downlink, 5.76 Mbps in uplink).
Faster network dynamics and reduced latency (90 ms with HSDPA, 50 ms with HSPA).
New link adaptation and hybrid ARQ processes very efficient thanks to the shorter radio
frames.
The combined effect of all the improvements will result in higher spectral efficiency too.
HSPA RF planning requires a special treatment as compared to regular UMTS traffic.
The link budget analyses for HSDPA and HSUPA indicate that it is possible to achieve very
good bitrates (around 1 Mbps) at large separation distance from the site (over two miles).
3G+ radio access network design
17

Chapter 2

Chapter : 3G+radio
access network design

18

Chapter 2
2.1 Introduction
Radio Network design is a simplified analysis for radio network; it provides the first and most rapid
evaluation of the network element number as well as the associated capacity of those elements. The
target of dimensioning phase is to estimate the required site density and site configurations for the area
of interest. Design activities include radio link budget and coverage analysis, capacity evaluation and
final estimation of the amount of NodeB hardware and E1, cell average throughput and cell edge
throughput.
2.2 Dimensioning
2.2.1Coverage dimensioning
In the coverage dimensioning, radio link is estimated according to elements such as planned area,
network capacity and equipment performance in order to obtain the allowed maximum path loss. The
maximum cell radius is obtained according to the radio propagation model and allowed maximum path
loss. Then, the site coverage area is calculated. Finally, the site quantity result will be defined. Of
course, the site quality is only for the ideal cell status, and some additional sites will be needed in
actual terrain environment.
R99 Uplink Budget
Path Loss =UE Tx Power +Antenna Gain +SHO Gain -Margins Loss -Node B sensitivity.
Antenna gain=UE Antenna Gain +Node B Antenna Gain.
SHO Gain=SHO Gain against Slow Fading+SHO Gain against Fast Fading.
Margins=Slow Fading Margin Fast Fading Margin Interference Margin.
Interference Margin( noise rise) =- 10log
10
(1-q
UL
) [dB].q
UL
is the uplink cell load.
Loss=Body Loss +Cable Loss +Penetration Loss.
Node B sensitivity (dBm) =-174(dBm/Hz)+1.6(dB)+Eb/No-PG.
Eb/No: required Eb/No to maintain service quality.
PG: Processing Gain.
R99 Downlink Budget
Path Loss =Node B Tx Power +Antenna Gain +SHO Gain -Margins Loss- UE sensitivity.
Antenna gain=UE Antenna Gain +Node B Antenna Gain.
SHO Gain=SHO Gain against Slow Fading+SHO Gain against Fast Fading.
Margins=Slow Fading Margin Fast Fading Margin Interference Margin.
19

Chapter 2
Interference Margin=Noise Rise =I
tot
/ P
N
. Where I
tot
is the total interference and P
N
is the receiver
noise.
Loss=Body Loss +Cable Loss +Penetration Loss.
HSPA Link Budget Principle
The HSDPA link budget is usually based on the R99 link budget to get the cell edge throughput in
downlink. there is a parameter specific for HSDPA that is used alongside Ec/No to get the cell edge
throughput, the so called coupling loss.
DL_Coupling Loss=PL_DL +Lf_BS - Ga_antenna +Lb+SFM
NSHO
+Lp.
PL_DL: Downlink path loss.
Lf_BS: cable loss of NodeB.
Ga_antenna: Gain of UE antenna and NodeB antenna.
Lb: Body loss.
SFM
NSHO
: Slow fading margin without soft handover.
Lp: Penetration loss
Cell edge Ec/No
Ec/ No=10- log (
P
H5-D5CH
(u+I)-q
DL
-10
DL
CouIeLoss
+NF+Nt
10
)
PHS-DSCH : total power of HS-DSCH channel
: non- orthogonality factor.
f: neighbor cell interference factor
q
DL
: downlink load factor including R99 and HSDPA service
Pmax: max transmission power of downlink
Nt: thermal noise power spectral density , typical value is -108.16dB
NF : receiver noise figure of UE, typical value is 7dB
20

Chapter 2

Figure 2. 1 HSDPA Link Budget Principles.
Propagation Model
In our radio network planning, COST231-HATA (modified by Huawei technologies) is chosen
as adequat propagation model according to Algeria topography, frequency band and the technology
used. The formula for path loss is: Lu (dB) =46.3 +33.9*log (f) - 13.82*log (Hb) - a (Hm) +[44.9 -
6.55*log (Hb)]*log (d) +Cm. where: a (Hm) =[1.1*log (f) - 0.7]*Hm - [1.56*log (f) - 0.8] .

2.2.2 Capacity dimensioning

The second phase of dimensioning is estimating the amount of supported traffic per base station site
based on given traffic model.
When the frequency reuse of a WCDMA system is 1, the system is typically interference-limited and
the amount of interference and delivered cell capacity must thus be estimated.
Traffic model
We need to set up an expected traffic model of the customer so that we can plan the network properly
.Traffic model is one user profile in one hour, it must be measured in busy hours , because only in busy
Scenario Cm
Dense urban 3
Urban 0
Suburban -8
Rural and road -15
Table 2.1: CM values.
21

Chapter 2
hours the traffic will reach to each maximum value and we need to know our network support
maximum traffic in busy hours or not .
Service Value
UL DL
AMR12.2 (Erl) 0.02 0.02
CS64 (Erl) 0.0001 0.0001
PS64 (kbit) 504 0
PS128 (kbit) 0 1008
PS384 (kbit) 0 1008
HSPA (kbit) 4536 18144
Table 1.2 Example of Traffic Model in busy hour per user.
Uplink Interference Analysis
The uplink load per cell is the total received power coming from all terminals divided by the total
received power. The uplink load factor of one connection is given by:
L
|
=
P
|
I
tut

Where P
j
is the received power from the user j and I
tot
is the the total received wideband power
including thermal noise power in the base station.
The uplink load factor for the cell can be written as:
q
UL
=(1 +I) - L
|
N
1
=(1 +I) -
N
1
1
1 +
1
1
[
Eb
Nu
1
-
W
R
|
-
1
p
|

where W is the chip rate,
j
is the activity factor of user j, N is the number of simultaneously connected
users in the cell, R
j
is the bit rate of user j, and f is the ratio of other cell to own cell interference.
When the uplink load factor is 1, I
tot
is infinite, and the corresponding capacity is
called threshold capacity.
From the equations we can calculate the number of uplink simultaneously connected users in the cell
22

Chapter 2
N =
q
DL
L
|

Downlink Interference Analysis
The downlink load factor for the user j can be written as:
q
|
=
P
|
P
max
=
1
(Eb/ Nu)
|
1
- p
|
-
P
TX
P
max
- (u +I +
1
CL+P
N
1
P
TX
)
W/ R
|

Where P
j
is the transmission power of Node B for User j, P
max
the downlink maximum power of one
cell , P
TX
is the actual transmission power of Node B, is non-orthogonality factor in the downlink and
CL is Downlink Coupling Loss. We Define the downlink load factor for the cell as:
q
DL
=
P
TX
P
max

So the number of downlink simultaneously connected users can be calculated as total
transmission power used by traffic channels in a cell divided by the power used by single user
as shown in the equation below:
N =
P
TX
P
|
=
q
DL
q
|

Actual Load Calculating
The purpose of capacity dimensioning is to determine the actual total load factor for each cell.
According to the previous calculation we can obtain the actual total cell load in two senses by the two
formulas:
Uplink: Luad
ell-tutal_UL
=max|Luad
CS-peah
,Luad
CS-avg
+Luad
PS-avg
+Luad
HSUPA
|
Downlink:
Luad
ell-tutal_DL
+Luad
CCH
=max|Luad
CS-peah
,Luad
CS-avg
+Luad
PS-avg
+Luad
HSDPA
|

Calculation of average CS Cell Load
Uplink:
23

Chapter 2
Luad
PS-avg
=N
hannels-t
- LuadPerCunnettun
UL-t
t

Downlink:
N
hannels-t
=
N
user
- ThruughputPerUser
t
- (1 +R
Retransmtsstun-t
) - (1 +R
Bursttness
)
p
t
- R
t
- 3

Where R
SHO
is the ration of SHO.
Calculation of average PS Cell Load
Luad
PS-avg
=N
hannels-t
- LuadPerCunnettun
UL-t
t

Where N
channcIs-I
the number of equivalent is is is channels for service i and is given by the formula:
N
hannels-t
=

N
user
-ThruughputPerUser
t
-(1+R
Retransmtsstun-t
)-(1+R
Bursttness
)
p
t
-R
t
-3

Where:
ThroughputPerUser
I
: is the Throughput per user for the service i.
R
RctransmIssIon-I
: is the ratio of data retransmission for service I because of block error.
R
BurstIncss
: is the traffic ratio burrstone.
1.2.5HSPA capacity dimensioning :
The purpose of HSPA capacity dimensioning is to obtain the required HSPA power to satisfy the cell
average throughput.
During the HSDPA capacity dimensioning procedure, we know the Cell Coverage Radius (obtained
from the coverage planning) and Cell Average Throughput (obtained from the traffic model), and we
want to get the HSDPA Power Allocation based on simulation.
For the HSUPA capacity dimensioning procedure, we know the Cell Coverage Radius (obtained from
the coverage dimensioning) and Cell Average Throughput (Obtained from the traffic model),
then we can calculate the needed load in uplink.

24

Chapter 2

Figure 2. 2: HSDPA capacity dimensioning procedure.
In our project our target in the uplink and downlink load factor for R99&HSPA is :
Every time we find the actual total cell load factor higher than the target we increase the number of site
in this area because if we increase the load factor the noise rise increases too.
UL Cell Load Factor 50%
DL Cell Load Factor 75%
HSDPA Cell Load Factor 90%
HSUPA Cell Load Factor 75%
Table 2.2 :Total target cell load.
CE Dimensioning
Each user signal is extracted and processed by an individual electronic circuit; this circuit is called
Channel Element CE. There is two types of channel elements, Uplink and Downlink CE.
HSDPA channels dont occupy R99 CE resource, but we should calculate the A-DCH CE witch its
consumption depends on its bearing rate.

CE
CS-avg
=TraIIt
t
- CEFatur
t

t

CE
PS-avg
=TraIIt
|
- CEFatur
|
|

CE
ell-tutal
=max|CE
CS-peah
,CE
CS-avg
+CE
PS-avg
+CE
HSPA
|
25

Chapter 2
Bearer Up Link Down Link
CE Number CE Number
AMR 12.2kbps 1 1
PS 64Kbp 3 2
PS 64Kbps 3 2
PS 128Kbps 5 4
PS 384Kbps 10 8
Table 2.3 :CE mapping for R99 bearer.
Traffic Up Link Down Link
HSDPA Traffic --- 0 CE
HS-DPCCH 0 CE ---
A-DCH(DPCCH) 3 CE 1 CE
Table 2.4: HSDPA CE elements consumption.
2.3 Planning study:
Based on the network dimensioning, site information, geography and traffic distribution, we used U-
NET and digital map to do our planning. Initially we located site, then we implemented parameters
such as antenna type, azimuth, tilt, and altitude, after that we introduced the cell parameter such as
transmission power of traffic channel and common channel, orthogonal factor, primary scrambling
code Analysis is made to check whether the coverage and interference of the system meet the
requirements or not. Finally, the system capacity is analyzed to check whether it meets the
requirement.
2.3.1 Preparations for Necessary Input Data
Coordinate system
One general requirement for radio network planning tool digital maps are the ability to support various
projections, ellipsoids and coordinate systems. Examples include the Universal Transverse Mercator
projection and the WGS-84 ellipsoid. The necessary coordinate systems depend not only on the
internal needs of the RNP tool, but also on the external software the RNP tool is interfacing.

26

Chapter 2
Digital Map
The most important basic preparatory requirement for any RNP tool is a geographical map of the
planning area. The map is needed for coverage (link loss) predictions and subsequently the link loss
data is utilised in the detailed calculation phase and for analysis purposes. For network planning
purposes, a digital map should include at least topographic data (terrain height), morphographic data
(terrain type, clutter type) and building location and height data , in the form of raster maps.
Importing Sites
When planning third-generation networks, a typical scenario is that an operator may wish to utilize
existing second-generation networks as much as possible. Therefore it is important for an RNP tool to
provide support for importing 2G site locations and basic antenna data into a new plan, especially
when making a combined network plan for both 2G and 3G networks. Site import functionality
automatically brings site and antenna information into an RNP tool plan. Naturally, such automatic
importing of data saves network planners time. The imported information may include site location,
site ground height, number of cells and antenna directions
Antenna Editor
In RNP tools, 'antenna' is a logical concept that includes antenna radiation pattern and parameters such
as antenna gain and frequency band. Once antenna is defined, it can then be assigned and used for
selected cells and coverage predictions.
Transmitters
A transmitter is the source or generator of any signal on a transmission medium. A transmitter is a
piece of equipment composed of some antennas located on a site.
Cells
Each carrier on a transmitter defines a WCDMA cell; cell table gives the carrier characteristics on a
transmitter.
User Profil
Depending on the interests and abilities of each individual category, we defined two types of
users: Business user and standard user . For each profile, we defined the services that will be
used, the number and communications duration.

27

Chapter 2
Terminals parameters
The following table presents the performance for R99 and HSPA terminals, which will be used in the
radio network design.

Figure 2. 3: Terminals Parameters.
Mobility parameters
We define for each type of speed a type of mobility. Each type of mobility is characterized
by a minimum value of Ec/Io achievement for a cell so that it can access to the Active Set.
The simulations have given a value of -15 dB for all environments and all speeds.
Planning Neighbors
We can allocate neighors for each cell manually or automatically. We can define two types of
neighboring. The following neighbor types in a UMTS network:
Intra-technology neighbors: Intra-technology neighbors are cells defined as neighbors that
also use UMTS. Intra-technology Neighbors can be divided into:
Intra-carrier neighbors: Cells defined as neighbors which perform handover using the
same carrier.
Inter-carrier neighbors: Cells defined as neighbors which perform handover using a
different carrier.
Inter-technology neighbors: Inter-technology neighbors are cells defined as neighbors that
use a technology other than UMTS.
In our case we choose the automatically intra technology neighbor allocation and exactly intra-
carrier neighbors. For that we fixed the following parameter to decide which cell can be
considered as a neighbor:
Max. Inter-site Distance (maximum distance between the reference cell and a possible
neighbor) =1000 m.
Max. Number of Neighbors (maximum number of intra-carrier neighbors that can be
allocated to a cell) =16.
Coverage Conditions: The coverage conditions must be respected for a cell to be
28

Chapter 2
considered as a neighbor :
Signal Level (Pilot) >-95 dBm
Ec/Io >-12 dB
Ec/Io Margin (dB) (difference of EcI0 between reference cell A and possible neighbor
cell B in the overlapping area.): 5 dB
% Min. Covered Area (The minimum, in percentage, that a possible neighbor cells
coverage area must overlap the reference cells coverage area) =10%.
Carriers: The carriers on which we run the allocation.
After analyzing the Log file collected by Drive Test we did some modification in the neighbor list to
optimize the network parameters.
2.4 Summary :
In this chapter we have explained the design process of of 3G+ radio access network including
dimensioning and planning, dimensioning process consist to determine the number of sites required to
cover an area and estimating the amount of supported traffic per base Station site based on given traffic
model.
After dimensioning planning and simulation comes comes the stage of site integration, this is the last
step before launching the network .
3G+ radio access network redesign and optimization
29

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: 3G+ radio
access network Redesign
and optimization

30

Chapter 3
3.1 Introduction
the Radio Network redesign and Optimization , is to reasonably adjust the communication network
planning and design as per certain criteria so as to enable the network operation more reliable
and economical, improve the network service quality and Resource utilization, which is of great
importance to network carriers.
While questing for reasonable utilization of network resource and improving the Service quality
to the greatest extent, the network optimization solution can provide Evidences and principle for
future network expansion. The network optimization can supplement and correct the network
planning that was well implemented but has some aspects not considered, adjust and correct to
network when the conditions (Such as transmission environment and traffic) change. Therefore, in
the whole Solution, the network optimization plays a key role.
The optimization process goes through several steps: single site verification, RF optimization and
service optimization.
3.2 Single Site Verification
The purpose of single site verification is by using Scanner +UE to: Verify coverage (RSCP & Ec/Io),
verify scrambling codes, and verify no installation faults and Verify the base function.
3.3 RF Optimization
Any RF issues at edge of cluster must be resolved in coordination with the adjacent cluster as soon as
possible. The purpose of RF optimization is by using Scanner +UE to optimize CPICH and service
coverage and cell dominance , minimize interference , minimize pilot pollution ,optimize neighbor list
, resolve any RF-related drop call and improve connected ratio, delayed time connected .
3.3.1 Redesign Recommendation and Implementation
Changes will mainly include:
Engineering parameter adjustment and neighbor list change.
Engineering Parameter Adjustment
Most of the problems of coverage or interference can be solved by adjusting the Engineering
parameter. The purpose is to enhance the coverage to eliminate the blind Area or conversely to control
coverage and interference. To be specifically, to use the Combination of ways below:

31

Chapter 3
Antenna down tilt adjustment
Antenna azimuth adjustment
Antenna location adjustment
Antenna height adjustment
Antenna replacement
Site replacement
Add new cell
Before the implementation of the adjustment of the engineering parameters, its Necessary to
carefully analyze the RSCP, dominant cell, Ec/Io of related cells.
Usually the optimization engineer only needs to provide installation engineer with the Engineering
parameter change requirement.
Radio Parameters Adjustment.
As for radio parameter changes in RF optimization phase, usually only the neighbor Cell list is taken
into consideration. All parameters should be adjusted very carefully.
3.4 Service Optimization
Service optimization includes field test and statistics analysis. The field test can be divided into two
parts: drive test on main road and test for Special areas (CQT). Test for special areas is like walk
survey for some indoor Distributed cells.
Purpose The purpose of service optimization is by using scanner +UE log, RNC log, and statistics
Counters and KPI, MSC & SGSN log (if needed) to: Reduce access failure, reduce drop call and
enhance service quality.
3.4.1 Redesign Recommendation and Implementation
The adjustment recommendations for service optimization are mainly focus on the Radio parameters.
Radio Parameter Adjustment
The parameters to be changed usually are:
common control channel power allocation
RL maximum power
intra-frequency handover
inter-frequency handover
Inter-RAT Handover
32

Chapter 3
power control
Access parameters
Other related parameters.
The influence caused by the cell parameters adjustment should be analyzed carefully by optimization
engineer.
The parameters adjustment to a live network should be performed when traffic is low (for example: at
midnight). It is essential to do the service functional test after Adjustment.

Figure 3.1 : optimization work flow.
3.5 Performance indicators
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a minimum set of metrics for tracking system progress toward
a performance target. During network deployment and optimization, several sets of KPIs can be
dened.

33

Chapter 3

Table 3.1: key performance indicators.
Coverage
1) Call drop ratio (DT) Abnormal release time/ Call successful setup time *100%
CLASSES INDICATORS CLASSES INDICATORS
Coverage Call Drop ratio Mobility SHO success ratio
Coverage probability Intra frequency HHO success ratio
SHO ratio Inter-frequency HHO success ratio
SHO expense Inter-system HO success ratio
Pilot pollution ratio ......
UL interference cell ratio Delay Call setup delay
...... PDP activation delay
Accessibility RRC setup success ratio for
registration
UE2UE user plane delay
RRC setup success ratio UE2PSTN user plane delay
RAB setup success ratio PING packet RTD delay

PDP activation success ratio ......
...... Availabiliy Worst cell ratio
Retain ability CS call drop ratio Access refusal ratio
...... Congestion cell ratio
Service
integrity
UL BLER worsening ratio ......
DL BLER worsening ratio
UL average throughput Remarks
1. KPI measurement methodology include Stat. or
DT/CQT
2. Some KPI include sub-item based on service
3. Some KPI include sub-item based on originate call or
terminate call
DL average throughput
MOS
......
34

Chapter 3
2) Coverage probability (DT) (CPICH Ec/Io dB & the UL transmit power of planned
whole coverage services<dB & the total test miles of reverse forward RSCPdBm/ total
miles of test route*100%.
3) SHO ratio(DT) (A2 A3)/ ( A1 +A2+A3), In DT A1 indicates that the quantity of cell
in active set is 1, A2 indicates that the quantity of cell in active set is 2, A3 indicates that
the quantity of cell in active set is 3
4) Pilot pollution ratio (DT) The point of the number of the CPICH which can enter the
Active set more than 4 /total number of drive test data*100%
5) UL interference cell ratio (Stat.) The number of cells which RTWP in half an hour is
higher than -98dBm / total cell number*100%
Accessibility
1) Radio paging success ratio(Stat.) The successful time of CN paging UE / total paging
times of CN*100%
2) RRC setup success ratio (Stat.) RRC connection setup success time / RRC connection
request time received by RNC*100%
3) RAB setup success ratio (Stat.) The number of 'RAB setup complete' in CS domain or
in PS domain received from UE/ Receive number of CS or PS RAB setup request which
is sent by CN*100%
4) PDP activation success ratio (DT&CQT) PDP activation success time/PDP activation
request time*100%
Retain ability
1) CS drop call ratio (DT&CQT) Service drop call time/Service access time*100%
2) PS drop call ratio (DT&CQT) PS service drop call time/PDP success activation time
Service Integrity
1) UL/DL BLER worsening ratio(DT&CQT) The number of point which UL/DL BLER is
higher than threshold value / UL/DL total test point *100%
2) MOS (Mean Opinion Score) (DT&CQT) Using equipment to test the score of MOS
3) UL/DL average throughput (DT&CQT) Average throughput statistic from application layer.
35

Chapter 3
3.5.1 RF optimisation Target:
Target Item Reference Value
Coverage Probability 95% (CPICH Ec/Io -12dB & RSCP -95dBm)
CPICH Ec/Io -12dB 95%
CPICH RSCP -95dBm 95%
SHO Percentage 30% - 40%
Pilot pollution Percentage 5%
Table 3.2: RF Optimization Target.
3.6 Category of optimization problems:
3.6.1 CoverageOptimization
a- Classifying and Defining Coverage Problem
1. Signal Dead Zone
Definition:
A signal dead zone generally refers to the area where the pilot signal is less than the Lowest access
threshold (such as RSCP threshold is -115dBM, Ec/lo threshold is -18dB), and the area can be a
concave area, hill rear, elevator shaft, tunnel, Underground garage or basement, and internal part
in a tall building.
Reasons:
Lack of NodeBs
Incorrectly configured sectors
NodeB shutdown due to power amplifier fault .
The over great indoor penetration loss causes weak coverage.

Steps for Resolving signal dead zones :
Adjust antenna for increasing coverage .
Use RRU , repeater or leakage cable
Construct a new node B
Use indoor distributed coverage system
Adjust radio parameters .
36

Chapter 3

Figure 3.2: Coverage dead zones.
2. Coverage Hole :
Definition
A coverage hole refers to the coverage area where the pilot signal is lower than the lowest value
required by full-coverage services such as voice, VP and PS 64K Service, but higher than the
lowest access threshold of mobile phones.
Reasons:
- Practically some as dead zone problem.
Steps for Resolving coverage hole
Adjust antenna for increasing coverage
Use RRU , repeater or mini site
Adjust the max radio link power for the service

Figure 3.3: coverage hole.
3. TransRegional Coverage (overshooting):
Definition:
The trans-regional coverage usually refers to the coverage of some base stations exceeds the planned
scope. The trans-regional coverage can cause discontinuous dominant areas in the coverage of other
37

Chapter 3
base stations if the strength of trans-regional signal meets the requirement for the full-coverage
services. The trans-regional coverage is called also overshooting, when a call is accessed to the
Island area which is far from a nearby base station and the nearby cells are not set as adjacent cells
to Island the during setting the cell handover parameters, the call drop will happen as soon as the
mobile phone leaves the "Island.
Reasons :
Cell has too high altitude
Small down tilt, 0 degree.
close cells have overshooting as well .
Steps for Resolving TransRegional coverage:
Change site location.
Adjust mechanical tilt angle of the cell .
Adjust the pilot power can be adjusted or the electric tilt angle antenna can be used so as to
remove the "Island effect by reducing the coverage.

Figure 3.4 : overshooting.
4- Pilot Pollution
Definition:
The pilot pollution means that too many pilots are received on a point, in which there
has not a dominant pilot.
the following method is used to judge the existent of the pilot pollution:
38

Chapter 3
- the number of the pilots that meet the condition CPICH _ RSCP >-95dBm is more than 3 with
(1st _ CPICH RSCP - 4 th _ CPICH RSCP dB) <5 db.
The reason of adding the judgment to the absolute threshold of pilot RSCP is to distinguish coverage
hole from no dominant call in the edge of the target coverage area. No matter it is the coverage of a
micro cell or a macro cell, if the pilot pollution happens, the available signals will be influenced, which
leads to the increased lo, decreased Ec/lo and increased BLER and causes the ping pong handover and
call drop.
Reasons :
In general, the possible reasons for pilot pollution may be the unreasonable site distribution.
too high the location of the base station .
too high antenna unreasonable directional angle of the antenna, and the influence caused by the
back radiation of the antenna,
Unreasonable setting of pilot power and the influence of around environments.
the influence of around environment can be the obstacle of tall building or mountain, signal
transmission extended along streets or water area or signal reflection caused by the glass curtain
wall on the tall building.
Steps for resolving pilot pollution problem:
Adjust the position of the site or adjust the antenna.
Reduce the poser of the CPICH channel

Figure 3.5 : pilot pollution.
39

Chapter 3

5-Unbalanced Uplink/Downlink
Definition:
The unbalanced uplink/downlink refers to the restricted uplink coverage (for example, the transmitting
power of UE cannot meet the uplink BLER requirement although it reaches the maximum) or the
restricted downlink coverage (for example: the transmitting power of the dedicated downlink channel
code cannot satisfy the downlink BLER requirement although it reaches the maximum) in the target
area.
Reasons :
Uplink interferences
Downlink interferences.
Steps for resolving cross-cell problem :
checking the antenna feeder installation and adding the RF configuration.
for the problem happens on the antenna shared by 3G and 2G system, it can be solved by adding a
band-pass filter
For the uplink coverage restriction on the cell edge, it can be solved by improving the base station
sensitivity with the tower amplifier, subject to due downlink capacity loss
For the unbalanced up/downlink due to the restricted up/downlink power It can be solved using
by sector splitting or adding carrier frequency, or by establishing the new micro cell
6- Cross-cell coverage:
Definition:
Cross-cell coverage refers to the fact that the coverage range of some NodeBs is beyond the planned
range and discontinuous primary pilot coverage areas form in coverage areas of other NodeBs.
Reasons
Bad installation of feeders .
Steps for resolving cross-cell problem
Adjust the mechanical tilt angle and azimuth of the antenna
Adjust pilot power , and reduce coverage area of node B

40

Chapter 3

Figure 3.6 : cross-cell.
b- Coverage Problem Analysis
I. Planning Analysis : the precondition for analyzing pilot coverage and reference service coverage
is to work out the planning solution for the target area, including site distribution, base station
configuration, antenna feeder configuration, pilot coverage predication and service loading
distribution.
II. Drive Test Data Analysis
1) Downlink coverage
a) Pilot strength analysis In general, the strongest downlink receiving RSCP of each site in the
coverage area should be higher than -85dBm.
b) Dominant cells analysis:

Figure 3.7 : dominant cell .
41

Chapter 3
c) Coverage comparison and analysis between UE and Scanner :
Cells shown by UE are decided by neighbor cell configuration. If missing neighbor cell occurs, the
cells shown by UE and Scanner are different.

Figure 3. 8 : Comparing and analyzing UE and Scanner Coverage Scanner shows the real coverage.
d) Downlink code transmitting power distribution analysis : The downlink code transmitting power of
the most sites should almost be the same when the UE downlink power control is normal and the
network coverage is good. Only little areas will a little higher, as shown in Figure 18.

Figure 3.9 : Downlink code transmitting power of voice with the downlink 50% loading Recorded by RNC.
e) Soft handover rate analysis: According to the drive test data collected by the Scanner, the rate of
the soft handover area can be obtained, which is defined as:
Soft Handover area rate =( Number of points meeting the handover condition and collected by
theScanner in drive test / total number of points collected by the scanner in drive test )
42

Chapter 3
Note that the Number of Point which is used to calculate SHO Ratio is recorded by Scanner., Usually
the SHO Ratio is 30%40% if there is no load, SHO Ratio would be affected by modifying the SHO
parameters.
2) Uplink coverage
a) Uplink interference analysis :the uplink RTWP data of each cell can be recorded in RNC. As shown
in Figure 3.10, the antenna of this cell receives signals through space diversity.

Figure 3. 10 : UL RTWP abnormity recorded by Node B.

b) Distribution of UE uplink transmitting power:

Figure 3.11 : UE transmitting power distribution (micro cell).

43

Chapter 3
Configuration Parameters adjustment related to coverage problems:
The following content lists the radio configuration parameters that may be adjusted for solving the
coverage problem: CPICH TX Power, MaxFACHPower, Sintrasearch, Sintersearch and Ssearchrat,
PreambleRetransMax, Intra-FILTERCOEF, Intra-CellIndividualOffset, RLMaxDLPwr and
RLMaxDLPwr (service-oriented).
3.6.2 Access Optimization
Definition
The data analyzed tool Assistant defines access failure as the rule that any situation where one of the
following conditions is met after the original UE issues the RRC Connection Request:
1) UE receives the RRC Connection Reject message;
2) After having received the RRC Connection setup message, UE receives or sends the RRC
Connection Release message.
3) During the Call setup process, UE receives the BCCH message.
4) Timer times out, that is, within 3 seconds (T300) after UE has sent the RRC Connection Request
message, UE fails to receive the RRC Connection Setup message.
To sum up, any of the signaling failures before conversation will cause access failure.

KPI Items Reference value
RRC Conncetion Setup Success Rate(servi ce) >=95%
RRC Conncetion Setup Success Rate(other) >=95%
AMR RAB Assignment Success Rate >=95%
Vi deo call RAB Assignment Success Rate >=95%
PS RAB Assignment Success Rate >=95%
Table 3.3: accessibility optimization target.
General methods for access problems analysis:
44

Chapter 3

Figure 3.12 : methods for access problem analysis.
RRC Connection Setup Failure Analysis:
The RRC connection setup failure can be detected by the UE signaling process and RNC single-user
trace. RRC connection is established via the following steps: UE sends the RRC Connection
Request message via RACH, RNC sends the RRC Connection Setup message via FACH, then
UE establishes the downlink dedicated channel, synchronizes it, and now sends the RRC Connection
Setup CMP message via the uplink dedicated channel.
Reasons:
Errors or faults in uplink RACH.( limited power for preamble transmission ,node B VSWR
problem , improper access radius settings )
Downlink FACH power distribution.
cell parameter reselection.
low downlink initial transmitting power.
Uplink initial power control.
Congestion, abnormal equipment.
The RRC Connection Request message sent by UE is not received by RNC. If Ec/Io of the
downlink CPICH is not too low (say, about -12dB), then normally RACH fails due to incorrect
power control estimation for the uplink open loop, or insufficient power escalation of Preamble, or
lower-than-required output power of UE.

45

Chapter 3
Steps for resolving access problems:
RNC, after having received the RRC connection request sent by UE, sends the RRC connection
Setup message but UE fails to receive it. Now check the CPICH Ec/Io. If it is blow -12dB and
there is no better cell in the monitored set, then it must be failure of coverage, in which case,
increase the FACH power. If there is a better cell in the monitored set, it might be caused by cell
reselection, in which case, adjust the cell reselection parameters to speed up the reselection.

Figure 3.13 : Signaling process of the calling UE.
Access-related Parameter Configuration :
FACH Transmitting Power , PCH Transmitting Power , PICH Transmitting Power , Cell Reselection
ParameterQhyst2s , Cell Reselection ParameterTreselections , Cell Reselection Parameter
Sintrasearch , Cell Reselection ParameterQoffset2 , AICH Transmitting Power , PRACH parameters

3.6.3 Call DropOptimization
Definition
a- Definition of Call Drop in Drive Test: From the air message recorded on the UE during the
conversation, that is, in the connection mode if any one of the following three conditions is met,
that will be considered as a call drop:
Receive BCH message, that is, the system message.
46

Chapter 3
Receive RRC release message and the cause value for releasing as Not Normal.
receive any message of CC disconnect, CC release complete and CC release, the cause value
for release as Not Normal Clearing, Not Normal or Unspecified.
b- Definition of Call Drop in Statistics : The related indicators on UTRAN refer to the number of the
released service RABs triggered by RNC, including two aspects:
1) RNC sends the RAB RELEASE REQUEST message to CN after the service is established.
2) RNC sends the IU RELEASE REQUEST message to CN, and then receives the IU
RELEASE COMMAND from CN after the service is established. At present, the two aspects use one
statistics indicator, RNC_RAB_REL_TRIG_BY_RNC. The statistics can be classified according to
actual services. Meanwhile, the statistics also counts the reasons for releasing various service RABs
triggered by RNC. The formula for calculating the call drop rate:
CS_CDR=(CSRABrelTriggedByRNC/CSRRABSetupSuccess)*100%
PS_CDR=(PSRABrelTriggedByRNC/PSRRABSetupSuccess)*100%
RNC KPIs(Average Value during Ndays)
All Servi ce

CDR
CS AMR call Drop Rate0.48%
VP AMR call Drop Rate 0.92%
PS Service Drop Rate 0.34%
HSDPA CDR HSDPA Drop Rate 0.27%
HSUPA CDR HSUPA Drop Rate 0.29 %
Table 3.4: optimization target for call drop rate.
Reasons:
Call Drop due to Poor Coverage :
Usually, for voice, when CPICH Ec/lo is more than -14dB and RSCP more than -100dBm
(with the Scanner measurement value), the call drop is impossible to happen due to the poor
coverage. The so called poor coverage refers to the poor RSCP. Whether it is the poor uplink coverage
or the poor downlink coverage that causes the call drop can be determined through the dedicated
channel power of uplink or downlink before the call drop.
Call Drop due to absent neighbor cell or Missing Configuration of neighbor Cell :
In general, most call drops happening during the early period in the network optimization
is caused by the missing adjacent cell.
47

Chapter 3
Call Drop due to Handover :
The reasons for call drop due to soft handover or intra-frequency hard handover can be classified into
two kinds, non-timely handover or Ping-Pong handover. From the signaling flow, the symptom is that
the mobile phone cannot receive the command for updating the active set in the CS service
(physical channel reassignment upon inter-frequency hard handover), while that of the PS service is
the command for updating the active set is not received or the TRB reset happens prior to the
handover.
From the signal, the main phenomena for non-timely handover are:
1) Corner effect: Ec/lo of the source cell plummet, while that of the target cell escalates (rising
to the very large value suddenly)

Figure 3.14:corner effect.
2) Needlepoint effect: Ec/lo of the source cell rises after plummeting for a period, and the target
cell escalates for a short period of time.

Figure 3.15 : Needlepoint effect.
From the signaling flow, before the call drop the mobile phone usually reports the 1a or 1c
measurement report of the adjacent cell, and RNC receives the measurement report and delivers the
message for updating the active set, but UE cannot receive the message.
The Ping-Pong handover has the following phenomena:
48

Chapter 3
1) Quick change of the dominant cell: two or more cells become the dominant cell alternatively, and
the dominant cell has the good RSCP and Ec/lo, but the time for each cell being the dominant cell is
very short.
2) No dominant cell: there are multiple cells existing, but the RSCP and Ec/Io are poor and there is
almost no variance between them. From the signaling flow, after a cell is deleted, it will request to
access again at once. Now, the command for updating the active set issued by RNC cannot be
received, which will lead to the failure.
Solution to corner and needlepoint effect
1) Configuring the 1a event parameter for the cell (decrease time to trigger , decrease the threshold ),
to enable the handover to be Triggered easier. For example, the trigger time can be decreased to
200ms, reduce the hysteresis.
2) Configuring the CIO to 5 dB between the two cells where the corner effect happens to facilitate
the target cells join.
3) Adjusting the antenna to make the antenna coverage of the target cell over the corner, enabling
that the handover happens before the corner.
IV. Call Drop due to Interference
Strong downlink interference (CPICH RSCP is not low, but Ec/Io is low)
Strong uplink interference. On the basis of the RSSI scanning result or analysis of the SIB7,
there is uplink interference.
V. Call Drop due to Equipment Abnormity
After all the above reasons are excluded, the reason for other call drop may be the equipment problem,
which can be analyzed by viewing the equipment log and alarm.
For example, the abnormal NodeB leads to the synchronization failure, enabling the transmit link to be
added and deleted continuously. For example, the call drop happens because the mobile phone does
not report the 1a measurement report.
Steps for resolving call drop problems :
The call drop due to non-timely handover can be solved by adjusting the antennas to enlarge the
handover area, or configuring the handover parameters of the 1a event to make the handover easier
to happen, or configuring CIO to make the target cell to perform the handover in advance.
49

Chapter 3
the call drop due to the Ping-Pong handover can be solved by adjusting the antenna to make the
coverage area form the dominant cell, or configuring the handover parameters of the 1b event to
prevent the Ping-Pong handover from happening. For the inter-frequency or inter-system
handover, the compressed mode ( needed when making measurements on another frequency (inter-
frequency) or on a different radio technology (inter-RAT) ) . should be started for the handover to
perform the inter-frequency or inter-system measurement. If the compressed mode is started too
late, the mobile phone will have no time to measure the signal in the target cell, so the call drop
happens, or the mobile phone finishes the measurement, but it cannot receive the inter-frequency or
inter-system handover request, leading to the call drop.
Parameter Configuration adjustment Related to Call Drop :
Cell Individual Offset (CIO) , Delayed Trigger Time Related to Soft Handover , Intra- frequency
Measurement FilterCoef , Threshold for Starting/Stopping Compressed Mode , Trigger Time of Inter-
system Handover (Confirming the Delayed Trigger Time) , Maximum Retransmission Times of
Signaling and Service , Inter-frequency Cell Hard Handover Threshold Represented by RSCP ,
GsmRSSICSThd and GsmRSSIPSThd , Timers and Counters Related to Call Drop .

Figure 3.16 : Flow chart for analyzing call drop.

50

Chapter 3
3.6.4 InterferenceOptimization
Definition
The interference of WCDMA system includes to parts, one part is self- interference of system, the
other part is some abnormal interference. Usually, abnormal interference can not be predicted, in some
cases, it will cause some problems.
Reasons for variance of the uplink main diversity RTWP :
in Figure 27, the main diversity RTWP has obvious variance. By analysis, the causes may be:
Intensity of the interferences on the main diversity has much variance.
Some cells such as the indoor base stations use only one receiving channel.
NodeB has never performed the radio frequency channel calibrating.

Figure 3.17 : Variance of the uplink main diversity RTWP.
Reason for the RTWP Abnormality :
I. Uplink Inter-modulation Interference:
When several systems are installed in same area, different frequencies of these systems maybe cause
Inter-modulation.
Solution to inter-modulation interference
Check the roof if there exists any metal article around the antenna or the antenna
is too close to the antennas of other carriers;
Check the DCS bearer characteristics to find the 2G frequencies that combine with the 3G
frequencies, and mark out the BCCH branch.
Example :
Multiple-frequency inter-modulation caused by load
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Chapter 3
The cell in this case is an indoor system, with combined output of 2G signals of two carriers. RTWP is
abnormal in the cell. The field study finds that it is caused by loose load connection. A slight touch on
the load will trigger violent RTWP fluctuation, which disappears after the load is replaced.

Figure 3.18 : RTWP 24-hour measurementinter-modulation caused by load.
II. Uplink External Interference
1) Classification of frequently seen external interference
First type: these interference come from antenna interaction Especially, when the antennas belong to
different system had been installed face to face, because isolation is smaller, so spurious emission will
affect the site, When environment is complex, and there are so many metal, so there are so many
interactive result
Second type: these interference come from some microwave equipment Some interference is
periodical, just appears in special time , Some interference just appears in narrow band
2) Solution to the external interference:
Adjust antenna: change the position, the direction of antenna, make main beam of antenna fall
away from interference
Use some method to decrease interference, e.g. we can check 2G antenna has been added filter or
not, antenna and feeder system is OK or not. We also can modify the frequencies If the
interference come from microwave equipment, we should find the transmitter, We can use Yagi
antenna, and observe in which direction the signal is strongest, then we can find the transmitter.

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Chapter 3
3.6.5 Inter-systemRoamingHandover Optimization
Common Inter-system Handover Strategies:
I. Handover Based on Coverage
To ensure continuous coverage of the GSM/WCDMA users in areas where there is no 3G system
coverage, the coverage-based handover or cell reselection is required for continuity of service.
II. Handover Based on Load
Load-based handover or cell reselection is applied for load sharing between GSM and WCDMA
systems. The trigger for such a handover is the measured cell load of GSM or the WCDMA network.
III. Handover Based on Service
Service-based handover is applied to guide the traffic of the GSM or WCDMA network. Even when
there is no load in the source cell, the service-based handover can also proceed. During the load-based
handover/cell reselection or call setup period, the service-based handover can be utilized. With this
function, carriers can guide the voice service to GSM and all VP and packet data to WCDMA to
reduce investment on the 3G circuit network and 2G packet switched network.
Applied Inter-system Roaming Handover Strategies
I. Difficult to Perform Reselection and Handover
In areas where the 3G coverage is better than that of 2G, the mobile phone should be kept in the 3G
network as much as possible, which can be realized by configuring parameters as shown below:
When the mobile phone is in idle and the 2G signal level is better than 3G Delta dB, reselect the 2G
network. Delta dB depends on the value of Qoffset1sn which is the key parameter for adjustment
and is suitable for both the network and configuration. You may increase the value of Qoffset1sn
(the range is -50~50dB with the default value as 0), say, 50dB, and make it hard for the mobile phone
to be reselected to 2G.
When the mobile phone is in the Connect status, you may increase the value of CellIndividualOffset
(the range is -50~50dB with the default value as 0), say, -50dB, to make it impossible for the mobile
phone to switch to the 2G network.
II. 2G Easy to Perform Reselection and Handover
In some places the 2G coverage is better than 3G. For example, inside the building, 2G coverage has
DAS, and 3G has no coverage. When the mobile phone moves from the 3G coverage area to that of the
2G and is in conversation, the handover to 2G should ensure no call drop. When the mobile phone
53

Chapter 3
is in idle and is to be reselected to 2G, the handover should ensure no disconnection from the
network.
When the mobile phone is in idle, Qoffset1 can be set to 0. When the mobile phone is in the Connect
status, you may increase the compression mode start and stop threshold, launch at an earlier time the
compression mode to measure the 2G signal (say, -90/-85dBm) and set CellIndividualOffset to
0. The purpose is to increase the overlapping area of 3G and 2G, especially to ensure the mobile
phone to switch to 2G when the 3G signal quality plummets from the outside to inside.
Example :
Inter-system ping-pong reselection
1) Description of the case
In some area inside a building of a commercial office, when the mobile phone is in idle, the UMTS-
GSM dual-mode mobile phone will frequently switch between WCDMA Radio the 3G and 2G
networks. The monitors of the Siemens U15 and MotoA835 mobile phones frequently and
alternatively display 3G and 2G, and the Qualcomm test mobile phone monitor frequently and
alternatively display WCP and GCP. Reselection from 3G to 2G takes on average 1 minute, and
from 2G to 3G 1-2 minutes, with the mobile phone location and the environment remain unchanged.
2) Analysis of the case
Reselection from 3G to 2G is as follows:
When the value of the pilot signal quality Ec/Io of the 3G service cell minus Qqualmin is
smaller than the inter-system measurement threshold SsearchRAT, measurement of the
adjacent 2G cells launches;
When the signal quality of the adjacent 2G cell reaches the cell reselection criteria and keeps on
for a period of time Treselection, UE will select to reside in the 2G cell.
The value of the 3G RSCP at the 3G network edge is basically below -90dBm while the 2G signal
quality is very good, mostly around -60~-70Bm. Therefore, once UE launches measurement of the
signals in the adjacent 2G cell and there is no improvement in the local cell signal within
Treselection , UE will reselect to reside in the 2G cell. Therefore, the key parameter in reselection
from 3G to 2G is SsearchRAT, while proper configuration of the reselection delay parameter
Treselection is also beneficial for solving the Ping-Pong handover.
Reselection from 2G to 3G is as follows:
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Chapter 3
1) When the strength of the cell signal of a 2G service cell is right for the inter-system measurement
threshold Qsearch_I, measurement of the adjacent 3G cell signals will launch; With a view to first
selecting 3G, the current configuration of the parameter is 7 (permanently launch).
2) When the intensity of the 3G cell signal minus the current value of RLAC (the average intensity of
the 2G service cell and the non-service cell) is larger than FDD_Qoffset and it keeps on for 5 seconds,
then the 3G cell is taken as a candidate cell for reselection; At present, FDD_Qoffset is set to 7 (always
reselecting the 3G cell).
3) When the signal quality Ec/Io of the 3G cell is larger than or equal to the threshold FDD_Qmin,
then the 3G cell can be taken as a candidate cell for reselection.
4) Among all 3G cells that meet the above criteria, UE selects the best one as the reselection target
cell. Therefore, the key parameter for reselection from 2G to 3G is FDD_Qmin, with the default value
as -12dB.
5) Solution to the case
In practical network optimization, the following measures can be taken
Increase the interval between SsearchRAT and FDD_Qmin. By default, if the 3G CPICH Ec/Io
is larger than -12dB, UE will reselect from 2G to 3G, and if CPICH Ec/Io<=-14db, UE will
reselect from 3G to GSM. It can be thus concluded that the current parameter configuration
decides that the frequency of cell reselections is basically determined by the 3G CPICH Ec/Io
fluctuation. Once the fluctuation exceeds 1dB, Ping-Pong handover occurs. Field tests in the
3G cell finds that when Ec/Io is below -14dB, disconnection from the network occurs
easily. So, the value of SsearchRAT cannot be further decreased. We may increase
FDD_Qmin to -8dB so that there will be a space of 6dB as compared to the threshold -14dB for
triggering reselection from 3G to 2G and there will be far fewer chances of Ping-Pong
handovers caused by signal fluctuation.
Increase Treselection from the default value 1s to 5s so that the frequency of cell reselection
from 3G to 2G will be reduced.
3.6.6HSPA throughput optimization
HSPA throughput problems:
Usually there are 2 types of the HSPA problems
- The throughput is low or fluctuating
- The throughput is zero
55

Chapter 3
HSDPA throughput factors :
Ue categories
Maximum available HS-PDSCH code in the cell
Retransmission rate
Number of HSPA users in the cell
Channel quality indicator CQI The reported CQI value determines the maximum rate on the air
interface available to the UE.

CQI Mapping table for UE categories 7 and 8
CQI
Value
Transport
Block Size
Number of HS-PDSCH Modulation Reference power
adjustment
0 N/A out of range
1 137 1 QPSK 0
2 173 1 QPSK 0
3 233 1 QPSK 0

28 14411 10 16-QAM -3
29 14411 10 16-QAM -4
30 14411 10 16-QAM -5
Table 3.5: CQI Mapping Table.
Reasons :
Limitation on radio resources ( codes, power ,,,,)
Improper Parameter setting such as MBR
Incorrect throughput limitation through the AT command ( configuration for user )
Limitation on CE resources .
Steps for resolving HSPA throughput problem :
Checking signaling process to obtain : ( Ue categories , max bit rate assigned by CN, whether
the service is established on HSPA ) .
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Chapter 3

Figure 3.19 : indication of type of UE.
The information in the figure indicates that the UE is of HSDPA category 8 and supports a throughput of 7.2
Mbit/s.

Figure 3.20 : max bite rate assignd by CN in the RANAP_RAB_ASSIGNEMENT_REQ message.
Checking the quality on the air interface to obtain the channel quality indicator CQI

Figure 3.21 : CQI reported by UE during the HSPA data transmission .

57

Chapter 3
Checking the radio resources to obtain ( available HS-PDSCH code and power in the cell ,
WCDMA user number in the cell , whether 16QAM is enabled in the cell ,IUb transmission in
the cell )
Checking the UE TX power
Checking the UPLINK power load to obtain whether the uplink load of the cell already reaches
the threshold
Checking the uplink bandwidth allocated by RNC to obtain whether the Uplink bandwidth
allocated by RNC is insufficient
3.7 Summery
In This chapter we explained the redesign an made during our project after this phase we have
moved to the optimization of the services parameters to improve KPIs of the network. In general,
drive test, statistics and users subjective sense are used as optimization Evidences, while signaling
tracing and analysis play a crucial role in troubleshooting. The basic method for network
optimization is to analyze an adjust engineering Parameters and cell parameter according to
OMC statistics result and drive test result so as to optimize the network finally.
The Practical part
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Chapter 4

Chapter 4: the practical
part

The Practical part
59

Chapter 4
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter our task consist to optimize 3G+Radio access network of OTA (Huawei costumer) . in
area situated in Algiers ( ain beniane ) . Using post processing tools such as Tems discovery and Actix
to analyze the problems , We will follow those steps :
- Supervision of the study area based on statistics (KPIs) and range of measures.
- Make a Test Drive to identification problems (coverage, quality, Interference ...)
- Propose adequate solutions (physical optimizations specific setting, Implementation of new
functionalities ...)
4.2 Tems discovery overview:
TEMS Discovery is a measurement data analysis and network optimization tool. It introduces many
unique and advanced features to enhance productivity. Its used principally to prepare Single site
verification reports and analyze of drive test data.
4.3ACTIX overview:
Actix Analyzer provides advanced drive test survey analytics; It supports network optimization
network acceptance and validation, and is used in 2G, 3G and LTE rollouts. Analyzer supports all
drive test equipment available. This unique position means engineers can analyze their data wherever it
comes from. The data is normalized, so the same analysis works across different data sources.
Analyzer is the most reliable and trusted tool on the market for helping operators troubleshoot
problems. It automates identification, analysis and diagnosis of common issues and provides detailed
ad hoc analysis capabilities of the uncommon ones.
Actix Defines and measures any KPI. Quickly creates validation and acceptance reports that establish
coverage, quality and capacity for acceptance of network improvements. Enables session analysis for
finding the cause of service performance problems and understanding when and where network
features were available and used. Actix also provides full IP layer decode and session analysis for
building tailored KPIs. Enables validation of the indoor network and its interaction with the macro
network. Geo-references RF measurements and events and visualizes venue layout. It Generates KPI
reports to evaluate the readiness of the in-building network ahead of launch
The Practical part
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Chapter 4

Figure 4.1 : Actix graphical interface.
4.4 Optimization process :

Figure 4. 2: Cluster Area Border ( ain beniane , Algiers ) .
4.4.1 Cluster DT KPI Result :
Event Target Value Test Value
SHO ratio between 30% and 40% 29.95%
Voice Call Drop rate <=1% 2.06%
HSDPA Data services Drop Rate <=2% 0.00%
HSDPA (UE Category 10) >1Mbps 5019.59
Call Setup Success Rate 90% 28.6%
PDP activation Success Rate >=90% 98.98%
Table 4.1 Cluster DT KPI .
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Chapter 4
4.4.2 Coverage Analysis :
a- RSCP

Figure 4.3 : RSCP distribution.
Poor RSCP analysis :

Figure 4.4 : poor RSCP areas.

The Practical part
62

Chapter 4
Point Cause Recommendations
1 Coverage Gap ( dead zone ). Site 3A16X376 is note integrated.

2
1- 515m distance from side loops of 2
nd sector of site 3A16X414 (PSC 15).
2-Overshooting from some sectors:
3A16X375_3/6 (PSC 67).
3A16X051_3/6 (PSC 90).
3A16X055_1/4 (PSC 211).
3A16X775_3/6 (PSC 58).
3A16X788_3/6 (PSC 234).
3A16X865_1/4 (PSC 204).
3A16X606_1/4 (PSC 227).
3A16X150_2/5(PSC 249).
1- Up tilt 2 degree for the 2 nd sector of site
3A16X414, from e8 .
to e6. Up tilting will improve a bit but this area
needs a new site.
2- Down tilt 2 degree for the 3 rd sector of site
3A16X375, from e8 to e10.
4- Down tilt 2 degree for the 1 st sector of site
9- Down tilt 2 degree for the 2 nd sector of site

3
300m distance from the main loop of
the 1 st sector of site 3A16X414 (PSC
13).
Down tilt 1 degree for the 1 st sector of site
3A16X414, from e6 to e7

4
1- Site 3A16X376 is note integrated.
2- Less than 400m distance from the 3
rd sector of site 3A16X170 (PSC 138).
Down tilt 1 degree for the 3 rd sector of site

Area (less than 300m distance) falls

Down tilt 1 degree for the 1 st sector of site
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Chapter 4
5 between the 1 st & 3 rd sectors of site
3A16X051 (PSC
88 & 90) and its served by side loops.
6 Coverage gap. Site 3A16X079 is not integrated.

7
Coverage gap. 1- Down tilt 1 degree for the 3 rd sector of site
3A16X030 (PSC 157), from e6 to e7.
3A16X414 (PSC 14), from e6 to e7.
3- New site is needed to improve the coverage
there, refer to the site location on the map.

8

Area falls between 1 st & 3 rd sectors
of site 3A16X673 (PSC 173 & 175).
1- Also the coverage at this area can be
improved if the above mention new site is
added.
2- Increase the power 1 dB for the 1 st sector
of site 3A16X775 (PSC 56, CI: 52331/4).
3A16X030 (PSC 156), from e2 to e4.
9 1- Area nearby 3 rd sector of site
3A16X795 (PSC 258), around 225m
distance.
2- Overshooting from 1 st sector of
site 3A16X795 (PSC 256).
3- Area falls between 2 nd & 3 rd
sectors of site
3A16X170 (PSC 137 & 138).
1- Down tilt for 3A16X795 sectors, 2 degree
for 1 st sector from e5 to e7 and 1 degree
for 3 rd sector from e6 to e7.
10 1- Area (A&B) -less than 400m
distance- served by side loops of the 1
st sector of site 3A16X788 (PSC 232)
,from elevation profile,
this area with a sever slope, check
1- Up tilt 1 degree d for the 1 st sector of site
2- Up tilt 1 degree d for the 2 nd sector of site
If the coverage remains, will be better to add a
The Practical part
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Chapter 4

Table 4.2 problems causes and recommendation to troubleshoot them. Coverage.
Point 10: Elevation profile for the area nearby 1 st sector of site 3A16X788 (PSC 32):

below snaps.
2- Area (C&D) less than 500m in front
of the 2 nd sector of site 3A16X051
(PSC 89), from elevation profile, this
area with a sever slope, check below
snaps.
3- Overshooting from some sectors:
3A16X418_3/6 (PSC 194).
3A16X030_1/4 (PSC 155).
3A16X795_2/5 (PSC 257).
new site, refer to the site location on the below
snap.
5- Down tilt 2 degree d for the 2 nd sector of
site 3A16X795, from e4 to e6.
6- Up tilt 1 degree d for the 1 st sector of site
3A16X793 (PSC 241), from e6 to e5.
11 Area more than 1Km distance from
the 1 st sector of site 3A16X055 (PSC
211), and it is
the best server for that area.
Increase the power 1 dB for the 1 st sector of
site 3A16X055 (CI: 26481/4).
12 Overshooting from 3 rd sector of site
3A16X746 (PSC 218).

13
Area less than 300m distance from the
main loop of the 3 rd sector of site
3A16X375 (PSC 67).
3A16X375, from e8 to e10. Else we need M-
tilting.
14 Poor coverage due to terrain. Down tilt 2 degree for the 1 st sector of site
3A16X375 (PSC 65), from e6 to e8.
15 Coverage gap, area with radius more
than 1.47Km.
New site is needed.
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Chapter 4

Figure 4.5 : Elevation profile for the area A.

Figure 4.6 : Elevation profile for the area B.
Point 10: Elevation profile for the area in front of 2nd sector of site 3A16X051 (PSC 89):

Figure 4.7 : Elevation profile for the area C .

The Practical part
66

Chapter 4

Figure 4.8 : Elevation profile for the area D.
b- EC/NO :

Figure 4.9 : Ec/Io Distributions.
Poor EC/NO analysis :

Figure 4. 10 : poor EcNo areas.
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Chapter 4

Table 4.3 cause of problems and recommendations to troubleshoot them .quality
1 Missing NBR, 3A16X375_3 (PSC
67, CI: 60123) to 3A16X051_3
(PSC 90, CI: 26443).
Define missing NBRs.
2 1- Missing NBR (Overshooting
cells), PSC 334/304/505/385.
2- Poor quality as Site 3A16X079
is not integrated.
PSC 334, 304, 505 and 385 do not exist on all whole
CFG files.

3
1- Missing NBRs.
2- Overshooting from some
sectors:
3A16X722_3/6 (PSC 226).
3A16X035_3/6 (PSC 10).
3A16X575_1/4 (PSC 186).
3A16X874_1/4 (PSC 139).
3A16X778_1/4 (PSC 8).
3A16X802_3/6 (PSC 237).
3A16X781_1/4 (PSC 72).
3A16X699_3/6 (PSC 125).
3A16X880_1/4 (PSC 27).
3A16X572_3/6 (PSC 162).
3A16X037_3/6 (PSC 197).
3A16X606_1/4 (PSC 227).
1- Define missing NBRs.
2- Down tilt 3A16X722_3/6 (PSC 226), from e5 to e7 .
3- Down tilt 3A16X035_3/6 (PSC 10), from e6 to e8.
4-Down tilt 3A16X575_1/4 (PSC 186), from e6 to e8.
5-Down tilt 3A16X874_1/4 (PSC 139), from e4 to e6.
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Chapter 4
4.4.3 DL HSDPA Throughput:

Figure 4.11 : HSDPA throughput distribution.
The HSDPA throughput is impacted in some areas where:
1- The radio conditions are not good ( refer to the RCSP & EcIo analysis).
2- There is a missing NBRs ( refer to the RCSP & EcIo analysis).
4.4.4 UE TX power analysis :

Figure 4. 12 : UE TX power distribution.

The Practical part
69

Chapter 4
1- Call Set up Failure Analysis

Figure 4.13 : call setup failure point.
Call setup failure (1 ):

Figure 4.14 : call setup failure analysis 1.

The Practical part
70

Chapter 4
The call setup scenario is normal, and not failure, starting from RRC phase, RB setup and then call
proceeding till normal release.
Call Setup failure (2):
Issue: Bad radio condition (poor RSCP & EcIo).
Resolution: add new site to cover this gap.

Figure 4.15 : call setup failure analysis 2.
2- Call drop Analysis :

Figure 4.16 : call drop points 1.

Figure 4.17 : call drop points 2.
The Practical part
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Chapter 4

Table 4.4 cause of problems and recommendations to troubleshoot them .call drop

1 Missing NBR, 3A16X375_3 (PSC 67, CI: 60123) to
3A16X051_3 (PSC 90, CI:26443)
Handled before during poor
EcIo analysis.
2 Coverage gap. Handled before during poor
RSCP analysis.
3 Unspecified.

4
Missing NBR, 3A16X722_3 (PSC 226, CI: 52153) to
3A16X606_1 (PSC 227, CI: 61181) & to 3A16X880_1 (PSC
27, CI: 62161) & to 3A16X035_3 (PSC 10, CI: 26313).
And 3A16X837_3 (PSC 203, CI: 62003) to 3A16X606_1
(PSC 227, CI: 61181) & to 3A16X575_1 (PSC 186, CI:
61031) & to 3A16X035_3 (PSC 10, CI: 26313)
Missing NBR, 3A16X375_3 (PSC 67, CI: 60123) to
3A16X051_3 (PSC 90, CI:26443)

Define missing NBRs

Handled before during poor
Ec/Io analysis
6 Coverage gap (poor RSCP/EcIo) No action as site 3A16X079is
not integrated yet.
7 Missing NBR, 3A16X035_3 (PSC 10, 26313) to
3A16X418_2 (PSC 193, CI: 60402).
Define missing NBRs.
8 Missing NBRs (Overshooting cells) Handled before during poor
Ec/Io analysis.
9 Missing NBRs (Overshooting cells) Handled before during poor
Ec/Io analysis.
The Practical part
72

Chapter 4

4.5 Summary:
The area we worked on has many zones with bad coverage and quality ( poor RSCP and EC/NO)
And after the analyses we have done we concluded:
- Bad signal quality
- High Call drop rate
- Low Throughput
This analysis conducts us to elaborate optimization process, this by monitoring the performance of
the 3G network access and analysis of deviations 3G radio operation via KPI and the diagnosis of
Drive Test to establish action plans correctly .

73

General Conclusion

General conclusion

In this project , first we presented the various features and characteristics of 3G standards. Then,
we developed and analyzed the different process of optimizing access networks and the tools used.
Finally we have established an action plan to address the performance issues of the study area.
This project has allowed us not only to improve our knowledge in the field engineering of mobile
networks and management and ability to solve problems, but we have, throughout our training
period , be an operating engineers and complete the tasks that were assigned to us , including the
the analysis and study specific cases of problems situations where you had to choose the right
decision. In addition, through this report we do not pretend to cover all the concepts related to the
fild but we tried to go over the concept that we have actually practical experience of near and far.
An extension of our efforts could be based on these analyzes to provide a new configuration, with
basic technical elements. Thus, 3G technologies continue to position itself as an evolutionary
potential that allows to develop the basis of future mobile networks to support advanced services
and applications.
our ambition is that this work serves as a reference for future research setting in the field of
optimization and 3G radio network.

Table of Contents
General Introduction: ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1: UMTS AND HSPA SYSTEMS OVERVIEW .................................................2
1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.2 UMTS Network Architecture.................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2.1 System interfaces ................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.2.2 Channels .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
1.3 WCDMA air interface Elements ............................................................................................................................... 7
1.3.1 User Equipment (UE) ........................................................................................................................................... 7
1.3.2 Node-B ................................................................................................................................................................ 8
1.3.3 Radio Network Controller (RNC) ......................................................................................................................... 8
1.4 Air Interface Technology: ......................................................................................................................................... 8
1.4.1 Power Control ...................................................................................................................................................... 9
1.4.2 Soft Handover ...................................................................................................................................................... 9
1.4.3 cell breathing ......................................................................................................................................................10
1.5 Overview High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) ..........................................................................................................10
1.5.1 HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access)...................................................................................................11
1.5.2 HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) .......................................................................................................14
1.6 Summary ..................................................................................................................................................................16
CHAPTER 3G+RADIOACCESSNETWORK DESIGN...................................................... 17
2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................18
2.2 Dimensioning ............................................................................................................................................................18
2.2.1Coverage dimensioning ........................................................................................................................................18
2.2.2 Capacity dimensioning ........................................................................................................................................20
2.3 Planning study: ........................................................................................................................................................25
2.3.1 Preparations for Necessary Input Data .................................................................................................................25
2.4 Summary : ................................................................................................................................................................28
CHAPTER 3: 3G+ RADIO ACCESS NETWORK REDESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION29
3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................30
3.2 Single Site Verification .............................................................................................................................................30
3.3 RF Optimization.......................................................................................................................................................30

3.3.1 Redesign Recommendation and Implementation ..................................................................................................30
3.4 Service Optimization ................................................................................................................................................31
3.4.1 Redesign Recommendation and Implementation ..................................................................................................31
3.5 Performance indicators ............................................................................................................................................32
3.5.1 RF optimisation Target: .......................................................................................................................................35
3.6 Category of optimization problems: ........................................................................................................................35
3.6.1 Coverage Optimization ........................................................................................................................................35
b- Coverage Problem Analysis .....................................................................................................................................40
3.6.2 Access Optimization ............................................................................................................................................43
3.6.3 Call Drop Optimization ........................................................................................................................................45
3.6.4 Interference Optimization ...................................................................................................................................50
3.6.5 Inter-system Roaming Handover Optimization ....................................................................................................52
3.6.6HSPA throughput optimization .............................................................................................................................54
3.7 Summery ..................................................................................................................................................................57
CHAPTER 4: THE PRACTICAL PART ..............................................................................58
4.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................................59
4.2 Tems discovery overview: ........................................................................................................................................59
4.3ACTIX overview: ......................................................................................................................................................59
4.4 Optimization process : ............................................................................................................................................60
4.4.1 Cluster DT KPI Result : ......................................................................................................................................60
4.4.2 Coverage Analysis : ...........................................................................................................................................61
4.4.3 DL HSDPA Throughput: .....................................................................................................................................68
4.4.4 UE TX power analysis : ......................................................................................................................................68
4.5 Summary: .................................................................................................................................................................72
General conclusion ..........................................................................................................................................................73

ANNEXE:

PCPICHPower : PCPICH Transmit power , Recommended value : 33 dbm
Content : This parameter defines the PCPICH transmitting power inside a cell. The setting of this
parameter must be combined with the actual environment condition, such as the cell coverage range
(radius) and geographical environment.
MaxFACHPower: Max Transmit power of FACH , Recommended value : 1 db.
Content : This parameter defines the maximum transmitting power of FACH, relative to CPICH TX
Power. If the parameter is set too low, it will caused that the UE will not receive the FACH packets, or
the rate of the received wrong packets is very high; if it is set too low, it will leads to the power waste.
Qqualmin : Min quality Level , Recommended value -18 db .
Content : The minimum required quality level corresponding to CPICH Ec/No. The UE can camp on
the cell only when the measured CPICH Ec/No is greater than the value of this parameter
Qrelevmin: Min Rx Level Recommended value : -115 dbm
Content: The minimum required RX level corresponding to CPICH RSCP. The UE can camp on the
cell only when the measured CPICH RSCP is greater tha the value of this parameter.
IdleSintraSearch: Intra Freq-Cell reselection threshold for idle mode Recommended value : 127 .
Content : A threshold for intra-frequency cell reselection in idle mode. When the quality (CPICH
Ec/No measured by UE) of the serving cell is lower than this threshold plus the [Qqualmin] of the cell,
the intra-frequency cell reselection procedure will be started. This parameter is not configured when its
value is 127.
ConnSintrasearch: Intra Freq-Cell reselection threshold for connected mode , Recommended value :
127.
Content: A threshold for intra-frequency cell reselection in connect mode. When the quality (CPICH
Ec/No measured by UE) of the serving cell is lower than this threshold plus the [Qqualmin] of the
cell, the intra-frequency cell reselection procedure will be started. This parameter is not configured
when its value is 127.
IdleSintersearch: Inter Freq-Cell reselection threshold for Idle mode , Recommended value : 127
ConnSintersearch : Inter Freq-Cell reselection threshold for connected mode , Recommended value
:27.
searchRat :Inter-Rat cell reselection threshold , Recommended value : 127 .

PowerRampStep : Power increase step Recommended value : 2 db
Content: The power increase step of the random access preambles transmitted before the UE receives
the acquisition indicator in the random access process.
CIO : Cell oriented Cell individual offset , Recommended value : 0 db
Content: This parameter works with the Neighboring cell oriented CIO. It is used for intra- or
interfrequency handover decisions. The larger the sum, the higher the handover priority of the
neighboring cell. The smaller the sum, the lower the handover priority of the neighboring cell. Usually
it is configured to 0.
CIOOffset: Neighboring cell oriented CIO , Recommended value : 0 db
Content: This parameter defines the neighboring cell oriented cell individual offset. The set value
functions in combination of the cell oriented CIO. Their sum is added to the measurement quantity
before the UE evaluates whether an event has occurred. In handover algorithms, this parameter is used
for moving the border of a cell.
PreambleRetransMax: Max preamble retransmission Recommended value: 20.
Content: The parameter is the maximum times of an UE retransmitting preamble during a preamble
escalating period. If the value is set too low, the preamble power may not rise to the required value, so
an UE cannot access successfully; if the value is too high, the UE will increase the power
continuously, and make access attempts repeatedly, which will cause interference to other user.
This parameter is set to 8 by default .
RLMaxDLPwr: RL Max DL TX power
content: This parameter should fulfill the coverage requirement of the network planning, and the value
is relative to PCPICH transmit power.
RLMaxDLPwr: RL Min DL TX power
Content: This parameter should consider the maximum downlink transmit power and the dynamic
range of power control, and the value is relative to PCPICH transmit power.
Intra-CellIndividualOffset: Content: The parameter refers to the offset of the CPICH
measured value of the intra-frequency handover cell, which plus the actual measured value is
used for evaluating UE events. The parameter is set to 0 by default, that is to say, the influence caused
by it can be ignored.
Threshold for Starting/Stopping Compressed Mode: Content: The compressed mode is usually
started prior to the inter-frequency or inter-system handover, and it can be used to measure the

quality of the inter-frequency or inter-system cell. The start of the compressed mode can be
triggered by CPICH RSCP or Ec/lo fulfilling the condition. In the actual application, RSCP usually
acts as the trigger condition. the start threshold is set to -95dBm and the stop threshold to -90dBm,
which can be adjust separately in special conditions.
Cell Reselection ParameterQhyst2s: Content : According to Rule R, the measurement of the
current service cell, added with Qhyst2s, participate in the cell reselection sequencing.
Value of the parameter depends on the slow fading of the area where the cell is located. This
parameter functions to prevent the Ping-Pong handover, caused by slow fading, of the cell
reselection results when the UE is at the cell edge. The Ping-Pong handover may cause frequent
location updating (in the idle mode), URA updating (URA_PCH) or cell updating (CELL_FACH,
CELL_PCH) which will add to the network signaling load and UE battery consumption.
Cell Reselection ParameterTreselections: Content : If the signal quality (the CPICH Ec/No
value measured by UE) of other cells is constantly better than that of the current cell within the
period designated by this parameter, UE will reselect the current cell as the resident cell. The
parameter uses this function to prevent UE to perform the Ping-Pong handover between cells.
Cell Reselection ParameterSintrasearch: Content: This parameter is the threshold for initiating
the intra-frequency measurement. When the local cell Ec/Io value is lower than
QRelxmin+2*Sintrasearch, the intra-frequency measurement will be initiated. This parameter will
affect the cell reselection speed and eventually the one-whack UE access rate and IU port paging
success rate. With relatively smaller influence ensured on the UE power consumption, it is
recommended to set the parameter as high as possible.
Cell Reselection ParameterQoffset2: Values of the signal quality of the adjacent cells have to
have Qoffset2 deducted before participating in the Rule R appraisal. For ordinary single-layer cell, the
parameter can be set to 0 and the same effect can be achieved via Qhyst. Therefore, normally no
adjustment is recommended.
PRACH Related Parameter :Content: In light of the uplink PRACH failure, related parameters of the
channel should be adjusted, which include the number of preamble re-transmission attempts,
increments of preamble power escalation, preamble, Message and power variance, etc. The
above parameters are interdependent. In case of the PRACH failures, it is recommended to
adjust the preamble re-transmission attempts from the current baseline value 8 to 20 to avoid
PRACH failures.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our appreciation to a number of individuals who have provided invaluable
assistance to us during the process of writing this report. First of all, we would like to thank those at
RNP/RNO who advised us directly and gave generously of their time to assist us to clarify and refine
our work. we could not have completed this thesis without them. we would also like to acknowledge
the benefit we received from comments on early drafts of the thesis from Mr. Azizou and a number of
engineers with whom we worked and who consented to read portions of the manuscript and provide
advice and direction.
We would also like to thank a number of experts at Huawei with whom we worked on our Simulation
notably Medhat Adel .we are particularly grateful for the time given by the Radio stuff in what was a
lengthy survey and interview process.

Dedication

I would like to take this moment to thank my parents who support me through my education years:
emotionally, financially and mentally .To my brothers and sisters, thank you for growing up with me
and be there when I need.
To my friends, you are my greatest motivation.

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Introduction General introduction

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