5 Network Problem Solutions

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5 Network Problem Solutions

5.5.1 Coverage Problems
I. Solutuon Procedures
[Problem: the coverage is becoming smaller after the BTS is enabled]
After a BTS has run for a period of time (for example, half years), the coverage of
the BTS may become smaller or even dead zone may appear due to various
causes. In this case, the system performance will be affected. The shrink of the
coverage is not only related to the technical indexes (such as the BTS sensitivity
and power), but also related to the engineering quality, geographic factors, and
the electromagnetic environment.
The factor concerning the BTS problems are as follows:
Transmitter output power decrease
Receive sensitivity decrease
Antenna azimuth angle change
Antenna tilt change
Antenna gain change
Feeder loss
Coupler loss
Working band change
Propagation environment change
Diversity effect change.

You can check the problem according to the following procedure:
1) Check the conditions around the BTS antenna
You are required to check if there are other antennas (such as micro
antenna), decorations, billboard, trees, or glass walls standing around the
BTS antenna. These barriers may exert a negative effect against the antenna
reception and transmission, thus affecting the coverage of the BTS. In this
case, you can tune the azimuth angel of the corresponding antenna or
change the antenna height.
2) Check the change of the propagation environment
The change of the propagation environment of the electromagnetic wave
will weaken the signals received by radio terminals. Especially for
mountains, the propagation of the electromagnetic waves depends on the
reflection of mountains. For example, the change in the vegetation of the
mountain will reduce the coverage of the BTS. In addition, the climate and
other natural factors also have some effect against the electromagnetic
waves. The propagation loss varies with wood intensity, season, and so on.
The maximum loss can reach 30 dB. If new buildings prevent the
propagation of the electromagnetic waves and weakens the signals, the
areas in the remote cannot be covered, so the subscribers cannot enjoy the
service. Especially the high buildings near the BTS have a great effect
against the propagation of electromagnetic waves.
3) Check if there is standing wave alarm and main diversity reception
alarm at the operation and maintenance console
This problem can be checked according to the standing wave alarm

messages and the diversity reception alarm messages. If the alarms of this
kind occur, you should check the corresponding antennas and feeders.
4) Check if the standing wave ratio is smaller than 1.5%
The tolerance of the standing wave alarm threshold of the CDU or EDU is
great. Therefore, after checking that the set-top power is normal, you can
further check if the standing wave is smaller than 1.5%. If the standing
wave ratio is abnormal, you need to check if the water has penetrated into
the antenna or feeder connector, or if it is lightening protector problem.
5) Check if the tower amplifier work normally
Check if tower amplifier alarm is present at the operation and maintenance
console. Generally, the problems are the low noise amplifier was damaged
or the water has penetrated into the amplifier. The amplifier alarm always
comes together with the damage of the low noise amplifier. If the water has
penetrated into the tower amplifier, no alarm will be generated, but the RF
loss is great. In this case, the receiver sensitivity will decrease dramatically.
6) Check the engineering parameters (including antenna tilt and azimuth
angle)
The increase of the antenna tilt or the deviation of the azimuth angle will
reduce the coverage of the BTS. Therefore, antennas must be firmly fixed
so that they can stand strong wind and storms.
7) Check the set-top output power of the transceiver
First you should check if the lines are well connected, and then check if the
set-top power is normal. If it not normal, you should replace the problem
hardware.
8) Check if the receiver sensitivity is normal
Check if the coverage distance is shortened by the low receiver sensitivity.
In addition, you can monitor the messages at the Abis interface and find out
the relationship between level and bit error rate. After that, you can get the
value of the level when the bit error rate is 2%. This means, however, only
applies to the situation that when the receiver sensitivity drops dramatically.
9) Check if the parameters affecting the coverage are rationally set
10) Check if the high back noise in the coverage area is caused by
interference and poor electromagnetic environment.
[Coverage problem caused by BTS expansion]
If the coverage of the BTS shrinks after expansion, in addition to making the
previous checks, you are supposed to check the following items.
1) Check if the combiner keeps the same before and after expansion
The loss of different combiners varies greatly Therefore, the combiner
configuration deserves special attention during BTS expansion. If different
combiners are a must, you should fully communicate with customers.
2) Check if the antennas are rationally selected
Suitable antennas must be selected for project installation and network
planning so that the best coverage can be achieved. It must be pointed out
that you should use zero-point filling antenna or the electrical title antenna
when the antenna height is great. In addition, omni antennas cannot be

widely used for the large area coverage. In this case, the coverage problem
can be solved by directional antennas.
3) Check if the installation of the newly-added antennas are qualified
You should first check if the design of the antenna height, azimuth angle,
and antenna tilt is qualified. Generally, the important coverage areas cannot
be bared by tower. Meanwhile, the important coverage areas cannot be
perpendicular to the diversity direction of the antenna. In this case, the
antenna diversity effect can be excavated to the maximum. To reduce the
coverage shadow caused by the tower, you should pay attention to the
distance between the antenna and the tower. Moreover, the pole of the omni
antenna and the RF part of the antenna cannot be overlapped.
4) Check the position of the BCCH transmitter antenna
Since the tower effect is present, the BCCH transmitter antenna must be
installed at a side of the important coverage area. In this case, the coverage
shadow can be avoided. To prevent the assignment failure caused by the
inconsistence of the BCCH coverage and TCH coverage, you can use the
concentric channel allocation algorithm. In addition, the important coverage
area cannot be perpendicular to the diversity direction of the antenna.
5) Check if the tilts and the azimuth angles of the directional dual
transmitter antennas are consistent with each other
If the tilts and azimuth angles of the directional dual transmitter antennas
are inconsistent, call drop, assignment failure, and handover failure will
easily occur. In this case, the coverage area of the BTS will become small.
In addition, since the tower effect is present, the BCCH transmitter antenna
must be installed at a side of the important coverage area. In this case, the
coverage shadow can be avoided. Moreover, the important coverage area
cannot be perpendicular to the diversity direction of the antenna.
6) Check the set-top output power of various TRXs if the scheme for the
maximum coverage is used.
When the maximum coverage is pursued, the TRXs are required to be
combined in various ways. In this case, the coverage distance of the BCCH
will be longer than that of the TCH. As a result, the TCH assignment failure
will be caused, so the concentric technology is needed. The channel
assignment failure caused by low transmit level in the inner circle and the
channel congestion in the external circle can be avoided if the TA values of
the inner circle and the external circle are correctly set and allocated to the
inner circle and external circle according to the right priority.
[Coverage problems caused by BTS swap or construction]
1) Check if the azimuth angle and the antenna height are the same before
and after the BTS swap
If all the antenna and feeder components are newly constructed, the old
BTS can only be swapped after the new antenna is installed. Therefore, the
azimuth angle and the antenna height may be different from that of the old
antenna. In this case, the coverage area may decrease. As a result, you
should check if the azimuth angle and the antenna height are the same
before and after the bas station swap.
2) Check antenna tilt problems caused by network swap

Generally, the tilt must keep the same. If you need to control the coverage
area due to new BTSs are added to urban areas, you can consider increasing
the tilt.
3) Check if the set-top power of the swap BTS is the same as that of the
old BTS.
4) Check if the receiver sensitivity of the BTS is normal.
5) Check if it is the interference or the poor electromagnetic environment
that makes the back noise of the whole area too high.
6) Check if any standing wave alarm message or diversity reception alarm
message is generated for antenna and feeder at the operation and
maintenance console.
7) Check the parameters that will affect coverage are rationally set.
8) Check if the installation of the antennas is qualified after the BTS has
been enabled or swapped.
9) Check if the right type of antenna is selected.
10) Check the position of the BCCH TRX transmitter of the omni dual
transmitter antenna.
11) Check if the tilts and the azimuth angles of the two directional antennas
keep the same after the directional dual transmitter antenna is used.
12) Check if the antennas and feeders of the cell are inversely connected.
13) Check if the tower amplifier works normally.
14) Check the set-top power for various TRXs when the configuration
scheme for the maximum coverage is pursued.
II. Problems Affecting Coverage and Solutions
[Antenna water penetration]
It is quite accidental that the water penetrates into the antenna. Water penetration
means that the water enters the RF internal channel. In this case, the voltage
standing wave ratio of the antenna will increase; the antenna loss will increase,
the coverage area will decrease; or event the power amplifier will be disabled.
[Antenna passive intermodulation]
The passive intermodulation of the antenna and various connectors will cause
interference. The exclusive method can be used for the check. That is, you can
connect the antenna feeders of the neighbor cells where there is no interference to
the test cell. If any problem is found, you should change the antenna.
[Improper antenna selection]
Generally, if the antenna height exceeds 50m and if the first zero point under the
main antenna beam is not filled, the "shadow under tower" may occur. That is, the
area under the tower cannot be covered by signals. In this case, you should select
the antenna with zero point filling function.
If three-sector directional antennas are used for vast coverage, the antennas must
have a high gain and their half power angle must be greater than 90 degrees. If
the half power angle is small, the gain of the two neighbor sectors will be low. In
this case, the coverage radius is small.
If the antenna tilt is great, the all mechanical tilt antenna is not a suitable choice.
In this case, you should select the fixed "electrical tilt + mechanical tilt" antenna
or the "continuous adjustable electrical tilt (0 to 10 degrees) + mechanical tilt"

antenna.
As the frequency reuse becomes more aggressive, the front-to-back ratio of the
antenna may not meet the requirement of a single BTS or several BTSs.
Therefore, you should select the antennas with greater front-to-back ratio.
[Tower effect against Omni antenna radiation]
The tower effect against omni antenna radiation deserves enough attention. It is hard to
estimate the damage of the omni antenna directional diagram caused by the tower. The
damage varies greatly with the distance between the tower and the antenna.
If the antenna is installed on the tower and metal tube, you should pay special attentions to
the following items:
The metal tube and the effect radiation part of the antenna cannot be
overlapped.
Take measures to avoid installing the whole antenna on the metal tube.
If the antenna is installed on the tower, make sure that the distance
between the antenna and the nearest end of the tower is greater than 6
wavelengths.
The omni dual transmitter technology is not recommended.
The antenna must be perpendicular to 1/8 of the half power beam width
at least.
[Directional antenna installation problem]
Two problems may occur for directional antenna installation:
The antenna is inversely or wrongly connected.
The azimuth angles and the tilts of the transmitter antenna and the
receiver antenna are inconsistent and or the error is great.
Engineering causes are the explanations of the two problems. Generally, the
error scope of the azimuth angle cannot exceed 5 degrees, and that of the tilt
cannot exceed 0.5 degrees. If the error is too great, the coverage of the
transit antenna and that of the receiver antenna will be different. In this
case, it is hard to make calls the coverage edges.
Problems concerning the diversity distance between the transit antenna

and the receiver antenna or the isolation between the antennas and tower.
The coverage of the antenna will be affected if the diversity distance
between the transmitter antenna and the receiver antenna or the isolation
between the antennas and the tower is not great enough. For GSM 900MHz
system, the diversity distance between the transmitter antenna and the
receiver antenna is required to be greater than 4m. For GSM 1800MHz
system, it is required to be greater than 2m. The antenna mount must be at
least 1.5m away from the tower. Meanwhile, the antenna mount must be
installed within the 45-dregree protection areas of the lightening protector.
There are shadows in coverage areas.

When installing a directional antenna, you should make sure that there is no
shadow within the coverage area. Generally, if there are huge barrier, such
as high buildings and mountains, around the BTS, shadows may appear. If
you intend install the BTS on the roof of a high building, you should install
it at the edges of the building so as to avoid the shadow. Since the
environment around the roof is quite complex, the antenna height must be
great enough. In this case, however, you should consider the ability of the
antenna to stand the wind and storm.
[Omni antenna installation problem]
The radiator of the omni antenna is barred by antenna pole.

The coverage will be affected if the radiator of the omni antenna is barred
by antenna pole. Generally, there is a jacket installed at the bottom of the
omni antenna and the jacket is used to connect the omni antenna and the
antenna pole. From the perspective of installation, the top of the jacket must
be at the same level with or higher than the top of the pole; otherwise the
radiation will be affected.
The problems concerning antenna diversity distance and isolation

between antenna and tower.
If the antenna diversity distance or the isolation between antenna and tower
is not great enough, the coverage will be poor. If the antenna diversity
distance is too small, it will reduce diversity gain. In this case, the receiver
sensitivity will reduce. Though the tower effect against the omni antenna
radiation is unavoidable, you can increase the isolation between the antenna
and the tower to reduce the effect.
It is suggested that the isolation between the omni antenna and the tower is
greater than 2m, the horizontal diversity distance of the 900MHz omni
antenna is greater than 4m, and the horizontal diversity distance of the
1800MHz antenna is greater than 2m.
The omni antenna is not perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

If the omni antenna is not perpendicular to the horizontal plane, the antenna
directional diagram will be distorted in the coverage area. In this case, the
coverage of the antenna will be affected.
It is suggested that installation plane of the antenna mount be perpendicular
to the horizontal plane. If the mount extends beyond the tower, make sure
that the mount is still in the protection areas of the lightening protector.
Generally, the areas 45-dregee under the lightening protector top are the
protection areas.
[Connection problems of antenna and feeder, combiner and splitter, and
CDU]
If various connectors of the antenna and feeder system are not connected
according to requirement, the performance of the antenna and feeder system
will be affected. In this case, the coverage area of the BTS will also be
affected.
Water penetration occurs at the various connectors of the antenna and

feeder system.
If water has penetrated into the connector and feeder, the standing wave
ratio will increase. In this case, the coverage area will be affected.
Various connectors are not tightened.

If the connectors for set-top jumpers, for the cables from TRX boards to
combiner and splitter, and for various RF cables are not tightened, both the
reception performance and the transmit performance of the system will
decrease. In this case, the coverage area and the conversation quality will be
affected.
The transmitter antenna and the receiver antenna are inversely

connected due to inconsistent configuration of the set-top jumper and data.
The connection between the jumper and feeder is not tight, which
results in high loss and standing wave ratio. In this case, the coverage will be
affected and interference will be caused.
[Tower amplifier problem]
Water penetration will increase the loss, deteriorate the standing wave
ratio, and decrease the receiver sensitivity.
The damage of the LNA (it is in the tower amplifier) will decrease the
gain or even decrease the gain to a negative value.
The input end and the output end of the tower amplifier are inversely
connected. In this case, the tower amplifier will be short-circuited. If the
short circuit lasts for a long time, the front module will be damaged.
[BTS front module problem]
Isolator problem
Duplexer and other filter damage
Standing wave ratio error alarm
LNA (low noise amplifier) damage
Low TRX or amplifier output power

[Parameter configuration problem]
The parameters affecting coverage are listed below:
TRX power class
Tower amplifier attenuation coefficient
MS maximum transmit power control power
MS minimum Rxlev
RACH minimum access threshold

III. Coverage Cases
Case 1: Use down tilt omni antenna to improve coverage
[Problem description]
In a suburban area, the omni antenna with a gain of 11dBi is used for the BTS.
This coverage distance can reach 9km in plain environment. However, the
coverage in the area near the BTS is poor. The Rxlev in the small town 8001400m away from the BTS is about -90dBm.
[Problem analysis and solution]
On-site survey shows that the antenna height is too great. The height of the tower
on which the antenna is installed 50m. Moreover, the tower is established on a
small mountain, so the town is 120m below the antenna. The first judgment is that
the phenomenon of "shadow under tower" has been caused.
Further analysis of the collected data finds that omni antenna is used for the BTS.
The antenna gain is 11dBi, and the vertical half power angel is 7 degrees. If the
valid antenna height is 120m, the half power points of the antenna major lobe are
scattered in the area about 2000m away from the BTS. Therefore, this town is not
in the coverage area of the BTS.
Through checking the fluctuation of the Rxlev according to the drive test map,
engineers found that this town locates within the radiation area of a zero power
point of the BTS. However, the town is too far away from the mountains around,
so it cannot get the signals reflected by the mountains. Therefore, the Rxlev in
this town is quite slow.
After having replaced the antenna with an omni antenna with 5 degrees of the down tilt angle,
engineers retested the Rxlev and found that it increased by 15-20 dB in the areas 3km within
the BTS. In some areas, the Rxlev is increased by 30 dB. Therefore, the coverage has been
improved remarkably.
Case 2: Improper installation of omni antenna has effect against the coverage
A new BTS has been enabled for a local network. Users complain that the
coverage area become smaller after that. For the low narrow areas 2km away
from the BTS, the Rxlev is already lower than -90dBm.
Through surveying the environment around the BTS, engineers found that the
major transmitter antenna and the diversity receiver antenna are installed in a
plane parallel to the road. Apparently, this kind of installation does not meet the
criteria.
The correct way is to install the major transmitter antenna and the diversity receiver antenna
in a plane perpendicular to the road. In addition, the major transmitter antenna must be
located at one side of the road.
Case 3: Improper configuration of data causes poor coverage
During the optimization for a place, engineers found that the signals at a section
of the road in the suburban area are quite poor. The measured Rxlev is -95dBm.
[Cause analysis]
This section locates in the suburban area and is about 3km away from the urban
area. There is no abrupt change in terms of landform within this section.
Theoretically, the Rxlev here should be about -80dBm, so the difference between
the theoretical Rxlev and the measured Rxlev is great. According to the frequency
sweep test, the strength of the Fa signal is about -95dBm, and the strength of the
Fb signal is about -80dBm. For this section, it is covered by three cells of the BTS
A and BTS B that are installed in the urban area (the BCCH frequencies are Fa
and Fb). In addition, a cell of the BTS C installed at the remote suburban area
also covers the section (the BCCH frequency is Fc).
Through checking data, engineers found that the Fb is not included in the
neighbor channel numbers of the A-3 cell in the BA1. When the MS moves from
the urban area to the suburban area, it will choose A-3 cell to camp on, because
the Fb is not configured in the neighbor channel numbers. In this case, the MS
cannot reselect the B-3 cell to camp on. In the cell neighbor relationship list, the
A-3 cell and B-3 cell cannot work as the neighbor cell for each other, and the Fb
is not configured in the neighbor channel numbers of the A-3 cell listed in BA2.
Therefore, in conversation mode, the MS cannot keep the conversation in A-3
cell. When it arrives at this section, it cannot hand over to the B-3 cell. Therefore,
the signals are poor, so is the voice quality.
[Solution]
Enable the A-3 cell and B-3 cell to work as neighbor cell for each other.
Case 4: Irrational BTS swap affects coverage
In an urban area, a BTS must be swapped for the building on which the BTS was
installed were to be moved. Considering that coverage for the scenic spot 2km
away (the scenic spot locates behind a hill) is poor, so engineers intended to
install the BTS on the top of the hill. On the top of the cell, the whole city and the
scenic spot can be seen. However, after the BTS swap, users complaint that there
were no signals in the indoor environment of the cells near the site where the old
BTS was installed.
[Cause analysis]
The buildings of the resident area are densely distributed and the average height
is 8m. Before the BTS swap, the cell used for this area is only 100m away, and
the antenna height is 15m. Therefore, the indoor conversation quality can be
guaranteed. After the BTS swap, however, the cell used this area is 1.8km away,
and the antenna height is 30m. In this case, the signals are quite weak when
arriving at the bottom of resident area, though the signals falling at the top of the
building is good. To solve this problem, you can only increase the output power
of the transmitter antenna or increase the antenna gain. However, the coverage is
still not to users' satisfactory even increase the antenna height to 30m. Therefore,
when swapping or constructing a BTS at the densely populated area, you should
pay attention to the following items:
It is suggested that the distance between the BTS and the resident area
is equal to or smaller than 150m, otherwise the coverage for this area will
become weak dramatically.
The antenna of the swapped BTS cannot be too great. If the BTS is
installed among resident buildings, the antenna height is suggested to be 710m. If the BTS is installed beyond the resident buildings and the buildings
are high, you can increase the antenna height accordingly.
You can solve the problems concerning cross area coverage can through
controlling the power class of the BTS, tuning the azimuth angle of the
antenna, or tuning the tilt angle of the antenna.
[Solution]
According to on-site survey, engineers found that the indoor signals of this area
are too poor to hold the conversation. This area can be seen clearly from the
tower on which the BTS is installed. The distance between the BTS and the area
is only 1.8km, and between them are vast farmlands. To solve this problem, you
can attempt to tune the azimuth angle and the tilt angle of the antenna. If the
coverage is not yet improved, you can use the following methods:
Replace the common antenna used for this cell (its gain is 15dBi) with
the high-gain antenna used for the scenic spot (its gain is 18dBi)
There are 4 TRXs in this cell, all in SCU mode, replace the SCU mode
with the dual-CDU mode.
After the above methods are done, the antenna gain for this area can be increased
by 6dB. After the antenna replacement, you need to tune the antenna tilt for the
best coverage.
Through retesting the indoor signal level, engineers found that it increased by 612dB. And even the common MS can keep normal conversation.
5.5.2 Interference Problems
Interference is a key factor affecting network performance, including
conversation quality, call drop, handover, congestion, and so on.
I. Interference Sources
In the mobile telecommunication system, when the BTS is receiving the signals from a
remote MS, it will not only be interfered by other telecommunication equipments, but also it
will be interfered by the other BTSs and MSs within the system.
Hereunder introduces the interference sources affecting the GSM system.
Intra-network interference
If the frequencies are improperly planned, or the frequency reuse is too
aggressive, intra-frequency interference or neighbor cell interference will be
caused.
Repeater interference
At the early stage of network construction, repeaters are widely used for
extending the coverage distance of the network. However, if the repeaters
are improperly planned, the network will be interfered.
If the repeaters are not installed according to requirement, that is, there is
not enough isolation left between the donor antenna and the subscriber
antenna, the BTS to which the repeaters attach will interfered.
For the repeaters enabling broadband non-linear amplifier, the
intermodulation indexes are far greater than that required in the protocols.
In this case, the greater the power is, the greater the intermodulation will be.
Therefore, the BTS near the repeaters will be interfered.
Interference from other big-power telecommunication equipments

These equipments include radar, analog BTS, and other telecommunication
equipments using the same band.
Hardware problems
TRX problem: If the performance of the TRX decreases, the system may be
interfered.
CDU problem or splitter problem: Active amplifier is used in the CDU
splitter and splitter module. When any problem occurs, the system may also
be interfered.
Stray and intermodulation: If the out-band stray of the power amplifier or
the TRX of the BTS go beyond requirement, or the isolation of the
transmission and the reception of the CDU duplexer is too small, the
connection channel will be interfered. Meanwhile, the passive equipments,
such as the feeder and the antenna, will generate intermodulation.
II. Interference Positioning and Elimination
[Positioning and elimination procedure]
1) Find out the interference cell according to KPI
If the call drop rate, handover success rate, traffic volume, congestion rate,
and interference band of a cell deteriorate to a bad level abruptly, it means
that interference may exist in the cell.
In this case, you can also check the historical record of operations made in
this cell. For example, check if the hardware and software of the BTS has
been added or increased and if the data of the BTS has been modified.
Generally, the appearance of interference is related to these operations.
If these parameters are not adjusted, the interference may be from the
hardware itself out outside factors. In this case, you are suggested to check
if it is hardware problem. If it is not, you should check outside factors.
2) Check OMC alarm
Sometimes high call drop rate, low handover success rate, and high
congestion rate may be related to equipment problems. In this case, you can
check OMC alarm records. These records are related to the deterioration of
these indexes.
3) Check frequency planning
If the interference is doubt in a cell, you can check the frequency planning
for the cell and the neighbor cells of the cell. For this check, you are
required to make clear the distribution of the antennas, find out the azimuth
angle of each cell, draw the topology, and mark the BCCH/TCH channel
numbers. Meanwhile, you are also required to compare the planned channel
numbers with the configured channel numbers in the BSC.
According to the accurate frequency planning topology, you can make sure
if the intra-frequency interference or neighbor frequency interference is
present in the network.
4) Check cell parameter configuration
The cell parameters, such as CRO, threshold, handover duration, neighbor
cell relationship, and so on, may have interference against the system.
If the CRO is set to a great value, the MS may be guided to an idle cell
whose level is lower than its surrounding cells. Once the conversation is
started but the C/I cannot meet the threshold requirement (12dB),
interference will be caused.
If neighbor cells are missing, the MS cannot hand over to a cell with better
signal level and quality. In this case, the interference will also be generated.
If the handover threshold and the P/N are too great, the handovers between
cells are unavailable. If the P/N is too small, however, it will result in
frequent handover. In this case, both the call drop rate and the system load
will be increased.
5) Drive test
Drive test is an effective method to position the interference. There are two
drive test methods: idle mode test and dedicated mode test.
For idle mode test, the test equipment can test the signal level of both the
signal level and the neighbor cells. In addition, the test equipment can also
perform the frequency sweep test for the designate channel numbers or
bands. In this case, the interference caused by cross-cell coverage signals
can be discovered.
For dedicated mode test, the test equipments can test the signal level of the
service cell and neighbor cells, the Rxqual, the TA, and so on. If the Rxlev
is equal to or greater then -80dBm and the Rxqual is equal to or greater than
6 in an area, it can be confirmed that the interference exists in the area.
Some test equipment can display the FER (frame error rate). Generally, if
the FER is greater or equal to 25%, the conversation will not be continuous.
That is, the interference exists.
6) Interference elimination
You can eliminate the interference according to the above checked results,
and then evaluate the elimination through KPI and drive test.
[Hardware problem positioning and elimination]
When the interference is doubted in a cell, you should first check if the BTS
where the cell locates works normally. In the remote end, you should check if
there is antenna alarm, TRX alarm, or BTS clock alarm generated. In the near
end, you should check if there is antenna problem, water penetration, feeder
(jumper) damage, CPU problem, TRX problem, wrong jumper connection or
clock problem occurred.
Antenna performance decline

Antenna a passive component and its damage probability is small. However,
if the antenna is damaged or its performance declines, the voice quality will
become poor.
Antenna connector problem

GSM RF signals are micro wave signals. If the connections between TRX,
CDU, feeder, and antenna have any problem, both the standing wave ratio
and the intermodulation will increase. In this case, the interference will be
resulted.
Inverse antenna connection

The inverse antenna connection is a commonly seen problem. If the antenna
is inversely connected, the channel numbers used by the cell and the
planned channel numbers are completely inconsistent. In this case, intrafrequency interference, inter-frequency interference, and handover difficulty
will be resulted. Especially for the networks that have inadequate frequency
resource, the inverse antenna connection has great effect against network
quality.
Jumper problem
Many jumpers locate between antennas, so they are often wrongly
connected. In this case, high call drop rate will be resulted.
TRX problem
If TRX problems occur, the interference will increase, the coverage distance
area will decrease, and the access is difficult.
Clock failure
If the clock deviation is too great, it is hard for the MS to lock the
frequencies of the BTS, so the handover failure always occurs, or the MS
cannot camp on any cell of the BTS. In addition, if the clock deviation is
too great, the BTS cannot understand the signals of the BTS, which will
result in bit errors. However, the clock failure will not really introduce
interference, but it is the transmission errors that make the voice quality
decrease.
Conclusion
Any problem concerning the TRX, CDU, feeder, antenna, jumper, and
connector may cause interference or call drop. Therefore, if interference
appears, you should check the hardware of the BTS. In addition, BTS clock
failure will also cause interference and call drop.
It is easy to solve the hardware problems through changing the boards or
adjusting traffic data. If there is spectrum analyzer available, you can
position the problem more efficiently. Especially when the interference
appears without any modification of network data, you should focus on
checking the hardware.
[Intra-Network Interference]
The intra-network interference is mainly from intra-frequency interference and
neighbor cell interference. When C/I is smaller than 12dB or the C/A is smaller
than -6dB, the interference is unavoidable. However, the aggressive frequency
reuse technology will increase of the occurrence probability of interference.
Same-frequency and neighbor frequency interference

In GSM system, the frequency reuse is unavoidable. When the frequency
reuse distance of two cells using the same frequency is smaller than cell
radius, same-frequency interference will be easily caused. Past experiences
show that the frequency reuse must be avoided in many cases.
The interference against the uplink channel numbers can be judged by the
interference band data in the traffic statistics.
For the interference against the downlink channel numbers, the existing drive test
equipments can be indirectly used to measure if the same-frequency interference
is present. First you should lock the test MS in the service cell and enable make
the MS work in conversation mode during drive test. If you find that the Rxlev in
an area is high but the Rxqual is low, it is likely that the same-frequency is
present in this area.
Interference caused by cross coverage

In a properly designed network, each cell covers the areas around the BTS
only and the MS camps on or holds conversation in the nearest cell. Cross
coverage means that the coverage of a cell is too large and the cell can
cover the areas under the control of other BTSs. If cross coverage occurs,
irrational traffic absorption, interference, call drop, congestion, and
handover failure may arise.
Interference caused by aggressive frequency reuse

Capacity and quality always contradicts to each other. In urban areas, the
aggressive frequency reuse technology must be used for the number of
subscribers in urban areas are great. In this case, the network quality will
surely decrease. In the areas where BTSs are irrationally distributed, the
aggressive frequency reuse technology may cause the collision of same
frequency and neighbor frequencies.
Interference caused by repeater
It is convenient to use repeater for special coverage. However, if a repeater

is not qualified or it is not properly installed, it will cause interference.
Interference caused by outside environment

Outside environment, such as TV station, big-power radio station, micro
wave, radar, high voltage wire, analog BTS, and so on, will cause
interference.
III. Interference Cases
Case 1: Interference cause by antenna performance decline
There are 5 BTSs in a county. The configuration type is S4/4/4 or S6/6/6. The
interference band 5 reaches 15 according to the TCH performance measurement
of the most cells. There is no alarm found at the OMC.
[Problem positioning and solution]
1) Through monitoring and registering the interference band traffic
statistics for the problem cells all day, engineers found that the interference
band 5 mostly appeared at day time, and it seldom appeared at early morning.
2) Through sending the idle BURSTS of all the BTSs, engineers found
that the interference bands of these cells appeared in the early morning. If the
sending of these idle BURSTS stopped, these interference bands disappeared.
Therefore, it can be proved that the interference came from the network. It is
not related to other telecommunication equipments.
3) The frequencies and other data were not adjusted before the interference
appeared, so the interference is not related to the frequency planning.
4) Through surveying the RXM test interface of the CDU using the
spectrum analyzer during the traffic peak at day time, engineers found that
the broadband interference was strong and the back noise was rising.
5) There was no interference in one cell, but the interference in another
two cells was strong. Through replacing the antenna feeder of the cell with
no interference with the antenna feeders of the cells with interference and
sending idle BURSTS, engineers found that the interference went with the
antenna feeder. Therefore, it can be decided that the problem occurred at the
antenna and feeder system.
6) Through changing the antenna, engineers found that the interference
went with the antenna. Therefore, the problem is likely present at the
antenna.
7) Through replacing the antenna with dual polarization antenna, engineers
found that the strong interference disappeared immediately. Through
replacing the old antenna of another BTS with a new one, engineers found
that the interference also disappeared.
Case 2: Call drop caused by intra-network interference
Customers in a place complaint that call drop happen frequently.
1) Through a careful test, engineers found that there were 12 channel
numbers gathering at the call drop spot and Rxlev reached -73dBm. When
the MS seized channel number 11, the interference from channel number 112
caused the call drop.
2) Through testing the CGI of channel number 12 using test MS, engineers
found that this channel number was one of the BCCH number of D3.
3) Through surveying BTS D, engineers found that the antenna of D3 is
installed at the top of a building. In addition, a house made of glass was
found 8m away and 4m under the antenna. Engineers tested that the signal
strength near the antenna was about -45dBm, and the signal strength at near
the glass was -30dBm, which was beyond the expectation of engineers. In
fact, the cause was that the signals reflected by the glass were reflected to the
call drop spot.
4) It is suggested to change the antenna installation place and channel
number. You should interchange the channel number 111 and channel number
114 of BTS A and increase the down tilt angle of A3 cell. In addition, to
avoid the interference caused by channel number 111 after the interchange,
you should adjust the direction of channel number 113 of C1 cell.
5) Test shows that everything is normal after the adjustment. The channel
number 113 of BTS C has no effect against channel number 114. And the call
drop disappears.
Case 3: Interference caused by repeater
Users in an area complaint that the MS cannot seize a channel to hold
conversation, or the noise is great after channel seizure and the channel and the
MS signal is strong. Two BTSs are installed in this area. The antenna azimuth
angle of cell1 rightly directs to the north. Before user complaint, the BTS in this
area ran normally and the network indexes met the requirement. After the
problem arisen, the traffic volume of the two BTSs dropped sharply from the
perspective of traffic statistics indexes. In addition, the traffic volume of cell1 and
cell3 also dropped sharply. Though the signals for the conversation were strong,
the voice quality was quite poor. According to traffic statistics, the interference
bands of the four cells were of level 3, level 4, and level 5, and 95% of the
channels were interfered. In addition, other channels were interfered to some
extent. However, no alarm messages were generated at the OMC.
1) According to user feedbacks, the possible reasons include transmission
problem, antenna feeder problem, hardware problem, intra-network
interference, and outside interference.
2) The uplink interference signals in the northwest direction might strong.
Therefore, cell1, cell2, and cell3 of the two BTSs were interfered, in which
cell1 and the cell3 were seriously interfered.
3) Through on-site dialing test, engineers found that it was hard to make
calls in the areas covered by cell1 and cell3. Even if a call was put through,
the voice quality was quite poor. In addition, the voice was discontinuous and
the interference was strong. Through using MS to call a fixed phone,
engineers found it was hard to hear the voice clearly. On the contrary, they
could hear the voice from the fixed phone clearly. This has proved the above
analysis. That is, the interference might be from the outside, or the standing
wave problem was occurring at the antenna (from this perspective, it can be
judged that the interference existed on the uplink only).
4) Through using antenna feeder analyzer to perform on-site test,

engineers found no problem was existing at any BTS. A new repeater was
found in this area, and it was located two kilometers away from the BTS in
the northwest direction. Moreover, the interference appeared just when the
repeater was enabled. On-site test found that the BTS became normal state
once the repeater shut down, and the interference bands also became normal,
so did the call. If the repeater was enabled, however, it was hard to make
calls and the interference was strong. At last, the agreement to shut down the
repeater was reached. After that, the conversation became normal.
Case 4: Microwave interference
During network maintenance, through analyzing BSC traffic statistics, engineers
found that the call drop rate of the cell2 and cell3 of a S2/2/2 BTS arisen abruptly,
and the value even reached 20% at some time.
1) Through checking BSC traffic statistics, engineers found that the
number of idle TCHs was increasing at the interference bands 3-5 around
8:30. Around 10:00, the idle TCHs were found at the interference band 4 and
interference band 5. Around 22:00, the idle TCHs were found at the
interference band 1. Therefore, it could be judged that the interference
existed.
2) Because the BTS ran normally, the problems cannot be related to
frequency planning.
3) According to the TRX management messages, engineers found that the
interference existed at the four boards of the cell2 and cell3 of the BTS.
Because the probability for the four boards to be damaged simultaneously is
quite small, the TRX problem can be excluded. However, one board was
changed in case of abnormal conditions, but the interference was not
eliminated.
4) Through checking all the BSC traffic statistics data, engineers found
that cells of the BTSs near the BTS and the cells of the cell2 and cell3 of the
BTS were interfered to some extent. In addition, engineers also found that the
SDCCHs (16 SDCCHs in total) of the seriously-affected cells were seized at
sometimes. However, the number of subscribers determined that the
probability for all the SDCCHs to be seized simultaneously is quite small.
Therefore, it could be judged that the uplink was interfered by outside
factors. However, the interference might be related to direction only.
5) To further position the problem, engineers interchanged the jumpers of
cell1 and cell3 at the set top. In this case, the interference was found at cell1,
but the interference was disappearing from cell3. Therefore, the interference
was not related to channel number.
6) Because the interference was not related to channel number, it might be
the big-power signals that caused the interference.
7) Through using the spectrum analyzer to perform the measurement at the
output interface of the BTS splitter, engineers found that the big-power
signals existed at the 904MHz channel number (it has an interval of 5M
between the used channel number. For the BTS where the interference was
strong, the signal level can reach as high as about -25dBm. For other BTSs,
the signal level was about -50dBm. Therefore, it could be judged that it was
this signal that affected the BTS.
8) Through using the spectrum analyzer to scan the areas near the BTS,
engineers found that there was a microwave antenna outputting big-power at
the channel number 904.
9) The interference disappeared after the microwave equipment was shut
down.
5.5.3 Call Drop Problems
For the GSM network, call drop is users' major worry and the call drop rate is an
important index evaluating network quality.
I. Call Drop Resasons and Solutions
i) Call drop due to coverage reasons
[Reason analysis]
Discontinuous coverage (dead zone)

For a single BTS, the quality of the signals at the edge of the station is quite
poor, so the MS cannot hand over to another cell. In this case, the call drop
occurs.
If the landform of the coverage areas is complex or fluctuates greatly, or the
radio transmission environment is complex, the signals will be barred. In
this case, the coverage is discontinuous and call drop will occur.
Poor indoor coverage

If the buildings in an area are densely populated, the signal attenuation is
great. And if the walls of the buildings are thick, the penetration loss is great
and the indoor signal level is low. In this case, the call drop may easily
occur.
Isolated island effect

As shown in Error: Reference source not found, the service cell forms an
isolated island due to various reasons (for example, the power is too great).
In this case, the MS still seizes the signals of the service cell A after moving
to cell C, but the cell A does not define the neighbor cell C. At this time, if
the MS still performs the handover according to the neighbor cell B
provided by neighbor cell A, it cannot find a suitable cell. In this case, the
call drop will occur.
Small coverage
If the coverage is too small, the hardware equipment of a cell may fail. For
example, the antenna is barred or the TRX failure occurs (the power
amplifier part).
[Judgment methods]
First you should find out the areas where the coverage is inadequate according to
user complaints, and then you should perform the drive test in a larger scope to
check if the signal level and the handover are normal and if the call drop exists. In
addition, you can employ the traffic statistics recorded at the OMC to check the
BSC overall call drop rate and find out the cell with great call drop rate.
Furthermore, you can still make the analysis and judgment by referring to other
traffic statistics items. Hereunder lists some ones:
Power control performance measurement (to check if the mean uplink

and downlink signal strength is too low)
Rxlev performance measurement (to check if the ratio of the low Rxlev
is too great)
Cell performance measurement/inter-cell handover performance

measurement (to check if the level class and the mean Rxlev are too low)
Call drop performance measurement (to check if the signal level is too
low during call drop and if the TA value is normal before call drop)
Defined neighbor cell performance measurement (to position the cell

with low mean signal level)
Undefined neighbor cell performance measurement (to check if the

undefined neighbor cells with high signal level exist)
Power control performance measurement (to measure the greatest TA

value between the MS and BTS)
[Solutions]
1) Check the areas where the coverage is inadequate
You can find out the area where the coverage is inadequate through drive
test. For an isolated BTS or the BTSs installed in mountain areas that
cannot form seamless coverage, you can add BTSs to these areas for
seamless coverage. Or you can improve the coverage through other means.
For example, you can enhance the maximum transmit power of the BTS,
change the antenna azimuth angle, change the antenna tilt, change the
antenna height, and so on. In addition, you should also analyze if the call
drop is caused by landforms. Generally, call drop can easily occur at
tunnels, big shopping market, underground railway entrance, underground
parking lot, and low-lying places. In this case, you can use the micro cell to
solve the coverage problem.
2) Ensure indoor call quality
To ensure indoor call quality, you should make sure that the outdoor signals
are strong enough. To strength the outdoor signals, you can increase the
maximum BTS transmit power, change the antenna azimuth angle, change
the antenna tilt angle, and change the antenna height, and so on. If the
indoor call quality is still not improved remarkably, you can consider
adding BTSs. For improving the indoor coverage of office buildings and
hotels, you can consider using the indoor antenna distribution system.
3) For the cells having no neighbor cells, you can configure the neighbor
cells for the cell so as to reduce the call drop rate. To eliminate the isolation
island effect, you can reduce the tilt angle of the BTS.
4) Eliminate hardware problems
You can check if there are hardware problems and if the coverage area is too
small through drive test. If the call drop rate of a cell arises dramatically but all
other indexes are normal, you should check if the neighbor cells of this cell work
normally. (Generally, the downlink problems may occur. For example, TRX
problem, diversity unit problem, and antenna problem are commonly seen. If the
uplink fails, the outgoing handover failure rate of the old cell will be high.)
ii) Call drop due to handover reasons

[Reason analysis]
Irrational parameter configuration

If the signal level at the cross-area of two cells is quite low, the level of the
handover candidate cell is too low, and if the handover threshold is too low,
some MSs will hand over to the neighbor cell when the signal level of the
neighbor cell is higher than that of the service cell. If the signal level of the
neighbor cell deteriorates dramatically just after the handover, the call drop
will occur if no suitable cell is available for the handover.
Incomplete neighbor cell definition

If the neighbor cell definition is incomplete, the MS will hold the
conversation in the existing cells until it moves beyond the edges of the cell
but cannot hand over to a stronger cell. In this case, the call drop will occur.
Neighbor cells with same BCCH and same BSIC exist.
Traffic congestion
If the traffic is unbalance, no TCH will be available in the target cell. In this
case, the handover failure will occur.
BTS clock lost synchronization

If the BTS lost synchronization, the frequency offset will go beyond the
requirement. In this case, the call drop will occur if handover fails.
T3103 expiry
The T3103 will be started when the network sends a handover command. Upon
the reception of the message to complete the handover or the message to remove
the command, the T3103 will stop. T3103 is used to hold the channel long
enough for the MS to return to the old channel. If the T3103 is set to a too small
value, the MS cannot necessarily return to the old channel. In this case, call drop
may occur during handover.
[Judgment methods]
You can judge if the cells with low handover success rate, frequent reestablishment failures, and high call drop rate through analyzing traffic statistics
indexes. After the judgment, you can find out what causes the handover. For
example, the uplink and downlink Rxlev can cause the handover; the uplink and
downlink Rxqual can cause the handover; power budget can cause handover; call
direct retry can cause handover; and also handover can be initiated by traffic
reasons.
To check if the BTS clock runs normally, you can check if the any alarm is
generated for the BTS clock. If necessary, you must correct the BTS clock to
eliminate clock problem. You can check if there is handover problem through
drive test. If there is a problem cell, you should perform drive near the cell for
several times. Hereunder lists the indexes concerning call drop:
Inter-cell handover performance measurement (frequent handover

failures, frequent re-establishment failures)
Inter-cell handover performance measurement (frequent handovers,

high re-establishment rate)
Undefined neighbor cell performance measurement (the undefined

neighbor cell level and the number of measurement report go beyond the
standard)
Outgoing cell handover performance measurement (find out the reasons

for low outgoing cell handover from the handover target cell)
Low incoming cell handover success rate; the cell handover parameters
are improperly set; the target cell is congested.
TCH performance measurement (the handover times are not

proportional to the TCH call seizure successes; the handover happens too
frequent)
[Solution]
1) Check the parameters affecting the handover. For example, you can
check the hierarchical and level setting, each handover threshold, each
handover hysteresis, handover time, handover duration, the minimum access
level of the handover candidate cell, and so on.
2) If the call drop is caused by unbalance traffic volume or if the call drop
occurs due to no handover channel is available at the target BTS, you can
solve the problem by adjusting the traffic volume. For example, you can
adjust the project parameters, such as antenna tilt and antenna azimuth angle,
to control the coverage scope of a cell. To balance the traffic volume, you can
use CRO to guide the MS to camp on other idle cells, or you can set the
hierarchical and level priority to guide the MS to hand over to the idle cell. In
addition, you can solve the problem by expanding the TRX directly.
3) Calibrate the problem BTS clock to enable the synchronization of the
clock.
iii) Call drop due to interference reasons
[Reason analysis]
If the MS receives strong same-frequency interference signals or strong neighbor
frequency interference signals in the service cell, the bit error rate will deteriorate.
In this case, the MS cannot demodulate the BSIC code of the neighbor cells
accurately, or it cannot receive the measurement report from the MS correctly. As
a result, the conversation will be interfered, the call quality will become poor, and
call drop will occur.
[Judgment methods]
The interference may be from the network itself or the outside network, or it may
exist in the uplink signals or downlink signals. The following methods can be
used to position the interference.
Find out the cells might be interfered through checking traffic statistics.
Perform the call drive test for the areas that might be interfered and
check the uplink and downlink interference according to user complaint. You
can find out if there is a place where the signal is strong but the call quality is
poor through drive test tools. In addition, you can use a test MS to perform
dialing test to check if a channel number is interfered.
Check the frequency planning to see if same-frequency interference and

neighbor frequency interference occur in the area where the frequency is
improperly planned.
Adjust the channel numbers that might be interfered to see if the

interference can be avoided or reduced.
Exclude the interference caused by equipment.
If the previous methods fail to eliminate the interference, you can use
the spectrum analyzer to scan the frequencies to find out the interfered
channel number and the interference source.
Hereunder lists several traffic statistics indexes used for interference analysis:
Interference band
You can check the uplink interference through analyzing the interference
band in the traffic statistics. If an idle channel appears at the interference
bands 3-5, the interference is present. If it is intra-network interference, it
will increase as the traffic volume grows. Generally, if it is outside
interference, it is not related to traffic volume. It must be pointed out that
the interference bands are reported to the BSC by the BTS TRX channel
(when in idle mode) through RF resource indication messages. If the current
channel is busy and cannot report RF resource indication message, you
must consider the traffic volume for the measuring the interference bands.
Rxlev performance measurement

The Rxlev performance measurement provides the matrix relationship
between the signal level and quality. If the signal level is high but the
quality is poor, it means that the interference (same-frequency interference,
intra-frequency interference, and outside interference) is present at the
channel numbers of the TRX board.
Poor quality handover ratio

The cell performance measurement, inter-cell handover performance
measurement, or the outgoing cell handover performance measurement
records the outgoing handover attempt times. If the frequent handover is
caused by poor signal quality, it means that the interference is present.
Rxqual performance measurement

It is related to the mean Rxlev and Rxqual during call drop.
Call drop performance measurement

It records the mean Rxlev and Rxqual during call drop.
Frequent handover failures and frequent re-establishment failures

It means that the interference may be present in the target cell.
[Solutions]
1) Check the interfered road and the distribution of signal quality through
dive test. As far as the actual conditions are concerned, you can adjust the
BTS transmit power and antenna tilt of the related cells or adjust the channel
number planning to avoid the interference.
2) Use DTX technology, frequency hopping technology, power control,
and diversity technology
These technologies can be used to reduce the system noise and enhance
anti-interference capacity of the system. DTX is divided into uplink DTX
and downlink DTX. In this case, the transmit time can be reduced and the
interference level of the system can also be reduced. However, you should
adjust the DTX according to the actual radio environment and the neighbor
cell relationship. When signals received by the MS are poor, the use of the
DTX will result in call drop. If the downlink DTX is enabled, the BTS will
increase its transmit power after the call is established. During the
conversation, however, the BTS will reduce its transmit power. In this case,
the interference against other BTSs will be reduced. If the interference is
present near the BTS, the downlink DTX will deteriorate the conversation
quality. When the BTS reduces its transmit power, the conversation quality
will decrease or the call drop may even occur in the areas where the Rxlev
is low but the interference signal is strong.
3) Solve the equipment problems, such as the self-excitation of TRX
boards and the antenna demodulation interference.
4) Exclude the outside interference.
iv) Call drop due to antenna feeder reasons
[Reason analysis]
Engineering problem may be one of the reasons. For example, if the

transmit antennas between two cells are inversely connected, the level of the
uplink signal will be far poorer than that of the downlink signal. In this case,
the call drop, one-way audio, and call difficulty will be found in the areas far
away from the base station.
If polarization antennas are used, a cell had two sets of antennas. If the
tilt angles of the two antennas are inconsistent with each other, the call drop
will occur.
If a directional cell has a master antenna and a diversity antenna, the BCCH
and the SDCCH of the cell may be transmitted through the two antennas
respectively. If the tilt angles of the two antennas are different, the coverage
scope of the two antennas will be different. In this case, the MS can receive
BCCH signals but cannot seize the SDCCH when starting a call. Thus the
call drop is resulted.
If the azimuth angles of the two antennas are inconsistent with each
other, call drop may also occur. That is, the MS can receive the SDCCH
signals, but it may be assigned with the TCH. In this case, the call drop will
occur.
The problems concerning antenna feeder will also cause call drop. For
example, if the antenna is damaged, or water penetrates into the antenna, or
connector problem is present, the transmitter power and the receiver
sensitivity will decrease. In this case, the call drop will occur. To confirm the
problem, you can check the standing wave ratio.
1) Check if any alarm concerning the combiner, CDU, tower amplifier,
and standing wave is generated and check if the BTS boards are normal in
the OMC.
2) Analyze if the path balance is realized according to traffic statistics.
3)
Further analyze if the path balance is realized through monitoring the
messages sent across the Abis interface.
4) Perform drive test and dialing test. During drive test, you can check if
the BCCH numbers of the service cell are consistent with the planned ones,
namely, if the transmit antenna of the antenna is correctly installed.
5) Check and test the on-site BTSs. Here the installation of the azimuth
angle and the tilt angle of the antenna must be checked. In addition, you
should also check if the feeder and jumper are correctly connected, if there is
connector problem, and if the feeder is damaged. Furthermore, you must still
check if the standing wave is normal.
6) Judge if it is BTS hardware that causes path unbalance and call drop. To
solve hardware problem, you can either change the components that may
have problems or disable other TRXs in the cell. To find out the problem
TRX, you can position the problem through dialing test. Once a problem
hardware component is found, you must replace it with a sound one. If no
sound one is available, you must shut down the problem hardware
component to prevent it from affecting network quality.
Hereunder lists several traffic statistics items for path balance analysis:
Path balance measurement (to analyze if the path balance is realized)
Call drop performance measurement (to analyze the uplink and

downlink level and quality during call drop)
Power control performance measurement (to analyze mean Rxlev on the

uplink and downlink)
v) Call drop due to transmission reasons
If the transmission quality across the Abis interface and A-interface may be not
good and stable, call drop may occur. The following methods can be used to solve
the problem:
1) Check the transmission alarm and board alarm and analyze if there is
transmission intermittent and board failure.
2) Check the transmission channel, test the bit error rate, check 2M
connectors, and check if the equipment grounding is rational to ensure stable
transmission quality and reduce call drop rate.
3) Check the traffic statistics to see if the frequent call drop is caused by
transmission problems. Especially you should check TCH performance
measurement, because it can indicate if the A-interface failures during TCH
seizure is normal, if the TCH utilization is normal, and if the ground link call
drop times are great.
vi) Call drop due to parameter reasons
Here you should focus on checking if the parameters related to call drop are
irrationally set. If the following parameters are not irrationally set, the call drop
may be resulted.
Radio link failure counter

This parameter acts on the downlink. When the MS fails to decode the
SACCH, it will use this parameter to decide when to disconnect the call. If
this parameter is set to a too small value, the radio link failures will easily
occur and cause call drop. For dead zones or the areas where the call drop
frequently happens, you are recommended to set this parameter to a greater
value.
When changing the radio link failure counter, you should change the
corresponding T3109. The T3109 must be set to a value great enough for
the MS to detect a radio link failure. For example, if the value of the radio
link failure counter is 16 (about 8 seconds), the value of T3109 must be
greater than 8 seconds (you can set T3109 to 9 seconds or 10 seconds).
SACCH multiframe number
This parameter acts on the uplink. The BTS uses this parameter to notify the
radio link connection failure message to BSS. The BSS side judges the
radio link failure according to the bit error rate on the uplink SACCH. If
this parameter is set to a too small value, the radio link failure will happen
frequently and the call drop rate will be resulted.
Access control parameters

The access control parameters include the Minimum RACH Rxlev, RACH
busy threshold, and so on. If the access control parameters are irrationally
set, the call drop will be easily resulted.
T3101, T3107
T3101 is started when the BSC sends a CHANNEL ACTIVATE message to
the BTS. It stops when an ESTABLISH INDICATION message is received.
This timer monitors the immediate assignment procedure. If T3101 expires,
the allocated channels will be removed.
T3107 is started when the BSC sends an ASSIGNMENT COMMAND
message to the BTS. Once the BSC receives the ASSIGNMENT
COMPLETE message from the BTS, this timer will reset. T3107 is used to
hold the channels long enough so that the MS can return to the old channel.
Or it can also be used by the MS to release a channel.
If the two timers are set to a too small value, the system will not have
enough time to send the ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE message to the BSC.
In this case, the call drop will occur if the timer expires.
T200; N200
T200 is an important timer used for the LAPDm (Link Access Procedure on
the Dm channel). It prevents the deadlock from occurring when the data is
transferred across the data link layer. In GSM system, the messages
transferred across radio interfaces can be divided into two types: the
messages needing opposite acknowledgement and the messages not needing
opposite acknowledgement.
For the messages needing opposite acknowledgement, a T200 must be
started once the message is sent. If the opposite acknowledgement is not
received after a period of time, the message should be retransmitted. In this
case, the timer must be restarted. If the retransmission times exceed the
maximum allowed times, the message will no longer be retransmitted and
the link will be released. That is, this call drops. N200 is the maximum
retransmission times allowed. T200 and N200 have different types
depending on channel types (TCH full rate, TCH half rate, and SDCCH)
and service types (signaling and messages). The given channel type and
service type matches a pair of T200 and N200.
The call drop rate can be reduced if the message is retransmitted as early as
possible before the opposite acknowledgement is received. That is, the
value of T200 must be set as small as possible and the value of N200 must
be set as great as possible. However, the T200 cannot be set to a too small
value and the N200 cannot be set to a too large value. If the opposite party
has acknowledged that the link had been removed, the retransmission will
make nonsense.
Therefore, to reduce the call drop rate, you can adjust the T200 and N200
according to actual radio conditions.
II. Call Drop Cases
Case 1: Call drop caused by frequency hopping collision
[Problem analysis]
A BTS uses 1 x 3 RF frequency hopping. After capacity expansion, the TCH
allocation failure rate is still high due to radio link problems. In addition, the TCH
call drop rate and incoming handover failure rate are high. The SDCCH call drop
rate is normal.
Because high call drop rate and high incoming handover failure rate come
together with the TCH allocation rate, it can be judged that the problem may arise
during TCH assignment or the channel numbers or timeslots seized by the call are
interfered or unstable. Because the SDCCH call drop rate is normal, it can be
judged that the probability for the BCCH carriers and BCCH numbers to the
interfered are small, but the non-BCCH carriers and non-BCCH numbers may be
greatly interfered.
Through checking the hardware, antenna feeder, and transmission, engineers
found no problem. According to drive test, engineers found that the signal level
was high but the quality was poor. Through on-site dialing test, engineers found
that the conversation quality was poor. Through checking engineering parameters,
engineers found that the MAIO of the new carrier was the same as that of the old
carrier. Therefore, it can be judged that the call drop was caused by the frequency
hopping collision. After modifying the MAIO, engineers found that call drop rate
became normal.
Case 2: Call drop caused by isolated island effect
Users complained that call drop always occurred above the fifth floor of a
building.
[Problem analysis]
1) Through on-site test, engineers found that call drop and noise existed
here. As far as the test MS was concerned, it was always in the service area
of the other BTS (hereunder called BTS B) other than the local BTS
(hereunder called BTS C) before the call drop.
2) It is estimated that the service cell belongs to BTS B, which is 3-4
kilometers away from the building. Therefore, it can be judged that the
signals from the BTS B are reflected signals. As a result, an area similar to an
isolated island is formed.
3) Through checking data configuration, engineers found that only the cell
2 of BTS A has the neighbor cell relationship with BTS B. Therefore, when
the MS is using the signals in cell 2 of the BTS B, if the signals in cell 3 of
BTS A were strong, and if the cell 2 of BTS B has no neighbor cell
relationship with the cell 3 of the BTS A, the handover cannot be performed.
The signals from the cell 2 of BTS B are reflected many times. Therefore,
when signals (from BTS B) received by the MS became poor dramatically,
emergent handover may be initiated. In this case, however, either the cell 2
or cell 3 of the BTS A is not an ideal candidate cell for the cell 2 of BTS B.
As a result, the MS may hand over to other BTS (hereunder called BTS C),
but the MS cannot receive the signals from BTS C. Therefore, call drop
occurs.
[Solution]
You are recommended to change the data in the BA1 (BCCH) list, BA2
(SACCH) list, and neighbor cell relationship list. For example, you can configure
the cell 3 of BTS A as the neighbor cell of cell 2 of BTS B. To eliminate the
isolated island effect, you should also further optimize the engineering
parameters. After that, the call drop problem can be solved.
Case 3: Reduce call drop rate through optimizing handover parameters
The drive test in an area found that the call drop rate at a cave near the BTS high
because the handover cannot be performed in due time.
The cave is near the BTS. The signal level of the target cell is about -80dBm in
the cave, but the signal level of the old cell drops below -100dBm. The downlink
power of the two cells outside the cave is good, so the handover cannot be
initiated. However, the signal level deteriorates dramatically in the cave, so the
call drop occurs before the measurement time is arriving.
To reduce the call drop rate, you can optimize and adjust the handover
parameters:
1) If no ping-pong handover is present and the conversation is continuous,
you can make the PBGT handover happen as easily as possible.
2) Set the threshold to trigger the emergent handover rationally so that the
emergent handover can be triggered before call drop.
For the parameter modification, see
Handover parameter optimization
Parameter Name
Before Modification
After Modification
PBGT handover measurement time
PBGT handover duration
PBGT handover threshold
72
68
Uplink quality threshold for emergent

handover
70
60
Minimum downlink power for handover

candidate cell
10
15
Case 4: Call drop caused by clock problem

The cell A of an 1800MHz network has been cutover. After the establishment of a
cell at site B, the calls made in the cell handing over to the GSM900 MHz cell
that shares the same BTS site drops in the GSM900 MHz cell. And the call drop
rate is great.

Engineers find that the clock of the GSM900 MHz BTS and that of the GSM1800
MHz BTS are asynchronous. When the calls established on the GSM1800 MHz
cell intend to hand over to the GSM900 MHz cell, the drive test data shows that
the FER arises dramatically first, and then gradually disappears to none. If the
handover is from a GSM900 MHz cell to a GSM1800 MHz cell, this
phenomenon is also present. Through monitoring signaling, engineers find that
the conversation held several seconds before the call drop is just process for call
re-establishment. However, the test MS shows that the call has been handed over
to the GSM900 MHz cell. Therefore, it can be judged that the clocks are seriously
asynchronous. To solve this problem, the carrier concerned and the GSM900
equipment provider cooperate with each other on clock calibration. After that, the
abnormal call drop disappears. Therefore, for dual-band handover, the clock of
the GSM900 MHz BTS and that of the GSM1800 MHz BTS must be
synchronous.
5.5.4 Handover Problems
The MS is always moving during conversation. To ensure channel quality, the MS
must measure the quality of the channels of the surrounding channels without
stop, and then send the measurement report to the BSC through the service cell.
The BSC will perform radio link control according to the signal level and quality
contained in the measurement report. If the MS moves to another cell, the new
cell will replace the old cell to ensure the continuity of the service. The handover
enables each cell to form a seamless network.
I. Handover Problem Positioning Steps
1) Find out if the problem occurs at an individual cell or all cells and find
out the characteristics of the problem cells. For example, if the cells are the
neighbors cell of a cell, or if they are co-BSC cells, or if they are co-MSC
cells.
If the handover between two cells fails, you should focus on checking if the
data of the two cells is correctly configured. In addition, you should also
check the hardware of the two cells.
If the problem is found in all the neighbor cells of a cell, you should focus
on checking of the data of this cell is correctly configured. In addition, you
should also check the hardware of the cell.
If the problem is found in all the cells under the same BSC, you should
focus on checking the data configuration between the BSC and MSC.
If the problem is found in all the cells under the same MSC, the cooperation
between the local exchange and the opposite exchange may fail. For
example, the signaling is incompatible and the timer setting is irrational.
2) Check if the data has been modified before handover problems occur.
If the problem is found in an individual cell, you should focus on checking
if the data configuration for this cell has been modified.
If the problem is found in all the cells under the same BSC, you should
focus on checking the data configuration for the local BSC and the opposite
MSC has been modified.
If the problem is found in the cells under the same MSC, you should check
if the data configuration for the opposite MSC has been modified.
3) Check if it is the hardware failure that causes the handover problem.
4) Register the related traffic statistics items, such as the handover
performance measurement and TCH performance measurement.
Check if the TCH seizure of the problem cell is normal. For example,
if the call drop rate is high.
Check if the outgoing handover success rate is normal.
Find out the causes for the handover failure.
Check if the radio handover success rate is normal.

5) Perform drive test for the problem cell and analyze the drive test
signaling.
Check if the uplink and downlink of the problem cells are balanced,
because unbalanced path may cause handover problem (BTS problem
may cause the unbalance).
Check if the measurement report for the problem cell contains correct
neighbor cell list.
Check if a call can hand over from a problem cell to a neighbor cell
correctly and check if it can hand over from a neighbor cell to the
problem cell.
Analyze if the signaling procedure for the handover is normal.

II. Handover Problem Analysis Methods
i) Handover cannot be initiated
If the MS is in a cell where the signal is poor, it cannot hand over to another cell.
In this case, you should consider of the handover conditions are met and if there
is an outgoing cell available.
Hereunder details the possible reasons:
The handover threshold is set to a low value

For edge handover, the handover triggering condition is that the Rxlev must
be smaller than the handover threshold. If the edge handover threshold is set
to a too small value, the signal level of the neighbor cells will be far higher
than that of the service cell. In this case, the handover cannot be initiated.
As a result, the conversation quality will be affected, or even the call drop
will be resulted. The setting of the handover threshold depends on the
coverage scope of the cell. You can change the size of the service area of the
cell through changing the handover threshold.
Neighbor cell relationship is not set

Though the signal level in the neighbor cells of the service cell is high, the
MS will not report the neighbor cells if the neighbor cell relationship is not
set. In this case, the MS cannot hand over to a neighbor cell. Through
performing cell reselection or dialing test, you can check the neighbor cell
list reported by the MS. If the MS has moved to the major lobe of a cell but
this cell is not found in the neighbor cell list, you should check if the correct
neighbor cell relationship has been correctly set. During the drive test, you
can use another MS to scan the BCCH numbers to check if the strong
BCCH numbers are in the service cell or in the neighbor cell list.
Handover hysteresis is irrationally set
If the difference between the signal level of the handover candidate cell and
that of the service cell is greater than handover hysteresis, the cell can work
as a target cell. If the hysteresis is set to a too great value, the handover is
hard to be initiated.
The best measurement time "N" and "P" are irrationally set
During normal handover, the MS uses N-P rules to list the handover
candidate cells in a certain order. If a candidate cell is the best cell within P
seconds out of N seconds, it will be treated as the best cell.
When there are two cells become the best cell alternately, the MS may find
it hard to select a best cell through N-P rule, which makes the handover
difficult. In this case, you can adjust the values of N and P and reduce the
measurement time to make the handover decision more sensitive to level
change.
If the landform and the ground objects of the service cell are quite
complicated, the signals received by the moving MS will fluctuate greatly.
In this case, the handover candidate cell cannot meet N-P rule, which will
make the handover difficult.
ii) Handover problem caused by hardware failure
If the data configuration for the problem cell and the neighbor cells has not
been modified recently but the handover problems occur abruptly, you
should first consider if the problems are caused by BTS hardware
equipment.
If the cells sharing the same base station with the cell have similar problem,
you should consider if the problem is caused by the common hardware of
the cells.
If the problem is found in only one cell under the base station, you should
consider if it is the hardware of this cell that causes the problem. For
example, if some of the carriers are damaged. To test the problems of this
kind, you can disable some of the carriers. If the handover success rate
returns to normal state after a carrier is disabled, you can check if the
problem is present at this carrier or if the CDU and antenna feeder part
related to this carrier fails. If signals of a cell on the uplink and downlink
are seriously unbalanced, frequent handover will be caused and the
handover success rate will decrease.
To check if the signaling flow of the cell is normal and if the uplink Rxqual
and downlink Rxqual are good, you can monitor the messages sent across
the Abis interface. If the Rxqual is poor, it means that the hardware
equipment of the fails or serious interference is present in the cell. In this
case, the signaling exchange is unavailable and the handover problem will
occur.
iii) Handover problem caused by irrational data configuration
For stand-alone networking mode, if the outgoing MSC or incoming

MSC handover is abnormal, you should check if the signaling cooperation of
the two MSCs is correct. In addition, you should also check if the data
configuration for the opposite MSC and the local MSC has been modified
recently.
For co-MSC networking mode, if the handover is performed within the

BSCs of different providers and the inter-BSC handover is abnormal, you
should first check if the signaling cooperation between the BSCs is normal,
and then check if the data configuration for the BSCs has been modified.
If the abnormal handover is found at a cell only, you need to analyze the
abnormal handover according to actual conditions.
If the incoming handover of a cell is abnormal, you need first check if the
incoming handovers to this cell is abnormal. Generally, when the handover
is abnormal, the handover success rate is low, or even the handover does not
occur.
If all the incoming handovers to this cell is abnormal, you should check if
the data configuration for this cell is correct. Here the data configuration
includes both the data configured for this cell and the data configured for
other cells but is related to this cell. For example, the CGI of this cell may
be correctly configured, but it may be wrongly configured in other cells.
If there is only one incoming handover to a cell is abnormal but other
incoming handovers to this cell are normal, in addition to checking if the
data configuration for this cell is correct, you should also check if the data
configuration for the neighbor cells is correct. Furthermore, you should also
check if the hardware equipment of the cell is normal.
The methods to analyze the abnormal outgoing handovers are similar to the
methods to analyze the abnormal incoming handovers.
Check the timers (such as T3105, Ny1, T3103, and T3142) related to
the handover.
T3105 indicates the interval for continuous PHYSICAL INFORMATION to be
sent to the MS. The network will start T3105 for the sending of the PHYSICAL
INFORMATION. If the timer fails before receiving any correct frame from the
MS, the network will resend the PHYSICAL INFORMATION and restart the
timer. A piece of PHYSICAL INFORMATION can be sent Ny1 times to the
maximum. Here the product of Ny1 and T3105 must be greater than the sum of
T3124 and delta ("delta" indicates the interval between the expiry of T3124 and
the reception of the Handover Failure message of the old BSC), otherwise the MS
cannot perform successful handover.
T3124 is a timer waiting for the PHYSICAL INFORMATION from the network
side during asynchronous handover. When sending the HANDOVER ACCESS
message on the DCCH for the first time, the MS will start T3124. Upon receiving
a piece of PHYSICAL INFORMATION, the MS will stop T3124. If the channel
type allocated in the HANDOVER COMMAND message is SDCCH (+SACCH),
the T3124 is set to 675ms. For other cases, the T3124 is set to 320ms.
III. Handover Cases

Case 1: No handover candidate cell is available due to CGI error
The handover in an area is abnormal. When the MS moves from cell A to cell B,
the signals in cell B are stronger than that of cell A, but the handover does not
happen. After the MS moves from cell B to cell C, the MS hands over from cell A
to cell C.
[Cause analysis]
If a cell can work as a service cell and can hand over to other cells, but the
incoming handover is unavailable, you can check if the CGI, BSIC, BCCH
number of the cell are correct.
[Problem solution]
1) Use the test MS to lock the BCCH numbers of cell B. The call is
normal. The MS can hand over to any other cell by force.
2) Make a call after locking the BCCH umber of any neighbor cell of cell
B, and then force the MS to hand over to cell B, but the handover does not
happen, because no handover command is seen in the drive test software.
3) The handover procedure requires the MS detecting the neighbor cell
signals and reporting the detected signals to BSC with a measurement report.
Upon receiving the measurement report, the BSC must make the handover
decision. If the handover conditions are met, the BSC should activate the
TCH of the service cell, and then send a handover command to the MS.
4) If the signals of cell B are far stronger than that of cell A and the
handover conditions are met (the PBGT handover threshold is 70), but no
handover command is sent, it means that errors occur during the activation of
the target cell TCH.
5) If the cell B works as the target cell but the TCH cannot be activated,
the data may be incorrectly configured for the cell. In this case, the BSC that
contains the cell cannot find the target cell, so the TCH cannot be activated
and no handover command can be found in the service cell.
6) The CGI error is found in cell B through data checking. The handover is
normal after the CGI is changed to correct value.
Case 2: Unbalanced path causes low handover success rate
The incoming BSC handover success rate is quite low for the two cells under a
BTS, ranging from 10% to 30%.
[Cause analysis]
Generally, if the data problems, such as CGI error or intra-frequency interference,
exists and if there is dead zones in heavy-traffic areas, or if it is hard for the MS
to access the cell due to poor uplink signals, the incoming BSC handover success
rate is low.
[Solution]
1) The cell data is found normal.
2) Through checking traffic statistics items, engineers found that all
incoming cell handover success rates were low.
3) Through drive test, engineers found that frequent handover attempts
were made in the area 2km away from the BTS, but the handover always
failed. Even if a successful handover was made, call drop occurred
immediately. During the handover, engineers found that the downlink level
was about -85dBm. Engineers made 10 dialing tests with frequency locked,
all the originating calls failed. For the answering calls, they can be connected
but cannot be called out.
4) It is estimated that the CDU uplink channel loss is great, or the jumpers
are incorrectly connected at the BTS top. In this case, the uplink signals will
be poor, which causes the problem.
5) After changing the CDU, engineers found that the incoming handover
success rate increased to 95%.
Case 3: Improper antenna planning causes low handover success rate
[Problem analysis]
The handover success rate among the three cells under a BTS is quite low
according to traffic statistics. For the handover from cell1 to cell3 and the
handover from cell2 to cell3, the success rate is lower than 30%.
[Cause analysis]
Generally, low handover success rate is caused by board failure, handover data
error, or improper antenna planning.
[Solution]
1) The BTS hardware is normal and no alarm concerning handover
parameters is generated, so the hardware problem and parameter setting
problem can be excluded.
2) The BTS locates at the eastern side of a south-north road and is 700m
away from the road. The azimuth angles of the three cells are 0, 80and
160. They three cells direct to the two directions and the open resident areas
lying under a hill in the east respectively. Among the three cells, the down
tilts of two cells are 7. To make the coverage as specified as possible,
engineers concentrated the antenna azimuth angles of the three cells in
design. In this case, however, the cells of the BTS are seriously overlapped in
the east. For the areas just in the west, the coverage is provided by the side
lobes and back lobes of the three cells. Therefore, when the MS is moving on
this road, first it is covered by cell1. When it moves to the west, the signals of
the three cells are poor and fluctuating greatly. In addition, since the
handover measurement time and the handover duration is set to a small
value, the handover is rather sensitive, and that's why the frequent handover
failure occurs.
3) After setting the azimuth angles of the three cells to 60, 180, and
350, engineers found that the handover success rate of among the three cells
increased to 95%.
Case 4: Problems concerning the cooperation of different carriers'
equipment cause low outgoing BSC handover success rate
There is a dual-band network in which the GSM900 MHz network and the
GSM1800 MHz network are stand-alone. After the two networks completed cell
reselection and handover parameter setting, engineers found that the dual-band
handover success rate was low; especially the success rate of the handover from
the GSM1800 MHz network to the GSM900 MHz network was low, ranging
from 60% to 80%. However, the success rate of the handover from the GSM900
MHz network to the GSM1800 MHz network was higher than 92%.
[Cause analysis]
For a dual-band network, if the problems concerning the cooperation of different

carriers' equipment are found, you must know the data configuration of the
equipment. For example, if the equipment supports Phase 2+ and EFR.
[Solution]
1) Through using signaling analyzer to analyze the message flowing across
the A-interface and E-interface, engineers found that the MSC of the
GSM1800 MHz network would send back a Handover Reject message to the
BSC of the GSM1800 MHz network when the BSC sent a Handover
Required message to the MSC.
2) The MSC of the GSM1800 MHz network sent a Prepare Handover
message to the MSC of the GSM900 MHz network. Upon receiving the
message, the MSC of the GSM900 MHz network sent back an Abort
message.
3) Because the success rate of the handover from GSM900 MHz network
to the GSM1800 MHz network was high, engineers found that the voice
version carried in the Prepare Handover message (from the GSM900 MSC to
GSM1800 MSC) is half rate version 1, but the voice versions carried in the
Prepare Handover message (from GSM1800 MSC to GSM900 MSC) are full
rate version 1, full rate version 2, and half rate version 1, which belong to
PHASE 2+. However, MSC of provider A does not support the PHASE 2+,
so the handover failure is caused.
4) Through modifying the MSC data of the circuit MSC data at the Ainterface and selecting the full rate version 1 only, engineers found that the
voice versions carried in the Prepare Handover message (from GSM1800
MSC to GSM900 MSC) are full rate 1 and 2. After that, the dual-band
handover success rate was greatly increased.
5.5.5 Congestion Problems
This section introduces the methods to handle SDCCH congestion and TCH
congestion, in which TCH congestion indicates SDCCH seizure all busy. The
TCH congestion has two cases. One is TCH seizure all busy. For this case, the
real channels cannot be allocated to the MS, so the MS will fail to request the
channels. The other one is that the TCH assignment fails after an assignment is
sent due to various reasons.
I. Congestion Problem Solutions
Congestion caused by heavy traffic
You can check if the SDCCH traffic and TCH traffic are normal through
viewing traffic statistics. If the congestion is caused by heavy traffic, the
most efficient method to solve the problem is to expand the capacity of the
network. In addition, you can adopt traffic sharing technologies to ease the
congestion. For example, you can modify the CRO, enable direct retry or
load handover function.
SDCCH congestion caused by burst traffic

If the SDCCH congestion rate is high and the traffic is heavy but the TCH
traffic is normal, the SDCCH congestion may be caused by burst traffic.
The SDCCH congestion always occurs at BTSs along railways and tunnel
exits, because the BTSs are installed in remote places and the capacity of a
BTS is small. As a result, when the train moves fast along the railways or
stops at a railway station, most of MSs failing to capture a network will
perform location update, which will result in SDCCH congestion. In
addition, when short messages are sent at a concentrated time, the SDCCH
congestion will also occur easily. SDCCH congestion cannot be completely
avoided, but some measures can be taken to ease the congestion. For
example, you can add the number of SDCCHs, or enable the dynamic
conversion between SDCCH and TCH.
Congestion caused by TRX problems

When a carrier configured in a multi-TRX cell cannot provide services, the
channel congestion will also occur. To solve the problem, you should
replace the problem TRX with a sound one. If the TRX problem cannot be
positioned, you should check if the antenna feeder connection is correct and
if the antenna standing wave is normal. If yes, recheck the TRX where the
problem may be generated.
Congestion caused by interference

The interference present across the radio interfaces will also cause
congestion. In this case, you should solve the interference problem first.
Channel assignment failure caused by inconsistent coverage

If the concentric technology is not used, the transmit power of the TRXs
within the same cell will be inconsistent, which will result in inconsistent
coverage. In this case, the channel assignment failure will easily occur. To
position this problem, you can check if the connection between the splitter
and connector and if the connection between CDU and SCU are correct.
When a cell uses multiple transmitter antennas, inconsistent coverage will
be inconsistent, which will result in channel assignment failure. To solve
this problem, you should make the coverage of each transmitter antenna as
consistent as possible through engineering adjustment.
In addition, if the transmitter antenna and the receiver antenna of a cell is
not in the same plane or the antenna tilt angles are inconsistent, the channel
assignment failure will also be caused. In this case, you can calibrate the
antennas to solve the problem.
Congestion caused improper data configuration

If the congestion is caused by improper location area planning, you can
reduce the SDCCH congestion rate by planning the location area properly.
If the congestion is caused by the problems concerning SDCCH dynamic
allocation, you can reduce the SDCCH congestion rate by enabling the
SDCCH dynamic allocation function.
For dual-band network, you can properly set the parameters (such as CRO,
CBA, and cell reselection hysteresis) to reduce the SDCCH congestion rate.
If the timers, such as T3101, T3103, T3107, T3122, T3212, and T3111, are
not properly set, SDCCH congestion will also be caused.
Hereunder are the solutions to the previous problems.
You can ease the congestion caused by SDCCH dual allocation through
reducing the T3101 to a smaller value. If the T3101 is set to a large value,
the radio resources will be seized for a long period of time. To fully use the
radio resources, therefore, you can reduce the T3101 value.
You can save the TCH resources through reducing the T3103 and T3107 to
a rational value. Generally, T3103 and T3107 are set to about 5 seconds.
The T3122 must be stopped once the MS receives an IMMEDIATE
ASSIGN REJECT message. Only after the T3122 expires, the MS can send
a new channel request message. If the MS sends channel request messages
frequently, the RACH load and CCCH load will increase. To solve this
problem, you can increase the T3122 to a larger value.
T3212 stands for the time limit value for periodical location update. You
can ease the SDCCH load by increasing the T3212 to a larger value.
T3111 is related to release latency. It is used for the deactivation of the
latency channels after the major signaling link breaks. T3111 can be
initiated during either TCH release or SDCCH release. The value of T3111
must be consistent with that of the T3110 at the MS side. Generally, it
should be 2 seconds. If the T3111 is set to a large value, great SDCCH
congestion rate may be caused.
II. Congestion Cases
Case 1: SDCCH congestion caused by wrong LAC configuration
[Description]
A BTS is configured as S1/1/1. It is found that the SDCCH congestion rate for 2
cells reaches as high as 8%.
1) Through checking the measurement indexes for TCH and SDCCH,
engineers found that the TCH traffic was not heavy. The traffic volume for
each cell during busy hours is lower than 2.2Erl. However, the requests for
SDCCH seizure are great, reaching 3032 times during busy hours. The
SDCCH traffic reaches 1.86Erl, and the congestion rate reaches 8%.
2) The main reasons for SDCCH seizure include the messages sent before
call setup, the messages sent during handover, the location update messages
sent under the idle mode, and other short messages.
3) The TCH traffic is normal, the requests for TCH seizure (including
handover) are normal (318 times), and the handover requests are also normal
(146 times). Therefore, the SDCCH congestion may be caused by a large
number of location update messages or short messages.
4) The LAC of the BTS is 0500, and the LACs of other cells of the
surrounding cells are 0520. After changing the LAC of the BTS to 0520,
engineers found that the requests for SDCCH seizure during busy hours were
298, the SDCCH traffic was 0.27Erl, and the congestion rate reduced to 0.
Case 2: SDCCH congestion caused by burst location updates
The radio connected ratio of a local network is lower than average level.
According to traffic statistics analysis, it is found that the SDCCH congestion
happened at several BTSs.
1) Through analyzing traffic statistics, engineers found that the SDCCHs

of the congested cells were seized for 300 to 400 times during busy hours.
Here the BTS was configured as S1/1/1 and each cell was configured with 8
SDCCHs. Therefore, the SDCCHs can be seized by 400 times, but the
SDCCHs were congested for tens of times during busy hours.
2) As far as the registered traffic statistics items were concerned, most of
the SDCCH seizures were caused by location update. Taking the BTS
location into consideration, engineers found that most of the BTSs were
installed at the intersections of two railways. Therefore, it might be the burst
location update that caused SDCCH congestion.
3) To verify if it was the burst location update that caused the congestion,
engineers registered the traffic statistics items in 5 minutes and found that
most of the location update happened within the five seconds. Through
querying the train time table, engineers found that there were 4 to 5 trains
passing by within the five seconds. When the trains passed the intersections,
a large number of location updates were generated in a short time. In this
case, the congestion was caused.
Therefore, if the BTSs are installed at the railway intersections, you are suggested
to enable the SDCCH dynamic allocation function and configure a suitable
margin for the SDCCH.
Case 3: Great TCH congestion rate caused by the inconsistent tilt angles of
two antennas under the same cell
It is found that the TCH congestion rate of a cell is great (greater than 5%)
according to traffic statistics.
1) Through checking BSC traffic statistics, engineers found that it was the
TCH seizure failure that directly caused the great TCH congestion rate.
2) Generally, TCH seizure failure is caused by TCH assignment failure.
Through monitoring Abis interface, engineers found that most of the TCH
assignment failure occurred at the No.4 TRX and No.5 TRX, and the
probability for the assignment failure rate for the No.4 TRX was near that for
the No.5 TRX.
3) Through checking the antenna feeder part, engineers found that the tile
angle corresponding to the transmitter antennas of the two TRXs were too
great (it is 10 degrees than that of the antenna for BCCH, because the
antenna nuts were found loosen. Therefore, if the MS is far away from the
BTS, it can receive the BCCH signals but cannot receive the TCH signals. If
the TCH is assigned to the MS when the MS starts a call, the TCH seizure
failure will occur.
4) To solve the problem, you can enable the tilt angel of the TCH antenna
and that of the BCCH antenna to be consistent with each other. In this case,
the TCH congestion rate can be reduced to 2% or lower.
Case 4: High TCH congestion rate caused by downlink interference
A cell of BTS is responsible for covering a large area of sea surface along the
coast. According to the registered traffic statistics items, engineers found that
when the traffic volume was lower than 1Erl, the TCH congestion of the cell
reached 10% at some time. However, no alarm was generated. All the interference
bands fell within the interference band1 and the hardware and RF connections
were normal.
Because all the interference bands fell within the interference band1, the uplink
interference is impossible. Considering that the coverage distance reaches 60 to
70 kilometers and multiple normal cells are present along the coast, the
probability for the channel numbers of the downlink areas and the cell to be
interfered is high. Through modifying the channel numbers of the cell, engineers
found that the TCH congestion rate was improved. Through further optimizing
the channel numbers, engineers found that the TCH congestion rate was lower
than 1%. Therefore, it can be judged that the 10% of congestion rate is caused by
the downlink interference of some areas.
5.5.6 Other Problems
I. Subscriber Is Not in Service Area
When a subscriber is not in service area, the MS works as the called party when
the signals received by the MS are good and the calling party hears a voice saying
that the subscriber is not in the service area. If the coverage, operation, and data
configuration of a network are good, the occurrence probability for the problem
must be lower than 1%, otherwise it is other causes that result in the problem.
Generally, if a subscriber is not in the service area, the following causes may be
present:
Coverage problem
If the subscriber complaint happens at cell edges, the problem may be related to
coverage. In this case, the probability for the calling party failure is equal to the
probability for the "subscriber is not in service area".
Parameter setting
If the subscriber is not in service area, the parameters concerning the paging,
access, and immediate assignment may be not properly set. In this case, you can
check if the messages concerning RACH overload, PCH overload, and SDCCH
overload are generated through querying traffic statistics and alarms. If yes, the
subscriber may not in the service area.
System capacity limit or overload

If system capacity limit or overload occur (for example, HDB overload, CPU
overload, or capacity overload during busy hours), the system may fail to read the
subscriber information, or subscribers cannot access the radio network. In this
case, the subscriber may not in the service area. To solve this problem, you can
take measures to expand the system capacity.
Transmission problem
If the links between systems (such as the LAPD link of the Abis interface and the
links of the each network entity) and the links within a system (such as the link
among the modules of BCS/MSC) are not stable, the messages sent through these
links may be missing. In this case, subscribers may not in the service area. To
position the problem, you can check the alarms.
Equipment causes
If the designs concerning MSC and BSC are incomplete, the probability of
"subscriber is not in service area" will increase.
MS causes
If the RF parts or the software parts of the MS have problems, for example, the
reception capability of the MS is poor; the frequency deviation goes beyond the
requirements defined in the protocols; and the dual-band performance of the MS
is poor, this problem may also occur.
II. Signal Fluctuation

Signal fluctuation indicates that change of the MS signal strength. The following
factors may cause signal fluctuation.
Radio wave propagation

The strength of the signals received by the MS is the amplitude of the sum of the
vectors of various propagation paths. Because the propagation environment is
ever-changing, the attenuation of radio channels is ever-changing. Therefore,
even if the MS does not move, the strength of the received signals will change.
Cell reselection and handover

When the MS moves from the old cell to the new cell through handover or cell
reselection, the signals of the MS will fluctuate because the signal strength of the
old cell and that of the new cell are inconsistent.
Antenna shake
When the antenna shakes, the antenna gain will change, so the signals will also
fluctuate.
Location update or channel assignment occurs at non-BCCH TRX

If the SDCCH is assigned to a non-BCCH TRX during location update and power
control is available on SDCCH, the signal strength may fluctuate.
III. Voice Discontinuity
Voice discontinuity stands for pauses or words loss occurs in conversation. If the
voice continuity is remarkable, the conversation quality will be affected.
The following factors may cause voice discontinuity
Frequent handovers
Only hard handover is available in GSM system. Therefore, when the MS hands
over from the source channel to the target channel, the downlink frames may loss
at the Abis interface. As a result, the voice continuity is unavoidable during
handover. Generally, frequent handovers may occur at cell edges or during cross
coverage. In this case, the voice discontinuity will become a headache of
subscribers. To avoid the frequent handovers, you can adjust the antenna tilt and
height and configure the data, such as uplink and downlink quality threshold and
restriction properly.
Radio link interference

Radio link interference will increase the bit error rate, which will cause voice
discontinuity. In addition, the signals always fluctuate greatly at cell edges, so the
conversation quality at the cell edges is bad.
Poor network coverage

If the network coverage is poor, the Rxlev and Rxqual will become poor, thus the
conversation quality will be affected.
BTS transmission problem

BTS transmission problems will affect conversation quality. For connectors, you
should check of the connection among the connector is good. For optical
transmission, you should check if the optical headers are clean and if the
transmission errors are great. For micro wave transmission, it may be affected by
weather. If there is large amount of dust in the equipment, the conversation
quality may also be affected. If both micro wave transmission and optical
transmission are used, you should pay attention to the cooperation of the
transmission impedance at the equipment interfaces.
TRX board failure

Hardware problem will result in poor conversation quality. In this case, you
should replace the problem hardware with the sound one.
5.4 Traffic Statistics Index Analysis

At the network optimization stage, the traffic statistics indexes are the basis for
network performance optimization. For network optimization, the KPIs, such as
congestion rate, call drop rate, and handover success rate, are in common use.
These indexes are the external representation of network quality. The radio
coverage quality, channel capacity, and cell parameters are the internal factor to
affect the network quality. The traffic statistics analysis aims to look into these
internal factors through external factors. Since the mobile network is a complex
system, you should consider related DT information, signaling messages, and
alarm information for the overall analysis.
5.4.1 General Analysis Method
Traffic statistics analysis is performed from BSC overall performance to cell
performance, from primary indexes to secondary indexes.
First you should have a rough understanding of the network performance through
BSC performance analysis. Here the indexes such as THC traffic intensity, TCH
call drop rate, TCH congestion rate, and inter-cell handover success rate should
be considered. Attention that in addition to check the percentages of the indexes,
you should also check the absolute numbers of the indexes, because the
percentages may sometimes hide some cell problems.
After having understood the indexes about the overall network performance, you
should analyze the indexes for each cell if finding abnormal indexes. First you
should judge if the abnormal index is a common phenomenon or it is really an
abnormal one. If it is a common phenomenon, you should begin the analysis from
the perspective of coverage, capacity, frequency planning, and cell parameters. If
it is really an abnormal case, you should register the corresponding traffic subitems and analyze them in detail. In addition, you should also make an overall
judgment through collecting the information about alarm, engineers' operation,
and other external causes. If the traffic statistics analysis cannot contribute a
correct judgment, you should employ DT equipment and signaling analyzer for
help.
5.4.2 High Call Drop Rate Analysis
If the uplink and downlink quality deteriorates to a level that cannot hold normal
conversation, the conversation will be disconnected. This is defined as call drop.
Since the user mobility and radio propagation is uncertain, call drop always exists
in a mobile network. However, optimization measures can be adopted to reduce
the call drop rate.
When the call drop rate of the BSC overall performance is found abnormal, you
can check TCH performance to judge whether the call drop is just a common
phenomenon or it is an individual phenomenon. After that, you can judge whether
the high call drop rate occurs in several cells or in all the BTSs. If the call drop is
a common phenomenon, you should make an overall check towards the coverage
planning, cell parameter planning, and frequency planning to analyze whether the
link budget meet the requirements, whether the configuration of the path failure
counter is rational, and whether the network interference is too great. In addition,
you should also check the BSC hardware, and then perform drive test to check the
network coverage.
If it the abnormality is caused by the severe call drop in individual cells, you
should confirm whether it is equipment failure that caused the call drop.
Generally, alarm messages are always come together with equipment failure, so
you can take equipment failure as a reference.
After the equipment failure is excluded, you can analyze the call drop rate from
the perspective of interference, coverage, and handover.
1) Interference is divided into uplink interference and downlink
interference. You can analyze the uplink interference according to the number
of interference bands into which the idle TCHs drop. It is normal that the idle
TCHs drop into interference band 1 and interference band 2. For the network
with aggressive frequency reuse, it is acceptable that the idle TCHs drop into
interference band 3. Here the frequency hopping, PBGT handover and
coverage control must be considered. If the idle TCHs drop into interference
band 4 or above, you should carefully check the interference. Generally, the
interference within the network increases with the traffic volume. The
increase of the Rxqual class can be seen through the Rxqual measurement
task and Rxlev measurement task. The poor handover ratio can be seen
arising through inter-cell handover performance measurement. In addition,
the handover re-establishment failures will result in more handover failures.
2) If the coverage is inadequate or it is unbalance on the uplink and
downlink, the call drop will also be resulted. You can judge if the Rxlev is
adequate through the mean Rxlev of the power control measurement task and
the power class. If the Rxlev is still low when the transmitter power reaches
the maximum, there are areas with poor coverage. Meanwhile, you can take
the mean Rxqual and Rxlev during call drop as a reference. The distribution
of TA (timing advance) values can help you estimate the radius of subscriber
distribution. Through checking the received channel strength of the neighbor
cells, you can analyze the cell coverage. Generally, drive test is needed for a
detailed analysis.
If the uplink coverage and downlink coverage are unbalance, RF component
failure or cable connection problem will occur. The path unbalance can be
seen from the path balance measurement task, power measurement task, and
call drop measurement task. At this time, the alarm information and user
complaint also deserve your attention.
3) Handover failure will prevent the MS from moving to the best cell. In
this case, call drop may be resulted. In addition, cross-cell handover and
target cell congestion may cause call drop. To solve this problem, you can
add neighbor cell relationship and balance the traffic within the cells.
The high SDCCH call drop rate analysis is similar to high TCH call drop
rate analysis. Acting as the point-to-point signaling channel, the SDCCH is
more sensitive to the interference than TCH. In this case, the common
method to reduce the call drop rate is to adjust the access threshold and
reduce interference.
5.4.3 High TCH Congestion Rate Analysis
This section discusses TCH congestion, including the congestion caused by TCH
seizure all busy and the congestion caused by TCH seizure failure.
When the congestion rate of the BSC overall performance is found abnormal, you
can find out the cells with high congestion rate through checking the TCH
performance statistics. In this case, you can discover the problems through
analyzing each functional sub-item of the TCH performance statistics of this cell.
In addition, you should check whether there is transmission problem, clock
problem, or hardware problem through considering the alarm information.
It is a must to analyze the load according to the TCH traffic intensity and the
configured TCH capacity.
1) Check if the THC congestion rate is caused by TCH seizure all busy
through analyzing the TCH performance measurement of the cell. If the
congestion is caused by heavy traffic, you should predict the real traffic of
the cell and check if other cells can share the traffic. If it is beyond the
optimization capability to enable other cells to share the traffic, you should
consider expanding the capacity of the network. The adjustment measures for
traffic balance may not be consistent with the principle of minimum radio
path loss, so they are applied to emergent causes only. In most cases, you can
balance the traffic through adjusting coverage scope, adjusting access
threshold, adjusting CRO and handover threshold, or enabling load handover.
If the congestion is not caused by TCH seizure all busy, go on with the check.
2) Check if the TRXs of the congestion cell work normally. The damage or
performance decline of the uplink channels may prevent the MS from
accessing other cells. In this case, many cells will be seized, which will cause
congestion. The incoming cell handover performance measurement will show
that many handovers towards this cell are failures. In this case, you should
query the statue of each TRX within each cell through querying the Rxlev
performance measurement task or Rxqual performance measurement task. In
addition, you should find out which TRX is related to the abnormality
through querying the uplink and downlink measurement reports of the same
TRX.
3) Check if the congestion rate is related to interference, namely, check if
any abnormality is present from the interference band 1 to interference band
5 in the traffic statistics. If the interference is present in a cell, the call drop
rate of the cell will be high, and the SDCCH congestion rate will increase
accordingly. Moreover, the RACH in the random access performance
measurement may be congested, and the immediate assignment success rate
will decrease.
4) Under some conditions, the congestion of some cells is a result of large
coverage. In this case, you should analyze the relationship between TA value
and Rxlev through querying the power control mean level, the mean level
during call drop, and TA. In addition, you should also use drive test to define
the coverage area of the cell. Through querying the TCH availability of the
neighbor cell, you can confirm if the congestion is caused by neighbor cell
failures. Through querying path balance performance measurement, you can
judge if the reason for the TCH seizure failure is that the downlink power is
greater than the uplink power.
5) Frequent handovers can also cause TCH congestion. Through querying
the ratio of the handovers to the call seizure successes, you can check if the
ratio is rational. Through querying the incoming and outgoing ratio, you can
check if the congestion is caused by irrational handover.
5.4.4 High SDCCH Congestion Rate Analysis
The SDCCH congestion rate is mainly caused by heavy traffic. First you should
define if the congestion is a common phenomenon or if it is just an individual
phenomenon. If it is a common phenomenon, you should analyze if the location
update timer is irrationally set, and then calculate the SDCCH capacity to see if it
meets system requirement. If it is just an individual phenomenon, you should
analyze it from the perspective of equipment, location area, and interference.
1) From the perspective of equipment, you should first check the TRX
sound ratio in the BSC overall performance measurement and the SDCCH
availability in the SDCCH performance measurement, and then check the
TCH activation NACK/TIMEOUT in the TCH performance measurement.
After that, you can define if the congestion is caused by board problem.
2) Check the messages for SDCCH bearer location update. Irrational
location area planning will cause frequent location update, which will result
in SDCCH congestion. You are required to analyze of the edge of the
location is set at the areas with a great number of subscribers by checking the
location area planning and actual drive test. In addition, you are also required
to check if the location update messages accounts a too larger percentage of
the SDCCH seizure requests at the edge. The method is to query the ratio of
the successful SDCCH seizures (location update) to the total SDCCH seizure
successes in the SDCCH performance measurement.
3) Interference also causes SDCCH congestion. Especially for the
networks in which the distance between BTSs is small and the BCCH
frequency is aggressive, the system may receive more interference random
access signals. The network will allocate a SDCCH for each random access,
which causes SDCCH congestion. In this case, the immediate assignment
success rate will decrease, the paging success rate will decrease, and the
RACH in the random access performance measurement may be overloaded.
5.4.5 Low Handover Success Rate Analysis
The analysis for handover success rate is quite complicated, because it involves
capacity, coverage, clock, signaling, equipment, and even MS.
1) If the handover success rate of all cells is low, you should check the
problem from the perspective of handover parameters, A-interface circuit,
and BSC clock.
2) Filter the cells with poor handover. If a network is run by the
equipments of different carriers, you should check if it interoperability
problem by comparing the inter-BSC handover success rata with the intraBSC handover success rate in the handover performance measurement.
Generally, the inter-BSC handover success rate is a little lower than the intraBSC handover success rate. In addition, you need to monitor the signaling
messages and data configuration between BSCs and analyze the radio link
budget and clock of each carrier.
3) Check if any problem is present at the Um interface through comparing
the handover success rate and radio handover success rate. The radio
handover success rate is equal to or greater than the handover success rate. If
the handover success rate is far smaller than the radio handover success rate,
you should analyze the ground link and capacity. If the difference between
the radio handover success rate and the handover success rate, you need to
consider the interference.
4) Analyze if it is incoming handover failure or it is outgoing handover
failure through querying the incoming cell handover success rate and
outgoing handover success rate in the handover performance measurement.
After that, analyze the outgoing cell handover performance measurement and
incoming cell handover performance measurement of the problem cell so as
to find out the incoming handover failure cells from the outgoing cell
performance measurement. Confirm if the poor handover is caused by target
cell congestion through analyzing the "incoming cell handover failures",
"TCH traffic intensity", and "TCH congestion rate (all busy)" of all the
incoming handover failure cells.
5) Check if any equipment fails through querying the TRX sound ratio,
TCH availability, and TCH activation NACK/TIMEOUT of the target cell.
Analyze if the TRX performance decreases through querying the Rxlev
performance measurement of the target cell.
6) Check if any ground link equipment fails through querying the Ainterface failures and the ground link breaks during TCH seizure.
When the microwave is used for the transmission or during inter-BSC
handover, the clock deviation is another cause for poor handover. And this
can be proved by the intra-BSC handover failures. For the cells where the
clock synchronization is unavailable, the BSIC cannot be decoded, so the
handover can never occur. In this case, you need to check if the clock is
normal and analyze the call drop rate.
If these two causes are excluded, you need to make adjustment from the
perspective of coverage and interference.
To reduce call drop rate and enhance handover success rate, you can leave a
margin for the Rxlev and Rxqual during handover. If the Rxlev of a cell is
lower than -90dBm during handover, you should check the mean Rxlev and
TA value of TCH call drop in the call drop performance measurement and
analyze drive test to see if the coverage distance of the cell is too long and if
the signal is not strong enough.
For the networks in which better cell algorithms are enabled, you should
check the "attempted handovers (better cell)". It is better that the percentage
it accounts 60% of the handover causes.
The interference will also affect the handover success rate. When the
interference is present, the voice quality will decrease and the call drop rate
will increase.
Handover problems are rather complicated. To solve the problems arising in
actual work, you are supposed to integrate the methods introduce above, the
signaling analyzer, equipment condition, and drive test into consideration.
5.3 Network Performance Evaluation

Before putting network optimization into practice, you should have an overall
understanding of the network performance. The traffic statistics data, DT (drive
test) data, and CQT (call quality test) data are necessary for network performance
acquisition.
5.3.1 DT
DT is used to evaluate the connectivity, coverage, call drop, and voice quality for
the main roads and transportation backbones in urban areas. The indexes for the
roads include connected ratio, call drop rate, coverage rate, voice quality, and so
on. The indexes for transportation backbones include call drop rate per kilometer,
coverage rate, voice quality, connected rate, and so on.
Connected ratio
Connected ratio = total connected times/attempted calls *100%
Call drop rate

Call drop rate = call drop times/total connected times *100%
Coverage rate
Coverage rate = ( -94dBm test road kilometers)/total test road
kilometers*100%
Voice quality
According to bit error rate, voice quality can be divided into 8 classes, from
0 to 7. Each class matches its bit error rate range.
The calculation of voice quality depends on actual conditions. Generally,
the following method is in common use:
Voice quality = [Rxqual (class 0)% + Rxqual (class 1)% + Rxqual (class
2)%*1 + Rxqual (class 3)%* + Rxqual (class 4)%*0.8 + Rxqual (class
5)%* + Rxqual (class 6)%*0.5 + Rxqual (class 7)%*0.2
Call drop ratio per kilometer

Call drop ratio per kilometer = ( -94dBm test road kilometers)/total call
drop times
5.3.2 CQT
CQT is applied to the important spots in urban areas. It enables you to experience
the network quality from the perspective of users. This section introduces the
indexes used to evaluating the CQT.
Coverage rate
Coverage rate = ( -94dBm test points)/total calling test points)*100%
Connected ratio
Connected ratio = total connected times/attempted calls *100%
Call drop rate

Call drop rate = call drop times/total connected times *100%
Voice discontinuity/background noise rate

Voice discontinuity/background noise rate = (total voice discontinuity
occurrence times + total background occurrence times)/total connected
times*100%
One-way audio/echo/cross-talking rate = (total one-way audio times +

total echo occurrence times + total cross-talking occurrence times)/total
connected times*100%
CQT enables you to use the MOS (mean opinion score) to evaluate the voice
quality from the perspective of people's objective feeling. The MOS can be
divided into five classes, from 1 to 5. For the evaluation standard, see Table 5-2
of Chapter 5 GSM Radio Network Planning of GSM Radio Network Planning
and Optimization.
5.3.3 Network Operation Indexes
Though DT and CQT can detail network problems, they are restricted from test
routes and time. Therefore, DT and CQT cannot test the overall network. To give
an overall evaluation towards the network, you should collect as more network
operation indexes as possible.
The indexes evaluating network operation quality are listed below:
Service access capacity indexes

Service access capacity indexes include toll network connected ratio, short
message connected ratio, (GPRS) PDP activation ratio, and IP telephone
connected ratio.
Service hold capacity indexes

Service hold capacity indexes include call drop rate, worst cell ratio, traffic
call drop ratio, handover success rate, and short message gateway transit
success rate.
With the expansion of network scale, the network structure becomes ever more
complicated. In this case, networks with high performance but low cost are
encouraged.
The indexes on network utilization can be used to evaluate whether the cost to run
a network is low. These indexes include toll circuit utilization rate, traffic channel
availability, busiest and idlest cell ratio, and so on.
Hereunder introduces the methods to calculate the indexes used to evaluate
network operation at the radio side.
Radio connected ratio

Radio connected ratio = (1 SDCCH congestion rate)*(1 TCH congestion
rate (all busy))*100%
Call drop rate

Call drop rate = TCH call drop/successful TCH seizures (all busy)
Worst cell ratio

A cell with TCH congestion rate higher than 5% at busy hours or a cell with
TCH call drop rate higher than 3% is defined as a worst cell. The number of
the worst cells varies with network scales.
Traffic call drop ratio

Traffic call drop ratio = total TCH traffic volume *60%/total TCH call drop
times (all busy)
Handover success rate

Handover success rate = successful handovers/attempted handovers*100%
Traffic channel availability

Traffic channel availability = the available traffic channels at busy
hour/configured traffic channels*100%
5.2 Network Optimization Tools

5.2.1 Test MS
Test MS is a daily must for engineers to perform network test. The test MS can
display the service cell of a mobile telecommunication network and the six
neighbor cells. It can also be used to test network parameters. The test MS can be
connected to a computer, so it can collect and analyze data with the help of drive
test software.
The functions of a SAGEM test MS are listed below:
View the IMSI of the SIM card
Scan BCCH
The SAGEM test MS can scan the BCCH, and it will provides the Rxlev
and BSIC of the scanned BCCH in each cell.
View network parameters

The SAGEM test MS can display network parameters of the service cell of
and the six neighbor cells when it is idle or in conversation state.
Forced cell selection

The test MS can be forced to reselect the designated cell for dialing test and
handover test.
Forced handover
The test MS can be forced to hand over to the designated cell to analyze
whether the handover is normal during conversation.
Frequency selection
GPRS function test (The MSs of SAGEM OT96 support this function)
5.2.2 Drive Test Software

ANT, TEMS, and SAFCO are the GSM drive test software in common use.
Generally, the drive test software consists of two parts: foreground data collection
software and background data analysis software.
I. Foreground Data Collection Software
The foreground data collection software is mainly responsible for collecting the
uplink and downlink data at the Um interface of the GSM mobile network. If the
BTSs and the landform map of the test areas are imported, the track of the drive
test, the radio parameters of each test point, and the main information of the
service cell, neighbor cell, and the Um interface can be observed.
The functions of foreground data collection software are listed below:
Test functions
Test functions include call test, scan test, call interference test, doublenetwork synchronization test, dialing record test, dual-band comparison test,
and MS selection test.
Topical test
Topical test is responsible for forced handover and frequency locking (call)
test, BCCH frequency locking (standby) test, forced location update test,
and band locking test.
Interference test
Interference aims to locate the BCCH same-frequency and neighbor
frequency interference and TCH neighbor frequency interference within the
same network in time.
Parameter collection
The field strength of the service cell and the neighbor cells, bit error ratio,
frame error rate, and various radio parameters of the cell need to be
collected.
Geographic navigation
The foreground data collection software can be used to display the
geographic navigation through combing the digital map and BTS resources.
SQI (Speech Quality Index) test

SQI test aims to evaluate the speech quality experienced by mobile users.
Traffic statistics
The foreground data collection software can be used for CQT traffic
statistics. It enables the call setup, call duration, and call release to be
recorded respectively. In addition, it is also responsible for recording call
drop rate and congestion rate.
Data record
The foreground data collection software can record and store the test data of
the test MS synchronously, and can record and store the scanned data of the
900MHz and 1800MHz synchronously.
Scanning test
Scanning test aims to test and record the field strength of the channels of the
GSM 900MHz network and GSM1800MHz network.
Competitive test
The comparison between real-time field strength and speech quality is
available. In addition, real-time check of cell parameters is allowed.
II. Bachground Data Analysis Software
The background data analysis software can geographically present the radio
network test data and reflect the distribution of network parameters on the
electronic map visually. It can locate the problem cell by fully considering the
drive test data, network resource data, digital frequency sweep receiver data, and
GSM signaling characteristics, thus guiding engineers to evaluate and optimize
the network rationally and effectively.
The functions of background data analysis software are listed below:
Radio coverage evaluation and analysis
Interference analysis
Neighbor cell analysis
Handover analysis
Signaling analysis
Speech record and analysis

5.2.3 Signaling Analyzer
MA-10 and K1205 are the GSM signaling analyzer in common use. This section
introduces the functions of the signaling analyzer.
MA-10 signaling analyzer can test the Abis interface signaling messages, the A-G
interface signaling messages, and the SS#7 interface signaling messages of ISUP,
TUP, and INAP when it is on line. In addition, it can perform PCM BERT (bit
error rate test) and GSM BERT. Furthermore, it can enable the signaling message
files saved during on-line monitoring when it is off-line.
The MA-10 signaling analyzer has five sub-applications. They are listed below:
MA-10 control (It is used to test Abis interface signaling messages, A-G
interface signaling messages, and bit errors when it is on line.)
MONITOR ABIS offline (It is used to analyze the Abis interface

signaling messages when it is off line.)
MONITOR MSC offline (It is used to analyze the A-G interface

signaling messages when it is off line.)
GSM-BERT offline (It is used to analyze GSM BERT when it is off
line.)
PCM-BERT offline (It is used to analyze PCH BERT when it is off
line.)
With the help of MA-10 signaling analyzer, network optimization engineers can
collect and analyze Abis interface data and A-interface data, view the whole
signaling procedure, and obtain the measurement report, and then compare the
information with the downlink signals obtained from drive test. These means can
help network optimization engineers have an overall understanding of the
operation of the network. In this case, the causes and places for the problems,
such as call drop, handover failure, and congestion can be located.
5.2.4 Network Optimization Software
Good network optimization software can work as a platform for radio projects
and maintenance personnel. NASTAR, Huawei network planning and
optimization tool, can deeply analyze GSM network by integrating OMCR traffic
statistics, configuration data, alarm data, engineering data, and so on. In addition,
it also provides the interfaces for network planning, performance analysis, alarm
analysis, and geography conditions.
The functions of NASTAR are listed below:
Import static traffic statistics data (import the traffic statistics files of
the maintenance console into database)
Import static traffic statistics data according to time
Import dynamic Huawei traffic statistics
Import BSC data configuration
Display the geographic view of BTSs
Cancel, add, and move the cells based on the geographic view of BTSs
Record spectrum utilization and analyze idle channel number
Check same-frequency BSIC
Analyze neighbor cells
Measure distance and azimuth angle
Display navigation window and legend
Query performance analysis tasks in common use
Make performance analysis task
Query network optimization tasks in common use
Make network optimization tasks
Perform tasks and alarms automatically
Import and export tasks
Display task result and site view
Query traffic statistics inversely from the cell set selected by site view
Display the traffic tasks in direct views, including linear figure, column,
pie (support the display of double y-axis and the simultaneous display of
multiple indexes; support 2D and 3D.)
Export electronic table (Excel) for query results.
5 GSM Radio Network Optimization

Radio network optimization aims to improve network performance and
maximize the benefit of the existing network resources through
parameter collection, data analysis, parameter adjustment, and
necessary technical means.
From the perspective of carriers, they hope to configure the system
rationally, utilize network resources to the maximum, enhance network
economic benefit, and reduce operation costs through network
optimization. From the perspective of users, they hope to get
satisfactory telecommunication services in terms network stability,
speech quality, and so on. Therefore, the core task of radio network
planning and optimization is to seek a balance among coverage,
capacity, and quality based on rational investment and the limited
frequency resources, thus achieving the best rate of investment
return.
Network Optimization Procedure 5.1
Hereunder details the procedure:
Network information acquisition

You are required to confirm the actual engineering parameters
and network parameters, survey the local radio environment and
hot-traffic spots, and understand customer requirement.
Data collection
You are required to collect OMCR traffic statistics data and alarm
data; drive test data, and the objective reflection of MS.
Data analysis
You are required to analyze network performance, network
parameters, and OMCR traffic statistics using network
optimization tools.
Network tuning
You are required to tune engineering parameters and network
functional parameters.
Network optimization report
A network optimization report must include optimization

measures, fulfilled network performance indexes, and suggestions
for network development.
4.10 Systematic Important Timers

4.10.1 T3101
I. Definition
T3101 is the BSC timer controlling time of immediate assignment process.
II. Format
T3101 ranges from 0 to 255s. The recommended value is 3s.
III. Configuration and Influence
In an immediate assignment process, the BSC requires BTS to provide SDCCH to
set up signaling channel. When the BSC sends a channel activation message,
T3101 starts timing. When the BSC receives the setup instruction sent by BTS,
T3101 stops timing. When T3101 expires, the system releases corresponding
SDCCH resources. Proper configuration of T3101 reduces congestion due to dual
assignment SDCCH effectively.
The greater the T3101 is, the longer the inefficient time for using signaling
resources is. For example, if the extended transmission delay is improperly
configured (usually the sum of T and S is over small), the MS fails in responding
to the network side, so the MS resends the random access request message.
Therefore, the network side will assign SDCCH (the network cannot distinguish
the repeated sending access request from the first send). For better use of
signaling resources, especially in activating queue function, you must configure
T3101 to a smaller value. The minimum interval for sending channel activation
message and receiving setup indicator is 600ms. For non-overload BSS, the
maximum interval is 1.8s.
4.10.2 T3103
I. Definition
In inter- and intra-BSS handover, the BSC determines the time for keeping TCH
both in handover-originated cell and target cell. When the time receives handover
completion (intra-BSC) or clearing (inter-BSC) message, T3103 stops.
II. Format
T3103 ranges from 0 to 255s. The recommended value is 5s.
The following paragraph is an example of inter-BSS handover.
When T3103 receives the handover command, it is reset and starts timing. When
it receives clearing command, it is reset. This means that T3103 reserves two
channels when it is timing, one channel for source BSC, and one channel for
target BSC. If it is over long, two channels are occupied for a long time and
resources might be wasted.
According to the tests, if the NSS timer is properly configured, the handover
process occurs within 5s. Therefore, the recommended value is 5s.
4.10.3 T3105
I. Definition
See the protocol 0408 and 0858. When sending physical information, the network
starts T3105. If the timer expires before receiving any correct frames from MS,
the network resends physical information and restarts the T3105. The maximum
repeated times is Ny1.
II. Format
T3105 ranges from 0 to 255, with unit of 10ms.
The physical information is sent on FACCH. The time for sending four TDMA in
a time on FACCH is about 18ms. If the next physical information is just sent
18ms after the first one, probably the first physical information is still being sent.
The minimum time for sending physical information continuously and most
quickly is 20ms.
IV. Precautions
T3105 is related to the timer NY1. If T3105 is small, configure NY1 to a greater
value. If a handover trial fails and the T3105 of the target cell expires for Ny
times before the original cell receives the HANDOVER FAILURE message, the
target BTS sends the CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION message to the
target BSC.
The counter of target BSC is renewed though MS might return to the original
channel. To avoid this, the T3105 must meet the following foulard:
Ny * T3105 > T3124 + delta
Wherein, delta is the time between expiration of T3124 and receiving
HANDOVER FAILURE message by original BSC.
4.10.4 T3107
I. Definition
T3107 is a BSC timer, restricting the time for executing TCH assignment
instruction. It caters for TCH assignment of intracell handover and channel
assignment of calling.
II. Format
T3107 ranges form 0s to 255s. The recommended values are as follows:
10s when channel resources are enough.

5s when channel resources are limited.

T3107 starts after the BSC sends the ASS_CMD message to BTS. It stops after
the BSC receives the ASS_CMP or ASS_FAIL message sent by BTS. If T3107
expires, the system judges that the MS disconnects to the network, so the
occupied resource is released to other MSs. According to the measured statistics
result of network, the channel assignment is complete within 2s. If the BSC does
not receive ASS_CMP message after 2s, the assignment command fails.
If the radio link is bad and some information must be resent, the process might be
prolonged to 5s. To avoid premature disconnection, configure T3107 to 10s. In
this way, the MS can reuse the original channel when handover or assignment
fails. Therefore the call drop due to intracell handover decreases or the system
service quality of re-assignment is improved (if the system supports reassignment function). However, the channel resource might be wasted for several
seconds. When the network capacity is limited, you must save the resource as
possible.
4.10.5 T3109
I. Definition
The BSC restricts the releasing resource of SACCH by T3109.
II. Format
T3109 ranges from 3s to 34s. The recommended T3109 is as follows:
T3109 = a + RdioLinktimeOut x 0.480s, a = 1s or 2s.
T3109 measures the time for channel releasing indicator after sending MS
clearing instructions. It starts after the BSC sends DEACT_SACCH message to
BTS. It stops after the BSC receives the REL_INC message sent by BTS. When
T3109 expires, the BSC sends the CLEAR REQUEST message to MSC.
IV. Precautions
The sum of T3111 and T3109 must be greater than RadioLinkTimeOut. If T3109
is over small, the corresponding radio resources are re-allocated before
RadioLinkTimeOut is due (radio link is not released).
4.10.6 T3111
I. Definition
T3111 is a connection release delay timer, used in deactivation of delayed channel
after disconnection of major signaling link. T3111 aims to spare some time for
repeated disconnections. When BSC receives the REL_IND message sent by
BTS, T3111 starts. For time protection, T3111 stops until expiration and the BSC
sends the RF_CHAN_REL message to BTS.
II. Format
T3111 ranges from 0s to 5s.

The recommended value is 2s.
After the disconnection of major signaling link, T3111 delays the release of
channels. It allows the base station to retransmit the instruction for releasing radio
channels to MS within delayed time. After the base station sends a release request
massage, the radio resources remain for T3111 time.
If the system capacity is small, configure T3111 as short as possible. The
minimum value of T3111 is 2s, over five multiples of the time for resending MS
the instruction for releasing radio channel resources. A greater T3111 might be of
no help, but affects congestion of SDCCH and TCH easily.
4.10.7 Parameter T3212
I. Definition
In a GSM network, the causes to location updating are as follows:
The MS attach.
The MS detects that its location area changes.
The network forces MS to update location periodically.

The network controls how frequent the MS updates location, and the period
for location updating is determined by the parameter T3212.
II. Format
T3212 ranges from 0 to 255, with unit of 6 minutes (1/10 hour). If T3212 = 1, it
means that T3212 is 6 minutes. If T3212 = 255, it means that T3212 is 25 hours
and 30 minutes. If T3212 = 0, it means that MS is not required for periodical
location updating in the cell. The recommended T3212 is 240.
As an important means, the periodical location updating enables network to
connect to MSs closely. Therefore, the short the period is, the overall service
performance of the network is. Anyhow frequent periodical location updating
brings two negative aspects:
The signaling flow of the network increases sharply and the utilization
of radio resource declines. When the period is over long, the processing
capability of network elements (NE, including MSC, BSC, and BTS) is
directly affected.
The MS must transmit signals with greater power, so the average

standby time is shortened sharply.
Therefore, configure T3212 according to resource utilization in various aspects of
network.
T3212 is configured by equipment room operators. Its value depends on the flow
and processing capability of each NE. Configure T3212 as follows:
Configure T3212 to a greater value (such as 16 hours, 20 hours, or even

25 hours) in areas with heavy traffic and signaling flow.
Configure T3212 to a smaller value (such as 3 hours or 6 hours) in areas

with low traffic and signaling flow.
Configure T3212 to 0 in areas with traffic overrunning the system

capacity.
To configure T3212 properly, you must permanently measure the processing
capability and flow of each UE in the running network, such as:
The processing capability of MSC and BSC
A interface, Abis interface, and Um interface
The capability of HLR and VLR

If any of the previously listed NEs is overloaded, you can consider increasing
T3212.
IV. Precautions
T3212 cannot be over small. Otherwise, the signaling flow at each interface
increases sharply and the MS (especially handset) consumes increasing power. If
the T3212 is smaller than 30 minutes (excluding 0), the network will be fiercely
impacted.
Configuring T3212 of different cells in the same location area to the same value
is recommended. In addition, the T3212 must be consistent with related
parameters of switching side (smaller than the implicit detach timer at switching
side).
If the T3212 of different cells in the same location area is the same, in the cell
reselection, the MS continues to time according the T3212 of the original cell. If
the T3212 of the original and target cell in the same location area is different, the
MS uses the T3212 of the original cell modulo that of the serving cell.
According to the actual tests of MS in the network, if the T3212 in the same
location area is different, after the MS performs modulo algorithm based on
behaviors of some users, the MS might power on normally. However, the MS
fails in originating location updating, so the network identifies it as implicit
detach. Now the MS powers on normally, but a user has powered off prompt
appears when it is called.
4.10.8 T3122
I. Definition
T3122 defines the period that the MS must wait for before the second trial calling
if the first trial calling fails. It aims to avoid congestion of SDCCH due to
repeated trial calling by MS and to relieve system load.
II. Format
T3122 ranges from 0s to 255s. The recommended value is 10s.
The value of T3122 is included in the immediate assignment reject message.
After the MS receives the immediate assignment reject message (no channels for
signaling, A interface failure, overload of central processing unit, namely, CPU),
it can send new trial calling request after T3122. T3122 aims to relieve radio
signaling and voice channel resources.
T3122 also help avoid systematic overload. When the CPU is overloaded, the
system multiplies T3122 by a factor (determined by processorLoadSupconf) to
increase T3122 through overload control. In peak load time, you can manage
network access by increasing T3122. Namely, you can increase the interval
between two continuous trial callings to relieve network load.
4.10.9 T3124
I. Definition
T3124 is used in occupation process in asynchronous handover. It is the time for
MS to receive the physical information send by network side.
II. Format
Configure it to 675ms when the channel type of assigned channel for
HANDOVER COMMAND message is SDCCH (+ SACCH). Configure it to
320ms in other situations.
When the MS sends the HANDOVER ACCESS message on the primary DCCH,
T3124 starts. When the MS receives a PHYSICAL INFORMATION message, the
MS stops T3124, stops sending access burst, activates the PCH in sending and
receiving mode, and connects to the channel if necessary.
If the assigned channel is a SDCCH (+ SACCH), you must enable MS to receive
a correct PHYSICAL INFORMATION message sent by network side in any
block. If T3124 expires (only in asynchronization) or the low layer link fails in
the new channel before sending the HANDOVER COMPLETE message, the MS
proceeds as follows:
1) Deactivate the new channel
2) Restart the original channel
3) Reconnect to TCH
4) Trigger to setup primary signaling link
Then the MS sends the HANDOVER FAILURE message on the primary
signaling link and return normal operation before trial handover. The parameters
for returning the original channel are those before response to the HANDOVER
COMMAND message (such as in encryption mode).
4.10.10 T11
I. Definition
T11 is an assignment request queue timer.
II. Format
T11 is determined by equipment room operators. It indicates the maximum
queuing delay for assignment request.
When the BSC is sending the ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message, no TCHs are
available. The ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message must be put to a queue and
the BSC sends the QUEUING INDICATION message to MSC. Meanwhile, T11
starts timing.
When the BSC sends the ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE message (TCH is
successfully assigned) or the ASSIGNMENT FAILURE message (TCH is not
assigned) to MSC, T11 stops timing.
If T11 expires, the corresponding ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message is
removed from queue and the BSC sends a CLEAR REQUEST message with the
cause of no radio resource available to MSC to clear calling. Assignment
queuing helps reduce service rejection times due to congestion, so enabling it is
recommended in a network. Anyhow, T11 cannot be over great and it must be
configured according to customer habits.
4.10.11 T200
I. Definition
T200 is important (both the MS and base station have T200) at Um interface in
data link layer LAPDm. LAPDm has different channels, such as SDCCH,
FACCH, and SACCH, and the transmission rate of different channel is different,
so T 200 must be configured with different values. The type of the channels
corresponding to T200 is the value of the T200.
II. Format
Different channels corresponds different values of T200. According to the
protocol, when SAPI = 0 and SAPI = 3, the T200 of corresponding data link is
dependently implemented, depending on delay of synchronous processing
mechanism and process in layer 1 and layer 2.
Table 7-1 Value range and default of each type of T200
Minimum
Maximu
m
T200_SDCCH_SAPI0
50
100
60; /* = 60 * 5 ms */
T200_FACCH_Full_Rate
40
100
50; /* = 50 * 5 ms */
T200_FACCH_Half_Rate
40
100
50; /* = 50 * 5 ms */
T200_SACCH_TCH SAPI0
120
200
150; /* = 150 * 10 ms */
T200_SACCH_TCH SAPI3
120
200
150; /* = 150 * 10 ms */
T200_SACCH_SDCCH
50
100
60; /* = 60 * 10 ms */
T200_SDCCH_SAPI3
50
100
60; /* = 60 * 5 ms */
T200
Default

T200 avoids deadlock in sending data in data link layer. The data link layer
changes the physical link in which error occurs easily to data link with no errors.
At the two ends of the data link communication system, a confirm-to-resend
mechanism is used. Namely, receiving a message by the receiver must be
confirmed by the sender.
If it is unknown that the message is lost, both two ends wait for messages, so the
system confronts a deadlock. Therefore, T200 is used by the sender. When T200
expires, the sender judges that the receiver fails in receiving the message, so it
resends the message.
When the sender needs to confirm whether the receiver has received the message,
T200 starts. When the sender receives the response from the receiver, T200 stops.
When T200 expires, the resending mechanism starts. If the sender receives no
response from the receiver after multiple resendings, it sends ERROR
INDICATION (T200 expiration) to layer 3.
IV. Precautions
T200 must be properly configured to ensure a predictable behavior at Um
interface. The rules for configuring T200 include:
The potentially-existing lost frames in radio link must be detected as

possible.
Necessary retransmission of frames must start at the earliest possible

moment.
If the response is delayed due to UE failure, the T200 cannot expire

before receiving and processing the next frame from the opposite end.
If T200 expires and no other frames are sent by preference, the related
frames must be resent in the message block.
T 200 starts immediately after next PH-READY-TO-SEND.

4.10.12 N200
I. Definition
N200 is the resending times after expiration of T200.
II. Format
To configure N200, follow rules below:
1) When SAPI = 0 or 3, N200 depends on the state and the channel used.
When multiframe operation is set up, it ensures a common time value for
layer 2 link failure in all channels. For layer 2 link establishment and release,
configure N200 to 5.
2) In timer recovery state, configure N200 as below:
5 (SACCH)
23 (SDCCH)
34 (FACCH of full rate)
29 (FACCH of half rate)
3) When SAPI is unequal to 0 or 3, configure N200 to 5, as shown in
Table 7-2 Situations of SAPI unequal to 0 or 3.
Table 7-2 Situations of SAPI unequal to 0 or 3
SAPI
Channel
SDCCH
FACCH/Full rate
Valid response
delay
Tresp
MS: 11
BSS: 32
9
Minimum
resending
delay
Trmin
51
26
Maximum resending
delay
Trmax Note 3
51
39
0
3
FACCH/Half rate
SDCCH
10
MS: 11
BSS: 32
34
51
51
44
Note 1
SACCH(with
25/129 Note 2
312
416
Note 2
TCH)
The TDMA frame is the measurement unit of values in this table, equal to
120/26ms (approximately 4.615ms)
Note 1: It caters for the process without SAPI 0 transmission. Otherwise, it
does not have a upper limit due to the priority of SAPI 0 transmission.
Note 2: You can configure it to a greater value only when PCH is
unavailable due to SAPI frame transmission if SAPI = 3.
Note 3: It caters only for sending monitoring frames that are available and
without F equal to 1.
3

If the BSC fails in receiving lay 2 response message after multiple resending, it
sends the ERROR INDICATION message (T200 expires) to layer 3. The BSC
takes statistics of ERROR INDICATION message by corresponding traffic
measurement counter. When T200 or N200 is configured to an over small value,
call drop occurs probably due to ERROR INDICATION.
8 Handover and Related Parameters

4.8.1 PBGT Handover Threshold (HoMargin)
I. Definition
The PBGT handover threshold is power handover tolerance (handover in serving
areas). When the signal level of neighbor cell is hoMargin (dB) higher than that
of the serving cell, handover occurs. Complex radio propagation conditions cause
fluctuation of signal level. Using handover tolerance avoids frequent handover at
bordering areas. The PBGT handover threshold is similar to HO_MARGIN
(GSM 05.08).
II. Format
The PBGT handover threshold ranges from 0 to 127, corresponding to 64 dB to
+63 dB. The reference value for suburban areas is 68. The reference value for
urban areas is 70 to 72.
The PBGT handover threshold aims to adjust handover difficulty properly, and to
avoid ping-pong handover. If it is configured over great, the handover is delayed
and handover is less efficient. When it is smaller than 64, the MS hands over from
the serving cell to the neighbor cell with lower level.
4.8.2 Minimum Downlink Power of Handover Candidate Cells (rxLevMinCell)
I. Definition
It is the minimum allowed access level for a cell to be a neighbor cell. When the
cell level measured by MS is greater than the threshold, the BSS list the cell into
candidate cell list for handover judgment.
II. Format
It ranges from 110 dBm to 47 dBm.
It is helpful in the following two aspects:
It guarantees communication quality.

For a common single layer network structure, the value ranges from 90
dBm to 80 dBm.
It helps allocate traffic between cells averagely.

Especially in multi-layer network structure, to maintain MS in a network
layer, you can increase the level of the cell of the network layer (such as 70
dBm), and also decrease that in other cells.
IV. Precautions
You cannot configure rxLevMinCell over great (over 65 dBm) or over small
(lower than 95 dBm), and otherwise communication quality is affected.
4.8.3 Handover Threshold at Uplink Edge
I. Definition
If the uplink received level keeps being smaller than the handover threshold at
uplink edge for a period, edge handover can be performed.
II. Format
It ranges from 0 to 63, corresponding to 110 dBm to 47 dBm. The
recommended values are as follows:
Configure it to 25 in urban areas without PBGT handover.
Configure it to 20 in single site of suburban areas.
Configure it to 20 in urban areas with PBGT handover

When PBGT handover is enabled, the corresponding edge handover threshold can
be lowered. When PBGT handover is disabled, and the edge handover threshold
is over low, an artificial cross-cell non-handover occurs. Therefore call drop
occurs or intra-frequency and side interference occur due to cross-cell talk.
4.8.4 Handover Threshold at Downlink Edge
I. Definition
If the downlink received level keeps being smaller than the handover threshold at
downlink edge for a period, edge handover can be performed.
II. Format
It ranges from 0 to 63, corresponding to 110 dBm to 47 dBm. The

recommended values are as follows:
Configure it to 30 in urban areas without PBGT handover.
Configure it to 25 in single site of suburban areas.
Configure it to 25 in urban areas with PBGT handover

When PBGT handover is enabled, the corresponding edge handover threshold can
be lowered. When PBGT handover is disabled, and the edge handover threshold
is over low, an artificial cross-cell non-handover occurs. Therefore call drop
occurs or intra-frequency and side interference occur due to cross-cell talk.
4.8.5 Downlink Quality Restriction of Emergency Handover
I. Definition
If the downlink received quality is lower than the threshold of downlink quality
restriction of emergency handover, the quality difference emergency handover
occurs.
II. Format
It ranges from 0 to 70, corresponding to RQ (QoS 0 to 7) x 10.
The recommended value is 50.
When frequency hopping is enabled, the voice quality is better with the same RQ,
you can configure it to 60 or 70. When emergency handover occurs, the intracell
handover occurs first. If there are no other candidate cells, and the intracell
handover is enabled, the intracell handover occurs.
4.8.6 Uplink Quality Restriction of Emergency Handover
I. Definition
If the uplink received quality is lower than it, quality difference emergency
handover is triggered.
II. Format
you can configure it to 60 or 70. When emergency handover occurs, the intracell
handover occurs first. If there are no other candidate cells, and the intracell
handover is enabled, the intracell handover occurs.
4.8.7 Uplink Quality Threshold of Interference Handover
I. Definition
It is the uplink received quality threshold of the serving cell that triggers
interference handover. The interference handover is triggered if all the following
conditions are met:
The uplink received level is higher than the uplink received power
threshold of interference handover.
The uplink received quality is lower than the uplink quality threshold of
interference handover.
When handover switch is enabled, the interference handover occurs within the
cell by preference.
II. Format
you can configure it to 60 or 70. When interference handover is triggered, select
the candidates according to the sorted result. If the serving cell ranks first and its
intracell handover is enabled, the MS selects the serving cell; otherwise it selects
the second candidate cell.
4.8.8 Downlink Quality Threshold of Interference Handover
I. Definition
It is the downlink received quality threshold of the serving cell that triggers
interference handover. The interference handover is triggered if all the following
conditions are met:
The downlink received level is higher than the downlink received

power threshold of interference handover.
The downlink received quality is lower than the downlink quality

cell by preference.
II. Format
you can configure it to 60 or 70. When interference handover is triggered, select
the candidates according to the sorted result. If the serving cell ranks first and its
intracell handover is enabled, the MS selects the serving cell; otherwise it selects
the second candidate cell.
IV. Precautions
The interference handover quality must be better than emergency handover

quality.
4.8.9 Uplink Received Power Threshold of Interference Handover
I. Definition
If interference handover occurs due to uplink quality, the serving cell must reach
the minimum uplink received power threshold. If this is met, the system judges
that uplink is interfered, so interference handover is triggered.
The interference handover is triggered if all the following conditions are met:
The uplink received level is higher than the uplink received power
The uplink received quality is lower than the uplink quality threshold of
interference handover.
cell by preference.
II. Format
It ranges from 0 to 63, corresponding to 110 dBm to 47 dBm.
III. Configurationa and Influence
When interference handover is triggered, select the candidates according to the
sorted result. If the serving cell ranks first and its intracell handover is enabled,
the MS selects the serving cell; otherwise it selects the second candidate cell.
4.8.10 Downlink Received Power Threshold of Interference Handover
I. Definition
If interference handover occurs due to uplink quality, the serving cell must reach
the minimum downlink received power threshold. If this is met, the system judges
that downlink is interfered, so interference handover is triggered.
The interference handover is triggered if all the following conditions are met:
The downlink received level is higher than the downlink received

power threshold of interference handover.
The downlink received quality is lower than the downlink quality

cell by preference.
II. Format
It ranges from 0 to 63, corresponding to 110 dBm to 47 dBm.
When interference handover is triggered, select the candidates according to the

sorted result. If the serving cell ranks first and its intracell handover is enabled,
the MS selects the serving cell; otherwise it selects the second candidate cell.
4.8.11 Maximum Repeated Times of Physical Messages (NY1)
I. Definition
In asynchronous handover process of GSM system, when the MS receives
handover messages of the network, it sends handover access messages on the
target channel. After the network receives the message, it does as follows:
1) Calculate related RF features.
2) Send physical messages (it the channel messages are encrypted, start
encryption and decryption algorithm) in unit data to MSs.
3) Start timer T3105.
If the network does not receive correct layer 2 frames sent by MS until expiration
of T3105, the network will resend the physical message and restart T3105. The
maximum times for resending physical messages is determined by the parameter
maximum repeated times of physical messages (NY1)
II. Format
NY1 ranges from 0 to 254.
When the network receives the handover access messages sent by MS, the
physical channel (PCH) needs to be synchronous. If the communication quality
on channels is guaranteed, the MS can receive physical messages correctly and
send layer 2 frames to the network.
If the physical messages are sent multiple times, and the network cannot receive
layer 2 frames sent by MS, the PCH is too poor to communicate normally.
Though link is setup after multiple trials, the communication quality is not
guaranteed. This lowers the utilization of radio resources. Therefore configure
NY1 to a smaller value.
IV. Precautions
Configuring NY1 is affected by T3105. If T3105 is configured to a short value,
then the NY1 needs to be increased accordingly.
If a handover trial fails before the original cell receives the HANDOVER
FAILURE message, and the T3105 of the target cell expires for Ny times, the
target BTS sends a CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION message to the
target BSC. Though the MS might return to the original channel, the traffic
measurement counters from multiple vendors will take statistics of connection
failure.
To avoid the previous phenomenon, configure T3105 as follows:
Ny * T3105 > T3124 + delta (delta: the time between expiration of T3124 and
receiving HANDOVER FAILURE message by original BTS)
4.8.12 Multiband Indicator (multiband_reporting)

I. Definition
In a single band GSM network, when the MS send measurement reports of
neighbor cells to the network, it needs to report the content of the six neighbor
cells with strongest signals.
In a multiband network, operators wish that MS uses a band by preference in
cross-cell handover. Therefore the MS sends measurement reports according to
signal strength and signal band. The parameter multiband indicator indicates MS
to report content of multiband neighbor cells.
II. Format
The multiband indicator ranges from 0 to 3, with meanings as follows:
0: According to signal strength of neighbor cells, the MS must report six

allowed measurement reports of neighbor cells with strongest signals and
known NCC, with the neighbor cells in whatever band.
1: The MS must report the allowed measurement report of a neighbor

cell with known NCC and with strongest signals at each band expect for the
band used by the serving cell. The MS must also report the neighbor cells of
the band used by the serving cell in rest locations. If there are other rest
locations, the MS must report conditions of other neighbor cells in any band.
2: The MS must report the allowed measurement report of two neighbor

cells with known NCC and with strongest signals at each band expect for the
band used by the serving cell. The MS must also report the neighbor cells of
the band used by the serving cell in rest locations. If there are other rest
locations, the MS must report conditions of other neighbor cells in any band.
3: The MS must report the allowed measurement report of three

neighbor cells with known NCC and with strongest signals at each band
expect for the band used by the serving cell. The MS must also report the
neighbor cells of the band used by the serving cell in rest locations. If there
are other rest locations, the MS must report conditions of other neighbor cells
in any band.
In multiband networks, it is related to traffic of each band. For configuration,
refer to the following rules:
If the traffic of each band is approximately equal, and operators do not

select a band intentionally, you can configure the multiband indicator to 0
If the traffic of each band is obviously different, and operators want MS

to select a band by preference, you can configure the multiband indicator to
3.
For situations between the previous two, configure multiband indicator

to 1 or 2.
4.8.13 Permitted Network Color Code (ncc permitted)
I. Definition
During a talk, the MS must report the measured signals of neighbor cells to the
base station, but each report includes only six neighbor cells. Therefore the MS is
configured to report the potential handover target neighbor cells, instead of
reporting unselectively and according to signal level.
To enable previous functions, restrict MS to measure the cells with the fixed
network color code (NCC). The NNC allowed by parameters list the NCCs of the
cells to be measured by MS. The MS compares the measured NCC of neighbor
cells and NCCs set allowed by parameters. If the measured NCC is in the set, the
MS reports the NCC to the base station; otherwise, the MS discard the
measurement report.
II. Format
The parameter ncc permitted is a bit mapping value, consisting of 8 bits. The
most significant bit is bit 7 while the least significant bit is bit 0. Each bit
corresponds to an NCC code 0 to 7 (see GSM regulations 03.03 and 04.08).
If the bit N is 0 (N ranges from 0 to 7), the MS needs not to measure the level of
the cell with NCC of N. Namely, it only measures the signal quality and level of
the cells corresponding to bit number of 1 in NCC and ncc permitted
configuration.
Each area is allocated with one or more NCCs. In the parameter ncc permitted of
the cell, the local NCC is absolutely and only included. If excluded, abnormal
handover and call drop occur. For normal roaming between areas, the NCC of
neighbor areas must be included in the edge cells of an area.
IV. Precautions
Improper configuration of the parameter causes normal handover and even call
drop. The parameter only affects behaviors of MS.
4.7 Radio Link Failure Process and Parameters

The radio link failure is detected from uplink and downlink. The MS completes
downlink detection, while the base station completes uplink detection.
4.7.1 Radio Link Failure Counter (RLC or Radio Link Timeout)
I. Definition
The MS originates call resetup or disconnects by force if all the following
conditions are met:
The voice or data quality is too poor to be received.
Power control and handover cannot help to improve the quality.

A disconnection by force actually brings about a call drop, so the MS considers it
a radio link failure that the voice or data service is actually too poor to be
received. GSM regulations provide solutions to the previous problems as follows:
Set a counter S in the MS. The initial value of S is provided at the beginning of
talk, and it is the value of the parameter radio link failure counter. S changes as
follows:
S decreases by 1 if the MS fails in decoding a correct SACCH message

when the MS should receive the SACCH message.
S increases by 2 if the MS succeed in decoding a correct SACCH

message.
S cannot exceed the value for radio link failure counter. When S equals to 0, the
MS originates call resetup or disconnects by force.
II. Format
The step from 4 to 64 is 4, with unit of SACCH period as follows:
For TCH, the SACCH period is 480ms.
For SDCCH, the SACCH period is 470ms.

The value of the parameter radio link failure counter affects CDR and utilization
of radio resources.
Assume that cell A is a neighbor cell to cell B and the bordering coverage is poor.
When an MS moves from P to Q while in talk,
If the radio link failure counter is over small, call drop occurs before
cross-cell handover.
If the radio link failure counter is over great, the network releases
related resources until radio link expires, though the voice quality is too poor
when MS camps on cell B near P. Therefore, the utilization of radio resources
declines.
Proper configuration of radio link failure counter is important, and is related to
the actual situations. To configure radio link failure counter, refer to the following
rules:
Configure it to between 52 and 64 in areas with over low traffic.
Configure it to between 36 and 48 in areas with low traffic and great

coverage radium
Configure it to between 20 and 32 in areas with heavy traffic.

IV. Precautions
Configure radioLinkTimeout to smaller than T3109. This contributes to success
of call resetup and avoids the following situation effectively:
Before the MS releases radio resources due to expiration, the network side
completes releasing channels resources and reallocates resources to other MSs.
Therefore two MSs might use the same slot and this causes interferences even
call drop.
4.7.2 SACCH Multiframe (RLTO_BS)
I. Definition
Refer to the description of radio link failure counter. A counter is set accordingly
to radio link at base station side for managing radio link failures. The solutions
vary due to different equipment providers, but a general method is as follows:
Set a counter S in the base station. The initial value of S is provided at the
beginning of talk, and it is the value of the parameter radio link failure expiration.
S changes as follows:
S decreases by 1 if the MS fails in decoding a correct SACCH message

when the MS should receive the SACCH message.
S increases by 2 if the MS succeed in decoding a correct SACCH

message.
S cannot exceed the value for radio link expiration of base station. When S equals
to 0, the MS originates call resetup or disconnects by force, as shown in Error:
Reference source not found.
II. Format
RLT0_BS ranges from 4 to 64.
Proper configuration of radio link expiration of base station affects CDR and
utilization of radio resources. It is related to the actual situations. To configure
radio link failure counter, refer to the following rules:
Configure it to between 52 and 64 in areas with over low traffic.
Configure it to between 36 and 48 in areas with low traffic and great

coverage radium
Configure it to between 20 and 32 in areas with heavy traffic.
Configure it to a greater value in areas with apparent voids or where call

drop occurs frequently while the MS moves.
IV. Precautions
RLT0_BS and RLC must be consistent.
4.6 Distance Control Parameters

4.6.1 Call Clearing
I. Definition
Call clearing (CallClearing) means that the maximum allowed distance threshold
is cleared between MS and base station in talk.
II. Format
CallClearing ranges from 0 to 63, with unit of TA.
Configure CallClearing according to actual coverage range of a cell. Proper

configuration of CallClearing helps check whether the handover threshold of the
cell is properly defined, especially for urban cells.
If the call is frequently cleared after CallClearing threshold is defined according
to cell radium, probably the handover threshold is improperly configured. This is
due to that the MS cannot hand over to the best server cell after exceeding
designed coverage range.
Define CallClearing according to msRangeMax, namely, CallClearing >
msRangeMax.
In actual network operation, call clearing is unusually performed, because radio
link fails due to over poor coverage before call clearing. Defining CallClearing
aims to restrict the distance between MS and base station and to avoid MSs in
allowed coverage range to interfere other MSs, especially in areas with complex
landform.
The cell coverage range is irregular, so island effect might occur. For this
phenomenon, define CallClearing to clear calls in island areas.
4.6.2 TA Handover Threshold (MSRANGEMAX)
I. Defintion
When the distance between MS and base station reaches or exceeds
MSRANGEMAX, distance handover is triggered.
II. Format
MSRANGEMAX ranges from 0 to 63, with unit of TA. The reference is 63.
MSRANGEMAX must be smaller than CallClearing, and otherwise the handover
function will be actually unavailable. While configuring MSRANGEMAX, you
must adjust the threshold of other types of handover; otherwise ping-pong
handover occurs. one occasion might be as follows:
The distance between MS and the serving cell exceeds the threshold, but the
signals of target cell are weaker than that of original cell. Consequently the
PowerBudget handover is triggered immediately after distance handover is
triggered.
4.6.3 TA Restriction (MS_BS_DIST_USED)
I. Definition
The maximum allowed access distance between base station and MS. If the
distance between an MS and base station exceeds the maximum allowed access
distance, the MS is forbidden to access cells.
II. Format
The range is 0 to 63, with unit of TA. The reference is 63.
For its configuration, refer to the method for configuring CallClearing. Adjust the
parameter to enable it consistent with the geographic coverage range of the cell.
Set a proper threshold to filter pseudo RACH requests to avoid unnecessary
assigning SDCCH.
According to tests, for mountain-mounted base stations, the coverage and
interference is difficult to control. If you define the maximum allowed access
distance to 63, the RACH misjudgment increases (the system demodulates
interference to RACH bursts by mistake). Therefore the radio performance and
traffic measurement indexes of the cell are affected.
4.5 Frequency Hopping Parameters

4.5.1 Frequency Hopping Sequence Number
I. Definition
In a GSM network, the cell allocation (CA) means the set of carriers used by each
cell, recorded as {R0, R1, , Rn - 1}. Wherein, Ri indicates the absolute channel
number. For each communication process, the set of carriers used by base station
and MS is mobile allocation (MA), recorded as {M0, M1, , Mn - 1}. Wherein,
Mi indicates the absolute channel number. Obviously MA is a subset of CA.
During a communication process, the air interface uses a carrier number, one
element of MA. The variable mobile allocation index (MAI) determines an exact
element of MA. According to the frequency hopping algorithm in GSM
regulation 05.02, the MAI is the TDMA frame number (RN) or reduced frame
number (RFN), frequency hopping sequence number (HSN), and mobile
allocation index offset (MAIO).
Wherein, the HSN determines two aspects:
Track of frequency points during frequency hopping
The asynchronous neighbor cells using the same MA can avoid

continuous frequency collision during frequency hopping by using different
HSNs.
II. Format
HSN is in decimal, ranging from 0 to 63, wherein:
0: cyclic frequency hopping
163: pseudo frequency hopping

You can choose any HSN in cells using frequency hopping, but you must ensure
that the cells using same frequency group must use different HSN. The following
paragraph is an exception:
In an 1X1 network, three cells under a base station use the same frequency group,
but they are synchronous cells because of same FN. Therefore the three cells use
the same HSN. You must plan MAIO properly to avoid frequency collision of the
three cells under the same base station.
4.5.2 Mobile Allocation

I. Definition
The mobile allocation (MA) in the GSM network indicates a frequency set for
frequency hopping. Namely, when the MA of a cell is fixed, the communication
frequency points of the cell performs transient in the set by MA according to
rules.
The parameter MA determines all the elements in MA.
II. Format
MA is a set, with all GSM frequency points as its element, namely:
For GSM900 networks: 1124 and 9751023.
For GSM1800 networks: 512885

MA is configured according to network designing requirements.
IV. Precautions
Chinese GSM networks do not cover all available frequency bands of GSM
system, so configure MA in available frequency bands.
The number of elements in each MA set cannot exceed 63.
The MA cannot include BCCH carriers.
The number of MA must not be multiples of 13 if all the following conditions are
met:
Using DTX
HSN = 0 (cyclic frequency hopping)

You must avoid SACCH to appear usually at the same frequency point.
4.5.3 Mobile Allocation Index Offset
I. Definition
During communication, the air interface uses a carrier frequency, one element of
MA set. MIO determines an exact element of MA set. According to the frequency
hopping algorithm in GSM regulation 05.02, the MAI is the TDMA frame
number (RN) or reduced frame number (RFN), frequency hopping sequence
number (HSN), and mobile allocation index offset (MAIO). MAIO is an initial
offset of MAI, and it aims to avoid multiple channels to use the same frequency
carrier in the same time.
II. Format
MAIO ranges from 0 to 63.
MAIO is configured by equipment room operators.
IV. Precautions
The different cells using same group of MA must use consistent MAIO.
Using different MAIOs enables different sectors in the same location to use the
same frequency group (MA) without frequency collision.
4.3 Serial Parameters of Cell Selection and Reselection

4.3.1 cell_bar_access
I. Definition
In the SI broadcasted in each cell, a bit indicates whether the MS is allowed to
access the network in the cell, namely, cell_bar_access.
II. Format
The value of cell_bar_access includes 1 and 0. The value 0 indicates that MS is
allowed to access the network from the cell. The value 1 indicates that the MS is
barred to access the network from the cell. Actually whether to allow MS to
access the network from the cell is determined by both cell_bar_access and
cell_bar_qualify.
The cell_bar_access is configured by equipment room operators. Usually the MS is allowed
to access the network from all the cells, so cell_bar_access is configured to 0. In special
situations, the operators want some cell for handover service only, so cell_bar_access is
configured to 1
The MS usually works in microcells (you can configure the priority of cells and reselection
parameters to enable this). When the MS is calling while moving fast, the network force MS
to hand over to the base station G. The signals of base station G are stronger than microcell
base station in most areas. When the call terminates, the MS just camps near base station G
and at edge of microcell cells, the MS will not reselect a cell according to GSM regulations,
therefore the MS cannot return to microcell.
The capacity of base station G is usually small, so the previous phenomenon leads
to congestion of base station G. To solve the problem, you can configure the
cell_bar_access to 1, namely, to forbid MS directly accessing base station G. In
area A, handover is allowed to base station G.
IV. Precautions
The cell_bar_access is used only in some special areas. For common cells, it is
configured to 0.
4.3.2 cell_bar_qualify
I. Definition
The cell_bar_qualify determines the priority of cells, namely, it enables MS to
select some cell by preference.
II. Format
The value of cell_bar_qualify includes 1 and 0. The cell_bar_qualify and
cell_bar_access determine the priority state of cells, as listed in Table 7-1 Cell
priorit.
Table 7-1 Cell priorities
cell_bar_qualify
cell_bar_access
Cell selection priority
Cell reselection state
Normal
Normal
Barred
Barred
Low
Normal
Low
Normal
An exception is that the cell selection priority and cell reselection state are normal
when the following conditions are met:
The cell belongs to the PLMN which the MS belongs to.
The MS is in cell test operation mode.
The cell_bar_access is 1.
The cell_bar_qualify is 0.
The access control class 15 is disabled.

The priority of all the cells are usually configured to normal, namely,
cell_bar_qualify = 0. In microcell and dualband networking, operators might
want MS to camps on the cell of some type by preference. In this situation, the
equipment room operators can configure the priority of these cells to normal and
other cells to low.
During cell selection, when the proper cells with normal as the priority is not
present (proper cells means that all parameters meet the conditions for cell
selection, namely, C1 > 0, and the cell is allowed to access), the MS will select
cells with low priority.
IV. Precautions
Pay attention to the following aspects:
When cell priority is used as a method to optimize network, the

cell_bar_qualify only affects cell selection, without any influence on cell
reselection. You must optimize the network by combining cell_bar_qualify
and C2.
During cell selection, when the proper cells with normal as the priority
is not present, the MS will select cells with low priority. Therefore when the
level of the cell with normal priority is low, and cells with low priority and
high level are present, the MS will access the network slowly while powering
on.
4.3.3 Minimum Received Level Allowing MS to Access (RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN)
I. Definition
To avoid bad communication quality, call drop, and a waste of network radio
resources due to MS accessing the network at low received signal level, GSM
regulations prescribe that when an MS accesses the network the received level
must be greater than the threshold level, namely, the minimum received level
allowing MS to access.
II. Format
The value range of RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN is from 110 dBm to 47 dBm.
The recommended RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN needs to be approximately equal to
the receiving sensitivity of MS. The RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN affects cell
selection parameter C1, so it is important to traffic adjustment and network
optimization.
For cells with over high traffic and severe congestion, you can increase
RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN. In this way, the C1 and C2 of the cells decrease, and
the effective coverage range decreases. You must not configure
RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN over great, because this might cause non-seamless
coverage and complaints for signal fluctuation. It is recommended that the
RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN is smaller than or equal to 90 dBm.
IV. Precautions
Except for areas of high density of base stations and of qualified coverage,
adjusting cell traffic by RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN is not recommended.
4.3.4 Additional Reselection Parameter Indicator
I. Definition
The cell selection and reselection by MS depends on the parameters C1 and C2.
Whether C2 is the cell reselection parameter is determined by network operators.
Additional reselection parameter indicator (ADDITIONAL RESELECT) informs
MS of whether to use C2 in cell reselection.
II. Format
ADDITIONAL RESELECT consists of 1 bit. In SI3, it is meaningless, and
equipment manufacturers configure it to N. The MS uses ADDITIONAL
RESELECT of SI4.
When ADDITIONAL RESELECT is configured to N, the meaning is: if

the rest bytes of SI4 (SI4RestOctets) are present, the MS must abstract and
calculate parameters related to C2 and related cell reselection parameter PI.
When ADDITIONAL RESELECT is configured to Y, the meaning is

that the MS must abstract and calculate parameters related to C2 and related
cell reselection parameter PI.
Cells seldom use SI7 and SI8, so you can configure ADDITIONAL RESELECT
to N. When cells use SI7 and SI8, and the parameter C2 is used in cell
reselection, you can configure ADDITIONAL RESELECT to Y.
4.3.5 Cell Reselection Parameter Indicator

I. Definition
The cell reselection parameter indicator (CELL_RESELECT_PARAM_IND) is
used in informing MS of whether C2 is a cell reselection parameter and whether
C2 is present.
II. Format
The value of CELL_RESELECT_PARAM_IND includes Y and N, with the
meanings as follows:
Y: The MS must calculate C2 by abstracting parameters from SIs of cell

broadcast, and set C2 as the standard for cell reselection.
N: The MS must set C1 as the standard, namely, C2 = C1.

The equipment room operators determine the value of PI. Configure PI to Y if
related cells set C2 as the standard for cell reselection; otherwise, configure it to
N.
4.3.6 Cell Reselection Offset, Temporary Offset, and Penalty Time
I. Definition
After the MS selects a cell, without great change of all the conditions, the MS
will camp on the selected cell. Meanwhile, it does as follow:
Starts measuring signals level of BCCH carrier in neighbor cells.
Records the 6 neighbor cells with greatest signal level.
Abstract various SI and control information of each neighbor cell from

the 6 cells.
When conditions are met, the MS hands over from the selected cell to another.
This process is called cell reselection. The conditions include:
Cell priority
Whether the cell is barred to access
Radio channel level (important)

When the signal level of neighbor cells exceeds that of the serving cell, cell
reselection occurs. The channel level standard used in cell reselection is C2, with
the calculation as follows:
1) When PENELTY_TIME 11111:
C2 = C1 + CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET - TEMPORARY_OFFSET * H
(PENALTY_TIME - T)
Wherein, if PENALTY_TIME - T (x) < 0, the function H(x) = 0; if x 0,
H(x) = 1.
2) When PENELTY_TIME = 11111:
C2 = C1 - CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET
T is a timer, with 0 as the initial value. When a cell is listed by MS in the list of
cells with maximum signal level, start T with step of 4.62ms (a TDMA frame).
When the cell is removed from the list, the associated T is reset.
After cell reselection, the T of original cell works as PENALTY_TIME. Namely,

temporary offset is not performed on the original cell.
CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET (CRO) modifies cell reselecting time C2.
TEMPORARY_OFFSET (TO) is supplemented to C2 from starting working of T
to the prescribed time.
PENALTY_TIME is the time for TEMPORARY_OFFSET having effect on C2.
When PENALTY_TIME = 11111, the MS is informed of using C2 = C1 CRO.
CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET, TEMPORARY_OFFSET, and PENALTY_TIME
are cell reselection parameters.
When the cell reselection parameter PI is 1, the MS is informed of

receiving values of three parameters on BCCH.
If PI is 0, the MS judges that the previous three parameters are 0,

namely C2 = C1.
If the C2 of a cell (in the same location area as the serving cell) calculated by MS
is greater than the C2 of the cell where MS camps, and this lasts for over 5s, the
MS reselects to camp on the cell.
If the C2 of a cell (in different location area as the serving cell) calculated by MS
is greater than the sum of C2 of the cell where MS camps and cell reselect
hysteresis, and this lasts for over 5s, the MS reselects to camp on the cell.
The interval between two reselections is at least 15s, and this avoids frequent cell
reselection by MS.
C2 is formed on the combination of C1 and artificial offset parameters. The
artificial offset parameters help MS camp on or prevent MS from camping on
some cell. This balances the traffic of the network.
II. Format
1) The cell reselection offset (CRO) is in decimal, with unit of dB. It
ranges from 0 to 63, which means 0 to 126 dB (2 dB as the step). The
recommended value is 0.
2) The temporary offset (TO) is in decimal, with unit of dB. It ranges from
0 to 7, which means 0 to 70 dB (10 dB as the step). The recommended value
is 0.
3) The penalty time (PT) is in decimal, with unit of second. It ranges from
0 to 31. The value 0 to 30 means 20s to 620s (20s as the step). The value 31
is reserved for changing the effect direction of C2 by CRO. The
The previous parameters can be adjusted accordingly in the following three
situations:
1) When the communication quality is bad due to heavy traffic or other
causes, change the parameters to enable MS not camps on the cell (the cell is
exclusive from the MS). For this situation, configure PT to 31, so TO is
ineffective. C2 = C1 CRO. The C2 is artificially lowered. So the
probability for MS to reselect the cell decreases. In addition, the equipment
room operators can configure CRO to a proper value according to the
exclusive level of the cell by MS. The greater the exclusion is, the greater the
CRO is.
2) For cells with low traffic and equipment of low utilization, change the
parameters to enable MS to camp on the cell (the cell is prior). In this
situation, configure CRO to 020 dB according to the priority. The higher the
priority is, the greater the CRO is. TO is configured the same as or a little
greater than CRO. PT helps avoid over frequent cell reselection, the
recommended value of PT is 20s or 40s.
3) For cell with average traffic, configure CRO to 0, PT to 11111 so that
C2 = C1. No artificial influence is on the cell.
IV. Precautions
In whatever situations, the CRO must not be greater than 30 dB, because over
great CRO leads to unstable network, such as complaints about signal fluctuation.
4.3.7 Cell Reselection Hysteresis (CRH)
I. Definition
CRH affects cell reselection of cross location area. The MS starts cell reselection
if the following conditions are met:
The signal level of neighbor cell (in different location area) is greater
than that of the serving cell.
The difference between the signal levels of the neighbor cell and the
serving cell must be greater than the value prescribed by cell reselection
hysteresis.
The difference is based on the cell reselection methods used by MS. If the MS
reselects a cell with C2, then compare values of C2.
II. Format
CRH is in decimal, with unit of dB. The range is 0 to 14, with step of 2 dB. The
If the original cell and target cell belongs to different location areas, the MS must
originate a location updating process after cell reselection. Due to the attenuation
feature of radio channels, the C2 of two cells measured at the bordering area of
neighbor cells fluctuates much, so the MS reselect cells frequently. The interval
between two reselections is over 15s, which is rather short for location updating.
The signal flow of network increases sharply, radio resources cannot be fully
utilized.
During location updating, the MS cannot respond to paging, so the connection
rate decreases. Adjust CRH according to signal flow and coverage. When signal
flow overloads or location updating of cross location area is frequent, the cell
reselection hysteresis is increased as recommended. You must avoid abnormal
coverage due to over large location area.
IV. Precautions
Do not configure CRH to 0 dB.
Paging and Access Control Parameters

4.2.1 Number of Access Grant Reserved Blocks (BS_AG_BLK_RES or AG)
I. Definition
The common control channel consists of access grant channel (AGCH) and
paging channel (PCH).
For different CCCHs, each BCCH multiframe (including 51 frames) contains
CCCH message blocks different number. The CCCH is shared by AGCH and
PCH. According g to regulations, partial message blocks on CCCH are especially
reserved for AGCH. This avoids that the AGCH messages are blocked when the
PCH traffic is great.
The number of parameter access grant reserved blocks (AG) refers to the number
of message blocks reserved for AGCH on CCCH in each BCCH multiframe.
II. Format
The AG ranges from 0 to 2 when CCCH shares physical channel (CCCH_CONF
= 1) with stand-alone dedicated control channel (SDCCH).
The AG ranges from 0 to 5 when CCCH does not share physical channel
(CCCH_CONF=0) with stand-alone dedicated control channel (SDCCH).
When the channel combination of the cell is fixed, the parameter AG adjusts the
ratio of AGCH and PCH in CCCH. When the PCH is idle, it can send immediate
assignment messages. The AGCH does not transmit paging messages. Equipment
operators can balance AGCH and PCH by adjusting AG, with the following
principles.
The principle for AG value is that based on no overload of AGCH, you must
reduce the parameter to shorten the time for MS to respond to paging, and to
improve system service performance. When the immediate assignment messages
are superior to paging messages to be sent, configure AG to 0.
The value of AG is recommended as follows:
AG is 1 when the CCCH and SDCCH share a physical channel.
AG is 2 or 3 in other situations.
In network operation, take statistics of overload situations of AGCH and adjust
AG accordingly. By default the immediate assignment messages are superior to
paging messages to be sent in the network, so you need not reserve a channel for
immediate assignment messages. In this situation, configure AG to 0.
4.2.2 Frame Number Coding Between Identical Paging
Frame number coding between identical paging is BS_PA_MFRMS (MFR for
short).
I. Definition
According to GSM regulations, each MS (corresponding to an IMSI) belongs to a
paging group (for calculation of paging groups, see GSM regulation 05.02). Each
paging group in a cell corresponds to a paging subchannel. According to its IMSI,

the MS calculates the paging group that it belongs to, and then calculates the
location of paging subchannel that belongs to the paging group. The MS only
receives the signals of the paging subchannel that it belongs to, and neglects that
of other paging subchannels. In addition, the MS even powers off some hardware
of itself during other paging subchannel to lower power cost of itself.
The number of paging channel multiframe (MFR) is the number of multiframes
used in a period of paging subchannel. The MFR determines the number of
paging subchannels that the cell PCH is divided into.
II. Format
The MFR ranges from 2 to 9, which respectively means that the same paging
group cycles in a period of 2 to 9 multiframes.
According to the definition of CCCH, AG, and MFT, you can calculate the
number of paging channel in each cell.
When the CCCH and SDCCH share a physical channel, there is (3 AG) MFRs.
When the CCCH and SDCCH share a physical channel, there is (9 AG) MFRs.
According to the previous analysis, the greater the MFR is, the more the paging
channels of the cell are (see the calculation of paging groups in GSM regulation
05.02). Theoretically, the capacity of paging channels does not increase with the
increase of MFR. The number of buffers for buffering paging messages on each
base transceiver station (BTS) increases. The paging messages are sent more
evenly both in time and space, so it seldom occurs that the paging messages
overflow in the buffers so call lost occurs (related to functions by equipment
providers).
However, to enjoy the previous advantages, you will have a longer delay of
paging messages on the radio channels. The greater the MFR is, the greater the
delay of paging messages in the space is, and the lower the average service
performance of the system is. Therefore, the MFR is an important parameter in
network optimization.
The following principle caters for configuring MFR:
The configured strategy for buffers of each equipment provider is different, so
you must select the MFR properly so that the paging messages do not overflow
on PCH. Based on this, configure the parameter as small as possible. In addition,
you must measurement the overflow situations of PCH periodically while the
network is running, and adjust MFR accordingly.
IV. Precautions
Any paging message of the same location area must be sent to all cells in the
location areas at the same time, so the PCH capacity of each cell in the location
area must be equivalent or close to each other. Otherwise, you must consider
smaller PCH capacity as the evidence for designing location area.
4.2.3 Common Control Channel Configuration (CCCH-CONF)
I. Definition
The CCCH includes AGCH and PCH. It sends immediate assignment messages
and paging messages. In each cell, all traffic channels (TCHs) share CCCH.
According to the TCH configuration and traffic model of the cell, the CCCH can
be one or more physical channels. In addition, the CCCH and SDCCH share a
physical channel. The combination methods for CCH are determined by CCCH
parameter CCCH_CONF.
II. Format
The CCCH_CONF consists of three bits, with the coding methods listed in CCCH
configuration coding
CCCH configuration coding
CCCH_CONF
Meaning
Number of CCCH message blocks in

a BCCH multiframe
000
One physical channel for used

for CCCH, not shared with
SDCCH
001
One physical channel for used

for CCCH, shared with SDCCH
010
Two physical channels for used

SDCCH
18
100
Three physical channels for

used for CCCH, not shared with
SDCCH
27
110
Four physical channels for used

SDCCH
36

When the CCCH and SDCCH share one physical channel, the CCCH has the
minimum channel capacity. When the CCCH and SDCCH do not share a physical
channel, the more physical channels that the CCCH uses, the greater the capacity
is.
The CCCH_CONF is determined by the operators based on combination of cell
traffic model and paging capacity of the location area where a cell belongs to. It is
determined in system design, and adjusted in network expansion. According to
experiences, when the paging capacity in the location area is not high and cell has
one or two carriers, it is recommended that the CCCH uses one physical channel
and share it with SDCCH (in combination CCCH methods). This spares a
physical channel for paging. Otherwise, the method that CCCH and SDCCH do
not share one physical channel is used.
When the cell TRX exceeds 6 and CCCH OVERLOAD occurs in the cell, it is
recommended that the CCCH uses two or more basic physical channel and does
not share them with SDCCH.
IV. Precautions
The CCCH_CONF must be consistent with the actual configuration of cell

CCCH. In addition, you must consider the influence on the access grant reserved
blocks.
4.2.4 Extended Transmission Slots (TX_INTEGER)
I. Definition
In a GSM network, a random access channel (RACH) is an ALOH. To reduce the
conflicting times on RACH when an MS accesses the network, and to increase
RACH efficiency, GSM regulations (sections 3.3.1.2 of 04.08) prescribe the
compulsory access algorithm for MS. The algorithm defines three parameters as
follows:
Extended transmission slots T
Maximum retransmission times RET
T
It is the number of slots between two sending when the MS keeps sending
multiple channel request messages.
S
It is related to channel combination, and is an intermediate variable of access
algorithm. It is determined by T and CCCH configuration.
II. Format
The value of T is from 3 to 12, 14, 16, 20, 25, 32, and 50.
The value of S ranges as listed in Values of S
Values of S
S in different CCCH combination methods
T
The CCCH and SDCCH does

not share a physical channel
The CCCH and SDCCH share a

physical channel
3, 8, 14, 50
55
41
4, 9, 16
76
52
5, 10, 20
109
58
6, 11, 25
163
86
7, 12, 32
217
115

To access the network, the MS must originate an immediate assignment process.
To begin the process, the MS sends (RET + 1) channel request messages on
RACH. To reduce conflicts on RACH, the time for MS to send channel request
messages must meet the following requirements:
The number of slots (not including slots for sending messages) between
originating immediate assignment process by MS and sending the first
channel request messages is random. Its range is {0, 1, , MAX (T, 8) - 1}.
When the MS originates the immediate assignment process, it takes a value

from the range according to even distribution probability.
The number of slots (not including slots for sending messages) between
a channel request message and the next is from {S, S + 1, , S + T - 1}
according to even distribution probability.
According to previous analysis, the greater the T is, the larger the range of
intervals between one channel request message and the next, and the less the
RACH conflicting times is. The greater the S is, the greater the interval between
one channel request message and the next, the less the RACH conflicting times is,
and the more efficiently the SDCCH is used. However, the increase of T and S
leads to longer time for MS to access the network, so the access performance of
the whole network declines. Therefore you must configure T and S properly.
S is calculated by MS according to T and combination of CCH. You can
configure T freely and sends it to MS by system information. Usually, you need
configure T properly to make T + S as small as possible (to reduce the time for
MS to access the network); meanwhile you must ensure an effective assignment
of SDCCH to avoid overload (for all random access requests, the system does not
distinguish whether they are from the same MS, but assigns a SDCCH). In
operation, you can adjust the value according to traffic measurement of cell
immediate assignment.
4.2.5 Minimum Access Level of RACH
I. Definition
The minimum access level of RACH is the level threshold for the system to judge
whether there is a random access request.
II. Format
The minimum access level of RACH ranges from 0 to 63 (corresponding to 110
dBm to 47 dBm).
The unit is level grade value.
When the access burst level of RACH is greater than the threshold, the BTS
judges that there is an access request. The BTS, together with the parameter
random access error threshold, determines whether the random access burst is
valid. To configure the parameter properly, you must combine actual sensitivity of
the base station and the parameter minimum received level permitted for MS to
access. This prevents the MS from failing in calling though there are signals. The
access burst level of RACH affects call drop rate and access range (coverage), so
you must pay attention to the influence on access of MS.
4.2.6 Random Access Error Threshold
I. Definition
GSM protocols prescribe that by relativity of judgment training sequence (41
bits) the system can judge whether the received signals are the random access
signals of MS.
II. Format
The value ranges from 0 to 255. The recommended value is 180.
The random access error threshold defines the relativity of training sequence. If
the smaller it is, the more errors of random access signals permitted by the
network are, the easily the MS randomly accesses the network, and the greater the
report error rate is. If the greater the random access error threshold is, the smaller
the report error rate is, and the more difficult the access to the network is when
signals are weak. See protocol 0408, 0502.
The system requires the random access error threshold transferred by current bit
of 41 bit training sequence.
90100
33
101120
34
121140
35
141160
36
161175
37
176195
38
196221
39
222243
40
244250
41
089 or 251
255
38
The two parameters random access error threshold and minimum access level of
RACH determine the validity of random access burst.
4.2.7 Access Control Class (ACC)
I. Definition
GSM regulations (02.11) prescribe that each GSM user (common user)
corresponds to an access class, ranging from class 0 to class 9. The access class is
stored in SIM of mobile users. For special users, GSM regulations reserves five
special access classes, ranging from class 11 to class 15. Theses classes are prior
to other classes in accessing. Special users might have one or more access classes
(between 11 and 15), which are also stored in user SIM. Users of class 11 to 15
are prior to that of class 0 to 9. However, the class between 0 and 9 or between 11
and 15 does not mean priority.
The access class is distributed as follows:
Class 09: common users
Class 11: users for PLMN management
Class 12: users for security departments
Class 13: common business departments (in charge of water, gas)
Class 14: emergency services
Class 15: PLMN staff

Users of class 09 have its access rights catering for home PLMN and visited
PLMN. Users of class 11 and 15 have its access rights catering for visited PLMN
only. Users of class 12, 13, and 14 have its access rights catering for in the
country where home PLMN belongs to.
II. Format
The access control class consists of two parts:
Common access control class

Value range: a check option, including class 0 disabled, , class 9 disabled.
Recommended value: all 0.
Special access control class

Value range: a check option, including class 11 disabled, , class 15
disabled.
Recommended value: all 0.
If a class is configured to 1, it means that access is forbidden. For example, a
common access class is configured to 1000000000; common users excluding
class 0 users can access the network.
C0C15 (excluding C10) are set by equipment room operators. Usually these bits
are configured to 1. Proper configuration contributes to network optimization as
follow:
When installing a base station, starting a base station, or maintaining

and testing in some cells, configure C0C15 (excluding C10) to 1. In this
way, different users are prevented from accessing the network, so the
installing and maintenance is less influenced.
During busy hours of cells with high traffic, congestion occurs, RACH
conflicting time increase, AGCH traffic overloads, and Abis interface traffic
overloads. When you configure class of some users to 1, you can reduce the
traffic of the cell.
4.2.8 Maximum Retransmission Times (RET)
I. Definition
See GSM regulation 04.08. When an MS originates an immediate assignment
process, it sends a channel request message to the network on RACH. The RACH
is an ALOH, so the MS can send multiple channel request messages before
receiving immediate assignment messages, to increase access success rate of MS.
The maximum retransmission times M (RET) is determined by equipment room
operators, and sent to MS by SI.
II. Format
The maximum retransmission times consists of two bits, with the meanings listed
in Coding of maximum transmission times M
Coding of maximum transmission times M
maximum transmission times
00
01
10
11

The greater the M is, the higher the success rate of call attempt is, and the higher
the connection rate is, but the load of RACH, CCCH, and SDCCH increase. In
cell with high traffic, if the RET is over great, overload of radio channels and
congestion occur, so the connection rate and radio resource utilization declines
sharply. If the RET is over small, the call attempt times of MS reduces, success
rate reduces, so the connection rate reduces. Therefore, proper configuration of
RET for each cell help utilize network radio resources and improve connection
rate.
For configuration of RET M, refer to the following methods:
For areas with low traffic, such as in suburban or rural areas, configure
RET to 7 to increase the access success rate of MS.
For areas with average traffic, such as common urban areas, configure
RET to 4.
For microcell with high traffic and of apparent congestion, configure RET to 1.
4.2.9 Control Class of MS Maximum Transmit Power (MS-TXPWR-MAX-CCH)
I. Definition
MS-TXPWR-MAX-CCH is sent in BCCH SIs. It affects behavior of MS in idle
mode. It is also used in calculating C1 and C2, and determines cell selection and
reselection.
C1 = RLA_C - RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN MAX((MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH - P), 0)
RLA_C: average received level by MS
RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN: minimum received level permitted for MS to

access
MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH: maximum power level of control channel

(control class of MS maximum transmit power)
P: Maximum transmit power level of MS

II. Format
The range of MS-TXPWR-MAX-CCH is 031. For cells of GSM900 and
GSM1800, the dBm values corresponding to the control class are different.
In a GSM900 network, the 32 control class of maximum transmit power

corresponding to 031 is as follows:
{39, 39, 39, 37, 35, 33, 31, 29, 27, 25, 23, 21, 19, 17, 15, 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 5, 5,
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5}
In a GSM1800 network, the 32 control class of maximum transmit

power corresponding to 031 is as follows:
{30, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,
0, 0, 0, 0, 36, 34, 32}
Recommended values are 5 for GSM900 and 0 for GSM1800.

MS-TXPWR-MAX-CCH determines the power class used before MS receives
power control messages. For details, see protocol 0508.
The smaller it is, the greater the output power of MS is. The MS near the base
station interferes with neighbor channels of the cell, so the access to the network
by other MSs and communication quality are influenced. The greater it is, the
smaller the output power of MS is, and the lower the access success rate of MS at
cell borders is. You must configure MS-TXPWR-MAX-CCH properly according
to the serving range of the cell.
4.2.10 Power Offset (POWEROFFSET)
I. Definition
When the MS accesses the network and before it receives the initial power
control messages, all GSM900 MSs and type 1 and type 2 DCS1800 MSs use
MS_TXPWR_MX_CCH of BCCH. If the MS_TXPWR_MX_CCH exceeds the
maximum transmit power of MS, the MS uses the closest power.
The parameter POWEROFFSET is effective to type 3 DCS1800 MSs. When the
type 3 DCS1800 MS accesses the network, it use total power of
MS_TXPWR_MX_CCH + POWEROFFSET before receiving the initial power
control message. See protocol GSM0508.
II. Format
The values of 03 correspond to 0 dB, 2 dB, 4 dB, and 6 dB.
The greater the parameter is, the more easily the type 3 DCS1800 MS accesses
the network. A great POWEROFFSET enables MS to access the network afar, but
does not help control cross-cell interference, so the network quality is influenced.
4.2.11 IMSI Attach/Detach Allowed
I. Definition
The IMSI detach means that the MS informs the network of itself work state
changing from working to non-working. Usually it refers to when the MS powers
off or the SIM is taken off MS. After receiving the inform from MS, the network
sets the IMSI as in non-working state.
The IMSI attach is opposite of IMSI detach. It means that MS informs the
network of itself work state changing to working. Usually it refers to when the
MS powers on or the SIM is put into MS again. After the MS turns to working
state again, it detects whether the current location areas (LAI) is the same as that
recorded in MS at last.
If yes, the MS starts IMSI attach process (this is one of location

updating).
If no, the MS starts location updating process of cross location area.

After receiving the location updating message or IMSI message from MS, the
network sets the IMSI as in working state.
The parameter IMSI attach/detach allowed (ATT) is used for informing MS of the
IMSI attach/detach process.
II. Format
The value of ATT includes YES/NO. NO means that starting IMSI attach/detach
process by MS is forbidden. YES means that starting IMSI attach/detach process
by MS is compulsory.
Usually configure ATT to YES so that the network will not process the
proceeding of the MS after the MS powers off. This frees system resources (such
as PCH).
IV. Precautions
The ATT of different cells in the same location area must be the same to avoid
abnormalities while the MS is called. For example, in a cell with YES as the
value of ATT, when the MS powers off, it starts IMSI detach process. Therefore
the network records that the MS is in non-working state, so it does not page the
MS. In a cell with No as the value of ATT and the cell being different from the
one where the MS powers off, when the MS powers on again in the cell, the MS
does not start IMSI attach process. In this situation, the MS cannot be called
normally until it starts location updating process.
4.2.12 Direct Retry (DR)
I. Definition
During the assignment process of call setup, congestion might cause assignment
failure. The assignment failure causes failure of the whole call. GSM networks
has a function to avoid such failures, namely, DR. The DR is that the BSS directly
assign MS to TCH of neighbor cells. The parameter is used by system to set
whether to allow direct retry function.
II. Format
The value of DR includes YES and NO. YES means that the system allows
directional retry. NO means that the system does not support direction retry
function.
DR improves call success rate. If conditions are ready, start DR. On the contrary,
DR is that the BSS directly assign MS to TCH of neighbor cells when congestion
occurs in the cell where the MS camps, so the MS can originates a call in the non-
best cell with lowest received level, and extra interference might be brought about
in frequency reuse networks. Therefore, you must use the function properly
according to comprehensive network situations.
4 GSM Parameter Configuration and

Adjustment
When operators prepare to construct a mobile communication
network, they must predict coverage according to traffic prediction
and local radio propagation environment. This guides project design of
the system and parameter configuration of radio network.
The project design includes the following aspects:
Network topology design
Selecting the location of base station
Frequency planning
Cell parameter configuration

The RF planning determines the coverage range of a cell, and the
serving range of the cell is determined based on the combination of RF
planning and cell parameter configuration. By this, the MS always
enjoys optimal services and maximum network capacity at the best
cell.
This chapter discusses the meaning and effect of important
parameters in GSM radio communication. Mastering the effect and
impact of these parameters helps to configure network parameters
and optimize the network in later stages.
In a GSM network, abundant radio parameters are configured
according to cells or partial areas; however, the parameter
configuration might affect neighbor areas. Therefore, while configuring
and adjusting parameters, you must pay attention to the impact of
configuring parameters on other areas, especially neighbor areas.
Network and Cell ID 4.1
Cell Global ID 4.1.1
I. Definition
GSM is a global cellular mobile communication system. To ensure that

each cell corresponds to a unique ID globally, the GSM system
numbers the following items:
Each GSM network in each country
Each location area
Each base station
Each cell
Numbering the previous items aims as follows:
An MS can identify the serving network so that the MS can select a network
.in any environment
The network can obtain the precise location of the MS so that the network
.can process various service requests involving the MS
The MS can report information about neighbor cells to the network during
.calling to avoid call drop
The cell global identity (CGI) is a major network identity parameter.

CGI consists of location area identity (LAI) and cell identity (CI). LAI
includes mobile country code (MCC), mobile network code (MNC), and
location area code (LAC).
The system transmits CGI information through system information (SI)
transmitted by cell broadcast. When an MS receives SI, it demodulates
SI for CGI information. The MS judge whether to camp on the cell
according to the MCC and MNC. It also judges whether the current
location area changes to determine updating location. While updating
location, the MS reports LAI information to the network so that the
network can know the location area of the MS.
II. Format
The CGI is MCC-MNC-LAC-CI, with details as follows:
. MCC consists of three decimal digits, ranging from 000 to 999
. MNC consists of two decimal digits, ranging from 00 to 99
LAC ranges from 0 to 65535
. CI ranges from 0 to 65535

As a globally unique mobile identity, the MCC is uniformly distributed
and managed by international telecommunication union (ITU). The
MCC for China is 460 (decimal).
The MNC is uniformly distributed by state telecommunication
management organs. Now two GSM networks exist in China. The MNC
for China Mobile is 00. The MNC for China Unicom is 01.
The method for coding LAC is ruled by each country accordingly. This
caters for China also (refer to GSM system from Ministry of Information
Industry). At the early stage of network construction, the LAC is coded
and distributed. The LAC is seldom changed in the later stages.
The coverage areas related to the LAC is vital in the network. You can
configure it as great as possible.
No special restriction is on the distribution of CI. The CI ranges from 0
to 65535 (decimal). It must be ensured that two equivalent CIs exist in
the same location area. This is determined in the system design.
Except for special situations (such as constructing base stations), the
CI must not be changed during the system operation.
IV. Precautions
You must pay attention to the following aspects:
. The MNC is unchangeable
While configuring the LAC, you must follow related regulations.

.Equivalent LACs must not exist in the state network
. Equivalent CIs must not exist in the same location area
Base Station Identity Code 4.1.2

I. Definition
In a GSM network, each base station corresponds to a distributed local
color code, called base station identity code (BSIC). When the MS
receives broadcast control channel (BCCH) carriers of two cells at the
same time, with same channel number, the MS distinguishes them by
BSIC.
In network planning, the BCCH carriers of neighbor cells are different in
frequency to reduce intra-frequency interference. The cellular
communication system features that the BCCH carrier might be
reused. Therefore, the BSIC of the cells with the same BCCH carrier
must be different.
The system transmits BSIC on synchronization channel (SCH) of each cell. The
effect of BSIC is as follows:
The BSIC involves in decoding process of random access channel (RACH)

to prevent base stations from connecting to the RACH sent to the neighbor
.cells by the MS by error
After the MS receives SCH messages, it judges that it has been synchronous
to the cell. Decoding information on the downlink common signaling channel
correctly requires training sequence code (TSC) used on common signaling
.channel
GSM regulations describe TSC in eight fixed formats, and the sequence
number of them is 07. The cell BCC determines the TSC used by the
common signaling channel of a cell. Therefore the BSIC helps inform the MS
.of the TSC used by the common signaling channel of the serving cell
In a call, the MS must measure the level of BCCH carrier of neighbor cells
and report it to the base station according to regulations to neighbor cell list
of BCCH. Meanwhile, the MS must provide measured BSIC of the carrier in
the uplink measurement reports. When the neighbor cells of a cell include
two or more cells with the same BCCH carrier, the base station can
.distinguish the cells by BSIC to avoid incorrect handover
In a call, the MS must measure signals of neighbor cells, and sends

measurement reports to the network. The measurement report can contain
information about six neighbor cells only, so the MS must be controlled to
report the cells actually related to handover. The first three digits of BSIC
(namely, NCC) aims as previously mentioned. Operators control the MS to
report the neighbor cell information permitted by the serving cell NCC by
.broadcast parameters NCC permitted
II. Format
The BSIC is NCC-BCC, with details as follows:
. The NCC ranges from 0 to 7
. The BCC ranges from 0 to 7

Usually different GSM PLMNs use the same frequency resource, but, to
some degree, their network planning is independent. The neighbor
GSM PLMNs use different NCCs according to regulations. This ensures
that the neighbor base stations with same frequency use different
BSICs.
The BCC is part of the BSIC. It helps identify different base stations
with same BCCH carrier number in the same GSM PLMN. The values of
BCC must meet the previous requirements. According to GSM
regulations, the TSC of cell BCCH carrier must be same as that of cell
BCC. The equipment providers must ensure the TSC consistency.
IV. Precautions
The neighbor cells or cells nearby using the same BCCH carrier must
use different BSICs. Especially when two or more cells use the same
BCCH carrier in the neighbor cell list of a cell, theses cells must use
different BSIC. Pay attention to cells at the bordering areas between
provinces and cities, and otherwise cross-cell handover might fail and
abundant mistaken access problems might occur.
2.5 Traffic Analysis
2.5.1 Traffic Prediction and Cell Splitting
I. Traffic prediction
The network construction requires the consideration of economic feasibility and
rationality. Therefore, a reasonable investment decision must be based on the
prediction of the network capacity of the early and late stage.
When predicting network capacity, you must consider the following factors:
- Population distribution
- Family income
- Subscription ratio of fixed telephone
- Development of national economy
- City construction
- Consumption policy
After predicting the total network capacity, you must predict the density of
subscriber distribution. Generally, base stations are constructed in urban areas,
suburban areas, and transport arteries. Therefore, you can use the percentage of
prediction method.
At the early stage of construction, the subscribers in cities account for a larger
percentage of the total predicted subscribers. With the development of the
network construction, the percentage of the subscribers in suburban areas and
transport arteries grows. The traffic of each subscriber is 0.025 Erl in urban areas
and 0.020 Erl in suburban areas.
The formula calculating traffic is:
A = (n T) / 3600
Here,
- n is the call times in busy hour
- T is the duration of each call, in the unit of second.
In this way, the number of voice channels needed for a base station can be
obtained through predicting the traffic.
& Note:
When estimating the number of voice channels needed for a base station in the
future, you must consider the effect caused by cell splitting.
In a GSM system, you can use Erl model to calculate the traffic density that the
network can bear. The call loss can be 2% or 5% depending on actual conditions.
Because restrictions on cell coverage area and the width of the available
frequencies are present, you must plan the cell capacity reasonably. If good voice
quality is ensured, you must enhance the channel utilization ratio as much as
possible.
In actual networking, if the network quality is ensured at a certain level, two
capacity solutions are available, namely, a few stations with high-level
configuration and multiple stations with low-level configuration. Both the
advantages and disadvantages of the two solutions are apparent, so which one
should be used depending on the actual conditions of an area.
For network construction, you can expand the capacity either through adding
base stations or through expanding the base station capacity. The expansion
strategies adopted must be in accordance with the traffic density in an area. For
example, the strategies such as adding 1800 MHz base stations, expanding
sector capacity, adding micro cells, or improving indoor coverage can be used to
expand network capacity.
II. Cell splitting
Cell splitting is quite effective for the expansion of network capacity. An omni
base station can split into multiple sectors, and a sector can split into multiple
smaller cells. In other word, you must plan cell radius in accordance with the
traffic density of an area.
Cell splitting means more base station and greater cost are needed. Therefore,
when planning a network, you must consider the following factors:
- The rules and diagrams of frequency reuse are repeatable.
- The original base stations can still work.
- The transition cells must be reduced or avoided.
- The cell can split without effect.
Cell splitting is quite important in a network. The followings further describe the
cell splitting based on 1-to-4 splitting.
Cell splitting is used to split a congested cell into multiple smaller cells. Through
setting the new cells whose radiuses are smaller than the original cells and
placing them among the original cells, you can increase the number of channels
in a unit area, thus increasing channel reuse times. In this case, system capacity
is expanded.
Through adjusting the project parameters relative to antenna feeders and
reducing transmitter power, you can narrow the coverage area of a cell. Error!
Reference source not found. shows that a cell splits into four smaller cells by half
of its radius.
Smaller cells are added without changing the frequency reuse mode. They are
split proportional to the shape of the original cell clusters.
In this case, the coverage of a service area depends on the smaller cells, which
are 4 times outnumber of the original cells. To be more specifically, you can take
a circle with the radius R as an example, the coverage area of the circle with the
radius R is 4 times that of a circle with the radius R/2.
After cell splitting, the number of cell clusters in the coverage area increases.
Thus the number of channels in this coverage area increases and the system
capacity is expanded accordingly.

You can adjust the coverage area of the new cells through reducing the transmit
power. For the transmit power of the new cells whose radiuses are half of that of
the original cell, you can check the power Pr received at the new cell edge and
at the original cell edge, and make them equal. However, you must ensure that
the frequency reuse scheme of the new micro cells is the same as that of the
original cell. As for Figure 5-1,
- Pr [at the edge of the original cell] = Pt1R-n, and,
- Pr [at the edge of the new cell] = Pt2 (R/2)-n
Here,
Pt1 and Pt2 are the transmit power of the base stations of the original cell and
the new cell, and n is path fading exponent. If make n = 4, make the received
power at the edge of the new and original cell equal, the following equation can
be obtained:
Pt2 = Pt1/16
That is to say, if the micro cells are used to cover the original coverage area and
the requirement of S/I is met, the transmit power must be reduced by 12 dB.
Not all cells need splitting. In fact, it is quite demanding for carriers to find out a
perfect cell splitting scheme. Therefore, many cells of different scales exist in a
network simultaneously. As a result, the minimum distance among intrafrequency cells must be maintained, which further complicate frequency
allocation.
In addition, you must pay attention to the handover because success handover
ensure the all subscribers to enjoy good quality of service regardless of moving
speed.
When two layers of cells are present within an area but their coverage scale is
different, according to the formula Pt2 = Pt1/16, neither all new cells can simply
apply the original transmit power, nor all original cells can simply apply the new
transmit power.
If all cells apply great transmit power, the channels used by smaller cells cannot
be separated from the intra-frequency cells. If all cells apply lower transmit
power, however, some big cells will be exclusive from the service areas.
For the previous reason, the channels in the original cells can be divided into two
groups. One group meets the reuse requirement of the smaller cells, and the
other group meets the reuse requirement of the bigger cells. The bigger cells are
applied to the communication of fast-moving subscribers, which requires a fewer
handover times.
The power of the two channel groups decides the progress of cell splitting. At the
early stage of cell splitting, the channels in the low-power group are fewer. As
the requirement grows, more channels are needed in low-power group. The cell
splitting does not stop until all channels within this area are applied in the lowpower group. In this case, all cells in this area have split into multiple smaller
cells, and the radius of each cell is quite small.
& Note:
Commonly, you can restrict cell coverage area through adjusting the project
parameters of the base station.
2.5.2 Voice Channel Allocation
I. Voice channel decision

The base station capacity refers to the number of channels that must be
configured for a base station or a cell. The calculation of the base station
capacity is divided into the calculation of the number of radio voice channels and
the calculation of the number of radio control channels.
According to the information of base stations and cells and the density
distribution of subscribers, you can calculate the total number of the subscribers.
Then according to the radio channel call loss ratio and traffic, you can obtain the
number of voice channels that must be configured by checking Erl B table.
Generally, you can decide the number of voice channels as follows:
1) According to the bandwidth and the reuse mode allowed by current GSM
networks within the areas to be planned, you can obtain the maximum number
of carriers that can be configured for a base station.
2) Each carrier has 8 channels. You can obtain the maximum number of voice
channel numbers that can be configured for a base station by detracting the
control channels from the 8 channels.
3) According to the number of voice channels and call loss ratio (generally 2%
dense traffic areas and 5% for other areas), you can obtain the maximum traffic
(Erl number) that the base station can bear through checking Erl B table.
4) Through dividing the Erl number by the average busy-hour traffic of
subscribers, you can obtain the maximum number of subscribers that the base
station can accommodate.
5) According to the data of subscriber density, you can obtain the coverage area
of the base station.
6) After the areas are specified based on the subscriber density, according to the
area of an area and the actual coverage area of the base station, you can
calculate the number of needed base stations.
7) For important areas, you must consider back up stations and the cooperation
between carriers. For example, an important county needs at least two base
stations and three important carriers.
8) For the areas where burst traffic is possible, such as the play ground and
seasonal tourism spots, you must prepare the equipments (such as carriers and
micro cells) and frequency resources for future use.
9) The dynamic factors, such as roaming ratio, subscriber mobility, service
development, industry competition, charging rate change, one-way charge, and
economic growth, must be considered.
10) To configure a base station, you must consider the transmission at the Abis
interface so that the capacity can be met while saving transmission. For
example, the application and concatenation of the Abis interface 15:1 and 12:1
should be considered.
11) For indoor coverage and capacity, you can use micro cells and distributed
antenna systems. For the coverage in countryside areas and highroads, you can
use economical micro base stations. For the transmission in countryside areas
and highroads, you can use HDSL because it is cost effective.
12) Prepare the some carriers, micro cells, and micro base stations for new
coverage areas and future optimization.
13) In some special areas, you can use the base stations consisting of omni and
directional cells, but you must consider the isolation between omni antennas and
directional antennas. For traffic control, you can use the algorithm in terms of
network layers.
14) For some highroads which require a little traffic by large coverage, you can
use the two networking modes. They are:
- (A micro base station with single carrier) + (0.5 + 0.5 cell with two set of
directional antennas)
- A micro base station with single carrier + 8-shaped antenna
II. Relationship between carrier number and bearable traffic
Erl traffic model can calculate the traffic that a network can bear. The call loss
ratio can be 2% or 5% according to actual conditions. Table 5-7 describes the
relationship between the number of carriers and the traffic that a network can
bear according to Erl B table.
According to Erl B table, the larger the number of carriers and the call loss ratio
are, the greater the traffic that each TCH bear, and the greater the TCH
utilization ratio is (the channel utilization ratio is an important indicator of the
quality of network planning and design). If the number of subscribers of a base
station is small, you can consider delaying the construction.
Because restrictions on the coverage area of a cell and the bandwidth of the
available frequencies, you must plan a reasonable capacity for the cell. If good
voice quality is ensured, you must take measures to enhance the channel
utilization ratio as much as possible.
For the construction of the dual-band network, you can use the frequencies with
wider bands to enhance channel utilization ratio, which is helpful for traffic
sharing.
In actual applications, when the traffic on each TCH accounts for 80-90% of total
given by Erl B table (the call loss ratio is 2%), the congestion ratio in this cell rise
greatly. Therefore, we generally calculate the traffic that a network can bear by
taking the 85% of the traffic given by Erl B table as a reference.
III. Example
The capacity of a local network needs to be expanded. According to the service
development, population growth and mobile popularity, the subscribers in this
area are expected to reach 100,000 in 2 years.
If only the followings are considered:
- Roaming factor (according to the development trend of traffic statistics) = 10%.
- Mobile factor (the subscriber moves slightly within the local network instead of
roaming) = 10%.
- Dynamic factor (with burst traffic considered) = 15%.
The network capacity = 100000 * (1 + 10% + 10% + 15%) = 135,000.
However, because the congestion is present, we generally calculate the traffic
that a network can bear by taking the 85% of the traffic given by Erl B table as a
reference. As a result, the network capacity must be designed as follows:
The network capacity = 135, 000/85% = 158,800, about 160,000.
2.5.3 Control Channel Allocation
I. SDCCH allocation
Stand-alone dedicated channel (SDCCH) is an important channel in a GSM
network. Mobile station activities, such as location update, attach and detach,
call setup and short message, are performed on SDCCH. The SDCCH is used to
transmit signaling and data.
It is difficult to induce a traffic model for the SDCCH; especially it even becomes
impossible after the large-scale application of layering networks and short
messages. Moreover, the equipments of some carriers support SDCCH dynamic
allocation function. As a result, the traffic model for SDCCH must be adjusted
according to actual conditions.
The advantages of the SDCCH dynamic function are as follows:
- Adjusting SDCCH capacity dynamically
- Reducing SDCCH congestion ratio
- Reducing the effect of initial SDCCH configuration against system performance
- Making SDCCH and TCH configuration more adaptive to the characteristics of
cell traffic
- Optimizing the performance of the systems under the same carrier
configuration.
In conclusion, the SDCCH dynamic allocation function is divided into two types,
namely,
- Dynamic allocation from SDCCH to TCH
- Dynamic recovery from SDCCH to TCH
II. CCCH allocation
Common control channels (CCCH) contain access grant channel (AGCH), paging
channel (PCH) and random access channel (RACH). The function of a CCCH is
sending access grant message (immediate assignment message) and paging
message.
All traffic channels in each cell share the CCCH. The CCC can share a physical
channel (a timeslot) with SDCCH, or it can solely occupy a physical channel. The
parameters relative to the CCCH include CCCH Configure, BS AG BLKS PES, and
BS PA MFRMS.
Here,
- CCCH Configure designates the type of CCCH configuration, namely, whether
the CCCH shares one physical channel with the SDCCH. If there are 1 or 2 TRX in
a cell, it is recommended that the CCCH occupies a physical channel and share it
with the SDCCH. If there are 3 or 4 TRXs, it is recommended that the CCCH solely
occupies a physical channel. If there are more than 4 TRX, it is recommended to
calculate the capacity of the paging channels in the CCCH according to actual
conditions first, and then you can perform the configuration.
- BS AG BLKS PES indicates that the number of CCCH message blocks reserved to
the AGCH. After CCCH configuration is done, this parameter, in fact, decides
allocates the ratio of AGCH and PCH in CCCH. Some carriers can set sending
priority for the access grant message and paging message. When the former
message set to be prior to the later one, the BS AG BLKS PES can be set to 0.
- BS PA MFRMS indicates the number of multi-frames that can be taken as a cycle
of paging sub-channels. In fact, this parameter decides the number of paging
sub-channels that a cell can be divided into.
& Note:
In CCCH configuration, the location area planning, paging modes and system
flow control must be considered.
1.16 Call Re-Establishment

1.16.1 Introduction
The re-establishment procedure allows MS to resume a connection in progress after a radio
link failure, possibly in a new cell or in a new location area (re-establishment in a new
location area initiates no location updating).
Whether call re-establishment is allowed depends on the calling status, the cell's allowance of
call re-establishment, and activated MM connection (MM is in status 6 "MM connection
activated" or status 20 " Waiting for additional MM connection" Call re-establishment can
only be initiated by MS. GSM protocol does not specify the implementation mode for the
short message service and the independent call supplementary service. In the other end, no
voice is heard during the call re-establishment.
During the radio transmission, a connection may be broken suddenly because of the great
transmission loss due to obstructions such as bridges, buildings, or tunnels. When the call reestablishment is used, the MS can maintain the conversation by using another cell in a short
time, thus improving the network quality. Call re-establishment can be regarded as the HO
initiated by MS to save the interrupted call in the current cell.
Call re-establishment is of two types according to the entity that has the radio link failure
first.
I. Radio Link Failure Occurs to MS First
The MS sends a call re-establishment request in the selected cell (source cell or target cell).
The former channel resource is released after the BTS timer times out.
II. Radio Link Timeout Occurs to BSS First
After the radio link timer in BTS times out, the BTS sends a radio link failure message to the
BSC and BSC activates the SACCH. According to the protocol, the network must handle the
context for a while after detecting the lower layer faults for the successful call reestablishment. The implementation mode and duration are decided by the equipment
provider. After detecting the radio link failure, the MS selects a neighbor cell with the highest
RXLEV within five seconds and sends the channel request in the selected cell. This cell
should not be barred and the C1 is over 0. In addition, this cell must permit the call reestablishment. If all the neighbor cells are not qualified, the call re-establishment is
abandoned.
During the call re-establishment, the MS cannot return into the idle mode. If the MS selects a
cell in different LA as the target cell for call re-establishment, it cannot perform location
updating until the call ends.
Under normal circumstances, the call re-establishment procedure lasts about 4 to 20 seconds.
Most users have hung up the phone before the procedure is over. Therefore, the call reestablishment cannot achieve its goal but wastes a lot of radio resources. For the areas with
limited channel resources, the activation of this function is not recommended.
1.16.2 Call Re-Establishment Procedure
1) After the MM connection failure indication is reported to the CM entity, if the MS receives
at least one request for MM connection re-establishment from CM, it will initiate the call reestablishment procedure. If several CM entities request for re-establishment, only one reestablishment procedure will be initiated.
2) After the CM sends the request for the re-establishment of MM connection, MM sublayer
sends a request for the establishment of RR connection and enters the WAIT FOR
REESTABLISH state. This request includes an establishment cause and a CM reestablishment request. When the RR sublayer indicates a RR connection is established (the
CM re-establishment request message has been sent through the Um interface), the MM
sublayer starts T3230 and indicates to all the CM entities that the MM connection is under
construction. The MM sublayer stays in WAIT FOR REESTABLISH state.

The CM Re-establishment Request message contains the MS identity (IMSI or TMSI),
Classmark 2, and encrypted sequence number.
Whether the CM entity can request for re-establishment depends on protocol discriminator
(PD).
3) After receiving the CM re-establishment request, the network analyzes the request type and
starts the MM program or RR program. The network can start the classmark enquiry program
to obtain more information about the MS encryption ability. The network can also decide to
perform the authentication procedure or ciphering mode setting procedure.
4) When the RR sublayer indicates the ciphering mode setting procedure is over or the CM
SERVICE ACCEPT message is received, the MM connection is re-established. The T3230
stops and informs all the CM entities related to the re-establishment to enter the MM
CONNECTION ACTIVE state.
5) If the network cannot connect the re-establishment request to the current MS call, it sends
the CM SERVICE REJECT with the reject cause to the MS.
The reject cause (value) includes unidentifiable call (#38), unidentifiable IMSI (# 4),
unauthorized ME (# 6), network failure (#17), congestion (#22), unsupported service (#32),
and temporary service failure (#34)
6) After receiving the CM SERVICE REJECT, the MS stops T3230 and releases all MM
connections and RR connections. If the reject cause if #4, the MS deletes the TMSI, LAI, and
CKSN in SIM card, and changes the status from updating into no updating, and then
enters the WAIT FOR NETWORK COMMAND state. The location updating will be
initiated after the RR release.
If the reject cause is #6, the MS deletes the TMSI, LAI, and CKSN in SIM card, and changes
the status from "updating" into roaming inhibit. The SIM is regarded invalid until the MS is
switched off or the SIM card is pulled out.
1.16.3 Exceptional Situations
I. Re-Establishment Prohibition or Failure
When MM connection is established, the MM layer may send an indication to the CC layer. If
the MM layer is disconnected, the connection may be re-established through CC request.
If the re-establishment is not allowed, and the call is initiated within the establishment or
clearing period, the CC layer shall release MM connections.
If re-establishment is unsuccessful, MM connections shall be released, and a release
indication shall be sent to the CC layer.
II. RR Connection Failure
If random access failure or RR CONNECTION FAILURE is detected by the MS, the MS will
stop timer T3230, abort the call re-establishment procedure, and release all MM connections.
If RR CONNECTION FAILURE is detected by the MSC, the MSC will abort the call reestablishment procedure and release all MM connections.
III. T3230 Time-out
If the T3230 times out, the MS will stop call re-establishment and release MM and RR
connections.
1.16.4 SM Procedure
Short messages can be transmitted either on SDCCH or SACCH. A short message procedure
can be classified into short message calling procedure and called procedure. For details, see
GSM03.40 protocol.
1.16.5 Short Message Procedure on SDCCH When MS is calling
I. Signaling Procedure
II. Procedure Description
The random access, immediate assignment, authentication, and encryption procedures of
short message procedure on SDCCH when MS is calling are the same as general procedures.
After encryption, the MS sends SABM again, notifying the network side that this user needs
short message service (SMS). Then, BSC provides a transparent-transmission channel for MS
to exchange short message information with MSC. In this procedure, the MSCs of some
manufacturers are capable to send ASS REQ to BSC, requesting it to assign channel for short
message transmission. The time for sending ASS REQ is the same as that for a common call.
BSC can provide SMS either by allocating other channels or by using the original SDCCH.
Point to Point short messages protocol is divided into connection management layer (CM),
relay layer (RL), transport layer (TL) and application layer (AL).
CP_DATA and CP_ACK are the messages on CM layer, CP_DATA is used to transmit the
content of RL and AL message, and CP_ACK is the acknowledgement message of
CP_DATA.
The release procedure after message is sent is the same as general ones.
1.16.6 Short Message Procedure on SDCCH When MS is called
The paging response and immediate assignment procedures of short message procedure on
SDCCH when MS is called are the same as general procedures. For the short message
procedure when MS is called, after encryption, the BSC sends EST REQ to MS to establish
short message connection. When EST CNF is received from MS, the connection is
successfully established. BSC transparently transmits the short message till the end of the
transmission.
The release procedure after message is sent is the same as general ones.
1.16.7 Short Message Procedure on SACCH When MS is calling
The MS sends CM SERV REQ through FACCH. The MSC responds with the CM SERV
ACC message and establishes CC layer connection. Then, it establishes RR layer connection
on SACCH, and sends the short message.
1.16.8 Short Message Procedure on SACCH when MS is called
The BSC receives the CP DATA message from MSC, and establishes an RR layer connection
for SMS. Upon reception of CP ACK from MS, MSC sends the short message.

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5 Network Problem Solutions

Transmitter output power decrease

Receive sensitivity decrease

Antenna azimuth angle change

Antenna tilt change

Antenna gain change

Working band change

Propagation environment change

Diversity effect change.

This problem can be checked according to the standing wave alarm

when the antenna height is great. In addition, omni antennas cannot be

2) Check antenna tilt problems caused by network swap

or the "continuous adjustable electrical tilt (0 to 10 degrees) + mechanical tilt"

The omni dual transmitter technology is not recommended.

The antenna is inversely or wrongly connected.

Problems concerning the diversity distance between the transit antenna

There are shadows in coverage areas.

The radiator of the omni antenna is barred by antenna pole.

The problems concerning antenna diversity distance and isolation

The omni antenna is not perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

Water penetration occurs at the various connectors of the antenna and

Various connectors are not tightened.

The transmitter antenna and the receiver antenna are inversely

Duplexer and other filter damage

Standing wave ratio error alarm

LNA (low noise amplifier) damage

Low TRX or amplifier output power

TRX power class

Tower amplifier attenuation coefficient

MS maximum transmit power control power

RACH minimum access threshold

Interference from other big-power telecommunication equipments

Antenna performance decline

Antenna connector problem

Inverse antenna connection

Same-frequency and neighbor frequency interference

Interference caused by cross coverage

Interference caused by aggressive frequency reuse

Interference caused by repeater

It is convenient to use repeater for special coverage. However, if a repeater

Interference caused by outside environment

4) Through using antenna feeder analyzer to perform on-site test,

Discontinuous coverage (dead zone)

Poor indoor coverage

Isolated island effect

Power control performance measurement (to check if the mean uplink

Cell performance measurement/inter-cell handover performance

Defined neighbor cell performance measurement (to position the cell

Undefined neighbor cell performance measurement (to check if the

Power control performance measurement (to measure the greatest TA

ii) Call drop due to handover reasons

Irrational parameter configuration

Incomplete neighbor cell definition

Neighbor cells with same BCCH and same BSIC exist.

BTS clock lost synchronization

Inter-cell handover performance measurement (frequent handover

Inter-cell handover performance measurement (frequent handovers,

Undefined neighbor cell performance measurement (the undefined

Outgoing cell handover performance measurement (find out the reasons

TCH performance measurement (the handover times are not

Check the frequency planning to see if same-frequency interference and

Adjust the channel numbers that might be interfered to see if the

Exclude the interference caused by equipment.