GSM Interview Question -Answer

1. What is the function of SDCCH & SACCH?

Ans. (a) SDCCH---- Slow Dedicated Control Channel.

Function:
a) Location updates
b) SMS
c) Ciphering Initiation
d) Equipment Validation
e) Subscriber authentation
f) Call set up signaling

(b) SACCH---Slow Associated Control Channel.

Function:
(a) Timing advance data
(b) Transmit power control
(c) transmission of signaling data
(d) radio link supervision measurements

2. What are the reasons for Hand Overs?

(Ans) . (a) Signal Strength (RX LEVEL)
(b) Signal Quality (RX Qual)
(c) Power Budget
(d) Timing Advance.
(e) Interference

3. What are the shortcomings in handovers?

a) Call Dropping.
b) Ping- Pong handover
c) Far- Away cell effect

4. What is intelligent hand over?

Ans a) Fuzzy logic
b) Neutral networks

5. What are internal & external hand over?

Ans
1) INTERNAL HANDOVER
a) ( INTER BTS): Transfer between two channels (time slot) in same cell.
b) ( INTRA BSC ( BTS BTS):
1 . transfer between BTS under control of same Bsc
2 . Measuring the quality of radio connection
3 . Power levels

2). EXTERNAL HANDOVER.

a) INTER BSC (BSC_ BSC):
1. Transfer between BTS under the control of diff BSC
2. BSC TO BSC
3 . NSS to attends the hand over
4. MSC controls.
 b) INTER MSC ( MSC- MSC) ----1. transfer between cell under the
control of diff MSC

6.What is the frequency Hopping?

It is defined as sequential change of carrier frequency on the radio
link between mobile & base station.
Two types of freq hopping: 1. Base band freq hopping.
2. synthesized frequency hopping.

7. Explain the major difference between BBH & SFH?

Ans
In BBH the number of hopping freq is same as number of TRX.
In SFH the number of Hoping freq can be in the range of 1 to 63.

8. what are the advantages of Frequency Hopping?

1. Frequency Diversity
2. Interference Averaging
3. increase the network capacity

9. How in frequency hopping there is enhancement of network capacity?

Freq hopping implement will enable more aggressive freq reuse pattern,
that leads to better spectrum efficiency.
It can add more transceiver in the existing sites , while maintaing the
net work quality/
Freq hopping compressing the available spectrum to make room for
extra capacity
.
10. Define the freq. hopping parameters?
Frequency Hopping Parameters
GSM defines the following set of parameters:
- Mobile Allocation (MA): Set of frequencies the mobile is allowed
to hop over. Maximum of 63 frequencies can be defined in the MA
list.

- Hopping Sequence Number (HSN): Determines the hopping

order used in the cell. It is possible to assign 64 different HSNs.
Setting HSN = 0 provides cyclic hopping sequence and HSN = 1 to
63 provide various pseudo-random hopping sequences.

- Mobile Allocation Index Offset (MAIO): Determines inside the

hopping sequence, which frequency the mobile starts do transmit
on. The value of MAIO ranges between 0 to (N-1) where N is the
number of frequencies defined in the MA list. Presently MAIO is set
on per carrier basis.

Motorola has defined an additional parameter, FHI.

Hopping Indicator (FHI): Defines a hopping system, made up by an
associated set of frequencies (MA) to hop over and sequence of
 hopping (HSN). The value of FHI varies between 0 to 3. It is
possible to define all 4 FHIs in a single cell.

Motorola system allows to define the hopping system on a per

timeslot basis. So different hopping configurations are allowed for
different timeslots. This is very useful for interference averaging
and to randomize the distribution of errors.

11. What are the effects of freq hopping?

(Ans)
1 Handovers:
2 Call setup:
3 Frame Erasure Rate (FER):

12 .Explain in brief what is FER.

FER= Number of erased blocks\ total no of blocks *100
It is the right measure of voice quality.
FER is performed on speech& signaling frames
FER: 0 to 4%, GOOD.
4 to 15% , slightly degraded
> than 15%, useless

13. What happens when speech frames discarded in FER?

System will interpolate.

14. What happens when signaling frames discarded in FER?

MS is instructed to resend.

15. What is TCH_ TCH Interference? How it is measured.

When TCH carries are reused that leads to co-channel interference.
When TCH carrier have call activity.
This is measured by delta measurement: 1. BCCH carries are diff
2. TCH carriers of both cell 1& cell2
are same AFRCN TCH

16. Define the terms?

BER:The number of erroneous bits received
Total no of bits received.
RBER: 1. Residual bit error rate
2. It is performed on demodulated speech frames that are not
mark corrupt
*BFI : Bad frame indication.

17. Explain the parameters in TEMS POCKET mobile.

L BC BS RXLEV
L TC TS TX
C/I RQ FE

TA DSC CHM
 RH CiMd
MCC MNC LAC

RA CI

1.
2. Llcell BCCH ARFCN
3.

4.

5.
L1. Logical channel.----- BCCH

L2. Logical channel ----- TCH

BC-- serving cell BCCH AFRCN.

BS-- base station identity code.

RXLEV- recieved signal strength

TC-- traffic channel

TS - time slot number.

TX - transmit power

C/I -- Carrier to interference ratio in db

RQ -- Receive bit error rate

FE frame erasure rate.

TA -- Timing advance

CHM --C hannel Mode

RH -- cell reselction Hystresis

CiMdCiphering mode

RAC Routing area code.

LACLocation area code.

18. Explain the analysis behind RX Qual.?

RX Qual is the basic measure. It reflects the average BER over the certain
period of time (0.5s)
RX QUAL done over 104 TDMA frames.
Limitation of RXQUAL: 1. The distributions of bit error over time.
2. Frame erasure
3. Hand over.

19. What are type of interference occur?

1. Co- channel interference.
2. Adj-channel interference.
3. Near end- Far end interference.

20. What is ERLANG?

Unit of telephone traffic intensity is called Erlang.
One ERLANG is one channel occupied continuously for one hour.
1E = 64Kbps.

21. what do you mean by GOS?

It is the probabity of having a call blocked during busiest hour.
Ex GOS=0.05 means one call in 20 will be blocked call during busiest
hour because of insufficient capacity.

22. What are the technique GSM offers which combat Multipath fading?
Equalization
Diversity
Freq Hopping
Interleaving
Channel coding

23. What are control &traffic channels?

CONTROL CHANNEL.:1. BCH
2. CCCH
3. DCCH.

TRAFFIC CHANNEL: Half rate

Full rate
EFR == Enhanced full
rate.

24. What are BCH, CCH, DCCH channels?

BCH-- 1. BCCH
2 .FCCH
3. SCH

CCCH. --- 1.PCH

2. AGCH
3. RACH

DCCH---- 1.SDCCH.
 2. SACCH
3. FACCH
25. What are types of bursts?

Normal Burst
Frequency Correction Burst
Synchronization Burst.
Dummy Burst
Access Burst.
26. What is adjacent channel separation in GSM?
Urban Environment-------- 200khz
Sub Urban Environment ---- 400khz
Open environment ----- 800khz

27. What is the watt to dBm conversions?

Power in dBm = 10 log( watts *100)
0 dBm= 1mili watt
1watt = 30dbm
28. What are the optimizations you have done during
Drive Test?

What are samples in gsm?

Which modulation take place in GSM

In one TRU how many frames are there?

What is the value RXLEV of neighboring cell?

What do you mean by VAD?

What is BFI, where it is use?

2929. Define the hopping parameters in detail?

The MA is a list of hopping frequencies transmitted to a mobile every time

it is assigned to a hopping physical channel. The MA-list is a subset of the
CA list. The MA-list is automatically generated if the baseband hopping is
used. If the network utilises the RF hopping, the MA-lists have to be
generated for each cell by the network planner. The MA-list is able to point
to 64 of the frequencies defined in the CA list. However, the BCCH
frequency is also included in the CA list, so the practical maximum number
of frequencies in the MA-list is 63. The frequencies in the MA-list are
required to be in increasing order because of the type of signaling used to
transfer the MA-list.
1.1 Hopping Sequence Number
The Hopping Sequence Number (HSN) indicates which hopping sequence
of the 64 available is selected. The hopping sequence determines the
order in which the frequencies in the MA-list are to be used. The HSNs 1 -
63 are pseudo random sequences used in the random hopping while the
HSN 0 is reserved for a sequential sequence used in the cyclic hopping.
The hopping sequence algorithm takes HSN and FN as an input and the
output of the hopping sequence generation is a Mobile Allocation Index
(MAI) which is a number ranging from 0 to the number of frequencies in
the MA-list subtracted by one. The HSN is a cell specific parameter. For the
baseband hopping two HSNs exists. The zero time slots in a BB hopping
cell use the HSN1 and the rest of the time slots follow the HSN2 as
presented in Error! Reference source not found.. All the time slots in RF
hopping cell follow the HSN1 as presented in Error! Reference source not
found..
1.2 Mobile Allocation Index Offset
When there is more than one TRX in the BTS using the same MA-list the
Mobile Allocation Index Offset (MAIO) is used to ensure that each TRX uses
always an unique frequency. Each hopping TRX is allocated a different
MAIO. MAIO is added to MAI when the frequency to be used is determined
from the MA-list. Example of the hopping sequence generation is
presented in Error! Reference source not found.. MAIO and HSN are
transmitted to a mobile together with the MA-list. In Nokia solution the
MAIOoffset is a cell specific parameter defining the MAIOTRX for the first
hopping TRX in a cell. The MAIOs for the other hopping TRXs are
automatically allocated according to the MAIOstep -parameter introduced in
the following section.
30. What is the effect of frequency hopping in RXQual?
Frequency hopping causes some changes in the RXQUAL distribution. Also,
there are some differences in a way the RXQUAL distribution should be
interpreted.
The Frame Erasure Ratio (FER) is a ratio of discarded speech frames
compared to all the received speech frames. A speech frame is generally
discarded if after the decoding and error correction process any of the
category 1a bits is found to be changed based on the three parity bits
following them in a speech frame.
FER is a measure of how successfully the speech frame was received
after the error correction process and it is thus a better indication of the
subjective speech quality compared to the RXQUAL which gives an
estimate of the link quality in terms of BER. The RXQUAL doesnt indicate
how the bit errors were distributed in a speech frame. The bit error
distribution affects the ability of the channel decoding to correct the
errors.

The following table gives an idea of the correlation between RXQUAL and
FER and between subjective speech quality and different FER classes.

31. What is the relation link between RXQUAL& FER?

Table 1. RXQUAL vs. FER comparison according to the laboratory tests.

The relation of downlink FER and RXQUAL was measured during a FH trial.
The relation is clearly different in the hopping case compared to the non-
hopping case. The distributions of FER in each RXQUAL class are presented
in Error! Reference source not found. and Error! Reference source not
found.. One clear observation can be made; in the non-hopping case there
are significant amount of samples indicating deteriorated quality
(FER>10%) in RXQUAL class 5 while in the hopping case the significant
quality deterioration (FER>10%) happens in RXQUAL class 6. Thus, it may
be concluded that in the frequency hopping networks significant quality
deterioration starts at RXQUAL class 6 while in non-hopping network this
happens at RXQUAL class 5.
This improvement of FER means that the higher RXQUAL values may be
allowed in a frequency hopping network. RXQUAL thresholds are used in
the handover and power control decisions. Because of the improvement in
the relative reception performance on the RXQUAL classes 4-6, the
RXQUAL thresholds affecting handover and power control decisions should
be set higher in a network using frequency hopping network. In a
frequency hopping network RXQUAL classes 0-5 are indicating good
quality.

Typically, the share of the RXQUAL classes 6 and 7 may increase after FH
is switched on, even if no other changes have been made. This may seem
to be surprising since it is expected that frequency hopping improves the
network quality. However, in most cases the quality is actually improved,
but the improvement is more visible in the call success ratio. The improved
tolerance against interference and low field strength in FH network means
that it is less likely that the decoding of SACCH frames fails causing
increment in the radio link timeout counter. Thus, it is less likely that a call
is dropped because of the radio link timeout. Instead, the calls generating
high RXQUAL samples tend to stay on. This may lead to increase in the
share of RXQUAL 6-7. However, at the same time the call success rate is
significantly improved.
In the Error! Reference source not found., there are presented some trial
results of a DL RXQUAL distribution with different frequency allocation
reuse patterns. As can be seen from the figures, the tighter the reuse
becomes, the less samples fall in quality class 0 and more samples fall in
quality classes 1-6. Theres bigger difference in downlink than in uplink
direction.

This difference is a consequence of interference and frequency diversities

that affect the frequency hopping network. Because of these effects, the
interference or low signal strength tend to occur randomly, while in a non-
hopping network it is probable that interference or low field strength will
affect several consecutive bursts making it harder for the error correction
to actually correct errors. The successful error correction leads to less
erased frames and thus improves the FER.
32. What do you understand by idle channel measurement?

When a new call is established or a handover is performed,

the BSC selects the TRX and the time slot for the traffic channel based on
the idle channel interference measurements. The frequency hopping has a
significant effect on the idle channel interference measurement results.

When the frequency hopping is used, the frequency of a hopping logical

channel is changed about 217 times in a second. The frequency of the idle
time slots changes according to the same sequence.

In a case of the random hopping, this means that the measured idle
channel interference is likely to be the same for all the TRXs that use the
same MA-list. If the interference is averaged over more than one SACCH
frame, the averaging effect is even stronger. However, normally the
interferers are mobiles located in interfering cells. In this case, there are
probably differences in the measured idle channel interferences between
different time slots in the cell. This happens, because the interfering
mobiles are only transmitting during the time slot that has been allocated
to them. This is illustrated in Figure Error! No text of specified style in
document.-1.

If the cyclic hopping sequence is used, there might occur differences on

the measured idle channel interference levels between the TRXs on the
same time slot as explained in the following section.

Figure Error! No text of specified style in document.-1. Idle channel

interference in a case of the random RF hopping

33 .what are types of handover?

There are four different types of handover in the GSM system, which
involve transferring a call between:
Channels (time slots) in the same cell
Cells (Base Transceiver Stations) under the control of the
same Base Station Controller (BSC),
 Cells under the control of different BSCs, but belonging to
the same Mobile services Switching Center (MSC), and
Cells under the control of different MSCs.
34. what are important parameter of power saving in GSM
Discontinuous transmission
Minimizing co-channel interference is a goal in any cellular system, since it
allows better service for a given cell size, or the use of smaller cells, thus
increasing the overall capacity of the system. Discontinuous transmission
(DTX) is a method that takes advantage of the fact that a person speaks
less that 40 percent of the time in normal conversation [22], by turning the
transmitter off during silence periods. An added benefit of DTX is that
power is conserved at the mobile unit.
The most important component of DTX is, of course, Voice Activity
Detection. It must distinguish between voice and noise inputs, a task that
is not as trivial as it appears, considering background noise. If a voice
signal is misinterpreted as noise, the transmitter is turned off and a very
annoying effect called clipping is heard at the receiving end. If, on the
other hand, noise is misinterpreted as a voice signal too often, the
efficiency of DTX is dramatically decreased. Another factor to consider is
that when the transmitter is turned off, there is total silence heard at the
receiving end, due to the digital nature of GSM. To assure the receiver that
the connection is not dead, comfort noise is created at the receiving end
by trying to match the characteristics of the transmitting end's
background noise.

Discontinuous reception
Another method used to conserve power at the mobile station is
discontinuous reception. The paging channel, used by the base station to
signal an incoming call, is structured into sub-channels. Each mobile
station needs to listen only to its own sub-channel. In the time between
successive paging sub-channels, the mobile can go into sleep mode, when
almost no power is used.
All of this increases battery life considerably when compared to analog
: What is Tri-band and Dual-band?

A: A tri-band phone operates at three supported frequencies, such as

900/1800/1900 MHz or 850/1800/1900 MHz. A dual-band phone operates
at two frequencies, such as 850/1900 MHz or 900/1800

RF Optimization and Log File Analysis in GSM

Optimization and Log File Analysis in GSM

1. INTRODUCTION
Every Network needs to be under continues control to maintain/improve
the
performance. Optimization is basically the only way to keep track of the
network by
looking deep into statistics and collecting/analyzing drive test data. It is
keeping an eye
on its growth and modifying it for the future capacity enhancements. It
also helps
operation and maintenance for troubleshooting purposes.
Successful Optimization requires:
Recognition and understanding of common reasons for call failure
Capture of RF and digital parameters of the call prior to drop
Analysis of call flow, checking messages on both forward and reverse
links to establish what happened, where, and why.
Optimization will be more effective and successful if you are aware of what
you are
doing. The point is that you should now where to start, what to do and how
to do.

1.1. Purpose and Scope of Optimization

The optimization is to intend providing the best network quality using
available
spectrum as efficiently as possible. The scope will consist all below;
Finding and correcting any existing problems after site
implementation and
integration.
Meeting the network quality criteria agreed in the contract.
Optimization will be continuous and iterative process of improving
overall
network quality.
Optimization can not reduce the performance of the rest of the
network.
Area of interest is divided in smaller areas called clusters to make
optimization
and follow up processes easier to handle.

1.2. Optimization Process

Optimization process can be explained by below step by step description:
1.2.1. Problem Analysis
Analyzing performance retrieve tool reports and statistics for the worst
performing BSCs and/or Sites
Viewing ARQ Reports for BSC/Site performance trends
Examining Planning tool Coverage predictions
Analyzing previous drive test data
Discussions with local engineers to prioritize problems
Checking Customer Complaints reported to local engineers
1.2.2. Checks Prior to Action
Cluster definitions by investigating BSC borders, main cities, freeways,
major roads
Investigating customer distribution, customer habits (voice/data usage)
Running specific traces on Network to categorize problems
Checking trouble ticket history for previous problems
Checking any fault reports to limit possible hardware problems prior to
test
1.2.3. Drive Testing
Preparing Action Plan
Defining drive test routes
6
Collecting RSSI Log files
Scanning frequency spectrum for possible interference sources
Redriving questionable data
1.2.4. Subjects to Investigate
Nonworking sites/sectors or TRXs
Inactive Radio network features like frequency hopping
Disabled GPRS
Overshooting sites coverage overlaps
Coverage holes
C/I, C/A analysis
High Interference Spots
Drop Calls
Capacity Problems
Other Interference Sources
Missing Neighbors
Oneway neighbors
PingPong Handovers
Not happening handovers
Accessibility and Retainability of the Network
Equipment Performance
Faulty Installations
7
1.2.5. After the Test
Post processing of data
Plotting RX Level and Quality Information for overall picture of the driven
area
Initial Discussions on drive test with Local engineers
Reporting urgent problems for immediate action
Analyzing Network feature performance after new implementations
Transferring comments on parameter implementations after new changes
1.2.6. Recommendations
Defining missing neighbor relations
Proposing new sites or sector additions with Before & After coverage plots
Proposing antenna azimuth changes
Proposing antenna tilt changes
Proposing antenna type changes
BTS Equipment/Filter change
Retuning of interfered frequencies
BSIC changes
Adjusting Handover margins (Power Budget, Level, Quality, Umbrella
HOs)
Adjusting accessibility parameters (RX Lev Acc Min, etc..)
Changing power parameters
Attenuation Adds/Removals
MHA/TMA adds
8
1.2.7. Tracking
Redriving areas after implementing recommendations
Create a tracking file to followup implementation of recommendations
1.2.8. Other Optimization Topics
Verifying performance of new sites
Verifying handovers
Verifying data after ReHomes
Investigating GPRS performance
Verifying Sectorizations
Collecting DTI Scan files
Verifying coverage
Verifying propagation model by importing DTI scan files to Planet
Periodic Consistency Checks
Frequency Planning Check
Analyzing cell access parameters
Analyzing Handover parameters
Analyzing Power control parameters
Analyzing Frequency Hopping parameters (HSN, MAIO)
Implementing/analyzing optional features
Keep helping local engineers with emergency cases
Benchmarking
9
1.3. Before Starting
This document was prepared with TEMS screen shots from live examples
of previous
experiences to guide RF Engineers on how to define/analyze problems or
cases and optimize
network. After each case/problem demonstration, specific step to be taken
will be defined and
appropriate recommendation will be given.
The document will be focusing on Drive Testing part of the Optimization
Process and give
definitions on basic GSM principals, features and parameters when
needed.
The readers of this document are considered to have basic knowledge of
cell planning and TEMS
Investigation usage. Only little information will be given just to remember
TEMS interface.
10
2. DRIVE TESTING
Drive testing is the most common and maybe the best way to analyze
Network performance by means of coverage evaluation, system
availability, network capacity, network retainibility and call quality.
Although it gives idea only on downlink side of the process, it provides
huge perspective to the service provider about whats happening with a
subscriber point of view.
The drive testing is basically collecting measurement data with a TEMS
phone, but the main
concern is the analysis and evaluation part that is done after completition
of the test. Remember
that you are always asked to perform a drive test for not only showing the
problems, but also
explaining them and providing useful recommendations to correct them.
Please note that a
successful analysis should be supported by handling of network statistics
from a statistics tool
(Metrica/NetDocNMS/SRPOSS, etc..) and careful evaluation of coverage
predictions from a
cell planning tool (Planet, DBPlanner, TEMs Cell Planner, etc..). Please see
Figure 1 for a usual
view from TEMS.