TCH Drop Analysis

!***** CONFIGURATION POWER DATA *****!

RLCPC:CELL=AGA006A, BSPWRB=47, BSPWRT=47, MSTXPWR=33;

BSPWRB Base Station (BS) output power in dBm, for BCCH.

GSM 900 : 35 to 47dBm, odd values only.
GSM 1800 : 33 to 45dBm, odd values only.
BSPWRT BS output power in dBm, for non-BCCH RF channels.
GSM 900 : 35 to 47dBm, odd values only.
GSM 1800 : 33 to 45dBm, odd values only.
!***** CELL LOCATING DATA *****!
RLLOC:CELL=AGA006A, BSPWR=55, BSTXPWR=55, BSRXMIN=121, BSRXSUFF=150, MSRXMIN=100, MSRXSUFF=0, SCHO=OFF,
MISSNM=3, AW=OFF, HYSTSEP=90;

BSPWR BTS reference output power on the BCCH carrier. BSPWR is defined at
the reference point used in the locating algorithm. This reference point is needed,
because the locating algorithm has to be able to compare the output power from
different cells.
BSTXPWR BTS reference output power on all carriers other than the BCCH carrier.
BSTXPWR is defined at the reference point in the locating algorithm
BSRXMIN It is the minimum required signal strength received at the BTS to
consider the cell as a possible candidate for handover (dBm).
BSRXSUFF It is the sufficient signal strength received at the BTS to consider the
cell selectable for further ranking according to the magnitude of the path loss
(dBm).
MSRXMIN The parameter MSRXMIN is the minimum required signal strength
received at the MS in a given cell to consider the cell as a possible candidate for
handover (dBm).
MSRXSUFF The parameter MXRXSUFF is the sufficient signal strength received at
the MS to consider the cell selectable for further ranking according to the
magnitude of the path loss (dBm).
SCHO SCHO is used to identify if handovers on SDCCH are allowed in the cell.
To be able to perform a handover on SDCCH between two cells, both cells must
have SCHO = ON. Change & observe.
AW It identifies if assignment to worse cell is allowed. This feature allows
allocation of a TCH in a cell with worse radio conditions than the serving cell. This is
used if there is congestion in the serving cell.
HYSTSEP It specifies when the signal strength for the serving cell, is high or low.
When the signal strength is high, a larger hysteresis value can be allowed than
when it is low in order to reduce the number of handovers. The serving cell is
classified as a high signal or a low signal cell, depending on the level, HYSTSEP. If
the down-link signal strength is below HYSTSEP, the serving cell is classified as a
low signal cell. Otherwise it will be classified as a high signal cell.
Ericsson's locating algorithm provides the user with a powerful tool to implement a
very flexible cell plan. Big differences in behavior of the radio network and
improvements in performance can be achieved with parameter changes and
activation of different radio network features.
There are two different basic algorithms to choose between, Ericsson 1 and Ericsson
3. Ericsson 1 is based on the GSM specification and it is possible to use either path-
loss or signal strength or both for the handover decision
<rllbp;

1
BSC LOCATING DATA

SYSTYPE
GSM900

TAAVELEN TINIT TALLOC TURGEN EVALTYPE THO NHO

4 10 2 2 1 30 3
ASSOC IBHOASS IBHOSICH IHOSICH
ON ON OFF OFF

SYSTYPE
GSM1800

TAAVELEN TINIT TALLOC TURGEN EVALTYPE THO NHO

4 10 2 2 1 30 3
ASSOC IBHOASS IBHOSICH IHOSICH
ON ON OFF OFF

END
<

EVALTYPE Cell ranking according to the Ericsson1 locating algorithm.

IHOSICH Intra-cell HO on signalling channel. ON-Allowed. OFF -Not allowed.
Change & observe.
!***** CELL LOCATING URGENCY DATA *****!
RLLUC:CELL=AGA006A, QLIMUL=55, QLIMDL=55, TALIM=61, CELLQ=LOW;

QLIMUL Quality limit uplink for handover urgency.

QLIMDL Quality limit downlink for handover urgency.
TALIMTiming advance limit for handover urgency. It determines the maximum TA
that the MS is recommended to use in the cell. If the measured and averaged
timing advance value is equal to or greater than TALIM, the cell must be abandoned
urgently if there exists a neighbouring cell that can take over the connection. If no
such cell exists no action is taken.
CELLQ Cell quality. High or low. An incoming MR initiates a new evaluation
cycle. Depending on the RPD processor load in the BSC where the locating function
is performed, it is possible to have the process started every second MR. This can
be adjusted using the parameter CELLQ. Processor load can be controlled as
follows:
• CELLQ=HIGH: means that a constantly good quality can be expected within the
cell. Every MR is evaluated, but the cycles only start on the arrival of every second
MR. As soon as the transmission quality deteriorates, the system automatically
switches to calculation of handover criteria on the arrival of every MR.
• CELLQ=LOW: means that transmission quality changes within a broad range. The
radio connection requires constant supervision and quick reactions to poor
conditions. Therefore, the cycle is performed every time an MR arrives.
Change & Observe : CELLQ can be kept LOW in all Cells, as HO will be prompt for
poor radio conditions.
!***** CELL LOCATING DISSCONNECT DATA *****!
RLLDC:CELL=AGA006A, MAXTA=63, RLINKUP=16;

MAXTA Timing advance limit when an MS is considered lost.

RLINKUP Radio link timeout, used by the BSC to determine when to disconnect a
call upon repeated failure in decoding the SACCH. A counter that is given the value
RLINKUP is started in the BSC after the assignment of a dedicated channel. The
counter is increased two units if the SACCH data is successfully decoded. One unit
decreases it if it can not be successfully decoded. If the counter reaches the value
zero, then a call release is initiated.

2
Check and change all to 16.
!***** SYSTEM INFORMATION SACCH AND BCCH *****!
RLSSC:CELL=AGA006A, ACCMIN=110, CCHPWR=33, CRH=6, DTXU=1, NECI=0, RLINKT=16, MBCR=0, NCCPERM=3;

ACCMIN Minimum received signal level in dBm at the MS for permission to

access the system.
108 = - (109 to 108) dBm
109 = - (110 to 109) dBm
110 = less than -110 dBm

Change to 104 or 100 & Observe.

CCHPWR Maximum transceiver power level (TXPWR) in dBm a MS may use when
accessing the system on CCCH or SDCCH.
GSM 900 : Numeral 13 - 43 (dBm) in steps of 2
GSM 1800: Numeral 4 - 30 (dBm) in steps of 2

CRH Cell Reselect Hysteresis. Receiving SS (RXLEV) hysteresis in dB for

required cell reselection over LA border. Numeral 0 – 14 (dB) in steps of 2. This
parameter prevents unnecessary location updating and jumping between different
cells connected to separate LAs when the idle MS is moving along the border
between two LAs.
DTXU Discontinuous transmission up-link. DTX is implemented to decrease
the power consumption in the MS and to reduce the carrier-to-interference level
(C/I). During speech pauses, the power consumption is reduced and when the first
word is spoken, the power returns to normal.
1 = The MSs will use up-link discontinuous transmission.
RLINKT Radio Link Time-out. Numeral 4 - 64 (number of SACCH periods) in
steps of 4. The amount of time before an MS disconnects a call due to failure in
decoding SACCH messages. If the number of consecutively lost SACCH blocks on
the down-link is equal to the parameter RLINKT, the MS initiates the clear
procedure.
MBCR Multi Band Cells Reported. Defines the number of neighbours from each
frequency band that shall be reported in the measurement report. 0 : The multiband
MS reports the strongest identified neighbours irrespective of the frequency band
used in the cells.
!***** CELL LOAD SHARING *****!
RLLCC:CELL=AGA006A,CLSLEVEL=20,CLSACC=40,HOCLSACC=OFF,RHYST=75,CLSRAMP=5;

CLSACC Percentage of available full rate capable traffic channels below which no
handovers due to Cell Load Sharing will be accepted. Change to 10 and Observe.
CLSLEVEL Percentage of available full rate capable traffic channels at which or
below which Cell Load Sharing evaluations are initiated. The value of CLSLEVEL
must be less than the value of CLSACC. Change to 5 and Observe.
HOCLSACC Handover due to Cell Load Sharing accepted to this cell. ON : Cell
accepts Cell Load Sharing handover. OFF : Cell does not accept Cell Load Sharing
handover. Change to ON and Observe.

Root Cause Analysis for Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for GSM
Networks
TCH drop (or a dropped call) could be broadly classified into 3 sub classes:
(1)Degradation of the links (Uplink and Downlink): either degradation of Signal
Strength which falls near or lower than the sensitivity of the base station
(around to -110 dBm) or that of the mobile (around -104dBm) or degradation
of quality of the links (Uplink and Downlink) often due to interference.

3
 a. Check for ACCMIN (-104dBm or higher : 103, 102, etc.) : min MS
sensitivity
(2)Excess TA (TA>63 or excess path imbalance due to high TA).
(3)Other Reasons.
Low Signal Strength UL : Check-points
Optimization of UL can either be done using, RF coverage optimization, Hardware
fault checks or parameter optimization.
RF Coverage Optimization for UL : Antenna load heights, tilts, azimuth, weak
coverage cluster optimization, addition of more sites, using Micro cells to cover
hotspots, use of TMA to give additional gain on the UL etc.
Hardware fault checks: Faulty Antenna, High VSWR due to incorrect termination
of RF cable, RF Jumper and antenna feed mechanisms, damaged connectors,
damaged cables, water in external RF feed cables faulty TRX, etc. Excess VSWR is a
common observed problem in networks with weak maintenance plan. High reflected
power back to the radios often causes damage of sensitive Low Noise Amplifiers in
the Rx Path causing excess UL related drops.
Parameter Optimization : In idle mode ACCMIN & CRO could be optimized to
make sure that the MS makes correct cell reselection, also make use of the feature
“Assignment to Another Cell (assignment to better cell part of this feature)” for
these cases of incorrect cell reselection in idle mode.
MSTXPWR defines the maximum permitted transmit power from the MS, make sure
its set at 43 (1.9 Watts) for 900 band and 30 (1 Watt) for 1800 band.
Another set of cell parameters that influences UL signal strength performance is UL
power control settings; make sure SSDESUL is not set too low (-95 dBm or weaker
than that for a cell that drops excessively on the UL) , LCOMPUL and QCOMPUL
settings are not too high (increasing the value of these two parameters leads to
aggressive power control on UL) , filter lengths for signal strength SSLENUL and
uplink quality QLENUL are set between 3 to 5 seconds for faster power revision
commands form the BSS especially for mobiles in the weak coverage areas of the
cell , where signal strength fading rate can be very rapid.
Also for cells with high percentage of drops due to weak uplink levels make sure
that the desired quality for the UL is set very sensitive, use the parameter QDESUL
to control this aspect (keep it a 0 instead of default 20). Power control is covered in
more detail later in this document.
a. Check for ACCMIN (-104dBm or higher : 103, 102, etc.) : min MS
sensitivity
b. Check for AW : should be ON (rllop)
c. MSTXPWR (rlcpp) : 43 (900 band) and 30 (1800 band)
d. SSDESUL -95 dBm or higher (rlpcp)
e. QDESUL keep it a 0 instead of default 20 (rlpcp)
Low Signal Strength on DL: Check-points
Drops due to weak levels on DL for any cell should always be lower than that due to
weak levels on the uplink, if it’s the other way round either its because of hardware
issues or due to incorrect settings of BSTXPWR.
For cells with wide footprint and high density of traffic from far-off zones (high TA &
high distribution of traffic at far-off zones seen on MRR recordings), excess drops
are seen due to path-imbalance; idle mode resection and eventual channel request

4
are made based on DL measurements, which means in these kind of cases an MS
might camp on a cell with reliable DL but unreliable UL which it only realises either
during RACH, AGCH and SDCCH signalling process or when the MS lands on the
TCH, where it drops due to weak and unreliable UL (rather than DL related issues).
That’s the reason why power control optimization of UL or use of TMA usually brings
in much better performance improvements in a network than similar work done on
DL.
Bad Quality UL : Check-points
The reasons for excess drop due to bad UL quality could be classified as
Interference related (co-channel interference, Adjacent Channel interference or
External Interference), coverage issues, handover issues or incorrect cell parameter
settings.
Once again if correct power control settings are used at the BSC/Cell level with a
good frequency plan and use of synthesizer frequency hopping can bring down
excess drops on UL due to bad quality.
1. Interference: Check for co-channel, adjacent channel interference and make
the relevant frequency changes.
2. Parameters: Correct settings for idle mode reselection parameters (ACCMIN
and CRO) Power control settings, use of DTX (Use of Discontinuous
Transmission on the UL brings down interference on UL), MSTXPWR, QLIMUL
(QLIMUL determines the urgency condition for UL quality based handover
trigger value, default setting of 55 (i.e. Rxqual of 5.5 for 4 SACCH period
leading to urgency based handover); if quality drops on UL is seen to be very
high, reducing QLIMUL is seen to bring down TCH Drop Rate).
a. DTXU=1 (rlssp)
b. QLIMUL (rllup) - if quality drops on UL is seen to be very high, reducing
QLIMUL is seen to bring down TCH Drop Rate
3. Handovers: missing neighbours, incorrect settings for locating algorithm etc
can lead to drag and drop scenarios.
4. External Interference: External to GSM system, but operating frequency band,
or harmonics falling within GSM band. Use a spectrum analyser in field to
measure and identify the source.
Drops due to Other Reason: Check-points
This is often a difficult one to crack, excess TCH drop due to other reason could be
due to the following reasons:
1. Transcoder synchronization fault, the counter TRASYNCCOUNT gets
incremented when TRA sync fault is reported by the BTS on any of the
timeslots within the TG.
C:\>stmrp -l -L
REPORTID IN-USE NAME OBJECT TYPES
2005 yes SDMBSC2 CELLFERF DIGPATH RLINKBITR CCCHLOAD
TRASEVENT LAPD MOTG MOTS CLRATECHG

C:\>stmotls -l MOTG
RECORDING AREA
ON OPER

OBJTYPE INCL BRP NCNT AVAILABLE

MOTG YES 15 4

CNTNAME CNTTYPE CNTDES

ID1 ID ID1 (INDIVIDUAL)
ID2 ID ID2 (BLK NO)
INTERCNT PC INTERMITTENT FAULTS
TRASYNCCNT PC TRANS SYNC FAULTS

5
END

C:\>stmfo -i -z SCREEN -b 1000 -s 1030 MOTG

Tue May 22, 12:39 WEST-0100 2012
B25I18X0150_A.WO

==================================================
Tue May 22, 10:15 WEST-0100 2012 (OK)
--------------------------------------------------
MOTG: 'RXOTG-57'

Number Value Name

1 1 ID1
2 524 ID2
3 0 INTERCNT
4 0 TRASYNCCNT
--------------------------------------------------
END

2. TRAB (vododers) congestion; use the counter TFNRELCONG & THNRELCONG

counter to check this.
stmrp -l -L
stmotls -l CELTCHF
stmotls -l CELTCHH
stmfo -i -z SCREEN -b 1600 -s 1630 CELTCHH
stmfo -i -z SCREEN -b 1600 -s 1630 CELTCHF

3. Blocked A-interface (RALT) and ABIS (RBLT) devices causing A and ABIS
interface problems.
4. C7 link problems (link unavailability, high BER).
5. LAPD problems (link failures, high BER).
6. If LAPD problems (excess T200 timer expiry) are not due to transmission
related issues (congestion, availability or high BER due to interference), give a
reset to DXUs on TG that is showing LAPD problems).
T200 timer comes into picture mainly during Call Setup, Assignment and
handover (signalling part) and it monitors the “decodability” of the signalling
information (from SDCCH, FACCH and SACCH) on the signalling frames. If the
information in the frames are not decodable T200 timer is decremented, and
if it gets continuously decremented by a figure specifies by N200 (23 for
SDDCH or approximately 220 ms, 34 for FACCH used for handover or
approximately 115ms or 5 for SACCH or 900 ms), BTS will send a Layer 3
message” Error indication- abnormal release” –reason unspecified (cause
value =1) to both MS and BSC along with T200 expiry , both these messages
could be read from the Layer 3 messages on the MS (TEMS ) or from CTR
measurements at the BTS. BSC in its turn will drop this call/setup attempt and
increment the counter CNDROP and treat it as a drop due to “other reason”.
Often interference , or incorrect settings of ACCMIN is the cause of excess
T200 expiry in a cell ; but if all the three sectors shows excess T200 expiry
(T200 expiry common to the site) then the cause often is transmission
related.
7. Intermittent digital path (DIP) quality problems on transmission networks
caused by interference on the transmission networks.
8. Caused by usage of features like BTS/MS power control (high discrepancy in
power control settings in a BSC causing excessive CP load) or Adaptive
Configuration of Logical Channels.
9. Very high load of Location Updating Requests within the BSC.
10. LAPD Concentration factor set to too high value resulting in LAPD
congestion.

6
 LAPD Concentration factor : The main components of an RBS is the TRUs,
which is connected to a DXU which acts as the interface/switching unit
between the E1-transmission connection in and out of the RBS to the BSC. 1
E1 connection to an RBS (terminated on the DXU of the RBS) has 32 PCM
timeslots in all with each timeslot having a capacity of carrying speech
information from 4 speech timeslots from a TRU, that is each timeslot on the
E1 has a 64kBps bandwidth (and hence 16 x 4 air speech timeslots mapped
onto one PCM timeslot). Now each TRU w.r.t. to this E1 link to the DXU within
the RBS needs a “whole 64 Kbps TS for FACCH, BCCH, SCH, CCCH (paging),
SDCCH and SACCH; this is because only TCH information gets send at sub
rate of 16 Kbps where as signalling is not sub rated and doesn’t pass through
the transcoder). Now one whole PCM timeslot needed for signalling per TRU
can bring down the available bandwidth for TCH traffic on the E1 connection
between RBS and BSC. That’s the reason why a component called CON
(concentrator) is used in the RBS. CON is connected direct to the DXU and all
the signalling timeslots from TRU gets routed through CON to the DXU. CON
defines the priority of the signalling information and makes “sharing of a PCM
timeslot between TRUs possible”; this is done using the cell parameter
CONFACT (default value =1, range =1 to 4). Setting it at high values, say =4,
CONFACT=4 means FOUR TRUs from the RBS will share ONE PCM timeslot on
the E1 instead of using 4 PCM timeslots.
Such settings can increase the number of TRUs that could be equipped on
one E1 between the BSC and the RBS but at the same time will put immense
load on the signalling bandwidth (bringing down signalling performance,
increasing TCH drops due to other reason, lower paging success rate etc)
especially in the case of cells that carry a lot of traffic.
TCH drop due to Sudden Lost Connection : Check-points
This can be due to almost all the reasons from TCH drops due to other reason plus
RF coverage issues. An example of TCH drop due to sudden lost connection could
be a subscriber entering a lift while in conversation; apart from these reasons check
also for loose feeder cable/jumper cable connections to the antenna, connectors
and to the RBS.

Hardware faults :
Faulty antenna, RF cabling issues, VSWR, BTS faults (check alarms).
Handover :
Missing neighbours, swapped sectors, locating algorithm needing corrections, high
number of co-BSIC/BCCH combinations in a cell, RF coverage issues etc.
CLS (Cell Load Sharing):
Aggressive use of CLS, especially for cells with weak or interfered neighbours can
cause high TCH Drop Rate (check per neighbour handover success rate and only
then optimise CLS settings).
HCS :
In a dual band network, often to make the 1800 band carry more traffic HCS
parameters are set too sensitive leading to drop on the higher bands. Very low
multiband parameters like LAYETHR and HSCBANDTHR often leads to high TCH drop
rate on the 1800 layer.
Assignment to Worse Cell :

7
This feature can increase the TCH drop Rate at the expense of brining down
congestion in cases where the neighbours are weak or interfered. Check per
neighbour handover success rate before implementing this feature.
MS and BS Power Control :
Power control is usually seen to have huge impact on both SDCCH and TCH drops
especially on the UL, improving both call setup success rate and drop call rates both
on SDCCH and TCH. Excess transited power, on the downlink by the BS as well on
the uplink by the MS, often causes proportional excess interference on the links.
Adverse impact of excess transmit power by calls originated from close in fields on
calls which are originated from far off fields is usually acute; reasoning here being,
received signal strength at the MS for far off traffic is weak due to excess fading
from longer propagation distance and hence prone to more damage from
interference.
Controlling the high percentage of excess transmit power in the close in fields can
bring down the interference levels on uplink (and downlink).
Power control parameters for MS (UL)

SSDESUL : Keeping it low will make sure that when the UL path loss (controlled by
LCOMPUL) is low (that is the MS is very close to the site where from it need not
transmit at very high power to reach comfortable to BS) and the UL quality is very
good (QDESUL=0, RxQual UL is 0; QCOMPUL=75), the MS will be powered down to
very low transmit power thus decreasing the overall noise floor for the BSC. This
strategy of aggressive power reduction on MS and at the same time making the
uplink extremely sensitive to high path loss and interference (power up immediately
on interference or higher path loss) is seen to bring down TCH drop and SDCCH drop
by huge factor.
Also at the same time keeping the filter lengths low ensures that power change
commands are send to MS at a faster rate to keep the link under high interference
due to low levels or high path loss.
UPDWNRATIO : This parameter controls the “ratio between up and down power
regulation speed”. Default value for UPDWNRATIO is 200. When using the above
strategy for UL power control keeps this parameter at 300.
<raepp:id=UPDWNRATIO;
BSC EXCHANGE PROPERTY DATA

PROP TYPE
UPDWNRATIO-200 OPTIONAL

8
END
<
Power control parameters for BS (DL)