Optimization: Introduction

Optimization:
Introduction
Contents
Global indicators
Typical Radio Network Problem
Coverage Problem
Interference problem
Unbalanced power budget
problem
Congestion problem

Problems and responsible

parties

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
4 stages of a call establishment,
2 stages (1&2) for location
update :

1. Radio link establishment Phase

2. SDCCH Phase
then only Circuit Switch call
3. TCH assignment Phase
4. Alerting/Connect Phase

Optimization:
Introduction
 Mobile Originated Call (MOC)

Global
MS BTS BSC MSC
CHANNEL REQUEST
CHANNEL REQUIRED
(RACH)

CHANNEL ACTIVATION (SDCCH)

CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK

1. Radio Link

Indicators
IMMEDIATE ASSIGN COMMEND Establishmen
IMMEDIATE ASSIGN

(AGCH)
t Phase
SABM (L3 info)

(SDCCH) ESTABLISH IND (L3 info)

CR (Connection Request: L3
INFO)
UA (L3 info)
CC (Connection Complete)
(SDCCH)

LOCATION UPDATE REQUEST (IN CASE OF LU)

AUTHENTICATION REQUEST

AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE

2. SDCCH Phase CIPHERING MODE COMMAND

CIPHERING MODE COMPLETE

LOCATION UPDATE ACCEPT (IN CASE OF LU)

TMSI REALLOCATION COMPLETE (IN CASE OF LU)

SETUP

CALL PROCEEDING

ASSIGNMENT REQUEST
PHYSICAL CONTEXT REQUEST

PHYSICAL CONTEXT CONFIRM

CHANNEL ACTIVATION (TCH) TCH allocation

CHANNEL ALLOCATION ACK.

ASSIGNMENT COMMEND

(SDCCH)

SABM
ESTABLISH INDICATION
TCH UA (L3 info)

3. TCH Assignment
ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE
Phase ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE

ALERTING

CONNECT

4. Alert and Connect CONNECT ACK.

Phase
CONVERSATION

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Handover : Intracell HO
MS BTS BSC MSC
Measurement Report
MEASUREMENT RESULT

PHYSICAL CONTEXT REQUEST (old channel)

PHYSICAL CONTEXT CONFIRM (old channel)

CHANNEL ACTIVATION (new channel)

CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK (new channel)

ASSIGNMENT CMD ASSIGNMENT COMMEND (old channel)

SABM (L3 info)

(SDCCH) ESTABLISH IND (new channel)

UA (L3 info)

(SDCCH)

ASSIGNMENT CMP ESTABLISH COMPLETE (new channel)

HANDOVER PERFORMED

RF CHANNEL RELEASE (old channel)

RF CHANNEL RELEASE ACK (old channel)

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Handover : Internal HO
Serving Target
MS BSC MSC
Cell Cell
Meas. Report

MEASUREMENT RESULT

CHANNEL ACTIVATION

CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK.

HO CMD HANDOVER COMMAND

HANDOVER ACCESS

HANDOVER DETECTION

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

SABM (L3 info)

UA (L3 info)
ESTABLISH INDICATION

HANDOVER COMPLETE HO CMP

HANDOVER PERFORMED

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Handover : External HO
MS Serving Cell BSC MSC BSC Target Cell MS
MEAS_REPORT
MEAS_RESULT
HO_REQUIRED
CR (HO_REQUEST)

CC CHANNEL_ACTIVATION

CHANNEL_ACT_ACK
HO_REQUEST_ACK
HO_COMMAND (HO_COMMAND)
HO_ACCESS

HO_ACCESS
HO_DETECTION
HO_DETECTION
PHYSICAL_INFO

SABM (L3 info)

ESTABLISH_INDICATION UA (L3 info)

HO_COMPLETE
HO_COMPLETE
CLEAR_COMMAND
Cause: HO_SUCCESSFUL
Release of TCH

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators :
SDCCH Congestion
SDCCH Assignment Failure
SDCCH Drop
TCH Assignment Failure
Call Drop
Call Setup Success
Call Success
Outgoing Handover
Incoming Handover
Handover Causes Distribution
(Better/Level/Quality/MCHO/...)
Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
SDCCH Congestion :
MS BTS BSC
CHANNEL REQUEST
CHANNEL REQUIRED
(RACH)

NO FREE SDCCH !!!

IMMEDIATE ASSIGN COMMEND

IMM. ASS. REJECT (OPTION)

(AGCH)

MS will try to request again for a certain of

times
If still failures, it will
Wait for a certain of time without
reception of immediate_assign
message
Try an automatic cell_reselection in
case of LU (no impact for subscriber)
Optimization: Notify a network error for call
Introduction establishment (call setup failure for
Global Indicators
SDCCH Congestion : Main causes

Too much SDCCH normal traffic for

cell SDCCH design
Logical cell design, extra TRX, new site
Common Transport Effect
Difficult to avoid for small cells
LA border at crowded area
Abnormal SDCCH traffic
phantom channel requests
Inadequate LAC design, causing too
much LU
Redesign LAC
Problem with neighbor cells belong to
other LAC
Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
SDCCH RF Failure : main causes
MS BTS BSC MSC
CHANNEL REQUEST
CHANNEL REQUIRED
(RACH)

CHANNEL ACTIVATION (SDCCH)

CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK

IMMEDIATE ASSIGN COMMEND

IMMEDIATE ASSIGN

(AGCH)

??? no message from MS

Real radio problems

Unbalanced power budget
Bad coverage
Interference

In case of radio failure, MS will retry as in case

of SDCCH congestion
Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
SDCCH RF Failure : main causes

Phantom/Ghost/Spurious/Dummy...RA
CH

Channel request received but not sent : 3

causes
1. Noise decoding
2. Reception of channel request sent to
a neighbor cell
3. Reception of HO_ACCESS sent to a
neighbor cell

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
SDCCH RF Failure : main causes : Phantom RACH

1. Noise decoding
GSM 05.05: 0.02% of RACH Frame can
be decoded without error without real
input signal (this extra-load has no
impact for the system)
BCCH not combined: 156 phantom
RACCH/hour (or about 0.08 Erlang
SDCCH)
BCCH combined: 83 phantom RACH/hour
During period with low real traffic (night),
high rate of phantom RACH
No impact for subscriber
But impact on indicator SDCCH RF access
failure
Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
SDCCH RF Failure : main causes : Phantom RACH

2. Channel request sent to neighbor cell

Subscriber is not impacted ( the real

transaction is performed elsewhere)

But SDCCH RF access failure is impacted

Usual radio planning rules are sufficient to

avoid the trouble (BSIC and BCCH
frequency plan)

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
SDCCH RF Failure : main causes : Phantom RACH

3. Channel request due to handover

During HO, first message sent to target
cell is HO access which is an access burst
like channel_request
If received on BCCH, can be understood
as a channel-request
This case is the most dangerous
MS is sending usually a sequence of HO
Access message, every frame !!
In some cases, this can create phantom
RACH if the frequency of TCH is co- or
adjacent to one of the interfered BCCH
Can block very easily SDCCH
Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
SDCCH Drop :
MS BTS BSC MSC

Radio connection loss

CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION
(cause : radio link failure)
CLEAR REQUEST
(cause : radio interface failure)

Loss of connection during SDCCH phase =

SDCCH Drop
3 causes of SDCCH drop
Radio problems when connected on
SDCCH
BSS problems (Transcoder and Internal
BSS problems)
Call lost during an SDCCH HO
(handover failure without reversion to
Optimization: old channel)
Introduction
Global Indicators
TCH assign failure : Congestion
MS BTS BSC MSC

ASSIGNMNET REQUEST

no RTCH available on request cell

ASSIGNMENT FAILURE
cause No Radio Resources Available

4 sub causes of congestion

A: Queuing is not allowed

B: Queue is full
C: T11 expired
D: RTCH requests is de-queued due to a
high priority (i.e. emergency call)
request to be queued

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
TCH assign failure : Radio

MS BTS BSC MSC

ASSIGNMENT REQUEST
PHYSICAL CONTEXT REQUEST

PHYSICAL CONTEXT CONFIRM

CHANNEL ACTIVATION (TCH) TCH allocation

CHANNEL ALLOCATION ACK.

ASSIGNMENT COMMEND

(SDCCH)

TCH
Radio Problem
ASSIGNMENT FAILURE
Radio interface failure

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
TCH assign failure : BSS

MS BTS BSC MSC

ASSIGNMENT REQUEST
PHYSICAL CONTEXT REQUEST

PHYSICAL CONTEXT CONFIRM

CHANNEL ACTIVATION (TCH) TCH allocation

CHANNEL ALLOCATION ACK.

ASSIGNMENT COMMEND

(SDCCH)

BSS Problem

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
TCH Drop : Radio

MS BTS BSC MSC

Alerting Connection Phase or Communication : at any time

Radio Problem CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION

(cause : radio link failure)
CLEAR REQUEST
(cause : radio interface failure)

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
TCH Drop : BSS
MS BTS BSC MSC

Alerting Connection Phase or Communication : at any time

Radio Problem CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION

(Remote transcoder failure)
CLEAR REQUEST
(Equipment failure)

Transcoder reported problem

Abis transmission Problem: Microwave,
Microwave antenna, fixed line problems.
Problem on TC boards (hardware problem)

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
TCH Drop : BSS

MS BTS BSC MSC

Alerting Connection Phase or Communication : at any time

CLEAR REQUEST
BSS problem O&M intervention
Radio interface failure

Other BSS problem (excluding TC)

Hardware or software failures of BSC/BTS

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
TCH Drop : Handover

MS BTS BSC MSC

Alerting Connection Phase or Communication : at any time

HO failure without reversion CLEAR REQUEST

Radio interface message failure

Call drop during handover

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Intracell HO Failures

Congestion
Reversion to Old Channel (ROC)
Drop Radio
BSS problem

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Intracell HO Failures : Congestion

Serving
MS BSC MSC
BTS
Measurement Report
MEASUREMENT RESULT

No Free TCH/SDCCH

Intracell HO Failures : Drop

MS BTS BSC MSC
ASSIGNMENT CMD
ASSIGNMENT COMMAND (old channel)

Release of old and new channels

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Intracell HO Failures : Reversion to Old Channel

Serving Serving
MS MSC
BTS BSC
ASSIGNMENT CMD ASSIGNMENT COMMEND (old channel)

SABM (new channel)

ESTABLISH IND (new channel)

UA (new channel)
X
SABM (new channel)

UA (new channel)
X
SABM (old channel)
ESTABLISH INDICATION (old channel)
UA (old channel)

ASSIGNMENT FAIL ASSIGNMNENT FAILURE

RF CHANNEL RELEASE (old channel)

RF CHANNEL RELEASE ACK (old channel)

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Internal HO Failures : Reversion to Old Channel
Serving Target
MS BSC MSC
Cell Cell
HO CMD HANDOVER COMMAND

HANDOVER ACCESS

HANDOVER DETECTION

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

SABM (L3 info)

UA (L3 info)
ESTABLISH INDICATION

HANDOVER COMPLETE
X
SABM
ESTABLISH INDICATION
UM

HO FAILURE HO FAILURE

Release of new channel

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Internal HO Failures : Drop
Serving Target
MS BSC MSC
Cell Cell
Meas. Report

MEASUREMENT RESULT

CHANNEL ACTIVATION

CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK.

HO CMD HANDOVER COMMAND

Clear_request

Clear_command

Release of old and new TCH

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
External HO Failures : Congestion

MS Serving Cell BSC MSC BSC Target Cell MS

MEAS_REPORT
MEAS_RESULT
HO_REQUIRED
CR (HO_REQUEST)

HO_FAILURE
Cause: no radio resource available
HO_REQUIRED_REJECT

External HO Failures : A int.

MS Congestion
Serving Cell BSC MSC BSC Target Cell MS
MEAS_REPORT
MEAS_RESULT
HO_REQUIRED
CR (HO_REQUEST)

HO_FAILURE
Cause: terrestrial circuit already allocated
HO_REQUIRED_REJECT
Requested trerestrial resource unavailable
BSS not equipped

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
External HO Failures : Reversion to Old Channel

MS Serving Cell BSC MSC BSC Target Cell MS

MEAS_REPORT
MEAS_RESULT
HO_REQUIRED
CR (HO_REQUEST)

CC CHANNEL_ACTIVATION

CHANNEL_ACT_ACK
HO_REQUEST_ACK
HO_COMMAND (HO_COMMAND)
HO_ACCESS
X
HO_ACCESS
X
SABM
ESTABLISH_INDICATION
UA

HO_FAILURE(reversion to pld channel)

CLEAR_COMMAND
Radio interface fail:
Reversion to old channel Release connection

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
External HO Failures : Drop

MS Serving Cell BSC MSC BSC Target Cell MS

MEAS_REPORT
MEAS_RESULT
HO_REQUIRED
CR (HO_REQUEST)

CC CHANNEL_ACTIVATION

CHANNEL_ACT_ACK
HO_REQUEST_ACK
HO_COMMAND (HO_COMMAND)
HO_ACCESS
X
HO_ACCESS
X
SABM
X
SABM
X
SABM
X
CLEAR_COMMAND
Radio interface fail Release connection

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : SDCCH Congestion Rate

Definition: Rate of SDCCH not allocated

during radio link establishment procedure
due to congestion on Air interface
Comment: Check SDCCH Erlang : if not
critical, SDCCH availability/allocation
problem, or HO access on a nearby cell
side effect or interference on the carrier
handling SDCCH (the last 2 can lead to
high rate if Phantom RACH
Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : SDCCH Assign Failure Rate

Definition: Rate of SDCCH seizure failed

(BSS problem, radio access problem)
during radio link establishment procedure
over the total amount of SDCCH seizure
requests during radio link establishment
procedure

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : SDCCH Drop Rate

Definition: Rate of dropped SDCCH

(SDCCH is established for any
transaction OC, TC, LU, ...)
Comment: Drop radio + Drop HO +
Drop BSS
Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : TCH Assign Failure/Congestion Rate

Definition:
TCH Assign Failure Rate: Rate of RTCH
seizure failed (BSS problem, radio access
problem) during normal assignment
procedure over the total amount or RTCH
request for normal assignment procedure
TCH Assign Congestion Rate: Rate of
RTCH not allocated during normal
assignment due to congestion on Air
Optimization: interface
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : Call Drop Rate

Definition: Rate of dropped calls over the

total amount of calls with a successful end
Comment:
Drop BSS + Drop radio + Drop HO
TCH drop occurring after successful
assignment but before speech connection
are considered as call drop even if from
customers point of view it is a call setup
Optimization: failure
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : Call Setup Success Rate

Definition: Rate of calls going until TCH

successful assignment, that is not interrupted
by SDCCH drop neither by assignment
failures
Comment:
Subscriber : call not established at the
first attempt
Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : Call Success Rate (BSS view)

Definition: Rate of calls going until normal

release, that is not interrupted by SDCCH
drop neither by assignment failures and
neither by CALL DROP
Comment:
1 call success =
1 call successfully established
Optimization: Without any call drop
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : Outgoing Handover Success Rate

Definition: Rate of outgoing external and

internal intercell TCH and SDCCH handover
successes over the total amount of outgoing
external and internal intercell TCH and
SDCCH handover required

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : Incoming Handover Success Rate

Definition: Rate of incoming external and

internal intercell TCH and SDCCH handover
successes over the total amount of outgoing
external and internal intercell TCH and
SDCCH handover requests

Optimization:
Introduction
Global Indicators
Important indicators : Handover Cause Distribution

Definition: Distribution of Handover requests by

cause: UL Qual, UL Lev, DL Qual, DL Lev, Better
Cell, UL Interference, DL Interference,
Interband, Micro cells HO, Concentric cell
causes

Optimization:
Introduction
Typical Radio Problems

i. Coverage Problem
ii. Interference problem
iii.Unbalanced power
budget problem
iv. Congestion problem

Optimization:
Introduction
Typical Radio Problems

Several sources of information for

optimization

QoS indicators
Coverage predictions
Customer complaints
Drive tests
Abis/A traces
Other teams information (NSS
statistics)

Optimization:
Introduction
i. Coverage Problem

Bad coverage :
A network facing coverage problems
has bad RxLev. RxQual can be bad
at the same time.
Sometimes the RxLev can look OK on
the street (i.e. from drivetest) but
coverage inside the buildings can be
poor due to building losses. Building
losses can range from 10 to 30 dB
or more.
Optimization:
Introduction
i. Coverage Problem
Indications :
Customers complain about dropped
calls and/or No Network
OMC QoS indicators
TCH failure rate
Call drop rate
Low proportion of better cell HO
High rate of DL & UL Level HO
(possibly also DL/UL quality HO)
A interface indicators
High rate of Clear Request message,
cause radio interface failure
Drive Test
Poor RxLev ( < -95 dBm)
Optimization:
Introduction
i. Coverage Problem
Investigation and Optimization :
If actual coverage is not the one
predicted by planning tool
Check antenna system (azimuth,
crossed sector?)
Check prediction in the tool (EIRP,
Clutter Type, Obstructing building?).
Most of the time the prediction will be
incorrect, as it is only a computer
simulation
Increase or decrease antenna down-tilt
Check BTS output power set in the
OMC-R (BS_TXPWR_MAX: should
always be set at 0)
Optimization:
Introduction
i. Coverage Problem
Investigation and Optimization :
If actual coverage OK compared to
predicted ones
Improve coverage by adding Macro
site, Microcell site (Border or Shadow
areas), or IBC site (In-building
coverage).
Use parameter setting ex. Bi-layer
Handover.

Optimization:
Introduction
i. Coverage Problem
Example on thresholds :

From Drive test or Abis

Interface

RxLev < -95 dBm

and
RxQual > 4

Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem

Interference :

A network facing
interferences problems
presents good RxLev and
bad RxQual in the same
time on some areas.

Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem
Indications :
Customers complain about bad speech
quality (noisy calls) and/or call drops
OMC QoS indicators
SDCCH/TCH Drop
Low proportion of better cell HO
High rate of DL/UL quality HO and
interference HO
Low HO success rate
A interface indicators
High rate of Clear Request message,
cause radio interface failure
Drive Test
RxQual > 4 with RxLev > -85 dBm

Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem
Typical causes :

GSM interferences
Co-channel
adjacent

Non GSM Interference

Other Mobile Network
Other RF sources

Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem

Co-channel interference :
Level

C/I = Carrier-to-interference
ratio +12 dB

+12 dB is taken into account

for Alcatel ( +9 dB according
to GSM standard) (i.e.
interference can be 9 12
dB weaker than serving cell f(cell1)=f(cell2) Frequency
to cause poor RxQual).

Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem
Co-channel interference :
Indications
Downlink and/or Uplink Interference
High rate of quality handover, call drop,
and call setup failure
Investigation
Drive test analysis
Lumpini: Co-channel checking
Check prediction to verify which cell
could be causing the interference
Frequency plan C/I < 12 dB

Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem

Co-channel interference :
Optimization
Antenna optimization
Change frequency
Reduce BTS power (not an option in TA
Orange network)
Concentric cell

Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem
Co-channel interference: Optimization: Concentric cell

Concept Conclusion from Alcatel

trial on Oranges network
(Suburban area)

Concentric cell is difficult to

optimize, and hence is
rarely used in the network
today.
Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem
Adjacent channel interference :
C/A = Carrier-to-adjacent ratio
-6 dB is taken into account for Alcatel (
-9 dB according to GSM standard).
Level

f(cell1) f(cell2)

-6 dB

E.g.
f(cell1)= Ch.573
f(cell2)= Ch.574

f(cell2)=f(cell1)+1 Frequency

Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem
Adjacent channel interference :
Indications
Downlink and/or Uplink Interference
High rate of quality handover, call drop, and
call failure
Investigation
Adjacent HO statistics (if they are defined as
neighbors). If they often handover, then
adjacent channel interference could be a
problem.
Drive test analysis
Lumpini: Adjacent channel checking
Cell coverage prediction
Frequency plan C/I < -6 dB
Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem

Adjacent channel interference :

Optimization
Antenna optimization
Change frequency
Reduce BTS power (not an option in TA
Orange network)
Concentric cell

Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem
Interference : Forced Directed Retry
MS should connect to Cell_A, but
no TCH available.
MS connects to Cell_B with forced
directed retry
MS is emitting at high level (due to
long distance from Cell_B) Cell_B: Ch.573

UL interference for Cell_C

Cell_B is emitting at high level (if
DL PC is being used)
DL interference at Cell_C
MS is serving on the 2nd or 3rd best Cell_A: Ch.569
server: increases chances of Cell_C: Ch.572

interference problem (poor C/I &

C/A as C is lower)
Optimization:
Introduction
ii. Interference Problem
Non GSM interference :
Other mobile network
Inter-modulation with GSM BTS/MS
receiver
Other RF interferers
Radar
Shop anti-theft mechanism
Medical devices
Other man-made radio transmission
Illegal usage of GSM frequencies (e.g.
illegal imported devices, illegal usage
of other organization, ...)
Optimization:
...
Introduction
iii. Unbalance power budget
Problem
A cell facing unbalanced power budget
problems presents a too high path-loss
difference between UL and DL (often DL>UL)
Lower Rx diversity gain of cross polarized
antenna in rural area compared to dense
area
Crossed feeders
Traffic not directly in boresight of antenna,
where cross-polar discrimination is lower
Loose connectors
Faulty antenna, feeder, TMA
Rule : try to have delta as small as possible
to avoid access network possible only in 1
direction (usually BTS->MS : OK and MS-
>BTS : NOK), i.e. uplink limited
Optimization:
Introduction
iii. Unbalance power budget
Problem
Indicators :
OMC QoS indicators
High ratio of Uplink level Handover cause
Low incoming HO success rate
DL level looks OK for HO, but UL is too
weak when HO is attempted
Degradation of TCH failures and OC call
drop indicators
A interface indicators
High rate of Clear Request message,
cause radio interface failure
O&M Alarms
Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR)
TMA

Optimization:
Introduction
iii. Unbalance power budget
Problem
Investigation :
Abis monitoring:
ABS(delta Path loss) > 10
Check if problem is occurring for 1
TRX or all.
ABS(delta path loss) = ABS(UL Path loss
DL Path loss)
UL Path loss = MS transmitted power
measured received UL level
DL Path loss = BTS transmitted power
combiner loss measured received DL
level
Large difference between uplink and
downlink level triggered HO.
Use PM observation counter (in OMC-R)
RT11
Optimization:
Introduction
iii. Unbalance power budget
Problem
Optimization : This equipment
should be checked
TRX types (MP, HP)
Antennas or common RF
components, TMA (common to all
TRX of the BTS)
TRX RF cables, LNA

Optimization:
Introduction
iv. TCH congestion
Problem
TCH Congestion :

TCH Congestion rate (TCH

Assignment Phase) is too
high (more than 2%)
Rule : try to meet the offered
traffic (asked by users) by
providing the right number
of resources (TRX extension)

Optimization:
Introduction
iv. TCH congestion
Problem Indications :
Customers complain about Network
busy
OMC QoS indicators
High TCH Congestion rate, RTCH
Assignment fail-Congestion
Low incoming Intra/Inter BSC HO success
rate (no TCH available)
High Directed Retry rate or Congestion
Relief (Motorola) if activated
A interface indicators: BSS Congestion
failure in OC
High rate of Assignment Failure message,
No radio resource available
Drive Test
Handover to better cell is slow, or never
occurs
Optimization:
Introduction
iv. TCH congestion
Problem
Optimization :

Special events :
Foreseeable: football match,
important meeting, Exhibition, etc.
Add some extra TRXs
Add special mobile BTSs (Cell
on Wheel)
Activate HR (may not always be
possible due to BSC capacity
limitations)
Not foreseeable: car crash on the
highway

Optimization:
Introduction
iv. TCH congestion
Problem
Optimization :

Daily periodic problems : At busy

hour:
Hardware solution :
Add TRX(s)
Concentric cell
New site
Optimize cell boundaries (i.e.
antenna optimization) to share
traffic with surrounding cells

Optimization:
Introduction
iv. TCH congestion
Problem
Optimization :

Daily periodic problems : At busy

hour:
Software solution :
Directed Retry
Traffic Handover
Half Rate (Alcatel)
Congestion Relief (Motorola)
Flow control (Motorola)

Optimization:
Introduction
Problems and responsible
parties
Coverage problem :
If the measured RxLev does not
match the prediction
Check the prediction, check
panoramic pictures for obstructions
Field Operation team to check
physical configuration (tilt, azimuth,
antenna height...). Also check for
faults in the antenna system (VSWR,
sweep antennas, DTF test, etc.)
If Field Operation find no problem,
antenna optimization may be
required (if necessary)

Optimization:
Introduction
Problems and responsible
parties
Coverage problem :

Ifthe field reality match the

prediction
RF team to add new sites (tri-
sector, micro cellular, indoor
cells) to improve poor/no
coverage area (Optimizer
requests for some new sites to RF
team regarding to the drive test
result)

Optimization:
Introduction
Problems and responsible
parties
Interference problem :
Optimization team to identify the
interference source and request
Spectrum Management team to
correct it in case of internal source
(new frequency planning...)

Unbalanced power budget

problem :
Field Operation team to check the
impacted BTS (Antenna, TMA, RF
cables, LNA, diversity system...)
according to request from Optimizer.
Optimization:
Introduction
Problems and responsible
parties
TCH Congestion problem :

Regional
RF to request TRX
expansion.

Optimization:
Introduction