Dokumen - Tips - GSM Radio Network Optimization 578ff9f5b107b

GSM Radio Network
Optimization
Copy Rights © LEGEND Co. 2010

INTRODUCTION

Introduction
RF people work in either
RF Planning RF Optimization
Responsibilities Responsibilities
 Nominal Plan Design  Maintain the Network‘s Accessibility KPIs

 Sites Survey  Maintain the Network’s Retain ability KPIs
 Validation from field  Maintain the Network’s Service Integrity KPIs
 Set RF design (Structure, Azimuth,  Study and Apply new features
Height, Tilt, Cables type)  Try to think of innovative solutions to maximize
 Frequency Plan the Network capacity
 Sites Acceptance
They have to provide the coverage either They have to maintain the performance of
outdoor or indoor. the Network as good as possible.

Introduction
 What will be our concern during this part of the course?

 RF Optimization
 How the RF Optimization people can maintain the KPIs?

 By studying the different radio network features and studying the controlling
parameters of each feature and how to tune them in a smart way to achieve the
target KPIs.
 What are we going to study during this part of the course?

 Most of the Radio Network features and their controlling parameters.
 KPIs monitoring and analysis.
 Trouble shooting and Tuning.

COURSE OUTLINES

Course Outlines
 GSM Overview.
 Idle Mode Behavior.
 Handover.
 HCS (Hierarchical Cell Structure).
 Concentric & Multi Band Cells.
 CLS ( Cell Load Sharing).
 Frequency Hopping.
 Intra Cell Handover.
 Dynamic HR Allocation.
 Power Control.
 GSM to UMTS Cell Reselection and Handover.
 Trouble Shooting and KPIs monitoring.

THANK YOU

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
 MS in Idle Mode
 Doesn’t have a dedicated channel, but able to access the Network and able to
be reached by the Network.
 MS will always try to camp on the best cell based on the signal strength
criterion.
 MS will continuously monitor the serving and neighbor BCCH carriers to

decide which cell to camp on.
 The purpose behind studying the Idle Mode Behavior is to always ensure that
the MS is camped on the cell where it has the highest probability of successful
communication.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
 MS Tasks during Idle Mode
I. PLMN Selection.
II. Cell Selection.
III. Cell Reselection.
IV. Location Updating.
V. Monitor the Incoming Paging.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
I. PLMN Selection Criterion

 PLMN identity is defined as “MCC+MNC” which is part of the LAI, where
LAI=MCC+MNC+LAC.
MCC: Mobile Country Code - MNC: Mobile Network Code - LAC: Location
Area Code
 When the MS is powered ON, it will perform a Location Update and compare
the new LAI with the old stored one.
 An MS will need to make a PLMN selection only incase:

1. MS is powered ON for the 1st time i.e. No PLMN was registered on before
(No Information on MCC&MNC is stored on SIM)
2. Old PLMN is not available any more.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 When the MS has to do a PLMN selection due to one of the previous cases,
the selection mode will depend on the MS settings either Automatic or Manual.
 Automatic PLMN Selection Mode steps:

1. Home PLMN.
2. Each PLMN stored on the SIM card in priority order.
3. Other PLMNs have Signal Strength > -85 dBm in random order.
4. All other PLMNs in order of decreasing Signal Strength.
 Manual PLMN Selection Mode:

1. Home PLMN.
2. All other available PLMNs and give the user the choice to select.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 National Roaming
 If National Roaming is permitted then a MS can register on a PLMN in its
home country other than its home PLMN.
 National Roaming may be allowed on a certain location areas LAs of the

visitor PLMN.
 MS should periodically try to access back his home PLMN, but this periodic
attempts will occur only on Automatic selection mode.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
II. Cell Selection Criterion

 The Cell Selection algorithm tries to find the most suitable cell in the selected
PLMN and make the MS camp on.
 Cell Selection is done by the MS itself.
 During Idle Mode the Network doesn’t know the cell which the MS is camping
on, it only knows the Location Area where the mobile registered himself in.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
II. Cell Selection Criterion Scan RF Frequencies one by one and

calculates the Average received
signal strength over 3  5 seconds
Tune to the RF Frequency with the Tune to the next higher frequency that
highest average received signal wasn’t tried before
strength
Check if the chosen frequency is a

BCCH carrier frequency or not No
Yes
MS will synchronize to the BCCH
frequency and read system
information (LAI,BA List,…etc)
Check if PLMN is desired or not

No
Yes
Check if Cell is barred or not
Yes
No
Check if C1 > 0 or not
Yes No
Camp on the Cell

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 Scanning RF Frequencies may occur in 2 ways:
1. Normal Scanning: Scan all Frequencies in the band ex:124 freq. in GSM900
Band.
2. Stored List Scanning: Scan the Frequencies in the Idle BA list (BCCH
Allocation) stored on the MS SIM before being switched off.
(BA list can have maximum 32 frequencies)
 If MS found cell belongs to the desired PLMN but not suitable, the MS will
start to scan the Idle BA list of this cell.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 Cell is said to be suitable if:
1. Cell belongs to the desired PLMN
 If at least 30 strongest frequencies from GSM900 band were tried and no
suitable cell was found, then the MS will try another PLMN based on PLMN
criterion.
2. Cell is not Barred ( CB = NO)

 Some cells can be barred for access at selection and reselection or given
lower priority based on settings of parameters: CB and CBQ
3. C1 > 0

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 C1 is called “Cell Selection Quantity”
 It is calculated at the MS based on the below equation:
C1 = (Received SS – ACCMIN) – max (CCHPWR-P,0)
ACCMIN  Minimum allowed DL received SS at the MS in order to access the
system
CCHPWR  Maximum allowed transmitting power by the MS in the UL.
P  Maximum out put power of the MS according to its class.
N.B:
1. ACCMIN and CCHPWR are cell parameters sent to the MS at the BCCH
channel.
2. If CCHPWR > P then C1 will decrease and so the Received SS should be
large enough to keep C1 > 0 (May be this cell is not designed of this MS class)
3. ACCMIN, CCHPWR, P are all measured in dBm, where C1&C2 are
measured in dBs

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
III. Cell Reselection Criterion

 After a cell has been selected, the MS will start the cell reselection
measurements to know if it is better to stay on the current cell or to camp on
another cell.
 Cell reselection measurements:

1. Monitors the SS (Signal Strength) of the BCCH carrier of the serving cell.
2. Monitors the SS of the BCCH carrier of all defined neighbors in the Idle BA
list.
3. Continuously read system information sent on the serving BCCH carrier at
least every 30 seconds.
4. Continuously read system information sent on the BCCH carrier for the six
strongest neighbors at least every 5 minutes.
5. Try to decode BSIC of the six strongest neighbors every 30 seconds to assure
that it is still monitoring the same cells.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 Cell reselection measurements summary:
BSIC BCCH Data (System Information)

Serving Cell - Every 30 Seconds
Six Strongest Neighbors Every 30 Seconds Every 5 Minutes

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 When will Cell Reselection occur ?!!!
1. Serving Cell became barred ( CB = YES )
2. C1 serving cell falls below zero for more than 5 seconds.
3. MS tried to access the network through this cell unsuccessfully for the allowed
no. of times defined by the parameter MAXRET
4. C2 neighbor cell ( one of the six strongest neighbors) became greater than C2 serving
cell for more than 5 seconds.
5. MS detects Downlink Signaling Failure.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 What will happen when the MS needs to make cell reselection?
 The MS will camp on the cell that has the highest C2 value.
 C2 is called “Cell Reselection Quantity”

C2 = C1 + CRO – TO * H( PT – T ) where PT ≠ 31
C2 = C1 – CRO where PT = 31
0, X<0
Where H(x)
1, X≥0
 CRO  Cell Reselection Offset, unit = 2 dB, value range = 0 to 63
 TO  Temporary Offset, unit = 10 dB, value range = 0 to 7
 PT  Penalty Time during which TO is valid
 T  Initiated from zero when the MS places the neighbor in the list of the
Six Strongest

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 CRO : defines a signal strength offset to encourage or discourage MSs to
reselect that cell.
 TO : defines a negative temporary offset for certain time according to settings

of PT (Practically this is useful to prevent fast moving MS from camping on
microcells)
 PT: If PT is set to 31, this means that a (–ve) SS offset “CRO” will be applied
to this cell and it appears less favorite for cell reselection.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 Down Link Signaling Failure Algorithm
 The Algorithm of type “Leaky Bucket” and used a counter “D”, where D =
90/MFRMS
 MFRMS is a cell parameter defines the no. of multi-frames between the

transmission of each paging group i.e. if MFRMS=4 then a MS attached to a
certain paging group will wait in sleeping mode for 4 multi-frames (4*253msec)
until it is up again to listen to paging.
 When the MS is up to listen to its paging group, if the message is not decoded
successfully then D is decremented by 4 and if the message is decoded
correctly then D is incremented by 1.
 If D reaches zero, then a Down Link Signaling Failure is detected and cell
reselection took place.
IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 Down Link Signaling Failure Algorithm
Ex: Assume that MFRMS = 4
Downlink signaling failure counter is initialized: D = round(90/MFRMS)=22.
If the MS unsuccessfully decodes a paging message, then: D = D - 4 = 18.
If the MS successfully decodes a paging message, then: D = D + 1 = 19.
 If D reaches zero, then a Down Link Signaling Failure is detected and

cell reselection took place.
N.B:
D can’t exceed the bucket size given by round(90/MFRMS)

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 CRH ( Cell Reselection Hysteresis )
 Cell Reselection between two cells lie in two different Location Areas, will be
accompanied by Location Update.
 At the border between cells the Signal level may be comparable, cell
reselection may occur many times accompanied by many location updating
leading to huge signaling load.
 To avoid this, a parameter CRH is introduced such that a cell in another

location area LA2 should have C2LA2 should greater than C2LA1 of serving cell
lie in LA1 by at least CRH in order to be selected.
 If C2LA1 = 5 dB, CRH = 4 dB, then C2LA2 ≥ 9 dB in order to be selected.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
IV. Location Updating

 To make it possible for the mobile subscriber to receive a call and initiate a call
whenever needed, the network must know where the MS is located whenever
it moves that’s why Location Updating is needed.
 In the Idle Mode, the Network knows the location of the MS on a Location
area resolution not on a cell resolution.
 There are three different types of location updating defined:

1. Normal Location Updating.
2. Periodic registration.
3. IMSI attach & IMSI detach (when the MS informs the network when it enters
an inactive state)

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

1. Normal Location Updating
 Initiated by the MS when it enters a cell belongs to a new Location Area
(LA).
 The MS will compare the LAIold stored on the SIM with the LAInew
broadcasted from the new cell and it will found them different so it’ll perform
Location Update type normal.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

2. Periodic Registration
 Regularly the MS should update the Network with its current location Area.
 The Network will inform the MS how often it should report the location Area
he is registering himself in.
 Based on the value of the Parameter T3212 the MS will know how frequent
it should make periodic registration.
 T3212 take values from 1 (6min) to 255 (25.5 Hours), default = 40 (4 Hours)
 MSC has a supervision time = BTDM+GTDM if it doesn’t hear from the MS

during this period, the MSC will consider the MS implicitly detached.
 BTDM+GTDM should > T3212, to not consider the MS detach before
periodic location update is performed.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

3. IMSI Attach/Detach
 IMSI attach/detach operation is an action taken by the MS to inform the
Network either it will go to inactive state (Power off) or it returned back to
idle mode.
 ATT is a cell parameter that will inform the MS whether IMSI attach/detach is
operational or not.
 If ATT=Yes, then before the MS will be switched off, it will send an IMSI
detach request to the Network, so no paging messages will be sent to this
MS while it is in this state.
 When the MS is switched on again it will send an IMSI attach request to the
Network so now paging messages can be sent normally to this MS.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
V. Monitor the Incoming Paging

 Let us revise the DL logical channels and their mapping:
I) BCH(Broadcast Channels): including
 FCCH(Frequency Correction Channel)
 SCH(Synchronization Channel) Always Mapped on TS0/C0
 BCCH(Broadcast Control Channel)
II) CCCH(Common Control Channels): including
 PCH(Paging Channel) Always Mapped on TS0/C0
 AGCH(Access Grant Channel)
III) DCCH(Dedicated Control Channels): including
 SDCCH(Stand Alone Dedicated Control Channel)
 SACCH(Slow Associated Control Channel) May be Mapped on either
 CBCH(Cell Broadcast Channel) TS1/C0 or TS0/C0
 FACH(Fast Associated Control Channel) “ Work in Stealing mode by
replacing the TCH time slot”

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

Frame 1 Frame 2 Frame 3 Frame 4 Frame 5 Frame 6 Frame 7
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
F S B B B B C
F S B C F S C C F S C C F S C C F S C C I
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51
Default Mapping on TS0/C0 (BCH+CCCH) “Non Combined

Mode”
51 TDMA Frames = 1 Control Multi-frame
IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
D0 D0 D0 D0 D1 D1 D1
D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 A0 A1 A2 A3 I I I
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51
Default Mapping on TS1/C0

(SDCCH+SACCH+CBCH(optional))
IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

Combination of Control channels (Different Mapping Criteria)
 Mapping on TS0/C0 is controlled by Parameter called BCCHTYPE
 BCCHTYPE
═ NCOMB (Non Combined, BCH&CCCH) TS1/C0 will carry SDCCH+SACCH
═ COMB (Combined, BCH&CCCH&SDCCH/4) TS1/C0 will be free for TCH
═ COMBC (Combined with cell broadcast channel CBCH is in use,

BCH&CCCH&SDCCH/4&CBCH) TS1/C0 will be free for TCH

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 SDCCH may have on of the following 4 configurations based on parameter
SDCCH
 SDCCH
═ (i) SDCCH/8 (8 SDCCH Sub-channels i.e. make call setup for 8 users)
═ (ii) SDCCH/8 including CBCH (7 SDCCH Sub-channels + 1 CBCH)
 For these two cases, the BCCHTYPE=NCOMB and the mapping of the SDCCH
channel is done on TS1/C0
═ (iii) SDCCH/4 (4 SDCCH Sub-channels)

═ (iv) SDCCH/4 including CBCH(3 SDCCH Sub-channels + 1 CBCH)
 For these two cases, the BCCHTYPE=COMB or COMBC and the mapping of the
SDCCH channel is done on TS0/C0

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

Non Default Mapping on TS0/C0 (BCH+CCCH)

2*51 TDMA Frames = 2 Control Multi-frame

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 The Table below summarizes all the previous details:
Default Mapping (Non Combined) Non Default Mapping (Combined)

BCH+CCCH on TS0/C0 and BCH+CCCH+SDCCH+SACCH+CBCH on
SDCCH+SACCH+CBCH on TS1/C0 TS0/C0
CBCH doesn't exist CBCH exist CBCH doesn't exist CBCH exist
1 block for BCCH 1 block for BCCH 1 block for BCCH 1 block for BCCH
9 blocks for CCCH 9 blocks for CCCH 3 blocks for CCCH 3 blocks for CCCH
8 blocks for SDDCH 7 blocks for SDDCH 4 blocks for SDDCH 3 blocks for SDDCH
1 block for CBCH 1 block for CBCH

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

Paging Groups
 The MS will monitor the incoming paging in only specific times, and the rest
of the time it will remain in sleeping mode.
 In this way we save the MS battery and we decrease the UL interference on
the system.
 The MS will monitor the incoming paging when the “Paging Group” assigned
for this MS is transmitted only.
 The CCCH block can be used by either PCH or AGCH.
 When the CCCH block is used for paging it will be called “Paging Block”
 The Paging Block consists of 4 consecutive Time slots lie in 4 consecutive
frames.
 The Paging Block can be used to page 4/3/2 users according to IMSI or
TMSI is used when paging the MS ( Length IMSI = 2 TS, Length TMSI=1TS)
 The group of users belong to the same paging block will be called “Paging
Group”

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
F S B B B B C
F S B C F S C C F S C C F S C C F S C C I
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51
Default Mapping on TS0/C0 (BCH+CCCH) “Non Combined Mode”

51 TDMA Frames = 1 Control Multi-frame
IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

Paging Groups
 As appeared the MS will listen to paging in only specific times.
 The MS will utilize the time between the 4 TS that lie in 4 consecutive
frames to make the required measurements on the neighbor cells.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

Paging Groups
 As we said before the no. of the CCCH blocks will depend on either non-
combined mode or combined mode is in use.
Default Mapping(Non Combined) Non Default Mapping(Combined)
BCH+CCCH on TS0/C0 and BCH+CCCH+SDCCH+SACCH+CBCH on
SDCCH+SACCH+CBCH on TS1/C0 TS0/C0
CBCH doesn't exist CBCH exist CBCH doesn't exist CBCH exist
9 blocks for CCCH 9 blocks for CCCH 3 blocks for CCCH 3 blocks for CCCH
 The structure of the CCCH will depend on a parameter called AGBLK.

 If AGBLK=1  1 CCCH block will be reserved for AGCH and we will have
either 8 or 2 blocks assigned for Paging.
 If AGBLK=0  No Blocks are reserved for AGCH and we will have either 9
or 3 blocks assigned for Paging.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

Paging Groups
 How many Paging Groups we have? This will depend on a parameter
MFRMS
 MFRMS is a parameter defined per cell and it defines how frequent the
paging group assigned for certain MS will be transmitted.
 MFRMS takes values from 1 to 9,
 If MFRMS=1 then the paging group assigned for certain MS will be
transmitted every 1 control Multiframes=253 msec
 If MFRMS=9 then the paging group assigned for certain MS will be
transmitted every 9 control Multiframes = 9*253msec=2.3 seconds.
 If MFRMS is large:
 Positive Side: The MS battery life time will increase coz the MS
remains in sleeping mode for long time.
 Negative Side: Call setup time will increase coz may be paging come to
the MS while it is still in the sleeping mode.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

Paging Strategies
 Paging Strategies are controlled by parameters in the MSC.
 Setting of parameters will decide whether the paging will be local paging
(within the LA) or global paging (within the MSC service area).
 Setting of parameters will decide also whether paging will be done via IMSI
or TMSI.
 Using the parameters we can decide also how the second paging will be
incase the first paging failed, ex: If 1st paging was local with TMSI then we
can set the 2nd paging to be global with IMSI.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
 Related Feature to the Idle Mode Behavior

Adaptive Configuration of Logical Channels (ACLC)
 As we know the SDCCH channel is used for signaling i.e. call setup, while the
TCH channel is used to carry real user traffic (speech/data).
 As a rule of thumb GOS for TCH=2% i.e. within 100 calls if 2 of them are
blocked then this will be acceptable, for the SDCCH/8 the GOS=0.5% and for
the SDCCH/4 the GOS=1%
 As we know in the default settings for frequency C0, TS0 is used to carry
BCH+CCCH and TS1 used to carry SDCCH+SACCH, and TS2TS7 used to
carry speech/data

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 Now if the signaling load is high i.e. many users need to make call setup then
high blocking will occur exceeding the allowed value 0.5%
 To solve the blocking we have 2 ways:
i) Static Configuration of a TCH TS to be used as SDCCH forever
(Now TS1&TS2 used for SDDCH+SACCH and TS3TS7 used to carry speech/data)
 But in this case we lost 1 TCH channel i.e. 5 users can talk simultaneously instead
of 6
ii) Adaptive Configuration of a TCH TS to be used as SDCCH/8 when there is

blocking only
(Now TS1&TS2 used for SDDCH+SACCH and TS3TS7 used to carry speech/data)
 But when there is no blocking (TS2 will be configured back automatically as a
TCH and used to carry speech/data)

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR

 Main Controlling Parameters:
 ACSTATE: Activates/Deactivates the feature on cell basis, values: ON/OFF
 SLEVEL: No. of Idle SDCCH sub-channels below which the feature will work.
 The conditions that should be fulfilled for the ACLC feature to work:
1. ACSTATE=ON
2. No. of Idle SDCCH sub-channels < SLEVEL (This is an indication for
congestion)
3. No. of Idle TCHs > 4 or no. of Idle TCHs > Total no. of TRXs (Frequencies)
4. No. of already defined SDCCH channels/8 < Max. allowed configuration of
SDCCHs in the cell.

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
 Parameters Summary
SCH Parameters
Parameter Recommended
Value Range Unit
Name Value
BSIC NCC: 0 to 7 BCC: 0 to 7 ─ ─
RACH Control Parameters
Value Range Unit
Name Value
MAXRET 1,2,4,7 4 ─
Control Channel Parameters
Value Range Unit
Name Value
BCCHTYPE COMB COMBC NCOMB NCOMB ─
0 to 16 (0: No SDCCH/8
SDCCH configured-combined mode)
1 ─
IMSI Attach/Detach Parameters

Value Range Unit
Name Value
ATT Yes, No Yes ─

IDLE MODE BEHAVIOR
Paging Parameters and Periodic Update
Parameter
Value Range Recommended Value Unit
Name
MFRMS 2 to 9 6 Control Channel Multi frame
AGBLK 0 or 1 0 ─
0 to 255 (0: infinite-No periodic
T3212 registeration)
40 6 minutes
Cell Selection and Reselection Parameters

Parameter Name Value Range Recommended Value Unit
ACCMIN − 47 dBm to −110 dBm −110 dBm dBm
GSM900: 13 to 43 in steps of
GSM900: 33 dBm
CCHPWR 2 GSM1800: 4 to 30 in steps
GSM1800: 30 dBm
dBm
of 2
CRO 0 to 63 0 2 dB
TO 0 to 7 (7:infinite) 0 10 dB
PT 0 to 31 0
CRH 0 to 14 in steps of 2 dB

THANK YOU

HANDOVER (LOCATING)

Handover (Locating)
 Handover (Locating) Algorithm
 The Handover (Locating) Algorithm

is the basic feature to provide mobility in the Radio Network.
 Aims At?
i. Keep the continuity of a current call with acceptable quality.
ii. Cell size control in-order to decrease total interference in the system.
 Implemented where?
In the BSC.
 Location process initiated when?

After Hand Over (HO), Assignment or Immediate Assignment.

Handover (Locating)
 Inputs to the Algorithm?

Signal Strength, Quality measurements &TA for serving cell and Signal
Strength measurements for neighbor cells.
 Output from the Algorithm?

List of candidates which the algorithm judges to be possible candidates for
HO (List of HO candidates are ranked and sorted in descending order)

Handover (Locating)
 What types of Handover (locating) algorithm we have?

i. SS & Path Loss based Algorithm: Follows the GSM specifications. HO
decision is taken based on both Signal Strength (SS) and Path Loss.
ii. SS based Algorithm: HO decision is taken based on Signal Strength

only and this leads to better performance.
 It is less complex, uses less parameters and easy to be maintained in
the Radio Network.

Handover (Locating)
 The main Flow of the Handover (locating) Algorithm goes as follow:

Initiation Filtering Basic Ranking Urgency Conditions Handling
Auxiliary Radio Network

Features Evaluation
Organizing the List
Sending the List &

Allocation Reply

Handover (Locating)
I. Initiation.
II. Filtering.
III. Basic Ranking.
IV. Urgency Conditions Handling.
V. Auxiliary Radio Network Features Evaluation.
VI. Organizing the List.
VII. Sending the List & Allocation Reply.

Handover (Locating)
I. Initiation of the Handover (Locating) Process/Algorithm

 The Locating Process is initiated when one of the following occurs:
1. Handover: Normal, Intra Cell HO (IHO), Sub-cell change (OLUL or

ULOL)
2. Assignment: Allocation of TCH channel after completing call setup on

SDCCH.
3. Immediate assignment: You are assigned SDCCH to make call setup, or a

TCH to make call setup on when no free SDCCH channels exist.

Handover (Locating)
I. Initiation of the Handover (Locating) Process/Algorithm

 Handover on SDCCH can be enabled/disabled based on parameter SCHO
 At initiation of Locating after successful HO, Assignment or Immediate

assignment a timer TINIT starts which will disable HO for some time until it
expires.
 The reason is to leave the connection on the current channel for some time
until the locating algorithm produces reliable results we can rely on.
 TINIT will disable HO only, but Assignment on own or other cell will occur
normally and will not wait TINIT till expired.
 TINIT is a BSC parameter not a cell parameter and it measured in SACCH

periods.
Handover (Locating)
II. Filtering
 Simply it is the process of collecting the required data on Signal Strength
(SS), Quality and Time Advance (TA) for serving and neighbor cells and
average these consecutive measurements over a specified period to rank
these cells.
 This is accomplished in two steps:

1. Measurements Preparation
2. SS, Quality and TA Filtering

Handover (Locating)
II. Filtering
 Data that is measured:
Cell on which Who makes the

Measured Quantity
measurements are reported measurements?
SS DL MS
Quality DL (rxqual_DL) MS
Serving Cell
Quality UL (rxqual_UL) BTS
TA BTS
6 Strongest neighbor cells SS DL MS
 The MS can measure the SS of up to 32 neighbor frequencies but only the

six strongest neighbors (which it succeeded to decode its BSIC over the last
10 seconds) are reported and considered candidates for HO.

Handover (Locating)
II. Filtering
 SS measurements are delivered as integer values 0  63 corresponds to
real SS from -110 dBm  - 47 dBm
 Quality is measured based on the BER and it may be represented in two
forms:
i. Integers 0 (Best)  7 (Worst)
ii. Deci Transformed Quality Units (dtqu) from 0 (Best)  70 (Worst)
 Time Advance (TA): is reported as values between 0  63 bit period.

N.B:
If TA=1 then the MS is at nearly 0.5 km from the cell

Handover (Locating)
II. Filtering
2. SS, Quality and TA Filtering:
 The consecutive measurements for SS, Quality and TA are averaged in
some way based on the equation of the filter used.
 We’ve 5 Types of Filters that may be used, each one has its own equation or
its way to produce output results from the collected consecutive
measurements:
A. General FIR Filters
B. Recursive Straight Average Filter
C. Recursive Exponential Filter
D. Recursive 1st Order Butterworth Filter
E. Median Filter

Handover (Locating)
II. Filtering
 In addition to the way each filter use to produce output results from the
consecutive measurements, each filter has what we call filter length which is
the period over which measurements are considered.
 We have controlling parameters on cell basis to select the type of filter used
and the length of the filter.
 Also the type of the filter used in signaling (call setup) and dedicated phases
may be configured separately as we’ll see.

Handover (Locating)
II. Filtering
2-i) Signal Strength Filters controlling parameters
 SSEVALSI  Selects the Type of the filter that will be used during Signaling
phase.
 SSEVALSD  Selects the Type of the filter that will be used during
Connection phase.
 SSLENSI  Selects the Length of the filter that will be used during Signaling
phase.
 SSLENSD  Selects the Length of the filter that will be used during
Connection phase.
N.B:
SSLENSI & SSLENSD are measured in the form of SACCH periods,
i.e. if SSLENSD=10, then the length of the filter during the connection
phase = 10*0.48 sec = 4.8 seconds

Handover (Locating)
II. Filtering
2-ii) Quality Filters controlling parameters
 QEVALSI  Selects the Type of the filter that will be used during Signaling
phase.
 QEVALSD  Selects the Type of the filter that will be used during
Connection phase.
 QLENSI  Selects the Length of the filter that will be used during Signaling
phase.
 QLENSD  Selects the Length of the filter that will be used during
Connection phase.
N.B:
QLENSI & QLENSD are measured in the form of SACCH periods,
i.e. if QLENSD=10, then the length of the filter during the connection
phase = 10*0.48 sec = 4.8 seconds

Handover (Locating)
II. Filtering
2-iii) Time Advance (TA) controlling parameters
 One single type of filters is used which is the Recursive Straight Average
Filter and the length of the filter is specified by parameter TAAVELEN which
is also measured in SACCH periods.

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

 It is called “Basic” coz in this stage ranking is done before handling the
urgency conditions and evaluation of the auxiliary radio network features.
 As mentioned earlier, two algorithms are available for basic ranking

(SS&Path loss based Algorithm and SS based Algorithm) and they’re
selected according to the parameter EVALTYPE
 EVALTYPE=1, SS & Path loss based Algorithm is used for basic ranking
taking into consideration both Signal Strength measurements and the path
loss.
 EVALTYPE=3, SS based Algorithm is used for basic ranking taking into

consideration Signal Strength measurements only.

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

 Basic Ranking Algorithm following the SS based Algorithm will be done on
four steps:
A. Correction of Base Station output power. Common
B. Evaluation of the minimum signal strength condition for neighbors. for both
C. Subtraction of signal strength penalties. Algorithms
D. Rank the Candidates after applying Offsets and Hysteresis.

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

 Basic Ranking Algorithm following the SS based Algorithm
A. Correction of Base Station output power
 The location algorithm aims at making the Pure Traffic Frequencies to control
the cell borders and not the BCCH frequencies, coz most of the time the
seized TCH Time slot will be located on a TCH frequency.
 BSPWR is a parameter to set the output power of the BCCH carrier

And
 BSTXPWR is a parameter to set the output power of the TCH frequencies.
 Correction for the output power will done for both:

(A-i) Correction for Neighbor Cells.
(A-ii) Correction for Serving Cell.

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

(A-i) Correction for Neighbor Cells
 The MS is informed by the BCCH frequencies of the neighbors cells on
which he has to perform his measurements via Active BA list.
 SS_corrected_DLneighbor = SS_measured_DLneighbor - ( BSPWR - BSTXPWR )

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

(A-ii) Correction for Serving Cell
1) TCH Time Slot (TS) is on the BCCH frequency
SS_corrected_DLservingcell = SS_measured_DLservingcell - ( BSPWR - BSTXPWR )
2) TCH TS is hopping between a BCCH frequency and a TCH frequency:

SS_corrected_DLservingcell = SS_measured_DLservingcell - ( BSPWR - BSTXPWR )/N ,
Where N is the no. of the hopping frequencies
3) TCH TS is on the OL (Over Laid sub cell)

SS_corrected_DLUnderLaid = SS_measured_DLOverLaid+ ( BSTXPWR Under Laid –
BSTXPWR OverLaid )

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

B. Evaluation of the minimum Signal Strength condition for Neighbors
 Not all the neighbors are allowed to be ranked!!
 The neighbor should pass the minimum signal strength condition in order to
be ranked.
 SS_corrected_DLneighbor will be compared with respect to parameter called MSRXMIN,
If SS_corrected_DLneighbor ≥ MSRXMIN  this neighbor will be included in ranking
If SS_corrected_DLneighbor < MSRXMIN  this neighbor will be excluded from ranking
 If UL measurements are included then SS_corrected_ULneighbor will be compared with

respect to parameter called BSRXMIN,
If SS_corrected_ULneighbor ≥ BSRXMIN  this neighbor will be included in ranking
If SS_corrected_ULneighbor < BSRXMIN  this neighbor will be excluded from ranking

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

B. Evaluation of the minimum Signal Strength condition for Neighbors
Example:
Assume that a MS is connected to cell A that has five neighbors B,C,D,E&F, the
MSRXMIN for all the cells is -104 dBm and the SS_corrected_DLneighbor for each cell after
correcting the BTS o/p power is given in the below Table:
Neighbors SS_corrected_DL neighbor
B -85 dBm
C -110 dBm  Cell C will be excluded from
D -87 dBm ranking and won’t be considered
in the next stage and the MS will
E -70 dBm
never HO to it
F -100 dBm

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

C. Subtraction of signal strength penalties
 Penalties or Punishments will be applied on cells that are for some reasons
temporarily undesirable.
 A Penalty value will decrease the rank of some cells for certain penalty time.
 SS_punished_DL = SS_corrected_DL – Locating Penalties – HCS Penalties
 In the coming slides we’ll talk about the two types of penalties:
(C-i) Locating Penalties
(C-ii) HCS Penalties

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

1) Due to HO failure:
If HO to a neighbor cell failed then we’ve to apply a penalty value for some
time on this neighbor so when basic ranking is done again we don’t go back
to this cell.
 Penalty value will be configured using parameter PSSHF (default 63 dB)
 Penalty time will be configured using parameter PTIMHF (default 5 sec)

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

2) Due to Bad Quality (BQ) Urgency HO:
If a cell was abandon due to BQ, then it should have been the best cell from
SS point of view so without penalties using the basic ranking we’ll be back to
this cell.
 Penalty value will be configured using parameter PSSBQ (default 7 dB)
 Penalty time will be configured using parameter PTIMBQ (default 5 seconds)
3) Due to Excessive TA Urgency HO:

Handled in the same manner like the BQ case.
 Penalty value will be configured using parameter PSSTA (default 63 dB)
 Penalty time will be configured using parameter PTIMTA
(default 30 seconds)
Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

(C-ii) HCS Penalties
 It is related to the HCS (Hierarchical Cell Structure) feature when a MS is
detected as a fast moving mobile.
 A penalty will be applied on lower layer cells so in ranking we will prioritize

cells in the same layer of the serving cell and cells in higher layers and in this
way unnecessary HO’s are prevented ( ex: layer2 cells will be prioritized than
layer1 cells)

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

D. Rank the Candidates after applying Offsets and Hysteresis
 Ranking for neighbor cells will be done after applying Offsets and Hysteresis.
 Offset: Displace the cell border as compared to

the border strictly given by SS.
Controlling parameter: OFFSET (default: zero dB)
 Hysteresis: To reduce the risk of ping pong HO

a region for Hysteresis is applied
around the cell border.

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

 If the Hysteresis value is too high there will be a risk that the MS will be
connected to the cell of low SS for long time and if the Hysteresis is too low
then there will be a risk that ping pong HO’s occur.
 So the applied value of Hysteresis will be variable based on the received SS
of the serving cell.
 SS_corrected_DLservingcell will be compared to value HYSTSEP (default -90
dBm),
 If SS_corrected_DLservingcell > HYSTSEP, then the serving cell is strong
enough and high value of Hysteresis will be applied such that Hysteresis
value=HIHYST (default 5 dB)
 If SS_corrected_DLservingcell < HYSTSEP, then the serving cell is not strong
enough and low value of Hysteresis will be applied such that Hysteresis
value=LOHYST (default 3 dB)

Handover (Locating)
III. Basic Ranking

No
SS_corrected_DLservingcell > HYSTSEP HYST=LOHYST
Yes
HYST=HIHYST
Output from Basic
Ranking
Now,
Rank servingcell = SS_corrected_Dl servingcell

Rank neighbor= SS_punished_DL neighbor – OFFSET neighbor – HYST neighbor

Handover (Locating)
IV. Urgency Conditions Handling

 After the Basic Ranking stage a check is made on the serving cell to know if
Urgency conditions are detected or not.
 We have two types of Urgency HO:

1. Bad Quality (BQ) Urgency HO
2. Excessive Time Advance (TA) Urgency HO
 If Urgency conditions are detected then the serving cell should be abandon
as fast as possible, but some of the neighbors will be removed from the
candidate list and the MS will not be able to HO to them as we will see later.
 As seen before, cells that were abandon due to Urgency HO will be

subjected to punishment/penalty.

Handover (Locating)

 The Quality measured at the DL and UL for the serving cell will be
compared with two parameters QLIMDL & QLIMUL (default 50 dtqu) and if:
rxqual_DL > QLIMDL
Or  Urgency HO due to BQ should be performed
rxqual_UL > QLIMUL
 The Quality may drop like that as a result of Co-Channel Interference or

when the SS became very low.
 When Urgency Condition is detected the MS has to leave the cell and make
HO to other cell, but in this case the serving cell is the one that has the
highest SS so the MS has to HO to a cell of worse SS, but is the MS allowed
to HO to any worse cell?

Handover (Locating)

 Is the MS allowed to HO to any worse cell? No, this will be based on a
parameter called BQOFFSET which will ensure that far neighbors won’t be
selected.
 If Rankservingcell – Rankneighbor < BQOFFSET+HYST, then this neighbor is near

to the serving cell and it is not much worse than the serving cell and it can
be candidate for HO.
 If Rankservingcell – Rankneighbor > BQOFFSET+HYST, then this neighbor is far

from the serving cell and it will be removed from the candidate list.

Handover (Locating)

Example:
If Urgency condition is detected where Rankservingcell = -75 dBm and the neighbors:
((RankB = -79 dBm , RankC = -90 dBm , RankD = -87 dBm)) and
((BQOFFSET=5dB, HYST=0 dB))
 Rankservingcell – RankB = 4dB < BQOFFSET= 5dB “Cell B is kept in the candidate list”
 Rankservingcell – RankC = 15dB > BQOFFSET= 5dB “Cell C is removed from the
candidate list”
 Rankservingcell – RankD = 8dB > BQOFFSET=5dB “Cell D is removed from the
candidate list”

Handover (Locating)

2. Excessive Time Advance (TA) Urgency HO
 TA can be used as a measure for the distance between the BTS and the
MS.
 If TA > TALIM (63 bit period)  Urgency HO due to TA is initiated.

Handover (Locating)
 After Basic Ranking and Evaluation of the Urgency Conditions, the Serving
Cell and Neighbor Cells will be divided into 3 Groups:
Better Cell
 Categorization #1 Serving Cell
Worse Cell

Handover (Locating)
V. Auxiliary Radio Network Features Evaluation

1. Assignment to Another Cell Evaluation
2. Cell Load Sharing Evaluation
3. Over Laid/Under Laid sub-cell Evaluation
4. IHO Evaluation
5. HCS Evaluation
 After these Evaluations, some candidates will be removed from the HO

candidate list and Categorization#2 will be performed.

Handover (Locating)

 The Locating Algorithm may be initiated after immediate assignment to know
whether it is better for the MS to take a TCH time slot on the current cell or
not.
 If during the signaling phase a Better Cell was found after ranking then
“Assignment to Better Cell” will be initiated.
 If during the signaling phase no better cell was found, then the MS will
normally be assigned a TCH time slot on the current cell.
 If the Better/Serving Cells were congested then “Assignment to Worse Cell”

will be done.

Handover (Locating)

 Is the MS allowed to take TCH time slot on any worse cell? No, this will be
based on a parameter called AWOFFSET which will ensure that far
neighbors won’t be selected.
 Only if Rankservingcell – Rankneighbor < AWOFFSET, then this neighbor is near to

the serving cell and it is not much worse than the serving cell and
assignment to it can be done.
 If Rankservingcell – Rankneighbor > AWOFFSET, then this neighbor is far from the
serving cell and it will be removed from the candidate list.

Handover (Locating)

2. Cell Load Sharing (CLS) Evaluation
 This feature is used to reduce congestion on the serving cell.
 When CLS is activated and the load on the serving cell becomes higher than
certain threshold then:
i) Valid CLS HO candidates are defined
ii) Re-calculation of their ranking values will be performed.

Handover (Locating)

2. Cell Load Sharing (CLS) Evaluation
i. Valid CLS HO candidates are defined as follow:
 Worse cells: coz if they were better then they’ll be chosen at Basic
Ranking
 Load on neighbor cells < CLS load threshold
 Internal cells: lies in the same BSC
 Same Layer
ii. Re-calculation of their ranking values will be performed:

 We’re going to recalculate the Ranking values of the valid CLS
neighbors with reduced Hysteresis so these worse neighbors will appear
with higher SS than they really are and the MS can make HO to them
and relief the congestion on the current cell.

Handover (Locating)

3. OL/UL Sub-Cell Evaluation
 The OL/UL feature provides a way of increasing the traffic capacity in a
cellular network without building new sites.
 Since OL sub-cell serves smaller area than the corresponding UL sub-cell a

smaller reuse distance can be used in in the OL sub-cell than in the under
laid.
 The OL/UL evaluation may result in a recommendation to change the sub-

cell from the one currently in use, this evaluation is based on:
DL SS, TA Serving Cell, Distance to cell border, Traffic Load in the cell
 This feature will be discussed in details afterwards.

Handover (Locating)

4. Intra Cell HO (IHO) Evaluation
 The IHO feature provides a way to improve the speech quality during the
conservation when bad quality is detected while the SS is high.
 This is can be accomplished by changing the channel the connection is

currently using within the same cell.

Handover (Locating)

5. Hierarchical Cell Structure (HCS) Evaluation
 The HCS feature provides the possibility to give priority to cells that are not
strongest but provide sufficient SS.
 The priority of a cell is given by associating a layer to the cell.
 We have 8 layers from layer 1 (Highly prioritized) to layer 8 (least

prioritized).
 Micro cells are prioritized than Macro cells for capacity purposes.
 Cells of lower layers will be ranked higher than cells of higher layers in the
HO candidate list.

Handover (Locating)
 After the Auxiliary Radio Network features evaluation some candidates may be
prioritized and the order of the candidate list will be modified.
 The Serving Cell and Neighbor Cells will be divided into 3 Groups:
Above S
 Categorization #2 Serving Cell (SC)
Below S

Handover (Locating)
VI. Organizing the List

 The final list will contain maximum up to Six Neighbors + The Serving Cell
and categorized as follows: Serving Cell (SC), Above S, Below S
 To reach the final form before sending the list the following steps will be
done:
A. Removal of Candidates
B. Ordering the Candidate List based on the Current Conditions.

Handover (Locating)

A. Removal of Candidates
 Some Candidates may be removed coz:
Some Controlling timers are active and preventing HO to certain cell:
 TALLOC: This timer prevents HO on a target cell for some time after
assignment/HO failure due to congestion on target cell.
(N.B: No penalties are applied on this cell)
 TURGEN: This timer prevents HO on a target cell for some time after
urgency HO failure due to congestion on target cell.
N.B:
TALLOC and TURGEN are BSC parameters

Handover (Locating)

B. Ordering the Candidate list based on the Current Conditions
 Means what? Means in what order the 3 categories (Above S, S, Below S)
will be arranged before sending the candidate list. This will be based on
some condition flags.
 Condition Flags:
1. Assignment Request Arrived
2. Assignment to Worst Cell is in Use
3. Excessive TA Detected
4. BQ Urgency HO
5. OL/UL Sub-Cell Load Change or IHO

Handover (Locating)

B. Ordering the Candidate list based on the Current Conditions
Condition Flags
Case Ordering Comment
1 2 3 4 5
1 0 x 0 0 0 Above S Normal Case
Serving Cell has BQ so it should be abandon
2 0 x 0 1 0 Above S Below S
either to the Above S or Below S cell
An Assignment request came and the AW flag is
3 1 0 0 0 0 Above S S
not raised
Above S S Below An Assignment request came and the AW flag is
4 1 1 0 0 0
S raised
Serving Cell has BQ so it should be abandon
but coz the OL/UL subcell change flag is raised,
Above S S Below
5 0 x 0 1 1 then the serving cell is included coz this subcell
S
change may solve the issue with no need to go
for a below worse cell
Condition Flags: 3 Excessive TA Detected

1 Assignment Request Arrived 4 BQ Urgency HO
5 OL/UL Sub-Cell Load Change or
2 Assignment to Worst Cell is in Use
IHO
Handover (Locating)
VII. Sending the List & Allocation Reply

 The resulting candidate list will form the basis on which HO will be
performed.
 Empty list means that no options are better than remaining on the current
cell and no HO will occur.
 The channel allocation reply may be success or failure.
 Failure may be due to congestion or signaling failure on the target cell.
 Based on the result of allocation either success/failure, some actions will be

taken like applying some penalties or enabling of certain timers as we saw
previously.

Handover (Locating)
Example:
Assume that the o/p from the Filtering stage for the SS measurements is as
below and we want to prepare the Basic Ranking Candidate list for HO:
Cell SS(dBm)
A -70
B (Serving Cell) -74
C -78
D -68
E -80
F -92
G -95
Where,
BSPWR = BSTXPWR, MSRXMIN = -90 dBm,
Cell A was abandon due to BQ urgency HO (PSSBQ=7dB)
SS based Algorithm is in use where OFFSET=0, HYSTSEP= -90 dBm,
HIHYST= 5 dB, LOHYST= 3 dB

Handover (Locating)
Solution:
A) Correction of Base Station output power:
 Since BSPWR = BSTXPWR then the current measurements will be kept as it is.
 SS_corrected_DLneighbor = SS_measured_DLneighbor
 SS_corrected_DLserving = SS_measured_DLserving
B) Evaluation of the minimum Signal Strength condition for Neighbors:

 The SS for neighbors will be compared against MSRXMIN = -90 dBm
Cell F and Cell G have SS < MSRXMIN then they will be removed from the list and can’t be
candidates for HO. Cell SS(dBm)
A -70
C -78
D -68
E -80
F -92
G -95

Handover (Locating)
Solution:
C) Subtraction of signal strength penalties:
 Since Cell A was abandon due to BQ urgency HO (PSSBQ=7dB) then it will be
punished,
 SS_punished_DL Cell A = SS_corrected_DL – PSSBQ = -70 – 7 = -77 dBm
 The candidate list will now be in the following form:

Cell SS(dBm)
A -77
C -78
D -68
E -80

Handover (Locating)
Solution:
D) Rank the Candidates after applying Offsets and Hysteresis
 Since SSServing cell B = -74 dBm > HYSTSEP= -90 dBm, then it is better to stay on the
current cell and high Hysteresis will be applied Cell SS(dBm)
 i.e. HYST = HIHYST = 5 dB A -77
C -78
D -68
E -80
 Rankservingcell B = -74 dBm  “Serving Cell”
 RankA= -77 dBm – OFFSET – HYST = -77 – 0 – 5 = -82 dBm  “Worse Cell”
 RankC= -78 dBm – OFFSET – HYST = -78 – 0 – 5 = -83 dBm  “Worse Cell”
 RankD= -68 dBm – OFFSET – HYST = -68 – 0 – 5 = -73 dBm  “Better Cell”
 RankE= -80 dBm – OFFSET – HYST = -80 – 0 – 5 = -85 dBm  “Worse Cell”

Handover (Locating)
Solution:
Now the final list according to Categorization#1 will be arranged as follows:
Categorization#1
Cell SS(dBm) Category
D -73 Better Cell
B -74 Serving Cell
A -82 Worse Cell
C -83 Worse Cell
E -85 Worse Cell

Handover (Locating)
 Disconnection Criteria
 The Disconnection algorithm is not part of the locating algorithm but for
completeness, the topic is treated here.
 The Disconnection algorithm manages when the connection between the MS

and the Network shall be dropped when signaling failure is detected.
 The Disconnection criterion can be made in both the DL and the UL such that:
 In the DL: managed by the MS
and
 In the UL: managed by the BSC

Handover (Locating)
 Disconnection Criteria
 In DL:
 Controlled by a parameter RLINKT (max. bucket size) , when the MS couldn’t
decode a SACCH message (0.48 sec), the bucket will be decreased by 1 unit,
when the MS successfully decodes a SACCH message, the bucket will be
increased by 2 units, if the bucket reached value = Zero then disconnection will
occur, recommended value RLINKT=16
 In UL:
 The disconnection algorithm will run in the same way, the BSC will make the
evaluation, and the controlling parameter is called RLINKUP, , recommended
value RLINKUP=16
 N.B: The bucket can’t have values larger than the max. value given by
RLINKT/RLINKUP

Handover (Locating)
Algorithm Selection
EVALTYPE 1 or 3 3 ─
Flow Control Parameters

TINIT 0 to 120 10 SACCH period=480 msec
TALLOC 0 to 120 2 SACCH period=480 msec
TURGEN 0 to 120 2 SACCH period=480 msec

Handover (Locating)
Filtering Control Parameters

SSEVALSI 1 to 9 6 ─
SSEVALSD 1 to 9 6 ─
QEVALSI 1 to 9 6 ─
QEVALSD 1 to 9 6 ─
SSLENSI 1 to 20 4 SACCH period=480 msec
SSLENSD 1 to 20 10 SACCH period=480 msec
QLENSI 1 to 20 4 SACCH period=480 msec
QLENSD 1 to 20 10 SACCH period=480 msec
TAAVELEN 1 to 20 4 SACCH period=480 msec

Handover (Locating)
Signal Strength based Basic Ranking Parameters

HYSTSEP −150 to 0 -90 dBm
LOHYST 0 to63 3 dB
HIHYST 0 to63 3 dB
OFFSET −63 to 63 0 dB
Handover Failure Parameters (Signaling Failure)

PSSHF 0 to 63 63 dB
PTIMHF 0 to 600 5 Seconds

Handover (Locating)
Urgency Conditions Parameters

QLIMUL 0 to 100 55 dtqu
QLIMDL 0 to 100 55 dtqu
BQOFFSET 0 to 63 3 dB
PSSBQ 0 to 63 7 dB
PTIMBQ 0 to 600 15 Seconds
TALIM 0 to 63 62 Bit Period (0.577msec)
PSSTA 0 to 63 63 dB
PTIMTA 0 to 600 30 Seconds
Disconnection Algorithm Parameters

RLINKT 4 to 64 in steps of 4 16 SACCH period=480 msec
RLINKUP 1 to 63 16 SACCH period=480 msec

THANK YOU

HIERARCHICAL CELL STRUCTURE
(HCS)

Hierarchical Cell Structure (HCS)
 HCS Evaluation Algorithm
 HCS feature provides the ability and flexibility to give priority to cells that are
not strongest but provide sufficient Signal Strength.
 The priority of a cell is given by associating an HCS layer to the cell where
each cell will be belonging to an HCS band.
 The lower the layer ( and the HCS band), the priority is higher,
i.e. layer 1 has higher priority than layer 2, layer 3, layer 4, …..
layer 2 has higher priority than layer 3, layer 4, layer 5, …..
 Up to 8 layers (in up to 8 bands) may be defined, where one or several layers

can be assigned to the same HCS band.

 The lower HCS bands will only include lower layers compared to a higher
HCS bands.
 A mixture of small micro cells (lower layers) and large macro (higher layers)
cells will achieve both high capacity and good coverage.
 Micro cells will be used for capacity issues while macro cells will be used to
provide coverage, fill coverage holes and handle the fast moving mobiles.
 With Basic Ranking only, micro cells will be ranked as the strongest server in
very small area, so to let micro cells serve in an area where acceptable SS is
guaranteed then HCS should be used.

 The idea with a layered cell structure is to let lower layer cells serve MSs that
receive sufficient SS even if there is other cells with strongest received SS in
the area.
 But how to decide if the lower layer cell has sufficient SS to be prioritized over
strongest cells?
 This will be according to two thresholds LAYERTHR (Layer Threshold) and
HCSBANDTHR (HCS Band Threshold)
 LAYERTHR: Decides if the cell should be prioritized over stronger cells lie in
the same HCS band or not.
 HCSBANDTHR: Decides if the cell should be prioritized over stronger cells

from different HCS bands or not.

 The input to the HCS Evaluation Algorithm is the Basic Ranking list we
prepared from the locating process.
 The output will be in the form of two lists: HCS prioritized list (on Top) then
Basic Ranking list.
 HCS prioritized list: will include cells that fulfilled the HCS conditions & rules
and will be ranked according to HCS evaluation (layered ranking)
 Basic Ranking list: will include cells that didn’t fulfill the HCS conditions and
will be ranked according to basic ranking rules (SS ranking)
HCS Prioritized Cell

Input HCS Evaluation Output List
Basic Ranking List
Algorithm
Basic Ranking List


 Mechanism of the HCS Algorithm


(A) Band Evaluation:
 In order to be a candidate in the HCS evaluation process, then the SS of
serving and neighbor cells should be greater than their band threshold
( HCSBANDTHR )
 SSservingcell > HCSBANDTHR servingcell – HCSBANDHYST servingcell
 SSneigbhorcell > HCSBANDTHR neighborcell + HCSBANDHYST neighborcell
 Cells that will not fulfill the above condition will go to be sorted in the Basic
Ranking list in priority order according to SS.
 Cells that will fulfill the criterion will pass to the next step in the HCS
Evaluation.
 N.B: HCSBANDTHR and HCSBANDHYST are BSC Parameters.


(B) Define the strongest Cell (SS) in each Band
 Cells that passed the band evaluation in step (A) will be moved to the next
step.
 In this stage, the strongest cells in each Band from SS point of view will be
identified.
 Strongest cells  will pass direct to be HCS Ranked
 The rest of cells that are not strongest within the band will be moved to
Step(C)


(C) Layer Threshold Evaluation
 Cells that passed the band evaluation in step (A) and they are not strongest
within their own band, their SS will be checked against the Layer threshold
(LAYERTHR)
 SSservingcell > LAYERTHR servingcell – LAYERHYST servingcell
 SSneigbhorcell > LAYERTHR neighborcell + LAYERHYST neighborcell
 Cells that will not fulfill the above condition will go to be sorted in the Basic
Ranking list in priority order according to SS.
 Cells that will fulfill the criterion will pass to the next step in the HCS
Evaluation


(D) Identify the Strongest Cells within each layer
 Now we will deal with cells that passed the band evaluation (in Step A) and
they were not strongest within their own band (in Step B) and they passed the
layer threshold condition (in Step C)
 Cells that are strongest within their own layer will be identified and they’ll pass
direct to be HCS ranked.
 Cells that are not strongest within their own layer will be moved to the next
step.


(E) Check how many cells from each layer are allowed to pass to be
HCS ranked
 Now we will deal with cells that passed the band evaluation (in Step A) and
they were not strongest within their own band (in Step B) and they passed the
layer threshold condition (in Step C) and they are not strongest within their
own band (in step D)
 MAXCELLSINLAYER: will identify how many cells from each layer can pass
to be HCS ranked, ex: if MAXCELLSINLAYER = 2 then two cells only are
allowed to pass to be HCS ranked.
 MAXDBDEVINLAYER: will identify how the next strongest cell in the layer is
far from the strongest cell in the layer.
 i.e. if SS_Strongest Celllayer x - SS_next strongest celllayer x<MAXDBDEVINLAYER
then the next strongest cell is not weak and it will pass to be HCS ranked.


(F) Form the Final list
 Now all cells that succeeded to pass to be HCS ranked, will be sorted in
ascending order according to their layer not SS (as in Basic Ranking).
 i.e. layer1 cells, then layer2 cells, …… and these cells will form an HCS
Prioritized List that will lie on Top.
 All cells that failed to pass to be HCS Ranking, will go to be sorted in a Basic
Ranking List and this list will lie after the HCS Prioritized List.


Example:
Assume that the output from the Basic Ranking is as below, where for all cells have
HCSBANDTHR = - 90 dBm, LAYERTHR = - 80 dBm,
HCSBANDHYST= LAYERHYST= 0,
MAXCELLSINLAYER = 3, MAXDBDEVINLAYER = 3
Cell SS(dBm) Band Layer
G -68 Band 8 Layer 7
E -72 Band 8 Layer 6
B (Serving) -73 Band 4 Layer 4
A -74 Band 4 Layer 3
C -75 Band 8 Layer 7
F -75 Band 4 Layer 4
D -95 Band 4 Layer 4


Solution:
(A) Band Evaluation: In order to be a candidate in the HCS Evaluation Process, then the
SS of serving and neighbor cells should be greater than their band
threshold(HCSBANDTHR)
 SSservingcell > HCSBANDTHR servingcell – HCSBANDHYST servingcell
 SSneigbhorcell > HCSBANDTHR neighborcell + HCSBANDHYST neighborcell
 HCSBANDTHR servingcell = HCSBANDTHR neighborcell = -90 dBm
 HCSBANDHYST
Cell SS(dBm)servingcell
Band
= HCSBANDHYST neighborcell = 0 dBm
Layer
B (Serving) -73 Band 4 Layer 4 Cell D didn’t fulfill the condition
A -74 Band 4 Layer 3 (SS_Cell D = -95 dBm < -90
C -75 Band 8 Layer 7 dBm), so it will be out of the
F -75 Band 4 Layer 4 HCS evaluation and it will go to
 be sorted in the Basic Ranking
List.

Solution:
(B) Define the strongest Cell (SS) in each Band
 Cells that passed the band evaluation in step (A) will be moved to the next step.
 In this stage, the strongest cells in each Band from SS point of view will be identified.
 Strongest cells  will pass direct to be HCS Ranked
Cell SS(dBm) Band Layer Comment
G -68 Band 8 Layer 7 Strongest in Band 8 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list 
Will go to the next step: Layer Evaluation
B -73 Band 4 Layer 4Strongest in Band 4 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list

F -75 Band 4 Layer 4Will go to the next step: Layer Evaluation
Out of the HCS Evaluation – Back to the Basic Ranking
D -95 Band 4 Layer 4 
list
Now Cells G & B will go direct to be HCS evaluated,
while cells E,A,C&F will be examined in the next
steps.

Solution:
(C) Layer Threshold Evaluation: Cells E,A,C&F that are not strongest within their own
band, their SS will be checked against the Layer threshold (LAYERTHR) if
 SSservingcell > LAYERTHR servingcell – LAYERHYST servingcell
 SSneigbhorcell > LAYERTHR neighborcell + LAYERHYST neighborcell
 LAYERTHR servingcell = LAYERTHR neighborcell = - 80 dBm
 LAYERHYST servingcell = LAYERHYST neighborcell = 0 dBm
SS(dBm
Cell Band Layer Comment
) 
G -68 Band 8 Layer 7 Strongest in Band 8 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list
E -72 Band 8 Layer 6 SS > LAYERTHR = -80 dBm, Will go to the next step

B -73 Band 4 Layer 4 Strongest in Band 4 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list
A -74 Band 4 Layer 3 SS > LAYERTHR = -80 dBm, Will go to the next step
C -75 Band 8 Layer 7 SS > LAYERTHR = -80 dBm, Will go to the next step
F -75 Band 4 Layer 4 SS > LAYERTHR = -80 dBm, Will go to the next step

list


Solution:
(D) Identify the Strongest Cells within each layer
 After Cells E,A,C&F all of them passed the layer threshold condition (LAYERTHR), Cells
that are strongest within their own layer will be identified and they’ll pass direct to be HCS
ranked.
SS(dBm
Cell Band Layer Comment
) 
G -68 Band 8 Layer 7 
Strongest in Band 8 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list
E -72 Band 8 Layer 6 
Strongest in Layer 6 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list
B -73 Band 4 Layer 4
Strongest in Band 4 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list

Strongest in Layer 3 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list
Not Strongest in Layer-Will be examined in the next step
Not Strongest in Layer-Will be examined in the next
F -75 Band 4 Layer 4 
 Cells E&A are strongest within their own step
layer so they will go direct to be HCS ranked.
 Cells C&F are not the strongest within their
list own layer, so they will be examined in the next
step to know if they can pass to be HCS ranked or not.


Solution:
(E) Check how many cells from each layer are allowed to pass to be HCS ranked
 MAXCELLSINLAYER: will identify how many cells from each layer can pass to be HCS
In our example MAXCELLSINLAYER = 3 then three cells only are allowed to pass to be
HCS ranked.
 MAXDBDEVINLAYER: will identify how the next strongest cell in the layer is far from the
strongest cell in the layer.
i.e. if SS_Strongest Celllayer x - SS_next strongest celllayer x< MAXDBDEVINLAYER = 3 dB,
then the next strongest cell is not weak and it will pass to be HCS ranked.


Solution:
 Cell C:
 Check1: Lies in layer 7 and ranked as the 2nd strongest cell in the layer and since 3 cells
are allowed to be ranked according to MAXCELLSINLAYER then Check1 is passed.
 Check2: Is SS_strongest celllayer 7-SS_next strongest celllayer 7 <
MAXDBDEVINLAYER=3dB?!
SSSS(dBm)
Cell Cell G - SSCellBand
C = -68-(-75)
Layer = 7 dB > MAXDBDEVINLAYER=3dB,
Comment then Check2 failed.
G -68 Band 8 Layer
7 Strongest in Band 8 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list 
E -72 Band 8 Layer
6 Strongest in Layer 6 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list 
B -73 Band 4 Layer
A -74 Band 4 Layer
3 Strongest in Layer 3 - Go direct to HCS Evaluation list

list 
Out of the HCS Evaluation – Back to the Basic Ranking 
list

Solution:
 Cell F:
 Check1: Lies in layer 4 and ranked as the 2nd strongest cell in the layer and since 3 cells
are allowed to be ranked according to MAXCELLSINLAYER then Check1 is passed.
 Check2: Is SS_strongest celllayer 4-SS_next strongest celllayer 4 <
MAXDBDEVINLAYER=3dB?!
SSSS(dBm)
Cell Cell G - SSCellBand
C = -73-(-75)
Layer = 2 dB < MAXDBDEVINLAYER=3dB,
Comment then Check2 is passed.
G -68 Band 8 Layer
E -72 Band 8 Layer
B -73 Band 4 Layer
A -74 Band 4 Layer
list

F -75 Band 4 Layer 4 2 nd Strongest in Layer4-Go to HCS Evaluation list

Out of the HCS Evaluation – Back to the Basic Ranking 
list

Solution:
(F) Form the Final list
 Now all cells that succeeded to pass to be HCS ranked, will be sorted in ascending order
according to their layer not SS (as in Basic Ranking) i.e. layer1 cells, then layer2 cells,
…… and these cells will form an HCS Prioritized List that will lie on Top.
 All cells that failed to pass to be HCS Ranking, will go to be sorted in a Basic Ranking List
and this list will lie after the HCS Prioritized List.
B(Serving) -73 Band 4 Layer 4
HCS Prioritized List
Final (Layer Ranking)
List E -72 Band 8 Layer 6
Basic Ranking List (SS Ranking)


 HCS Traffic Distribution Concept
 This feature is useful In order to control the traffic distribution between cells.
 If this feature is active then some cells that were prioritized due HCS Ranking
(layer ranking) will be removed if they already have enough traffic.
 HCSTRAFDISSTATE: Is a BCS Parameter that shows if HCS Traffic

Distribution is enabled within the cells in the BCS or not.
 If the HCS traffic distribution is allowed then two checks will be made:
(i) Check on the serving cell’s availability vs. parameter on cell level called
HCSOUT
(ii) Check on the neighbor cells’ availability vs. parameter on cell level called
HCSIN
− The Availability means: the percentage of Free (non-occupied) Time Slots.


 HCS Traffic Distribution Concept
(i) Check on the serving cell’s availability:
 If AvailabilityServingCell > HCSOUT, then this cells has too many free Time slots
and it is not preferred to leave this cell.
(ii) Check on the neighbor cell’s availability:

 If AvailabilityneighborCell < HCSIN, then this cells has few free Time slots and it
can’t accept HO’s due to HCS prioritization.



I) Example:
 When HCS Traffic Distribution is enabled (AvailabilityServingCell < HSCOUT)
 After ordinary HCS evaluation we formed the below list from the previous example.
 Assume HCSOUT=50%, HCSIN=30%, Availability of Cell B (serving) = 40% and
availability of Cell F (neighbor cell) = 10% only, while all other cells have availability = 45
%
 What will be the final list form ?
B(Serving
-73 Band 4 Layer 4
) HCS Prioritized List
Final F -75 Band 4 Layer 4 (Layer Ranking)
Basic Ranking List (SS
D -95 Band 4 Layer 4 Ranking)

Solution:
 Availability of Serving Cell (B) = 40% < HCSOUT (50%), then the serving cell has few
free Time Slots and we can leave this cell i.e. outgoing HO from this cell is enabled.
 Availability of Neighbor Cell F=10% < HCSIN (30%), then this cell can’t accept HO’s due
to HCS prioritization coz it has few free TS i.e. this cell is congested.
 This cell will be removed from the HCS prioritized list and it will be moved to the Basic
Ranking List.

B(Serving
-73 Band 4 Layer 4

Solution:
 The final list will be as below:

B(Serving) -73 Band 4 Layer 4 HCS Prioritized List
E -72 Band 8 Layer 6 (Layer Ranking)
Final
List G -68 Band 8 Layer 7
C -75 Band 8 Layer 7 Basic Ranking List (SS Ranking)


II) Example:
 when HCS Traffic Distribution is enabled (AvailabilityServingCell > HSCOUT)
 If the serving cell has a channel availability above HCSOUT it is considered to be taking
too little traffic so it is decided to not allow handovers out due to HCS from the cell.
 Instead all the remaining HCS prioritized candidate cells, fulfilling the HCSIN criterion
and that are in a lower layer or in the same layer as the serving cell, will be basic ranked
among themselves and added to a “Prioritized basic ranked cells list” that will be put
above the other basic ranked cells in the final candidate list.


II) Example:
 when HCS Traffic Distribution is enabled (AvailabilityServingCell > HSCOUT)
 After ordinary HCS evaluation we formed the below list from the previous example.
 Assume HCSOUT=50%, HCSIN=30%, Availability of Cell B (serving) = 60% and
availability of Cell F (neighbor cell) = 10% only, while all other cells have availability = 45%
 What will be the final list form ?

B(Serving
-73 Band 4 Layer 4


Solution:
 Availability of Serving Cell (B) = 60% > HCSOUT (50%), then the serving cell has Too
many Time slots and HO out from this cell due to HCS is not allowed.
 Availability of Neighbor Cell F=10% < HCSIN (30%), then this cell can’t accept HO’s due
to HCS prioritization coz it has few free TS i.e. this cell is congested.
 This cell will be removed from the HCS prioritized list and it will be moved to the Basic
Ranking List.
 Cells E&G are layers 6&7 respectively i.e. they are of higher layers than the serving cells.
 These cells will be removed from the HCS prioritized list and it will be moved to the Basic
Ranking List.
 Now cells A&B will be ranked according to SS  “Prioritized Basic Ranking list”
cells C,D,E,F&G will be ranked according to SS  “Basic Ranking list”


Solution:

B(Serving
-73 Band 4 Layer 4


Solution:
 The final list will be as below:

B(Serving) 73 - Band 4 Layer 4
Prioritized Basic Ranking List
A 74 - Band 4 Layer 3
G 68 - Band 8 Layer 7
Final List
E 72 - Band 8 Layer 6
F 75 - Band 4 Layer 4 Basic Ranking List (SS Ranking)
C 75 - Band 8 Layer 7
D 95 - Band 4 Layer 4


 Optimizing a problematic Traffic Case:
 Assume we have the below case with 3 Macro cells (layer 4) and 1 Micro cell
(layer2) and all of them belong to the same HCS band, HCSBAND 1
 One of the Macro cells carries very high traffic and it is about to congest, how
could we solve this case?
Macro Cell Macro Cell

(L4) (L4)
Micro
Cell (L2)
Macro Cell
(L4)


Solution 1:
 Direct more Traffic to the Micro Cell
 We can decrease the LAYERTHR of the Micro cell (Layer 2) from -75dBm to
-80dBm for example, so the micro cell will capture more traffic from the congested
macro cell.


Solution 2:
 Direct more Traffic to the Adjacent Macro Cells
 We can increase the Layer of the congested Macro cell (Layer 4  Layer 5) so it
will appear less prioritized with respect to the adjacent neighbor cells and it will
offload its traffic to them.


Solution 3:
 Direct more Traffic to one of the Adjacent Macro Cells
 We can decrease the Layer of one of the adjacent Macro cell (Layer 4  Layer 3)
so it will appear more prioritized with respect to the congested cell and it will
capture some of its traffic.


Fast Moving MSs
 If cell parameter FASTMSREG is “ON” and MS made no. of HOs >NHO
(default=3) in time window THO (default=30sec) then MS is considered as fast
moving MS.
 The stronger cells according to Basic Ranking in all higher layers within the
same system type are given priority.
 For Example:
 1800 candidates are in Layers 1,2&3 while 900 candidates are in Layers 4&5, if
the MS is considered as fast in layer1, then candidates in layers 2&3 of higher
basic ranking than the serving cell are given priority.
 Highest priority is given for the strongest cell regardless of its layer.
 To prevent HO back to lower layer cells, a penalty PSSTEMP (0 to 63) is applied
for a time PTIMTEMP (0 to 600s) on all neighbor cells within the current system
type and all cells in other system types.

HCS Algorithm Control Parameters
Parameter Name Value Range Default Value Recommended Value Unit
HCSBAND 1 to 8 1 2 2 ─
HCSBANDTHR 150 to 0 95 ─ dBm (–ve)
HCSBANDHYST 0 to 63 2 2 dB
LAYER 1 to 8 2 2 ─ ─
LAYERTHR 150 to 0 75 ─ dBm (–ve)
LAYERHYST 0 to 63 2 2 dB
MAXCELLSINLAYER 1 to 31 1 1
MAXDBDEVINLAYER 0 to 63 3 3 dB
HCSTRAFDISSTATE 0,1 0 1 ─
HCSIN 0 to100 0 ─ %
HCSOUT 0 to100 100 ─ %
 For reduced HCS functionality we have only 2 bands HCS Band1 and HCS Band2
(default)
 For reduced HCS functionality we have only 3 layers

THANK YOU

CONCENTRIC CELLS
(OVER LAID UNDER LAID SUB-CELLS)
&
MULTI BAND CELLS (MBC)

1ST. CONCENTRIC CELLS
(OVER LAID UNDER LAID SUB-CELLS)

Concentric Cells (Over laid Under laid Sub-cells)
 Concentric Cells (Over laid Under laid Sub-cells)
 Traffic Capacity of a cellular network can be increased by either adding more

frequencies or reducing the frequency reuse distance.
 One approach is to apply a second frequency reuse pattern with a tighter

frequency reuse (Overlay) on the existing pattern.
 These cells should be restricted in size, so shorter reuse distance can be

accomplished without causing Co-channel/Adjacent channel interference.
 They are termed Overlaid (OL) Sub-cells, whereas the original cells will be called
Under laid (UL) Sub-cells.
 Now by having more frequencies per cell, then Network capacity is increased.

 The fundamental idea behind the OL/UL sub-cells is to let the traffic close to the
site to be moved to the OL sub-cell, while traffic close to the cell border to be
moved to the UL sub-cell.
 In that way of treading the traffic, the frequencies in the OL sub-cell can have
tighter frequency reuse.

Example:
 Assume that cell A has frequencies: f1&f2, cell B has frequencies: f3&f4 and now cell A
has increase in the traffic, so we’re going to assign cell A frequency f4 also.
 Now high Co-channel interference will occur on f4 at the border between the two cells,
coz f4 is reused between two adjacent cells.

 Using the OL/UL concept we can solve the case as follows:
 f4 will be used in the OL sub-cell and it will be restricted to serve in a small area only near
to the site so interference from the neighbor cell will be minimized and a good C/I can be
enjoyed.

 To maintain the service area of the OL sub-cell restricted to a certain region we

have three thresholds we can play with:
A. Path Loss Threshold
B. Timing Advance Threshold
C. Distance to Cell Border Threshold
 With the ordinary OL/UL sub-cells, the MS near the cell will camp on the overlaid
sub-cell but even if the OL sub-cell got congested there is no way to push traffic
to the UL sub-cell and blocking will occur.
 Using Sub-cell Load Distribution (SCLD) Concept, we can configure the cell to use
the OL as the preferred sub-cell initially and when traffic on the OL increased
beyond certain load, any extra traffic will be offloaded to the UL sub-cell.

 Algorithm
I. OL/UL Sub-cell Change with Sub-cell Load Distribution Deactivated
 As we stated before, the service area of the OL sub-cell can be defined based
on one of three criteria: Path Loss, Time Advance and Distance to cell border.
A. Path Loss Criterion:

 Controlling Parameters are the path Loss threshold LOL and the path Loss
hysteresis LOLHYST
 DL Path Loss L=(BSTXPWR - BTS power reduction) –Received_SS_DLfiltered
 BSTXPWR: BTS output power for the TCH frequencies.
 DL Path Loss L will be checked vs. LOL (Path Loss Threshold) and
LOLHYST to know whether a sub-cell change from OLUL or ULOL is
needed.

 Algorithm
B. Time Advance Criterion:
 Time Advance can be used as a measure for the distance between the BTS
and MS.
 Controlling Parameters are the Time Advance Threshold TAOL and the Time
Advance Hysteresis TAOLHYST
 The “ta” of the MS will be measured via BTS and checked vs. TAOL and
TAOLHYST to know whether sub-cell change is needed or not.

 Algorithm
C. Distance to Cell Border Criterion:
 DTCBSC: Is a BSC parameter that enables/disables the Distance to Cell
Border Evaluation Criterion on whole cells on the BSC.
 Controlling Parameters are the Distance to Cell Border Threshold DTCB and
the Distance to Cell Border Hysteresis DTCBHYST
 The Cell Border is defined as the difference between the

Received_SSServingCell and the Received_SSStrongest Neighbor , where this strongest
neighbor should meet the following: Non Co-sited, Same System Type
(900/1800), Same HCS Layer.

 Algorithm
C. Distance to Cell Border Criterion:
 Received_SSServingCell - Received_SSStrongest Neighbor will be checked vs. DTCB
and DTCBHYST to see whether sub-cell change is needed or not.
 But for the evaluation to be triggered (initiated), the serving cell should have
number of neighbor cells > NNCELLS (if NNCELLS=2, at least 2 neighbor
cells) that are measured by the MS having enough SS such that:
 Received_SSServingCell - Received_SSNeighbor < DTCB+DTCBHYST+NDIST
where,
NDIST is a threshold measured in dBs.

 Algorithm
OL  UL Sub-cell change: for a sub-cell change from OL  UL then one of the
following should be fulfilled.
 L (Path Loss) > LOL + LOLHYST “OR”
 ta (Time Advance) ≥ TAOL + TAOLHYST “OR”
 SSServing - SSNeighbor < DTCB - DTCBHYST
Strongest, Non Co-sited, Same Type, Same HCS Layer
But as mentioned before, for this evaluation to be initiated then,

No. of neighbor cells ≥ NNCELLS should be reported meeting the following equation:
SSServing - SSNeighbor < DTCB + DTCBHYST + NDIST
Non Co-sited, Same Type, Same HCS Layer

 Algorithm
UL  OL Sub-cell change: for a sub-cell change from UL  OL then one of the
following should be fulfilled.
 L (Path Loss) ≤ LOL - LOLHYST “and”
 ta (Time Advance) < TAOL - TAOLHYST “and”
 SSServing - SSNeighbor ≥ DTCB + DTCBHYST
But as mentioned before, for this evaluation to be initiated then,

No. of neighbor cells ≥ NNCELLS should be reported meeting the following equation:
Non Co-sited, Same Type, Same HCS Layer

 Algorithm
 N.B:
 If parameter TAOL is set to its maximum value = 61 bit periods and DTCB is
set to its minimum value = - 63 dB then the OL/UL sub-cell change will only
be controlled by the path loss using LOL coz:
 OLUL: Time Advance & Distance to cell border conditions will never be
met and so the Path Loss only using LOL will control the evaluation.
 ULOL: Time Advance & Distance to Cell Border Conditions will always be
met and so the Path Loss only LOL will control the evaluation.

 Algorithm
II. OL/UL Sub-cell Change with Sub-cell Load Distribution Activated
 A sub-cell load distribution is used to control the traffic between the OL/UL
sub-cells, so if the initially preferred cell got congested we will try to allocate
resources in the other sub-cell.
(Activated by setting cell parameter SCLD = ON)
 SCLDSC: Is a cell parameter used to define the preferred cell in allocation
whether UL or OL i.e. the sub-cell which will carry traffic first.
 But if the OL sub-cell is the preferred one, i.e. if SCLDSC=OL, then the below
conditions should be met otherwise a TCH on the UL sub-cell will be allocated.
 L < LOL – LOLHYST andta < TAOL – TAOLHYST and
 SSServing - SSNeighbor ≥ DTCB + DTCBHYST

No. of neighbor cells ≥ NNCELLS should be reported meeting the
following equation:
 Algorithm
 A sub-cell change may occur due to load based on the settings of the
parameters SCLDLUL an SCLDLOL.
Example:
 If serving cell is the OL sub-cell and the following occur
Percentage of idle TCHs in the OL sub-cell < SCLDLOL and
Percentage of idle TCHs in the UL sub-cell > SCLDLUL
 then sub-cell change from OLUL due to SCLD will occur.

 Algorithm
 A sub-cell change may occur due to load based on the settings of the
parameters SCLDLUL an SCLDLOL

 Algorithm
 If some traffic will be moved from the OL  UL sub-cell due to load
distribution, then the MSs with the high path loss will be chosen first i.e. MSs
that are near to cell border.
 If some traffic will be moved from the UL  OL sub-cell due to load

distribution, then the MSs with the low path loss will be chosen first i.e. MSs
that are near to the site.
 A part from the sub-cell change due to SCLD, as we mentioned before the
MS can also request to move from OL  UL because of path loss, TA or
distance to cell border criterion and in this case the load is not checked coz
the thresholds : SCLDLUL&SCLDLOL are only controlling the load incase of
sub-cell change due to load distribution.

Overlaid/Underlaid Control Parameters

SCTYPE UL,OL − − −
LOL 0 to 200 − − dB
LOLHYST 0 to 63 3 3 dB
TAOL 0 to 61 − − Bit Periods (3.69 µsec)
TAOLHYST 0 to 61 − − Bit Periods (3.69 µsec)
DTCBSC 0,1 0 − −
DTCB −63 to 63 -63 − dB
DTCBHYST 0 to 63 2 2 dB
NDIST 0 to 63 10 − dB
NNCELLS 1 to 5 3 1 −
SCLD ON,OFF OFF − −
SCLDLOL 0 to 99 20 − %
SCLDLUL 0 to 99 20 − %
SCLDSC UL,OL UL OL −

THANK YOU

2ND . MULTI BAND CELLS (MBC)

Multi Band Cells (MBC)
 Multi Band Cells (MBC)
 A multi band network consists of cells from different frequency bands for
example: 900/1800 MHz
 By combining these frequencies in the same cell with 1 common BCCH, the
radio performance and traffic capacity are improved where the no. of cells
and neighbor relations are significantly reduced.
 Using 1 BCCH instead of two will increase the no. of time slots that will be
used for traffic.

 Using MBC concept with only 1 BCCH, this will reduce the no. of defined
neighbors to 50% leading to better accuracy for the measurement reports
coz there will be more time available for measurements for each neighbor.

 The Dynamic OL/UL sub-cells (Concentric Cells) is a prerequisite feature for the
Multi Band Cells.
 Mostly the frequency band with “Better Coverage” (i.e. lower frequency band) is
configured as the Under laid sub-cell while the other frequency band with “Worse
Coverage” (i.e. higher frequency band) is configured as the Overlaid Sub-cell.
 Ex: 900MHz frequency band  UL, while 1800MHz frequency band  OL
 It is recommended to select the BCCH frequency to lie in the “Better Coverage”

i.e. UL sub-cell.
 For the previous example then BCCH frequency will belong to the 900MHz band.

 A parameter CSYSTYPE  defines the band of the used BCCH frequency in a

multi band cell.
 A parameter BAND  defines the band of the Channel Group, where the
channel group consists of no. of frequencies as will be seen later.
 As mentioned before, the Path Loss/Distance to Cell Border/Time Advance

Criteria will define the coverage limit of the frequency band used in the OL sub-
cell vs. UL sub-cell, (In this case the OL&UL will belong to two different bands)
 Also the traffic load can be maintained between the two sub-cells (that belong
to two different bands) using the sub-cell load distribution feature where the
SCLD parameter will define which sub-cell is
preferred first.

 The propagation of the radio waves depend on the used frequency band,
i.e. the reported signal strength from one MS will differ depending on the
frequency band used.
MS
MS
MS is in the same location but

the reported SS differs depend
on the used frequency band

 So to locate the MS correctly regardless of the band it is using we have 2

possible ways:
1. Applying a frequency Band Offset:
 If OL sub-cell is on 1800MHz band and the UL is on the 900MHz band so
when the MS is located on the OL sub-cell and report a certain SS then it
should be compensated for the UL sub-cell.
2. Includes the BCCH carrier frequency in the Active BCCH Allocation (BA) list:
 The Active BA list is the list which the serving cell uses to inform the MS the
neighbors which he has to monitor and make measurements on while it is in
dedicated mode and in this way no compensation is needed.

 Applying a Frequency Band Offset:

 FBOFFS (Frequency Band Offset): is the parameter that determines the
difference between the path loss between bands, it is measured in dBs and
take values between - 40  40 dBs
 If the MS is served by 1800 band frequency and reporting SS 1800 band = -85
dbm and FBOFFS=7dB then the compensated SS if the MS was served by
the 900 band frequency will be SS 900 band = -85 dbm + 7 = -78 dBm
 FBOFFS has to be adjusted in a correct way coz:

a. It will be used to locate the MS correctly with respect to neighbors.
b. It will be used to locate the MS correctly in the Sub-cell Change Evaluation.


a. FBOFFS will be used to locate the MS correctly with respect to
neighbors
 Ex: MS is on the OL subcell (1800 band) and reporting SS_Serving_cellA1800 band = -85
dBm FBOFFS =7dB, and after applying the offset and Hysteresis
SS_neighbor_cellB900 band = -83dBm
Without applying FBOFFS With applying FBOFFS
SS_Serving_cellA 1800 band < SS_neighbor_cellB900 band SS_Serving_cellA 900band = SS_Serving_cellA1800 band+ 7 dB
SS_Serving_cellA 900band = -78 dBm
SS_Serving_cellA 900 band > SS_neighbor_cellB900 band
HO from Cell A  Cell B will occur Cell A will remain the serving cell but sub-cell change
may occur if needed.
Wrong Decision 
Right Decision 

b. FBOFFS will be used to locate the MS correctly during the Sub-cell
Change Evaluation
 When the MS is served by the OL 1800 band sub-cell (non-BCCH Band), the
path loss in this case will be checked vs. LOL – LOLHYST + FBOFFSET
 Ex: Assume a MS is served by the OL 1800 sub-cell and reporting SS1800 band = -90 dBm,
BSTXPWR=46dBm, FBOFFSET=7dB, LOL=131dB, LOLHYST=zero
Subcell change OLUL
-83 dBm -85 dBm
-90 dBm -92 dBm


b. FBOFFS will be used to locate the MS correctly during the Sub-cell
Change Evaluation
 Ex: Assume a MS is served by the OL 1800 subcell and reporting SS1800 band = -90 dBm,
BSTXPWR=46dBm, FBOFFSET=7dB, LOL=131dB, LOLHYST=zero
Without applying FBOFFS With applying FBOFFS
Path loss= BSTXPWR - SS1800 band = 46-(-90)=136 dB Path loss= BSTXPWR - SS1800 band = 46-(-90)=136 dB
Path loss=136 dB > LOL – LOLHYST=131 dB Path loss=136 < LOL–

LOLHYST+FBOFFSET=138dB
− Sub-cell change from OL  UL will occur
− The MS will stay on the OL sub-cell
Wrong Decision 
Right Decision 
 Parameters Summary:
Multi Band Cells Control Parameters

GSM800, GSM900, GSM1800,
BAND − − −
GSM1900
GSM800, GSM900, GSM1800,
CSYSTYPE − − −
GSM1900
FBOFFS −40 to 40 0 − dB

THANK YOU

CELL LOAD SHARING (CLS)

Cell Load Sharing
 Cell Load Sharing
 The Purpose of the Cell Load Sharing Feature is to distribute some of a cells
traffic load to surrounding cells during peaks in traffic.
 This is achieved by moving established connections to neighboring cells that

have idle resources.
 Cell Load Sharing increases the number of handovers in the part of the
network where the traffic load is unevenly distributed.

Cell Load Sharing
 Cell Load Sharing is activated on the BSC level via parameter LSSTATE
(Active/Inactive)
 The traffic load (amount of idle full rate TCHs) on each cell is examined by the
BSC every CLS time Interval defined by a parameter CLSTIMEINTERVAL
(default=100msec)
 If the percentage of idle full rate traffic channels is ≤ parameter CLSLEVEL,

then this cell will try to get rid of some traffic by initiating cell load sharing
handovers to neighbors.

Cell Load Sharing
 For a neighbor cell to accept HOs due to cell load sharing then parameter
HOCLSACC should be set to “ON”
 The traffic load on the neighbor cells should also be examined so handovers
due to cell load sharing will only be done to neighbors having enough idle full
rate TCHs (percentage of idle full rate TCHs > CLSACC in order to accept HO
due to CLS)

Cell Load Sharing
 CLS evaluation is performed after normal locating evaluation for neighboring

cells.
 The normal Basic ranking evaluation was done as follows:

 Rankservingcell = SS_Dlservingcell
 Rankneighbor= SS_DLneighbor – OFFSETneighbor – HYSTneighbor
 Now when the % idle full rate TCHs < CLSLEVEL, then the HYST for
neighbors will be recalculated with reduced values based on parameter
RHYST
 Rankneighbor= SS_DLneighbor – OFFSETneighbor – HYSTnew neighbor ,
where HYSTnew neighbor = HYSTneighbor [1-2 (RHYST/100)]

Cell Load Sharing
 Rankneighbor= SS_DLneighbor – OFFSETneighbor – HYSTnew neighbor ,

Where HYSTnew neighbor = HYSTneighbor [1-2 (RHYST/100)]
RHYS
Hysteresis Reduction
T
No reduction of the Hysteresis
0 area
Cell Border is reduced to the
50 nominal cell border
100 All the Hysteresis area is removed

Cell Load Sharing
 For a neighbor cell to be candidate for HO due to CLS, then it should satisfy
the following:
 Lies in the same BSC as the source cell.
 Has the same HCS layer.
 Can Accept HO due to CLS i.e. HOCLSACC= ON
 % Idle full rate TCHs > CLSACC
 The settings for CLSLEVEL and CLSACC should be adjusted such that
 CLSACC > CLSLEVEL in order to not having unstable situation.
100% idle TCHs
Accept Incoming HOs due to CLS

CLSACC=50%
CLSLEVEL=30
% Make Outgoing HOs due to CLS
Cell Load Sharing

Parameter Default Value Recommended Value Value Range Unit

CLSLEVEL 20 − 0 to 99 %
CLSACC 40 − 1 to 100 %
HOCLSACC OFF ON ON/OFF
RHYST 75 100 0 to 100 %
CLSTIMERINTERVAL 100 100 100 to 1000 ms
LSSTATE Inactive Active Active/Inactive

THANK YOU

FREQUENCY HOPPING

Frequency Hopping
 Frequency Hopping
 During a call connection, a time slot (burst) can easily be lost when the mobile
station happens to be located in a fading dip for that particular frequency or if
it is subjected to interference.
 If the next time slot is sent on another frequency, there is high probability that
this time slot will be received correctly and this can be done via frequency
hopping.
 With frequency hopping:

 Tighter frequency reuse can be implemented and so higher capacity can be
maintained.
 More robust environment can be obtained.
 There will be a possibility to give subscribers more uniform speech quality.

Frequency Hopping
 In frequency hopping, a set of predefined frequencies is used in each cell and

the MS will be allowed to transmit on different frequency every TDMA frame
(4.61 msec) i.e. The MS will change its frequency 217 times per second
 With frequency hopping we can get:

i. Frequency Diversity
ii. Interference Diversity

Frequency Hopping
I. Frequency Diversity
 Frequency hopping can solve the multipath fading (fast fading) problem.
 The multipath fading results from reflections from the surrounding buildings
resulted in low signal strength fading dips.
 The multipath fading is frequency and location dependent.
 With frequency hopping, slow and non-moving MS won’t still in a low signal
strength fading dip more than 1TDMA frame.
F1
F2
Average

Frequency Hopping
II. Interference Diversity

 Frequency hopping can also offer better quality when the currently used
frequency is interfered.
 Interference depends on the time, frequency and the MS location.
 With frequency hopping, certain MS will experience interference only for

1time during number of hops i.e. if a MS will hop on 4 frequencies one of
them is interfered, then the MS will be subjected to interference1 time every
4 hops.
 Using frequency hopping will result in spreading the interference on many

MSs which will lead to a radio environment that is more even (symmetric).
 The interference diversity can be expressed as a gain in the C/I ratio.

Frequency Hopping
Channel Group Concept (CHGR)

 Each number of frequencies (Transmitters) in the cell are grouped in what
we called channel group (CHGR), some parameters are defined per the
CHGR and not per cell, for example: within the same cell frequency hopping
can be enabled on certain CHGRs and disabled on others.
 HOP: Is a parameter that is used to enable or disable frequency hopping on

certain CHGR, it has two values either ON/OFF

Frequency Hopping
 Frequency Hopping is applied on Traffic channels (TCHs), on SDCCHs and

packet data channels but it is not applied on Broadcast and Common control
channels which are mapped on TS#0 on F0
 Methods of Hopping: we have two methods of hopping:

A. Base Band Hopping (BB Hopping)
B. Synthesized frequency Hopping (SY Hopping)
 FHOP: Is a parameter to specify the method of hopping, it takes values:BB/SY

Frequency Hopping
A. Base Band Hopping (BB Hopping)

 Each Transmitter is assigned certain frequency and connected to many MSs,
each Time slot out of the transmitter will belong to different MS but at the
same frequency.
 From MS prospective, each MS will transmit each TS via different transmitter
and on different frequency.
TRX1 Transmitter F1 MS1-TS1-F1
MS1 TS1 TS2 TS3
TRX2 Transmitter F2 MS2-TS1-F2 MS1-TS2-F2
MS2 TS1 TS2 TS3
TRX3 Transmitter F3 MS3-TS1-F3 MS2-TS2-F3 MS1-TS3-F3
MS3 TS1 TS2 TS3
TRX4 Transmitter F4
Bus for routing the time slots

Frequency Hopping
B. Synthesizer Frequency Hopping (SY Frequency Hopping)

 With Synthesized frequency hopping, the MS will transmit all its time slots via
only 1 transmitter and the transmitter will change its frequency consequently
every TDMA frame based on certain sequence.
TRX1 Trans F1…….Fn MS1-TS1-F1 MS1-TS2-F2 MS1-TS3-F3
MS1 TS1 TS2 TS3
TRX2 Trans F1…….Fn MS2-TS1-F2 MS2-TS2-F3 MS2-TS3-F4
MS2 TS1 TS2 TS3
TRX3 Trans F1……..Fn MS3-TS1-F3 MS2-TS2-F4 MS1-TS3-F5
MS3 TS1 TS2 TS3
TRX4 Trans F1………Fn

Frequency Hopping
B. Synthesizer Frequency Hopping (SY Frequency Hopping)

 The Advantage of Synthesized frequency hopping is that the number of
hopping frequencies can be larger than the number of the already existing
transmitters causing the hopping gain to increase without a need to use more
hardware.
 Modes of Hopping:
i. Cyclic Frequency Hopping
ii. Random Frequency Hopping

Frequency Hopping
 Modes of Hopping
i. Cyclic Frequency Hopping
 With this type of hopping, frequencies are changed every TDMA frame in a
consecutive order starting with the frequency of the lowest Absolute Radio
Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN).
 For P-GSM (UL 890-915 MHz, DL 935-960MHz), ARFCNs: 1,2,3,4,…… 124
 For example for four frequencies the cyclic hopping between them will
appear as follow: f1, f2, f3, f4, f1, f2, f3, f4, f1, f2, f3, f4, f1, ………
 HSN (Hopping Sequence Number) : Is a parameter defined per CHGR

(number of frequencies) that will be used to specify the mode of hopping
with Synthesized frequency hopping, it take values from 0  63
 When HSN = 0, this means that Cyclic frequency hopping will be used.

Frequency Hopping
 Modes of Hopping
ii. Random Frequency Hopping
 With this type of hopping, frequencies are changed every TDMA frame
randomly based on a pseudo-random sequence. The sequence is stored in
a look-up table in the MS as well as the BTS and up to 63 independent
sequences can be defined.
 Based on the settings of the parameter HSN (163), one of the 63

independent random sequences will be used.
 The period of the Random sequence=6 minutes, i.e. the random sequence
repeats itself once every 6 minutes.

Frequency Hopping
Synthesizer Frequency Hopping (SY Frequency Hopping)

MAIO Concept
 As we mentioned before that HSN is defined per CHGR, so if a CHGR
contains 4 Transmitters and HSN=0, then this means that cyclic hopping will
be used over these 4 transmitters.
 But in order for the transmitters within the same CHGR to not interfere each
other they must start their hopping with different frequencies.
 And in order to do so a MAIO Same CHGR, HSN=0
(Mobile Allocation Index Offset)will
Transmitter#1 (f0,f1,f2,….fn) f0,f1,f2,f3,f4,f5,f0,
Be assigned for each transmitter so ….
each of them will start the hopping- f1,f2,f3,f4,f5,f0,f1…
Transmitter#1 (f0,f1,f2,….fn)
sequence either cyclic/random from .
a different starting point, based f2,f3,f4,f5,f0,f1,f2…
the MAIO assigned to it. .
f3,f4,f5,f0,f1,f2,f3…
.

Frequency Hopping
Synthesizer Frequency Hopping (SY Frequency Hopping)

MAIO Concept
 We have different MAIOs, i.e. there are different ways through which each
transmitter will start the cyclic/random hopping.
 Using the default MAIO, the even MAIO values in increasing order are
picked first then the odd values, example: for a CHGR of 4 Transmitters, the
default MAIO list is 0,2,4,1
Transmitter#1 (f0,f1,f2,….fn) f0,f1,f2,f3,f4,f5,f0,….
Same CHGR, Transmitter#1 (f0,f1,f2,….fn) f2,f3,f4,f5,f0,f1,f2….

HSN=0 N.B: Number of used
frequencies can exceed
Transmitter#1 (f0,f1,f2,….fn) f4,f5,f0,f1,f2,f3,f4…. the no. of Transmitters.
Transmitter#1 (f0,f1,f2,….fn) f1,f2,f3,f4,f5,f0,f1….

Frequency Hopping
Frequency Hopping Control Parameters

HOP ON,OFF OFF ON −
FHOP BB,SY − − −
HSN 0 to 63 − − −
MAIO 0 to 31 or Default Default − −

THANK YOU

INTRA CELL HANDOVER (IHO)

Intra Cell Handover
 Intra Cell Handover
 Intra Cell means within the same cell.
 Intra Cell Handover aims at maintaining good quality of a current connection

by performing handover to a new channel within the same cell when bad
quality is detected.
f1 TS1 TS2 TS3 TS4 TS5 TS6 TS7 TS8 Channel suffering from
bad quality
Same Cell
f2 TS1 TS2 TS3 TS4 TS5 TS6 TS7 TS8 New channel
 When a connection suffers from bad quality and at the same time the Signal
Strength is still high, there is a reason to believe that the bad quality is due to
interference.
Intra Cell Handover
 Changing the serving channel on a certain cell to another channel within the
same cell may be useful due to the fact that most likely the interference on
different channels is not the same, and the reason for this could be:
 The cell that interferes a certain connection (channel/call) may be not fully
loaded and not transmitting on all its channels.
 If power control is in use in the interferer cell, then power used on each
channel will differ based on the MS location from the BTS.
 For uplink interference, the MSs connected to the interferer cell will be located
in different places from the cell causing different levels of interference.

Intra Cell Handover
 After Intra cell handover is performed, the quality of a connection will be

enhanced if the radio conditions on the new channel is better than the old
channel, and this may be expected when intra cell handover is performed at
high signal strength while the quality (rxqual) is bad.
 Intra Cell Handover can be triggered due to bad quality either in the downlink
or in the uplink.
 But at which conditions Intra Cell Handover will be triggered ?

Intra Cell Handover
 At which conditions Intra Cell Handover will be triggered ?

 Intra cell handover is triggered/initiated when signal strength is high and at the
same time the quality is bad based on the following equation:
 rxqual_DL > QOFFSETDL + FQSS (RXLEV_DL + SSOFFSETDL)

Or
 rxqual_UL > QOFFSETUL + FQSS (RXLEV_UL + SSOFFSETUL)
 FQSS is a quality vs. signal strength function that specify at each signal level
the quality beyond which an intra cell handover should be triggered.

Intra Cell Handover
 Conditions at which Intra Cell Handover is initiated:

 rxqual_DL > QOFFSETDL + FQSS (RXLEV_DL + SSOFFSETDL) Or
 rxqual_UL > QOFFSETUL + FQSS (RXLEV_UL + SSOFFSETUL)
The FQSS Table. The rxqual Values Is Given in
dtqu
 RXLEV_DL and RXLEV_UL both are (deci Transformed Quality Units)
measured in rxlev units 0  63, which RXLEV Rxqual
corresponds to -110 dBm  - 47 dBm <=30 infinity
31 60
32 - 35 59
Example: 36 - 38 58
39 - 41 57
 If RXLEV_DL = 57 and 42 - 45 56
46 - 48 55
QOFFSETDL=SSOFFSETDL= zero, then 49 - 52 54
when rxqual_DL > 52 dtqu an intra cell 53 - 55 53
56 - 58 52
handover will be initiated. 59 - 62 51
>=63 50

Intra Cell Handover
 SSOFFSETDL & SSOFFSETUL are signal strength offset parameters,

increasing them will make the measured signal strength to appear better than
the actual situation causing the intra cell handover to be triggered more often.
 QOFFSETDL & QOFFSETUL are quality offset parameters, decreasing them

will trigger the intra cell handover more often.

Intra Cell Handover
 Selection of a new channel at IHO

 The primary target is to find a new channel that differs as much as possible
from the currently used channel.
 The selection of a new channel will depend on whether frequency hopping is

used or not.

Intra Cell Handover

(A) With Frequency Hopping Not Used
 Among the idle channels, select a channel that lies on a different frequency
than the current channel is using.
 If no idle channels were found then select one of the idle timeslots that are on
the same frequency as the current channel.
1st choice at IHO

f1
(Change frequency)
f2
2nd choice at IHO
f3 (Change Time Slot on the same frequency)
Interfered Channel

Intra Cell Handover

(B) With Frequency Hopping In Use
 Select one of the idle channels that belongs to a different CHGR than the
current channel.
 If no idle channels were found or only 1 CHGR is defined then select one of
the idle timeslots that are on the same CHGR as the current channel.
 If no idle channels were found select idle channels on the same CHGR and
time slot as the current channel.
CHGR0 f1 1st choice at IHO(Change CHGR)
f2
2nd choice at IHO (Change Time Slot
CHGR1 f3 within the same CHGR )
f4 3rd choice at IHO
Interfered Channel (Same CHGR, same TS but different
channel)

Intra Cell Handover
 If quality is not improved after making number of consecutive IHOs, this

means that all channels are suffering from poor quality and may be a part of
the cell is subjected to high interference.
 We can limit the number of consecutive IHOs for certain connection to certain
number using parameter MAXIHO ex: If MAXIHO=3, then the maximum
number of allowed consecutive IHOs=3 and if the MS tried to make the 4th
IHO it will be disabled and a timer TIHO will start to inhibit any further attempts
to make IHO until this timer is released.

Intra Cell Handover
 Intra cell handover and bad quality urgency are both triggered at poor quality
situations.
 Intra cell handover has higher priority over bad quality urgency handover, i.e. if
the criteria for both are fulfilled then IHO will be triggered/initiated first.
 If the dynamic OL/UL sub-cell feature is in use and if the number of

consecutive IHOs reached its maximum based on the settings of the
parameter MAXIHO, then a sub-cell change from OLUL or ULOL will be
attempted.

Intra Cell Handover
Intra Cell Handover Control Parameters

IHO ON,OFF OFF ON −
SSOFFSETDL −30 to 30 0 0 dB
SSOFFSETUL −30 to 30 0 −10 dB
QOFFSETDL −50 to 50 0 − dtqu
QOFFSETUL −50 to 50 0 − dtqu
MAXIHO 0 to 15 3 3 −
TIHO 10 to 60 10 10 Seconds

THANK YOU

DYNAMIC HR ALLOCATION

Dynamic HR Allocation
 Dynamic HR Allocation
 In high load situations it is important that the allocation of a traffic channel is

done efficiently for a new connection.
 This will result in high utilization of the channels while keeping good speech
quality for the existing connections.

 For a new connection the Dynamic HR Allocation Algorithm evaluates the

traffic load in the cell and based on this decides the connection mode: FR, HR
or AMR HR
 To Activate the feature, set the parameter: DHA to “ON”
 The feature differentiates between AMR and NAMR MSs and can be
controlled on cell level.

New Connection
No
Dual Rate MS ?
(Supports HR?)
Yes
No
Support AMR HR?
Yes
No. of Idle TCHs % < DTHNAMR No No. of Idle TCHs % < DTHAMR
Total no. of TCHs Total no. of TCHs
Yes Yes
HR Allocation AMR HR Allocation
FR/AMR FR Allocation

 DTHAMR: The threshold below which the Dynamic HR Allocation starts for
AMR supported MSs
 DTHNAMR: The threshold below which the Dynamic HR Allocation starts for
Non AMR supported MSs

Intra Cell Handover Control Parameters

DHA ON,OFF OFF ON −
DTHAMR 0 to 100 30 30 %
DTHNAMR 0 to 100 15 15 %

THANK YOU

DYNAMIC POWER CONTROL

Dynamic Power Control
 Dynamic Power Control
 In this chapter we’ll talk on both BTS and MS Dynamic Power Control.
 The aim with Power Control is to increase the number of connections while
maintaining good C/I (Carrier to Interference Ratio).
 Why Power Control is important ?

i. Decreases the total interference in the system ( Interference )
 So when Traffic increases (no. of MSs) then good C/I can be
maintained.
 When Traffic is normal, C/I is improved.
 When Interference is low, MSs with poor quality will be able to
successfully complete their calls.
ii. Decreases the consumption of the MS battery and the BTS backup batteries
when the main supply is down.

I. DYNAMIC BTS POWER CONTROL

Dynamic BTS Power Control
 Dynamic BTS Power Control
 The Algorithms for both BTS and MS dynamic power control are the same.
 The below graph shows the relation between BTS o/p power and the
measured (received) signal strength at the MS vs. the path loss between BTS
and MS.
1
2

 For the area before point 1, the received power at the MS in the DL is very
good and sufficient, however the BTS can’t make any sort of down regulation
and sends with power less than its minimum power.
 As the MS is moving away from the BTS, the received power is decreasing,
so after crossing point 1, the BTS will start up regulating its power in steps to
compensate for the path loss.
 At point 2, the BTS can’t up regulate its power for a value above the max.
allowed power level even if the received power in the MS is deteriorated or the
path loss increased.

 For Quality measurements the below graph shows the up regulations in the
BTS o/p power when quality is deteriorated (SS is not into consideration here)

 As the Quality got worse ( 0  7), the BTS will try to increase its power to
 Algorithm:
 The Dynamic BTS Power Control algorithm is done on 3 stages:
1. Preparation of the Input Data.
2. Filtering of measurements.
3. Calculation of Power Order.

 Algorithm:
1) Preparation of The Input Data
 Dynamic Power Control is made on TCHs time slots as well as on the SDCCH
time slots, while the BCCH frequency with all its time slots is sent with max.
power with no power control.
 Type of Measurements:
Measurement Source
SS_DL MS
Quality_DL MS
power level used by the BTS_DL BTS
 Both SS_DL and Quality_DL measurements will be used in the equation

through which the next power order is calculated.

 Algorithm:
 REGINTDL: A parameter that defines the minimum time period between two
consecutive power orders in the DL. Measured in SACCH periods (0.48
Seconds) from 1 to 10 SACCH periods i.e. Regulating Interval in DL. (It is a
BSC parameter)
 The BTS is able to changes its output power , the resolution in o/p power is in
the form of steps of 2 dBs and maximum change is 30 dBs.
(ex: 2dBs, 4dBs,………. , max to 30 dBs)
 When power control is in use the BTS output power level will be given as:
Down Regulation: BTS o/p power (dBm) = BSPWRT – 2*PLused ,
Up Regulation: BTS o/p power (dBm) = BSPWRMIN – 2*PLused ,
where PLused = 0to 15
 PLused is the power regulation step

 Algorithm:
 SSDESDL: A parameter that defines the desired Signal Strength in DL which
we aim to maintain using power control. Measured in dBm
 The SS measured will be checked against SSDESDL to know if Down

regulation in the BTS power or up regulation is needed
 QDESDL: A parameter that defines the desired Quality in DL which we aim to

maintain using power control. Measured in dtqu ( 0 to 70)
 The Quality measured will be checked against QDESDL to know if Down

regulation in the BTS power or up regulation is needed.

 Algorithm:
 The equation used to calculate the power order in the next SACCH period
contains information on SSDESDL−SS_DLmeasured and
QDESDL−Quality_DLmeasured.
 SSDESDL− SS_DLmeasured is measured in dBm, while QDESDL−

Quality_DLmeasured is measured in dtqu so to be used in the same equation
some sort of mapping should be done,
 i.e. QDESDL−Quality_DLmeasured should be represented in the form of dBs as
well. (dtqu)
QDESDL 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Quality_DL measured 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
dB transformation C/I
23 19 17 15 13 11 8 4
calculation (dB)

 Algorithm:
 SS Compensation
 We aim to get the SS of the pure TCH time slot compensated for both
frequency hopping when BCCH frequency is included and compensated for
power control.
i. Compensating for frequency hopping:

 When the MS is using a TS on BCCH carrier
 SS_DLTCH = SS_DLMeasured – [ BSPWR – (BSTXPWR - 2*PLused) ]
 SS_DLTCH = SS_DLMeasured – ( BSPWR – BSTXPWR + 2*PLused )
 When the MS is using a TS on TCH frequency
 SS_DLTCH = SS_DLMeasured
 By Averaging the results then:
 SS_DLTCH = SS_DLMeasured – ( BSPWR – BSTXPWR + 2*PLused )/ Nf ,
Nf = no. of hopping frequencies
 Algorithm:
 SS Compensation
ii. Compensating for power control:
 SS_DLCompensated = SS_DLTCH + 2*PLused
 Now in further calculations SS_DLCompensated will be used, where SSCompensated is
the signal strength compensated for both frequency hopping and power
regulations.
 Quality Compensation
 Quality_DLCompensated is calculated in the same way such that:
 Quality_DLCompensated = Quality_DLmeasured (in dBs) + 2*Plused
 Where the Quality_DLmeasured (in dBs) is the Quality_DLmeasured (07) after
transforming it into dBs

 Algorithm:
2) Filtering of Measurements
 Filtering for both SS and Quality is done with exponential non-linear filters in
order to eliminate variations of temporary nature and get partial results.
(A) Filtering of SS Measurements

 SS_DLFiltered (k) = b* SS_DLCompensated (k) + a* SS_DLFiltered (K-1), k is the SACCH
period
 a & b (b=1-a) are the non-linear filter’s coefficients and “a” will define the
length of the filter “L”, where each filter length “L” corresponds to certain value
of “a” .
 But how the length of the non-linear filter is calculated?

 Algorithm:
(A)Filtering of SS Measurements
 SS_DLFiltered (k) = b* SS_DLCompensated (k) + a* SS_DLFiltered(K-1),
k is the SACCH period
If SS_DLCompensated (k) < SS_DLFiltered(K-1) If SS_DLCompensated (k) > SS_DLFiltered(K-1)
then L = SSLENDL then L = SSLENDL *UPDWNRATIO/100

where, where,
SSLENDL = 3 15 SACCH periods SSLENDL = 3 15 SACCH periods
UPDWNRATIO = 100  700
In this case “up regulation is needed” and In this case “Down regulation is needed” and it
it should be done very fast in order to not should be done in a smooth way, coz decreasing
lose the connection. the power suddenly may harm the connection.

 Algorithm:
(B) Filtering of Quality Measurements
 Quality_DLFiltered (k) = b* Quality_DLCompensated (k) + a* Quality_DLFiltered(K-1),
If Quality_DLCompensated (k) < Quality_DLFiltered(K-1) If Quality_DLCompensated (k) >Quality_DLFiltered(K-1)
then L = QLENDL where, then L = QSLENDL *UPDWNRATIO/100

QSLENDL = 1 20 SACCH periods where,
QSLENDL = 1 20 SACCH periods
In this case “up regulation is needed” and it should
be done very fast in order to not lose the In this case “Down regulation is needed” and it
connection. should be done in a smooth way, coz decreasing
the power suddenly may harm the connection.

 Algorithm:
 SS_DLFiltered(K-1) is set initially = SSDESDL, that will lead to start power
regulations immediately after the first valid measurement report.
 Also Quality_DLFiltered(K-1) is set initially = QDESDL, that will lead to start

power regulations immediately after the first valid measurement report.
 SSDESDL: has value range from -110 to -47 dbm and recommended value is
-90 dbm
 QDESDL: has value range from 0 to 70 dtqu and recommended value is 30

dtqu

 Algorithm:
 Till now we finalized two stages from the algorithm:
Compensation Filtering
SS_DLmeasured SS_DLCompensated SS_DLFiltered
Quality units to
dB transformation Compensation
Q_DLmeasured
(Quality Units) Q_DLmeasured(dB)
Filtering
Q_DLFiltered Q_DLCompensated

 Algorithm:
3) Calculation of Power Order (PU)
 This will be done on three stages:
(A) Calculating the two basic Power Orders.
(B) Applying the Power Orders constraints.
(C) Conversion of output data.

 Algorithm:
(A) Calculating the two basic Power Orders
pu i = αi * (SSDESDL - SS_DL Filtered) + βi * (QDESDL - Q_DL Filtered)
i = 1,2 and α1 & β1 are parameters to compensate for the path loss and quality.
α1 = LCOMPDL/100, β1 = QCOMPDL/100, α2 = 0.3, β2 = 0.4
 PU1 is calculated according to settings of α1 & β1 ( The operator will set the
proper values from his point of view for LCOMPDL & QCOMPDL),
 Default values: LCOMPDL=5 and COPMDL=55
 PU2 is calculated according to recommended settings of α2 & β2 based on
trials and field measurements.

 Algorithm:
pu i = αi * (SSDESDL - SS_DL Filtered) + βi * (QDESDL -

Q_DL Filtered )
 PU1 and PU2 both of them aim to maintain the SS within the desired value
defined according to SSDESDL and to maintain the Quality within the desired
value defined according to QDESDL but each will calculate the path loss in
different way.
 PU_used = max (PU1, PU2), max of pu1 and PU2 will be used as the desired
power order in the next measurement report coz the max of both of them will
mean lower down regulation/higher up regulation.

 Algorithm:
(B) Applying Power Order constraints
 The highest allowed power order PU_used = zero, which means keeping the
output power at maximum value with no power control.
 The lowest allowed power order is given by the minimum of the following:
 PU_used= minimum (30 dB, BSPWRT- minimum BTS o/p power)
 i.e. it is not allowed to decrease the o/p power or increase it by a value > 30dB

 Algorithm:
(C) Conversion of output data
 pu_used will be interpreted into final form  PL_used which takes values
from 0 15
 PL_used =Integer(-pu_used/2)
 Ex: if PL_used = 3 and Down regulation for power is required, then in the next
measurement report the BSC will inform the BTS to decrease its current
power by 2* PL_used = 6 dBs

Dynamic BTS Power Control Parameters

SSDESDL −110 to −47 −90 −90 dBm
QDESDL 0 to 76 30 30 dtqu
SACCH period (0.48
SSLENDL 3 to 15 3 3
Seconds)
SACCH period (0.48
QLENDL 1 to 20 8 3
Seconds)
LCOMPDL 0 to 100 5 5 −
QCOMPDL 0 to 100 55 55 −
UPDWNRATIO 100 to 700 200 300 −
SACCH period (0.48
REGINTDL 1 to 10 1 1
Seconds)

THANK YOU

II. DYNAMIC MS POWER CONTROL

Dynamic MS Power Control
 Dynamic MS Power Control
 The Objective of the MS power control algorithm is to adjust the output power
of the MS so that a desired signal strength is received in the BTS.
 The below graph shows the relation between MS o/p power and the measured
(received) signal strength at the BTS vs. the path loss between BTS and MS.
1
2

 For the area before point 1, the received power at the BTS in the UL is very
good and sufficient, however the MS can’t make any sort of down regulation
and sends with power less than its minimum power.
 As the MS is moving away from the BTS, the received power is decreasing,
so after crossing point 1, the MS will start up regulating its power in steps to
compensate for the path loss.
 At point 2, the MS can’t up regulate its power for a value above the max.
allowed power level even if the received power in the MS is deteriorated or the
path loss increased.

 For Quality measurements the below graph shows the up regulations in the
MS o/p power when quality is deteriorated (SS is not taken into consideration
here).
 As the Quality got worse ( 0  7), the MS will try to increase its power to
compensate for the quality drop.
 Algorithm:
 The Dynamic MS Power Control algorithm is done on 3 stages:
3. Calculation of Power Order.

 Algorithm:
 Dynamic Power Control is made on TCHs time slots as well as on the SDCCH
time slots, while the BCCH frequency with all its time slots is sent with max.
power with no power control.
 Type of measurements:
Measurement Source
SS_UL BTS
Quality_UL BTS
power level used by the MS_UL MS
 Both SS_UL and Quality_UL measurements will be used in the equation

through which the next power order is calculated.

 Algorithm:
 REGINTUL: A parameter that defines the minimum time period between two
consecutive power orders. Measured in SACCH periods (0.48 Seconds) from
1 to 30 SACCH periods.
 The BTS is able to changes its output power in the form of steps of 2 dBs
(ex: 2dBs, 4dBs,………. , max to 16 dBs)
 When power control is in use the MS output power level will be given as:
PWR_used = min(MSTXPWR,MSPWRMAX) – 2*PLused , where PLused
= 0 to 8
and PWR_used is the power used by the MS during the connection

 Algorithm:
 SSDESUL: A parameter that defines the desired Signal Strength in UL which
we aim to maintain using power control in the UL. Measured in dBm
 The SS measured will be checked against SSDESUL to know if Down

regulation in the MS power or up regulation is needed
 QDESUL: A parameter that defines the desired Quality in UL which we aim to

maintain using power control in the UL. Measured in dtqu ( 0 to 70)
 The Quality measured will be checked against QDESUL to know if Down

regulation in the MS power or up regulation is needed.

 Algorithm:
 The equation used to calculate the power order in the next SACCH period
contains information on SSDESUL−SS_ULmeasured and
QDESUL−Quality_ULmeasured.
 SSDESUL− SS_ULmeasured is measured in dBm, while QDESUL−

Quality_ULmeasured is measured in dtqu so to be used in the same equation
some sort of mapping should be done,
 i.e. QDESUL−Quality_ULmeasured should be represented in the form of dBs as
well.
QDESUL (dtqu) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Quality_UL measured 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
dB transformation (dB) 23 19 17 15 13 11 8 4

 Algorithm:
 SS Compensation
 Compensating for power control:
 SS_ULCompensated = SS_ULmeasured + 2*PLused
 Now in further calculations SS_ULCompensated will be used, where SSCompensated
is the signal strength compensated for power regulations.
 Quality Compensation
 Quality_ULCompensated is calculated in the same way such that:
 Quality_ULCompensated = Quality_ULmeasured (in dBs) + 2*PLused
 Where the Quality_ULmeasured (in dBs) is the Quality_ULmeasured (07) after
transforming it into dBs.

 Algorithm:
 Filtering for both SS and Quality is done with exponential non-linear filters in
order to eliminate variations of temporary nature and get partial results.

 SS_ULFiltered (k) = b* SS_ULCompensated (k) + a* SS_ULCompensated(K-1), k is the
SACCH period.
 a & b (b=1-a) are the non-linear filter’s coefficients and “a” will define the
length of the filter “L”, where each filter length “L” corresponds to certain value
of “a”
 But how the length of the non-linear filter is calculated?

 Algorithm:
 SS_ULFiltered (k) = b* SS_ULCompensated (k) + a* SS_ULFiltered(K-1), k is the SACCH
period
If SS_ULCompensated (k) < SS_ULFiltered(K-1) If SS_ULCompensated (k) > SS_ULFiltered(K-1)
then L = SSLENUL then L = SSLENUL *UPDWNRATIO/100

where, where,
SSLENUL = 3 15 SACCH periods SSLENDL = 3 15 SACCH periods
In this case “up regulation is needed” and In this case “Down regulation is needed” and it
it should be done very fast in order to not should be done in a smooth way, coz
lose the connection. decreasing the power suddenly may harm the
connection.

 Algorithm:
(B) Filtering of Quality Measurements
− Quality_ULFiltered (k) = b* Quality_ULCompensated (k) + a* Quality_ULFiltered(K-1),
If Quality_ULCompensated (k) < Quality_ULFiltered(K-1) If Quality_ULCompensated (k) >Quality_ULFiltered(K-1)
then L = QLENUL where, then L = QSLENUL *UPDWNRATIO/100

QSLENUL = 1 20 SACCH periods where,
QSLENUL = 1 20 SACCH periods
In this case “up regulation is needed” and it should
be done very fast in order to not lose the In this case “Down regulation is needed” and it
connection. should be done in a smooth way, coz decreasing
the power suddenly may harm the connection.

 Algorithm:
 SS_ULFiltered(K-1) is set initially = SSDESUL, that will lead to start power
regulations immediately after the first valid measurement report.
 Also Quality_ULFiltered(K-1) is set initially = QDESUL, that will lead to start

power regulations immediately after the first valid measurement report.
 SSDESUL: has value range from -110 to -47 dbm and recommended value is
-92 dbm
 QDESUL: has value range from 0 to 70 dtqu and recommended value is
30dtqu

 Algorithm:
 Till now we finalized two stages from the algorithm:
SS_ULmeasured Compensation SS_ULCompensated Filtering SS_ULFiltered
Q_ULmeasured Quality units to dB

(Quality Units) Q_ULmeasured(dB) Compensation
transformation
Q_ULFiltered Filtering Q_ULCompensated

 Algorithm:
 This will be done on three stages:
(B) Applying the Power Orders constraints
(C) Conversion of output data.

 Algorithm:
pu i = αi * (SSDESUL - SS_UL Filtered ) + βi * (QDESUL - Q_UL Filtered)
α1 = LCOMPUL/100, β1 = QCOMPUL/100, α2 = 0.3, β2 = 0.4
 pu1 is calculated according to settings of α1 & β1 ( The operator will set the
proper values from his point of view for LCOMPUL & QCOMPUL)
 pu2 is calculated according to recommended settings of α2 & β2 based on
trials and field measurements.

 Algorithm:
pu i = αi * (SSDESUL - SS_UL Filtered ) + βi * (QDESUL - Q_UL Filtered)
 pu1 and pu2 both of them aim to maintain the SS within the desired value
defined according to SSDESUL and to maintain the Quality within the desired
value defined according to QDESUL but each will calculate the path loss in
different way.
 pu_used = max (pu1,pu2), max of pu1 and pu2 will be used as the desired
power order in the next measurement report coz the max of both of them will
mean lower down regulation/higher up regulation

 Algorithm:
(B) Applying Power Order constraints
 The highest allowed power order pu_used = zero, which means keeping the
output power at maximum value with no power control.
 The lowest allowed power order is given by the minimum of 16 dB i.e. it is not
allowed to decrease the o/p power or increase it by a value > 16 dB

 Algorithm:
(C) Conversion of output data
 pu_used will be interpreted into final form  PL_used which takes values
from 0 8
 PL_used =Integer(-pu_used/2)
 Ex: if PL_used = 3 and Down regulation for power is required, then in the next
measurement report the BSC will inform the MS to decrease its current power
by 2* PL_used = 6 dBs

Dynamic BTS Power Control Parameters
SSDESUL −110 to −47 −92 −92 dBm
QDESUL 0 to 76 30 30 dtqu
SSLENUL 3 to 15 3 3 SACCH period (0.48 Seconds)
QLENUL 1 to 20 3 3 SACCH period (0.48 Seconds)
LCOMPUL 0 to 100 6 6 −
QCOMPUL 0 to 100 75 75 −
UPDWNRATIO 100 to 700 200 300 −
REGINTUL 1 to 30 1 1 SACCH period (0.48 Seconds)

THANK YOU

GSM TO UMTS CELL
RESELECTION AND HANDOVER

GSM to UMTS Cell Reselection and Handover
 GSM to UMTS Cell Reselection and Handover
 All 3G user equipments (UEs) can support Multi RATs(Radio Access

Technology) i.e. Both GSM and UMTS.
 With feature GSM-UMTS cell reselection and HO feature an operator can

make use of both GSM and UMTS systems to complement each other.
 Multi RAT users can have good coverage even in areas where no UMTS
coverage and this can be accomplished using UMTS-GSM cell reselection
and HO.
 COEXUMTS: Is a BSC parameter used to activate the feature GSM-UMTS

cell reselection and Handover.

 GSM to UMTS Cell Reselection and Handover
 New concepts will be introduced to understand how the feature works:

 CPICH Ec/No:
 Common Pilot Channel - Energy per chip/Noise level power density.
 Used as a measure of the Quality of the neighbor UMTS cell.
 CPICH RSCP:
 Common Pilot Channel - Received Signal Code Power.
 Used as a measure of the SS of the neighbor UMTS cell after dispreading.

 Measurements on UMTS Cells

 In order to be able to make cell reselection or HO to a UMTS neighbor cell,
the multi RAT UE should be able to make measurements on this neighbor as
well as the ordinary GSM cells.
 But when or at which conditions the UE will perform measurements on the

UMTS neighbors?
 This will be based on the settings of the parameters QSI and QSC:
 QSI: used to manage the conditions of measuring the UMTS cell in Idle Mode.
 QSC: used to manage the conditions of measuring the UMTS cell in Active
Mode.

 Measurements on UMTS Cells

When to start measuring the neighbor UMTS cell ?
QSI/QSC Signal Strength of the serving GSM Cell
0 to 6 "Below" -98dBm to -74 dBm in steps of 4 dB
7 Always
8 to 14 "Above" -78dBm to -54 dBm in steps of 4 dB
Example: 15 Never
If QSC=8, then the UE is allowed to measure the neighbor UMTS cell only when
the SS of the serving GSM Cell > -78 dBm
SS(dBm)
-78 dBm
-90 dBm ─
time
GSM GSM&UMTS GSM GSM&UMTS
measurements measurements measurements measurements

(I) GSM to UMTS Cell Reselection:

 This is controlled through set of parameters:
 QSI: Which defines at which conditions the UMTS cell will be measured in idle
mode, because there won’t be any kind of cell reselection without performing
measurements.
 FDDQMIN: Defines the minimum quality of a UMTS cell inorder to be

candidate for cell reselection i.e. this condition should be satisfied CPICH
Ec/No >FDDQMIN condition#1
default value = 5 (-10 dB)
 FDDRSCPMIN: Defines the minimum SS of a UMTS cell inorder to be

candidate for cell reselection i.e. this condition should be satisfied CPICH
RSCP >FDDRSCPMIN condition#2
default value= 6 (-102 dBm)

(I) GSM to UMTS Cell Reselection:

 FDDQOFF: It is the key parameter to control the behavior of the cell
reselection provided that condition#1 and condition#2 are fulfilled.
• If CPICH RSCP > RLA (S+N) + FDDQOFFS for at least 5 sec  condition#3
then “Cell reselection will occur”
 RLA (S+N): It is the Received Level Average of the signal strength of the
serving+neighbor GSM cells measured in dBm, averaging is made on at least
5 measurements over a period of 35 seconds.
 N.B: If the criteria for inter system cell reselection from GSM to UMTS is
fulfilled then the multi RAT UE will perform cell reselection to the UMTS cell
even if the criteria for selection another ordinary GSM cell is fulfilled.

(II) GSM to UMTS Handover:

 FDDMRR: The multi RAT UE is informed on how many UMTS cells (03) he
should report in the measurement report using this parameter.
 Upon receiving the measurements from the multi RAT UE, the BSC will handle
the GSM and UMTS cells separately by filtering out the UMTS measurements
before the GSM locating algorithm.
Filtering
Filtering out the UMTS cells
Basic Ranking
Urgency Condition
UMTS % idle TCHs ≤ ISOLEV GSM
Aux. Radio features
Evaluation Evaluation
Ec/No > MRSL Organizing the list
Add UMTS cells to Candidate list
Sending the list
and allocation
reply


 QSC: Which defines at which conditions the UMTS cell will be measured in
active mode, because there won’t be any kind of cell reselection without
performing measurements.
 MRSL: It is a BSC parameter that gives the minimum threshold for the quality
(Ec/No) for a UMTS neighbor cell in order to be added to the HO candidate
list, recommended value=-9dB
 ISHOLEV: It is a Cell parameter. The percentage of idle TCHs in the serving

GSM cell will be compared vs. ISHOLEV to decide if the UMTS will be added
to the HO candidate list or not.


 Conditions that should be fulfilled for a UMTS cell to be added to the HO
candidate list:
(1) No. of Idle TCHsGSM ServingCell ≤ ISHOLEV, or urgency conditions are
detected in the GSM serving cell either due to BQ or TA
(2) CPICH Ec/No UMTS Neighbor ≥ MRSL


 Now all the valid neighboring UMTS cells will be sorted in order of decreasing
CPICH Ec/No in order to form the UMTS candidate list.
 But how the two lists, the GSM and UMTS will be sorted?
 Ans.: this will depend on the urgency conditions and the load as follow:
Non-Urgency HO Condition Urgency HO Condition

No Load Load No Load Load
UMTS list GSM list UMTS list

GSM list
GSM list UMTS list GSM list
 N.B: To have balance between the behavior in the idle & active modes it is
recommended to set the values for FDDQMIN (idle) = MRSL (active)

GSM-UMTS Cell Reselection and HO Control Parameters
COEXUMTS 0(OFF),1(ON) 0(OFF) 1(ON) −
0 to 6(Below:-98dBm t o -74dBm)
7(Always)
QSI 8 to 14(Above:-78dBm to -54dBm)
15 − −
15 (Never)
0 to 6(Below:-98dBm t o -74dBm)
7(Always)
QSC 8 to 14(Above:-78dBm to -54dBm)
15 − −
15 (Never)
0 to 7 (-20dB, -6dB, -18dB, -8dB,
FDDQMIN -16dB, -10dB, -14dB, -12dB)
0 (-20dB) 5(-10dB) −
FDDRSCPMIN 0 to 15(-114 dBm to -84 dBm in steps of 2dBm) 6(-102 dBm) 6(-102 dBm) −
FDDQOFF 0 to 15 (-inf, -28dB to 28dB in steps of 4 dB) 8(0 dB) 0(-inf) −
FDMRR 0 to 3 0 1 or 2 −
MRSL 0 to 49 − 30 (-9 dB)
ISHOLEV 0 to 99 20 − %

THANK YOU

TROUBLE SHOOTING AND
KPIS MONITORING

Trouble Shooting & KPIs monitoring
 Trouble Shooting & KPIs monitoring
 The Quality of service means that how the subscriber is satisfied with the
overall service.
 To keep the quality of service good as much as possible, we have to enhance

the following:
(A) Accessibility: The ability of users to access the network.
(B) Retainability: The ability of users to successfully continue their connections

with the network until it is terminated in a normal way.
(C) Service Integrity: The ability to keep the quality of the service good enough
during the connection with the network.

 KPIs: “Key Performance Indicators” it is a general term used to define the

keys or observations through which you can judge if the performance is good
or not.
(A) Accessibility KPIs:

1. Paging Success Rate
2. Random Access
3. SDCCH Congestion (Blocking)
4. TCH Blocking
5. SDCCH Drop

(B) Retainability KPIs:

1. TCH Drop Rate
2. Handover Success Rate
(C) Service Integrity KPIs:

3. Rxqual (Received Signal Quality)
4. SQI (Speech Quality Indicator)


1. Paging
 On MSC level there is counters to count:
 No. of attempts of paging to the Location Area.
 No. of paging response to first paging.
 No. of paging response to the repeated paging.
 Using these counters we can form the equation to calculate the paging
success rate.


1. Paging
 The Paging Success rate on certain LA as appeared from the statistics:
Paging Attempts
Paging Success Rate


1. Paging
 What are the causes of bad paging performance?
 Implicit detach is not used: parameter ATT is set to “Off”
 Low Signal Strength
 Not optimized paging strategy
 Use of combined BCCH mapping in high traffic location areas.
 Location area dimensioning
 Using of IMSI most of the time instead of TMSI


2. Random Access
 A failure in the random access doesn’t mean a call setup failure because the
MS sends many random access bursts each time it tries to access the
network.
 There are counters to count the no. of accepted random access requests, and
the no. of discarded requests (incremented for random access requests that
are received with too high Time Advance) through which the random access
success rate can be calculated.
 Causes of low random access success rate may be due to:

 Too high Time Advance (TA)
 High Interference
 Bad BSIC Planning

3. SDCCH Congestion
 It is the failure of call/connection setup due to high signaling load.
 There are counters to count the no. failed allocations due to SDCCH
congestion and the no. of call attempts through which the SDCCH congestion
rate can be calculated.
 Causes of high SDCCH congestion? This is may be due to:

 Location Area border cell.
 High SMS Traffic.
 Hardware Availability.
 No. of configured SDCCHs is low.


4. TCH Blocking
 It is the failure of setup a call/connection due to TCH congestion.
 There are counters to count the no. of released connections on SDCCH due
to TCH congestion and the no. of assignment attempts on TCH channel
through which the TCH blocking rate can be calculated.
 Causes of high TCH Blocking may be due to:

 Hardware problem.
 Too few TCH resources defined.
 Missing neighbor cell definition.


4. TCH Blocking
The TCH Blocking as appeared from the Statistics
TCH Traffic
TCH Blocking
Defined TCH
Channels
 TCH Blocking was solved after expansion (adding new frequency)


5. SDCCH Drop
 It is the failure of setup a call/connection due to SDCCH channel drop.
 N.B: when a connection is dropped at call setup it will affect the accessibility KPIs.
 There are counters to count the no. of dropped connections on SDCCH and the
no. of successful MS channel establishments on SDCCH through which the
SDCCH drop rate can be calculated.
 Causes of high SDCCH drop rate may be due to:

 Bad Coverage.
 Interference.
 Hardware problems.
 Wrong parameters’ settings (Offsets and Hysteresis).


1. TCH Drop
 It is the drop of the connection on the traffic channel which was assigned to the
MS.
 There are counters to count the no. of dropped connections and the initiated
connections on TCH channels through which the TCH drop rate can be
calculated.
 Causes of high TCH drop rate may be due to:

 Bad coverage.
 Interference.
 Missing Neighbors.
 Wrong parameters' settings.

1. TCH Drop
The TCH drop as appeared from the statistics.
TCH Traffic
TCH Drop Rate
 High drop rate was solved after fixing a hardware problem.


1. TCH Drop
The TCH drop reasons as appeared from the statistics.
BQ Both Links
BQ Downlink
BQ Uplink
Low SS Both Links
Low SS Downlink
Low SS Uplink
Sudden Lost
 Main drop reason is due to BQ in downlink


1. TCH Drop
The TCH drop reasons as appeared from the statistics.
BQ Both Links
BQ Downlink
BQ Uplink
Low SS Both Links
Low SS Downlink
Low SS Uplink
Sudden Lost
 Main drop reason is due to low SS Both link


2. Handover Success Rate
 There are counters to measure the number of Handover attempts from cell to
cell and the Handover success rate.
 Poor Handover Success rate may be due to:

 Bad Frequency plan.
 Wrong definitions and missing neighbors.
 Wrong parameters settings.
 Handover failure does not mean a drop call will occur.


1. Rxqual
 It is obtained by averaging the Bit Error Rate over a certain period ~ 0.5 sec
and it is measured in both the Downlink and Uplink
 Rxqual take values from 0 (Best)  7 (Worst) and gives indication for the
quality of the radio environment.
 There are counters to measure the no. of samples that received with Rxqual
0,1,2,….7


2. SQI (Speech Quality Index)
 Is a good measure for the end user perceived speech quality.
 The algorithm used for calculation the SQI takes into account the BER, the
distribution of BER, the FER (Frame Erasure Rate) and the codec used (HR,
FR, EFR). The output values are measured on a dBQ scale.
 Typically, the SQI take values from 0 (Worst)  30 (Best), on HR connection

SQImax=17dBQ, FR connection SQImax=22dBQ, EFR connection
SQImax=30dBQ
 N.B: HR ≡ Half Rate, FR ≡ Full Rate, EFR ≡ Enhance Full Rate

THANK YOU

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GSM Radio Network

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RF people work in either

 Nominal Plan Design  Maintain the Network‘s Accessibility KPIs

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 What will be our concern during this part of the course?

 How the RF Optimization people can maintain the KPIs?

 What are we going to study during this part of the course?

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 MS will continuously monitor the serving and neighbor BCCH carriers to

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 MS Tasks during Idle Mode

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I. PLMN Selection Criterion

 An MS will need to make a PLMN selection only incase:

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I. PLMN Selection Criterion

 Automatic PLMN Selection Mode steps:

 Manual PLMN Selection Mode:

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I. PLMN Selection Criterion

 National Roaming may be allowed on a certain location areas LAs of the

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II. Cell Selection Criterion

 Cell Selection is done by the MS itself.

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II. Cell Selection Criterion Scan RF Frequencies one by one and

Check if the chosen frequency is a

Check if PLMN is desired or not

Camp on the Cell

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II. Cell Selection Criterion

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II. Cell Selection Criterion

2. Cell is not Barred ( CB = NO)

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II. Cell Selection Criterion

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III. Cell Reselection Criterion

 Cell reselection measurements:

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III. Cell Reselection Criterion

BSIC BCCH Data (System Information)

Six Strongest Neighbors Every 30 Seconds Every 5 Minutes

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III. Cell Reselection Criterion

2. C1 serving cell falls below zero for more than 5 seconds.

5. MS detects Downlink Signaling Failure.

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III. Cell Reselection Criterion

 C2 is called “Cell Reselection Quantity”

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III. Cell Reselection Criterion

 TO : defines a negative temporary offset for certain time according to settings

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III. Cell Reselection Criterion

 MFRMS is a cell parameter defines the no. of multi-frames between the

III. Cell Reselection Criterion