Table of Contents

Chapter 8 GSM Radio Network Optimization................................................................................2

8.1 Network Optimization Procedure.......................................................................................... 2
8.2 Network Optimization Tools.................................................................................................. 3
8.2.1 Test MS...................................................................................................................... 3
8.2.2 Drive Test Software.................................................................................................... 4
8.2.3 Signaling Analyzer..................................................................................................... 5
8.2.4 Network Optimization Software..................................................................................6
8.3 Network Performance Evaluation......................................................................................... 7
8.3.1 DT.............................................................................................................................. 7
8.3.2 CQT........................................................................................................................... 8
8.3.3 Network Operation Indexes.......................................................................................8
8.4 Traffic Statistics Index Analysis............................................................................................9
8.4.1 General Analysis Method......................................................................................... 10
8.4.2 High Call Drop Rate Analysis...................................................................................10
8.4.3 High TCH Congestion Rate Analysis.......................................................................12
8.4.4 High SDCCH Congestion Rate Analysis..................................................................14
8.4.5 Low Handover Success Rate Analysis....................................................................16
8.5 Network Problem Solutions................................................................................................ 18
8.5.1 Coverage Problems................................................................................................. 18
8.5.2 Interference Problems............................................................................................. 31
8.5.3 Call Drop Problems.................................................................................................. 41
8.5.4 Handover Problems................................................................................................. 53
8.5.5 Congestion Problems.............................................................................................. 60
8.5.6 Other Problems........................................................................................................ 65
 Chapter 8 GSM Radio Network Optimization For internal use only

Chapter 8 GSM Radio Network Optimization

Radio network optimization aims to improve network performance and maximize the
benefit of the existing network resources through parameter collection, data analysis,
parameter adjustment, and necessary technical means.

From the perspective of carriers, they hope to configure the system rationally, utilize
network resources to the maximum, enhance network economic benefit, and reduce
operation costs through network optimization. From the perspective of users, they
hope to get satisfactory telecommunication services in terms network stability, speech
quality, and so on. Therefore, the core task of radio network planning and optimization
is to seek a balance among coverage, capacity, and quality based on rational
investment and the limited frequency resources, thus achieving the best rate of
investment return.

8.1 Network Optimization Procedure

Figure 1.1 shows the network optimization procedure.

Figure 1.1 Network optimization procedure

Hereunder details the procedure:

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 Network information acquisition

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

8.2 Network Optimization Tools

8.2.1 Test MS

Test MS is a daily must for engineers to perform network test. The test MS can
display the service cell of a mobile telecommunication network and the six neighbor
cells. It can also be used to test network parameters. The test MS can be connected
to a computer, so it can collect and analyze data with the help of drive test software.

The functions of a SAGEM test MS are listed below:

 View the IMSI of the SIM card
 Scan BCCH
The SAGEM test MS can scan the BCCH, and it will provides the Rxlev and
BSIC of the scanned BCCH in each cell.
 View network parameters
The SAGEM test MS can display network parameters of the service cell of and
the six neighbor cells when it is idle or in conversation state.
 Forced cell selection

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

8.2.2 Drive Test Software

ANT, TEMS, and SAFCO are the GSM drive test software in common use. Generally,
the drive test software consists of two parts: foreground data collection software and
background data analysis software.

I. Foreground Data Collection Software

The foreground data collection software is mainly responsible for collecting the uplink
and downlink data at the Um interface of the GSM mobile network. If the BTSs and
the landform map of the test areas are imported, the track of the drive test, the radio
parameters of each test point, and the main information of the service cell, neighbor
cell, and the Um interface can be observed.

The functions of foreground data collection software are listed below:

 Test functions
Test functions include call test, scan test, call interference test, double-network
synchronization test, dialing record test, dual-band comparison test, and MS
selection test.
 Topical test
Topical test is responsible for forced handover and frequency locking (call) test,
BCCH frequency locking (standby) test, forced location update test, and band
locking test.
 Interference test
Interference aims to locate the BCCH same-frequency and neighbor frequency
interference and TCH neighbor frequency interference within the same network
in time.
 Parameter collection
The field strength of the service cell and the neighbor cells, bit error ratio, frame
error rate, and various radio parameters of the cell need to be collected.
 Geographic navigation

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The foreground data collection software can be used to display the geographic
navigation through combing the digital map and BTS resources.
 SQI (Speech Quality Index) test
SQI test aims to evaluate the speech quality experienced by mobile users.
 Traffic statistics
The foreground data collection software can be used for CQT traffic statistics. It
enables the call setup, call duration, and call release to be recorded respectively.
In addition, it is also responsible for recording call drop rate and congestion rate.
 Data record
The foreground data collection software can record and store the test data of the
test MS synchronously, and can record and store the scanned data of the
900MHz and 1800MHz synchronously.
 Scanning test
Scanning test aims to test and record the field strength of the channels of the
GSM 900MHz network and GSM1800MHz network.
 Competitive test
The comparison between real-time field strength and speech quality is available.
In addition, real-time check of cell parameters is allowed.

II. Bachground Data Analysis Software

The background data analysis software can geographically present the radio network
test data and reflect the distribution of network parameters on the electronic map
visually. It can locate the problem cell by fully considering the drive test data, network
resource data, digital frequency sweep receiver data, and GSM signaling
characteristics, thus guiding engineers to evaluate and optimize the network rationally
and effectively.

The functions of background data analysis software are listed below:

 Radio coverage evaluation and analysis
 Interference analysis
 Neighbor cell analysis
 Handover analysis
 Signaling analysis
 Speech record and analysis

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8.2.3 Signaling Analyzer

MA-10 and K1205 are the GSM signaling analyzer in common use. This section
introduces the functions of the signaling analyzer.

MA-10 signaling analyzer can test the Abis interface signaling messages, the A-G
interface signaling messages, and the SS#7 interface signaling messages of ISUP,
TUP, and INAP when it is on line. In addition, it can perform PCM BERT (bit error rate
test) and GSM BERT. Furthermore, it can enable the signaling message files saved
during on-line monitoring when it is off-line.

The MA-10 signaling analyzer has five sub-applications. They are listed below:
 MA-10 control (It is used to test Abis interface signaling messages, A-G interface
signaling messages, and bit errors when it is on line.)
 MONITOR ABIS offline (It is used to analyze the Abis interface signaling
messages when it is off line.)
 MONITOR MSC offline (It is used to analyze the A-G interface signaling
messages when it is off line.)
 GSM-BERT offline (It is used to analyze GSM BERT when it is off line.)
 PCM-BERT offline (It is used to analyze PCH BERT when it is off line.)
With the help of MA-10 signaling analyzer, network optimization engineers can collect
and analyze Abis interface data and A-interface data, view the whole signaling
procedure, and obtain the measurement report, and then compare the information
with the downlink signals obtained from drive test. These means can help network
optimization engineers have an overall understanding of the operation of the network.
In this case, the causes and places for the problems, such as call drop, handover
failure, and congestion can be located.

8.2.4 Network Optimization Software

Good network optimization software can work as a platform for radio projects and
maintenance personnel. NASTAR, Huawei network planning and optimization tool,
can deeply analyze GSM network by integrating OMCR traffic statistics, configuration
data, alarm data, engineering data, and so on. In addition, it also provides the
interfaces for network planning, performance analysis, alarm analysis, and geography
conditions.

The functions of NASTAR are listed below:

 Import static traffic statistics data (import the traffic statistics files of the
maintenance console into database)
 Import static traffic statistics data according to time

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 Import dynamic Huawei traffic statistics

 Import BSC data configuration
 Display the geographic view of BTSs
 Cancel, add, and move the cells based on the geographic view of BTSs
 Record spectrum utilization and analyze idle channel number
 Check same-frequency BSIC
 Analyze neighbor cells
 Measure distance and azimuth angle
 Display navigation window and legend
 Query performance analysis tasks in common use
 Make performance analysis task
 Query network optimization tasks in common use
 Make network optimization tasks
 Perform tasks and alarms automatically
 Import and export tasks
 Display task result and site view
 Query traffic statistics inversely from the cell set selected by site view
 Display the traffic tasks in direct views, including linear figure, column, pie
(support the display of double y-axis and the simultaneous display of multiple
indexes; support 2D and 3D.)
 Export electronic table (Excel) for query results.

8.3 Network Performance Evaluation

Before putting network optimization into practice, you should have an overall
understanding of the network performance. The traffic statistics data, DT (drive test)
data, and CQT (call quality test) data are necessary for network performance
acquisition.

8.3.1 DT

DT is used to evaluate the connectivity, coverage, call drop, and voice quality for the
main roads and transportation backbones in urban areas. The indexes for the roads
include connected ratio, call drop rate, coverage rate, voice quality, and so on. The
indexes for transportation backbones include call drop rate per kilometer, coverage
rate, voice quality, connected rate, and so on.
 Connected ratio
Connected ratio = total connected times/attempted calls *100%
 Call drop rate
Call drop rate = call drop times/total connected times *100%

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 Coverage rate
Coverage rate = (≥ -94dBm test road kilometers)/total test road kilometers*100%
 Voice quality
According to bit error rate, voice quality can be divided into 8 classes, from 0 to
7. Each class matches its bit error rate range.

The calculation of voice quality depends on actual conditions. Generally, the

following method is in common use:

Voice quality = [Rxqual (class 0)% + Rxqual (class 1)% + Rxqual (class 2)%*1 +
Rxqual (class 3)%* + Rxqual (class 4)%*0.8 + Rxqual (class 5)%* + Rxqual
(class 6)%*0.5 + Rxqual (class 7)%*0.2
 Call drop ratio per kilometer
Call drop ratio per kilometer = (≥ -94dBm test road kilometers)/total call drop
times

8.3.2 CQT

CQT is applied to the important spots in urban areas. It enables you to experience the
network quality from the perspective of users. This section introduces the indexes
used to evaluating the CQT.
 Coverage rate
Coverage rate = (≥ -94dBm test points)/total calling test points)*100%
 Connected ratio
Connected ratio = total connected times/attempted calls *100%
 Call drop rate
Call drop rate = call drop times/total connected times *100%
 Voice discontinuity/background noise rate
Voice discontinuity/background noise rate = (total voice discontinuity occurrence
times + total background occurrence times)/total connected times*100%
 One-way audio/echo/cross-talking rate = (total one-way audio times + total echo
occurrence times + total cross-talking occurrence times)/total connected
times*100%
CQT enables you to use the MOS (mean opinion score) to evaluate the voice quality
from the perspective of people’s objective feeling. The MOS can be divided into five
classes, from 1 to 5. For the evaluation standard, see Table 5-2 of Chapter 5 GSM
Radio Network Planning of GSM Radio Network Planning and Optimization.

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8.3.3 Network Operation Indexes

Though DT and CQT can detail network problems, they are restricted from test routes
and time. Therefore, DT and CQT cannot test the overall network. To give an overall
evaluation towards the network, you should collect as more network operation
indexes as possible.

The indexes evaluating network operation quality are listed below:

 Service access capacity indexes
Service access capacity indexes include toll network connected ratio, short
message connected ratio, (GPRS) PDP activation ratio, and IP telephone
connected ratio.
 Service hold capacity indexes
Service hold capacity indexes include call drop rate, worst cell ratio, traffic call
drop ratio, handover success rate, and short message gateway transit success
rate.

With the expansion of network scale, the network structure becomes ever more
complicated. In this case, networks with high performance but low cost are
encouraged.

The indexes on network utilization can be used to evaluate whether the cost to run a
network is low. These indexes include toll circuit utilization rate, traffic channel
availability, busiest and idlest cell ratio, and so on.

Hereunder introduces the methods to calculate the indexes used to evaluate network
operation at the radio side.
 Radio connected ratio
Radio connected ratio = (1 – SDCCH congestion rate)*(1 – TCH congestion rate
(all busy))*100%
 Call drop rate
Call drop rate = TCH call drop/successful TCH seizures (all busy)
 Worst cell ratio
A cell with TCH congestion rate higher than 5% at busy hours or a cell with TCH
call drop rate higher than 3% is defined as a worst cell. The number of the worst
cells varies with network scales.
 Traffic call drop ratio
Traffic call drop ratio = total TCH traffic volume *60%/total TCH call drop times
(all busy)

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 Handover success rate

Handover success rate = successful handovers/attempted handovers*100%
 Traffic channel availability
Traffic channel availability = the available traffic channels at busy hour/configured
traffic channels*100%

8.4 Traffic Statistics Index Analysis

At the network optimization stage, the traffic statistics indexes are the basis for
network performance optimization. For network optimization, the KPIs, such as
congestion rate, call drop rate, and handover success rate, are in common use.
These indexes are the external representation of network quality. The radio coverage
quality, channel capacity, and cell parameters are the internal factor to affect the
network quality. The traffic statistics analysis aims to look into these internal factors
through external factors. Since the mobile network is a complex system, you should
consider related DT information, signaling messages, and alarm information for the
overall analysis.

8.4.1 General Analysis Method

Traffic statistics analysis is performed from BSC overall performance to cell

performance, from primary indexes to secondary indexes.

First you should have a rough understanding of the network performance through
BSC performance analysis. Here the indexes such as THC traffic intensity, TCH call
drop rate, TCH congestion rate, and inter-cell handover success rate should be
considered. Attention that in addition to check the percentages of the indexes, you
should also check the absolute numbers of the indexes, because the percentages
may sometimes hide some cell problems.

After having understood the indexes about the overall network performance, you
should analyze the indexes for each cell if finding abnormal indexes. First you should
judge if the abnormal index is a common phenomenon or it is really an abnormal one.
If it is a common phenomenon, you should begin the analysis from the perspective of
coverage, capacity, frequency planning, and cell parameters. If it is really an
abnormal case, you should register the corresponding traffic sub-items and analyze
them in detail. In addition, you should also make an overall judgment through
collecting the information about alarm, engineers’ operation, and other external
causes. If the traffic statistics analysis cannot contribute a correct judgment, you
should employ DT equipment and signaling analyzer for help.

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8.4.2 High Call Drop Rate Analysis

If the uplink and downlink quality deteriorates to a level that cannot hold normal
conversation, the conversation will be disconnected. This is defined as call drop.
Since the user mobility and radio propagation is uncertain, call drop always exists in a
mobile network. However, optimization measures can be adopted to reduce the call
drop rate.

Figure 1.1 shows the flow chart for high call drop rate analysis.

Figure 1.1 High call drop analysis

When the call drop rate of the BSC overall performance is found abnormal, you can
check TCH performance to judge whether the call drop is just a common
phenomenon or it is an individual phenomenon. After that, you can judge whether the
high call drop rate occurs in several cells or in all the BTSs. If the call drop is a
common phenomenon, you should make an overall check towards the coverage
planning, cell parameter planning, and frequency planning to analyze whether the link
budget meet the requirements, whether the configuration of the path failure counter is
rational, and whether the network interference is too great. In addition, you should
also check the BSC hardware, and then perform drive test to check the network
coverage.

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If it the abnormality is caused by the severe call drop in individual cells, you should
confirm whether it is equipment failure that caused the call drop. Generally, alarm
messages are always come together with equipment failure, so you can take
equipment failure as a reference.

After the equipment failure is excluded, you can analyze the call drop rate from the
perspective of interference, coverage, and handover.
1) Interference is divided into uplink interference and downlink interference. You
can analyze the uplink interference according to the number of interference
bands into which the idle TCHs drop. It is normal that the idle TCHs drop into
interference band 1 and interference band 2. For the network with aggressive
frequency reuse, it is acceptable that the idle TCHs drop into interference band
3. Here the frequency hopping, PBGT handover and coverage control must be
considered. If the idle TCHs drop into interference band 4 or above, you should
carefully check the interference. Generally, the interference within the network
increases with the traffic volume. The increase of the Rxqual class can be seen
through the Rxqual measurement task and Rxlev measurement task. The poor
handover ratio can be seen arising through inter-cell handover performance
measurement. In addition, the handover re-establishment failures will result in
more handover failures.
2) If the coverage is inadequate or it is unbalance on the uplink and downlink, the
call drop will also be resulted. You can judge if the Rxlev is adequate through the
mean Rxlev of the power control measurement task and the power class. If the
Rxlev is still low when the transmitter power reaches the maximum, there are
areas with poor coverage. Meanwhile, you can take the mean Rxqual and Rxlev
during call drop as a reference. The distribution of TA (timing advance) values
can help you estimate the radius of subscriber distribution. Through checking the
received channel strength of the neighbor cells, you can analyze the cell
coverage. Generally, drive test is needed for a detailed analysis.
If the uplink coverage and downlink coverage are unbalance, RF component
failure or cable connection problem will occur. The path unbalance can be seen
from the path balance measurement task, power measurement task, and call
drop measurement task. At this time, the alarm information and user complaint
also deserve your attention.
3) Handover failure will prevent the MS from moving to the best cell. In this case,
call drop may be resulted. In addition, cross-cell handover and target cell
congestion may cause call drop. To solve this problem, you can add neighbor
cell relationship and balance the traffic within the cells.
The high SDCCH call drop rate analysis is similar to high TCH call drop rate
analysis. Acting as the point-to-point signaling channel, the SDCCH is more

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sensitive to the interference than TCH. In this case, the common method to
reduce the call drop rate is to adjust the access threshold and reduce
interference.

8.4.3 High TCH Congestion Rate Analysis

This section discusses TCH congestion, including the congestion caused by TCH
seizure all busy and the congestion caused by TCH seizure failure.

Figure 1.1 shows the flow chart for high TCH congestion analysis.

Figure 1.1 High TCH congestion rate analysis

When the congestion rate of the BSC overall performance is found abnormal, you can
find out the cells with high congestion rate through checking the TCH performance
statistics. In this case, you can discover the problems through analyzing each
functional sub-item of the TCH performance statistics of this cell. In addition, you
should check whether there is transmission problem, clock problem, or hardware
problem through considering the alarm information.

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It is a must to analyze the load according to the TCH traffic intensity and the
configured TCH capacity.
1) Check if the THC congestion rate is caused by TCH seizure all busy through
analyzing the TCH performance measurement of the cell. If the congestion is
caused by heavy traffic, you should predict the real traffic of the cell and check if
other cells can share the traffic. If it is beyond the optimization capability to
enable other cells to share the traffic, you should consider expanding the
capacity of the network. The adjustment measures for traffic balance may not be
consistent with the principle of minimum radio path loss, so they are applied to
emergent causes only. In most cases, you can balance the traffic through
adjusting coverage scope, adjusting access threshold, adjusting CRO and
handover threshold, or enabling load handover. If the congestion is not caused
by TCH seizure all busy, go on with the check.
2) Check if the TRXs of the congestion cell work normally. The damage or
performance decline of the uplink channels may prevent the MS from accessing
other cells. In this case, many cells will be seized, which will cause congestion.
The incoming cell handover performance measurement will show that many
handovers towards this cell are failures. In this case, you should query the statue
of each TRX within each cell through querying the Rxlev performance
measurement task or Rxqual performance measurement task. In addition, you
should find out which TRX is related to the abnormality through querying the
uplink and downlink measurement reports of the same TRX.
3) Check if the congestion rate is related to interference, namely, check if any
abnormality is present from the interference band 1 to interference band 5 in the
traffic statistics. If the interference is present in a cell, the call drop rate of the cell
will be high, and the SDCCH congestion rate will increase accordingly. Moreover,
the RACH in the random access performance measurement may be congested,
and the immediate assignment success rate will decrease.
4) Under some conditions, the congestion of some cells is a result of large
coverage. In this case, you should analyze the relationship between TA value
and Rxlev through querying the power control mean level, the mean level during
call drop, and TA. In addition, you should also use drive test to define the
coverage area of the cell. Through querying the TCH availability of the neighbor
cell, you can confirm if the congestion is caused by neighbor cell failures.
Through querying path balance performance measurement, you can judge if the
reason for the TCH seizure failure is that the downlink power is greater than the
uplink power.
5) Frequent handovers can also cause TCH congestion. Through querying the ratio
of the handovers to the call seizure successes, you can check if the ratio is

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rational. Through querying the incoming and outgoing ratio, you can check if the
congestion is caused by irrational handover.

8.4.4 High SDCCH Congestion Rate Analysis

Figure 1.1 shows flow chart for high SDCCH congestion rate analysis.

Figure 1.1 High SDCCH congestion rate analysis

The SDCCH congestion rate is mainly caused by heavy traffic. First you should define
if the congestion is a common phenomenon or if it is just an individual phenomenon. If
it is a common phenomenon, you should analyze if the location update timer is
irrationally set, and then calculate the SDCCH capacity to see if it meets system
requirement. If it is just an individual phenomenon, you should analyze it from the
perspective of equipment, location area, and interference.
1) From the perspective of equipment, you should first check the TRX sound ratio in
the BSC overall performance measurement and the SDCCH availability in the
SDCCH performance measurement, and then check the TCH activation
NACK/TIMEOUT in the TCH performance measurement. After that, you can
define if the congestion is caused by board problem.
2) Check the messages for SDCCH bearer location update. Irrational location area
planning will cause frequent location update, which will result in SDCCH
congestion. You are required to analyze of the edge of the location is set at the

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areas with a great number of subscribers by checking the location area planning
and actual drive test. In addition, you are also required to check if the location
update messages accounts a too larger percentage of the SDCCH seizure
requests at the edge. The method is to query the ratio of the successful SDCCH
seizures (location update) to the total SDCCH seizure successes in the SDCCH
performance measurement.
3) Interference also causes SDCCH congestion. Especially for the networks in
which the distance between BTSs is small and the BCCH frequency is
aggressive, the system may receive more interference random access signals.
The network will allocate a SDCCH for each random access, which causes
SDCCH congestion. In this case, the immediate assignment success rate will
decrease, the paging success rate will decrease, and the RACH in the random
access performance measurement may be overloaded.

8.4.5 Low Handover Success Rate Analysis

Figure 1.1 shows the flow chart for low handover success rate analysis.

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Figure 1.1 Low handover success rate analysis

The analysis for handover success rate is quite complicated, because it involves
capacity, coverage, clock, signaling, equipment, and even MS.
1) If the handover success rate of all cells is low, you should check the problem
from the perspective of handover parameters, A-interface circuit, and BSC clock.
2) Filter the cells with poor handover. If a network is run by the equipments of
different carriers, you should check if it interoperability problem by comparing the
inter-BSC handover success rata with the intra-BSC handover success rate in
the handover performance measurement. Generally, the inter-BSC handover
success rate is a little lower than the intra-BSC handover success rate. In
addition, you need to monitor the signaling messages and data configuration
between BSCs and analyze the radio link budget and clock of each carrier.
3) Check if any problem is present at the Um interface through comparing the
handover success rate and radio handover success rate. The radio handover

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success rate is equal to or greater than the handover success rate. If the
handover success rate is far smaller than the radio handover success rate, you
should analyze the ground link and capacity. If the difference between the radio
handover success rate and the handover success rate, you need to consider the
interference.
4) Analyze if it is incoming handover failure or it is outgoing handover failure
through querying the incoming cell handover success rate and outgoing
handover success rate in the handover performance measurement. After that,
analyze the outgoing cell handover performance measurement and incoming cell
handover performance measurement of the problem cell so as to find out the
incoming handover failure cells from the outgoing cell performance
measurement. Confirm if the poor handover is caused by target cell congestion
through analyzing the “incoming cell handover failures”, “TCH traffic intensity”,
and “TCH congestion rate (all busy)” of all the incoming handover failure cells.
5) Check if any equipment fails through querying the TRX sound ratio, TCH
availability, and TCH activation NACK/TIMEOUT of the target cell. Analyze if the
TRX performance decreases through querying the Rxlev performance
measurement of the target cell.
6) Check if any ground link equipment fails through querying the A-interface failures
and the ground link breaks during TCH seizure.
When the microwave is used for the transmission or during inter-BSC handover,
the clock deviation is another cause for poor handover. And this can be proved
by the intra-BSC handover failures. For the cells where the clock synchronization
is unavailable, the BSIC cannot be decoded, so the handover can never occur. In
this case, you need to check if the clock is normal and analyze the call drop rate.

If these two causes are excluded, you need to make adjustment from the
perspective of coverage and interference.

To reduce call drop rate and enhance handover success rate, you can leave a
margin for the Rxlev and Rxqual during handover. If the Rxlev of a cell is lower
than -90dBm during handover, you should check the mean Rxlev and TA value of
TCH call drop in the call drop performance measurement and analyze drive test
to see if the coverage distance of the cell is too long and if the signal is not strong
enough.

For the networks in which better cell algorithms are enabled, you should check
the “attempted handovers (better cell)”. It is better that the percentage it accounts
60% of the handover causes.

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The interference will also affect the handover success rate. When the
interference is present, the voice quality will decrease and the call drop rate will
increase.

Handover problems are rather complicated. To solve the problems arising in

actual work, you are supposed to integrate the methods introduce above, the
signaling analyzer, equipment condition, and drive test into consideration.

8.5 Network Problem Solutions

8.5.1 Coverage Problems

I. Solutuon Procedures

[Problem: the coverage is becoming smaller after the BTS is enabled]

After a BTS has run for a period of time (for example, half years), the coverage of the
BTS may become smaller or even dead zone may appear due to various causes. In
this case, the system performance will be affected. The shrink of the coverage is not
only related to the technical indexes (such as the BTS sensitivity and power), but also
related to the engineering quality, geographic factors, and the electromagnetic
environment.

The factor concerning the BTS problems are as follows:

 Transmitter output power decrease
 Receive sensitivity decrease
 Antenna azimuth angle change
 Antenna tilt change
 Antenna gain change
 Feeder loss
 Coupler loss
 Working band change
 Propagation environment change
 Diversity effect change.
You can check the problem according to the following procedure:
1) Check the conditions around the BTS antenna
You are required to check if there are other antennas (such as micro antenna),
decorations, billboard, trees, or glass walls standing around the BTS antenna.
These barriers may exert a negative effect against the antenna reception and

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transmission, thus affecting the coverage of the BTS. In this case, you can tune
the azimuth angel of the corresponding antenna or change the antenna height.
2) Check the change of the propagation environment
The change of the propagation environment of the electromagnetic wave will
weaken the signals received by radio terminals. Especially for mountains, the
propagation of the electromagnetic waves depends on the reflection of
mountains. For example, the change in the vegetation of the mountain will
reduce the coverage of the BTS. In addition, the climate and other natural factors
also have some effect against the electromagnetic waves. The propagation loss
varies with wood intensity, season, and so on. The maximum loss can reach 30
dB. If new buildings prevent the propagation of the electromagnetic waves and
weakens the signals, the areas in the remote cannot be covered, so the
subscribers cannot enjoy the service. Especially the high buildings near the BTS
have a great effect against the propagation of electromagnetic waves.
3) Check if there is standing wave alarm and main diversity reception alarm at the
operation and maintenance console
This problem can be checked according to the standing wave alarm messages
and the diversity reception alarm messages. If the alarms of this kind occur, you
should check the corresponding antennas and feeders.
4) Check if the standing wave ratio is smaller than 1.5%
The tolerance of the standing wave alarm threshold of the CDU or EDU is great.
Therefore, after checking that the set-top power is normal, you can further check
if the standing wave is smaller than 1.5%. If the standing wave ratio is abnormal,
you need to check if the water has penetrated into the antenna or feeder
connector, or if it is lightening protector problem.
5) Check if the tower amplifier work normally
Check if tower amplifier alarm is present at the operation and maintenance
console. Generally, the problems are the low noise amplifier was damaged or the
water has penetrated into the amplifier. The amplifier alarm always comes
together with the damage of the low noise amplifier. If the water has penetrated
into the tower amplifier, no alarm will be generated, but the RF loss is great. In
this case, the receiver sensitivity will decrease dramatically.
6) Check the engineering parameters (including antenna tilt and azimuth angle)
The increase of the antenna tilt or the deviation of the azimuth angle will reduce
the coverage of the BTS. Therefore, antennas must be firmly fixed so that they
can stand strong wind and storms.
7) Check the set-top output power of the transceiver

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First you should check if the lines are well connected, and then check if the set-
top power is normal. If it not normal, you should replace the problem hardware.
8) Check if the receiver sensitivity is normal
Check if the coverage distance is shortened by the low receiver sensitivity. In
addition, you can monitor the messages at the Abis interface and find out the
relationship between level and bit error rate. After that, you can get the value of
the level when the bit error rate is 2%. This means, however, only applies to the
situation that when the receiver sensitivity drops dramatically.
9) Check if the parameters affecting the coverage are rationally set
10) Check if the high back noise in the coverage area is caused by interference and
poor electromagnetic environment.
[Coverage problem caused by BTS expansion]

If the coverage of the BTS shrinks after expansion, in addition to making the previous
checks, you are supposed to check the following items.
1) Check if the combiner keeps the same before and after expansion
The loss of different combiners varies greatly Therefore, the combiner
configuration deserves special attention during BTS expansion. If different
combiners are a must, you should fully communicate with customers.
2) Check if the antennas are rationally selected
Suitable antennas must be selected for project installation and network planning
so that the best coverage can be achieved. It must be pointed out that you
should use zero-point filling antenna or the electrical title antenna when the
antenna height is great. In addition, omni antennas cannot be widely used for the
large area coverage. In this case, the coverage problem can be solved by
directional antennas.
3) Check if the installation of the newly-added antennas are qualified
You should first check if the design of the antenna height, azimuth angle, and
antenna tilt is qualified. Generally, the important coverage areas cannot be bared
by tower. Meanwhile, the important coverage areas cannot be perpendicular to
the diversity direction of the antenna. In this case, the antenna diversity effect
can be excavated to the maximum. To reduce the coverage shadow caused by
the tower, you should pay attention to the distance between the antenna and the
tower. Moreover, the pole of the omni antenna and the RF part of the antenna
cannot be overlapped.
4) Check the position of the BCCH transmitter antenna
Since the tower effect is present, the BCCH transmitter antenna must be installed
at a side of the important coverage area. In this case, the coverage shadow can

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be avoided. To prevent the assignment failure caused by the inconsistence of the

BCCH coverage and TCH coverage, you can use the concentric channel
allocation algorithm. In addition, the important coverage area cannot be
perpendicular to the diversity direction of the antenna.
5) Check if the tilts and the azimuth angles of the directional dual transmitter
antennas are consistent with each other
If the tilts and azimuth angles of the directional dual transmitter antennas are
inconsistent, call drop, assignment failure, and handover failure will easily occur.
In this case, the coverage area of the BTS will become small. In addition, since
the tower effect is present, the BCCH transmitter antenna must be installed at a
side of the important coverage area. In this case, the coverage shadow can be
avoided. Moreover, the important coverage area cannot be perpendicular to the
diversity direction of the antenna.
6) Check the set-top output power of various TRXs if the scheme for the maximum
coverage is used.
When the maximum coverage is pursued, the TRXs are required to be combined
in various ways. In this case, the coverage distance of the BCCH will be longer
than that of the TCH. As a result, the TCH assignment failure will be caused, so
the concentric technology is needed. The channel assignment failure caused by
low transmit level in the inner circle and the channel congestion in the external
circle can be avoided if the TA values of the inner circle and the external circle
are correctly set and allocated to the inner circle and external circle according to
the right priority.

[Coverage problems caused by BTS swap or construction]

1) Check if the azimuth angle and the antenna height are the same before and after
the BTS swap
If all the antenna and feeder components are newly constructed, the old BTS can
only be swapped after the new antenna is installed. Therefore, the azimuth angle
and the antenna height may be different from that of the old antenna. In this
case, the coverage area may decrease. As a result, you should check if the
azimuth angle and the antenna height are the same before and after the bas
station swap.
2) Check antenna tilt problems caused by network swap
Generally, the tilt must keep the same. If you need to control the coverage area
due to new BTSs are added to urban areas, you can consider increasing the tilt.
3) Check if the set-top power of the swap BTS is the same as that of the old BTS.
4) Check if the receiver sensitivity of the BTS is normal.

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5) Check if it is the interference or the poor electromagnetic environment that

makes the back noise of the whole area too high.
6) Check if any standing wave alarm message or diversity reception alarm
message is generated for antenna and feeder at the operation and maintenance
console.
7) Check the parameters that will affect coverage are rationally set.
8) Check if the installation of the antennas is qualified after the BTS has been
enabled or swapped.
9) Check if the right type of antenna is selected.
10) Check the position of the BCCH TRX transmitter of the omni dual transmitter
antenna.
11) Check if the tilts and the azimuth angles of the two directional antennas keep the
same after the directional dual transmitter antenna is used.
12) Check if the antennas and feeders of the cell are inversely connected.
13) Check if the tower amplifier works normally.
14) Check the set-top power for various TRXs when the configuration scheme for the
maximum coverage is pursued.

II. Problems Affecting Coverage and Solutions

[Antenna water penetration]

It is quite accidental that the water penetrates into the antenna. Water penetration
means that the water enters the RF internal channel. In this case, the voltage
standing wave ratio of the antenna will increase; the antenna loss will increase, the
coverage area will decrease; or event the power amplifier will be disabled.

[Antenna passive intermodulation]

The passive intermodulation of the antenna and various connectors will cause
interference. The exclusive method can be used for the check. That is, you can
connect the antenna feeders of the neighbor cells where there is no interference to
the test cell. If any problem is found, you should change the antenna.

[Improper antenna selection]

Generally, if the antenna height exceeds 50m and if the first zero point under the main
antenna beam is not filled, the “shadow under tower” may occur. That is, the area
under the tower cannot be covered by signals. In this case, you should select the
antenna with zero point filling function.

If three-sector directional antennas are used for vast coverage, the antennas must
have a high gain and their half power angle must be greater than 90 degrees. If the

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half power angle is small, the gain of the two neighbor sectors will be low. In this
case, the coverage radius is small.

If the antenna tilt is great, the all mechanical tilt antenna is not a suitable choice. In
this case, you should select the fixed “electrical tilt + mechanical tilt” antenna or the
“continuous adjustable electrical tilt (0 to 10 degrees) + mechanical tilt” antenna.

As the frequency reuse becomes more aggressive, the front-to-back ratio of the
antenna may not meet the requirement of a single BTS or several BTSs. Therefore,
you should select the antennas with greater front-to-back ratio.

[Tower effect against Omni antenna radiation]

The tower effect against omni antenna radiation deserves enough attention. It is hard
to estimate the damage of the omni antenna directional diagram caused by the tower.
The damage varies greatly with the distance between the tower and the antenna, as
shown in Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.1 Omni antenna directional diagram without barrier

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Figure 1.2 Tower effect against antenna far-field

If the antenna is installed on the tower and metal tube, you should pay special
attentions to the following items:
 The metal tube and the effect radiation part of the antenna cannot be
overlapped.
 Take measures to avoid installing the whole antenna on the metal tube.
 If the antenna is installed on the tower, make sure that the distance between the
antenna and the nearest end of the tower is greater than 6 wavelengths.
 The omni dual transmitter technology is not recommended.
 The antenna must be perpendicular to 1/8 of the half power beam width at least.
[Directional antenna installation problem]

Two problems may occur for directional antenna installation:

 The antenna is inversely or wrongly connected.
 The azimuth angles and the tilts of the transmitter antenna and the receiver
antenna are inconsistent and or the error is great.
Engineering causes are the explanations of the two problems. Generally, the
error scope of the azimuth angle cannot exceed 5 degrees, and that of the tilt
cannot exceed 0.5 degrees. If the error is too great, the coverage of the transit

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antenna and that of the receiver antenna will be different. In this case, it is hard
to make calls the coverage edges.
 Problems concerning the diversity distance between the transit antenna and the
receiver antenna or the isolation between the antennas and tower.
The coverage of the antenna will be affected if the diversity distance between the
transmitter antenna and the receiver antenna or the isolation between the
antennas and the tower is not great enough. For GSM 900MHz system, the
diversity distance between the transmitter antenna and the receiver antenna is
required to be greater than 4m. For GSM 1800MHz system, it is required to be
greater than 2m. The antenna mount must be at least 1.5m away from the tower.
Meanwhile, the antenna mount must be installed within the 45-dregree protection
areas of the lightening protector.
 There are shadows in coverage areas.
When installing a directional antenna, you should make sure that there is no
shadow within the coverage area. Generally, if there are huge barrier, such as
high buildings and mountains, around the BTS, shadows may appear. If you
intend install the BTS on the roof of a high building, you should install it at the
edges of the building so as to avoid the shadow. Since the environment around
the roof is quite complex, the antenna height must be great enough. In this case,
however, you should consider the ability of the antenna to stand the wind and
storm.

[Omni antenna installation problem]

 The radiator of the omni antenna is barred by antenna pole.
The coverage will be affected if the radiator of the omni antenna is barred by
antenna pole. Generally, there is a jacket installed at the bottom of the omni
antenna and the jacket is used to connect the omni antenna and the antenna
pole. From the perspective of installation, the top of the jacket must be at the
same level with or higher than the top of the pole; otherwise the radiation will be
affected.
 The problems concerning antenna diversity distance and isolation between
antenna and tower.
If the antenna diversity distance or the isolation between antenna and tower is
not great enough, the coverage will be poor. If the antenna diversity distance is
too small, it will reduce diversity gain. In this case, the receiver sensitivity will
reduce. Though the tower effect against the omni antenna radiation is
unavoidable, you can increase the isolation between the antenna and the tower
to reduce the effect.

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It is suggested that the isolation between the omni antenna and the tower is
greater than 2m, the horizontal diversity distance of the 900MHz omni antenna is
greater than 4m, and the horizontal diversity distance of the 1800MHz antenna is
greater than 2m.
 The omni antenna is not perpendicular to the horizontal plane.
If the omni antenna is not perpendicular to the horizontal plane, the antenna
directional diagram will be distorted in the coverage area. In this case, the
coverage of the antenna will be affected.

It is suggested that installation plane of the antenna mount be perpendicular to

the horizontal plane. If the mount extends beyond the tower, make sure that the
mount is still in the protection areas of the lightening protector. Generally, the
areas 45-dregee under the lightening protector top are the protection areas.

[Connection problems of antenna and feeder, combiner and splitter, and CDU]

If various connectors of the antenna and feeder system are not connected
according to requirement, the performance of the antenna and feeder system will
be affected. In this case, the coverage area of the BTS will also be affected.
 Water penetration occurs at the various connectors of the antenna and feeder
system.
If water has penetrated into the connector and feeder, the standing wave ratio will
increase. In this case, the coverage area will be affected.
 Various connectors are not tightened.
If the connectors for set-top jumpers, for the cables from TRX boards to combiner
and splitter, and for various RF cables are not tightened, both the reception
performance and the transmit performance of the system will decrease. In this
case, the coverage area and the conversation quality will be affected.
 The transmitter antenna and the receiver antenna are inversely connected due to
inconsistent configuration of the set-top jumper and data.
 The connection between the jumper and feeder is not tight, which results in high
loss and standing wave ratio. In this case, the coverage will be affected and
interference will be caused.
[Tower amplifier problem]
 Water penetration will increase the loss, deteriorate the standing wave ratio, and
decrease the receiver sensitivity.
 The damage of the LNA (it is in the tower amplifier) will decrease the gain or
even decrease the gain to a negative value.

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 The input end and the output end of the tower amplifier are inversely connected.
In this case, the tower amplifier will be short-circuited. If the short circuit lasts for
a long time, the front module will be damaged.
[BTS front module problem]
 Isolator problem
 Duplexer and other filter damage
 Standing wave ratio error alarm
 LNA (low noise amplifier) damage
 Low TRX or amplifier output power
[Parameter configuration problem]

The parameters affecting coverage are listed below:

 TRX power class
 Tower amplifier attenuation coefficient
 MS maximum transmit power control power
 MS minimum Rxlev
 RACH minimum access threshold

III. Coverage Cases

Case 1: Use down tilt omni antenna to improve coverage

[Problem description]

In a suburban area, the omni antenna with a gain of 11dBi is used for the BTS. This
coverage distance can reach 9km in plain environment. However, the coverage in the
area near the BTS is poor. The Rxlev in the small town 800-1400m away from the
BTS is about -90dBm.

[Problem analysis and solution]

On-site survey shows that the antenna height is too great. The height of the tower on
which the antenna is installed 50m. Moreover, the tower is established on a small
mountain, so the town is 120m below the antenna. The first judgment is that the
phenomenon of “shadow under tower” has been caused.

Further analysis of the collected data finds that omni antenna is used for the BTS.
The antenna gain is 11dBi, and the vertical half power angel is 7 degrees. If the valid
antenna height is 120m, the half power points of the antenna major lobe are scattered
in the area about 2000m away from the BTS. Therefore, this town is not in the
coverage area of the BTS.

Through checking the fluctuation of the Rxlev according to the drive test map,
engineers found that this town locates within the radiation area of a zero power point

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of the BTS. However, the town is too far away from the mountains around, so it
cannot get the signals reflected by the mountains. Therefore, the Rxlev in this town is
quite slow.

After having replaced the antenna with an omni antenna with 5 degrees of the down
tilt angle, engineers retested the Rxlev and found that it increased by 15-20 dB in the
areas 3km within the BTS. In some areas, the Rxlev is increased by 30 dB.
Therefore, the coverage has been improved remarkably, as shown in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 Comparison of the Rxlev before and after antenna replacement

Case 2: Improper installation of omni antenna has effect against the coverage

[Problem description]

A new BTS has been enabled for a local network. Users complain that the coverage
area become smaller after that. For the low narrow areas 2km away from the BTS,
the Rxlev is already lower than -90dBm.

[Problem analysis and solution]

Through surveying the environment around the BTS, engineers found that the major
transmitter antenna and the diversity receiver antenna are installed in a plane parallel
to the road. Apparently, this kind of installation does not meet the criteria.

The correct way is to install the major transmitter antenna and the diversity receiver
antenna in a plane perpendicular to the road. In addition, the major transmitter
antenna must be located at one side of the road, as shown in Figure 1.2.

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Figure 1.2 Installation position of omni antenna

Case 3: Improper configuration of data causes poor coverage

[Problem description]

During the optimization for a place, engineers found that the signals at a section of
the road in the suburban area are quite poor. The measured Rxlev is -95dBm.

[Cause analysis]

This section locates in the suburban area and is about 3km away from the urban
area. There is no abrupt change in terms of landform within this section. Theoretically,
the Rxlev here should be about -80dBm, so the difference between the theoretical
Rxlev and the measured Rxlev is great. According to the frequency sweep test, the
strength of the Fa signal is about -95dBm, and the strength of the Fb signal is about
-80dBm. For this section, it is covered by three cells of the BTS A and BTS B that are
installed in the urban area (the BCCH frequencies are Fa and Fb). In addition, a cell
of the BTS C installed at the remote suburban area also covers the section (the
BCCH frequency is Fc).

Through checking data, engineers found that the Fb is not included in the neighbor
channel numbers of the A-3 cell in the BA1. When the MS moves from the urban area
to the suburban area, it will choose A-3 cell to camp on, because the Fb is not
configured in the neighbor channel numbers. In this case, the MS cannot reselect the
B-3 cell to camp on. In the cell neighbor relationship list, the A-3 cell and B-3 cell
cannot work as the neighbor cell for each other, and the Fb is not configured in the
neighbor channel numbers of the A-3 cell listed in BA2. Therefore, in conversation
mode, the MS cannot keep the conversation in A-3 cell. When it arrives at this

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section, it cannot hand over to the B-3 cell. Therefore, the signals are poor, so is the
voice quality.

[Solution]

Enable the A-3 cell and B-3 cell to work as neighbor cell for each other.

Case 4: Irrational BTS swap affects coverage

[Problem description]

In an urban area, a BTS must be swapped for the building on which the BTS was
installed were to be moved. Considering that coverage for the scenic spot 2km away
(the scenic spot locates behind a hill) is poor, so engineers intended to install the BTS
on the top of the hill. On the top of the cell, the whole city and the scenic spot can be
seen. However, after the BTS swap, users complaint that there were no signals in the
indoor environment of the cells near the site where the old BTS was installed.

[Cause analysis]

The buildings of the resident area are densely distributed and the average height is
8m. Before the BTS swap, the cell used for this area is only 100m away, and the
antenna height is 15m. Therefore, the indoor conversation quality can be guaranteed.
After the BTS swap, however, the cell used this area is 1.8km away, and the antenna
height is 30m. In this case, the signals are quite weak when arriving at the bottom of
resident area, though the signals falling at the top of the building is good. To solve this
problem, you can only increase the output power of the transmitter antenna or
increase the antenna gain. However, the coverage is still not to users’ satisfactory
even increase the antenna height to 30m. Therefore, when swapping or constructing
a BTS at the densely populated area, you should pay attention to the following items:
 It is suggested that the distance between the BTS and the resident area is equal
to or smaller than 150m, otherwise the coverage for this area will become weak
dramatically.
 The antenna of the swapped BTS cannot be too great. If the BTS is installed
among resident buildings, the antenna height is suggested to be 7-10m. If the
BTS is installed beyond the resident buildings and the buildings are high, you
can increase the antenna height accordingly.
 You can solve the problems concerning cross area coverage can through
controlling the power class of the BTS, tuning the azimuth angle of the antenna,
or tuning the tilt angle of the antenna.
[Solution]

According to on-site survey, engineers found that the indoor signals of this area are
too poor to hold the conversation. This area can be seen clearly from the tower on

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which the BTS is installed. The distance between the BTS and the area is only 1.8km,
and between them are vast farmlands. To solve this problem, you can attempt to tune
the azimuth angle and the tilt angle of the antenna. If the coverage is not yet
improved, you can use the following methods:
 Replace the common antenna used for this cell (its gain is 15dBi) with the high-
gain antenna used for the scenic spot (its gain is 18dBi)
 There are 4 TRXs in this cell, all in SCU mode, replace the SCU mode with the
dual-CDU mode.
After the above methods are done, the antenna gain for this area can be increased by
6dB. After the antenna replacement, you need to tune the antenna tilt for the best
coverage.

Through retesting the indoor signal level, engineers found that it increased by 6-12dB.
And even the common MS can keep normal conversation.

8.5.2 Interference Problems

Interference is a key factor affecting network performance, including conversation

quality, call drop, handover, congestion, and so on.

I. Interference Sources

In the mobile telecommunication system, when the BTS is receiving the signals from
a remote MS, it will not only be interfered by other telecommunication equipments,
but also it will be interfered by the other BTSs and MSs within the system, as shown
in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 Schematic drawing of mobile telecommunication interference

Hereunder introduces the interference sources affecting the GSM system.

 Intra-network interference

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If the frequencies are improperly planned, or the frequency reuse is too

aggressive, intra-frequency interference or neighbor cell interference will be
caused.
 Repeater interference
At the early stage of network construction, repeaters are widely used for
extending the coverage distance of the network. However, if the repeaters are
improperly planned, the network will be interfered.

If the repeaters are not installed according to requirement, that is, there is not
enough isolation left between the donor antenna and the subscriber antenna, the
BTS to which the repeaters attach will interfered.

For the repeaters enabling broadband non-linear amplifier, the intermodulation

indexes are far greater than that required in the protocols. In this case, the
greater the power is, the greater the intermodulation will be. Therefore, the BTS
near the repeaters will be interfered.
 Interference from other big-power telecommunication equipments
These equipments include radar, analog BTS, and other telecommunication
equipments using the same band.
 Hardware problems
TRX problem: If the performance of the TRX decreases, the system may be
interfered.

CDU problem or splitter problem: Active amplifier is used in the CDU splitter and
splitter module. When any problem occurs, the system may also be interfered.

Stray and intermodulation: If the out-band stray of the power amplifier or the TRX
of the BTS go beyond requirement, or the isolation of the transmission and the
reception of the CDU duplexer is too small, the connection channel will be
interfered. Meanwhile, the passive equipments, such as the feeder and the
antenna, will generate intermodulation.

II. Interference Positioning and Elimination

[Positioning and elimination procedure]

1) Find out the interference cell according to KPI
If the call drop rate, handover success rate, traffic volume, congestion rate, and
interference band of a cell deteriorate to a bad level abruptly, it means that
interference may exist in the cell.

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In this case, you can also check the historical record of operations made in this
cell. For example, check if the hardware and software of the BTS has been
added or increased and if the data of the BTS has been modified. Generally, the
appearance of interference is related to these operations.

If these parameters are not adjusted, the interference may be from the hardware
itself out outside factors. In this case, you are suggested to check if it is hardware
problem. If it is not, you should check outside factors.
2) Check OMC alarm
Sometimes high call drop rate, low handover success rate, and high congestion
rate may be related to equipment problems. In this case, you can check OMC
alarm records. These records are related to the deterioration of these indexes.
3) Check frequency planning
If the interference is doubt in a cell, you can check the frequency planning for the
cell and the neighbor cells of the cell. For this check, you are required to make
clear the distribution of the antennas, find out the azimuth angle of each cell,
draw the topology, and mark the BCCH/TCH channel numbers. Meanwhile, you
are also required to compare the planned channel numbers with the configured
channel numbers in the BSC.

According to the accurate frequency planning topology, you can make sure if the
intra-frequency interference or neighbor frequency interference is present in the
network.
4) Check cell parameter configuration
The cell parameters, such as CRO, threshold, handover duration, neighbor cell
relationship, and so on, may have interference against the system.

If the CRO is set to a great value, the MS may be guided to an idle cell whose
level is lower than its surrounding cells. Once the conversation is started but the
C/I cannot meet the threshold requirement (12dB), interference will be caused.

If neighbor cells are missing, the MS cannot hand over to a cell with better signal
level and quality. In this case, the interference will also be generated. If the
handover threshold and the P/N are too great, the handovers between cells are
unavailable. If the P/N is too small, however, it will result in frequent handover. In
this case, both the call drop rate and the system load will be increased.
5) Drive test
Drive test is an effective method to position the interference. There are two drive
test methods: idle mode test and dedicated mode test.

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For idle mode test, the test equipment can test the signal level of both the signal
level and the neighbor cells. In addition, the test equipment can also perform the
frequency sweep test for the designate channel numbers or bands. In this case,
the interference caused by cross-cell coverage signals can be discovered.

For dedicated mode test, the test equipments can test the signal level of the
service cell and neighbor cells, the Rxqual, the TA, and so on. If the Rxlev is
equal to or greater then -80dBm and the Rxqual is equal to or greater than 6 in
an area, it can be confirmed that the interference exists in the area. Some test
equipment can display the FER (frame error rate). Generally, if the FER is
greater or equal to 25%, the conversation will not be continuous. That is, the
interference exists.
6) Interference elimination
You can eliminate the interference according to the above checked results, and
then evaluate the elimination through KPI and drive test.

[Hardware problem positioning and elimination]

When the interference is doubted in a cell, you should first check if the BTS where the
cell locates works normally. In the remote end, you should check if there is antenna
alarm, TRX alarm, or BTS clock alarm generated. In the near end, you should check if
there is antenna problem, water penetration, feeder (jumper) damage, CPU problem,
TRX problem, wrong jumper connection or clock problem occurred.
 Antenna performance decline
Antenna a passive component and its damage probability is small. However, if
the antenna is damaged or its performance declines, the voice quality will
become poor.
 Antenna connector problem
GSM RF signals are micro wave signals. If the connections between TRX, CDU,
feeder, and antenna have any problem, both the standing wave ratio and the
intermodulation will increase. In this case, the interference will be resulted.
 Inverse antenna connection
The inverse antenna connection is a commonly seen problem. If the antenna is
inversely connected, the channel numbers used by the cell and the planned
channel numbers are completely inconsistent. In this case, intra-frequency
interference, inter-frequency interference, and handover difficulty will be resulted.
Especially for the networks that have inadequate frequency resource, the inverse
antenna connection has great effect against network quality.
 Jumper problem

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Many jumpers locate between antennas, so they are often wrongly connected. In
this case, high call drop rate will be resulted.
 TRX problem
If TRX problems occur, the interference will increase, the coverage distance area
will decrease, and the access is difficult.
 Clock failure
If the clock deviation is too great, it is hard for the MS to lock the frequencies of
the BTS, so the handover failure always occurs, or the MS cannot camp on any
cell of the BTS. In addition, if the clock deviation is too great, the BTS cannot
understand the signals of the BTS, which will result in bit errors. However, the
clock failure will not really introduce interference, but it is the transmission errors
that make the voice quality decrease.
 Conclusion
Any problem concerning the TRX, CDU, feeder, antenna, jumper, and connector
may cause interference or call drop. Therefore, if interference appears, you
should check the hardware of the BTS. In addition, BTS clock failure will also
cause interference and call drop.

It is easy to solve the hardware problems through changing the boards or

adjusting traffic data. If there is spectrum analyzer available, you can position the
problem more efficiently. Especially when the interference appears without any
modification of network data, you should focus on checking the hardware.

[Intra-Network Interference]

The intra-network interference is mainly from intra-frequency interference and

neighbor cell interference. When C/I is smaller than 12dB or the C/A is smaller than
-6dB, the interference is unavoidable. However, the aggressive frequency reuse
technology will increase of the occurrence probability of interference.
 Same-frequency and neighbor frequency interference
In GSM system, the frequency reuse is unavoidable. When the frequency reuse
distance of two cells using the same frequency is smaller than cell radius, same-
frequency interference will be easily caused. Past experiences show that the
frequency reuse must be avoided in many cases.

Figure 6.1 shows the cellular structure.

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Figure 6.1 Cellular structure

As shown in this figure, there are 4 BTSs, A, B, C, and D. If the channel number N is
allocated to A3 cell, this channel number cannot be allocated to A-1, A2, B1, B2, C1,
C2, C3, D1, D2, and D3. And the channel numbers N±1 cannot be allocated to A1,
A2, A3, B1, C2, D1, and D2 (no frequency hopping).

The interference against the uplink channel numbers can be judged by the
interference band data in the traffic statistics.

For the interference against the downlink channel numbers, the existing drive test
equipments can be indirectly used to measure if the same-frequency interference is
present. First you should lock the test MS in the service cell and enable make the MS
work in conversation mode during drive test. If you find that the Rxlev in an area is
high but the Rxqual is low, it is likely that the same-frequency is present in this area.
 Interference caused by cross coverage
In a properly designed network, each cell covers the areas around the BTS only
and the MS camps on or holds conversation in the nearest cell. Cross coverage
means that the coverage of a cell is too large and the cell can cover the areas
under the control of other BTSs. If cross coverage occurs, irrational traffic
absorption, interference, call drop, congestion, and handover failure may arise.
 Interference caused by aggressive frequency reuse

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Capacity and quality always contradicts to each other. In urban areas, the
aggressive frequency reuse technology must be used for the number of
subscribers in urban areas are great. In this case, the network quality will surely
decrease. In the areas where BTSs are irrationally distributed, the aggressive
frequency reuse technology may cause the collision of same frequency and
neighbor frequencies.
 Interference caused by repeater
It is convenient to use repeater for special coverage. However, if a repeater is not
qualified or it is not properly installed, it will cause interference.
 Interference caused by outside environment
Outside environment, such as TV station, big-power radio station, micro wave,
radar, high voltage wire, analog BTS, and so on, will cause interference.

III. Interference Cases

Case 1: Interference cause by antenna performance decline

[Problem description]

There are 5 BTSs in a county. The configuration type is S4/4/4 or S6/6/6. The
interference band 5 reaches 15 according to the TCH performance measurement of
the most cells. There is no alarm found at the OMC.

[Problem positioning and solution]

1) Through monitoring and registering the interference band traffic statistics for the
problem cells all day, engineers found that the interference band 5 mostly
appeared at day time, and it seldom appeared at early morning.
2) Through sending the idle BURSTS of all the BTSs, engineers found that the
interference bands of these cells appeared in the early morning. If the sending of
these idle BURSTS stopped, these interference bands disappeared. Therefore, it
can be proved that the interference came from the network. It is not related to
other telecommunication equipments.
3) The frequencies and other data were not adjusted before the interference
appeared, so the interference is not related to the frequency planning.
4) Through surveying the RXM test interface of the CDU using the spectrum
analyzer during the traffic peak at day time, engineers found that the broadband
interference was strong and the back noise was rising.
5) There was no interference in one cell, but the interference in another two cells
was strong. Through replacing the antenna feeder of the cell with no interference
with the antenna feeders of the cells with interference and sending idle BURSTS,

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engineers found that the interference went with the antenna feeder. Therefore, it
can be decided that the problem occurred at the antenna and feeder system.
6) Through changing the antenna, engineers found that the interference went with
the antenna. Therefore, the problem is likely present at the antenna.
7) Through replacing the antenna with dual polarization antenna, engineers found
that the strong interference disappeared immediately. Through replacing the old
antenna of another BTS with a new one, engineers found that the interference
also disappeared.
Case 2: Call drop caused by intra-network interference

[Problem description]

Customers in a place complaint that call drop happen frequently. Figure 7.1 shows
the topology for BTS distribution and frequency planning.

Figure 7.1 Topology for BTS distribution and frequency planning

In this figure, 112, 107, 120, 124, 118, 122, 104, 106, 116, 101, 110, and 113 are
BCCH channel numbers; 109, 102, 115, 96, 98, 100, 111, 114, and 108 are TCH
channel numbers.

[Problem analysis and solution]

1) Through a careful test, engineers found that there were 12 channel numbers
gathering at the call drop spot and Rxlev reached -73dBm. When the MS seized
channel number 11, the interference from channel number 112 caused the call
drop.

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2) Through testing the CGI of channel number 12 using test MS, engineers found
that this channel number was one of the BCCH number of D3.
3) Through surveying BTS D, engineers found that the antenna of D3 is installed at
the top of a building. In addition, a house made of glass was found 8m away and
4m under the antenna. Engineers tested that the signal strength near the
antenna was about -45dBm, and the signal strength at near the glass was
-30dBm, which was beyond the expectation of engineers. In fact, the cause was
that the signals reflected by the glass were reflected to the call drop spot.
4) It is suggested to change the antenna installation place and channel number.
You should interchange the channel number 111 and channel number 114 of
BTS A and increase the down tilt angle of A3 cell. In addition, to avoid the
interference caused by channel number 111 after the interchange, you should
adjust the direction of channel number 113 of C1 cell.
5) Test shows that everything is normal after the adjustment. The channel number
113 of BTS C has no effect against channel number 114. And the call drop
disappears.
Case 3: Interference caused by repeater

[Problem description]

Users in an area complaint that the MS cannot seize a channel to hold conversation,
or the noise is great after channel seizure and the channel and the MS signal is
strong. Two BTSs are installed in this area. The antenna azimuth angle of cell1 rightly
directs to the north. Before user complaint, the BTS in this area ran normally and the
network indexes met the requirement. After the problem arisen, the traffic volume of
the two BTSs dropped sharply from the perspective of traffic statistics indexes. In
addition, the traffic volume of cell1 and cell3 also dropped sharply. Though the signals
for the conversation were strong, the voice quality was quite poor. According to traffic
statistics, the interference bands of the four cells were of level 3, level 4, and level 5,
and 95% of the channels were interfered. In addition, other channels were interfered
to some extent. However, no alarm messages were generated at the OMC.

[Problem analysis and solution]

1) According to user feedbacks, the possible reasons include transmission problem,
antenna feeder problem, hardware problem, intra-network interference, and
outside interference.
2) The uplink interference signals in the northwest direction might strong.
Therefore, cell1, cell2, and cell3 of the two BTSs were interfered, in which cell1
and the cell3 were seriously interfered.
3) Through on-site dialing test, engineers found that it was hard to make calls in the
areas covered by cell1 and cell3. Even if a call was put through, the voice quality

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was quite poor. In addition, the voice was discontinuous and the interference was
strong. Through using MS to call a fixed phone, engineers found it was hard to
hear the voice clearly. On the contrary, they could hear the voice from the fixed
phone clearly. This has proved the above analysis. That is, the interference might
be from the outside, or the standing wave problem was occurring at the antenna
(from this perspective, it can be judged that the interference existed on the uplink
only).
4) Through using antenna feeder analyzer to perform on-site test, engineers found
no problem was existing at any BTS. A new repeater was found in this area, and
it was located two kilometers away from the BTS in the northwest direction.
Moreover, the interference appeared just when the repeater was enabled. On-
site test found that the BTS became normal state once the repeater shut down,
and the interference bands also became normal, so did the call. If the repeater
was enabled, however, it was hard to make calls and the interference was
strong. At last, the agreement to shut down the repeater was reached. After that,
the conversation became normal.
Case 4: Microwave interference

[Problem description]

During network maintenance, through analyzing BSC traffic statistics, engineers

found that the call drop rate of the cell2 and cell3 of a S2/2/2 BTS arisen abruptly, and
the value even reached 20% at some time.

[Problem analysis and solution]

1) Through checking BSC traffic statistics, engineers found that the number of idle
TCHs was increasing at the interference bands 3-5 around 8:30. Around 10:00,
the idle TCHs were found at the interference band 4 and interference band 5.
Around 22:00, the idle TCHs were found at the interference band 1. Therefore, it
could be judged that the interference existed.
2) Because the BTS ran normally, the problems cannot be related to frequency
planning.
3) According to the TRX management messages, engineers found that the
interference existed at the four boards of the cell2 and cell3 of the BTS. Because
the probability for the four boards to be damaged simultaneously is quite small,
the TRX problem can be excluded. However, one board was changed in case of
abnormal conditions, but the interference was not eliminated.
4) Through checking all the BSC traffic statistics data, engineers found that cells of
the BTSs near the BTS and the cells of the cell2 and cell3 of the BTS were
interfered to some extent. In addition, engineers also found that the SDCCHs (16
SDCCHs in total) of the seriously-affected cells were seized at sometimes.

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However, the number of subscribers determined that the probability for all the
SDCCHs to be seized simultaneously is quite small. Therefore, it could be
judged that the uplink was interfered by outside factors. However, the
interference might be related to direction only.
5) To further position the problem, engineers interchanged the jumpers of cell1 and
cell3 at the set top. In this case, the interference was found at cell1, but the
interference was disappearing from cell3. Therefore, the interference was not
related to channel number.
6) Because the interference was not related to channel number, it might be the big-
power signals that caused the interference.
7) Through using the spectrum analyzer to perform the measurement at the output
interface of the BTS splitter, engineers found that the big-power signals existed
at the 904MHz channel number (it has an interval of 5M between the used
channel number. For the BTS where the interference was strong, the signal level
can reach as high as about -25dBm. For other BTSs, the signal level was about
-50dBm. Therefore, it could be judged that it was this signal that affected the
BTS.
8) Through using the spectrum analyzer to scan the areas near the BTS, engineers
found that there was a microwave antenna outputting big-power at the channel
number 904.
9) The interference disappeared after the microwave equipment was shut down.

8.5.3 Call Drop Problems

For the GSM network, call drop is users’ major worry and the call drop rate is an
important index evaluating network quality.

I. Call Drop Resasons and Solutions

i) Call drop due to coverage reasons

[Reason analysis]
 Discontinuous coverage (dead zone)
For a single BTS, the quality of the signals at the edge of the station is quite poor,
so the MS cannot hand over to another cell. In this case, the call drop occurs.

If the landform of the coverage areas is complex or fluctuates greatly, or the radio
transmission environment is complex, the signals will be barred. In this case, the
coverage is discontinuous and call drop will occur.
 Poor indoor coverage

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If the buildings in an area are densely populated, the signal attenuation is great.
And if the walls of the buildings are thick, the penetration loss is great and the
indoor signal level is low. In this case, the call drop may easily occur.
 Isolated island effect
As shown in Figure 1.1, the service cell forms an isolated island due to various
reasons (for example, the power is too great). In this case, the MS still seizes the
signals of the service cell A after moving to cell C, but the cell A does not define
the neighbor cell C. At this time, if the MS still performs the handover according
to the neighbor cell B provided by neighbor cell A, it cannot find a suitable cell. In
this case, the call drop will occur.

Figure 1.1 Call drop caused by large coverage

 Small coverage
If the coverage is too small, the hardware equipment of a cell may fail. For
example, the antenna is barred or the TRX failure occurs (the power amplifier
part).

[Judgment methods]

First you should find out the areas where the coverage is inadequate according to
user complaints, and then you should perform the drive test in a larger scope to check
if the signal level and the handover are normal and if the call drop exists. In addition,
you can employ the traffic statistics recorded at the OMC to check the BSC overall
call drop rate and find out the cell with great call drop rate. Furthermore, you can still
make the analysis and judgment by referring to other traffic statistics items.
Hereunder lists some ones:
 Power control performance measurement (to check if the mean uplink and
downlink signal strength is too low)

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 Rxlev performance measurement (to check if the ratio of the low Rxlev is too
great)
 Cell performance measurement/inter-cell handover performance measurement
(to check if the level class and the mean Rxlev are too low)
 Call drop performance measurement (to check if the signal level is too low during
call drop and if the TA value is normal before call drop)
 Defined neighbor cell performance measurement (to position the cell with low
mean signal level)
 Undefined neighbor cell performance measurement (to check if the undefined
neighbor cells with high signal level exist)
 Power control performance measurement (to measure the greatest TA value
between the MS and BTS)
[Solutions]
1) Check the areas where the coverage is inadequate
You can find out the area where the coverage is inadequate through drive test.
For an isolated BTS or the BTSs installed in mountain areas that cannot form
seamless coverage, you can add BTSs to these areas for seamless coverage. Or
you can improve the coverage through other means. For example, you can
enhance the maximum transmit power of the BTS, change the antenna azimuth
angle, change the antenna tilt, change the antenna height, and so on. In addition,
you should also analyze if the call drop is caused by landforms. Generally, call
drop can easily occur at tunnels, big shopping market, underground railway
entrance, underground parking lot, and low-lying places. In this case, you can
use the micro cell to solve the coverage problem.
2) Ensure indoor call quality
To ensure indoor call quality, you should make sure that the outdoor signals are
strong enough. To strength the outdoor signals, you can increase the maximum
BTS transmit power, change the antenna azimuth angle, change the antenna tilt
angle, and change the antenna height, and so on. If the indoor call quality is still
not improved remarkably, you can consider adding BTSs. For improving the
indoor coverage of office buildings and hotels, you can consider using the indoor
antenna distribution system.
3) For the cells having no neighbor cells, you can configure the neighbor cells for
the cell so as to reduce the call drop rate. To eliminate the isolation island effect,
you can reduce the tilt angle of the BTS.
4) Eliminate hardware problems
You can check if there are hardware problems and if the coverage area is too small
through drive test. If the call drop rate of a cell arises dramatically but all other
indexes are normal, you should check if the neighbor cells of this cell work normally.

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(Generally, the downlink problems may occur. For example, TRX problem, diversity
unit problem, and antenna problem are commonly seen. If the uplink fails, the
outgoing handover failure rate of the old cell will be high.)

ii) Call drop due to handover reasons

[Reason analysis]
 Irrational parameter configuration
If the signal level at the cross-area of two cells is quite low, the level of the
handover candidate cell is too low, and if the handover threshold is too low, some
MSs will hand over to the neighbor cell when the signal level of the neighbor cell
is higher than that of the service cell. If the signal level of the neighbor cell
deteriorates dramatically just after the handover, the call drop will occur if no
suitable cell is available for the handover.
 Incomplete neighbor cell definition
If the neighbor cell definition is incomplete, the MS will hold the conversation in
the existing cells until it moves beyond the edges of the cell but cannot hand over
to a stronger cell. In this case, the call drop will occur.
 Neighbor cells with same BCCH and same BSIC exist.
 Traffic congestion
If the traffic is unbalance, no TCH will be available in the target cell. In this case,
the handover failure will occur.
 BTS clock lost synchronization
If the BTS lost synchronization, the frequency offset will go beyond the
requirement. In this case, the call drop will occur if handover fails.
 T3103 expiry
The T3103 will be started when the network sends a handover command. Upon the
reception of the message to complete the handover or the message to remove the
command, the T3103 will stop. T3103 is used to hold the channel long enough for the
MS to return to the old channel. If the T3103 is set to a too small value, the MS
cannot necessarily return to the old channel. In this case, call drop may occur during
handover.

[Judgment methods]

You can judge if the cells with low handover success rate, frequent re-establishment
failures, and high call drop rate through analyzing traffic statistics indexes. After the
judgment, you can find out what causes the handover. For example, the uplink and
downlink Rxlev can cause the handover; the uplink and downlink Rxqual can cause

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the handover; power budget can cause handover; call direct retry can cause
handover; and also handover can be initiated by traffic reasons.

To check if the BTS clock runs normally, you can check if the any alarm is generated
for the BTS clock. If necessary, you must correct the BTS clock to eliminate clock
problem. You can check if there is handover problem through drive test. If there is a
problem cell, you should perform drive near the cell for several times. Hereunder lists
the indexes concerning call drop:
 Inter-cell handover performance measurement (frequent handover failures,
frequent re-establishment failures)
 Inter-cell handover performance measurement (frequent handovers, high re-
establishment rate)
 Undefined neighbor cell performance measurement (the undefined neighbor cell
level and the number of measurement report go beyond the standard)
 Outgoing cell handover performance measurement (find out the reasons for low
outgoing cell handover from the handover target cell)
 Low incoming cell handover success rate; the cell handover parameters are
improperly set; the target cell is congested.
 TCH performance measurement (the handover times are not proportional to the
TCH call seizure successes; the handover happens too frequent)
[Solution]
1) Check the parameters affecting the handover. For example, you can check the
hierarchical and level setting, each handover threshold, each handover
hysteresis, handover time, handover duration, the minimum access level of the
handover candidate cell, and so on.
2) If the call drop is caused by unbalance traffic volume or if the call drop occurs
due to no handover channel is available at the target BTS, you can solve the
problem by adjusting the traffic volume. For example, you can adjust the project
parameters, such as antenna tilt and antenna azimuth angle, to control the
coverage scope of a cell. To balance the traffic volume, you can use CRO to
guide the MS to camp on other idle cells, or you can set the hierarchical and
level priority to guide the MS to hand over to the idle cell. In addition, you can
solve the problem by expanding the TRX directly.
3) Calibrate the problem BTS clock to enable the synchronization of the clock.
iii) Call drop due to interference reasons

[Reason analysis]

If the MS receives strong same-frequency interference signals or strong neighbor

frequency interference signals in the service cell, the bit error rate will deteriorate. In
this case, the MS cannot demodulate the BSIC code of the neighbor cells accurately,

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or it cannot receive the measurement report from the MS correctly. As a result, the
conversation will be interfered, the call quality will become poor, and call drop will
occur.

[Judgment methods]

The interference may be from the network itself or the outside network, or it may exist
in the uplink signals or downlink signals. The following methods can be used to
position the interference.
 Find out the cells might be interfered through checking traffic statistics.
 Perform the call drive test for the areas that might be interfered and check the
uplink and downlink interference according to user complaint. You can find out if
there is a place where the signal is strong but the call quality is poor through
drive test tools. In addition, you can use a test MS to perform dialing test to
check if a channel number is interfered.
 Check the frequency planning to see if same-frequency interference and
neighbor frequency interference occur in the area where the frequency is
improperly planned.
 Adjust the channel numbers that might be interfered to see if the interference can
be avoided or reduced.
 Exclude the interference caused by equipment.
 If the previous methods fail to eliminate the interference, you can use the
spectrum analyzer to scan the frequencies to find out the interfered channel
number and the interference source.
Hereunder lists several traffic statistics indexes used for interference analysis:
 Interference band
You can check the uplink interference through analyzing the interference band in
the traffic statistics. If an idle channel appears at the interference bands 3-5, the
interference is present. If it is intra-network interference, it will increase as the
traffic volume grows. Generally, if it is outside interference, it is not related to
traffic volume. It must be pointed out that the interference bands are reported to
the BSC by the BTS TRX channel (when in idle mode) through RF resource
indication messages. If the current channel is busy and cannot report RF
resource indication message, you must consider the traffic volume for the
measuring the interference bands.
 Rxlev performance measurement
The Rxlev performance measurement provides the matrix relationship between
the signal level and quality. If the signal level is high but the quality is poor, it
means that the interference (same-frequency interference, intra-frequency

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interference, and outside interference) is present at the channel numbers of the

TRX board.
 Poor quality handover ratio
The cell performance measurement, inter-cell handover performance
measurement, or the outgoing cell handover performance measurement records
the outgoing handover attempt times. If the frequent handover is caused by poor
signal quality, it means that the interference is present.
 Rxqual performance measurement
It is related to the mean Rxlev and Rxqual during call drop.
 Call drop performance measurement
It records the mean Rxlev and Rxqual during call drop.
 Frequent handover failures and frequent re-establishment failures
It means that the interference may be present in the target cell.

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

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[Reason analysis]
 Engineering problem may be one of the reasons. For example, if the transmit
antennas between two cells are inversely connected, the level of the uplink
signal will be far poorer than that of the downlink signal. In this case, the call
drop, one-way audio, and call difficulty will be found in the areas far away from
the base station.
 If polarization antennas are used, a cell had two sets of antennas. If the tilt
angles of the two antennas are inconsistent with each other, the call drop will
occur.
If a directional cell has a master antenna and a diversity antenna, the BCCH and
the SDCCH of the cell may be transmitted through the two antennas respectively.
If the tilt angles of the two antennas are different, the coverage scope of the two
antennas will be different. In this case, the MS can receive BCCH signals but
cannot seize the SDCCH when starting a call. Thus the call drop is resulted.
 If the azimuth angles of the two antennas are inconsistent with each other, call
drop may also occur. That is, the MS can receive the SDCCH signals, but it may
be assigned with the TCH. In this case, the call drop will occur.
 The problems concerning antenna feeder will also cause call drop. For example,
if the antenna is damaged, or water penetrates into the antenna, or connector
problem is present, the transmitter power and the receiver sensitivity will
decrease. In this case, the call drop will occur. To confirm the problem, you can
check the standing wave ratio.
[Problem positioning and solution]
1) Check if any alarm concerning the combiner, CDU, tower amplifier, and standing
wave is generated and check if the BTS boards are normal in the OMC.
2) Analyze if the path balance is realized according to traffic statistics.
3) Further analyze if the path balance is realized through monitoring the messages
sent across the Abis interface.
4) Perform drive test and dialing test. During drive test, you can check if the BCCH
numbers of the service cell are consistent with the planned ones, namely, if the
transmit antenna of the antenna is correctly installed.
5) Check and test the on-site BTSs. Here the installation of the azimuth angle and
the tilt angle of the antenna must be checked. In addition, you should also check
if the feeder and jumper are correctly connected, if there is connector problem,
and if the feeder is damaged. Furthermore, you must still check if the standing
wave is normal.
6) Judge if it is BTS hardware that causes path unbalance and call drop. To solve
hardware problem, you can either change the components that may have
problems or disable other TRXs in the cell. To find out the problem TRX, you can

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position the problem through dialing test. Once a problem hardware component
is found, you must replace it with a sound one. If no sound one is available, you
must shut down the problem hardware component to prevent it from affecting
network quality.
Hereunder lists several traffic statistics items for path balance analysis:
 Path balance measurement (to analyze if the path balance is realized)
 Call drop performance measurement (to analyze the uplink and downlink level
and quality during call drop)
 Power control performance measurement (to analyze mean Rxlev on the uplink
and downlink)
v) Call drop due to transmission reasons

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

Here you should focus on checking if the parameters related to call drop are
irrationally set. If the following parameters are not irrationally set, the call drop may be
resulted.
 Radio link failure counter
This parameter acts on the downlink. When the MS fails to decode the SACCH, it
will use this parameter to decide when to disconnect the call. If this parameter is
set to a too small value, the radio link failures will easily occur and cause call
drop. For dead zones or the areas where the call drop frequently happens, you
are recommended to set this parameter to a greater value.

When changing the radio link failure counter, you should change the
corresponding T3109. The T3109 must be set to a value great enough for the MS
to detect a radio link failure. For example, if the value of the radio link failure

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counter is 16 (about 8 seconds), the value of T3109 must be greater than 8

seconds (you can set T3109 to 9 seconds or 10 seconds).
 SACCH multiframe number
This parameter acts on the uplink. The BTS uses this parameter to notify the
radio link connection failure message to BSS. The BSS side judges the radio link
failure according to the bit error rate on the uplink SACCH. If this parameter is set
to a too small value, the radio link failure will happen frequently and the call drop
rate will be resulted.
 Access control parameters
The access control parameters include the Minimum RACH Rxlev, RACH busy
threshold, and so on. If the access control parameters are irrationally set, the call
drop will be easily resulted.
 T3101, T3107
T3101 is started when the BSC sends a CHANNEL ACTIVATE message to the
BTS. It stops when an ESTABLISH INDICATION message is received. This timer
monitors the immediate assignment procedure. If T3101 expires, the allocated
channels will be removed.

T3107 is started when the BSC sends an ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message

to the BTS. Once the BSC receives the ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE message
from the BTS, this timer will reset. T3107 is used to hold the channels long
enough so that the MS can return to the old channel. Or it can also be used by
the MS to release a channel.

If the two timers are set to a too small value, the system will not have enough
time to send the ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE message to the BSC. In this case,
the call drop will occur if the timer expires.
 T200; N200
T200 is an important timer used for the LAPDm (Link Access Procedure on the
Dm channel). It prevents the deadlock from occurring when the data is
transferred across the data link layer. In GSM system, the messages transferred
across radio interfaces can be divided into two types: the messages needing
opposite acknowledgement and the messages not needing opposite
acknowledgement.

For the messages needing opposite acknowledgement, a T200 must be started

once the message is sent. If the opposite acknowledgement is not received after
a period of time, the message should be retransmitted. In this case, the timer
must be restarted. If the retransmission times exceed the maximum allowed
times, the message will no longer be retransmitted and the link will be released.

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That is, this call drops. N200 is the maximum retransmission times allowed. T200
and N200 have different types depending on channel types (TCH full rate, TCH
half rate, and SDCCH) and service types (signaling and messages). The given
channel type and service type matches a pair of T200 and N200.

The call drop rate can be reduced if the message is retransmitted as early as
possible before the opposite acknowledgement is received. That is, the value of
T200 must be set as small as possible and the value of N200 must be set as
great as possible. However, the T200 cannot be set to a too small value and the
N200 cannot be set to a too large value. If the opposite party has acknowledged
that the link had been removed, the retransmission will make nonsense.

Therefore, to reduce the call drop rate, you can adjust the T200 and N200
according to actual radio conditions.

II. Call Drop Cases

Case 1: Call drop caused by frequency hopping collision

[Problem analysis]

A BTS uses 1 x 3 RF frequency hopping. After capacity expansion, the TCH allocation
failure rate is still high due to radio link problems. In addition, the TCH call drop rate
and incoming handover failure rate are high. The SDCCH call drop rate is normal.

[Problem positioning and solution]

Because high call drop rate and high incoming handover failure rate come together
with the TCH allocation rate, it can be judged that the problem may arise during TCH
assignment or the channel numbers or timeslots seized by the call are interfered or
unstable. Because the SDCCH call drop rate is normal, it can be judged that the
probability for the BCCH carriers and BCCH numbers to the interfered are small, but
the non-BCCH carriers and non-BCCH numbers may be greatly interfered.

Through checking the hardware, antenna feeder, and transmission, engineers found
no problem. According to drive test, engineers found that the signal level was high but
the quality was poor. Through on-site dialing test, engineers found that the
conversation quality was poor. Through checking engineering parameters, engineers
found that the MAIO of the new carrier was the same as that of the old carrier.
Therefore, it can be judged that the call drop was caused by the frequency hopping
collision. After modifying the MAIO, engineers found that call drop rate became
normal.

Case 2: Call drop caused by isolated island effect

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[Problem description]

Users complained that call drop always occurred above the fifth floor of a building.

[Problem analysis]
1) Through on-site test, engineers found that call drop and noise existed here. As
far as the test MS was concerned, it was always in the service area of the other
BTS (hereunder called BTS B) other than the local BTS (hereunder called BTS
C) before the call drop.
2) It is estimated that the service cell belongs to BTS B, which is 3-4 kilometers
away from the building. Therefore, it can be judged that the signals from the BTS
B are reflected signals. As a result, an area similar to an isolated island is
formed.
3) Through checking data configuration, engineers found that only the cell 2 of BTS
A has the neighbor cell relationship with BTS B. Therefore, when the MS is using
the signals in cell 2 of the BTS B, if the signals in cell 3 of BTS A were strong,
and if the cell 2 of BTS B has no neighbor cell relationship with the cell 3 of the
BTS A, the handover cannot be performed.
The signals from the cell 2 of BTS B are reflected many times. Therefore, when
signals (from BTS B) received by the MS became poor dramatically, emergent
handover may be initiated. In this case, however, either the cell 2 or cell 3 of the
BTS A is not an ideal candidate cell for the cell 2 of BTS B. As a result, the MS
may hand over to other BTS (hereunder called BTS C), but the MS cannot
receive the signals from BTS C. Therefore, call drop occurs.

[Solution]

You are recommended to change the data in the BA1 (BCCH) list, BA2 (SACCH) list,
and neighbor cell relationship list. For example, you can configure the cell 3 of BTS A
as the neighbor cell of cell 2 of BTS B. To eliminate the isolated island effect, you
should also further optimize the engineering parameters. After that, the call drop
problem can be solved.

Case 3: Reduce call drop rate through optimizing handover parameters

[Problem description]

The drive test in an area found that the call drop rate at a cave near the BTS high
because the handover cannot be performed in due time.

[Problem analysis and solution]

The cave is near the BTS. The signal level of the target cell is about -80dBm in the
cave, but the signal level of the old cell drops below -100dBm. The downlink power of

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the two cells outside the cave is good, so the handover cannot be initiated. However,
the signal level deteriorates dramatically in the cave, so the call drop occurs before
the measurement time is arriving.

To reduce the call drop rate, you can optimize and adjust the handover parameters:
1) If no ping-pong handover is present and the conversation is continuous, you can
make the PBGT handover happen as easily as possible.
2) Set the threshold to trigger the emergent handover rationally so that the
emergent handover can be triggered before call drop.
For the parameter modification, see

Table 1.1 Handover parameter optimization

Parameter Name Before Modification After Modification

PBGT handover measurement time 5 3

PBGT handover duration 4 2

PBGT handover threshold 72 68

Uplink quality threshold for emergent 70 60

handover

Minimum downlink power for handover 10 15

candidate cell

Case 4: Call drop caused by clock problem

[Problem description]

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

[Problem analysis and solution]

Engineers find that the clock of the GSM900 MHz BTS and that of the GSM1800 MHz
BTS are asynchronous. When the calls established on the GSM1800 MHz cell intend
to hand over to the GSM900 MHz cell, the drive test data shows that the FER arises
dramatically first, and then gradually disappears to none. If the handover is from a
GSM900 MHz cell to a GSM1800 MHz cell, this phenomenon is also present.
Through monitoring signaling, engineers find that the conversation held several
seconds before the call drop is just process for call re-establishment. However, the

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test MS shows that the call has been handed over to the GSM900 MHz cell.
Therefore, it can be judged that the clocks are seriously asynchronous. To solve this
problem, the carrier concerned and the GSM900 equipment provider cooperate with
each other on clock calibration. After that, the abnormal call drop disappears.
Therefore, for dual-band handover, the clock of the GSM900 MHz BTS and that of the
GSM1800 MHz BTS must be synchronous.

8.5.4 Handover Problems

The MS is always moving during conversation. To ensure channel quality, the MS

must measure the quality of the channels of the surrounding channels without stop,
and then send the measurement report to the BSC through the service cell. The BSC
will perform radio link control according to the signal level and quality contained in the
measurement report. If the MS moves to another cell, the new cell will replace the old
cell to ensure the continuity of the service. The handover enables each cell to form a
seamless network.

I. Handover Problem Positioning Steps

1) Find out if the problem occurs at an individual cell or all cells and find out the
characteristics of the problem cells. For example, if the cells are the neighbors
cell of a cell, or if they are co-BSC cells, or if they are co-MSC cells.
If the handover between two cells fails, you should focus on checking if the data
of the two cells is correctly configured. In addition, you should also check the
hardware of the two cells.

If the problem is found in all the neighbor cells of a cell, you should focus on
checking of the data of this cell is correctly configured. In addition, you should
also check the hardware of the cell.

If the problem is found in all the cells under the same BSC, you should focus on
checking the data configuration between the BSC and MSC.

If the problem is found in all the cells under the same MSC, the cooperation
between the local exchange and the opposite exchange may fail. For example,
the signaling is incompatible and the timer setting is irrational.
2) Check if the data has been modified before handover problems occur.
If the problem is found in an individual cell, you should focus on checking if the
data configuration for this cell has been modified.

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If the problem is found in all the cells under the same BSC, you should focus on
checking the data configuration for the local BSC and the opposite MSC has
been modified.

If the problem is found in the cells under the same MSC, you should check if the
data configuration for the opposite MSC has been modified.
3) Check if it is the hardware failure that causes the handover problem.
4) Register the related traffic statistics items, such as the handover performance
measurement and TCH performance measurement.
 Check if the TCH seizure of the problem cell is normal. For example, if the
call drop rate is high.
 Check if the outgoing handover success rate is normal.
 Find out the causes for the handover failure.
 Check if the radio handover success rate is normal.
5) Perform drive test for the problem cell and analyze the drive test signaling.
 Check if the uplink and downlink of the problem cells are balanced,
because unbalanced path may cause handover problem (BTS problem
may cause the unbalance).
 Check if the measurement report for the problem cell contains correct
neighbor cell list.
 Check if a call can hand over from a problem cell to a neighbor cell
correctly and check if it can hand over from a neighbor cell to the problem
cell.
 Analyze if the signaling procedure for the handover is normal.

II. Handover Problem Analysis Methods

i) Handover cannot be initiated

If the MS is in a cell where the signal is poor, it cannot hand over to another cell. In
this case, you should consider of the handover conditions are met and if there is an
outgoing cell available.

Hereunder details the possible reasons:

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

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can change the size of the service area of the cell through changing the
handover threshold.
 Neighbor cell relationship is not set
Though the signal level in the neighbor cells of the service cell is high, the MS
will not report the neighbor cells if the neighbor cell relationship is not set. In this
case, the MS cannot hand over to a neighbor cell. Through performing cell
reselection or dialing test, you can check the neighbor cell list reported by the
MS. If the MS has moved to the major lobe of a cell but this cell is not found in
the neighbor cell list, you should check if the correct neighbor cell relationship
has been correctly set. During the drive test, you can use another MS to scan the
BCCH numbers to check if the strong BCCH numbers are in the service cell or in
the neighbor cell list.
 Handover hysteresis is irrationally set
If the difference between the signal level of the handover candidate cell and that
of the service cell is greater than handover hysteresis, the cell can work as a
target cell. If the hysteresis is set to a too great value, the handover is hard to be
initiated.
 The best measurement time “N” and “P” are irrationally set
During normal handover, the MS uses N-P rules to list the handover candidate
cells in a certain order. If a candidate cell is the best cell within P seconds out of
N seconds, it will be treated as the best cell.

When there are two cells become the best cell alternately, the MS may find it
hard to select a best cell through N-P rule, which makes the handover difficult. In
this case, you can adjust the values of N and P and reduce the measurement
time to make the handover decision more sensitive to level change.

If the landform and the ground objects of the service cell are quite complicated,
the signals received by the moving MS will fluctuate greatly. In this case, the
handover candidate cell cannot meet N-P rule, which will make the handover
difficult.

ii) Handover problem caused by hardware failure

If the data configuration for the problem cell and the neighbor cells has not been
modified recently but the handover problems occur abruptly, you should first
consider if the problems are caused by BTS hardware equipment.

If the cells sharing the same base station with the cell have similar problem, you
should consider if the problem is caused by the common hardware of the cells.

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If the problem is found in only one cell under the base station, you should
consider if it is the hardware of this cell that causes the problem. For example, if
some of the carriers are damaged. To test the problems of this kind, you can
disable some of the carriers. If the handover success rate returns to normal state
after a carrier is disabled, you can check if the problem is present at this carrier
or if the CDU and antenna feeder part related to this carrier fails. If signals of a
cell on the uplink and downlink are seriously unbalanced, frequent handover will
be caused and the handover success rate will decrease.

To check if the signaling flow of the cell is normal and if the uplink Rxqual and
downlink Rxqual are good, you can monitor the messages sent across the Abis
interface. If the Rxqual is poor, it means that the hardware equipment of the fails
or serious interference is present in the cell. In this case, the signaling exchange
is unavailable and the handover problem will occur.

iii) Handover problem caused by irrational data configuration

 For stand-alone networking mode, if the outgoing MSC or incoming MSC
handover is abnormal, you should check if the signaling cooperation of the two
MSCs is correct. In addition, you should also check if the data configuration for
the opposite MSC and the local MSC has been modified recently.
 For co-MSC networking mode, if the handover is performed within the BSCs of
different providers and the inter-BSC handover is abnormal, you should first
check if the signaling cooperation between the BSCs is normal, and then check if
the data configuration for the BSCs has been modified.
 If the abnormal handover is found at a cell only, you need to analyze the
abnormal handover according to actual conditions.
If the incoming handover of a cell is abnormal, you need first check if the
incoming handovers to this cell is abnormal. Generally, when the handover is
abnormal, the handover success rate is low, or even the handover does not
occur.

If all the incoming handovers to this cell is abnormal, you should check if the data
configuration for this cell is correct. Here the data configuration includes both the
data configured for this cell and the data configured for other cells but is related
to this cell. For example, the CGI of this cell may be correctly configured, but it
may be wrongly configured in other cells.

If there is only one incoming handover to a cell is abnormal but other incoming
handovers to this cell are normal, in addition to checking if the data configuration
for this cell is correct, you should also check if the data configuration for the
neighbor cells is correct. Furthermore, you should also check if the hardware
equipment of the cell is normal.

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The methods to analyze the abnormal outgoing handovers are similar to the
methods to analyze the abnormal incoming handovers.
 Check the timers (such as T3105, Ny1, T3103, and T3142) related to the
handover.
T3105 indicates the interval for continuous PHYSICAL INFORMATION to be sent to
the MS. The network will start T3105 for the sending of the PHYSICAL
INFORMATION. If the timer fails before receiving any correct frame from the MS, the
network will resend the PHYSICAL INFORMATION and restart the timer. A piece of
PHYSICAL INFORMATION can be sent Ny1 times to the maximum. Here the product
of Ny1 and T3105 must be greater than the sum of T3124 and delta (“delta” indicates
the interval between the expiry of T3124 and the reception of the Handover Failure
message of the old BSC), otherwise the MS cannot perform successful handover.

T3124 is a timer waiting for the PHYSICAL INFORMATION from the network side
during asynchronous handover. When sending the HANDOVER ACCESS message
on the DCCH for the first time, the MS will start T3124. Upon receiving a piece of
PHYSICAL INFORMATION, the MS will stop T3124. If the channel type allocated in
the HANDOVER COMMAND message is SDCCH (+SACCH), the T3124 is set to
675ms. For other cases, the T3124 is set to 320ms.

III. Handover Cases

Case 1: No handover candidate cell is available due to CGI error

[Problem description]

The handover in an area is abnormal. When the MS moves from cell A to cell B, the
signals in cell B are stronger than that of cell A, but the handover does not happen.
After the MS moves from cell B to cell C, the MS hands over from cell A to cell C.

[Cause analysis]

If a cell can work as a service cell and can hand over to other cells, but the incoming
handover is unavailable, you can check if the CGI, BSIC, BCCH number of the cell
are correct.

[Problem solution]
1) Use the test MS to lock the BCCH numbers of cell B. The call is normal. The MS
can hand over to any other cell by force.
2) Make a call after locking the BCCH umber of any neighbor cell of cell B, and then
force the MS to hand over to cell B, but the handover does not happen, because
no handover command is seen in the drive test software.

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3) The handover procedure requires the MS detecting the neighbor cell signals and
reporting the detected signals to BSC with a measurement report. Upon
receiving the measurement report, the BSC must make the handover decision. If
the handover conditions are met, the BSC should activate the TCH of the service
cell, and then send a handover command to the MS.
4) If the signals of cell B are far stronger than that of cell A and the handover
conditions are met (the PBGT handover threshold is 70), but no handover
command is sent, it means that errors occur during the activation of the target
cell TCH.
5) If the cell B works as the target cell but the TCH cannot be activated, the data
may be incorrectly configured for the cell. In this case, the BSC that contains the
cell cannot find the target cell, so the TCH cannot be activated and no handover
command can be found in the service cell.
6) The CGI error is found in cell B through data checking. The handover is normal
after the CGI is changed to correct value.
Case 2: Unbalanced path causes low handover success rate

[Problem description]

The incoming BSC handover success rate is quite low for the two cells under a BTS,
ranging from 10% to 30%.

[Cause analysis]

Generally, if the data problems, such as CGI error or intra-frequency interference,

exists and if there is dead zones in heavy-traffic areas, or if it is hard for the MS to
access the cell due to poor uplink signals, the incoming BSC handover success rate
is low.

[Solution]
1) The cell data is found normal.
2) Through checking traffic statistics items, engineers found that all incoming cell
handover success rates were low.
3) Through drive test, engineers found that frequent handover attempts were made
in the area 2km away from the BTS, but the handover always failed. Even if a
successful handover was made, call drop occurred immediately. During the
handover, engineers found that the downlink level was about -85dBm. Engineers
made 10 dialing tests with frequency locked, all the originating calls failed. For
the answering calls, they can be connected but cannot be called out.
4) It is estimated that the CDU uplink channel loss is great, or the jumpers are
incorrectly connected at the BTS top. In this case, the uplink signals will be poor,
which causes the problem.

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5) After changing the CDU, engineers found that the incoming handover success
rate increased to 95%.
Case 3: Improper antenna planning causes low handover success rate

[Problem analysis]

The handover success rate among the three cells under a BTS is quite low according
to traffic statistics. For the handover from cell1 to cell3 and the handover from cell2 to
cell3, the success rate is lower than 30%.

[Cause analysis]

Generally, low handover success rate is caused by board failure, handover data error,
or improper antenna planning.

[Solution]
1) The BTS hardware is normal and no alarm concerning handover parameters is
generated, so the hardware problem and parameter setting problem can be
excluded.
2) The BTS locates at the eastern side of a south-north road and is 700m away
from the road. The azimuth angles of the three cells are 0°, 80°and 160°. They
three cells direct to the two directions and the open resident areas lying under a
hill in the east respectively. Among the three cells, the down tilts of two cells are
7°. To make the coverage as specified as possible, engineers concentrated the
antenna azimuth angles of the three cells in design. In this case, however, the
cells of the BTS are seriously overlapped in the east. For the areas just in the
west, the coverage is provided by the side lobes and back lobes of the three
cells. Therefore, when the MS is moving on this road, first it is covered by cell1.
When it moves to the west, the signals of the three cells are poor and fluctuating
greatly. In addition, since the handover measurement time and the handover
duration is set to a small value, the handover is rather sensitive, and that’s why
the frequent handover failure occurs.
3) After setting the azimuth angles of the three cells to 60°, 180°, and 350°,
engineers found that the handover success rate of among the three cells
increased to 95%.
Case 4: Problems concerning the cooperation of different carriers’ equipment
cause low outgoing BSC handover success rate

[Problem description]

There is a dual-band network in which the GSM900 MHz network and the GSM1800
MHz network are stand-alone. After the two networks completed cell reselection and
handover parameter setting, engineers found that the dual-band handover success

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rate was low; especially the success rate of the handover from the GSM1800 MHz
network to the GSM900 MHz network was low, ranging from 60% to 80%. However,
the success rate of the handover from the GSM900 MHz network to the GSM1800
MHz network was higher than 92%.

[Cause analysis]

For a dual-band network, if the problems concerning the cooperation of different

carriers’ equipment are found, you must know the data configuration of the
equipment. For example, if the equipment supports Phase 2+ and EFR.

[Solution]
1) Through using signaling analyzer to analyze the message flowing across the A-
interface and E-interface, engineers found that the MSC of the GSM1800 MHz
network would send back a Handover Reject message to the BSC of the
GSM1800 MHz network when the BSC sent a Handover Required message to
the MSC.
2) The MSC of the GSM1800 MHz network sent a Prepare Handover message to
the MSC of the GSM900 MHz network. Upon receiving the message, the MSC of
the GSM900 MHz network sent back an Abort message.
3) Because the success rate of the handover from GSM900 MHz network to the
GSM1800 MHz network was high, engineers found that the voice version carried
in the Prepare Handover message (from the GSM900 MSC to GSM1800 MSC)
is half rate version 1, but the voice versions carried in the Prepare Handover
message (from GSM1800 MSC to GSM900 MSC) are full rate version 1, full rate
version 2, and half rate version 1, which belong to PHASE 2+. However, MSC of
provider A does not support the PHASE 2+, so the handover failure is caused.
4) Through modifying the MSC data of the circuit MSC data at the A-interface and
selecting the full rate version 1 only, engineers found that the voice versions
carried in the Prepare Handover message (from GSM1800 MSC to GSM900
MSC) are full rate 1 and 2. After that, the dual-band handover success rate was
greatly increased.

8.5.5 Congestion Problems

This section introduces the methods to handle SDCCH congestion and TCH
congestion, in which TCH congestion indicates SDCCH seizure all busy. The TCH
congestion has two cases. One is TCH seizure all busy. For this case, the real
channels cannot be allocated to the MS, so the MS will fail to request the channels.
The other one is that the TCH assignment fails after an assignment is sent due to
various reasons.

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I. Congestion Problem Solutions

 Congestion caused by heavy traffic

You can check if the SDCCH traffic and TCH traffic are normal through viewing
traffic statistics. If the congestion is caused by heavy traffic, the most efficient
method to solve the problem is to expand the capacity of the network. In addition,
you can adopt traffic sharing technologies to ease the congestion. For example,
you can modify the CRO, enable direct retry or load handover function.
 SDCCH congestion caused by burst traffic
If the SDCCH congestion rate is high and the traffic is heavy but the TCH traffic is
normal, the SDCCH congestion may be caused by burst traffic. The SDCCH
congestion always occurs at BTSs along railways and tunnel exits, because the
BTSs are installed in remote places and the capacity of a BTS is small. As a
result, when the train moves fast along the railways or stops at a railway station,
most of MSs failing to capture a network will perform location update, which will
result in SDCCH congestion. In addition, when short messages are sent at a
concentrated time, the SDCCH congestion will also occur easily. SDCCH
congestion cannot be completely avoided, but some measures can be taken to
ease the congestion. For example, you can add the number of SDCCHs, or
enable the dynamic conversion between SDCCH and TCH.
 Congestion caused by TRX problems
When a carrier configured in a multi-TRX cell cannot provide services, the
channel congestion will also occur. To solve the problem, you should replace the
problem TRX with a sound one. If the TRX problem cannot be positioned, you
should check if the antenna feeder connection is correct and if the antenna
standing wave is normal. If yes, recheck the TRX where the problem may be
generated.
 Congestion caused by interference
The interference present across the radio interfaces will also cause congestion.
In this case, you should solve the interference problem first.
 Channel assignment failure caused by inconsistent coverage
If the concentric technology is not used, the transmit power of the TRXs within
the same cell will be inconsistent, which will result in inconsistent coverage. In
this case, the channel assignment failure will easily occur. To position this
problem, you can check if the connection between the splitter and connector and
if the connection between CDU and SCU are correct.

When a cell uses multiple transmitter antennas, inconsistent coverage will be

inconsistent, which will result in channel assignment failure. To solve this

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problem, you should make the coverage of each transmitter antenna as

consistent as possible through engineering adjustment.

In addition, if the transmitter antenna and the receiver antenna of a cell is not in
the same plane or the antenna tilt angles are inconsistent, the channel
assignment failure will also be caused. In this case, you can calibrate the
antennas to solve the problem.
 Congestion caused improper data configuration
If the congestion is caused by improper location area planning, you can reduce
the SDCCH congestion rate by planning the location area properly.

If the congestion is caused by the problems concerning SDCCH dynamic

allocation, you can reduce the SDCCH congestion rate by enabling the SDCCH
dynamic allocation function.

For dual-band network, you can properly set the parameters (such as CRO,
CBA, and cell reselection hysteresis) to reduce the SDCCH congestion rate.

If the timers, such as T3101, T3103, T3107, T3122, T3212, and T3111, are not
properly set, SDCCH congestion will also be caused.

Hereunder are the solutions to the previous problems.

You can ease the congestion caused by SDCCH dual allocation through reducing
the T3101 to a smaller value. If the T3101 is set to a large value, the radio
resources will be seized for a long period of time. To fully use the radio
resources, therefore, you can reduce the T3101 value.

You can save the TCH resources through reducing the T3103 and T3107 to a
rational value. Generally, T3103 and T3107 are set to about 5 seconds.

The T3122 must be stopped once the MS receives an IMMEDIATE ASSIGN

REJECT message. Only after the T3122 expires, the MS can send a new
channel request message. If the MS sends channel request messages
frequently, the RACH load and CCCH load will increase. To solve this problem,
you can increase the T3122 to a larger value.

T3212 stands for the time limit value for periodical location update. You can ease
the SDCCH load by increasing the T3212 to a larger value.

T3111 is related to release latency. It is used for the deactivation of the latency
channels after the major signaling link breaks. T3111 can be initiated during
either TCH release or SDCCH release. The value of T3111 must be consistent
with that of the T3110 at the MS side. Generally, it should be 2 seconds. If the
T3111 is set to a large value, great SDCCH congestion rate may be caused.

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II. Congestion Cases

Case 1: SDCCH congestion caused by wrong LAC configuration

[Description]

A BTS is configured as S1/1/1. It is found that the SDCCH congestion rate for 2 cells
reaches as high as 8%.

[Problem analysis and solution]

1) Through checking the measurement indexes for TCH and SDCCH, engineers
found that the TCH traffic was not heavy. The traffic volume for each cell during
busy hours is lower than 2.2Erl. However, the requests for SDCCH seizure are
great, reaching 3032 times during busy hours. The SDCCH traffic reaches
1.86Erl, and the congestion rate reaches 8%.
2) The main reasons for SDCCH seizure include the messages sent before call
setup, the messages sent during handover, the location update messages sent
under the idle mode, and other short messages.
3) The TCH traffic is normal, the requests for TCH seizure (including handover) are
normal (318 times), and the handover requests are also normal (146 times).
Therefore, the SDCCH congestion may be caused by a large number of location
update messages or short messages.
4) The LAC of the BTS is 0500, and the LACs of other cells of the surrounding cells
are 0520. After changing the LAC of the BTS to 0520, engineers found that the
requests for SDCCH seizure during busy hours were 298, the SDCCH traffic was
0.27Erl, and the congestion rate reduced to 0.
Case 2: SDCCH congestion caused by burst location updates

[Problem description]

The radio connected ratio of a local network is lower than average level. According to
traffic statistics analysis, it is found that the SDCCH congestion happened at several
BTSs.

[Problem analysis and solution]

1) Through analyzing traffic statistics, engineers found that the SDCCHs of the
congested cells were seized for 300 to 400 times during busy hours. Here the
BTS was configured as S1/1/1 and each cell was configured with 8 SDCCHs.
Therefore, the SDCCHs can be seized by 400 times, but the SDCCHs were
congested for tens of times during busy hours.
2) As far as the registered traffic statistics items were concerned, most of the
SDCCH seizures were caused by location update. Taking the BTS location into
consideration, engineers found that most of the BTSs were installed at the

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intersections of two railways. Therefore, it might be the burst location update that
caused SDCCH congestion.
3) To verify if it was the burst location update that caused the congestion, engineers
registered the traffic statistics items in 5 minutes and found that most of the
location update happened within the five seconds. Through querying the train
time table, engineers found that there were 4 to 5 trains passing by within the
five seconds. When the trains passed the intersections, a large number of
location updates were generated in a short time. In this case, the congestion was
caused.
Therefore, if the BTSs are installed at the railway intersections, you are suggested to
enable the SDCCH dynamic allocation function and configure a suitable margin for
the SDCCH.

Case 3: Great TCH congestion rate caused by the inconsistent tilt angles of two
antennas under the same cell

[Problem description]

It is found that the TCH congestion rate of a cell is great (greater than 5%) according
to traffic statistics.

[Problem analysis and solution]

1) Through checking BSC traffic statistics, engineers found that it was the TCH
seizure failure that directly caused the great TCH congestion rate.
2) Generally, TCH seizure failure is caused by TCH assignment failure. Through
monitoring Abis interface, engineers found that most of the TCH assignment
failure occurred at the No.4 TRX and No.5 TRX, and the probability for the
assignment failure rate for the No.4 TRX was near that for the No.5 TRX.
3) Through checking the antenna feeder part, engineers found that the tile angle
corresponding to the transmitter antennas of the two TRXs were too great (it is
10 degrees than that of the antenna for BCCH, because the antenna nuts were
found loosen. Therefore, if the MS is far away from the BTS, it can receive the
BCCH signals but cannot receive the TCH signals. If the TCH is assigned to the
MS when the MS starts a call, the TCH seizure failure will occur.
4) To solve the problem, you can enable the tilt angel of the TCH antenna and that
of the BCCH antenna to be consistent with each other. In this case, the TCH
congestion rate can be reduced to 2% or lower.
Case 4: High TCH congestion rate caused by downlink interference

[Problem description]

A cell of BTS is responsible for covering a large area of sea surface along the coast.
According to the registered traffic statistics items, engineers found that when the

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traffic volume was lower than 1Erl, the TCH congestion of the cell reached 10% at
some time. However, no alarm was generated. All the interference bands fell within
the interference band1 and the hardware and RF connections were normal.

[Problem analysis and solution]

Because all the interference bands fell within the interference band1, the uplink
interference is impossible. Considering that the coverage distance reaches 60 to 70
kilometers and multiple normal cells are present along the coast, the probability for
the channel numbers of the downlink areas and the cell to be interfered is high.
Through modifying the channel numbers of the cell, engineers found that the TCH
congestion rate was improved. Through further optimizing the channel numbers,
engineers found that the TCH congestion rate was lower than 1%. Therefore, it can
be judged that the 10% of congestion rate is caused by the downlink interference of
some areas.

8.5.6 Other Problems

I. Subscriber Is Not in Service Area

When a subscriber is not in service area, the MS works as the called party when the
signals received by the MS are good and the calling party hears a voice saying that
the subscriber is not in the service area. If the coverage, operation, and data
configuration of a network are good, the occurrence probability for the problem must
be lower than 1%, otherwise it is other causes that result in the problem.

Generally, if a subscriber is not in the service area, the following causes may be
present:
 Coverage problem
If the subscriber complaint happens at cell edges, the problem may be related to
coverage. In this case, the probability for the calling party failure is equal to the
probability for the “subscriber is not in service area”.
 Parameter setting
If the subscriber is not in service area, the parameters concerning the paging, access,
and immediate assignment may be not properly set. In this case, you can check if the
messages concerning RACH overload, PCH overload, and SDCCH overload are
generated through querying traffic statistics and alarms. If yes, the subscriber may not
in the service area.
 System capacity limit or overload

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

II. Signal Fluctuation

Signal fluctuation indicates that change of the MS signal strength. The following
factors may cause signal fluctuation.
 Radio wave propagation
The strength of the signals received by the MS is the amplitude of the sum of the
vectors of various propagation paths. Because the propagation environment is ever-
changing, the attenuation of radio channels is ever-changing. Therefore, even if the
MS does not move, the strength of the received signals will change.
 Cell reselection and handover
When the MS moves from the old cell to the new cell through handover or cell
reselection, the signals of the MS will fluctuate because the signal strength of the old
cell and that of the new cell are inconsistent.
 Antenna shake
When the antenna shakes, the antenna gain will change, so the signals will also
fluctuate.
 Location update or channel assignment occurs at non-BCCH TRX

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If the SDCCH is assigned to a non-BCCH TRX during location update and power
control is available on SDCCH, the signal strength may fluctuate.

III. Voice Discontinuity

Voice discontinuity stands for pauses or words loss occurs in conversation. If the
voice continuity is remarkable, the conversation quality will be affected.

The following factors may cause voice discontinuity

 Frequent handovers
Only hard handover is available in GSM system. Therefore, when the MS hands over
from the source channel to the target channel, the downlink frames may loss at the
Abis interface. As a result, the voice continuity is unavoidable during handover.
Generally, frequent handovers may occur at cell edges or during cross coverage. In
this case, the voice discontinuity will become a headache of subscribers. To avoid the
frequent handovers, you can adjust the antenna tilt and height and configure the data,
such as uplink and downlink quality threshold and restriction properly.
 Radio link interference
Radio link interference will increase the bit error rate, which will cause voice
discontinuity. In addition, the signals always fluctuate greatly at cell edges, so the
conversation quality at the cell edges is bad.
 Poor network coverage
If the network coverage is poor, the Rxlev and Rxqual will become poor, thus the
conversation quality will be affected.
 BTS transmission problem
BTS transmission problems will affect conversation quality. For connectors, you
should check of the connection among the connector is good. For optical
transmission, you should check if the optical headers are clean and if the
transmission errors are great. For micro wave transmission, it may be affected by
weather. If there is large amount of dust in the equipment, the conversation quality
may also be affected. If both micro wave transmission and optical transmission are
used, you should pay attention to the cooperation of the transmission impedance at
the equipment interfaces.
 TRX board failure
Hardware problem will result in poor conversation quality. In this case, you should
replace the problem hardware with the sound one.

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