Examples:
The table below assumes that cellindividualoffsetEutran is not used and shows
when the eventa3offset is triggered and when the UE ceases sending measurement
reports.
As it can be seen from the table, eventa3 triggers at a3offset+hysteresisa3
However!!! After the first measurement result, subsequent measurement results can
be sent if the RSRP of the neighbor cell is only a3offset-hysterisisa3 dB stronger!
Hence, weaker neighbors could be reported in the measurements sent by the UE
(this case is very rare but it exists in real systems).
Therefore, it is recommended to follow the optimization rules:
a) a3offset should always be larger than hysteresisa3 if we want UE to handover to
cells with an RSRP at least equal to the RSRP value of its serving cell.
b) Ensuring a3offset > hysteresisa3 avoids ping-pongs
c) The higher the value of a3offset+hysteresisa3 the more we drag the calls to
neighboring cells. This is very useful where we have coverage holes (not a one to
one deployment scenario on top of 3G cells)
d) The smaller the value of a3offset+hysteresisa3 the faster we release the calls to
neighboring cells. This is useful in those scenarios where a large number of LTE
cells exists in a given geographical area.
e) The higher the value of a3offset+hysteresisa3 the more difficult we make it for
calls do handover to other cells.
Remember, eventa3 triggers at a3offset+hysteresisa3. Subsequent message
reports are sent when the RSRP of the neighbor cell is a3offset-hysteresisa3 (See
figure below).
The most important parameters involved in event a3 reporting are listed below:
- eventA3offset
- hysteresis
- timeToTrigger
- sMeasure
- cellIndividualOffset
- triggerQuantity
- reportAmount
- reportInterval
- filterCoefficientRsrp
LTE R8 uses hard handover. Therefore, one of the main optimization concerns is to avoid ping pongs between
cells. Ping pongs significantly reduce user throughput and increases signaling in the E-UTRAN (in the case of X2
handovers) and in the EPC (in the event of an S1 handover). The table below shows an example with three
different combinations for the parameters eventA3offset and hysteresis.
Assuming a cellindividualoffset = 0, then:
Event a3 will trigger when
RSRPsource + eventa3offset +hysteresis <= RSRPtarget + hysteresis
Event a3 will not be further valid when
RSRPsource + eventa3offset +hysteresis > RSRPtarget + hysteresis
Under these circumstances:
a) CASE 1:
a. Event a3 will trigger when the RSRP of the target cell is 2dB stronger than the RSRP of the serving cell
b. The UE will cease sending measurement reports when the RSRP of the target cell is less than
2dB stronger than the RSRP of the serving cell
b) CASE 2:
a. Event a3 will trigger when the RSRP of the target cell is 2dB stronger than the RSRP of the serving cell
b. The UE will cease sending measurement reports when the RSRP of the target cell is weaker than the
RSRP of the serving cell
c) CASE 3:
a. Event a3 will trigger when the RSRP of the target cell is 2dB stronger than the RSRP of the serving cell
b. The UE will cease sending measurement reports when the RSRP of the target cell is -2dB or weaker
than the RSRP of the serving cell
Clearly, case 3 could be counterproductive since a candidate can be reported to the source cell when the target
is weakerthan the source cell!!
A healthier approach is to provide a value of say, 3dB to a3offset and a value of 1 dB to the hysteresis parameter
(for core cells). This will ensure that the target cell is at least 4 dB to trigger the event a3 and the handset will not
report a candidate when the target is not at least 2dB stronger than the source cell (assuming that the number of
measurement reports given by reportamount haven't expired).
Also, in order to ensure that the target cell is strong enough than the source cell for a good amount of time, the
parametertimetotrigger should be set to values of 480, 512 or 640 miliseconds. However, a drive test is
recommended before and after these parameters have been modified along with the creation of counter reports
for X2 and S1 handovers.
