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10.

KPI
& Optimisation
Summary
GSM Network Planning Process
GSM Overview
Radio Propagation & Interference
Network Dimensioning
Network Characteristics
KPI & Optimisation
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Parameter Planning

Parameter Plan (1)
Handovers (2)
Location Areas (3)
Frequency Plan (4)
BCC Plan (5)
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Parameter Plan
Parameter planning means creating a
default set of BSS parameters
It is performed right before the network
launch
Relevant BSS parameter for NW
planning
frequency
transmit power
definition of neighbouring cells
definition of location areas
handover parameters
power control parameters
cell selection parameters
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Handovers
Handover Criteria & Priority
1. Interference (UL or DL)
2. UL quality
3. DL quality
4. UL level
5. DL level
6. MS-BS distance (max or min)
7. Turn-around-corner MS
8. Rapid field drop
9. Fast/Slow-moving MS
10. Better cell (Power budget or Umbrella)
11. PC due to Lower quality thresholds (UL and DL)
12. PC due to Lower level thresholds (UL and DL)
13. PC due to Upper quality thresholds (UL and DL)
14. PC due to Upper level thresholds (UL and DL)
Radio Resource HO
Imperative HO
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Location Areas
Location Area Design 1/2
Location updating
affects all mobiles in
network
LocUp in idle mode
LocUp after call
completion
Location updating
causes signaling
and processing load
within the network
Avoid oscillating
LocUpdate
Trade-off between
Paging load
and Location Update
signaling
Location area 1
Location area 2
major road
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Location Areas
Location Area Design 2/2
Different MSC cannot use the same
LAC.
Location areas are important input for
transmission planners
should be planned as early as possible
Never define location area borders
along major roads!
Dual band or microcellular networks
require more attention on LAC planning
co-located DCS and GSM cells are defined
to the same LAC
same MSC to avoid too much location
updates which would cause very high
SDCCH blockings
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Tighter re-use of
own frequencies
more capacity
more
interferences
Target
to minimise
interferences at an
acceptable
capacity level
First when a
complete area has
been finalised
Automatic
frequency planning
tools
R
D
Frequency Plan
Basics
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Do not use
hexagon cell
patterns
regular grids
systematic
frequency
allocation
Use
interference matrix
calculation
calibrated
propagation
models
minimise total
interference in
network
R
D
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Frequency Plan
Best Method
10. KPI
& Optimisation
NCC = Network Colour Code
BCC = Base station Colour Code
BSIC = Base station Identity Code = NCC +
BCC
For each mobile, BSIC and ARCFN
identify unambiguously a cell in the
whole network
BCC is made by 3 binary digits 8
possible values
The BCC plan can be done manually
BCC Plan
Basics
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Network Optimization

Network Optimization (1)
Performance Evaluation (2)
Optimization Process (3)
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Network Optimization
Improving network quality from a
subscribers point of view
Improving network quality from an
operators point of view
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Performance Evaluation
Basics
Network is under permanent change
detect problems and symptoms early!
OMC
field tests
customer
complaints
Its far too late
when customers
complain!
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Performance Evaluation
Key Performance Indicators
KPIs are figures used to evaluate
Network performance
post processing of NMS data or
drive test measurements data
Usually one short term target and one
long term target
check the network evolution and which
targets are achieved
KPIs calculated with NMS data
network performance on the operator side.
KPIs from drive test
performance on the subscribers side
Usually turn key projects are evaluated
according to some predefined KPIs
figures like drop call rate
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Performance Evaluation
With Drive Tests
Evaluate network performance from the
subscriber point of view
KPIs information
DL quality, call success rate, handover
success rate, DL signal level
not statistically as reliable as NMS
information
Added value of drive test measurement
find out the geographical position of
problems like bad DL quality to look for a
possible interference source in the area
compare the performance of different
networks (benchmarking)
display the signal level on the digital maps
to individuate areas with lack of coverage
eventually improve the propagation model
verify the neighbour list parameter plan
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Optimization Process
There are not strict processes for
optimization because the activity is
driven by the network evolution
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Optimization Process
Young Network Case
In a young network the primary target
is normally the coverage
In this phase usually there is a massive
use of drive test measurement
check the signal and
the performance of the competitors
GPS
NMS
X
MMAC
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Optimization Process
Mature Network Case
In a mature network the primary targets are quality
indicators
drop call rate, average quality, handover failures
Important use the information from NMS
a general view of the network performance
Drive test measurements are still used
but not in a massive way
in areas where new sites are on air
where interference and similar problems are
pointed out by NMS data analysis
Drop Call Rate (%)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed
Call Bids / 10000
Average
Busy Hour
10. KPI
& Optimisation
KPI

10. KPI
& Optimisation
KPI Definitions
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Indicators Coverage
Signal Strength -outdoors
In building, In-Car penetration signal levels
Uplink Voice Quality
Downlink Voice Quality
Call Drops
Cell Power control
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Indicators Capacity
Erlangs per Cell
TCH success
TCH assignment failures
TCH Drop calls
TCH Blocking
Cell congestion
Congestion Relief Usage
BHCA against rated MSC limit
mErl/subs. against rated MSC limit
SMS/subs. Against MSC limit
MM values(HO,LU,Paging) against limits
Overload : Voice/Signalling/Processor
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Indicators Quality
RxLev
Handovers
Call Drops
Call Success Rate
Call set up success rate
Call completion rate
Call set up time
Voice quality(MOS)
RxQual
Echo
TCH success
TCH assignment failures
TCH Drop calls
SDCCH traffic blocking
SDCCH drop calls
SDCCH Success rates


10. KPI
& Optimisation
Analysis - Typical Setup
Failure Causes - Distribution
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Analysis - Typical Dropped
Call Causes Distribution
10. KPI
& Optimisation
KPI
Network Health Statistics
We have considered a typical network with BSCs to
analyse the network performance. To undertake this
activity stastics of atleast 2 weeks should be analysed.
The key parameters to be considered are;
Call Success Rate
Call Setup Success Rate
Handover Success Rate
Dropped Call Rate
SDCCH Blocking Rate
TCH Blocking Rate
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Customer sets a bench mark for these parameters as a measure of quality
of the network and expects the performance to be equal or better than
this. The typical value of the bench marks for each of the above
mentioned parameters are as follows,
Call Success Rate - 98 %
Call Setup Success rate - 98 %
Handover Success Rate - 98 %
Dropped Call Rate - 1%
SDCCH Blocking Rate - 0.5 %
TCH Blocking Rate - 2 %
10. KPI
& Optimisation
LETS START OPTIMIZATION
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Blocked Calls
Blocked Calls can occur due to :
Access Failures
SDCCH Congestion
SDCCH Drop
TCH Congestion

Trouble shooting cause :
Use Layer 3 messages to analyze the cause
Decode System Information Type 3 messages.
Note the parameter , max_retransmission ;
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Blocked Call Analysis -
1 3
Channel Request Channel Request
RACH .
: Imm Assignment
RACH
max_retrans Service Request
NO RESPONSE FROM N/W
ACCESS FAILURE ! Signalling
:
Signalling
2
NO TCH ASSIGNMENT
Channel Request Mobile Returns To Idle
RACH TCH BLOCKED !
Imm Assign Reject
SDCCH BLOCKED !
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Blocked Call - Cause
troubleshooting
Access Failures

- Uplink Interference at the Base Station
- Low Rxlev at the Base Station
- Downlink Low Rxlev ( Coverage Hole )
- Downlink Interference
- Excess Cell Range
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Access Failure -
Troubleshooting
Access Failure - Uplink Problem



Causes:

1. AGCH Overload at Base Station
2. RACH Collisions
3. MS out of Range
4. Poor Uplink quality
5. BTS Receiver Problem
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Blocked Call Analysis

SDCCH Congestion Cause
Location Updates
to be analysed with OMC statistics first.
If high, determine the source to target cell ratio
Drive around the suspected area in the Idle Mode
Configure Delta LAC < > Constant 0 alarms
Optimize Location Updates
Interference
Analyze OMC statistics on Idle Channel Interference
Carry out Uplink Interference Measurements using Viper
Heavy Traffic
Verify from OMC statistics SDCCH Congestion
Carry Call Setup Time measurements
Optimize set up time if high, else modify channel configuration
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Blocked Call
Solutions To Blocked Calls
Optimize coverage
Optimize Cell loading
Interference management
Channel configurations
Optimize neighbors
TCH Blocked - Causes
Interference
-- Verify Idle Channel Interference reports from OMC
-- If suspected, carry out uplink interference measurements

Heavy Traffic
-- Verify the TCH Holding time and no of attempts statistics from OMC
-- During low traffic hours, Activate Cell barring in the cell
-- Carry out Time slot testing , by setting Ignore Cell Barring.
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Dropped Call
Troubleshooting
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Drop Calls Analysis
1 2
Channel Request Channel Request
Imm Assignment Imm Assignment
Service Request Service Request
Signalling SDCCH Signalling
: :
Signalling Speech
TCH
RLT = 0 ; DROPS RLT = 0 ; DROPS
SDCCH DROP ! TCH DROP !
3 SDCCH / TCH
Handover Command
Hand Access
Handover Failure
HANDOVER FAILURE DROP !
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Dropped Call Analysis
SDCCH Drops - Causes
Coverage
Interference & Multipath
BTS performance

TCH Drops - Causes
Coverage
Interference & Multipath
BTS performance
Pre-emption

Handover Failure - Causes
Threshold parameters
Missing neighbors

Solutions to Dropped
Calls
Optimize Coverage
Interference
Management
Optimize neighbors
Optimize handover
parameters
Effective Frequency
Hopping
Use of DTX & Power
control
10. KPI
& Optimisation

SDCCH Drop - Coverage
SDCCH Drop - Co- Channel Interference
SDCCH Drop - Adjacent Channel Interference
SDCCH Drop - Uplink Problem
TCH Drop - Coverage
TCH Drop - Co-Channel Interference
TCH Drop - Adjacent Channel Interference
TCH Drop - Uplink Problem
Handover Failure
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Poor Quality
Poor Speech Quality could be due to
Patchy Coverage ( holes)
No Target cell for Handover
Echo , Audio holes, Voice Clipping

Interference ---:
Co-channel
Adjacent channel
External
Multipath
Noise

10. KPI
& Optimisation
Speech Quality Parameters
RxQUAL : Measured on the midamble.
Indicates poor speech quality due to radio interface impairments

FER : Measured on the basis of BFI ( Ping -Pong effect on speech )
Preferred under Frequency Hopping situation

Audio holes : Blank period of speech, due to malfunctioning of Transcoder
boards or PCM circuits.

Mean Opinion Score (MOS) : ITU standard for estimating speech quality.
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Speech Quality Parameters
Mean Opinion Score
Criteria for Voice Quality : A set value x at which y percent of customers
rate the voice quality at Circuit Merits(CM) 4 - 5.
MOS Quality Scale
5 Excellent ( speech perfectly understandable)
4 Good ( speech easily understandable, some noise)
3 Fair ( speech understandable with a slight effort,
occasional repetitions needed)
2 Poor ( speech understandable only with
considerable effort, frequent repetitions needed)
1 Unsatisfactory ( speech not understandable)
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Troubleshooting
Handover Problems
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Troubleshooting - No
Handover
Create a Handover PLAN
Total Attempted Calls
Total Dropped Calls
Total Blocked Calls
RxQual Full
RxLeve Full
RLT Current Value
ARFCN
Neighbor Cell Measurements
RR Message
Phone State

Weak Neighbors - Reported by Phone
10. KPI
& Optimisation
CH 40
CH 35
CH 27
CH 88
CH 29
CH 35
CH 98
CH 72
BSIC
23
BSIC 16
BSIC
22
BSIC 75
BSIC 15
BSIC 21
BSIC
57
BSIC 53
CH 25
BSIC
17
PHONE REPORTS
CH RxQual RxLev
27 1 -80
35 -85
40 -83
25 -95
Frequency Re-
use
'A' NET
'A' NET
'A' NET
'B' NET
'B' NET
'B' NET
'B' NET
'B' NET
'B' NET
Channel 29 is not in the neighbour list !
BCH Analyzer : TOP N = 7
Configure an Alarm for Missing Neighbor
Subset BCH TOP N not-subset Value ARFCN
Missing Neighbors
Real Time
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Troubleshooting - Handover
Parameter Settings
Decide the Target Cell for handover in the Trouble Spot
Filter the Handover.txt file on Handover Attempts ( before AND after numbers)
Filter again on Neighbor ARFCN = Target Cell ARFCN
Create another column as HO_Margin , with Delta for Neighbor_Level to RxLev
Plot this on the MAP and see whether Handover Margin can be reduced to
improve quality OR increased to avoid Ping-Pong effects
If handover margin settings are proper, and still handover is not occurring then
it could be a problem with Handover decision and processing parameters at the
BSC.
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Troubleshooting - Uplink Interference
Uplink Interference can be due to:
Mobiles in reuse and adjacent channel cells
External sources

Interference due to Mobiles will be bursty and intermittent.
The behavior and its effect on quality will be time dependent.
More interference during heavy traffic hours.
Interference from external sources can be continous or also
time dependent if the source is not continously ON.

Uplink Interference measurement needs long term monitoring ,
collection of data, processing the data and estimating the
probability of interference , and also estimating the source.
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Optimization for Interference
After drive test - Co-Channel benchmarking, we know which
cells are generating severe co-channel problem
We also know by decoding BSIC , the interefering source
Following processes could be adopted to optimize
interference
---- Power Control
---- Antenna Tilts
---- Frequency Reallocations
---- Transmitter Tests
---- Mobile dispatch inspection
---- Space Diversity
---- Frequency Hopping /DTX
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Antenna Tilts
x
6 km 1 km
A
M
N
50m
l Point x is having problem of C/I from Cell M
l Estimate the C/I improvement required at Point x.
l Refer to the Antenna Vertical Pattern, and calculate the tilting angle required
l Example : To get an improvement of 3 dB , a tilt of 10 degrees is required.

l Tilting of Antenna in certain cases may reduce coverage also.
l Tilting of Antenna should be done after proper study.
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Co-Channel Optimization
H Static Power Control

H Antenna Tilting

H Trade Off with EC/No

H Frequency Reallocation

H Implementing Features like
Dynamic Power Control, DTX and
Frequency Hopping
10. KPI
& Optimisation
DRT & Queuing
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Directed Retry (DR)
DR used to avoid the loss of a call in call-setup if the accessed cell is congested
When no TCH is available in serving cell, TCH can be allocated in an adjacent cell (SDCCH TCH
HO)
Mobile Originated (MOC) and Mobile Terminated (MTC) Calls
Target cell entry based on DR Method;
Method 0 - RxLevAccessMin
Method 1 - drThreshold
Imperative Handover (only equation 1)
Candidates ranked based on radio properties.
Steps through candidates (if congested) until MaxTimeLimitDR expires

Queuing can take place in source cell, not in target cell.
Time
Assignment
Request
minTimeLimitDR
maxTimeLimitDR
DR not allowed : improves the reliability of
the measurements of adjacent cells and gives the
queuing process time
DR allowed
SDCCH
TCH
congested
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Directed Retry
macro cell
micro cells
DR
congestion
DR
congestion
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Intelligent Directed Retry
congestion
macro cell (GSM
cell)
micro cells
(MCN cells)
MCN
subscriber
IDR
GSM
subscriber
congestion
macro cell (GSM cell)
micro cells
(MCN cells)
DR
NOKIA TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Based on Directed Retry : Target Cell selection
depends on
Classmark of the MS or MS Priority
Adjacent Cell Type
Subscribers Classified in GSM or MCN
Based on Classmark ( bitmap in BSC associates
classmarks to GSM / MCN )
Based on MS Priority ( bitmap in BSC
associates MS Priorities to GSM / MCN )
Criterion defined in the BSC
DR and IDR enabled / disabled independently on cell
basis.
Value Parameters
IdrUsed Yes/No
CellType GSM / MCN
AdjCellType GSM / MCN
No TCH Available on Accessed Cell
GSM or MCN subscriber ?

MCN => IDR in Use in the Cell ?
Yes => Directed Retry Only to MCN
Cells
No => Reject Call
GSM => DR in Use in the Cell ?
Yes => Directed Retry (any Cell)
No => Reject Call
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Queuing of Radio Resources
Used to avoid rejecting call set-up or HO attempt by waiting for the release of a
suitable TCH

Queuing Environment
queuing is a BTS specific procedure (controlled by the BSC)
each BTS has a queue of its own
individual queue parameters and queue management for each BTS
call attempts and handovers in the same queue
the maximum queue length is relative to the number of traffic channels
the maximum queuing time can be set individually for both queue types
the queuing can be de-activated by setting queuing time or queue length to
zero
different priorities according to queue type (call/HO) and/or MS priority
Entering the queue:
The queue is entered when there is no traffic channels available of requested
kind and if
queuing is allowed in the BTS
queuing enabled in the assignment request from MSC
queue is not full (of higher or equal priority requests)
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Prioritisation:
The placement in the queue is determined by:
queue type (priority)
call set-up
handover attempt (non-urgent)
urgent handover attempt
MS Priority level in the PIE element of Assignment Request or
Handover Request
time of entering the queue
Queuing of Radio Resources
Allocation of TCH
When a TCH is released (in either channel release or TSL/TRX lock) the
queue is checked from top to bottom in order to find a queuer whose
requirements match with the released channel
If a suitable queued call is found the TCH is allocated to the queued call and
the queue is re-organised
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Leaving the Queue
A queuer is removed from the queue when
No suitable channel is released within queuing time limit => timer expires
Higher priority subscriber (queue type and/or MS priority) replaces a lower priority
queued entry when the queue is full
The queuing TRX/TSL is blocked (call release)
Queue size is reduced due to removing TRXs
Queuing of Radio Resources
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Queuing reserves SDCCH

SDCCH occupation for call setup 7 seconds.
If maximum queuing time for calls is 10 s
=> in case of queuing 50-60 % more load on SDCCH / call
attempt!!

(2 TRXs cell) with Combined BCCH / SDCCH
If maximum queue is 50 % of TRX x 8 = 8 queuing positions
If there are 4 call attempts in queue, SDCCHs are fully
booked
no space for short messages or for location updates on
SDCCH


cell is fully overloaded!!

Queuing of Radio Resources
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Internal inter cell Handover
Ranked list is produced by the Handover algorithm and passed to RR management
Maximum sixteen cells as alternative target cells
The best candidate with free traffic channel is selected
If all BTSs in the list are congested
queuing possibility is checked in the candidates according to ranking
External inter cell Handover
The BTS identified by the MSC in a HANDOVER_REQUEST message is used as
queuing target

Averaging and processing for HO continues during queuing
The timers for hoPeriodPBGT or hoPeriodUmbrella are stopped during
queuing
Queuing of Radio Resources
Queuing and Handover
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Directed retry and queuing are parallel procedures
When the queuing and DR processes are both active for a call;
If MaxTimelImitDR expires without any DR attempt, the queuing will be terminated
even if the queuing timer(s) have not elapsed
If a TCH is released in the serving cell during the period when DR is not
allowed/allowed, DR process is terminated
Queuing of Radio Resources
Queuing and Directed Retry (DR)
10. KPI
& Optimisation
maxQueueLength 0 ... 100 %

timeLimitCall 0 ... 15 (s)
timeLimitHandover 0 ... 10 (s)

msPriorityUsedInQueuing Yes / No
queuePriorityUsed Yes / No

queuingPriorityCall 1 ... 14
queuingPriorityHandover 1 ... 14
queuingPriorityNonUrgentHO 1 14

Parameters
Values
Queuing of Radio Resources
Queuing Parameters
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Dropped Call Control
radioLinkTimeout 4 ... 64 SACCH
callReestablishmentAllowed Yes/No
Parameters
Values
Radio Link Timeout

A counter is initialised at the value of the
radioLinkTimeout

When SACCH is not correctly received
Counter decremented by 1

When SACCH correctly received
Counter incremented by 2

When counter reaches 0 call is released

Same behaviour UL and DL

Call re-establishment

In case of a Radio Link Failure
(radioLinkTimeout) within 20 seconds.

Measurements averaged over 5 seconds
for
serving Cell BCCH
adjacent Cell BCCHs
Strongest is considered
BCCH data decoded (cell selection
param.)
If: C1 greater than 0, Cell not barred
Cell belong to selected PLMN,
Call re-establishment allowed
Call re-establishment attempted
10. KPI
& Optimisation
SDCCH ASSIGNMENT
10. KPI
& Optimisation
Thanks
Shashi B Tripathi

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