Alcatel Ho 2g Preparation

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MOBILE COMMUNICATION DIVISION
Originator(s) P-J PIETRI HANDOVER PREPARATION RELEASE B6.2
Domain Division Rubric Type Distribution Codes PREDISTRIBUTION: JY. AMAUDRUT O. BESSET F. COLIN L. CRUCHANT J. ACHARD P. FOUILLAND M. WU S. BOURDEAUT M. ROBERTS R. FORNI P.DUPUY E. DESORBAY
: : : :
Alcatel 900/BSS PRODUCT DEFINITION SYS-TLA SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL BLOCKS Internal : External :
MCD - Velizy M. DELPRAT M. DOBROSIELSKI JP. JARDEL JL. LEKMOULI A. PECH B. LANDAIS B. BEN SALEM
MCD - Colombes
MCD - Berlin U. Klingner (for Tel par)
SSD - Velizy MCD - Kontich G. VAN DIJCK (ffd) N. De BODE
MCD Stuttgart G. HOEN
SSD - Stuttgart
J.F. MAILLARD (ffd)
PREDISTRIBUTION: DOC. CENTRES MCD VELIZY B. Marliac MCD STUTTGART I. Lentzsch MCD ANTWERP L. Van Eyck
ABSTRACT This document specifies the algorithms to be implemented in this release of the Alcatel BSS for : - Handover preparation, - Directed retry preparation.
Approvals Name App. Name App. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED

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D.Berthoumieux
AM
M. BIALOBRODA
S.S.A.M. - BTS_SW
M. ROELANDTS
S.S.A.M. - BSC
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REVIEW Ed 01 P01
10/11/98
TD/SYT/PJP/1159.98
HISTORY Release 2 : S/P2/3.4.1.4.3 Version 2.0.0.0 Date 18/05/92 Author B. Maier Reasons for update First working version for phase 2 based on the document : - TLA/148 V 1.2.0.0 written by P. GUILLIER and D. VERHULST - CRQ/757 - TLA/SN/3 v.2.1.0.0 and TLA/SN/30 v.2.2.0.0. Second working version. Third working version. The document is reviewed according to the new template for phase 2 documents. First TLA approved version for phase 2. This version takes into account remarks made during TLA review (see RSG/160). DCS-1800 features are introduced in the document. First RSG approved version for phase 2. This version takes into account remarks made during RSG/TLA review (see TLA/153).
2.0.0.1 2.0.0.2
19/06/92 10/03/93
B. Maier B. Maier
2.0.1.0
14/05/93
L. Cruchant
2.1.0.0
27/08/93
L. Cruchant
Release 3 : 3BK 11202 0014 DSZZA
3.0.0.0
15/12/93
L. Cruchant
First working version for release 3 based on the documents : - Power Control and Handover Algorithms v.2.1.0.0, - TLA/152 improvements, v 2.0.0.5 : PCHO 002, PCHO 005, EXH 003. - FD/3/10.6 : Support of microcellular environment v 3.0.0.1, - FD/3/10.7.1 : Concentric cells v 3.0.0.1, - FD/3/10.8 : Directed Retry v 3.0.0.0,
3.0.0.1
04/03/94
L. Cruchant
Second working version for release 3. This document has been updated after the meeting TLAr3#1 (see TLA/171). Additional information has been added based on documents SYS/006 : definition of parameters for cell environments (H. Brinkmann, G. Kreft). SYS/014 : Handover in a microcellular environment (C. Cherpantier). First Level 1 approved version for release 3, updated after the meeting TLAr3#4 (see SYS/030). Handover Preparation
3.0.1.0
11/04/94
L. Cruchant
ED
01
RELEASED
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Level 2 approved version, updated after the meeting TLAr3#7 (see SYS/051).
Release 4 : 3BK 11202 0065 DSZZA 4.0.0.0 04/11/94 L Julia First working version for release 4 based on the documents - Power Control and Handover Algorithms v 3.1.0.0 - MFD 11.5 : Power control and handover algorithm improvements - ITCC/TELACT/TEL/PP/006 : remarks made by ITC on specifications for rel 3 Updated after the TLAr4#4 review ,based on the documents - SYS/111Minutes of the TLA review TLAr4#4 - CRQ/729 Expand of POWER_INC_STEP range for DCS 1800 Updated after the TLAr4#8 review, based on the written comments form S. De FOORT and A. KADELKA and the minutes SYS/142 of the TLAr4#8 meeting
4.0.0.1
26/01/94
L Julia
4.0.0.2
23/02/95
L Julia
4.0.1.0
03/04/95
L Julia
Level 1 approved version, Updated after the TLAr4#9 review, written comments by N. De BODE, minutes SYS/149 of the TLA review. Level 2 approved version, Updated after written comments by N. De BODE and C. CHERPANTIER. approved Release 3 CRQ taken into account : CRQ 924, CRQ 1153, CRQ 1173, CRQ 1258, CRQ 1279, CRQ 1281, CRQ 1282, CRQ 1283, CRQ 1294, CRQ 1312
4.1.0.0
05/05/95
L Julia
Release 5 : 3BK 11202 0111 DSZZA Ed. 01 Proposal 01 08/03/96 F Colin First working version for release 5 based on the documents: - Power Control and Handover Algorithms v 4.1.0.0 (This document has been split in two : the present document resumes the part Handover algorithms) - TFD 11.22 a : Handover algorithms improvements Multiband Handover - Approved Release 4 CRQs : CRQ 1428, CRQ 1705, CRQ 1806, CRQ 2027, CRQ 2093, CRQ 2109, CRQ 2144, CRQ 2234 Moreover, the original document has been partly modified : - Mode A has been removed - Section 3 has been reorganised, section 2.2 removed - Appendix B and F have been removed, Appendic C is new Minor changes are listed in Appendix D Document updated after the internel review TLAr5#9 according to the minutes in ref. TD/SAS/LCR/747.96 Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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Ed. 01 Proposal P1 30/04/96
F Colin
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Ed. 01 Proposal R1 14/06/96

F Colin
Document updated after the prereview TLAr5#12 according to the minutes in ref. TD/SAS/LCR/1062.96, based on the comments of N. de Bode and G. Van Dijck Introduction of DCS1900 support Introduction of approved Release 4 CRQs : CRQ 1971, CRQ 2408 and CRQ 2472. Document updated after the external review TLAr5#15 according to the minutes in ref. TD/SAS/LCR/1377.96, based on the comments of N. de Bode. Creation of Section 5 Release changes Introduction of approved Release 4 CRQs : CRQ 2504, CRQ 2505
Ed. 01 Released
23/07/96
F Colin
Release 6.1 : 3BK 11202 0170 DSZZA Ed. 01 Proposal 01 29/08/97 PJ PIETRI First working version for release 6 based on the documents: - Handover preparation release 5 Ed. 01 - TFD 11.31: general handover algorithms improvements - TFD 10.8b: external directed retry - TFD 11.22.e controlled handover in multilayer/multivendor environment - TFD 11.30: traffic management in handover algorithms - TFD 3.19: HSCSD - TFD 11.32: improvements in radio channel selection - Approved Release 5 CRQs 18579, 3028, 2736, 10645, 19733 The section 2 is reorganised. Some descriptions have been put in a new step 1 document (refer to [21]). The section Active channel preprocessing is in the new document Radio measurements data processing [20]. A new handover alarm management is specified in section 3.2.4. Document updated after the review TLAr6#15 according to the minutes in ref. TD/SAS/LCR/1218.97 Modification of the directed retry management. Approved version, updated following TLA review TLAr6#17, as detailed in TD/SAS/EDE/1317.97 Second working version for release 6 based on the following modifications : - Suppresion of the handover cause 24 - HSCSD calls are allowed in the inner zone of a concentric cell. -Inhibition of the filtering process for the handovers cause 20. Approved version, updated following TLA review TLAr6#20, as detailed in TD/SAS/EDE/0104.98 Updated after inclusion of approved Crqs: Crq 29140, Crq 29147 and Crq 30481 Updated after inclusion of approved Crqs: Crq 30932, Crq 32529, Crq 33156 and Crq 40894.
Ed. 01 Proposal 02 22/09/97
PJ PIETRI PJ PIETRI PJ PIETRI
Ed. 01 Released
15/10/97
Ed. 02 Proposal 01 17/12/97
Ed. 02 Released Ed. 03 Released Ed. 04 Released
20/01/98 27/03/98 25/09/98
PJ PIETRI PJ PIETRI PJ PIETRI
Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED

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Release 6.2 : 3BK 11202 0276 DSZZA Ed. 01 Proposal 01 09/10/98

PJ PIETRI PJ PIETRI
Ed. 01 Released
10/11/98
First working version for release 6 based on the documents: - Handover preparation release 6.1 Ed. 04 - TFD GPRS Approved version, updated as detailed in TD/SYT/PJP/1159.98
INTERNAL REFERENCED DOCUMENTS [i1] [i2] [i3] [i4] [i5] [I6] 3BK 10204 0347 DRZZA - HSCSD 3BK 10204 0327 DTZZA - General handover improvements 3BK 10204 0326 DTZZA - Traffic management in handover algorithms 3BK 10204 0363 DTZZA - Improvements in radio channel selection 3BK 10204 0364 DTZZA - Controlled handover in multilayer/multivendor environment 3BK 10204 0165 DRZZA - External directed retry
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY By derogation to the QS recommendation (see document 8BL 14106 0000 BGZZA - TD documentation layout) more than 3 levels used in the table of contents with agreement of the PQE. END OF DOCUMENT

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SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL BLOCKS

TABLE OF CONTENTS HISTORY.......................................................................................................................................... 2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS.......................................................................................................... 2 RELATED DOCUMENTS ................................................................................................................. 2 PREFACE......................................................................................................................................... 2 1. SCOPE .......................................................................................................................................... 5 2. FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION....................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Cell configuration ............................................................................................................... 5 2.2.1 Cell Environments ..................................................................................................... 5 2.2.1.1 Conventional cell environment ........................................................................ 6 2.2.1.2 Hierarchical cell environment .......................................................................... 8 2.2.1.3 Multiband cell environment ............................................................................. 9 2.2.2 Cell profiles ............................................................................................................... 9 2.3 Handover preparation ...................................................................................................... 12 2.3.1 Functional entities of handover preparation ............................................................. 12 2.3.2 Specific cases of application .................................................................................... 14 2.3.3 Handover detection.................................................................................................. 14 2.3.3.1 Emergency intercell handovers ..................................................................... 15 2.3.3.1.1 Quality and Level causes ................................................................... 15 2.3.3.1.2 Too long MS-BS distance cause......................................................... 15 2.3.3.1.3 Too short MS-BS distance cause ....................................................... 15 2.3.3.1.4 Consecutive bad SACCH frames and level dropping under high threshold.................................................................................................. 15 2.3.3.2 Better cell handovers .................................................................................... 15 2.3.3.2.1 Power budget cause........................................................................... 16 2.3.3.2.2 Better cell cause specific to hierarchical network................................ 17 2.3.3.2.3 Preferred band cause......................................................................... 17 2.3.3.2.4 Traffic handover ................................................................................. 17 2.3.3.3 Emergency intracell handovers ..................................................................... 18 2.3.3.4 Better zone handovers .................................................................................. 18 2.3.4 Handover candidate cell evaluation ......................................................................... 19 2.3.4.1 Cell ordering according to target layer and target band ................................. 19 2.3.4.2 Filtering process............................................................................................ 19 2.3.4.3 Candidate cell ranking................................................................................... 19 2.3.5 Inhibition of handover .............................................................................................. 20 2.3.6 Functional diagram of Handover preparation ........................................................... 22 2.4 Directed retry preparation................................................................................................ 26 2.4.1 System aspects ....................................................................................................... 26 2.4.2 Functional description.............................................................................................. 27 2.4.3 Directed retry on handover alarms ........................................................................... 28 2.4.4 Forced directed retry................................................................................................ 28 2.4.5 Inhibition of directed retry ........................................................................................ 28 3. DYNAMIC BEHAVIOUR .............................................................................................................. 31 3.1 Functions linked to handover preparation ..................................................................... 31 3.1.1 Concentric cell and multiband cell............................................................................ 31 3.1.1.1 Allocation in the inner zone in case of Normal Assignment............................ 31 3.1.1.2 Allocation in the inner zone in case of incoming handover ............................ 31 3.1.1.3 Handover in a concentric or multiband cell .................................................... 32 3.1.2 MS speed discrimination.......................................................................................... 33 Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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3.1.2.1 Basic principle............................................................................................... 33 3.1.2.2 Required parameters and variables............................................................... 33 3.1.2.3 Parameter initialisation and modification ....................................................... 34 3.1.3 Load management in hierarchical environment........................................................ 36 3.2 Handover preparation ...................................................................................................... 38 3.2.1 General ................................................................................................................... 38 3.2.1.1 HO preparation configuration ........................................................................ 38 3.2.1.2 HO preparation enabling and disabling.......................................................... 38 3.2.1.3 HO preparation function ................................................................................ 38 3.2.2 Handover detection.................................................................................................. 41 3.2.2.1 Handover causes.......................................................................................... 41 3.2.2.1.1 Intercell handover causes................................................................... 42 3.2.2.1.1.1 Emergency intercell handover causes ............................................. 42 3.2.2.1.1.2 Forced intercell handover cause on quality...................................... 44 3.2.2.1.1.3 Better cell handover causes ............................................................ 45 3.2.2.1.2 Intracell handover causes................................................................... 48 3.2.2.1.2.1 Emergency intracell handover causes ............................................. 48 3.2.2.1.2.2 Better zone handover cause............................................................ 49 3.2.2.2 Handover causes priority............................................................................... 53 3.2.2.3 Indication of raw cell list and preferred layer ................................................. 53 3.2.3 HO Candidate Cell Evaluation ................................................................................. 56 3.2.3.1 Filtering process............................................................................................ 59 3.2.3.2 ORDER cell evaluation process .................................................................... 59 3.2.3.3 GRADE cell evaluation process .................................................................... 60 3.2.3.4 Calculation of LOADfactor, FREEfactor ........................................................ 62 3.2.4 Handover alarm management ................................................................................. 63 3.3 Directed retry preparation................................................................................................ 64 3.3.1 General ................................................................................................................... 64 3.3.1.1 Directed retry preparation enabling and disabling.......................................... 64 3.3.1.2 Directed retry preparation function ................................................................ 64 3.3.2 Alarm Detection ....................................................................................................... 64 3.3.3 Candidate cell evaluation......................................................................................... 65 4. INTERFACES DESCRIPTION ..................................................................................................... 69 4.1 GSM interfaces/Physical interfaces................................................................................. 69 4.2 Internal interfaces............................................................................................................. 69 4.3 Timers list ......................................................................................................................... 69 4.4 Parameters and variables list .......................................................................................... 69 4.4.1 Handover................................................................................................................. 70 4.4.2 Directed retry........................................................................................................... 79 4.4.3 Relationships between parameters .......................................................................... 81 5. RELEASE CHANGES.................................................................................................................. 85 6. FEATURES.................................................................................................................................. 86 7. GLOSSARY................................................................................................................................. 87 7.1 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... 87 7.2 Definitions......................................................................................................................... 88 APPENDIXES A: Power budget equation B: Recapitulation of the cell types allowed for the serving and the candidate cell for each handover cause C: Compliancy with the GSM requirements

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01 ED CHANGE NOTE
10/11/98 DATE
MCD/TD APPRAISAL AUTHORITY
MCD/TD/SYT ORIGINATOR
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HISTORY Release 6.2 : 3BK 11202 0276 DSZZA

Ed. 01
10/11/98
First edition
REFERENCED DOCUMENTS
GSM references
[1] [2] [3] 04.08 MS-BS Layer 3 Specifications. 05.08 Radio Subsystem Link Control. 08.58 BSC-BTS Layer 3 specification.
Version numbers of the GSM Technical Specifications are given in ref [ 15].
Doctree references
[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] 3BK 11202 0194 DSZZA - Application document 05.xx. 3BK 11204 0176 DSZZA - OMC BSS MIB specification. 3BK 11202 0154 DSZZA - Radio & link establishment. 3BK 11202 0155 DSZZA - Normal Assignment 3BK 11202 0166 DSZZA - Radio measurements. 3BK 11202 0217 DSZZA - Internal channel change. 3BK 11202 0216 DSZZA - External channel change. 3BK 11202 0157 DSZZA - Call release. 3BK 11202 0175 DSZZA - BSS initialisation of the telecom part. 3BK 11202 0209 DSZZA - BSS Telecom parameters. 3BK 11202 0215 DSZZA - Handover management 3BK 11203 0012 DSZZA - Alcatel BSS Application document to GSM - General Overview. 3BK 11202 0214 DSZZA - Resource allocation and management. 3BK 11202 0185 DSZZA - Extended Cell 3BK 11202 0169 DSZZA - Power Control & Radio link supervision 3BK 11202 0199 DSZZA - System Information management 3BK 11202 0168 DSZZA - Radio Measurements Data Processing 3BK 11203 0042 DSZZA - Radio link and radio resource management
RELATED DOCUMENTS [22] [23] [24] CCITT Z100. Structured Definition Language. GEODE user manual. VERILOG. ART/DST/PFK/20 - ALCATEL_BSS phase 1 description of radio link control algorithms and guidelines for setting parameters values. ART/DST/PFK/20
Note : most of the SDL diagrams have been produced with the software tool GEODE which is a trademark of VERILOG ([0]). The SDL standard is defined in [22].
PREFACE Not Applicable

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1. SCOPE
This document specifies the algorithms to be implemented in this release of the ALCATEL BSS for : - handover preparation, - directed retry preparation, - GPRS redirection preparation. Handover preparation consists of two functions which are considered separately in this document : - detection of the need to handover a radio connection, - candidate cell list evaluation. Directed retry and GPRS redirectionpreparation are specified along with handover preparation.
2. FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION 2.1 Overview The main objective of the handover preparation, in connection with power control (see [18]), is to allow a maximum number of MS to operate in the network while maintaining a minimum interference level. The algorithms shall ensure that any mobile is connected with the cell in which the output powers from the MS and the BS are as low as possible (to reduce MS power consumption and interference in the network) while keeping a satisfactory link quality. When on a sufficient duration the propagation conditions keep worsening, then action must be taken. The first action is to increase the output power levels at the MS or the BS (for further details, see [18]). When the maximum allowed value has been reached, a handover may become necessary. To reflect this philosophy in macrocells (not in microcellular environment), the algorithm allows for handover on quality and strength reasons only when the last step of power control has been reached. Great care must be taken in choosing the relative values of the thresholds for power control and handover as well as the averaging window sizes (smaller window size and higher threshold for power control than for handover). It must be remembered that, although it is desired that the MS transmits with the lowest possible power, it is more important not to lose a call. Thus early triggering for the power control is possible, by choosing small values for the averaging window sizes and higher comparison thresholds. For further description about handover preparation refer to [21]. The GPRS redirection consists, when a MS asks for a GPRS service and the selected cell does not support GPRS, to sent a cell change order to the MS indicating a cell supporting GPRS. For that after reception of a packet request, a SDCCH is assigned to the MS in a way to collect measurements on the neighbour cells and so to be able to select a target cell supporting GPRS.
2.2
Cell configuration
2.2.1 Cell Environments Three types of cell environments are supported : conventional cell environment, hierarchical cell environment and multiband cell environment. In the conventional cell environment, the cell planning is made so as to obtain a continuous geographical coverage . The hierarchical cell environment corresponds to a layout of two cell layers with different cell sizes. The large cells layer is called "upper layer" and the small cells layer "lower layer". This environment is meant to be used in advanced networks. The interest of the lower cell layer is twofold: Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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- densify the traffic by providing a smaller frequency reuse distance in the lower layer - compensate traffic density unbalance by using small cells located at traffic "hot spots"
The interest of the upper cell layer is to : - provide continuous geographical coverage - handle fast moving mobiles in order to avoid high handover rate - provide overflow and rescue channels for the lower cell layer Reflecting this representation, the upper layer cells are often called "umbrella cells". The multiband cell environment consists in two layers of cells using different frequency band. The interest of the multiband network is to increase the capacity or the coverage of the network.
2.2.1.1 Conventional cell environment Three different layouts are provided for conventional cell environment , in order to adapt to the traffic density : - single cell The figure 2.2-1 represents the possible geographical layouts with single cells. - concentric cell : a macrocell with two frequency groups covering two concentric zones. This allows to use a smaller reuse distance for the inner zone frequencies and hence to densify an existing network by introducing a small number of frequencies at the needed places. The figure 2.2-2 shows the smaller reuse factor (here 3) for the inner zone frequencies in a traditional 9 cell cluster. - multiband cell : a concentric cell in which: the outer zone, that includes the BCCH, the SDCCH and several TCH channels, will use frequencies from the classical band. The inner zone, that includes only TCH, will all use frequencies from the preferred band. - extended cell where two cells with collocated antennas provide coverage up to 70 km. The application fields are both the low density areas and the off-shore coverage for coastal radio communications. The figure 2.2-3 illustrates the layout of two associated cells making an extended cell. For reference information on that feature, see[17].
sectorized cell for site reduction
omnidirectional macrocell
figure 2.2-1 : normal cell environment with one cell layer

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Inner zone
f2 Outer zone
f1
f3
One concentric cell f3 f2 f1
f1
f3 f2
figure 2.2-2 : concentric cell frequency planning Highway
outer cell 70km
outer cell
35 km
outer limit
50 km radius
inner cell outer limit
inner limit
inner cell
figure 2.2-3b : extended cell with omnidirectional antennas figure 2.2-3a : extended cell with directional antennas
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2.2.1.2 Hierarchical cell environment

In much denser traffic areas, depending on the required traffic capacity, the operator may wish to have a hierarchical network, where continuous coverage is provided by a standard macrocell, and traffic hot spots are covered with dedicated cells of limited range. The solution for medium density areas is to have small macrocells (called mini cells) , to handle pedestrian traffic, overlapped with one big umbrella macrocell , to handle fast moving mobiles. The solution for higher traffic densities will be to install microcells in all the streets where very dense traffic occurs. Umbrella macrocells will be providing the continuous coverage and the traffic channels for saturated microcells and "emergency" handovers. - mini cells with umbrella macrocells This configuration will be of main interest for dense urban areas where some hot-spots are covered by very small macrocells (less than 500 m radius) and continuous coverage is provided by a big macrocell (5 to 10 km radius). The figure 2.2-4 presents a possible application of the two-layer hierarchical network with macrocells for both layers, in a middle size town.
Super umbrella cell R~10 km
mini cells 0.5<R<1 km
pedestrian area
figure 2.2-4 : cell layout with mini cells below one umbrella cell
- microcells with umbrella cells One layout is provided for microcellular applications, that should apply to very highly dense traffic areas or when the available spectrum is very reduced. The figure 2.2-5 presents the cell layout for microcells covered by an umbrella cell to provide continuous coverage and decreased blocking rate. The densification strategy for microcellular enables to use the already existing macrocell layer for the umbrella cells. Therefore, it may be possible for the operator to use already installed single (or concentric or multiband) cells as umbrella cells for a microcellular network.
existing cells 1<R<2 km
microcells R < 300 m

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figure 2.2-5 : typical microcellular layout
2.2.1.3 Multiband cell environment

An operator with licenses in the different frequency bands (GSM and DCS) can mix in its network cells which use GSM frequency band with cells using DCS frequency band. This case is referred to as multiband cell environment. Multiband cell environment is supposed to be made out of a main part with cells of same frequency band. This band is the oldest one acquired by the operator and it is the most used in its network : it is called the classical band. As this band was first used alone, there is no doubt that cells of classical band ensure the coverage of the network. With the other frequency band, the operator will add new cells to its network. As the cells of the classical band guarantee a sufficient coverage, the assumption is made that these new cells are added in order to increase the traffic capacity of the network rather than to improve the coverage. This assumption determines the handover strategy in multiband cell environment. This strategy mainly consists in preferably redirecting multiband mobiles (mobiles with capability in both frequency bands) in the new cells which use the frequency band different from the classical one. That is why this band is called the preferred band. Multiband cell environment can be applied to conventional cell environment as well as hierarchical cell environment. In this last case, the multilayer structure will interact with the multiband concept.
2.2.2 Cell profiles The optimisation of the use of the frequency resources is a main concern for network operators. The Alcatel BSS provides a span of cell environments that allows to cover the whole range of traffic density requirements : from very dense urban centres with microcells up to very low traffic areas (desert or off shore) with extended cell sites. These different types of cell environment must be controlled and administered in a flexible way by the operator. For this purpose, the Alcatel BSS provides a set of cell profiles, which enable the operator to make a starting point configuration by just applying the default values of the profile. Each profile provides all the configuration data associated to one given cell as default settable values. This includes handover parameters, but also power control settings, timers . Eight main profiles are defined : single cell, micro cell, mini cell, umbrella cell, extended inner cell, extended outer cell, concentric cell, concentric umbrella cell. These profiles are duplicated by the internal parameter cell_band_type which can have two different values for each profile. In order to give the operator the possibility to have its personal usage of the ALCATEL parameters, the profiles are user-editable. This means that all default values associated to one given profile can be modified to reflect the standard usage of the operator. These cell profiles correspond to one unique combination of the five parameters : - Cell dimension type : this parameter identifies the cell size in a finite set of cell dimensions(macro or micro). - Cell layer type : this parameter defines the layer type of a cell in connection with other cells and with itself. In single layer cell environment, all cells have the same layer type (single). In a hierarchical cell environment, two cell layer types distinguish the upper layer cells and the lower layer cells. - Cell_partition type : this parameter defines the type of frequency partitioning that is used in the cell. - Cell range : this parameter identifies the cell as a normal cell or a part of an extended cell - Cell_band_type : this parameter defines the type of frequency band used in the cell The first three parameters are settable on a per cell basis and changeable on-line by O&M. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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The cell_range parameter is set at BTS initialisation time and only changeable off-line. Cell_band_type is an internal parameter derived from the BCCH frequency of the serving cell (BCCH_FREQ) or from the BCCH frequency index of the neighbour cells n (FREQ(n)), reported by the mobile.
Cell dimension type Two values are possible : ### Macrocell. ### Microcell. Future envisaged value : picocell for Personal Communication Services. Cell layer type Three values are possible : ### Single : this applies to all cells in normal environment (1 cell layer) ### Upper : this indicates the upper layer cells in a hierarchical cell environment with two layers. These cells are also called "umbrella cells" and they will have at least one associated lower layer cell, otherwise they are single cells. ### Lower : this indicates the lower layer cells in a hierarchical cell environment with two layers. Each lower layer cell will have one associated umbrella cell, otherwise it is deemed "single". A single cell has no cells included within its coverage area.
Cell partition type Two values are possible : ### Normal partition. ### Concentric partition. The concentric partition corresponds to the concentric or multiband cell case. In this case, the frequency carriers are assigned to one or the other of the two concentric zones : inner and outer. Future envisaged values : Cell with dynamic frequency use partitioning based on Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA).
Cell range Three values are possible : ### Normal ### Extended inner ### Extended outer
Cell band type Two values are possible : ### GSM ### DCS Cell_band_type is an internal parameter whose value depends on the BCCH frequency of the serving cell (BCCH_FREQ) or on the BCCH frequency index given by the mobile for every reported neighbour cells (FREQ(n), refer to [20]). For the serving cell : Cell_band_type = GSM if BCCH_FREQ corresponds to GSM900 frequency band (extended band included). Cell_band_type = DCS if BCCH_FREQ corresponds to DCS1800 or DCS1900 frequency band. For neighbour cell n : Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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Cell_band_type(n) = GSM if FREQ(n) corresponds to GSM900 frequency band (extended band included). Cell_band_type(n) = DCS if FREQ(n) corresponds to DCS1800 or DCS1900 frequency band.
Note : the correspondence between FREQ(n) and the frequency band of the neighbour cell n is performed through the neighbour cell list (for further details see [19]).
Cell configuration In the following "Cell configuration" will refer to the combination of the five parameters : - Cell dimension type, - Cell layer type, - Cell partition type, - Cell range, - Cell band type. In this release of the ALCATEL BSS, all the possible cell configurations are given in table 2.2-1. All the other cell configurations are forbidden as they are not relevant for operation. The O&M functions shall ensure that the cell configurations managed by the handover preparation are authorised. The selection of one given cell profile for applying default values will force the value of the cell configuration. Cell Profile GSM single cell DCS single cell GSM micro cell DCS micro cell GSM mini cell DCS mini cell GSM umbrella cell DCS umbrella cell GSM extended inner cell DCS extended inner cell GSM extended outer cell DCS extended outer cell GSM concentric cell DCS concentric cell GSM concentric umbrella DCS concentric umbrella Cell dimension type Macro Macro Micro Micro Macro Macro Macro Macro Macro Macro Macro Macro Macro Macro Macro Cell layer type Single Single Lower Lower Lower Lower Upper Upper Single Single Single Single Single Single Upper Cell partition type Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Concentric Concentric Concentric Cell range Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Extendedinner Extendedinner Extendedouter Extendedouter Normal Normal Normal Normal Cell band type GSM DCS GSM DCS GSM DCS GSM DCS GSM DCS GSM DCS GSM DCS GSM DCS
Macro Upper Concentric Table 2.2-1 : Allowed cell configurations
A multiband cell is declared by setting the FREQUENCY_RANGE to GSM-DCS. The CELL_PARTITION_TYPE of the cell is then forced to CONCENTRIC. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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Note : - The duplication of the main profiles according to the values of the cell band type is performed for every main profile. It gives a few cell profiles not really relevant (such as DCS extended outer cell profile) but it prevents from dealing with exceptions.
The figure 2.2-1 depicts the configurations of table 2.2-1 for cell_range = normal and with different values of cell band type.
Cell_dimension type : macro Cell_layer_type : upper Cell_partition_type : concentric Cell_band_type : GSM Cell_dimension type : macro Cell_layer_type : upper Cell_partition_type : normal Cell_band_type : GSM Cell_dimension type : micro Cell_layer_type : lower Cell_partition_type : normal Cell_band_type : DCS
Cell_dimension type : macro Cell_layer_type : lower Cell_partition_type : normal Cell_band_type : GSM
Cell_dimension_type : macro Cell_layer_type : single Cell_partition_type : normal Cell_band_type : DCS Figure 2.2-1 : Allowed cell configurations for cell_range = normal and different values of cell band type
Cell_dimension type : macro Cell_layer_type : single Cell_partition_type : concentric Cell_band_type : DCS
2.3
Handover preparation
This function can also be named "handover algorithms" as the algorithms described in section 3 are the "heart" of this function. In the following the word "handover preparation" will be preferred to "handover algorithms". The ALCATEL handover preparation is derived from the basic algorithm found in Annex A of the GSM Technical Specification 05.08 ([2]). The main differences between both algorithms are described in [4]. 2.3.1 Functional entities of handover preparation The handover preparation is in charge of detecting a need for handover and proposing a list of target cells. Therefore it can be divided into two processes : handover detection and handover candidate cell evaluation. The handover detection process analyses the radio measurements reported by the BTS and triggers the candidate cell evaluation process each time a handover cause (emergency or better cell type) is fulfilled. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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The handover candidate cell evaluation works out a list of possible candidate cells for the handover.
This list is sorted according to the evaluation of each cell as well as the layer they belong to (in a hierarchical network) and the frequency band they use (in a multiband network). Once the handover preparation is completed, the handover decision and execution (handover management entity refer to [14]) is performed under the MSC or BSC control. The directed retry preparation (see definition in section 2.4) is performed by the handover preparation function. Once the directed retry preparation is completed, the directed retry is performed either under the BSC control (internal directed retry) or under the MSC control (external directed retry). These procedures use signalling protocols described respectively in [9] and [10]. An example of implementation of these functions except for directed retry is given in the GSM Technical Specification 05.08 [2]. The handover preparation requires indirectly (see below) input parameters provided by the function in charge of the radio link measurements. This function is described in [8]. Most of the input data required by the handover functions are provided by a function called : Active channel pre-processing. This function is described in [20]. It processes raw data given by the radio link measurements (quality, level and distance) through the A-bis interface in compression mode or non compression mode. The compression mode uses two functions: Radio measurements data compression in the BTS and Radio measurements data decompression in the BSC. They are described in [20]. The functions handover detection and handover candidate cell evaluation are specified in this document. The figure 2.3-1 depicts in a general way : - the interconnections between these functions, - the implementation of these functions in the ALCATEL BSS. The functions which are specified in this document are represented in bold type.
BTS BTS
BSC
EN_MEAS_COMPRESSION
Radio link Measurements
NO
YES
Active Channel Preprocessing

Radio Measurements Data Decompression
HOdetection
HO candidate cell evaluation
Radio Measurements Data Compression
HO management
MSC
Figure 2.3-1: Assignment of HO functions in the ALCATEL BSS.

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2.3.2 Specific cases of application

The handover preparation applies both for TCH and SDCCH , i.e. it uses the same messages and parameters. Whenever a different handling is necessary, it is indicated in the text. These few cases are : - counting of free channels and load of cells (section 3.2.3), - number of frames in reporting period (102 for SDCCH, 104 for TCH), - weighting in case of DTX on TCH/FS. DTX is not allowed on SDCCH (refer to [20]). - inhibition of SDCCH handover when SDCCH_COUNTER is running (see section 3.2.1.2). - inhibition of SDCCH handover in case of GPRS redirection procedure. - inhibition of better cell handovers from SDCCH to SDCCH except for the cause power budget (see section 3.2.2.1.1.3). In case of directed retry from SDCCH to TCH on handover alarms the better cell handover causes are not inhibited. However it does not apply to all the channels in a multislot configuration. In fact, in this case the handover preparation applies only to the main channel. The handover preparation takes only into account the measurements reported for the main channel.
2.3.3 Handover detection Note first that this process may be sometimes named HO threshold comparison. The process is achieved in the BSC. Each time a set of preprocessed (averaged) measurements is available, this process checks whether a handover is needed. If the need for a handover is detected, the target cell evaluation process is triggered. In case of a handover alarm, the handover detection process gives to the cell evaluation process : - the preferred target cell layer : lower, upper or none - the raw candidate cell list, which can be either all neighbours, or the subset which verify the handover causes (plus other specific cells in particular cases). With each cell is given one of the handover causes which have been verified. Four main handover categories are provided, depending on the cause of handover and the context of application. The context of application for an handover is either "intercell" (the handover is performed between two different cells) or "intracell" (the handover is performed in the same cell). The detection of a need for handover is performed through handover causes which are going to be detailed. The cause of handover is based either on a situation of emergency (this cause is therefore called "emergency cause") or on the existence of better conditions. In this last case, the name of the cause depends on the context of application : for intercell handovers, it is called "Better cell cause". For intracell handovers, it is called "Better zone cause", as it is applied only in the case of interzone handovers in concentric or multiband cells. The table 2.3-1 represents the four handover categories. Handover Cause -> Intracell handover Intercell handover Situation of Emergency Existence of Better conditions Emergency Intracell Handover Better Zone Handover Emergency Intercell Handover Better Cell Handover Table 2.3-1 : Categories of handover
The following paragraphs detail the different categories of handover according to the context of application (inter or intracell) and the handover cause. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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2.3.3.1 Emergency intercell handovers

These handovers are triggered when the call conditions deteriorate significantly in order to rescue the call. The causes are : "too low quality" , "too low level", " too long MS-BS distance", too short MS-BS distance, "consecutive bad SACCH frames", "level dropping under high threshold". 2.3.3.1.1 Quality and Level causes The aim of these causes is to keep the call going when the radio link is degrading otherwise the radio link failure might be detected and the call released. These causes wait generally for the power control process to increase the BS and MS power to their maximum values, except for the causes specific to microcellular environment. Handover on "too low level" is used to avoid situations where the interference level is low, while the attenuation is quite high. These conditions may appear for example in big city streets which enable a line of sight propagation from the BTS antenna. There is in this case a risk of abrupt quality degradation, if the MS moves away from the line of sight street. In case of simultaneous low-level low-quality signals, an intercell handover is requested. 2.3.3.1.2 Too long MS-BS distance cause This cause is used when a dominant cell provides a lot of scattered coverages inside other cells, due to propagation conditions of operational network. These spurious coverages have the consequence of producing a high level of co-channel interference probability ([ 24]). This cause is different from the others as it is more preventive. It does not make use of the propagation conditions of a call. It just does not allow a MS to talk to a BS if it is too far away. It may happen for example that some peculiar propagation conditions exist at one point in time that provide exceptional quality and level although the serving BS is far and another is closer and should be the one the mobile should be connected with if the conditions were normal. It may then happen that these exceptional conditions suddenly drop and the link is lost which would not have happened if the mobile had been connected to the closest cell. For these reasons also, this cause does not wait for the power control to react. 2.3.3.1.3 Too short MS-BS distance cause This cause is used for handovers from an extended outer cell (the MS comes closer to the inner-outer cell limit). 2.3.3.1.4 Consecutive bad SACCH frames and level dropping under high threshold "Bad SACCH frames" and "level dropping under high threshold" are provided to support the rapidly varying radio conditions of microcellular environment (e.g. street corner effect). In order to have a sufficient reaction time these causes are independent of the power used by the MS or BTS.
2.3.3.2 Better cell handovers These handovers are triggered to improve the overall system traffic capacity. This spans : interference reduction, signalling load reduction, traffic unbalance smoothing. The basic assumption for these handovers is that they should respect the cell planning decided by the operator. The causes are : "power budget" , "high level in neighbour lower layer cell for slow mobile", "high level in neighbour cell in the preferred band" and traffic handover.

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The main drawback of this handover category is the risk of "ping-pong " effect , which is an oscillating back and forth handover between two (or three) cells. As the "better cell" handover are meant to find the "best cell", the variation of the radio conditions will trigger a big amount of better cell handovers, if the algorithms have a too sensitive reaction. Hence, some mechanisms are forecast, in order to prevent these oscillations from occurring repeatedly at given places. 2.3.3.2.1 Power budget cause In this case, there is another cell with a better power budget i.e. the link quality can be improved or maintained with a reduced transmission power of both the MS and the BTS. The radio link is not degraded but there is the opportunity to decrease the overall interference level by changing the serving cell of the given MS. In conjunction with power control it presents the advantage to keep the interference as low as possible, since it minimises the path loss between the BTS and MS. This cause is especially designed to cope with the requirement that the mobile should be connected with the cell with which the lowest possible output powers are used. To assess which of the cells is this "best cell", the algorithm performs every measurement reporting period the comparison of the path loss in the current and in the neighbour cell. This is a feature special to GSM which is made possible because the mobile measures the adjacent cell signal levels and reports the six best ones. The power budget calculation is described in details in appendix A. This power budget gives the difference in path loss between the current cell and the adjacent cells reported by the mobile. When PBGT(n) is greater than 0, then the path loss from cell n is less than the path loss from the serving cell and thus the radiated power in the downlink direction, and therefore in the uplink direction as well, will be lower in cell n than in the current cell. However it would not be advisable to hand over the MS to another cell as soon as PBGT is greater than 0, because the MS would probably oscillate between the two adjacent cells as the propagation conditions vary. A hysteresis mechanism is implemented to avoid this undesirable effect. The MS may be handed over from the serving cell indexed 0 to a neighbour cell indexed n only if the power budget exceeds the handover Margin(0,n). The handover Margin(0,n) can be modified according to the traffic situation in the serving cell and the neighbour cell n. In this way, power budget handover can be delayed towards a loaded cell and traffic load handover can be triggered from a loaded cell (see section 2.3.3.2.4.). Once the MS is handed over, the same algorithm is applied in the new cell, and a new PBGT is computed (which will be close to the opposite value of PBGT in the old cell) and compared to a new HOMargin. (Thus, the global hysteresis (from cell 0 to cell n and back to cell 0) is the sum of the two HOMargins). However, It is still possible that a ping-pong mechanism is created by different handover causes, for instance a handover may be triggered towards a neighbour cell for bad quality, but in the neighbour cell, a handover back may be triggered for power budget reasons. In order to avoid this, an additional anti-ping-pong mechanism is implemented in the power budget calculation. It enables to penalise for a certain time the cell on which the call has precedently been (see Appendix A). In case of handover from SDCCH to SDCCH, this cause does not take the traffic situation into account. In multiband cell environment, the mobile can operate in a different band than the frequency band of the BCCHs. This can lead to circular ping-pong handovers from the inner zone if the new band is DCS 1800 or to the impossibility to trigger PBGT handovers from the inner zone if the preferred band is GSM 900. To avoid this problem, when the MS is in the inner zone of a multiband cell, it may be handed over from the serving cell indexed 0 to a neighbour multiband cell indexed n only if the power budget exceeds the handover Margin(0,n) plus the offset handover margin which allows to handicap or favour the PBGT (In the inner zone, the cause power budget is only checked between multiband cells, in a way to maintain the MS in the preferred band). Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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The offset handover margin can possibly be used in concentric cells.

2.3.3.2.2 Better cell cause specific to hierarchical network In a hierarchical cell environment, advantage can be taken of the upper layer to separate the slow moving MS from the fast moving MS. The detection of a short residence time in a lower layer cell will enable to detect fast moving mobiles and to hand them over to the upper layer. Additionally, it is possible that GSM Phase 1 slow moving mobiles get connected on the umbrella cell, e.g. for signal level reasons. For this reason, handovers are triggered towards neighbour lower layer cells, for slow mobiles which are in the coverage area of the lower layer. Therefore, the algorithms will insure that most of the slow moving mobiles are handled in the lower layer, while the fast moving mobiles are handled in the upper layer. With this policy, signalling overhead and speech breaks due to repetitive handover are avoided for fast moving MS. Another advantage of the hierarchical cell structure is that the umbrella cell can offer a number of overflow channels, for calls which are queued in the lower layer (see directed retry). This allows a much better usage of the traffic capacity of the lower layer cells, when they have 1 or 2 TRX, at a constant grade of service (typically 2% blocking). On the other hand, frequencies on the upper layer can not be reused within a small range and will therefore be a critical resource in hierarchical cell structures. Therefore, the load of the umbrella cell may be a critical problem and a mechanism is forecast to stop handovers into the upper layer when it becomes overloaded. This cause is inhibited for handover from SDCCH to SDCCH.
2.3.3.2.3 Preferred band cause If cells of different frequency bands (GSM900 and DCS1800) coexist in the same network, an operator can define a preferred band (PREFERRED_BAND parameter adjustable on a per BSS basis) where the multiband mobiles (mobiles with the both frequency bands capability) should be transferred in case of too much traffic load in the classical band (the opposite of the preferred band) and no high load in the preferred band. This is achieved by monitoring the traffic load of the cells which use the classical band and the preferred band. If a multiband mobile is connected to a cell in the classical band where a specific condition on the traffic load is verified, and if this mobile receives good signal level from one neighbour cell which uses the preferred band and where the traffic load is considered as not high, the preferred band cause will be verified for this mobile. Then, an intercell multiband handover will be performed towards the neighbour cell. The only requirement for this handover is that the serving cell uses the classical band and the target cell, the preferred band. This cause is inhibited for handover from SDCCH to SDCCH.
2.3.3.2.4 Traffic handover The principle of this handover is to reduce the size of the serving cell when it is high loaded relatively to a low loaded cell. When the mobile moves away from the BTS, the power budget will increase and a better cell handover will be triggered earlier.

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It is recommended to inhibit Traffic handover towards 1 TRX cells. These cells do not have enough resources to receive incoming handovers due to congestion of neighbour cells. Moreover because of the great variation of traffic in the 1 TRX cells, traffic load is never considered as low. This cause is inhibited for handover from SDCCH to SDCCH.
2.3.3.2.5 General capture handover In hierarchical network where cells use different frequency bands, a general capture handover is required to manage, on a per cell adjacency basis, the possibility for the mobiles to be captured. This is needed in order to synchronise the capture from a macrocell to a microcell (as described in 2.3.3.2.2) or from the same macrocell to another cell of preferred band (as described in 2.3.3.2.3). This general capture handover takes into account the load in the serving and in the target cell. This cause is inhibited for handover from SDCCH to SDCCH.
2.3.3.3 Emergency intracell handovers The causes specifics to emergency intracell handovers are: too high interference level, too low level in the inner zone. Emergency handover is triggered for intracell application when the radio link is deemed to suffer a high level of interference. In this case, the channel assigned to the call is changed for another channel in the same cell, on which the measured interference level is the smallest possible. In the case of concentric cell or multiband cell environment, emergency intracell handovers concern handovers from the inner to the outer zone of the same cell (they are called interzone handovers) as well as handovers performed within one zone (they are called intrazone handovers).
2.3.3.4 Better zone handovers For concentric cells, the "outer zone uplink and downlink level too high" cause forces an intracell handover from an outer zone TCH to an inner zone TCH. This handover is considered as interzone handover. Then the MS can operate on frequency channels with lower BS and MS maximum powers. If the inner zone is congested, the MS will stay on the outer zone. For multiband cells, this same cause forces an intracell handover from an outer zone TCH in the classical band to an inner zone TCH in the preferred band. The handover detection is made on signal levels coming from the serving cell and possibly from the neighbour cells.

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2.3.4 Handover candidate cell evaluation

The process is performed in the BSC. Once a need for handover is detected, this process looks for possible target cells (except if it is an intracell handover or an interzone handover) and provides the BSC entity in charge of the HO decision and execution entity with a list of candidate cells and their respective HO cause.
2.3.4.1 Cell ordering according to target layer and target band In hierarchical or multiband environment, cells are characterised by the layer they belong to or/and the frequency band they use. The candidate cell evaluation process takes into account these characteristics in the candidate cell ordering. In hierarchical environment, the HO detection process can indicate a preferred layer where the handover must be directed to. If this indication is used, the candidate cell evaluation puts in the first places of the list, the candidate cells belonging to the preferred layer. They are followed by the cells of the other layer, providing they are also correct candidates. After this possible distinction, in each part of the list, the candidate cell evaluation sorts the candidate cells according to the parameter PRIORITY(0,n) (parameter on line changeable from the OMC-R). The cells having the highest priority are put in the first place of the list. They are followed by the cells having lowest priorities. The PRIORITY(0,n) is only used when the flag EN_PRIORTY_ORDERING is set to enable. In case of emergency handover, for each category (preferred layer and other layer) and between cells having the same priority, the candidate cell evaluation sorts the candidate cells according to the frequency band they use : the cells which use the same frequency band as the serving cell are put first and they are followed by the cells which use the other frequency band. The cell evaluation function (see section 3.2.3.) is then applied to the different candidate cell lists defined from the preferred layer indication, the PRIORITY(0,n) parameter and the frequency band of the serving cell (only in case of emergency handover).
2.3.4.2 Filtering process The filtering process allows to filter out cells from the target list before sending them to the ORDER or GRADE evaluation process. It can be enabled/disabled on-line on a per cell basis from the OMC-R with the flag EN_PBGT_FILTERING. The candidate cells are filtered on their power budget in relation to a handover margin threshold based on the handover cause.
2.3.4.3 Candidate cell ranking Two types of cell evaluation algorithms can be used : ORDER and GRADE. ORDER and GRADE are two different methods of cell ranking. They both consist in giving a mark or figure of merit to each candidate cell. The basic differences between ORDER and GRADE are that : with ORDER - The candidate cell evaluation process interacts with the handover detection by use of cause dependent handover margins. - The candidate cell evaluation process takes into account the number of free TCH in the candidate cells. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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with GRADE, : - The candidate cell evaluation process does not interact with the handover detection. - The candidate cell evaluation process takes into account the relative load of traffic channels in the candidate cells. The type of cell evaluation is chosen by the operator on a (serving) cell basis and is provided to the BSC with the parameter CELL_EV (see [5]) Each algorithm uses the following parameters to compare candidate cells: ORDER GRADE Power budget X X Number of free TCH/FS X(1) Cell load (%) X(1) Emergency handover type X Table 2.3-2: Comparison of candidate cell evaluation algorithms (1) The number of free TCH in the calculation of ORDER and the cell load in the calculation of GRADE will only be used in case of an internal candidate cell and when the flag EN_LOAD_ORDER is set to ENABLE. Otherwise, there is no offset due to load information in the candidate cell evaluation. Note : When the preferred candidate cell belongs to the serving BSC, the BSC can autonomously decide and execute intra-BSC HO. But if the preferred cell is outside the BSC (or in any case depending on the system parameter EXT_HO_FORCED set by the operator) the BSC sends its list of preferred cells to MSC for inter-BSC HO decision and execution. This is the task of the entity handover management (refer to [14]).
2.3.5 Inhibition of handover The operator has the possibility to inhibit selectively the different handover causes via O&M commands on a cell basis. Inhibition and control of handover management The following flags are set per cell and are on-line changeable. These flags are used by the handover management entity(see [14]). They are not used by the handover preparation function , except for HO_INTERCELL_ALLOWED and EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED. They are mentioned only for information with respect to the flags described in the next paragraph. The following flags can be used to inhibit and control the execution of a handover in the BSC : - HO_SDCCH_INHIBIT : inhibition of all outgoing handovers on SDCCH (external and internal) - HO_INTERCELL_ALLOWED : enable/disable intercell handover, - EXT_HO_FORCED : forcing of all internal intercell BSC handovers (TCH and SDCCH) to be external handovers (i.e. controlled by the MSC). - HO_INTRACELL_ALLOWED : inhibition of all intracell (BSC internal) handovers (TCH and SDCCH). This flag does not control the inhibition of interzone handover (see below). - EN_IC_HO : inhibition of all incoming handovers - EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED : inhibition of repetition of intracell handover , by triggering an intercell handover with cause "Quality too low".
Inhibition of the handover preparation The following flags can be used to inhibit the detection of a handover cause. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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- HO_INTERCELL_ALLOWED : enable/disable intercell handover causes, - EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED : enable/disable repetition of intracell handover causes, - EN_RXQUAL_UL : enable/disable too low quality uplink cause, - EN_RXQUAL_DL : enable/disable too low quality downlink cause, - EN_RXLEV_UL : enable/disable too low level uplink cause, - EN_RXLEV_DL : enable/disable too low level downlink cause, - EN_PBGT_HO : enable/disable power budget cause, - EN_DIST_HO : enable/disable too long MS-BS distance cause, - EN_INTRA_UL : enable/disable too high interference uplink cause, - EN_INTRA_DL : enable/disable too high interference downlink cause, - EN_MCHO_H_UL : enable/disable level uplink, high threshold, microcell cause, - EN_MCHO_H_DL : enable/disable level downlink, high threshold, microcell cause, - EN_MCHO_RESCUE : enable/disable microcell to macrocell handover on missing MS measurement reports, - EN_MCHO_NCELL : enable/disable upper to lower layer handover cause. - EN_PREFERRED_BAND_HO : enable/disable multiband handover cause. - EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO : enable/disable too high level on the uplink and the downlink, outer zone cause. - EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n) : enable/disable traffic HO cause from the serving cell to the cell n. - EN_GENERAL_CAPTURE_HO : enable/disable general capture handover cause. When these flags are set to DISABLE, the corresponding handover alarms are not checked by the handover detection function. For the flags controlling handover cause : - If the flag is set to "ENABLE", the checking of the handover cause is enabled. - If the flag is set to "DISABLE" the checking is disabled. Note : For the multiband handover cause, the enabling of the flag EN_PREFERRED_BAND_HO does not imply automatically the execution of multiband handovers. It depends also on the flag EN_INTERBAND_NEIGH used on a per BSS basis (see [19]). The flags are per cell and on-line changeable, this means that for each cell the operator can enable or disable some handover causes without releasing active calls in the cell. Consistency checks are performed by the OMC-R, in order to maintain the overall coherence of all flags with the type of the cell.
Particular cases for concentric or multiband cells In the case of concentric or multiband cells, a handover cause due to high interference level (causes 15 or 16, see 3.2.2) triggers an intrazone or an interzone handover. An intrazone handover is a particular case of intracell handover. A handover cause due to too low level in the inner zone (causes 10 or 11) or the better zone cause (cause 13) triggers an interzone handover (see section 3.2.2.1.2). An interzone handover is a particular case of intracell handover. The two HO causes (10, 11) cannot be enabled or disabled individually. These causes are enabled and disabled when the parameter CELL_PARTITION_TYPE = CONCENTRIC and = NORMAL respectively (see sections 2.2 and 3.2.2). Moreover the HO cause 13 must not be disabled in case of allocation in the inner zone during Normal Assignment (the flag EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO should not be looked at when deciding whether the MS should go to the inner zone or outer zone). Therefore, HO_INTRACELL_ALLOWED flag does not control the enabling/disabling of the interzone handover, but only of the intrazone handover (or interzone handover causes 15 or 16). Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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In the same way, the flag EXT_HO_FORCED has no influence on the interzone handover operation. Finally , the flag EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED does not control the repetition of the interzone handover.
2.3.6 Functional diagram of Handover preparation The figure 2.3-2 is the SADT diagram of the handover functions in the BSC. This diagram is just a functional description. It does not constrain the implementation. The BSC receives raw measurement data from the BTS in the message MEASUREMENT RESULT if EN_MEAS_COMPRESSION=DISABLE or compressed measurement data in the message PREPROCESSED MEASUREMENT RESULT every SACCH multiframe period (see radio link measurements, ref. [8] and Radio measurements data processing, ref[20]). The BSC pre-processes that data to detect HO threshold conditions. The preprocessed measurement reports are therefore generated internally by the BSC which uses them also for candidate cell evaluation. The Active Channel Preprocessing function is not specified in this document (refer to [20]). That is why it is not represented in bold type.

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MS Zone Indication Request HO detection parameters MS speed discrimination parameters
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P MS & BS parameters cell configuration parameters
T_FILTER T_HCP
candidate cell evaluation parameters CELL_EV EN_LOAD_ORDER "Enable GPRS redirection"
"Enable directed retry"
Active channel preprocessing

HO and DR enabling flags
"Start T_HCP"
averaged measurements for handover detection
Handover detection
HO cause, raw cell list, PREF_LAYER
MS Zone Indication ACK (ZONE)
Traffic_load(n)
LOADfactor(n), FREEfactor(n), AV_LOAD
Candidate cells list, HO cause
Figure 2.3-2 : SADT diagram of handover functions in the BSC

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Flows description The description is done at BSC level (see Figure 2.3-2).
Input flows - FREEfactor(n), LOADfactor(n), AV_LOAD, t(n): respectively correction factor of ORDER depending on free level of cell n, correction factor of GRADE depending on load of cell n, averaged traffic load (refer to [16]) and absolute number of free TCH in the cell n. These flows are BSC internal. - Traffic_load(n): situation of the traffic in the cell n (refer to [ 16]). - Averaged measurements for handover detection : * AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO, AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO, AV_RXLEV_UL_MCHO, * AV_RXLEV_UL_HO, AV_RXLEV_DL_HO, AV_RXLEV_DL_MCHO, * BS_TXPWR, MS_TXPWR, AV_RANGE_HO, AV_RXLEV_PBGT_DR, * AV_BS_TXPWR_HO, AV_BS_TXPWR_DR, * AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO, AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n), AV_RXLEV_NCELL_BIS(n). * AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n), n=1..BTSnum. * BFI_SACCH Control flows - Cell configuration parameters : CELL_DIMENSION_TYPE, CELL_LAYER_TYPE, CELL_PARTITION_TYPE, CELL_BAND_TYPE, ZONE_TYPE, CELL_RANGE, FREQUENCY_RANGE. - MS and BS parameters : Maximum and minimum MS/BS powers allowed in the cell : MS_TXPWR_MAX, BS_TXPWR_MAX, MS_TXPWR_MIN, BS_TXPWR_MIN, Maximum MS power in the inner zone of a concentric or multiband MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER, Maximum BS power in the inner zone of a concentric or multiband BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER.
cell cell
: :
- T_FILTER : Time after which a no alarm message (an alarm message with no candidate cell, see section 3.3.) is sent to the handover management entity, if no new alarm has been detected whilst running. - T_HCP : time during which penalty PING_PONG_HCP is applied to the preceding cell (cause 12); time during which penalty is applied to the preceding inner zone (cause 13). - P : MS classmark (maximum MS power) for the concerned frequency band(s) (GSM900, DCS1800, DCS1900). In case of multiband mobiles, both MS classmark for GSM900 and MS classmark for DCS1800 band are considered. - Candidate cell evaluation parameters : * MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) : n=1..NBR_ADJ, * HO_MARGIN(0,n) : n=1..NBR_ADJ, * HO_MARGIN_LEV(0,n) : n=1..NBR_ADJ, * HO_MARGIN_QUAL(0,n) : n=1..NBR_ADJ, * HO_MARGIN_DIST(0,n) : n=1..NBR_ADJ, * PRIORITY(0,n) : n=1..NBR_ADJ, * EN_PRIORITY_ORDERING, * OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER, * RXLEV_MIN(n) : n=1..NBR_ADJ, * LINKFACTOR(0,n) : n=1..NBR_ADJ, * T1 thresholds : LOADlevel_i i=1..5, T1 factors : LOADfactor_i i=1..5, Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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* T2 thresholds : FREElevel_i i=1..5, T2 factors : FREEfactor_i i=1..5, * NBR_ADJ : number of adjacent cells. * identity (BSIC + BCCH ARFN) of the preceding cell if internal to the BSC * EN_SPEED_DISC : flag enabling the sending of fast MS to the umbrellas * EN_PBGT_FILTERING : flag enabling/disabling the filtering process * L_LOAD_OBJ : maximum load on the umbrella to hand over a fast moving mobile * PING_PONG_HCP : handicap applied to the preceding cell for power budget calculation or handicap applied to the preceding inner zone in the cause 13. See definition of these parameters in section 3.2.2. - CELL_EV : indicator of GRADE/ORDER handover (cell evaluation indicator). - "Enable directed retry" : indication to the handover preparation to start the preparation for directed retry. - "Enable GPRS redirection" : indication to the handover preparation to start the preparation for GPRS redirection. - MS zone Indication Request: Request from the allocation function (refer to [16]) to the handover preparation for determining the zone location of the mobile in a concentric or multiband cell (see section 3.1.1) in case of allocation during Normal assignment in the concentric or multiband cell. - HO and DR enabling flags : HO_INTERCELL_ALLOWED, EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED, EN_DR, EN_FORCED_DR, EN_EXT_DR, EN_RXQUAL_UL, EN_RXLEV_UL, EN_RXQUAL_DL, EN_RXLEV_DL, EN_DIST_HO, EN_PBGT_HO, EN_INTRA_UL, EN_INTRA_DL, EN_MCHO_H_UL, EN_MCHO_H_DL, EN_MCHO_RESCUE, EN_MCHO_UL, EN_MCHO_DL, EN_MCHO_NCELL, EN_PREFERRED_BAND_HO, EN_GENERAL_CAPTURE_HO, EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n), EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO EN_GPRS_REDIRECTION. - EN_LOAD_ORDER : flag controlling the use of the FREEFACTOR and LOADFACTOR in the calculation of candidate cell list (ORDER and GRADE modes). - HO detection parameters : * RXLEV_UL_ZONE, RXLEV_DL_ZONE, ZONE_HO_HYST_UL, ZONE_HO_HYST_DL, * L_RXQUAL_UL_H, L_RXLEV_UL_H, RXLEV_UL_IH, * L_RXQUAL_DL_H, L_RXLEV_DL_H, RXLEV_DL_IH, * U_TIME_ADVANCE, L_TIME_ADVANCE, * N_BAD_SACCH, * L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n), n=1..NBR_ADJ, * U_RXLEV_UL_MCHO, U_RXLEV_DL_MCHO, * L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n), n = 1..NBR_ADJ, * EN_BI-BAND_MS(n), * EN_GPRS(n), * OUTDOOR_UMB_LEV(0,n), n ### { neighbour umbrella cells} * PREFERRED_BAND : Frequency band type preferably used by multiband mobiles. * MULTIBAND_TRAFFIC_CONDITION : Condition on traffic load in the serving cell for a multiband handover. * CAPTURE_TRAFFIC_CONDITION : Condition on traffic load in the serving cell for a general capture handover. * NEIGHBOUR_RXLEV(0,n), Handover Preparation 01 RELEASED
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* RXLEV_LIMIT_PBGT_HO, * DELTA_INC_HO_margin, DELTA_DEC_HO_margin.

- Speed discrimination parameters and variables * MS_SPEED * PREC_LAYER_TYPE * C_DWELL * L_LOAD_OBJ, H_LOAD_OBJ * MIN_DWELL_TIME, MIN_CONNECT_TIME * L_MIN_DWELL_TIME, H_MIN_DWELL_TIME, DWELL_TIME_STEP
Internal flows - Candidate cell evaluation input * HO cause * raw cell list of potential candidate cells * PREF_LAYER : preferred target cell layer - "Start T_HCP" : This timer is started in the target cell after an incoming internal handover. This timer is also started after an intracell handover in a concentric cell when the preceding zone is the inner zone. Output flows - Candidate cells list (with the MS Zone Indication for each concentric cell of the candidate cells list), HO cause: provided to the Handover management entity. - MS Zone Indication ACK(ZONE): Indication to the allocation function (refer to [16]) of the zone in the concentric or multiband cell where the mobile is situated.
2.4
Directed retry preparation
2.4.1 System aspects The directed retry consists in an SDCCH to TCH intercell handover during the call set-up process. The directed retry is triggered when given radio conditions are met and the serving cell is congested. The handover to TCH in another cell reduces the call set-up time (queuing phase) and allows the sharing of resources from one cell with another, thus overcoming traffic load unbalance. In this release of the ALCATEL BSS, the directed retry can be internal or external to the BSS (see [9] and [10]). The start and stop of the directed retry preparation are described in section 3.3.1.1. The directed retry may be performed : - either on handover alarms : If a handover alarm is detected during queuing, and the candidate cell evaluation process indicates at least an internal or external cell, then the BSS will perform a directed retry . - or on alarm of forced directed retry : If during queuing, an internal or external neighbour cell is reported with a sufficient level and has free TCH, then the BSS will perform a directed retry . The expression "Forced directed retry" refers to this case, because the radio conditions in the serving cell do not represent a need for handover. The cause which leads to forced directed retry is assimilated to a "better condition cause" in the handover preparation.

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2.4.2 Functional description The directed retry preparation is supported : - by the same processes as the handover preparation for directed retry on handover alarms, - by a specific condition in the alarm detection process (new cause pertaining to forced directed retry) and a specific candidate cell list evaluation process for forced directed retry. This is depicted in figure 2.4-1.
Directed Retry preparation Detection Candidate cell list evaluation
P r i o r i t y c h e c k i n g
Intercell Emergency Handover Causes (7,17,18,2,4,3,5,6,22)
ORDER/GRADE evaluation process
Interzone Emergency Handover Causes (10, 11) Intracell Handover Causes (15, 16)
ORDER/GRADE evaluation process
Intercell Better Cell Handover Causes (21, 14, 12, 23)
Interzone Better Zone Handover Cause (13) evaluation process for forced directed retry
Forced Directed Retry Cause (20)
Figure 2.4-1 : Functional diagram of directed retry preparation function The detection process for directed retry consists in the checking of the handover alarms and of the forced directed retry alarm. If an alarm for forced directed retry is raised, then the target cell evaluation is performed by the candidate cell evaluation process for forced directed retry. For all other alarms, the target cell evaluation is performed by the candidate cell evaluation process for handover (see section 3.2.3.). Note : The intracell handover alarms (interzone or due to interference) are ignored by the cell evaluation process. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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For further details about this process and the alarm priority order, refer to section 3.2.2.2.
2.4.3 Directed retry on handover alarms The preparation of directed retry on handover alarms is performed by the handover preparation function. All the processes of this function operate in the same way as for preparation of SDCCH or TCH handover at the exception of the candidate cell evaluation process. The candidate cell evaluation process (see section 3.2.3.) looks for target cells so as to do an SDCCH to TCH handover. TCH load (i.e. Freelevels and Loadlevels related to TCH) in neighbour cells may be used for target cell evaluation and ranking (the TCH load is not known in case of external cells). Note : in case of handover preparation, the candidate cell evaluation process looks for target cells so as to do a SDCCH handover. The SDCCH load is not taken into account (see section 3.2.3).
2.4.4 Forced directed retry The preparation of forced directed retry is composed of two processes : - forced directed retry detection, - candidate cell evaluation. The forced directed retry detection requires specific preprocessed measurements(refer to [20]). The detection is performed every SACCH measurement reporting period when preprocessed measurements are available. The averaged received levels of all neighbour cells are compared to a threshold. If one or several cells are found with a received level higher than the threshold, an alarm of forced directed retry is raised : high level in a neighbour cell for forced directed retry. This cause is included in the "better condition causes" of the handover preparation. When detected, this alarm is sent , with the list of internal and external cells fulfilling the condition, to the candidate cell evaluation process for forced directed retry if there is no handover alarm raised at the same time. A handover alarm raised at the same time is prior and is sent to the candidate cell evaluation process (see section 3.2.3.). Then, the candidate cell evaluation process looks for cells : a. where the MS can communicate, b. where the received level at MS is higher than a given threshold, c. and which have a minimum number of TCH channels free (in case of internal cell). The condition b. allows the control of the interference level in the network. The condition c. is a means to forbid "retry traffic" from a congested cell to a neighbour cell if the neighbour cell has less than a minimum number of channels free. This condition controls the amount of "retry traffic" and therefore the additional interference generated by this type of traffic.
2.4.5 Inhibition of directed retry Outgoing directed retry The directed retry from a serving cell is inhibited by an O&M flag : EN_DR : DISABLE = directed retry disabled, ENABLE = directed retry enabled. This flag is settable on a per cell basis and is on-line changeable. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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The flag EN_DR is handled by the handover management entity (see [14]) and not by the directed retry preparation function (see section 3.3.1.1).
The external directed retry from a BSC is inhibited by the flag EN_EXT_DR. EN_EXT_DR: DISABLE = external directed retry disabled, ENABLE = external directed retry enabled. The flag EN_EXT_DR is only relevant when EN_DR = ENABLE. The flag EN_EXT_DR is handled by the handover management entity (see [14]]) and not by the directed retry preparation function (see section 3.3.1.1). When EN_DR = ENABLE, the type of directed retry is determined by the combination of all inhibition flags for handover (see section 2.3.5) and forced directed retry detection : The forced directed retry is enabled/disabled on a per cell basis with the O&M flag EN_FORCED_DR. EN_FORCED_DR : DISABLE = forced directed retry disabled. ENABLE = forced directed retry enabled. The flag EN_FORCED_DR is only relevant when EN_DR = ENABLE as the detection of forced directed retry may operate only when the directed retry function is enabled. On the opposite, the handover alarm detection operates whatever the value of EN_DR flag as this detection is used not only for directed retry but also for SDCCH handover. Interaction with handover inhibition flags : - The flags EXT_HO_FORCED and HO_SDCCH_INHIBIT are not checked by the directed retry preparation function. - The flag HO_INTERCELL_ALLOWED applies to the cause of forced directed retry as for the other handover causes (see section 2.3.5).
Incoming directed retry ### Forced directed retry : the incoming retry traffic in a cell n can be forbidden by setting the parameter FREElevel_DR(n) to its maximum value i.e. 255 (see section 3.3.3). ### Directed retry on handover alarms : the incoming retry traffic in a cell can be forbidden by setting the parameters FREEfactors_i and LOADfactors_i to their minimum values.
2.5 GPRS redirection preparation 2.5.1 System aspects The GPRS redirection consists in a cell change order to a MS connected to a cell not supporting GPRS. The GPRS redirection is enabled with the flag EN_GPRS_REDIRECTION (see ref [6]). The GPRS redirection is triggered when given radio conditions are met and the target cell is supporting GPRS. The start of the GPRS redirection preparation is described in section 3.4.1.1. The GPRS redirection is performed on an alarm of GPRS redirection : If during SDCCH period, a neighbour cell is reported with a sufficient level and is supporting GPRS, then the BSS will perform a GPRS redirection. The cause which leads to GPRS redirection is assimilated to a "better condition cause" in the handover preparation.

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2.5.2 Functional description The GPRS redirection preparation is supported by a specific condition in the alarm detection process (new cause pertaining to GPRS redirection) and a specific candidate cell list evaluation process for GPRS redirection. The detection process for GPRS redirection consists in the checking of the GPRS redirection alarm. If an alarm for GPRS redirection is raised, then the target cell evaluation is performed by the candidate cell evaluation process for GPRS redirection.
2.5.3 GPRS redirection The preparation of GPRS redirection is composed of two processes : - GPRS redirection detection, - candidate cell evaluation. The GPRS redirection detection requires the same preprocessed measurements as for forced directed retry(refer to [20]). The detection is performed every SACCH measurement reporting period when preprocessed measurements are available. The averaged received levels of all neighbour cells are compared to a threshold. If one or several cells supporting GPRS are found with a received level higher than the threshold, an alarm of GPRS redirection is raised : high level in a neighbour cell for GPRS redirection. This cause is included in the "better condition causes" of the handover preparation. When detected, this alarm is sent , with the list of internal and external cells fulfilling the condition, to the candidate cell evaluation process for GPRS redirection. Then, the candidate cell evaluation process sorts cells : a. where GPRS is supported, b. and where the received level at MS is higher than a given threshold.

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3. DYNAMIC BEHAVIOUR 3.1 Functions linked to handover preparation

3.1.1 Concentric cell and multiband cell A concentric cell is identified in the BSS by setting its attached flag CELL_PARTITION_TYPE to CONCENTRIC. A multiband cell is identified in the BSS by setting its FREQUENCY_RANGE to GSM-DCS (CELL_PARTITION_TYPE is forced to concentric). Each frequency carrier of the cell is allocated to either the inner zone or the outer zone. This allocation is indicated by the flag ZONE_TYPE (OUTER ZONE or INNER ZONE) on a per frequency carrier basis. Any SDCCH connection is always allocated to the outer zone (ZONE_TYPE = OUTER ZONE).
3.1.1.1 Allocation in the inner zone in case of Normal Assignment In order to assign from the start a TCH in the zone corresponding to the MS location, the information on the measured level gathered by the handover detection function is used. The TCH allocation function (refer to [16]) during Normal Assignment in a concentric cell or in a multiband cell will request to the handover detection function (with the indication MS Zone Indication Request, see section 2.3.6) the zone where the MS is deemed to be : inner or outer zone. If the MS is in a multiband cell and the MS is not a multiband one, the indication is always OUTER. To this avail, the handover detection function will check all the relations in the cause "outer zone too high (cause 13) except (EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO=ENABLE) using - the AV_RXLEV_UL/DL averages , if A_LEV_HO measurements have been received - the average of the RXLEV_UL/DL measurements already received. The average of the RXLEV_NCELL(n) measurements is computed for each neighbour cell with a same window whose size is determined by the number of MEASUREMENT RESULT messages which have already been received since the first received MEASUREMENT RESULT message with a Layer 3 info present. As long as this number is lower than A_PBGT_HO, it is used as window to calculate these averages. When this number becomes higher than A_PBGT_HO, then A_PBGT_HO is used as window to calculate these averages. If the cause 13 is satisfied, then the handover detection function will answer that the MS is in the inner zone, otherwise in the outer zone with the indication MS Zone Indication ACK(ZONE), see section 2.3.6.
3.1.1.2 Allocation in the inner zone in case of incoming handover In case of an incoming intercell handover on SDCCH a channel of the outer zone of the concentric or multiband cell is always assigned to the mobile station. In case of an incoming intercell handover on TCH, the MS will be handed over in the zone corresponding to its location if the flag EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO is set to enable (if EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO is set to disable the MS is handed over in the OUTER ZONE). For that the information on the downlink measured level of the target cell RXLEV_NCELL is used. Each time, a candidate cells list is provided to the handover management entity, it must indicate for each concentric or multiband cell, the zone where the MS is deemed to be: inner or outer zone. If the MS is in a multiband cell and the MS is not a multiband one, the indication is always OUTER zone. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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So each time a concentric or multiband cell is in the candidate cells list, the handover detection function checks the following equation in a way to determine the MS zone location in this concentric or multiband cell.
IF AV_RXLEV_NCELL(target cell) > RXLEV_DL_ZONE + ZONE_HO_HYST_DL +BS_TXPWR_MAX - BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER, the mobile is in the inner zone ELSE the mobile is in the outer zone.
The equation is checked using: - the AV_RXLEV_NCELL(target cell) average, if A_LEV_HO measurements have been received from this target cell. - the average of the RXLEV_NCELL(target cell) measurements already received from the neighbour cell target cell (if between two measurements, in which the neighbour cell is reported, a measurement comes in, in which the neighbour cell is not reported, a 0 will be used to calculate the average). RXLEV_DL_ZONE, ZONE_HO_HYST_DL, BS_TXPWR and BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER are the parameters of the target concentric or multiband cell. They are available only if the intercell handover is performed in the same BSC.
3.1.1.3 Handover in a concentric or multiband cell For concentric cell environment, the cause "power budget" is applied in the inner zone as well as in the outer zone. For multiband cell environment, the cause "power budget" is applied in the inner zone as well as in the outer zone. In the inner zone, the cause power budget is only checked between multiband cells, in a way to maintain the MS in the preferred band. In order to avoid unnecessary handover alarms on SDCCH for all mobiles geographically located in the inner zone, the handover alarms cause 13 on SDCCH (from outer zone towards inner zone) must be filtered by the handover preparation function. For initiation of an intercell handover between a concentric or multiband cell (inner and outer zone) and the defined adjacent cell, the same handover criteria and handover strategies hold true as for non-concentric cells. The criteria for handover between the inner and outer zones is based either on the received signal level or on the interference level (see section 3.2.2.1.2). This kind of handover is called "interzone handover". A handover due to interference (cause = 15 or 16) will change, when it is possible, the frequency of the radio channel in case of non-hopping channels. As the inner zone contains only a few frequencies, this will give the opportunity to make an interzone handover from the inner to the outer zone in case of interference problems in the inner zone. In case of interference problems in the outer zone, the MS will always make an intrazone handover (it will stay connected to the outer zone). In case of hopping channels an interzone handover may occur from the inner to outer zone but never in the reverse direction (as with non-hopping channels). Both intrazone and interzone handovers are intracell handovers.

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3.1.2 MS speed discrimination 3.1.2.1 Basic principle

The speed discrimination procedure can only be activated in a hierarchical cell environment, i.e. when the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE = "Upper" or "Lower". It is based on the dwell time in the lower layer cells, either as serving or neighbour cells. The knowledge of the speed of a MS is indicated with a flag MS_SPEED that has the values "fast", "slow" and "indefinite". The value of this flag is kept for the whole call duration, once it has been set to "fast". This choice relates to the assumption that a prediction is possible on the MS speed. Whenever the MS moves into another cell and was not recognised "fast" at this occasion, or at a precedent occasion, the MS_SPEED is reset to "indefinite". The time experienced in a serving lower layer cell is kept in a counter C_DWELL (in SACCH multiframes). When a handover cause "power budget" is triggered, and the preceding cell was already a lower layer cell, this time is compared to a threshold MIN_CONNECT_TIME. If it is found smaller than the threshold, this indicates that the MS has crossed the serving lower layer cell in less than MIN_CONNECT_TIME seconds. In this case , the MS is considered to be moving fast and the handover is directed towards the upper layer preferentially. If it is found bigger than the threshold, this indicates that the MS has not yet been recognised as fast and the handover is directed towards the neighbour lower layer cell. The handover cause power budget is used because it is assumed that in any cell environment this cause will indicate that the MS is leaving the "better cell" zone of the serving cell, and not because of interference, shadowing, or street corner effect. The MS speed discrimination can only happen when the preceding cell is already a lower layer cell, this ensures that the MS has entered the cell at its edge and not at an arbitrary position inside the cell. This would be the case after call setup, or after a handover from an umbrella cell. Because the measured dwell time in the serving lower layer cell is taken between two points located at the edge of the cell, the time interval can be related to the MS speed, assuming that the main road on which fast moving mobiles are, is known beforehand. The MIN_CONNECT_TIME shall be set to the value necessary for a fast moving car (mean speed v about 40 km/h) necessary to travel along the cell on the main road. If there is no information available about a privileged direction of fast MS, then the Cell_ Diameter where v represents the average MIN_CONNECT_TIME shall be set to the value 2x v speed of fast moving mobiles. The speed discrimination function can be enabled/disabled on a per cell basis, using a flag : EN_SPEED_DISC. If EN_SPEED_DISC is set to DISABLE, then the dwell time in a serving lower layer cell is not used to determine if an MS is fast. Nevertheless, when the MS is on the upper layer, the dwell time in the neighbour lower layer cells is used to decide a handover to the lower layer, after a fixed period of time.
3.1.2.2 Required parameters and variables For each call a variable PREC_LAYER_TYPE is used to store the cell layer type of the preceding cell. It has four values : single, upper, lower, indefinite. For each call, a variable MS_SPEED is used to store the already determined mobile speed, if any. It has three values : "fast", "slow" and "indefinite". Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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The initialisation of the parameters will occur at call set-up and after external handover. After internal handover, the variables MS_SPEED and PREC_LAYER_TYPE will be transferred to the new call context, after possible modification. For each call on the upper layer, for each neighbour lower layer cell n a counter C_DWELL(n) measures the number of SACCH periods of monitoring the neighbour cell n over a threshold L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) (see 3.1.2.3) each time the cell n is monitored, C_DWELL(n) is compared to threshold 2*MIN_DWELL_TIME(n) For each call on the lower layer a counter C_DWELL measures the number of SACCH periods of connection to the serving cell (see 3.1.2.3). a threshold MIN_CONNECT_TIME is used at PBGT handover to decide on the MS speed
3.1.2.3 Parameter initialisation and modification ### CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower After call set-up or inter-cell handover C_DWELL = 0. After an intra-cell handover, C_DWELL is kept unchanged. After call set-up or external handover PREC_LAYER_TYPE = indefinite MS_SPEED = indefinite After an internal handover : MS_SPEED is kept to the preceding value. PREC_LAYER_TYPE is set to the preceding CELL_LAYER_TYPE (upper or lower or single). Both values are transmitted to the new call context. Each time a MEASUREMENT RESULT is received for a call in a lower layer cell C_DWELL is incremented by 1. When it reaches the maximum value of 255, it is no more incremented. When a handover cause "power budget" is triggered in a lower layer cell and PREC_LAYER_TYPE is lower and the parameter EN_SPEED_DISC = ENABLE for the serving cell and C_DWELL < 2*MIN_CONNECT_TIME , then MS_SPEED is set to "fast". Note : C_DWELL is expressed in SACCH periods and MIN_CONNECT_TIME in seconds. Hence, an approximation of the SACCH period to 0.5 s is made in the above equation. This will have no impact on the behaviour of the speed discrimination process.
### CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper After call set-up, intra-cell or inter-cell handover for all neighbour lower layer cells n : if EN_SPEED_DISC = ENABLE Phase 1 MS : C_DWELL(n) = (MIN_DWELL_TIME - L_MIN_DWELL_TIME)*2 Phase 2 MS : C_DWELL(n) = 0 else if EN_SPEED_DISC = DISABLE Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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C_DWELL(n) = (MIN_DWELL_TIME - L_MIN_DWELL_TIME) * 2
After call set-up PREC_LAYER_TYPE = indefinite MS_SPEED = indefinite After external handover PREC_LAYER_TYPE = indefinite If A interface cause = rise to upper layer then MS_SPEED = fast else MS_SPEED = indefinite After internal handover MS_SPEED is turned to "indefinite" if it was not precedently "fast", otherwise it is kept to "fast". PREC_LAYER_TYPE is set to the preceding CELL_LAYER_TYPE (upper or lower or single) and transmitted to the new call context. Each time a MEASUREMENT RESULT is received for a call on the upper layer : - Each time a measurement is received for the neighbour lower layer cell n (in MEASUREMENT REPORT), with a value RXLEV_NCELL(n) strictly above the threshold L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n), C_DWELL(n) is incremented by 1. When it reaches the maximum value of 255, it is no more incremented. - Each time no measurement is received or the reported level is smaller or equal to the threshold L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n), C_DWELL(n) is decremented by 1. When it reaches the minimum value of 0, it is no more decremented. If for one neighbour lower layer cell n, C_DWELL(n) ### 2*MIN_DWELL_TIME, and the MS_SPEED was "indefinite" then MS_SPEED is set to "slow".
Remarks : For phase 1 MS, or when EN_SPEED_DISC = DISABLE in the umbrella cell, the initialisation of C_DWELL(n) is done in such way that they will make a handover to the lower layer, after L_MIN_DWELL_TIME seconds, provided they are under the coverage area of a lower layer cell. This will give an efficient way to reduce the load of the umbrella cell, caused by a large proportion of Phase 1 MS, which will camp on this cell, because it has the best received level. For phase 2 MS and when EN_SPEED_DISC = ENABLE in the umbrella cell, the mobiles will have to receive sufficient level from a lower layer cell during MIN_DWELL_TIME seconds before leaving the upper layer for the lower layer. The variable MIN_DWELL_TIME is modified according to the traffic load in the umbrella cell in order to enable the slow mobiles to leave more easily a loaded umbrella cell (see 3.1.3.). The "leaky bucket" mechanism on counter C_DWELL(n) allows to do with the statistical shadowing affecting raw level measurements : if exactly 50% of the measurements are strictly above the L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) threshold, the value of C_DWELL(n) grows, otherwise it stays at 0. The value for the threshold L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) should be equal to the measured or planned mean signal level at the border of the lower layer cells. The counters C_DWELL(n) only work for neighbour cells, which belong to the lower layer.

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3.1.3 Load management in hierarchical environment In a hierarchical environment, it is very important to control the traffic load of the umbrella cells. The reason for this is that the umbrella cell may get saturated very easily, and hence unable to assume its two major functionalities : handle fast moving mobiles and provide overflow channels for the lower layer, in order to improve the total capacity at a constant grade of service. Therefore, a control mechanism is forecast, in order to have the averaged traffic load on the umbrella cell held between two limits L_LOAD_OBJ and H_LOAD_OBJ. This is done by two actions : - not performing handover towards the umbrella cell for power budget cause with fast mobiles when the umbrella is loaded (see section 3.2.2.3). - reducing the MIN_DWELL_TIME variable, so as to enable slow MS to leave more quickly the umbrella cell (see section 3.1.2. and below). Thus, the variable MIN_DWELL_TIME is modified according to the averaging of traffic load, called AV_LOAD (refer to [16]), on the umbrella cell (see figure 3.2-4). Each time the averaged load on the umbrella is recalculated, AV_LOAD is compared with the values L_LOAD_OBJ and H_LOAD_OBJ. If AV_LOAD > H_LOAD_OBJ MIN_DWELL_TIME := max(MIN_DWELL_TIME - DWELL_TIME_STEP, L_MIN_DWELL_TIME) If AV_LOAD < L_LOAD_OBJ MIN_DWELL_TIME := min(MIN_DWELL_TIME + DWELL_TIME_STEP, H_MIN_DWELL_TIME) The default value of MIN_DWELL_TIME will be H_MIN_DWELL_TIME. The setting of the DWELL_TIME_STEP parameter will be made using experiences in pilot sites. It will be incorporated in the user-settable default cell profile for umbrella cells, taking advantage of the compromise value found between reactivity and oscillating behaviour. Note : The umbrella load control mechanism can be disabled by setting the L_LOAD_OBJ to 0% and H_LOAD_OBJ to 100%, in this way MIN_DWELL_TIME is blocked to its current value. For setting MIN_DWELL_TIME to H_MIN_DWELL_TIME, the operation (setting L_LOAD_OBJ to 0% and H_LOAD_OBJ to 100%) must be made off-line or with no load in the cell.

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load in umbrella cell 100 %

regulation of traffic peak
H_LOAD_OBJ
L_LOAD_OBJ
end : low traffic
start : low traffic
H_MIN_DWELL_TIME DWELL_TIME_STEP Figure 3.2-4 : Traffic regulation with MIN_DWELL_TIME modified according to the traffic load
L_MIN_DWELL_TIME

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3.2 Handover preparation 3.2.1 General

3.2.1.1 HO preparation configuration At BSS initialisation, the parameters of handover preparation (see control flows of SADT diagrams in section 2.3.6) are contained in the BSC database (for further details on BSS initialisation, see [12]). Concerning the BSS reconfiguration, all the handover preparation parameters can be modified at OMC side and then provided to the concerned BSS (see messages description in [5]). For both initialisation and reconfiguration, the algorithms are configured in the BTS by the BSC with the message PREPROCESS CONFIGURE (see message description in [20]). This message is sent on the Abis radio signalling link (see [3]) on a TRX basis. Note : In case of TCU restart, the message is sent to the BTS (i.e. to the TRX(s) connected to the corresponding TCU).
3.2.1.2 HO preparation enabling and disabling Enabling The enabling may result from : - the establishment of a new connection, - an intracell handover, - an interzone handover, - an intercell handover. So, the specifications are the following ones : - the BSC enables the algorithms upon receipt of the ESTABLISH INDICATION message from the BTS (except in case of GPRS redirection procedure). During an SDCCH connection except during a GPRS redirection procedure, the BSC filters internally the handover alarms for a given number of MEASUREMENT RESULT messages (defined by the parameter SDCCH_COUNTER, for further details refer to [6]). For further details on the call establishment and handover protocol refer to [7], [9] and [10].
Disabling - the BSC disables the algorithms whenever it initiates a channel release on the radio interface. For further details on the call release procedure, refer to [11].
3.2.1.3 HO preparation function The handover preparation function is completely handled by the BSC. The input parameters of this function are provided by the Active channel preprocessing function every SACCH multiframe (refer to [20]). The following sections describe the general behaviour of the handover preparation function with its two processes : - HO detection : see section 3.2.2, - HO candidate cells list evaluation : see section 3.2.3. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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Handover detection
A handover alarm can be detected every SACCH multiframe upon reception of the averaged measurements for handover detection. Handover candidate cells list evaluation Once a handover alarm is detected, the HO detection process sends to the HO candidate cell evaluation process the list of the MS neighbouring cells with for each of them one of the handover causes which have been verified. It is an internal BSC action (implementation dependent). The handover candidate cells list evaluation builds a cells list which is, according to the case and the value of the timer T_FILTER, sent or not to the BSC function in charge of the handover management entity (see 3.2.4.). The figure 3.2-1 is the SDL diagram of the HO preparation function. Note : the event "HO parameters change" corresponds to a on-line reconfiguration (managed by the network operator) of the handover parameters used for HO detection and HO candidate cell evaluation.

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Document produced by GEODE <VERILOG (C)>
DESCRIPTION: PCHO
Partition 1/1
Page: 1 03-Feb-1995
1.5
PROCESS PCHO/Handover_preparation/Mode_B/BSC
HO threshold comparison
idle channel
active channel
wait T FILTER
activate HO preparation
HO parameters change
deactivate HO preparation
preproc meas for HO
HO parameters change
T FILTER expiry
deactivate HO preparation
preproc meas for HO
init T FILTER
active channel
idle channel
Wait T FILTER
active channel
idle channel
active channel
condition occurs?
condition occurs?
(No) (Yes) (No) Wait T FILTER
(Yes) HO candidate cell evaluation
active channel
Candidate cell list changes?'
candidate cells , HOcause TO HO execution
(No)
(Yes) candidate cells , HOcause TO HO execution
'restart T FILTER'
trigger T FILTER
Wait T FILTER
restart T FILTER
Wait T FILTER
Wait T FILTER
Figure 3.2-1 :
SDL diagram - HO preparation/BSC.- partition 1/1. Handover Preparation
ED
01
RELEASED
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3.2.2 Handover detection

This process is also called HO threshold comparison. Threshold comparisons are performed for every new set of average values AV_xxx_HO (i.e. every SACCH multiframe period) to detect possible need for handover. The detection of a handover cause can be enabled/disabled by flags. For each possible handover cause a flag is foreseen. Accordingly, HO alarms are sent to initiate the candidate cell evaluation function when a threshold condition occurs. After each handover alarm, the raw list of candidate cells and the preferred target cell layer are indicated to the handover candidate evaluation process. 3.2.2.1 Handover causes Twenty one different causes can lead the ALCATEL handover algorithm to detect a need for handover. These causes are identified with a number that is used for performance measurement counters Handover causes Too low quality on the uplink Too low level on the uplink Too low quality on the downlink Too low level on the downlink Too long MS-BS distance Several consecutive bad SACCH frames received (rescue microcell handover) Too low level on the uplink, inner zone (inner to outer zone handover, concentric or multiband cell) Too low level on the downlink, inner zone (inner to outer zone handover, concentric or multiband cell) Power budget Too high level on the uplink and the downlink, outer zone (out. to in. zone hand., concentric or multiband cell) High level in neighbour lower layer cell for slow mobile Too high interference level on the uplink Too high interference level on the downlink Too low level on the uplink in a microcell compared to a high threshold Too low level on the downlink in a microcell compared to a high threshold Forced Directed Retry High level in neighbour cell in the preferred band Too short MS-BTS distance Traffic HO General capture HO GPRS redirection Table 3.2-1 : Handover causes These causes can be sorted into the two categories : no 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25

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- emergency causes : 2,3,4,5,6,7,10,11,15,16,17,18,22 - better condition causes : 12,13,14,20,21,23,24,25

Section 2.3.5 describes which causes can be individually inhibited by O&M commands. Note : the relationships between the handover cause values used on the A interface and the handover cause values used by the ALCATEL BSS are given in reference [9]. In the following, the handover causes will be detailed according to the handover categories, as defined in 2.3.3. The recapitulation of the cell types allowed for the serving and the candidate cell for each handover cause can be found in appendix B. 3.2.2.1.1 Intercell handover causes The equations (HO-1) to (HO-6) and HO_INTERCELL_ALLOWED = ENABLE. (HO-18) to (HO-25) are checked only if
3.2.2.1.1.1 Emergency intercell handover causes The various HO causes for emergency intercell handover are : Note : The GSM coding of quality is contra-intuitive, since the value 0 codes for the best quality and 7 for the worst. Thus, the comparison between two quality values must be understood in the opposite way in terms of quality. In order to take into account the frequency hopping in the RXQUAL evaluation the variable OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH is introduced (for more information refer to [ 21]). If on the corresponding channel, Frequency hopping is applied then OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = Offset_Hopping_HO otherwise OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = 0 Offset_Hopping_HO is a parameter defined on a per cell basis. CAUSE = 2 (too low quality on the uplink) AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO > L_RXQUAL_UL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH AV_RXLEV_UL_HO <= RXLEV_UL_IH MS_TXPWR = min(P, MS_TXPWR_MAX) EN_RXQUAL_UL = ENABLE (HO-1)
and and and
Note : This handover cause can also be triggered in case of repetitive intracell handover, see section 3.2.2.1.1.2 CAUSE = 3 (too low level on the uplink) AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO <= L_RXQUAL_UL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH AV_RXLEV_UL_HO < L_RXLEV_UL_H MS_TXPWR = min(P, MS_TXPWR_MAX) EN_RXLEV_UL = ENABLE (HO-2)
and and and
In (HO-1) and (HO-2), MS_TXPWR is the last MS_TXPWR_CONF value reported by the BTS in the message MEASUREMENT RESULT or PREPROCESSED MEASUREMENT RESULT (refer to[20]). Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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CAUSE = 4 (too low quality on the downlink)

and and and
AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO > L_RXQUAL_DL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH AV_RXLEV_DL_HO <= RXLEV_DL_IH BS_TXPWR = BS_TXPWR_MAX EN_RXQUAL_DL = ENABLE
(HO-3)
Note : This handover cause can also be triggered in case of repetitive intracell handover, see section 3.2.2.1.1.2 CAUSE = 5 (too low level on the downlink) AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO <= L_RXQUAL_DL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH AV_RXLEV_DL_HO < L_RXLEV_DL_H BS_TXPWR = BS_TXPWR_MAX EN_RXLEV_DL = ENABLE (HO-4)
and and and
Note : In case of concentric or multiband cell, if an MS uses a TCH which belongs to the inner zone, MS_TXPWR_MAX must be replaced by MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER in (HO-1) and (HO-2) and BS_TXPWR_MAX must be replaced by BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER in (HO-3) and (HO-4). Note : The case where L_RXQUAL_XX_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH > 7 corresponds in the equations to L_RXQUAL_XX_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = 7.
Unlike the previous causes, the five following handover causes do not take into account the increase of the MS or the BS power to its maximum. CAUSE = 6 (too long MS-BS distance) AV_RANGE_HO > U_TIME_ADVANCE EN_DIST_HO = ENABLE (HO-5)
and
The following cause is only checked if the Cell range of the cell is set to extended_outer. CAUSE = 22 (too short MS-BS distance) AV_RANGE_HO L_TIME_ADVANCE (HO-23)
- L_TIME_ADVANCE : Minimum distance for handover from the extended outer zone
The three following equations are only used in microcells, i.e. the corresponding flags are set to ENABLE if the cell profile is microcell (or CELL_DIMENSION_TYPE = micro) and to DISABLE for all other cell profiles.

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CAUSE = 7 (consecutive bad SACCH frames received in a microcell))

and
last N_BAD_SACCH consecutive SACCH frames are not correctly received EN_MCHO_RESCUE = ENABLE
(HO-20)
The cause 7 is managed with an internal BSC variable which counts the number of bad SACCH frames consecutively received : - this counter is incremented every time a MEASUREMENT RESULT or PREPROCESSED MEASUREMENT RESULT message with BFI = 1(Bad Frame Indication) is received, - this counter is reset every time a MEASUREMENT RESULT or PREPROCESSED MEASUREMENT RESULT message with BFI = 0 is received. The format of these two messages is given in [20].
CAUSE = 17 (Too low level on the uplink in a microcell compared to a high threshold) AV_RXLEV_UL_MCHO(i) ### U_RXLEV_UL_MCHO AV_RXLEV_UL_MCHO(i-1) > U_RXLEV_UL_MCHO EN_MCHO_H_UL = ENABLE (HO-18)
and and
In (HO-18) and (HO-19), i is the index of the last MS measurement report. CAUSE = 18 (Too low level on the downlink in a microcell compared to a high threshold) AV_RXLEV_DL_MCHO(i) ### U_RXLEV_DL_MCHO AV_RXLEV_DL_MCHO(i-1) > U_RXLEV_DL_MCHO EN_MCHO_H_DL = ENABLE (HO-19)
and and
3.2.2.1.1.2 Forced intercell handover cause on quality If on the uplink or on the downlink : i. either the intracell handovers are forbidden in the serving cell (i.e. EN_INTRA_UL/DL = DISABLE), ii. or the repetition of intracell handover is not allowed in the serving cell, the handover detection function will indicate an intercell handover with cause "UL/DL quality too low", so far as the conditions on power level MS/BS_TXPWR_MAX, and on the flags EN_RXQUAL_UL/DL and HO_INTERCELL_ALLOWED are fulfilled. The condition RXLEV_UL/DL=<RXLEV_UL/DL_IH is not checked in this case as it is done for a nonforced quality handover (see equations (HO-1) and (HO-3)). The priority order of UL/DL is UL (uplink) and then DL (downlink). The repetition may be inhibited by setting the O&M flag EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED to DISABLE. Concerning the case ii, the condition no previous intracell handover for this connection failed is given by the function handling the call in the BSC. This condition is used to avoid repetitive intracell handovers. If an intracell handover for a given connection was not successful (handover failure, no free timeslot, etc...) it is not repeated when the next handover alarm occurs. If an intracell handover is still required for this connection, the handover is turned into an intercell handover as described above. Then for the same call in the new cell, intracell handover is allowed again. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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3.2.2.1.1.3 Better cell handover causes ### The following cause is checked over all the neighbour cells belonging to the same layer . It means that it is checked between cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE is single or upper and between cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE is lower. This cause must not be checked between cells which use different frequency band (i.e cells having different CELL_BAND_TYPE) The cause 12 for handover from TCH to TCH and for directed retry on handover alarms from SDCCH to TCH is: If the MS is in the inner zone of a multiband cell, the cause 12 is checked over all the neighbour multiband cells (FREQUENCY_RANGE=GSM-DCS) which belong to the same BSC as the serving cell. CAUSE = 12 (Power budget) If EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n)=ENABLE (HO-6) then PBGT(n) > HO_MARGIN(0,n) + OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER + max(0, DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n)) (n=1...BTSnum) else PBGT(n) > HO_MARGIN(0,n) + OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO RXLEV_LIMIT_PBGT_HO EN_PBGT_HO = ENABLE (HO-7)
and and
with PBGT(n) = AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO - (BS_TXPWR_MAX - AV_BS_TXPWR_HO) - (MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX) - PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref)
OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER is only used in the inner zone of a concentric or multiband cell. The cause 12 for handover from SDCCH to SDCCH is: CAUSE = 12 (Power budget) PBGT(n) > HO_MARGIN(0,n) (n=1...BTSnum) AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO RXLEV_LIMIT_PBGT_HO EN_PBGT_HO = ENABLE (HO-6)
and and
The equation of PBGT is explained in details in appendix A. - RXLEV_LIMIT_PBGT_HO : threshold above which it is not necessary to trigger a handover on power budget. - AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) : average of RXLEV_NCELL(n) over A_PBGT_HO measurements (neighbour cell(n)). - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO : average of the received levels RXLEV_DL_FULL or RXLEV_DL_SUB over A_PBGT_HO measurements (serving cell). - BS_TXPWR_MAX : max power of the BTS in the serving cell (fixed value for each BTS). - AV_BS_TXPWR_HO : Average of BS_POWER over A_PBGT_HO measurements. - MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) : max. power level the MS is allowed to use in its neighbour cell(n). - MS_TXPWR_MAX : max. power the MS is allowed to use in the serving cell. - OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER: offset which allows to take account of the radio differences between outer and inner zone (especially in case of multiband cell). Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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- PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref) is a penalty put on the cell n if : it is the immediately precedent cell on which the call has been, this cell belongs to the same BSC as the serving cell, the call has not performed a forced directed retry towards the serving cell, less than T_HCP seconds have elapsed since the last handover. In this case PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref) = PING_PONG_HCP. If the call was not precedently on cell n, or if the preceding cell was external to the serving BSS, or if the call has just performed a forced directed retry, or if the timer T_HCP has expired, then PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref) = 0 - DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) is evaluated according to the traffic situation of the serving cell and the neighbour cell n (Traffic_load(n), refer to [ 16]) in the following way. If Traffic_load(0)=high and Traffic_load(n)=low DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n)= -DELTA_DEC_HO_margin If Traffic_load(0)=low and Traffic_load(n)=high DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n)= DELTA_INC_HO_margin else DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n)=0 where DELTA_DEC_HO_margin allows the cause 23 (traffic handover) detection when the traffic in the serving cell is high and is low in the cell n. DELTA_INC_HO_margin allows to penalise the cause 12 detection when the traffic in the serving cell is low and is high in the cell n. Note : In the case of concentric or multiband cells, if the channel is in the inner zone (ZONE_TYPE = INNER), BS_TXPWR_MAX and MS_TXPWR_MAX in equation (HO-7) must be replaced by BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER and MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER respectively. If the channel is in the outer zone (ZONE_TYPE = OUTER), the formulation of equation (HO-7) is not changed. Note : The value of PBGT(n) is calculated every SACCH period for each neighbour cell n whose measures are kept in the book-keeping list.
The four following equations are only checked for handover from TCH to TCH and for directed retry on handover alarms from SDCCH to TCH. For handover from SDCCH to SDCCH, they are not checked. ### The following equation is checked if and only if CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper (this rule is applied at the OMC by disabling the flag EN_MCHO_NCELL when CELL_LAYER_TYPE is different from upper). If the MS is in the inner zone of a multiband cell, the cause 14 is checked over all the neighbour cells with CELL_LAYER_TYPE(n) = lower except the ones with EN_BI-BAND_MS(n)=DISABLE and CELL_BAND_TYPE(n)=CELL_BAND_TYPE(0). If the MS is not in the inner zone of a multiband cell and the MS is in a cell with CELL_BAND_TYPE(0)=PREFERRED_BAND, the cause 14 is checked over all the neighbour cells with CELL_LAYER_TYPE(n) = lower except the ones with EN_BI-BAND_MS(n)=DISABLE and CELL_BAND_TYPE(n)<>PREFERRED_BAND. If the MS is not in the inner zone of a multiband cell and the MS is in a cell with CELL_BAND_TYPE(0)<>PREFERRED_BAND, the cause 14 is checked over all the neighbour cells with CELL_LAYER_TYPE(n) = lower.

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CAUSE = 14 (high level in neighbour lower layer cell for slow mobile)
(HO-
21) AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) > L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) MS_SPEED = slow EN_MCHO_NCELL = ENABLE n = (1...BTSnum)
and and
### The following equation is checked if and only if CELL_BAND_TYPE is different from the parameter PREFERRED_BAND (This checking is performed at the BSC). It is checked for all neighbour cells n in the preferred band (i.e. CELL_BAND_TYPE(n) = PREFERRED_BAND). If the parameter PREFERRED_BAND is set to none, the equation is never checked. CAUSE = 21 (high level in neighbour cell in the preferred band) (HO -22)
and and and
Traffic_load(0) = MULTIBAND_TRAFFIC_CONDITION Traffic_load(n) <> high AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) > L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) + max(0,[MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)-P]) EN_PREFERRED_BAND_HO = ENABLE
- Traffic_load(0) : situation of the traffic in the serving cell. - MULTIBAND_TRAFFIC_CONDITION : Condition on traffic load in the serving cell for a multiband handover. This parameter can have three different values: ANY_LOAD: the condition on traffic load is always fulfilled. NOT_LOW: the condition on traffic load is fulfilled only if Traffic_load(0)<>low. HIGH: the condition on traffic load is fulfilled only if Traffic_load(0)=high. Note : MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) and P are the powers in the preferred band. The following cause is checked over all the neighbour cells belonging to the same layer. It means that it is checked between cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE is single or upper and between cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE is lower. This cause must not be checked between cells which use different frequency band (i.e cells having different CELL_BAND_TYPE) If the MS is in the inner zone of a multiband cell, the cause 23 is checked over all the neighbour multiband cells (FREQUENCY_RANGE=GSM-DCS) which belong to the same BSC as the serving cell. CAUSE = 23 (Traffic HO) DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) < 0dB and PBGT(n) > HO_MARGIN(0,n) DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) (n=1...BTSnum) and EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n) = ENABLE (HO -24)
OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER
DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n) is evaluated as for cause 12.

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### If the MS is in the inner zone of a multiband cell, the cause 24 is checked over all the neighbour cells except the ones with EN_BI-BAND_MS(n)=DISABLE and CELL_BAND_TYPE(n) = CELL_BAND_TYPE(0). If the MS is not in the inner zone of a multiband cell and the MS is in a cell with CELL_BAND_TYPE(0)=PREFERRED_BAND, the cause 24 is checked over all the neighbour cells except the ones with EN_BI-BAND_MS(n)=DISABLE and CELL_BAND_TYPE(n) <> PREFERRED_BAND. If the MS is not in the inner zone of a multiband cell and the MS is in a cell with CELL_BAND_TYPE(0)<>PREFERRED_BAND, the cause 24 is checked over all the neighbour cells.
CAUSE = 24 (General capture HO)
(HO -25)
and and and
Traffic_load(0) = CAPTURE_TRAFFIC_CONDITION Traffic_load(n) <> high AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) > L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) + max(0,[MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)-P]) EN_GENERAL_CAPTURE_HO = ENABLE
- Traffic_load(0) : situation of the traffic in the serving cell. - CAPTURE_TRAFFIC_CONDITION : Condition on traffic load in the serving cell for a general capture handover. This parameter can have three different values: ANY_LOAD: the condition on traffic load is always fulfilled. NOT_LOW: the condition on traffic load is fulfilled only if Traffic_load(0)<>low. HIGH: the condition on traffic load is fulfilled only if Traffic_load(0)=high.
3.2.2.1.2 Intracell handover causes 3.2.2.1.2.1 Emergency intracell handover causes The various HO alarms for intracell handover are : Note : The GSM coding of quality is contra-intuitive, since the value 0 codes for the best quality and 7 for the worst. Thus, the comparison between two quality values must be understood in the opposite way in terms of quality. In order to take into account the frequency hopping in the RXQUAL evaluation the variable OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH is introduced (for more information refer to [ 21]). If on the corresponding channel, Frequency hopping is applied then OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = Offset_Hopping_HO otherwise OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = 0 Offset_Hopping_HO is a parameter defined on a per cell basis.
CAUSE = 15 (too high interference level on the uplink) AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO > L_RXQUAL_UL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH AV_RXLEV_UL_HO > RXLEV_UL_IH EN_INTRA_UL = ENABLE ( no previous intracell handover for this connection failed or EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED = ENABLE ). (HO-8)
and and and

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CAUSE = 16 (too high interference level on the downlink) AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO > L_RXQUAL_DL_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH AV_RXLEV_DL_HO > RXLEV_DL_IH EN_INTRA_DL = ENABLE (no previous intracell handover for this connection failed or EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED = ENABLE ) (HO-9)
and and and A
Note : The case where L_RXQUAL_XX_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH > 7 corresponds in the equations to L_RXQUAL_XX_H + OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH = 7.
The following handover causes are specific to concentric or multiband cell configurations. They are checked only if CELL_PARTITION_TYPE = CONCENTRIC and the active channel is a TCH. Furthermore, they are only valid for handover from the inner zone to the outer zone of the concentric or multiband cell. Thus, the following conditions are checked only if ZONE_TYPE = INNER_ZONE (it means that the channel is in the inner zone partition).
CAUSE = 10 (too low level on the uplink, inner zone) AV_RXLEV_UL_HO < RXLEV_UL_ZONE MS_TXPWR = min(P, MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER) (HO-15)
and
CAUSE = 11 (too low level on the downlink, inner zone) AV_RXLEV_DL_HO < RXLEV_DL_ZONE BS_TXPWR = BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER (HO-16)
and
3.2.2.1.2.2 Better zone handover cause The following handover cause is specific to concentric or multiband cell configurations. It is checked only if CELL_PARTITION_TYPE = CONCENTRIC and the active channel is a TCH. Furthermore, it is only valid for handover from the outer zone to the inner zone of the concentric or multiband cell. Thus, the following condition is checked only if ZONE_TYPE = OUTER_ZONE (it means that the channel is in the outer zone partition). If the FREQUENCY_RANGE = GSM-DCS (the MS is in a multiband cell), the cause is checked only if the MS is a multiband one. The following cause must be checked for all the neighbour cells in the same layer and the same frequency band as the serving cell.

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CAUSE = 13 (Too high level on the uplink and the downlink, outer zone)
AV_RXLEV_UL_HO > RXLEV_UL_ZONE + ZONE_HO_HYST_UL + (MS_TXPWR - MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER) + PING_PONG_MARGIN(0, call_ref) and AV_RXLEV_DL_HO > RXLEV_DL_ZONE + ZONE_HO_HYST_DL + BS_TXPWR - BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER + PING_PONG_MARGIN(0, call_ref) and AV_RXLEV_NCELL_BIS(n) NEIGHBOUR_RXLEV(0,n) and EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO = ENABLE
(HO-17)
ZONE_TYPE = OUTER ZONE means that the channel is in the outer zone partition. RXLEV_DL_ZONE : Threshold of downlink received level for interzone handover, RXLEV_UL_ZONE : Threshold of uplink receive level for interzone handover, ZONE_HO_HYST_UL : Hysteresis uplink for interzone handover from the outer to the inner zone which also takes account of the propagation difference between GSM900 and DCS1800 in the case of multiband cell, ZONE_HO_HYST_DL : Hysteresis downlink for interzone handover from the outer to the inner zone which also takes account of the propagation difference between GSM900 and DCS1800 and of the difference of output power in the BTS in the two bands in the case of multiband cell, MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER : Maximum permissible transmission power of the mobile station in the inner zone of the concentric or multiband cell, BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER : Maximum permissible transmission power of the base station in the inner zone of the concentric or multiband cell, AV_RXLEV_DL_HO and AV_RXLEV_UL_HO : see previous sections, MS_TXPWR and BS_TXPWR : last BS_POWER and MS_TXPWR_CONF reported by the BTS in the MEASUREMENT RESULT (see section 4.1). NEIGHBOUR_RXLEV(0,n) : Threshold of maximum downlink received level from the neighbour cells. PING_PONG_MARGIN(0,call_ref) is a penalty put on the cause 13 if : the immediately precedent zone on which the call has been is the inner zone of the serving cell, the last handover was not an external intracell handover (case which can occur in the DCS 1800 inner zone of a multiband cell in case of emergency handover see 3.2.2.3), less than T_HCP seconds have elapsed since the last handover. In this case PING_PONG_MARGIN(0,call_ref) = PING_PONG_HCP. If the call was not precedently on the serving cells inner zone (case of intercell or intrazone handover), or if the timer T_HCP has expired, then PING_PONG_MARGIN(0,call_ref) = 0 Note: For the computation of AV_RXLEV_NCELL_BIS(n) refer to [20].
The figure 3.2-2 is the state diagram of the handover detection process (signal level - signal quality) in case of conventional cell environment. The HO causes for microcellular handover are not shown. The threshold values are only indicative.

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RXQUAL 0
1
Level intercell HO (HO-2,HO-4)
Power Control
4
5
L_RXQUAL_XX_H 6 7
0 10
Quality intercell HO
Intracell HO (HO-8,HO-9) RXLEV
(HO-1,HO-3)
20
30
40
50
60
L_RXLEV_XX_H
L_RXLEV_XX_IH
Figure 3.2-2 : State diagram for handover detection (signal level - signal quality)

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The figure 3.2-3 represents the triggering areas of PBGT and traffic handovers according to the traffic load in the serving cell and in the neighbour cell.
PBGT(n2) Handover from n1 to n2
PBGT Handover
HO_MARGIN(n1,n2) + DELTA_INC_HO_margin
PBGT Handover
HO_MARGIN(n1,n2)
HO_MARGIN(n1,n2) DELTA_DEC_HO_margin
Traffic_load(n1)=low Traffic_load(n2)=high
2*HO_MARGIN +DELTA_INC_HO_margin -DELTA_DEC_HO_margin
Traffic Handover
Other cases
Traffic_load(n1)=high Traffic_load(n2)=low Traffic_load
2*HO_MARGIN
HO_MARGIN(n2,n1) DELTA_DEC_HO_margin
HO_MARGIN(n2,n1)
Traffic Handover
HO_MARGIN(n2,n1) + DELTA_INC_HO_margin
PBGT Handover
PBGT Handover
PBGT(n1)
Handover from n2 to n1
Figure 3.2-3: PBGT(n) according to the traffic load in the serving cell and the neighbour cell.
2*HO_MARGIN +DELTA_INC_HO_margin -DELTA_DEC_HO_margin

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3.2.2.2 Handover causes priority

The handover causes are checked with the following priority order : Emergency causes : - Consecutive bad SACCH frames - Level uplink microcell - high threshold - Level downlink microcell - high threshold - Too low quality Uplink - Too low quality Downlink - Too low level Uplink - Too low level Downlink - Too long MS-BS distance - Too short MS-BS distance - Inner zone too low level Uplink - Inner zone too low level Downlink - Too high interference intracell Uplink - Too high interference intracell Downlink Cause = 7 Cause = 17 Cause = 18 Cause = 2 Cause = 4 Cause = 3 Cause = 5 Cause = 6 Cause = 22 Cause = 10 Cause = 11 Cause = 15 Cause = 16
Better condition causes : - high level in neighbour cell in the preferred band - high level in neighbour lower layer cell for slow mobile - General capture handover - Power budget - Traffic handover - Outer zone level Uplink & Downlink - Forced Directed Retry - GPRS redirection Cause = 21 Cause = 14 Cause = 24 Cause = 12 Cause = 23 Cause = 13 Cause = 20 Cause = 25
Table 3.2-2 : Priority order of alarms for Handover The better condition causes 21, 14, 24, 12 and 23 have the same priority. For each cell in the list of possible candidate cell is associated a cause. If a cell is in the candidate cell list because of 2 different causes, only the one with the highest priority in the ordered list (cause 21, cause 14, cause 24, cause 12 and cause 23) in which cause 21 has the highest priority is kept.
3.2.2.3 Indication of raw cell list and preferred layer After an inter cell handover alarm has been detected, the candidate cell evaluation receives a raw cell list with for each cell one of the handover causes which have been verified and the indication of the preferred layer for the target cell. ### Standard cell environment When the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE is single, the following rules are applied : Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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The raw cell list is : for Better cell handover (power budget, forced directed retry, traffic handover, general capture handover and preferred band handover) : the neighbour cells which verify the cause, for Emergency handover : all neighbour cells; and if the MS is in the DCS 1800 inner zone of a multiband cell, the serving cell must be added to the raw cell list with the MS zone indication OUTER. However, in both cases, if the serving cell is an extended-inner cell, the extended-outer cell must be filtered from the raw cell list except in case of handover cause 6. If the serving cell is an extended-outer cell, the extended-inner cell must be filtered from the raw cell list except in case of handover cause 22. The indication of the preferred layer is PREF_LAYER = upper+single
### Hierarchical cell environment When the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE is lower or upper, the following rules are applied : The cell raw list is calculated as : - for "better cell" intercell handover causes (causes 12, 14, 20, 21, 23 and 24) the subset of neighbour cells which verify the handover causes. If the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower, there is a cell in the list because of cause 12 and MS_SPEED = fast, the cell raw list must also contain the whole set of internal neighbour umbrella cells with information Traffic_load(n)=low (they do not need to verify the HO cause) - for emergency handover causes: the whole set of neighbour cells; and if the MS is in the DCS 1800 inner zone of a multiband cell, the serving cell must be added to the raw cell list with the MS zone indication OUTER. Except if the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE = LOWER, select the whole set of neighbour cells except the umbrella cells n which do not verify: AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n)>OUTDOOR_UMB_LEV(0,n) and if the MS is in the DCS 1800 inner zone of a multiband cell, the serving cell must be added to the raw cell list with the MS zone indication OUTER.
The indication of the preferred layer is calculated on basis of two rules -"Better cell" handover causes (12, 14, 20, 21, 23 and 24) will indicate : PREF_LAYER = none Except if the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower, there is a cell in the list because of cause 12 and MS_SPEED = fast. In this case PREF_LAYER = upper. - the "Emergency" handover causes will indicate : - When the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE is lower : if EN_RESCUE_UM = ENABLE (used generally for microcells) : PREF_LAYER = upper if EN_RESCUE_UM = DISABLE (used for other cell types ) : PREF_LAYER = lower if EN_RESCUE_UM = INDEFINITE : PREF_LAYER = none
- When the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE is upper : Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED

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PREF_LAYER = upper+single
The tables below resume the indications given to the candidate cell evaluation process in hierarchical environment for serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower. Indication MS_SPEED = fast and there is a cell in the list because of cause 12 subset of cells verifying the HO causes plus all neighbour umbrella cells with Traffic_load(n)=low upper MS_SPEED <> fast or Handover cause <> 12 subset of cells verifying the HO cause
Raw cell list for Better cell HO
PREF_LAYER for Better cell HO
none
table 3.2-3 : indications to candidate evaluation for better cell handover
Indication Raw cell list for Emergency HO
PREF_LAYER for Emergency HO
EN_RESCUE_UM = EN_RESCUE_UM = ENABLE DISABLE all neighbour cells (1) all neighbour cells (1) except if the serving except if the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE = CELL_LAYER_TYPE = LOWER, exclude LOWER, exclude umbrella cells which do umbrella cells which do not verify not verify AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n)> AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n)> OUTDOOR_UMB_LEV(0 OUTDOOR_UMB_LEV(0 ,n). ,n). upper lower
EN_RESCUE_UM = indefinite all neighbour cells (1) except if the serving CELL_LAYER_TYPE = LOWER, exclude umbrella cells which do not verify AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n )>OUTDOOR_UMB_ LEV(0,n). none
table 3.2-4 : indications to candidate evaluation for emergency handover
(1): if the MS is in the DCS 1800 inner zone of a multiband cell, the serving cell must be added to the raw cell list with the MS zone indication OUTER.

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3.2.3 HO Candidate Cell Evaluation

The HO candidate evaluation process is run after all intercell handover alarms. In case of intra-cell handover alarm (HO causes 10, 11, 13, 15, 16), the candidate cell evaluation process is skipped: the target cell is the serving cell. The handover detection gives as indication the raw cell list and the preferred layer for the handover.In case of emergency handover alarms or cause 20 alarm, the cell evaluation will order the cells given in the raw list, putting in the first position the cells belonging to the preferred layer, having the highest priority (if EN_PRIORITY_ORDERING=ENABLE) and/or having the same frequency band type as the serving cell. In case of an intercell handover alarm, if the serving cell belongs to the raw cell list (emergency handover from the DCS 1800 inner zone of a multiband cell), this cell is put at the end of the candidate cell list with the MS zone indication OUTER. In case of better condition handover alarms (except cause 20), the cell evaluation will order the cells given in the raw list, putting in the first position the cells belonging to the preferred layer and having the highest priority (if EN_PRIORITY_ORDERING=ENABLE).
Input parameters This process receives (refer to input flows described in section 2.3.6) : - measurements of up to 32 neighbour cells (TCU internal indication) handled by the BSC cell book-keeping function. - the raw cell list of potential candidates to be ordered with for each of them one of the handover causes which have been verified. - the preferred layer for the target cell indicated by the variable PREF_LAYER - the cell configuration parameters which contains the variable CELL_BAND_TYPE.
Determination of the target cell list In case of emergency handover alarm or cause 20 alarm, the target cell list is built from the cell ordering according to target layer, target band (see 2.3.4.2) and the priority of each cells (if EN_PRIORITY_ORDERING=ENABLE) and from the cell evaluation function indicated by the flag CELL_EV associated to the serving cell (see 3.2.3.1 and 3.2.3.2). The priority of each cells is defined by the parameter PRIORITY(0,n). The ordering of the target cell list (from the higher priority to the lower one) is performed according to the following scheme : {Candidate cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE = PREF_LAYER { Candidate cells which have the lowest PRIORITY(0,n) { Candidate cells whose CELL_BAND_TYPE = serving CELL_BAND_TYPE { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } Candidate cells whose CELL_BAND_TYPE <> serving CELL_BAND_TYPE { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } } Candidate cells which have the next lowest PRIORITY(0,n) { Candidate cells whose CELL_BAND_TYPE = serving CELL_BAND_TYPE { Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } Candidate cells whose CELL_BAND_TYPE <> serving CELL_BAND_TYPE { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } } . . . } Candidate cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE <> PREF_LAYER { Candidate cells which have the lowest PRIORITY(0,n) { Candidate cells whose CELL_BAND_TYPE = serving CELL_BAND_TYPE { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } Candidate cells whose CELL_BAND_TYPE <> serving CELL_BAND_TYPE { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } } Candidate cells which have the next lowest PRIORITY(0,n) { Candidate cells whose CELL_BAND_TYPE = serving CELL_BAND_TYPE { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } Candidate cells whose CELL_BAND_TYPE <> serving CELL_BAND_TYPE { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } } . . . } Serving cell (MS zone indication = OUTER) }
In case of better condition handover alarm except cause 20, the target cell list is built from the cell ordering according to target layer and the priority of each cells (if EN_PRIORITY_ORDERING=ENABLE) and from the cell evaluation function indicated by the flag CELL_EV associated to the serving cell (see 3.2.3.1 and 3.2.3.2). The priority of each cells is defined by the parameter PRIORITY(0,n). The ordering of the target cell list (from the higher priority to the lower one) is performed according to the following scheme : Candidate cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE = PREF_LAYER { Candidate cells which have the lowest PRIORITY(0,n) { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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Candidate cells which have the next lowest PRIORITY(0,n) { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } . . . } Candidate cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE <> PREF_LAYER { Candidate cells which have the lowest PRIORITY(0,n) { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } Candidate cells which have the next lowest PRIORITY(0,n) { cell ordering according to cell evaluation function } . . . }
Note : - if PREF_LAYER = none, only the second part of the scheme (i.e. candidate cells whose CELL_LAYER_TYPE <> PREF_LAYER) is considered. - if PREF_LAYER = upper+single, the condition for the first part of the scheme will be : CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper or CELL_LAYER_TYPE = single. The condition for the second part will be CELL_LAYER_TYPE <> upper and CELL_LAYER_TYPE <> single. - if EN_PRIORITY_ORDERING=DISABLE, the priority(0,n) is not taken into account. The flag CELL_EV is managed by the network operator on a per cell basis. It has two values, which correspond to the two cell evaluation functions ORDER and GRADE (see 3.2.3.1 and 3.2.3.2 ) . A filtering process can be applied to the target list before the ORDER or GRADE evaluation process in case of emergency handovers. The filtering process, the ORDER or GRADE evaluation process are not applied to the serving cell when it is in the target cell list. The serving cell is always at the end of the target cell list. After the cell evaluation processing, the list of candidate target cells with their cause is provided to the function in charge of the handover decision and execution.
Output parameters The Handover candidate cell evaluation function shall provide the BSC entities in charge of HO execution and channel allocation the following parameters : - list of candidate cells with their cause and with the serving cell at the end of the list in case of emergency handover from the DCS 1800 inner zone of a multiband cell. The HO causes together with the CELL_PARTITION_TYPE parameter shall be used by the BSC channel allocation entity (for further details, see [16]) as described in the next table :

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CELL_PARTITION_TYPE ###
Normal
Concentric
HO cause ### 15, 16 Intracell handover Intrazone or interzone Select a channel in the handover same cell Select a channel in the same cell Not applicable Interzone handover Select a channel in the other zone Intercell handover Intercell handover Channel allocation is Channel allocation is described in ref [16]. described in ref [16]. Table 3.2-5 : Channel allocation strategy
10, 11, 13
Others
3.2.3.1 Filtering process The filtering process allows to filter out cells from the target list before the ORDER or GRADE evaluation process. This process can be enabled or disabled by the flag EN_PBGT_FILTERING. This filtering process is inhibited for better cell handovers (HO causes 12, 14, 20, 21, 23 or 243). It is not applied to the serving cell when it is in the target cell list. If EN_PBGT_FILTERING is set to enable, all the cells(n) which do not fulfil the following condition (HO-13) are rejected from the cell list sent to the ORDER or GRADE evaluation process.
PBGT(n) > HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n) + OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER 13)
(HO-
OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER is only applied when the MS is in the inner zone of a concentric or multiband cell. HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n) has the following values: HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)=HO_MARGIN_QUAL(0,n) HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)=HO_MARGIN_LEV(0,n) HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)=HO_MARGIN_DIST(0,n)
If cause =2, 4 or 7 If cause =3, 5, 17 or 18 If cause =6 or 22
If no cell fulfils the condition and the serving cell does not belong to the target cell list, the target cell list is empty and no further action is carried out. If the target list is not empty, it is sent to the ORDER or GRADE evaluation process according to CELL_EV.
3.2.3.2 ORDER cell evaluation process Note that the word "PATHLOSS" was in the past sometimes used instead of "ORDER". The value of ORDER(n) for each neighbour cell(n) is computed according to the following formula : if EN_LOAD_ORDER = ENABLE and cell n is internal to the BSC

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ORDER(n) = PBGT(n) + LINKfactor(0,n) + FREEfactor(n) - FREEfactor(0) - HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)
(HO-10)
if EN_LOAD_ORDER = DISABLE or cell n is external to the BSC ORDER(n) = PBGT(n) + LINKfactor(0,n) - HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n) (HO-10)
For emergency handover causes, HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n) has the following values: HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)=HO_MARGIN_QUAL(0,n) If cause =2, 4 or 7 HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)=HO_MARGIN_LEV(0,n) If cause =3, 5, 17 or 18 HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)=HO_MARGIN_DIST(0,n) If cause =6 or 22 For better cell handover causes, HO_MARGIN_XX(0,n)=HO_MARGIN(0,n) - The flag EN_LOAD_ORDER is settable by OMC command. - LINKfactor(0,n), HO_MARGIN_QUAL(0,n), HO_MARGIN_LEV(0,n), HO_MARGIN_DIST(0,n) and HO_MARGIN(0,n) are parameters set by OMC command for each neighbour cell(n). - FREEfactor(n) : weighting factor that takes into account the number of free traffic channels in a cell. - For TCH, FREEfactor(n) is set to the value according to table T2, - for SDCCH : FREEfactor(n) = 0. - PBGT(n) is the power budget between the serving cell(0) and cell(n). For the formula, see appendix A. All neighbour cells(n) which fulfil the following condition (HO-11) are sorted according to their ORDER(n) : AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) > RXLEVmin(n) + max(0,[MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)-P]) (HO-11)
For multiband handover, P considered in (HO-11) corresponds to the classmark power in the frequency band used by the cell n. Equation (HO-11) ensures that the MS can communicate in the cell n. For any handover cause, the first cell in the list is taken as target cell, i.e. the cell with the highest value of ORDER(n). The cells do not need to fulfil any other condition. If no cell fulfils the condition and the serving cell does not belong to the target cell list, the target cell list is empty and no further action is carried out.
3.2.3.3 GRADE cell evaluation process The value of GRADE(n) for each neighbour cell(n) is computed according to the following formula : if EN_LOAD_ORDER = ENABLE and cell n is internal to the BSC GRADE(n) = PBGT(n) + LINKfactor(0,n) + LOADfactor(n) (HO-12)
if EN_LOAD_ORDER = DISABLE or cell n is external to the BSC GRADE(n) = PBGT(n) + LINKfactor(0,n) (HO-12)

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- The flag EN_LOAD_ORDER is settable by OMC command. - LINKfactor(0,n) is a parameter set by OMC command for each cell(n). LINKfactor (n1,n2) allows the operator to handicap or to favour the cell n1 with respect to its neighbour cell n2. In particular, it can be used to disadvantage an external cell when an internal cell is also a possible candidate. - LOADfactor(n) : weighting factor that takes into account the relative load of traffic channels in a cell. For TCH: LOADfactor(n) is set according to the table T1, For SDCCH : LOADfactor(i) = 0. The real time traffic load and corresponding FREEfactor and LOADfactor are only known for the cells that are controlled by the current BSC. For the cells controlled by another BSC the traffic load does not influence the candidate evaluation. - PBGT(n) is the power budget between the serving cell(0) and the cell(n) (see appendix A for definition). The greater is GRADE(n), the most suitable is the neighbour cell n compared to the serving cell. All neighbour cells(n) which fulfil the following condition are sorted according to their GRADE(n). Equation (HO-11) ensures that the MS can communicate in the cell n.
AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) > RXLEVmin(n) + max(0,[MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)-P])
(HO-11)
For multiband handover, P considered in (HO-11) corresponds to the classmark power in the frequency band used by the cell n. For any handover cause the first cell in the list is taken as target cell, i.e. the cell with the highest value of GRADE(n). If no cell fulfils the condition and the serving cell does not belong to the target cell list, the target cell list is empty and no further action is carried out.

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3.2.3.4 Calculation of LOADfactor, FREEfactor

The following tables T1 and T2 define the sets of parameters used for the cell evaluation processes : Table T1 : LOADfactor
l = [1 - (free TCH/total TCH)] * 100%. l in cell(n) LOADfactor(n)
### LOADlevel_1 LOADlevel_1 ### LOADlevel_2 ### LOADlevel_3 ### LOADlevel_4 ### ### LOADlevel_2 ### LOADlevel_3 ### LOADlevel_4
LOADfactor_1 LOADfactor_2 LOADfactor_3 LOADfactor_4 LOADfactor_5
Table T2 : FREEfactor
t = absolute number of free TCH t in cell(n)

### FREElevel_1 FREElevel_1 ### FREElevel_2 ### FREElevel_3 ### FREElevel_4 ### ### FREElevel_2 ### FREElevel_3 ### FREElevel_4 FREEfactor(n) FREEfactor_1 FREEfactor_2 FREEfactor_3 FREEfactor_4 FREEfactor_5
LOADfactor(n) and FREEfactor(n) are received in the message TCH usage information every TCH_INFO_PERIOD seconds from the Resource updating function (ref to [16]). Note : The count of free and total TCH for the calculation of l and t is based on timeslots and not on channels. So, this count does not take into account the free half rate channels in case of dual rate capability. It means that a TCH timeslot is considered as non-free as soon as a HR channel is allocated on this timeslot.

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3.2.4 Handover alarm management

Each time a candidate cell list is provided by the handover candidate cell evaluation function or by the candidate cell evaluation function for forced directed retry and T_FILTER is not running, a handover alarm containing the candidate list is sent to the BSC function in charge of the handover execution and T_FILTER is started. Each time a candidate cell list is provided by the handover candidate cell evaluation function or by the candidate cell evaluation function for forced directed retry and T_FILTER is running, T_FILTER is restarted and the new list is compared to the previous candidate cell list. If the list has changed (ie one or more cells have disappeared in relation to the previous list and/or one or more cells are new in the list), a handover alarm containing the candidate list is sent to the BSC function in charge of the handover execution. If the new list has not changed (ie the cells are the same, the number of cells is the same but the order in the list can be different), no handover alarm is sent to the handover management entity.
New candidate cell list from the candidate cell evaluation function
YES
Is T_FILTER running?
NO
YES
Is the candidate cell list different from the previous one?
NO
Start T_FILTER. A handover alarm containing the candidate cell list is sent to the handover management entity
Restart T_FILTER. A handover alarm containing the candidate cell list is sent to the handover management entity
Restart T_FILTER
Figure 3.2-4: Handover alarm management algorithm. If the timer T_FILTER expires, a handover alarm message containing no candidate cell is sent to the handover management entity. This message means: no more alarm. The expiry of T_FILTER means that the handover alarm initially triggered is considered as no longer valid. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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3.3 Directed retry preparation

3.3.1 General 3.3.1.1 Directed retry preparation enabling and disabling Enabling The directed retry preparation is enabled upon reception of an indication from the handover management entity (BSC internal message, see [14]). This indication is called "Enable directed retry" in the SADT diagram of section 2.3.6. The directed retry is supported by the same processes as the handover preparation except for forced directed retry (see section 2.4), consequently : - for directed retry on handover alarms, the enabling consists in changing the behaviour of the candidate cell evaluation process (see section 3.2.3). This process looks for target cells for TCH channel instead of SDCCH channel. - for forced directed retry : both the detection and candidate cell evaluation processes are enabled at this point in time. Note : The handover preparation function is enabled when the SDCCH connection is established (reception of the ESTABLISH INDICATION from the corresponding BTS). Therefore the handover preparation is always enabled before the directed retry preparation. This allows the detection process for forced directed retry, after its enabling, to get immediately measurements from the neighbouring cell measurements book-keeping. When the directed retry preparation is enabled, SDCCH_COUNTER is stopped and not restarted.
Disabling The directed retry preparation is disabled whenever the BSC initiates a channel release on the radio interface.
3.3.1.2 Directed retry preparation function The directed retry preparation function is completely handled by the BSC. The input parameters of this function are provided by the active channel preprocessing function (refer to [20]) which handles the neighbour cell list book-keeping. As the handover preparation function, the directed retry preparation function can be divided into two processes : Alarm detection and Candidate cell evaluation. Once the directed retry preparation enabled, a directed retry on handover alarms or forced directed retry alarm can be detected every SACCH multiframe upon reception of the averaged measurements for directed retry detection. Once a directed retry alarm is detected, the alarm detection process sends to the candidate cell evaluation process the list of MS neighbouring cells with for each of them one of the handover causes which have been verified. The candidate cell evaluation builds a cells list which is according to the case and the value of T_FILTER sent or not to the BSC function in charge of the handover management entity (see 3.2.4.). 3.3.2 Alarm Detection Directed retry on handover alarms Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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The detection process is the Handover detection process described in section 3.2.2. except that interzone handover alarms (causes = 10, 11, 13) and intracell handover alarms (causes = 15, 16) must be ignored. Only intercell handover alarms are taken into account i.e. all handover causes except causes mentioned above. Forced directed retry The following condition is checked every measurement reporting period and if at least one input preprocessed parameter AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) is available. CAUSE = 20 (high level in neighbour cell for forced directed retry) AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) > L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) ( n = 1 ... BTSnum ) 1) and EN_FORCED_DR = ENABLE (DR -
The threshold L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) is the observed level from the neighbour cell n at the border of the area where forced directed retry is enabled (see 2.4.1). This threshold fixes the size of the overlapping area where forced directed retry can be performed. It should be greater than RXLEVmin(n). Alarms priority As explained in section 2.4, the handover alarms have priority over the forced directed retry alarm (HO cause 20). The priority order for handover alarms is indicated in section 3.2.2.2.
3.3.3 Candidate cell evaluation Directed retry on handover alarms The candidate cell evaluation process is the one described in section 3.2.3 for TCH channel. Forced directed retry The candidate cell evaluation is performed when an alarm for forced directed retry is raised (cause = 20). This candidate cell evaluation process is performed as specified in Section 3.2.3. except that the cell evaluation function is reduced to a specific power budget evaluation called PBGT_DR(n). All neighbour cells n which meet the following condition (DR-3) and (DR-4) are sorted according to the priority scheme described in Section 3.2.3. and according to their PBGT_DR(n) : PBGT_DR(n) = AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_DR - (BS_TXPWR_MAX - AV_BS_TXPWR_DR) - (MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX) For further details on the PBGT formula, see section 3.2.2.1.1.3 and appendix A. (DR-2)
AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) > RXLEVmin(n) + max(0,[MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)-P])
(DR-3)

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t(n) > FREElevel_DR(n)

(DR-4)
with : - FREElevel_DR(n) : minimum threshold of free TCHs in the neighbour cell n for forced directed retry. - t(n) : absolute number of free TCHs in the neighbour cell n. For external cells, t(n) is fixed to the arbitrary value t(n)=255. Therefore, setting FREElevel_DR(n) to 255 for an external cell inhibits outgoing external directed retry towards this cell. Setting FREElevel_DR(n) to any other value will allow outgoing external directed retry towards this cell. Note : if the BTS has dual rate capability, t(n) = absolute number of free Dual Rate TCH L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) and FREElevel_DR(n) are parameters set by O&M for each neighbour cell n. If no cell fulfils the condition, the target cell list is empty and no further action is carried out.

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3.4 GPRS redirection preparation 3.4.1 General 3.4.1.1 GPRS redirection preparation enabling Enabling The GPRS redirection preparation is enabled upon reception of an indication from the radio and link establishment entity (BSC internal message, see [6]). This indication is called "Enable GPRS redirection" in the SADT diagram of section 2.3.6. The detection and candidate cell evaluation processes are enabled at this point in time. Note : SDCCH handovers and SDCCH_COUNTER are disabled in case of GPRS redirection.
Disabling The GPRS redirection preparation is disabled whenever the BSC initiates a channel release on the radio interface.
3.4.1.2 GPRS redirection preparation function The GPRS redirection preparation function is completely handled by the BSC. The input parameters of this function are provided by the active channel preprocessing function (refer to [20]) which handles the neighbour cell list book-keeping. As the handover preparation function, the GPRS redirection preparation function can be divided into two processes : Alarm detection and Candidate cell evaluation. Once the GPRS redirection preparation enabled, a GPRS redirection can be detected every SACCH multiframe upon reception of the averaged measurements. Once a GPRS redirection alarm is detected, the alarm detection process sends to the candidate cell evaluation process the list of MS neighbouring cells. The candidate cell evaluation builds a cells list which is according to the case and the value of T_FILTER sent or not to the BSC function in charge of the handover management entity (see 3.2.4.).
3.4.2 Alarm Detection The following condition is checked over all the neighbour cells for which EN_GPRS(n) = TRUE every measurement reporting period. CAUSE = 25 (high level in neighbour cell for GPRS redirection) AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) > L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) ( n = 1 ... BTSnum ) 1) (DR -
The threshold L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) is the minimum level necessary for a GPRS transfer. It should be greater than RXLEVmin(n). Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) is a parameter set by O&M for each neighbour cell n.

3.4.3 Candidate cell evaluation The candidate cell evaluation is performed when an alarm for GPRS redirection is raised (cause = 25). This candidate cell evaluation process is performed as specified in Section 3.2.3. except that the cell evaluation function is reduced to a specific power budget evaluation called PBGT_DR(n). All neighbour cells n which meet the following condition (DR-3) are sorted according to the priority scheme described in Section 3.2.3. and according to their PBGT_DR(n) : PBGT_DR(n) = AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_DR - (BS_TXPWR_MAX - AV_BS_TXPWR_DR) - (MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX) For further details on the PBGT formula, see section 3.2.2.1.1.3 and appendix A. (DR-2)
AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) > RXLEVmin(n) + max(0,[MS_TXPWR_MAX(n)-P]) If no cell fulfils the condition, the target cell list is empty and no further action is carried out.
(DR-3)

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4. INTERFACES DESCRIPTION
4.1
GSM interfaces/Physical interfaces
The messages used by the handover algorithms are carried on the Abis interface only. Note that for handover decision and execution, all the relevant messages transmitted on the Air, Abis, A interfaces are described in [9] and [10]. Note : In ref [20] is given the general structure of the Abis messages required by the handover algorithm. In particular, the fields for which it is stated in the GSM Technical Specification 08.58 ([3]) "the coding of this field requires further elaboration" are described. For the coding of the others information elements, refer to [ 3].
4.2
Internal interfaces
The information exchanged between handover functions is described in sections 2 and 4.4.
4.3
Timers list
RANGE (0 to 31)x960 ms BIN.RANGE 0:31 0=0 ms BITS 8
NAME T_FILTER
Time after which a no alarm message (an alarm message with no candidate cell, see section 3.3.) is sent to the handover management entity, if no new alarm has been detected whilst running.
31=31x960ms T_HCP Time during which a handicap of PING_PONG_HCP is applied to the preceding cell power budget LOAD_EV_PERIOD Number of load samples (received TCH_INFO_PERIOD) for load averaging TCH_INFO_PERIOD every 1 to 30 (0 to 240 ) sec 0:240 0=0 s 240 = 240 s 1:30 1=1 , 30 = 30 8 8
2 to 25.5 sec
20:255 20=2 s, 255 = 25.5 s
periodicity of the sending of the message 'TCH usage information' to the TCUs.
4.4
Parameters and variables list
This section provides a list of all the variables and parameters used in the algorithms and thus encountered in the text. For each entry will be found : - its name, - its meaning, - its physical range, Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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- its binary range, - the number of bits into which it is encoded. The variables and parameters are ranked in the alphabetical order. 4.4.1 Handover
NAME AV_BS_TXPWR_DR Average Transmit Power at BS for PBGT_DR evaluation AV_BS_TXPWR_HO Average Transmit Power at BS for PBGT evaluation RANGE max -30 to min 0 dB step size 1 dB (relative value) max -30 to min 0 dB step size 1 dB (relative value) 0 to 100 % step size 1% BIN. RANGE 0:30 0 = 0 dB 30 = -30 dB 0:30 0 = 0 dB 30 = -30 dB 0:100 BITS 5
AV_LOAD(n) Averaging load of the cell n with a period equal to LOAD_EV_PERIOD AV_RXLEV_DL_HO Average Receive Downlink Level of serving cell (used for Handover) AV_RXLEV_DL_MCHO Average Receive Downlink Level of serving cell (used for Microcellular Handover) AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) Average Receive Level neighbour cell n at MS AV_RXLEV_NCELL_BIS(n) Average Receive Level neighbour cell n at MS used for cause 13 AV_RXLEV_UL_HO Average Receive Uplink Level of serving cell (used for Handover) AV_RXLEV_UL_MCHO Average Receive Uplink Level of serving cell (used for Microcellular Handover) AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO Average Receive Downlink Level of serving cell (PBGT calculation) AV_RXQUAL_UL_HO Average Receive Uplink Quality of serving cell (used for Handover)
-110 to -47 dBm step size 1 dBm
0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:7 coded with a step size of 0.1
0 to 7 stepsize 0.1

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AV_RXQUAL_DL_HO Average Receive Downlink Quality of serving cell (used for Handover) AV_RANGE_HO Average Distance between MS and BS BCCH_FREQ BCCH frequency used in the serving cell. BCCH_FREQ(n) BCCH frequency used in the neighbour cell n. SACCH_BFI Bad Frame Indicator of the SACCH frame BS_TXPWR Transmit Power at BS
0 to 7 stepsize 0.1
0:7 coded with a step size of 0.1
0 to 63 x 3.69s
0:63
0 to 1023
0:1023
16
0 to 1023
0:1023
16
0 or 1
0:1 0 : good frame 1 : bad frame 0:15 0 = 0 dB 15 = -30 dB 0:15 0 = 0 dB 15= -30 dB 0:15 0 = 0 dB 15= -30 dB 0:15 0 = 0 dB 15= -30 dB 0:63
max -30 to min 0 dB step size 2 dB (relative value) max -30 to min 0 dB step size 2 dB (relative value) max - 30 to min 0 dB step size 2 dB (relative value) max - 30 to min 0 dB step size 2 dB (relative value) 0 to 63
BS_TXPWR_MAX Maximum Transmit Power at BS
BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER Maximum BS Transmit Power permissible in the inner zone of the concentric or multiband cell. BS_TXPWR_MIN Minimum Transmit Power at BS
BSIC(n) Base Station Identity Code of cell n BTSnum Number of neighbouring cells for which measurements made by the MS are available CAPTURE_TRAFFIC_CONDITION
0 to 32
0:32
ANY_LOAD, NOT_LOW, HIGH
0:2 0 : ANY_LOAD 1 : NOT_LOW 2 : HIGH
Condition on traffic load in the serving cell for a general capture handover
C_DWELL counter for time during which the MS has been inside the serving lower layer cell 0 : 255 SACCH frames stepsize 1
0 : 255

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C_DWELL(n) counter for time during which the MS has been reporting the neighbour lower layer cell when on the upper layer with a minimum receive level of L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) CELL_BAND_TYPE Indicator of the BTS frequency band type CELL_DIMENSION_TYPE Indicator of BTS dimension type CELL_EV Indicator of which cell evaluation process is chosen CELL_LAYER_TYPE Indicator of BTS layer type
0 : 255 SACCH frames stepsize 1
0 : 255
GSM or DCS
1 : GSM 2 : DCS 0 : Macro 1 : Micro 0 : ORDER 1 : GRADE or 0 : Single 1 :Upper 2 : Lower 0 : Normal 1 : Concentric 0 : Normal 1 : Extended outer 2 : Extended inner 0:24
Macro or Micro
ORDER or GRADE
Single, Lower
or
Upper,
CELL_PARTITION_TYPE Indicator of cell partition type (frequency use) CELL_RANGE Indicator of extended cell feature DELTA_DEC_HO_margin
Normal or Concentric
Normal, Extended inner or Extended outer
allows the cause 23 detection when the traffic in the serving cell is high and is low in the cell n
DELTA_HO_MARGIN(0,n)
0 to 24 dB stepsize 1 dB
0 0 8 -DELTA_DEC_HO_margin DELTA_INC_HO_margin DELTA_DEC_HO_m argin DELTA_INC_HO_ margin 0 to 24 dB stepsize 1 dB 0:24 8
DELTA_INC_HO_margin
penalises the cause 12 detection when the traffic in the serving cell is low and is high in the cell n
DWELL_TIME_STEP increment or decrement value of MIN_DWELL_TIME for traffic load control in the umbrella cells EN_BETTER_ZONE_HO Enable/disable flag for HO cause 13 EN_BI-BAND_MS(n) Enables/disables the incoming handovers of bi-band MSs from the preferred-band into a classical band cell
0 :30 s stepsize 1s
0:0 30 : 30
enable or disable
0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable
enable or disable

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EN_DIST_HO Enable/disable flag for HO cause 6 EN_GENERAL_CAPTURE_HO Enable/disable flag for HO cause 24 EN_GPRS(n) Enable/disable GPRS for cell n EN_GPRS_DIRECTION Enable/disable GPRS redirection EN_INTRACELL_REPEATED Enable/disable flag for repetition of intracell HO EN_INTRA_DL Enable/disable flag for HO cause 16 EN_INTRA_UL Enable/disable flag for HO cause 15 EN_LOAD_ORDER Enable/disable influence of traffic load in the candidate cell ranking process EN_MCHO_NCELL Enable/disable flag for HO cause 14 EN_MCHO_H_DL Enable/disable flag for HO cause 18 EN_MCHO_H_UL Enable/disable flag for HO cause 17 EN_MCHO_RESCUE Enable/disable flag for HO cause 7 EN_PREFERRED_BAND_HO Enable/disable flag for HO cause 21 EN_PBGT_HO Enable/disable flag for HO cause 12 EN_PBGT_FILTERING Enable/disable flag for filtering process EN_PRIORITY_ORDERING Enables/disables the use of the parameter PRIORITY(0,n) in the candidate cell evaluation process
enable or disable
0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable

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EN_RESCUE_UM
enable, indefinite handovers
disable
or
0 : disable 1 : enable 2 : indefinite
Enable/disable to direct emergency towards umbrellas preferentially EN_RXLEV_DL Enable/disable flag for HO cause 5 EN_RXLEV_UL Enable/disable flag for HO cause 3 EN_RXQUAL_DL Enable/disable flag for HO cause 4 EN_RXQUAL_UL Enable/disable flag for HO cause 2
enable or disable
0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable
enable or disable
enable or disable
enable or disable
EN_SPEED_DISC Enable/disable flag for speed discrimination on mobiles in the lower layer cells EN_TRAFFIC_HO(0,n) Enable/disable flag for HO cause 23 from the serving cell and the cell n FREEfactor_k 5 correction factors of ORDER depending on free level of cell (n) expressed in number of free TCH (Table T2). FREElevel_k 4 boundaries for free TCH channel classification (Table T2) FREQ(n) Index of the BCCH frequency used by cell n. Same coding rule as in MEASUREMENT REPORT message. This index is relative to the BA allocation , see [1]. FREQUENCY_RANGE Indicates in which frequency range the cell operates.
enable or disable
enable or disable
0 : disable 1 : enable
-16 to 16 dB step size 1 dB
-16:16
0 to 255 channels step size : 1 channel
0:255
0 to 31
0:31
GSM900, DCS1800, EGSM, DCS1900, GSMDCS
0:4 0 : GSM900 1 : DCS1800 2 : E-GSM 3 : DCS1900 4 : GSM-DCS -179:+149
GRADE(n) Grade Evaluation of cell n used for ranking H_LOAD_OBJ Maximum desired load on umbrella cell
-179 to 149 dB
16
0 to 100% step size 10 %
0 : 10 0=0%

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defined for each umbrella cell

10 = 100% 0 to 120 s step size 1 s 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23 enable or disable 0:0s 120 : 120 s 0:23 0=0.. 23=23 1
H_MIN_DWELL_TIME maximum value for MIN_DWELL_TIME HOCause Value Handover Cause
HO_INTERCELL_ALLOWED Enable/disable flag for HO intercell HO_MARGIN(n1,n2) Basic Margin for Handover between cell n1 and n2 HO_MARGIN_DIST(n1,n2) Basic Margin for Handover between cell n1 and n2
0 : disable 1 : enable -127 :+127
-127 to +127 dB step size 1 dB -127 to +127 dB step size 1 dB
-127 :+127
(distance
causes)
HO_MARGIN_LEV(n1,n2) Basic Margin for Handover (level causes) between cell n1 and n2 HO_MARGIN_QUAL(n1,n2) Basic Margin for Handover (quality causes) between cell n1 and n2 L_LOAD_OBJ Minimum desired load on umbrella cells defined for each umbrella cell L_MIN_DWELL_TIME minimum value for MIN_DWELL_TIME L_RXLEV_DL_H Minimum Receive Level for Downlink Level Handover L_RXLEV_CPT_HO(0,n) Minimum Receive Level on Downlink for handover from umbrella to neighbour lower layer cell n or from classical band cell to preferred band cell n L_RXLEV_UL_H Minimum Receive Level for Uplink (Handover) L_RXQUAL_DL_H Minimum Receive Quality on Downlink (Handover) L_RXQUAL_UL_H
-127 to +127 dB step size 1 dB
-127 :+127
-127 :+127
0 to 100% step size 10 %
0 : 10 0=0% 10 = 100% 0:0s 120 : 120s 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm
0 to 120 s step size 1 s -110 to -47 dBm step size 1 dBm
0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:7 coded with a stepsize of 0.1
0 to 7 stepsize 0.1
0 to 7
0:7 coded with a

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Minimum Receive Quality on Uplink (Handover)

stepsize 0.1
stepsize of 0.1
L_TIME_ADVANCE Minimum Distance for Handover from the extended outer zone of a cell LINKfactor(n1,n2) static handicap for handover evaluation between cell n1 and n2
0 to 63 x 3.69s
0:63
-24:24
LOADfactor_k -16 to 0 dB 5 correction factors of GRADE depending on load of cell(n) expressed in percentage of TCH load (Table T1) LOADlevel_k 0 to 100 (% of free TCH) 4 boundaries for TCH cell load classification (Table T1) MIN_CONNECT_TIME time in a lower layer cell to separate slow and fast MS MIN_DWELL_TIME time reporting a neighbour lower layer cell in an umbrella cell to trigger a handover to the lower layer MS_SPEED Estimation for mobile speed discrimination process 0 to 120 s step size 1 s
-16:0
0:100
0:0s 120 : 120 s
0 to 120 s step size 1 s
0:0s 120 : 120 s
indefinite, slow, fast
0 :2, 0 : indefinite 1 : slow 2 : fast See [18]
MS_TXPWR Transmit Power at MS MS_TXPWR_CONF Confirmation of new Transmit Power to BS MS_TXPWR_MAX Maximum Transmit Power at MS MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) Maximum Transmit Power from MS allowed by cell n MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER Maximum MS transmit power permissible in the inner zone of the concentric or multiband cell. MS_TXPWR_MIN Minimum Transmit Power at MS MULTIBAND_TRAFFIC_CONDITION
See [18]
See [18]
See [18]
See [18]
See [18]
See [18]
See [18]
See [18]
See [18]
See [18]
See [18]
ANY_LOAD, NOT_LOW, HIGH
0:2 0 : ANY_LOAD 1 : NOT_LOW 2 : HIGH
Condition on traffic load in the serving cell for a multiband handover

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N_BAD_SACCH Threshold of consecutive bad SACCH frames
1 to 128
1:128 1=1 SACCH frames 128=128 SACCH frames 0:64 0=0 64=64 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:70 0=0 70=7 0:70 0=0 70=7 -127 :+127
NBR_ADJ Number of adjacent cells for this BTS NEIGHBOUR_RXLEV(0,n) Threshold of maximum downlink received level from the neighbour cells for cause 13. OFFSET_RXQUAL_FH Offset added to quality thresholds
0 to 64 cells
0 to 7 stepsize 0.1
Offset_Hopping_HO Offset used in handover quality causes in case of frequency hopping OFFSET_HO_MARGIN_INNER Offset which allows to take account of the radio
0 to 7 step size 0.1
differences between the inner and the outer zone (especially in multiband cells)
ORDER(n) Order Evaluation of cell n used for ranking OUTDOOR_UMB_LEV(0,n) minimum receive level to trigger HO towards umbrella cell n for all emergency causes triggered in lower layer. P Maximum Transmit Power for class of MS and for the corresponding frequency band (GSM900, DCS1800, DCS1900) PBGT(n) Power Budget evaluation of reception of cell n related to current cell PING_PONG_HCP Dynamic handicap applied to the precedent cell on which the call has been (see appx B). Defined on a cell basis. PREC_LAYER_TYPE -290 to 260 dB -290:+290 16
0 to 63 dBm step size 1 dBm
0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm
See [18]
See [18]
-147 to +97 dB
-147:+97
0 to 20 dB stepsize 1 dB
0:20
indefinite,upper,
0:3

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indication of preceding cell

the
CELL_LAYER_TYPE
of
the
lower,single
0 : indefinite 1 : upper 2 : lower 3 : single lower, 0:3 ; 0 = none 1 = upper 2 = lower 3 = upper+single 0 = none 1 = GSM 2 = DCS 0:3 0: highest priority 3: lowest priority 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:63 0=-110 0=-47 2
PREF_LAYER indication of the preferred layer for the target cell
none, upper, upper+single
PREFERRED_BAND Frequency band type where the multiband mobiles will be preferably directed PRIORITY(n1,n2) Priority of cell n2 when serving cell=n1
none, GSM or DCS
0 to 3 step size 1
RXLEV_DL_IH Maximum Receive Level for Downlink (intracell and quality Handover) RXLEV_UL_IH Maximum Receive Level for Uplink (intracell and quality Handover) RXLEV_DL_ZONE Minimum Receive Level for Downlink (Interzone Handover) RXLEV_LIMIT_PBGT_HO Minimum Level above which an handover on power budget is not triggered RXLEV_UL_ZONE Minimum Receive Level for Uplink (Interzone Handover) RXLEV_DL_FULL Measurement of signal level assessed over the full set of TDMA frames within an SACCH block on the Downlink RXLEV_DL_SUB Measurement of signal level assessed over a subset of 12 TDMA frames within an SACCH block on the Downlink RXLEV_NCELL(n) Receive Level from neighbour cell n at MS
0:63 0=-110 0=-47
0:63 0=-110 63=-47

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RXLEV_UL Measurement of Level on the Uplink RXLEVmin(n) Minimum allowable received Level at the MS from cell n Traffic_load(n) Situation of the traffic in the cell n
0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:2 0 : indefinite 1 : low 2 : high 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:63 0=-110 dBm 63=-47 dBm 0:63
indefinite, low, high
U_RXLEV_DL_MCHO High threshold of minimum Receive Level for Downlink (Level microcellular Handover) U_RXLEV_UL_MCHO High threshold of minimum Receive Level for Uplink (Level microcellular Handover) U_TIME_ADVANCE Maximum Distance for Handover ZONE_HO_HYST_DL Hysteresis downlink for Interzone Handover from the outer zone to the inner zone of a concentric cell or multiband cell ZONE_HO_HYST_UL Hysteresis uplink for interzone Handover from the outer zone to the inner zone of a concentric cell or multiband cell ZONE_TYPE Indicator of cell zone
0 to 63 x 3.69s
0 : 80
0 : 80
outer or inner
0 : Outer 1 : Inner
4.4.2 Directed retry The following parameters are used by the directed retry procedure only.
NAME AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) Average receive level of neighbour cell n at MS for forced directed retry AV_RXLEV_PBGT_DR Average receive level of serving cell at MS for forced directed retry (PBGT) RANGE -110 to -47 dBm step size 1 dBm BIN. RANGE 0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:63 0=-110 63=-47 BITS 8

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EN_DR Enable/disable directed retry procedure

enable or disable
0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0 : disable 1 : enable 0:255
EN_EXT_DR Enable/disable external directed retry procedure EN_FORCED_DR Enable/disable forced directed retry (cause 20) FREElevel_DR(n) Min. threshold of free TCH channels in neighbour cell n for forced directed retry L_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) Min. threshold of receive level at MS for forced directed retry to neighbour cell n RXLEV_NCELL(n) Receive Level from neighbour cell n at MS
enable or disable
enable or disable
0 to 255 TCH channels step size : 1 channel
16
0:63 0=-110 63=-47 0:63 0=-110 63=-47

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4.4.3 Relationships between parameters

The document "BSS telecom parameters" ([13]) specifies also the rules to be fulfilled by the handover parameters. The present specification is the reference document in case of discrepancy. The default values for parameters are indicated in the document [13]. Each relationship is either mandatory or recommended. The recommended relationships are not checked by an automatic procedure. Note : - for thresholds relative to quality measurements, the GSM coding is assumed, as already stated, it is contra-intuitive. - The relationships between the parameters relative to HO preparation and the ones relative to Power control are included. The parameters of power control are characterised by the suffix _P or _PC. For more information about them, refer to [ 18].
Mandatory relationships
### RXLEV_UL_IH > L_RXLEV_UL_H. ### U_RXLEV_UL_P > L_RXLEV_UL_H. ### RXLEV_DL_IH > L_RXLEV_DL_H. ### U_RXLEV_DL_P > L_RXLEV_DL_H. ### Relations between LOADlevel_i : For i=1 to 3, LOADlevel_i < LOADlevel_i+1 ### Relations between LOADfactor_i : For i=1 to 4, LOADfactor_i >= LOADfactor_i+1 ### Relations between FREElevel_i : For i=1 to 3, FREElevel_i < FREElevel_i+1 ### Relations between FREEfactor_i : For i=1 to 4, FREEfactor_i =< FREEfactor_i+1 ### L_LOAD_OBJ =< H_LOAD_OBJ
Recommended relationships
### L_RXQUAL_UL_H >= L_RXQUAL_UL_P. ### L_RXQUAL_DL_H >= L_RXQUAL_DL_P. ### L_RXLEV_UL_H < L_RXLEV_UL_P. ### L_RXLEV_DL_H < L_RXLEV_DL_P. ### A_LEV_HO = 2 * A_LEV_PC. ### A_QUAL_HO = 2 * A_QUAL_PC. ### A_PBGT_HO = 2 * A_LEV_HO Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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T_FILTER > 0.5 seconds
###ZONE_HO_HYST >= BS_TXPWR_MAX - BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER ### FREElevel_DR(n) > N_TCH_HO(n). N_TCH_HO(n) is the number of TCH channel reserved in the best interference band (see [16] for further details). ### For a microcell configuration, it is recommended :
N_BAD_SACCH = RADIO_LINK_TIMEOUT_BS - N_BSTXPWR_M + 1 (for more information, see [18]). ### It is recommended to inhibit Traffic handover towards 1 TRX cells. These cells do not have enough resources to receive incoming handovers due to congestion of neighbour cells. Moreover because of the great variation of traffic in the 1 TRX cells, their Traffic_load is always different from low. ### If PRIORITY(0,n) is used from cell of preferred band to cell of classical band, then it is recommended: EN_PREFERRED_BAND_HO = DISABLE in the classical band cell. ### If PRIORITY(0,n) is applied in order to manage inter-bands handover in a multiband network, then it is recommended: PREFERRED_BAND = none. ### If PRIORITY(0,n) is used from microcell to macrocell, then it is recommended: EN_RESCUE_UM = INDEFINITE in the microcell. For transferring fast mobiles from a minicell n1 to an umbrella cell n2 through a power budget handover, it is recommended : - if CELL_EV=GRADE HO_MARGIN(n1,n2)=-127dB LINKfactor(n1,n2)=24dB
### flags.
Compatibility checking between cell configurations and handover inhibition
For the definition of the different cell profiles, see section 2.4 The following relationships are mandatory, whatever CELL_BAND_TYPE. - Single cell profile EN_MCHO_NCELL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_H_DL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_H_UL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_RESCUE = DISABLE EN_SPEED_DISC = DISABLE - Micro cell profile
EN_MCHO_NCELL = DISABLE Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED

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- Mini cell profile EN_MCHO_NCELL = DISABLE EN_MCHO_H_DL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_H_UL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_RESCUE = DISABLE
- Umbrella cell profile EN_MCHO_H_DL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_H_UL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_RESCUE = DISABLE
- Extended inner and outer cell profile HO_SDCCH_INHIBIT = DISABLE (SDCCH handovers are disabled) FREElevel_DR = 255 for the serving inner and outer cell EN_MCHO_NCELL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_H_DL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_H_UL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_RESCUE = DISABLE EN_SPEED_DISC = DISABLE
- Concentric cell profile EN_MCHO_H_DL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_H_UL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_RESCUE = DISABLE EN_MCHO_NCELL = DISABLE EN_SPEED_DISC = DISABLE
- Concentric Umbrella cell profile EN_MCHO_H_DL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_H_UL = DISABLE. EN_MCHO_RESCUE = DISABLE
###
Cells in the preferred band.
If BCCH_FREQ corresponds to GSM band (extended band included) and PREFERRED_BAND = GSM or if BCCH_FREQ corresponds to DCS1800 or DCS1900 band and PREFERRED_BAND = DCS then it is mandatory : EN_PREFERRED_BAND_HO = DISABLE. ### Cells having different frequency bands
Cell n1 and cell n2 being adjacents, If BCCH_FREQ(n1) corresponds to GSM band (extended band included) and BCCH_FREQ(n2) corresponds to DCS1800 or DCS1900 band Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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or if BCCH_FREQ(n1) corresponds to DCS1800 or DCS1900 band and BCCH_FREQ(n2) corresponds to GSM band (extended band included), then it is recommended: HO_MARGIN_QUAL(n1,n2) = -127 dB HO_MARGIN_LEV(n1,n2) = -127 dB HO_MARGIN_DIST(n1,n2) = -127 dB

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5. RELEASE CHANGES
Changes from ALCATEL BSS release 2 to ALCATEL BSS release 3 The changes from Release 2 to Release 3 are based on the 3 following features descriptions : - FD/3/10.6 : Support of microcellular environment. Concepts presented in SYS/006 and SYS/012 are introduced SYS/006 : definition of parameters for cell environments, H. Brinkmann and G. Kreft SYS/014 : handovers in a microcellular environment, C. Cherpantier. - FD/3/10.7.1 : Concentric cells, - FD/3/10.8 : Directed Retry, - CRQ/298 : improvements for phase 2.1 Inhibition of the feature to transform an intracell HO to an intercell HO, Processing of L1 info in the case where L3 info (measurement report) is missing, The timer T_7 used by the Handover algorithms is renamed T_FILTER. - CRQ/362 : introduction of conditions PC-9 and PC-10 : power control with good quality and low level. - CRQ/361 : relationship between MS power control and radio link supervision. When a radio link recovery occurs, the MS power control function is resumed immediately. - clarification about the power control and handover algorithms defined in the ALCATEL BSS. These clarifications are based on document ST2/53 "rationale for the power control and handover algorithm" from P.Guillier.
Changes from ALCATEL BSS release 3 to ALCATEL BSS release 4 The changes from Release 3 to Release 4 are based on the following documents : - MFD 11.5 Power control and handover algorithm improvements ed 05 : inhibition of radiolink recovery by O&M flag disabling of ORDER calculation based on number of free TCH by O&M flag Enabling of MS power control and uplink measurements related handover causes in case of missing SACCH frames. - ITCC/TELACT/TEL/PP/006 : remarks made by ITC on specifications for rel 3 - fax SDEF/94/HO.001 from Steve DEFOORT on rel3 document inconsistency for the causes HO-8 and HO-9. - MFD 10.11 Mobile velocity dependent handover - AMCF/ITD/SAS/CC/1333 : "Description of Release 4 handover algorithms in hierarchical networks" memo by Corinne CHERPANTIER
Changes from ALCATEL BSS release 4 to ALCATEL BSS release 5 The changes from Release 4 to Release 5 are based on the following documents : - TFD 11.22a : Handover algorithm improvements, Multiband Handover - TFD 10.14 : DCS1900 support, Telecom part - Approved Release 4 CRQs : CRQ 1428, CRQ 1705, CRQ 1806, CRQ 1971, CRQ 2027, CRQ 2093, CRQ 2109, CRQ 2144, CRQ 2234, CRQ 2408, CRQ 2472, CRQ 2504, CRQ 2505 Moreover, the original document is partly modified : - Mode A is removed Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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- Section 3 is reorganised, section 2.2 removed - Section 5, Release changes has been created - Appendix B and F are removed, Appendix C is new Minor changes are performed on the specifications : - The TFD 11.22a is completed with recommendations on HO_margins and LINKfactors for emergency handovers between cells of different frequency band - Handover causes on quality are rewritten (inversion of the quality comparisons) - Recommendation CELL_EV = ORDER for mini-cell profile becomes mandatory - Handover cause 6 is no longer forbidden for micro-cell profile. - The recommendation for N_BAD_SACCH is modified.
Changes from ALCATEL BSS release 5 to ALCATEL BSS release 6 The changes from Release 5 to Release 6 are based on the following documents: - TFD 11.31: general handover algorithms improvements - TFD 10.8b: external directed retry - TFD 11.22.e: controlled handover in multilayer/multivendor environment - TFD 11.30: traffic management in handover algorithms - TFD 3.19: HSCSD - TFD 11.32: improvements in radio channel selection - Approved Release 5 CRQs 18579, 3028, 2736, 10645, 19733 The section 2 is reorganised. Some descriptions have been put in a new step 1 document (refer to [21]). The section 3.1. Active channel preprocessing, the appendix C are in the new document Radio measurements data processing [20]. A new handover alarm management is specified in section 3.2.4.
Changes from ALCATEL BSS release 6 to ALCATEL BSS release 6.2 The changes from Release 6 to Release 6.2 are based on the following documents: - TFD XX.XX: GPRS
6. FEATURES Release 6 feature list 11.31: general handover algorithms improvements (improvements 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10) 10.8b: external directed retry 11.22.e: controlled handover in multilayer/multivendor environment 11.30: traffic management in handover algorithms 3.19: HSCSD 11.32: improvements in radio channel selection Release 6.2 feature list XX.XX: GPRS Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED
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7. GLOSSARY
7.1 Abbreviations ARFCN BA BFI BS BSC BSIC BSS BTS dB DC DR DTX DCS-1800 DCS-1900 FH GSM-900 HO LOS MSC MS O&M OMC PBGT PC SACCH SADT SDCCH SDL TCH TCH/FS TCU TOA TRX TS Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number BCCH-allocation Bad Frame Indication Base Station Base Station Controller Base Station Identity Code Base Station Subsystem Base Transceiver Station deciBel Direct Current Directed Retry Discontinuous transmission Digital Cellular system using frequency band [1710..1880] MHz Digital Cellular system using frequency band [1850..1990] MHz Frequency Hopping Global System for Mobile communications using frequency band [880..960] Mhz (extension band G1 inclusive) Handover Line Of Sight Mobile Switching Centre Mobile Station Operation and Maintenance Operation and Maintenance Centre Power Budget Power Control Slow associated control channel Structured Analysis and Design Technics Slow dedicated control channel Specification Description Language Traffic channel Traffic channel Full Speech Terminal Control Unit Time Of Arrival Transmitter Receiver Technical Specification
Note : all the parameters and variables used in the algorithms are thoroughly described in the dedicated sections and in section 4.

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7.2 Definitions
- internal HO : the handover execution is controlled by the BSC (only intracell and intercell-intra-BSC HO). - external HO : the handover execution is controlled by the MSC (necessary for all intercell-inter-BSC HO, possible for intercell-intra-BSC HO). - intracell HO : handover between two channels of the same cell. - intercell HO : handover between two channels of adjacent cells. The old channel belongs to the serving cell, the new channel to the target cell. - intra-BSC HO : the serving cell and the target cell belong to the same BSC. - interzone HO : intracell handover between the inner zone and the outer zone of a concentric or multiband cell configuration. - intrazone HO : intracell handover within a zone (inner or outer) of a concentric or multiband cell configuration. - directed retry : handover from SDCCH to TCH when the serving cell is congested at the starting time of the assignment procedure. In this release of the ALCATEL BSS, the directed retry is internal or external to the BSS. - decibel unit : The "decibel" is a unit currently used in radio communications. It is the logarithmic expression of the ratio of two terms : N dB = 10 log10(P1/P2) with P1, P2 = signal power. M dB = 20log10(V1/V2) with V1, V2 = signal voltage. The "dB" is the usual unit for the gains of power or voltage. The dBm is a variant of the dB unit : Power expressed in dBm = 10 log10(P) with P expressed in mW. Ex : 1W corresponds to 30 dBm. 1pW (10 -9 mW) corresponds to -90dBm. The dBW is a variant of the dB unit : Power expressed in dBW = 10 log10(P) with P expressed in W. Ex : 10W corresponds to 10 dBW. The dBi is a variant of the dB unit which is currently used for the antenna gains. The index "i" means "isotropic" as an antenna gain is referred to the gain of an isotropic antenna (same gain in all directions). - log normal fading : The signal attenuation during propagation is the product of small independent attenuations. Expressed in dB, this attenuation becomes a random variable which has a normal (or gaussian) pdf, (central limit theorem). The log normal fading is defined as a centred (mean value is 0) gaussian variable that must be added to the mean signal value resulting from propagation attenuation in order to have the reported value of the signal level (by MS or BS). The log normal fading standard deviation ### normally ranges about 6-7 dB in urban macrocellular environment and about 5 dB for rural environment.

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Appendix A (2 pages)
Power budget equation The Power budget criterion PBGT is used to estimate the difference of path loss between two neighbouring cells.
PBGT(n)
= AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO - (BS_TXPWR_MAX - AV_BS_TXPWR_HO) - (MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX) - PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref)
PBGT_DR(n) = AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_DR - (BS_TXPWR_MAX - AV_BS_TXPWR_DR) - (MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX)
with : - AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) : average of RXLEV_NCELL(n) over A_PBGT_HO or A_PBGT_DR measurements (neighbour cell(n)). - AV_RXLEV_NCELL_DR(n) : average of RXLEV_NCELL(n) over A_PBGT_DR measurements (neighbour cell(n)). - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO : average of the received levels RXLEV_DL_FULL or RXLEV_DL_SUB over A_PBGT_HO measurements (serving cell). - AV_RXLEV_PBGT_DR : average of the received levels RXLEV_DL_FULL or RXLEV_DL_SUB over A_PBGT_DR measurements (serving cell). - BS_TXPWR_MAX : max power of the BTS in the serving cell (fixed value for each BTS). - AV_BS_TXPWR_HO : average of the BS_POWER values over A_PBGT_HO measurements. - AV_BS_TXPWR_DR : average of the BS_POWER value over A_PBGT_DR measurements. - MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) : max power level the MS is allowed to use in its neighbour cell(n). - MS_TXPWR_MAX : max. power the MS is allowed to use in the serving cell. - PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref) is a penalty put on the cell n if : it is the immediately precedent cell on which the call has been, this cell belongs to the same BSC as the serving cell, the call has not performed a forced directed retry towards the serving cell, less than T_HCP seconds have elapsed since the last handover. In this case PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref) = PING_PONG_HCP., If the call was not precedently on cell n, or if the preceding cell was external, or if the call has just performed a forced directed retry, or if the timer T_HCP has expired, then PING_PONG_MARGIN(n,call_ref) = 0
With abstraction of the PING_PONG_MARGIN, which is purely a handicap given to the preceding cell for a certain time, the PBGT can be described in two steps :

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###
###BCCH = AV_RXLEV_NCELL(n) - (AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO + C) with C = BS_TXPWR_MAX - AV_BS_TXPWR_HO.
###BCCH corresponds to the difference of received BCCH signal levels. A correction factor C is taken into account for the serving cell, because the received signal level (i.e. AV_RXLEV_PBGT_HO) may not be measured on BCCH, Then, another correction factor must be taken into account because the maximum BS powers of the serving and neighbouring cells may be different : ### ###TXPWR = MS_TXPWR_MAX(n) - MS_TXPWR_MAX. As the first step of calculation is based on the downlink parameters, this correction factor should be based on the maximum BS powers used in the serving and neighbouring cells. Two reasons (which are not completely decorrelated) for not using the BS powers can be envisaged : - for a given cell, the GSM does not specify formally the maximum BS power of the neighbouring cells. Only BS_TXPWR_MAX is defined (it is sent on the air interface), - it is not easy for the evaluating BSC to know the maximum BS powers of the neighbouring cells. The use of the maximum MS powers requires that the difference of MS powers is equal to the difference of BS powers. This condition is met in most cases. If it is not the case, the difference can be corrected by the operator with the HO_MARGIN(0,n) parameter (HO hysteresis). PBGT >0 : the neighbour cell is more advantageous as the path loss is less than in the current cell. PBGT <0 : the serving cell is more advantageous as the current cell. The PBGT equation (without temporary handicap) can be interpreted in another way. PBGT = ###BCCH - ###TXPWR The PBGT is a balance or a trade-off between two opposite indicators. As a matter of fact : ### ###BCCH > 0 : the neighbouring cell n is more advantageous than the serving cell as the reception of BCCH is better. ### ###BCCH < 0 : the neighbouring cell n is more disadvantageous than the serving cell. ### ###TXPWR > 0 : the neighbouring cell n is more disadvantageous than the serving cell as the maximum permissible power of the MS is higher. ### ###TXPWR < 0 : the neighbouring cell n is more advantageous than the serving cell. The PBGT can be seen as a balance, at MS side, between a probability to have a better reception and the probability of requests of transmission at higher levels in the neighbouring cells.

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Appendix B (1 page)
Recapitulation of the cell types allowed for the serving and the candidate cell for each handover cause Handover causes Too low quality uplink (cause 2) Too low level uplink (cause 3) Too low quality downlink (cause 4) Too low level downlink (cause 5) Too long distance (cause 6) Bad SACCH frames (cause 7) Too low level uplink, inner zone (cause 10) Too low level downlink, inner zone (cause 11) Serving cell / zone types Target cell / zone types
Power budget (cause 12) The MS is not in the inner zone of a multiband cell
Power budget (cause 12) The MS is in the inner zone of a multiband cell
Too high level uplink or downlink outer zone (cause 13) High level in neighbour lower layer cell for slow mobile (cause 14) The MS is in the inner zone of a multiband cell
All cells except serving cell ( 1) All All cells except serving cell ( 1) All All cells except serving cell ( 1) All All cells except serving cell ( 1) All All cells except serving cell ( 1) All All cells except serving cell ( 1) CELL_DIMENSION_TYPE = micro CELL_PARTITION TYPE = Same cell concentric ZONE_TYPE = outer ZONE_TYPE = inner CELL_PARTITION TYPE = Same cell concentric ZONE_TYPE = outer ZONE_TYPE = inner (CELL_LAYER_TYPE = single CELL_LAYER_TYPE = or singleor CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper) CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper Same CELL_BAND_TYPE CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower or upper (if MS_SPEED = fast) Same CELL_BAND_TYPE (CELL_LAYER_TYPE = single (CELL_LAYER_TYPE = or singleor CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper) CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper) and FREQUENCY_RANGE=GSMDCS CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower (CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower or upper (if MS_SPEED = fast)) and FREQUENCY_RANGE=GSMDCS CELL_PARTITION_TYPE = Same cell concentric ZONE_TYPE = inner ZONE_TYPE = outer CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper and (EN_BIBAND_MS(n)=ENABLE or CELL_BAND_TYPE(n) <> CELL_BAND_TYPE(0))

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High level in neighbour lower layer cell for slow mobile (cause 14) The MS is not in the inner zone of a multiband cell High level in neighbour lower layer cell for slow mobile (cause 14) The MS is not in the inner zone of a multiband cell Too high interference level uplink (cause 15) Too high interference level downlink (cause 16) Too low level uplink compared to High Threshold (cause 17) Too low level downlink compared to High Threshold (cause 18) Forced directed retry (cause 20) High level in neighbour cell in the preferred band (cause 21) Too short distance (cause 22)
CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper and CELL_BAND_TYPE = PREFERRED_BAND
CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower and (EN_BIBAND_MS(n)=ENABLE or CELL_BAND_TYPE(n) = PREFERRED_BAND) CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower
CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper and CELL_BAND_TYPE <> PREFERRED_BAND All All
Same cell Same cell All cells except serving cell ( 1) All cells except serving cell ( 1) All cells except serving cell CELL_BAND_TYPE = PREFERRED_BAND All cells except serving cell CELL_LAYER_TYPE = singleor CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper Same CELL_BAND_TYPE CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower Same CELL_BAND_TYPE CELL_LAYER_TYPE = singleor CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper and FREQUENCY_RANGE=GSMDCS CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower and FREQUENCY_RANGE=GSMDCS EN_BI-BAND_MS(n)=ENABLE or CELL_BAND_TYPE(n) <> CELL_BAND_TYPE(0) EN_BI-BAND_MS(n)=ENABLE or CELL_BAND_TYPE(n) = PREFERRED_BAND All cells except serving cell
CELL_DIMENSION_TYPE = micro CELL_DIMENSION_TYPE = micro All CELL_BAND_TYPE <> PREFERRED_BAND CELL_RANGE = extended outer Traffic handover (cause 23) CELL_LAYER_TYPE = single The MS is not in the inner zone or of a multiband cell CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower Traffic handover (cause 23) CELL_LAYER_TYPE = single The MS is in the inner zone of a or multiband cell CELL_LAYER_TYPE = upper
CELL_LAYER_TYPE = lower
General capture handover (cause 24) The MS is in the inner zone of a multiband cell General capture handover (cause 24) The MS is not in the inner zone of a multiband cell General capture handover (cause 24) The MS is not in the inner zone of a multiband cell GPRS redirection (cause 25)
All
CELL_BAND_TYPE = PREFERRED_BAND
CELL_BAND_TYPE <> PREFERRED_BAND
All
EN_GPRS(n)=TRUE Handover Preparation
ED
01
RELEASED
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(1): The serving cell is a canidate cell if the MS is connected to the inner GSM 1800 zone of a multiband cell.

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Appendix C (1 page)
Compliancy with the GSM requirements Handover algorithm As stated in [2] : "the exact handover strategies will be determined by the network operator". Document [2] provides also a "detailed example of a basic overall algorithm" which is the basis of the one implemented in the ALCATEL BSS. The complete ALCATEL algorithm is described in section 3.2 of this document. For further details about the compliance of this function with the requirements of the GSM Technical Specification 05.08 ([2]), see [4]. Directed retry algorithm GSM has not specified any requirement. The algorithm is implementation dependent.
END OF DOCUMENT

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Alcatel Ho 2g Preparation

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Site VELIZY

MOBILE COMMUNICATION DIVISION

Originator(s) P-J PIETRI HANDOVER PREPARATION RELEASE B6.2

MCD - Berlin U. Klingner (for Tel par)

SSD - Velizy MCD - Kontich G. VAN DIJCK (ffd) N. De BODE

MCD Stuttgart G. HOEN

J.F. MAILLARD (ffd)

Approvals Name App. Name App. Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED

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Release 3 : 3BK 11202 0014 DSZZA

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Ed. 01 Proposal P1 30/04/96

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Ed. 01 Proposal R1 14/06/96

Ed. 01 Proposal 02 22/09/97

PJ PIETRI PJ PIETRI PJ PIETRI

Ed. 02 Proposal 01 17/12/97

Ed. 02 Released Ed. 03 Released Ed. 04 Released

20/01/98 27/03/98 25/09/98

PJ PIETRI PJ PIETRI PJ PIETRI

Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED

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Release 6.2 : 3BK 11202 0276 DSZZA Ed. 01 Proposal 01 09/10/98

Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED

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SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL BLOCKS

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Handover Preparation ED 01 RELEASED

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MCD/TD APPRAISAL AUTHORITY

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HISTORY Release 6.2 : 3BK 11202 0276 DSZZA

PREFACE Not Applicable

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sectorized cell for site reduction

figure 2.2-1 : normal cell environment with one cell layer

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One concentric cell f3 f2 f1

figure 2.2-2 : concentric cell frequency planning Highway

outer cell 70km

inner cell outer limit

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2.2.1.2 Hierarchical cell environment

Super umbrella cell R~10 km

mini cells 0.5<R<1 km

existing cells 1<R<2 km

microcells R < 300 m

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figure 2.2-5 : typical microcellular layout

2.2.1.3 Multiband cell environment

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Macro Upper Concentric Table 2.2-1 : Allowed cell configurations

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Cell_dimension type : macro Cell_layer_type : lower Cell_partition_type : normal Cell_band_type : GSM