MSC Dimensioning

In the case where the network technology involves BSCs (or RNCs) that are separated from the MSC, then the MSC capacity generally has two limitations, maximum BHCA and maximum Erlang. In networks where the BSC functionality is included within the same machine as the MSC, then there will also be limitations in termed of RF elements supported (such as sites, sectors, and TRXs). The separation of BSCs or RNCs from the MSC is the most common configuration in 3G networks. Consequently, the MSC capacity is generally not limited by RF-specific factors. Thus, the capacity is Erlang or BHCA limited. (There may be a total cell limit, but this is generally sufficiently large that it is not a limiting factor.) Although we say that the capacity of an MSC is typically Erlang or BHCA limited, the reality is that the BHCA limit is the real bottleneck. Although BHCA and Erlangs are closely related, Erlangs reflect the switching capacity and port capacity of the MSC, whereas BHCA reflects the processing power of the MSC. In general, the number of supported Erlangs can be increased by the addition of extra MSC hardware, while the maximum BHCA for a given release of MSC is typically fixed. Thus, it is usually possible to add hardware and increase the supported Erlangs until such time as the BHCA limit is reached. Adding extra hardware after this point provides no extra capacity. Thus, when determining the number of MSCs required to support a given market, the calculation is BHCA-based. When we come to distributed architectures, such as the MSC Server Media Gateway architecture of 3GPP Release 4, many of the same dimensioning rules will still apply. In this case, the MSC Server is most likely to be BHCA limited, while the Media Gateway is likely to be Erlang limited. Todays MSCs typically have BHCA limitations in the order of 300,000 to 500,000 BHCA. As technology advances, these numbers will increase, and capacities of up to 1,000,000 BHCA will be common in the next few years. For most vendors, the configuration of a given MSC in a given market is a custom configuration. In other words, the size of the switching matrix and the numbers and types of ports are custom designed to meet the specific market requirements. If one is building a limited number of markets at a given time, this is the optimum approach. On the other hand, if one is attempting to build a large network (such as a nationwide deployment) with many MSCs, custom design of the hardware configuration for each MSC may be overly time consuming and may jeopardize a timely launch. In such a situation, it is often wise to work with the MSC vendor to define a number of network-specific standard configurations, such as small, medium, and large configurations, depending on the types of markets to be supported. Thus, in a large metropolitan city, one might need to deploy two large MSCs, although is a smaller city, one might need only a single medium-sized MSC or a single smallsized MSC. Although this approach is not optimal from a hardware perspective, judicious determination of the different configurations is likely to ensure that there is not a great deal of over dimensioning. The resulting ease of cookie-cutter design and easier ordering and delivery may well result in savings in the design effort and more rapid deployment.

CORE NETWORK AUDIT

By knowing the importance of the CORE Network, the main objective of an audit service at this level is reviewing the design and planning of the network analyzing the signaling and switching infrastructure, the network architecture, the profile and the traffic matrix, routing tables and, signaling links. Throughout the analysis process of the audit of the CORE network, our consultants study the performance of the infrastructure of the signaling and switching network, including in the case of GSM the following:

VMSC Layer (legacy / soft switch) GMSCn/ TMSC layer Signaling & traffic Trunks GOS HLR GPRS

The parameters that are included, but are not limited to, are the following:

MSC GoS Inter/Intra MSC HO success Processor load Technical completion rate Actual usage of node BHCA traffic and traffic profile MSC availability Interconnect Blocking rate